A Precision Test of AdS/CFT with Flavor

TL;DR

This paper performs a precise test of AdS/CFT duality involving flavored supersymmetric theories by comparing holographic D7-brane embeddings with field theory results obtained via localization, finding exact matches in phase transition points and free energies.

Contribution

It introduces new supersymmetric D7-brane embeddings that enable detailed comparison between holographic and field theory results for flavored N=4 SYM on S^4.

Findings

Analytical match of phase transition at critical mass

Matching free energies in both phases

Validation of AdS/CFT with flavor at strong coupling

Abstract

In this letter we put AdS/CFT dualities involving probe branes to a precision test. On the holographic side we use a new class of supersymmetric D7-brane embeddings into AdS$_5\times$S$^5$, which allow to describe N=4 SYM coupled to massive N=2 supersymmetric flavors on S$^4$. With these embeddings we can compare holographic results to a field theory analysis of the free energy using supersymmetric localization. Localization allows us to get results at strong coupling, and hence to compare in detail to AdS/CFT. We find analytically matching results: a phase transition at the same critical mass in both calculations and matching free energies up to a scheme-dependent constant in both phases.