Quantum Broadening of k-Strings from the AdS/CFT Correspondence

TL;DR

This paper investigates the quantum broadening of k-strings in gauge theories using the AdS/CFT correspondence, extending previous results to bound states of multiple strings and calculating their widths via D-brane probes.

Contribution

It generalizes the quantum broadening result for fundamental strings to k-strings using gauge/gravity duality and D-brane models.

Findings

The width of k-strings scales logarithmically with the ratio R/r.

Universal formula for k-string width: omega_k^2 = 1 / (2π σ_k) log R/r.

Results apply across several AdS/CFT backgrounds.

Abstract

We study the quantum broadening (width) of k-strings. We generalise an old result by Luscher, Munster and Weisz to the case of a k-string, by using the gauge/gravity correspondence. When the fundamental QCD-string is replaced by a bound state of k strings, the bound state is better described by a wrapped D-brane. We calculate the width of the k-string (the wrapped D-brane) in several AdS/CFT backgrounds by using a D-brane probe and find universally that omega_k ^2 = 1 / (2\pi \sigma_k) log R/r .