String/Flux Tube Duality on the Lightcone

TL;DR

This paper investigates the duality between string theory and quantum field theory using lightcone quantization, analyzing static strings and quark-antiquark interactions to deepen understanding of the AdS/CFT correspondence.

Contribution

It introduces a lightcone framework for comparing string and field theory descriptions of quark systems, highlighting consistency across coupling regimes.

Findings

Consistent results with covariant methods for infinitely massive quarks.

Analysis of small oscillations around static string configurations.

Insights into weak/strong coupling transitions in quark-antiquark systems.

Abstract

The equivalence of quantum field theory and string theory as exemplified by the AdS/CFT correspondence is explored from the point of view of lightcone quantization. On the string side we discuss the lightcone version of the static string connecting a heavy external quark source to a heavy external antiquark source, together with small oscillations about the static string configuration. On the field theory side we analyze the weak/strong coupling transition in a ladder diagram model of the quark antiquark system, also from the point of view of the lightcone. Our results are completely consistent with those obtained by more standard covariant methods in the limit of infinitely massive quarks.