# String corrections to AdS amplitudes and the double-trace spectrum of N=4 SYM

## TL;DR

This paper computes string correction effects on four-point correlators in N=4 SYM, revealing patterns in the double-trace spectrum and extending known results to higher orders and new correlator channels.

## Contribution

It introduces a method to determine alpha' corrections to correlators and spectra in N=4 SYM, uncovering patterns suggestive of a ten-dimensional origin and extending previous results to higher orders.

## Key findings

- Leading (alpha')^3 correction fixed for arbitrary charges.
- Explicit corrections to double-trace spectrum for su(4)-singlet operators.
- Reproduction of (alpha')^5 correction results and new correlator predictions.

## Abstract

We consider $\alpha'$ corrections to four-point correlators of half-BPS operators in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory in the supergravity limit. By demanding the correct behaviour in the flat space limit, we find that the leading $(\alpha')^3$ correction to the Mellin amplitude is fixed for arbitrary charges of the external operators. By considering the mixing of double-trace operators we can find the $(\alpha')^3$ corrections to the double-trace spectrum which we give explicitly for $su(4)$-singlet operators. We observe striking patterns in the corrections to the spectra which hint at their common ten-dimensional origin. By extending the observed patterns and imposing them at order $(\alpha')^5$ we are able to reproduce the recently found result for the correction to the Mellin amplitude for $\langle \mathcal{O}_2 \mathcal{O}_2 \mathcal{O}_p \mathcal{O}_p \rangle$ correlators. By applying a similar logic to the $[0,1,0]$ channel of $su(4)$ we are able to deduce new results for the correlators of the form $\langle \mathcal{O}_2 \mathcal{O}_3 \mathcal{O}_{p-1} \mathcal{O}_p \rangle$.