Structure of the Electric Flux in N=4 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Theory

TL;DR

This paper investigates the structure of electric flux in N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory by computing correlators of Wilson loops with local operators using AdS/CFT, revealing conformal invariance effects at different coupling strengths.

Contribution

It provides a comparison of correlators at weak and strong coupling in N=4 SYM, highlighting the role of conformal symmetry in their form.

Findings

Correlators have identical forms at weak and strong coupling for circular loops.

Differences arise for non-conformal contours.

Conformal invariance constrains correlator structure.

Abstract

Correlators of Wilson loop operators with O_4=Tr(F_{\mu\nu}^2+...) are computed in N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory using the AdS/CFT correspondence. The results are compared with the leading order perturbative computations. As a consequence of conformal invariance, these correlators have identical forms in the weak and strong coupling limits for circular loops. They are essentially different for contours not protected by conformal symmetry.