Anomalies, RG-flows and Open/Closed String Duality

TL;DR

This paper explores the relationship between anomalies, divergences, and dualities in string theory, establishing correspondences between anomalies and tadpoles, and linking RG-flows to tadpoles in gauge theories, without requiring supersymmetry.

Contribution

It introduces a general correspondence between anomalies and R-R tadpoles, and between NS-NS tadpoles and RG-flows, applicable even without supersymmetry.

Findings

Established a one-to-one correspondence between anomalies and R-R tadpoles.

Linked NS-NS tadpoles to RG-flows in gauge theories on D-branes and O-planes.

Commented on the AdS/CFT implications of these dualities.

Abstract

We discuss the interplay between IR and UV divergences in vacuum configurations with open and unoriented strings. We establish a general one-to-one correspondence between anomalies and R-R tadpoles associated to sectors with non-trivial Witten index. The result does not require any supersymmetry to be preserved by the configuration. Under very mild conditions of supersymmetry, a similar correspondence is found between NS-NS tadpoles and RG-flows in gauge theories on D-branes and O-planes. We briefly comment on the AdS/CFT counterpart of the results.