k-Strings as Fundamental Strings

TL;DR

This paper explores the conditions under which k-string observables can be derived from fundamental string observables in gravity duals, revealing how anisotropy influences the width and broadening of k-strings.

Contribution

It identifies a sufficient condition for mapping k-string observables to fundamental strings in gravity duals and derives explicit relations between heavy k-quark and single quark states.

Findings

Logarithmic broadening of k-strings persists in anisotropic theories

The anisotropy affects the total width of k-strings

A condition related to T-duality preserves the mapping between observables

Abstract

It has been noticed that the k-string observables can be expressed in terms of the fundamental string ones. We identify a sufficient condition for a generic gravity dual background which when satisfied the mapping can be done. The condition is naturally related to a preserved quantity under the T-dualities acting on the Dp-brane describing the high representation Wilson loops. We also find the explicit relation between the observables of the heavy k-quark and the single quark states. As an application to our generic study and motivated by the fact that the anisotropic theories satisfy our condition, we compute the width of the k-string in these theories to find that the logarithmic broadening is still present, but the total result is affected by the anisotropy of the space.