Towards holographic walking from N=4 super Yang-Mills

TL;DR

This paper explores a holographic model of walking technicolor by deforming N=4 super Yang-Mills theory, analyzing the resulting quasi-conformal dynamics and associated scalar states using supergravity duals and probe branes.

Contribution

It introduces a holographic framework for walking behavior in gauge theories via deformations of N=4 super Yang-Mills and studies the resulting anomalous dimensions and scalar states.

Findings

Large anomalous dimensions of quark bilinear operators.

Identification of a light, dilaton-like scalar in the IR.

Potential existence of a light scalar mode beyond the walking region.

Abstract

We propose that a holographic description of `walking' behaviour, namely quasi-conformal dynamics relevant for technicolor models, can be obtained from relevant deformations of N=4 super Yang-Mills. We consider deformations which drive the theory close to the N=1 Leigh-Strassler fixed point, eventually deviating from it in the deep IR. We use the Pilch-Warner dual supergravity description of the flow between the N=4 and the N=1 fixed points to focus on observables that only require knowledge of the walking region. These include large anomalous dimensions of quark bilinear operators, which we study via probe D7-branes. We also make a first attempt at describing the theory beyond the walking region by introducing an infrared cut-off, in the spirit of hard-wall models. In this case we find a light, dilaton-like scalar state, but whether this mode persists in the exact theory remains an open question.