Hard Scattering in the M-Theory Dual for the QCD String

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that M-theory dual backgrounds can reproduce QCD-like hard scattering power laws and reveals the coexistence of BFKL-like and soft Pomeron phenomena in the Regge limit.

Contribution

It extends the String/Gauge duality analysis to M-theory backgrounds, showing they can produce QCD-like scattering behaviors and Regge phenomena.

Findings

M-theory dual backgrounds yield correct QCD power laws.

Both BFKL-like and soft Pomeron poles coexist in the Regge limit.

Extension of string duality analysis to M-theory backgrounds.

Abstract

Conventional superstring amplitudes in flat space exhibits exponential fall off at wide angle in contrast to the power law behavior found in QCD. It has recently been argued by Polchinski and Strassler that this conflict can be resolved via String/Gauge duality. They carried out their analysis in terms of strings in a deformed $AdS^5$ background. On the other hand, an equally valid approach to the String/Gauge duality for 4-d QCD is based on M-theory in a specific Black Hole deformation of $AdS^7 \times S^4$. We show that a very natural extension to this phenomenologically interesting M-theory background also gives the correct hard scattering power laws. In the Regge limit we extend the analysis to show the co-existence of both the hard BFKL-like Pomeron and the soft Pomeron Regge pole.