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Generalized quark-antiquark potential at weak and strong coupling

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Abstract

We study a two-parameter family of Wilson loop operators in \( \mathcal{N} = 4 \) super-symmetric Yang-Mills theory which interpolates smoothly between the 1/2 BPS line or circle and a pair of antiparallel lines. These observables capture a natural generalization of the quark-antiquark potential. We calculate these loops on the gauge theory side to second order in perturbation theory and in a semiclassical expansion in string theory to one-loop order. The resulting determinants are given in integral form and can be evaluated numerically for general values of the parameters or analytically in a systematic expansion around the 1/2 BPS configuration. We comment about the feasibility of deriving all-loop results for these Wilson loops.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ, U.K.

    Nadav Drukker

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Am Mühlenberg 1, D-14476, Potsdam, Germany

    Valentina Forini

Authors
  1. Nadav Drukker
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  2. Valentina Forini
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Correspondence to Valentina Forini.

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ArXiv ePrint:1105.5144

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Drukker, N., Forini, V. Generalized quark-antiquark potential at weak and strong coupling. J. High Energ. Phys. 2011, 131 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP06(2011)131

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