Properties of some conformal field theories with M-theory duals

TL;DR

This paper explores properties of certain four-dimensional superconformal field theories with M-theory duals by analyzing supersymmetric solutions in eleven-dimensional supergravity, calculating central charges, operator dimensions, and universal ratios.

Contribution

It identifies a consistent Kaluza-Klein truncation to minimal five-dimensional supergravity, enabling analysis of dual strongly coupled plasmas with R-charge chemical potential.

Findings

Calculated central charges for explicit solutions.

Determined conformal dimensions of wrapped membrane operators.

Found the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio to be 1/4 pi.

Abstract

By studying classes of supersymmetric solutions of D=11 supergravity with AdS_5 factors, we determine some properties of the dual four-dimensional N=1 superconformal field theories. For some explicit solutions we calculate the central charges and also the conformal dimensions of certain chiral primary operators arising from wrapped membranes. For the most general class of solutions we show that there is a consistent Kaluza-Klein truncation to minimal D=5 gauged supergravity. This latter result allows us to study some aspects of the dual strongly coupled thermal plasma with a non-zero R-charge chemical potential and, in particular, we show that the ratio of the shear viscosity to the entropy density has the universal value of 1/4 pi.