# A Holographic Kaleidoscope for $\mathcal{N}=1^*$

## TL;DR

This paper analyzes a family of supergravity solutions dual to the $
abla$=1* SYM theory, revealing how the parameter $
abla$ influences the nature of singularities and their physical interpretation.

## Contribution

It provides a detailed study of the singularities in the supergravity duals of $
abla$=1* SYM, especially the transition at $
abla=1$, and offers a smooth solution for this critical case.

## Key findings

- For $|
abla|<1$, singularities are due to smeared polarized five-branes.
- Line operators show screening behavior consistent with Polchinski-Strassler physics.
- At $
abla=1$, the singularity can be replaced by a smooth Euclidean solution.

## Abstract

We study in detail the recently-found family of asymptotically AdS$_5\times S^5$ type IIB supergravity solutions dual to the $\mathcal{N}=1^*$ SYM theory with equal masses. The backgrounds exhibit a naked singularity and are labelled by a dimensionless parameter, $\lambda$, which is interpreted as the ratio of the gaugino condensate and the mass in the dual field theory. When $|\lambda|<1$ we show that the naked singularity is due to a smeared distribution of polarized $(p,q)$ five-branes. For this range of parameters we study the nature of the singularity using probe strings and show that the dual line operators exhibit screening behavior. These features are in line with the physics anticipated in the work of Polchinski-Strassler. For $|\lambda|=1$ the naked singularity has qualitatively different behavior which has no clear brane interpretation. We show that when $\lambda=1$ the singularity can be excised and replaced by a smooth Euclidean supergravity solution with an $S^4$ boundary.