Reggeon exchange from AdS/CFT

TL;DR

This paper uses AdS/CFT and worldline formalism to compute Reggeon exchange amplitudes in a confining gauge theory, revealing Regge trajectories with slopes tied to the quark-antiquark potential.

Contribution

It extends previous Pomeron studies by calculating Reggeon exchange beyond the eikonal approximation using minimal surface saddle points.

Findings

Regge trajectories are linear with slopes related to the static quark-antiquark potential.

The Regge slope is four times the Pomeron slope in the same framework.

Fluctuations around minimal surfaces contribute to the intercept via the Lüscher term.

Abstract

Using the AdS/CFT correspondence in a confining backgroundand the worldline formalism of gauge field theories,we compute scattering amplitudes with an exchange of quark andantiquark in the $t$-channel corresponding to Reggeon exchange. Itrequires going beyond the eikonal approximation, which was used when studying Pomeron exchange. The wordline path integral is evaluated through the determination of minimal surfaces and their boundaries by the saddle-point method at large gauge coupling g^2N_c. We find a Regge behaviour with linear Regge trajectories. The slope is related to the $q\bar q$ static potential and is four times the Pomeronslope obtained in the same framework. A contribution to the intercept, related to the L\"uscher term, comes from the fluctuations around the minimal surface.