Mapping out the internal space in AdS/BCFT with Wilson loops

TL;DR

This paper explores Wilson loops in AdS/BCFT and wedge holography, identifying their holographic duals, matching expectation values with localization, and connecting internal space regions to gauge nodes, with applications to brane models and surface defects.

Contribution

It provides a holographic description of Wilson loops in AdS/BCFT, linking internal space regions to gauge nodes and constructing supersymmetric Janus embeddings in AdS5xS5.

Findings

Holographic representation of antisymmetric Wilson loops via probe D5-branes

Matching holographic expectation values with localization computations

Identification of internal space regions with 3d gauge nodes

Abstract

We study Wilson loops in string theory realizations of AdS/BCFT and wedge holography. The field theories are based on 3d $\mathcal N=4$ long quiver gauge theories engineered by D3, D5 and NS5 branes, and on BCFTs involving 4d $\mathcal N=4$ SYM coupled to such 3d theories. The holographic duals have geometry $AdS_4\times S^2\times S^2$ warped over a strip. We identify the holographic representation of antisymmetric Wilson loops associated with individual 3d gauge nodes in terms of probe D5-branes. The expectation values obtained holographically are matched to supersymmetric localization computations. Our results yield an identification of regions in the internal space with individual 3d gauge nodes. Connecting to bottom-up braneworld models, this gives a concrete notion of which parts of the 10d solutions correspond to the end-of-the-world brane and which to the remaining bulk. We also construct supersymmetric Janus on the brane embeddings in AdS$_5\times$S$^5$, which describe surface defects with boundaries and interfaces in $\mathcal N=4$ SYM.