Wilson Loop Renormalization Group Flows

TL;DR

This paper investigates the renormalization group flows of Wilson loops in gauge theories, analyzing their behavior at weak and strong coupling within the AdS/CFT framework, revealing a complex pattern of operator transformations.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of RG flows between different Wilson loop operators, connecting weak and strong coupling regimes through dual string descriptions.

Findings

RG flow between BPS and pure gauge Wilson loops at weak coupling

Existence of multiple loop operators with complex RG flow patterns at strong coupling

Verification of RG flow behavior via AdS/CFT correspondence

Abstract

The locally BPS Wilson loop and the pure gauge Wilson loop map under AdS/CFT duality to string world-sheet boundaries with standard and alternate quantizations of the world-sheet fields. This implies an RG flow between the two operators, which we verify at weak coupling. Many additional loop operators exist at strong coupling, with a rich pattern of RG flows.