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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

It is obvious that in every scientific exploration there should be an independent ”judge”. In particular, in phenomenological theoretical physics the role of such a judge is played by the experiment. The situation is such that there is no any widely accepted ”judge” in String Theory (ST). Though, in this case it is natural to accept as such a judge the ”mathematical experiment”. By the ”mathematical experiment” we mean a relation (formula) with LHS and RHS and equality between them, where these sides were calculated in seemingly unrelated to each other theories. Once someone accepted the assumptions or, if you will, definitions underlying the calculations behind the relation in question, he can check the relation himself and find it to be wrong or correct.

One of the ”mathematical experiments” which string theoreticians are trying to perform nowadays is to find a relation between gauge and gravity (string) theories. It is considered as a first step towards understanding the relation between these two kinds of theories in general. Recently there were found some examples of such a relation. For example:

* The relation between old matrix models and two-dimensional gravity (see for review ). We will refer to this relation as MM/2D gravity correspondence.
* The relation between WZNW model and Chern-Simons theory . We will refer to this relation as WZNW/CS correspondence.
* The relation between M-atrix theory and light-cone eleven-dimensional gravity in flat space  or the relation between IKKT M-atrix model and type IIB ST . (M–theory correspondence).
* Relation between $`𝒩=4`$ SUSY Yang-Mills (SYM) theory at large rank of the gauge group and large coupling constant and type IIB supergravity on $`AdS_5\times S_5`$ space with background RR tensor flux  (see for reviews ). The so called AdS/CFT correspondence.
* Relation between $`𝒩=4`$ SYM theory in a double scaling limit and type IIB ST on the pp-wave background . The SYM/pp-wave correspondence.

The MM/2D gravity and WZNW/CS correspondences are the relations between small dimensional topological theories. Thus, there is no any involved dynamics in such relations. The M–theory correspondence already establishes a relation between dynamical theories. SYM theory is one of the sides of the relation. However, the SYM theory is small dimensional one, i.e. matrix quantum mechanics (MQM). Note that the M–theory correspondence relies on SUSY non-renormalization theorems, but it is checked for correlation functions of such operators which do not respect any SUSY.

In the context of the relation between gauge and gravity theories the AdS/CFT and SYM/pp–wave correspondences are the most interesting among the listed above relations. They give a hope to find an explicit ST description for a dynamical four–dimensional gauge theory. Unlike the first three relations the AdS/CFT and SYM/pp–wave correspondences did not receive any explicit check, which would not rely on SUSY invariance of operators considered in the ”experiment”. Let us clarify this point. The AdS/CFT correspondence is the relation of the following kind:

$`\mathrm{exp}\left\{{\displaystyle \underset{\{j\}}{}}{\displaystyle d^4xg^{\{j\}}(x)𝒪_{\{j\}}\left[\mathrm{\Phi }(x)\right]}\right\}\mathrm{\Psi }_Q\left[g^{\{j\}}(x)\right]e^{\mathrm{i}I_{\mathrm{min}}\left[g^{\{j\}}(x)\right]},`$ (1)
where on the LHS the average is taken with the weight $`\mathrm{exp}\{\mathrm{i}S_0[\mathrm{\Phi }]\}`$ in the four-dimensional SYM theory. The content of fields on the LHS is denoted for simplicity by $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$, $`𝒪_{\{j\}}[\mathrm{\Phi }]`$ is a basis of local gauge invariant operators (with quantum numbers $`\{j\}`$) in the theory. At the same time on the RHS of (1) $`\mathrm{\Psi }_Q`$ is a wave function in $`AdS_5\times S_5`$ supergravity characterized by concrete quantum numbers denoted by $`Q`$ . Note that to find this wave function one takes the ”time-slice” with respect to the Euclidian ”time” ($`u`$ in common notations) in $`AdS_5`$.

So it seems that eq.(1) is an explicit formula, which can be checked by a direct calculation. However, the problem is that both sides of it are not sufficiently well defined. At this stage this is a kind of the strong/week coupling relation — duality. This is mainly due to the fact that one does not know how to work with the ST on such a complicated background as $`AdS_5\times S_5`$. As the result almost anything, which can be calculated on the RHS is non-analytic in the coupling constant of the LHS or independent of it. In fact, normally any calculation which can be performed on the RHS is a strong coupling calculation from the SYM point of view. Thus, all observations that favor the AdS/CFT correspondence strongly rely on correlation functions of SUSY respecting operators. This is the main obstacle on the way to perform the ”mathematical experiment” for the AdS/CFT correspondence.

On the other hand, in the SYM/pp–wave correspondence the ST on the pp–wave background is a rather simple theory . This gives a hope to check the correspondence explicitly. In fact, many quantities which can be calculated on the ST side appear to be analytic in the SYM coupling constant . This means that the correspondence can be established for any correlation functions in the theories without any respect of SUSY. However, to our knowledge, for the SYM/pp–wave correspondence there is no any well established explicit relation like eq.(1) . We believe, however, that it should exist because the correspondence was obtained as a limit of AdS/CFT correspondence .

In the SYM/pp–wave correspondence it is established that the masses of the ST states are equal to the conformal dimensions of the SYM operators . Furthermore, there is a relation between the structure constants for operator algebras in both theories . However, there was not found any explicit relation between correlation functions in SYM and ST. Moreover, it is not clear whether the ST on pp-wave is related to the four–dimensional SYM or only to the reduced MQM. So the ”experiment” is not yet complete in this case. In contrast to AdS/CFT correspondence it is not even clear what should be checked.

The goal of this paper is to formulate the SYM/pp–wave correspondence in the form similar to eq.(1) and to make a few rigorous checks. We establish the explicit relation between space–time dependencies of the two– and three–point correlation functions in SYM theory and ST on the pp–wave background. We present arguments which support that it is four–dimensional SYM rather than just reduced MQM is related to the ST. As a by product we formulate the vertex operator formalism in the light-cone (LC) gauge for the conformal field theory describing ST on the pp-wave background.

The explicit formula which we obtain for the SYM/pp–wave correspondence looks as follows. On the SYM side we consider generating functional of connected correlation functions of the $`𝒪_{L,k,m}^{Jn}(t)`$ operators (and their cousins), where

$`𝒪^{Jn}(t,\stackrel{}{\varphi })={\displaystyle \underset{L,k,m}{}}𝒪_{L,k,m}^{Jn}(t)Y_{L,k,m}\left(\stackrel{}{\varphi }\right).`$ (2)
In this formula $`\stackrel{}{\varphi }`$ is the coordinate on $`S^3`$, $`Y_{L,k,m}\left(\stackrel{}{\varphi }\right)`$ are spherical functions on $`S^3`$ and $`𝒪^{Jn}(t,\stackrel{}{\varphi })`$ are operators which were considered in . The generating functional in question is:

$`W_{SYM}(g)=\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \mathrm{exp}\left\{\mathrm{i}S_0+\mathrm{i}g_0(t)𝒪(t)+\mathrm{i}g_{L,k,m}^n(t)𝒪_{L,k,m}^{Jn}(t)+\mathrm{}\right\}},`$ (3)
where the dots are standing for the cousins of $`𝒪`$ which survive in the double scaling limit of . The second term in the exponent on the RHS is due to the chiral operator defined in .

At the same time, on the ST side we consider generating functional of the mass–shell correlation functions of the conformal operators $`V_\stackrel{}{M}^{p^+n}`$ (which we define below):

$`Z_{ST}(g)={\displaystyle \mathrm{exp}\left\{\mathrm{i}S_{st}+\mathrm{i}g_\stackrel{}{M}^n(p^{})e^{\mathrm{i}p^{}x^++\mathrm{i}p^+x^{}}V_\stackrel{}{M}^{p^+n}+\mathrm{}\right\}},`$ (4)
where $`\stackrel{}{M}`$ is a vector taking values in eight–dimensional lattice.

We establish relations between the quantum numbers of $`𝒪_{L,k,m}^{nJ}(t)`$ and of $`V_\stackrel{}{M}^{p^+n}(p^{})`$ operators: three components of the eight–vector $`\stackrel{}{M}`$ are related to the Kaluza–Klein (KK) quantum numbers $`L,k,m`$. As well we show that the scale parameter of the pp–wave metric — $`\mu `$ in the notations of  — is related to the inverse radius of the $`S^3`$ on the SYM side. One can see similarity between these two parameters already at the first glance: in both theories we can scale them to any fixed non-zero value.

Furthermore, we show that

$`g_{\mathrm{}}(t){\displaystyle 𝑑p^{}g_{\mathrm{}}(p^{})e^{\mathrm{i}p^{}t}}.`$ (5)
Hence, we argue that there should be a relation as follows:

$`\left({\displaystyle \frac{\delta ^K}{\delta g_{\mathrm{}}^K(p^{})}}W_{SYM}(g)\right)/\left({\displaystyle \frac{\delta ^K}{\delta g_0^K(p^{})}}W_{SYM}(g)\right)|_{g_0=0,g_{\mathrm{}}=0}={\displaystyle \frac{\delta ^K}{\delta g_{\mathrm{}}^K(p^{})}}Z_{ST}(g)|_{g_{\mathrm{}}=0}.`$ (6)
The normalization (denominator) on the LHS is chosen so that to make the correlation function well defined in the double scaling limit, i.e. to cancel the part in the conformal dimension which is due to the multiplicity of the fields standing inside $`𝒪`$’s.

In this note we check the relation (6) on the planar level for two– and three– point correlation functions. But we believe that it could be established at any level.

## 2 String Theory side

In this section we discuss ST on the pp–wave background. To keep the paper self–contained we start with the derivation of the pp-wave metric from the ”AdS” one. Then we proceed with the LC quantization of the strings on the pp-wave background. We conclude this section with the derivation of the string vertex operators and calculations of two– and three–point mass-shell amplitudes of the ST.

### 2.1 The pp–wave metric as the limit of $`AdS_5\times S_5`$

To establish the SYM/pp–wave correspondence one assumes that the AdS/CFT correspondence is correct in its strong form222One assumes that SYM theory is related to the full ST on $`AdS_5\times S_5`$ rather than just to its supergravity limit. and takes a kind of the double scaling limit on both sides of the relation.

On the AdS side one considers type IIB ST on the $`AdS_5\times S_5`$ background (in this text we always use Minkowski signature):

$`ds^2=R^2\left[dt^2\mathrm{ch}^2(\rho )+d\rho ^2+\mathrm{sh}^2(\rho )d\mathrm{\Omega }_{}^{}{}_{3}{}^{2}\right]+R^2\left[d\psi ^2\mathrm{cos}^2(\theta )+d\theta ^2+\mathrm{sin}^2(\theta )d\mathrm{\Omega }_3^2^{}\right],`$
$`\mathrm{}<t<+\mathrm{}`$ (7)
with a flux of the RR four–form gauge field. Here $`R^4\alpha ^{}g_sN`$ is the radius of both $`AdS_5`$ and $`S_5`$ expressed in terms of the string coupling constant $`g_s`$ and the RR flux $`N`$; $`\alpha ^{}`$ is the inverse string tension. Note that the boundary of this metric is at $`\rho \mathrm{}`$ and is $`S^3\times R`$ parameterized by $`t`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_3^{}`$.

To obtain the pp-wave limit one changes the coordinates to:

$`x^+=t;x^{}=R^2{\displaystyle \frac{t\psi }{2}};\rho =|\stackrel{}{r}|/R;\theta =|\stackrel{}{y}|/R,`$ (8)
where $`\stackrel{}{r}`$ and $`\stackrel{}{y}`$ are four-vectors. At the end, one takes $`R\mathrm{}`$ while keeping $`x^\pm ,r`$ and $`y`$ finite. As the result one obtains from eq.(7) the pp-wave metric :

$`ds^2=4dx^+dx^{}\mu ^2x_a^2\left(dx^+\right)^2+dx_a^2,`$ (9)
where $`x_a=(\stackrel{}{r},\stackrel{}{y})`$, $`a=1,\mathrm{},8`$. In the limit in question the RR flux is:

$`F_{+1234}=F_{+5678}=const\mu `$ (10)
with an arbitrary dimensionfull parameter $`\mu `$.

To have a reasonable theory in this limit one must keep the light-cone energy $`p^{}`$ and momentum $`p^+`$ of the strings finite:

$`H_{LC}=2p^{}`$ $`=`$ $`p_+=\mathrm{i}_{x^+}=\mathrm{i}\left(_t+_\psi \right)=\left(\mathrm{\Delta }J\right)\mu ,`$
$`2p^+`$ $`=`$ $`p_{}={\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{p}_{}}{R^2}}={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{i}}{R^2}}_{\stackrel{~}{x}^{}}={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{i}}{R^2}}\left(_t_\psi \right)={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }+J}{R^2\mu }},`$ (11)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is the energy in $`AdS_5\times S_5`$ ST, while $`J`$ is the angular momentum along $`\psi `$ direction or charge under $`U_R(1)SU_R(4)SO_R(6)`$ — group of rotations of the six coordinates transversal to the D3–branes. The D3–branes are the source for the $`AdS_5\times S_5`$ space. Thus, to keep the quantities in question finite in the $`R\mathrm{}`$ limit one must take the double scaling limit

$`R\mathrm{},(g_sN\mathrm{}),\mathrm{\Delta }J\mathrm{},\mathrm{and}J^2/R^4{\displaystyle \frac{J^2}{g_sN}}=const.`$ (12)
As a side remark relevant for our further discussion let us note that according to  the AdS/CFT correspondence tells us that the SYM theory lives on any hyper–surface $`\rho =const`$ of (7). The latter constant defines the energy scale of the SYM . Hence, after the double scaling limit is taken the SYM theory lives at any four dimensional hyper–surface $`r=const`$ of the space (9), which is parameterized by coordinates $`t`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_3^{}`$. Moreover, according to  the time coordinate $`t`$ of the SYM theory should be identified with $`x^+`$ — the time coordinate of the ST on the pp–wave background. We come back to this point below.

### 2.2 Quantization of strings on the pp–wave background

The LC ST action in the pp–wave background in the GS formalism is :

$`S_{LC}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi \alpha ^{}}}{\displaystyle 𝑑\tau _0^{2\pi \alpha ^{}p^+}𝑑\sigma \left\{x_ax_a\mu ^2x_a^2\overline{S}\left(\widehat{}+\mu \mathrm{\Gamma }^{1234}\right)S\right\}}=`$
$`={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi }}{\displaystyle 𝑑\tau _0^{2\pi }𝑑\sigma \left\{\left(_\tau x_a^{}\right)^2\frac{\left(_\sigma x_a\right)^2}{(\alpha ^{}p^+)^2}\mu ^2x_a^2\overline{S}\left(\mathrm{i}\widehat{}_\tau \frac{\widehat{}_\sigma }{\alpha ^{}p^+}+\mu \mathrm{\Gamma }^{1234}\right)S\right\}},`$ (13)
where $`x_a`$ are two-dimensional scalars describing embeddings of the strings into the target-space; $`S`$ are two-dimensional Majorana fermions, which carry positive chirality spinor indexes under the $`Spin(8)`$ group. The $`x`$ and $`S`$ fields in the second line differ from those in the first line by the rescaling by $`\sqrt{p^+}`$.

The bosonic part of this action appears from the non–linear $`\sigma `$–model with the pp–wave metric, while the mass term for the fermions can be understood as appearing from the coupling of the GS fermions to the RR background (10): $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{1234}`$ is the corresponding anti-symmetric product of the gamma-matrixes.

The harmonic expansion of $`x_a(\sigma ,\tau )`$ is :

$`x^a(\sigma ,\tau )=\mathrm{cos}\mu \tau x_0^a+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mu }}\mathrm{sin}\mu \tau p_0^a+\mathrm{i}{\displaystyle \underset{n0}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\omega _n}}(b_n^a\mathrm{exp}\{\mathrm{i}(\mathrm{sign}(n)\omega _n\tau {\displaystyle \frac{n\sigma }{\alpha ^{}p^+}})\}+`$
$`+\stackrel{~}{b}_n^a\mathrm{exp}\{\mathrm{i}(\mathrm{sign}(n)\omega _n\tau +{\displaystyle \frac{n\sigma }{\alpha ^{}p^+}})\}),`$ (14)
where $`0\sigma 2\pi \alpha ^{}p^+`$ and

$`\omega _n=\mu \sqrt{1+{\displaystyle \frac{n^2}{(\mu \alpha ^{}p^+)^2}}}.`$ (15)
After quantization we get the following commutation relations:

$`[b_n^a,b_m^c]={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{i}}{2}}\omega _n\delta _{m+n,0}\delta ^{ac},[\stackrel{~}{b}_n^a,\stackrel{~}{b}_m^c]={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{i}}{2}}\omega _n\delta _{m+n,0}\delta ^{ac},[b_n^a,\stackrel{~}{b}_m^c]=0.`$ (16)
Note that in the $`\mu 0`$ limit $`b`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{b}`$ become standard left handed (holomorphic) and right handed (anti-holomorphic) harmonics and eq.(14) becomes the standard expansion.

At the same time the Laplace equation (both for scalars and for tensors) in the pp-wave metric is:

$`\left(2^{}_+_{}x_a^2_{}^2+_a^2+2\mathrm{i}c_{}m^2\right)𝔽(x)=0,`$ (17)
where $`c`$ is the specific constant  ($`c=0`$ for scalars) and $`m`$ is the mass of the field. The solution of this equation is:

$`𝔽(x)e^{\mathrm{i}p^+x^{}+\mathrm{i}p^{}x^+}\chi _\stackrel{}{M}(x,p^+),p^{}=c\left({\displaystyle \frac{8}{2}}+{\displaystyle \underset{a=1}{\overset{8}{}}}M_a\right){\displaystyle \frac{m^2}{2p^+}}`$ (18)
where $`\chi _\stackrel{}{M}(x)=_a\chi _{M_a}(x)`$ are the wave functions of the eight-dimensional harmonic oscillator. In particular, $`\chi _0(x,p^+)=\mathrm{exp}\{p^+x_a^2/2\}`$. Note that the vector $`\stackrel{}{p},p^+,p^{}`$ in the flat space–time is exchanged for $`\stackrel{}{M},p^+,p^{}`$ in the pp–wave background.

Thus, in the pp–wave background the string center of mass degrees of freedom are in a particular oscillator quantum state :

$`|0,p^+\mathrm{or}{\displaystyle \underset{a=1}{\overset{8}{}}}\left(b_{0a}^+\right)^{M_a}|0,p^+=|\stackrel{}{M},p^+,M_a`$
$`\mathrm{where}x|\stackrel{}{M},p^+=\chi _\stackrel{}{M}(x,p^+),`$ (19)
and $`b_0^\pm x_0\pm \mathrm{i}p_0/\mu `$.

Furthermore, above each of these states there is the tower of the string excitations created by the action of the $`b_n^+`$ operators with $`nZ`$, $`n0`$. The mass levels of the ST are given by $`_n\omega _nN_n`$  and the constraint on the physical states is:

$`P={\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}}{\overset{+\mathrm{}}{}}}nN_n=0,`$ (20)
where $`P`$ is the two–dimensional momentum operator and $`N_n`$ is the degeneracy of the $`n`$-th level .

### 2.3 Vertex operators and correlation functions

Let us consider physical states in the theory. Due to the condition (20) the simplest physical string excitations are given by:

$`b_n^{+a}\stackrel{~}{b}_n^{+c}|\stackrel{}{M},p^+,`$ (21)
where $`b_n^+=b_n`$, $`n>0`$. The mass of such a state (above the zero–energy level of the eight–dimensional oscillator) is:

$`m_{\stackrel{}{M},n}=\mu \left({\displaystyle \underset{a=1}{\overset{8}{}}}M_a+2\sqrt{1+{\displaystyle \frac{n^2}{(\mu \alpha ^{}p^+)^2}}}\right).`$ (22)
Let us construct LC conformal vertex operator for creation of such a state.

It is not hard to see that:

$`{\displaystyle 𝑑\tau 𝑑\sigma \left[\left(\mathrm{i}\mathrm{sign}(_\sigma )\sqrt{\mu ^2_\sigma ^2}+\mathrm{i}_\tau \right)^nx^a\right]\left[\left(\mathrm{i}\mathrm{sign}(_\sigma )\sqrt{\mu ^2_\sigma ^2}\mathrm{i}_\tau \right)^nx^c\right]e^{2\mathrm{i}\omega _n\tau }|0}`$
$`b_n^{+a}\stackrel{~}{b}_n^{+c}|0,`$ (23)
where $`|0`$ is the vacuum annihilated by $`b`$’s without $`+`$ and $`\mathrm{sign}(_\sigma )`$ is the sign of the corresponding derivative acting on harmonics of $`x`$. In the limit $`\mu 0`$ such a vertex operator becomes the standard vertex operator for the strings in the flat space:

$`{\displaystyle 𝑑\tau 𝑑\sigma _+^nx^a_{}^nx^ce^{2\mathrm{i}n\tau }},`$ (24)
where $`\sigma `$ and $`\tau `$ are coordinates on the cillinder333Note that if one were using coordinates on the complex plane the exponent under the integral in this expression would be absent. and $`_\pm =/\sigma \pm /\tau `$.

Thus, the local vertex operator for the scalar part of the state (21) is given by:

$`V_\stackrel{}{M}^{p^+n}[x(\sigma ,\tau )]\left[x_a\left(^2+\mu ^2\right)^nx_a\right]e^{2\mathrm{i}\omega _n\tau }e^{\mathrm{i}p^+x^{}+\mathrm{i}p^{}x^+}\chi _\stackrel{}{M}(x,p^+),`$ (25)
where flat space factor $`e^{\mathrm{i}\stackrel{}{p}\stackrel{}{x}}`$ is exchanged for $`\chi _\stackrel{}{M}(x,p^+)`$. The mass-shell condition is:

$`p^{}=m_{\stackrel{}{M},n},`$ (26)
which is imposed to respect conformal invariance.

Let us calculate mass-shell correlation functions for such operators. The K-point function is given by:

$`{\displaystyle }d\sigma _1d\tau _1\overline{V}_{\stackrel{}{M}_1,n_1}^{p_1^+}(\sigma _1,\tau _1){\displaystyle }d\sigma _2d\tau _2\overline{V}_{\stackrel{}{M}_2,n_2}^{p_2^+}(\sigma _2,\tau _2)\mathrm{}`$
$`\mathrm{}{\displaystyle }d\sigma _{K1}d\tau _{K1}V_{\stackrel{}{M}_{K1},n_{K1}}^{p_{K1}^+}(\sigma _{K1},\tau _{K1}){\displaystyle }d\sigma _Kd\tau _KV_{\stackrel{}{M}_K,n_K}^{p_1^+}(\sigma _K,\tau _K)_{MS}=`$
$`=\delta \left({\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{K}{}}}p_i^+\right){\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{K}{}}}\delta \left(p_j^{}m_{\stackrel{}{M},n}\right)\mathrm{CFT}_K`$ (27)
where the $`\delta `$–functions for $`p_j^{}`$ appear from the mass-shell condition; $`\mathrm{CFT}_K`$ is the standard K–point LC correlation function in ST, which is independent of all $`p_j^{}`$. It is a rather complicated correlation function due to the presence of the factors $`\chi _\stackrel{}{M}(x,p^+)`$ . Such a correlation function is necessary to study to understand the relation of this ST to SYM in full detail and, in particular, to understand the structure of the algebra of the vertex operators (25).

Two–point CFT correlation function is easy to calculate444Because the $`\chi `$ factors in eq.(25) can be absorbed into the brackets: $`\chi _0(x,p^+)\mathrm{}\chi _0(x,p^+)=0,p^+|\mathrm{}|0,p^+=\mathrm{}`$. At the same time    $`\chi _\stackrel{}{M}(x,p^+)\mathrm{}\chi _\stackrel{}{M}(x,p^+)=0,p^+|{\displaystyle \underset{a}{}}\left(b_0^a\right)^{M_a}\mathrm{}{\displaystyle \underset{c}{}}\left(b_0^{c+}\right)^{M_c}|0,p^+=`$    $`={\displaystyle \underset{a}{}\left(e^{\mathrm{i}\mu \tau }x_a\right)^{M_a}\mathrm{}\underset{c}{}\left(e^{\mathrm{i}\mu \tau }x_c\right)^{M_c}}.`$  . It is proportional to

$`CFT_2{\displaystyle \underset{a=1}{\overset{8}{}}}\delta \left(M_a^{(1)}M_a^{(2)}\right)\delta _{n_1n_2}\mathrm{}\delta _{p_1^{},p_2^{}}\mathrm{}.`$ (28)
It is not hard to see that the two–point function is nothing but the following transition amplitude in the ST

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{}{M}_1,p_1^+\left|b_{n_1}\stackrel{~}{b}_{n_1}e^{\mathrm{i}H_{LC}\mathrm{\Delta }x^+}b_{n_2}^+\stackrel{~}{b}_{n_2}^+\right|\stackrel{}{M}_2,p_2^+}{\stackrel{}{M}_1,p_1^+|\stackrel{}{M}_1,p_1^+}}`$ (29)
where $`H_{LC}`$ is the Hamiltonian corresponding to the action (13) expressed in terms of the harmonics $`b`$ of the field $`x(\sigma ,\tau )`$.

At the same time, the three–point correlation function is proportional to

$`CFT_3\delta _{p_1^{},p_2^{}+p_3^{}}\mathrm{}.`$ (30)
Calculation of what is standing instead of dots we leave for future. The three–point correlation functions give OPE coefficients which were considered in  in a different approach. For our purposes, however, we need only space–time dependence of the string scattering amplitudes.

Thus, to find a correspondence of the ST in question to the SYM theory we should reproduce such correlation functions from the SYM. This is exactly what we are doing below.

## 3 SUSY Yang-Mills theory side

We start with the identification of the relations between different parameters in the SYM and ST. From eq.(11) it follows that:

$`\alpha ^{}p^+\mu {\displaystyle \frac{J}{\sqrt{g_sN}}}.`$ (31)
From the ABC of the AdS/CFT correspondence we know that $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is the energy of a state in the SYM theory on $`S^3\times R`$, $`J`$ is $`U_R(1)`$ charge, where $`U_R(1)SU_R(4)SO_R(6)`$. The $`SO_R(6)`$ is the group of rotations of the six scalars present in the $`𝒩=4`$ SYM theory, while $`SU_R(4)`$ rotates four Weil fermions. There is the unitarity bound in the SYM theory which states that: $`\mathrm{\Delta }J`$. Furthermore, $`N`$ is the rank of the gauge group. As well it is known from the $`D3`$–brane action that: $`g_s=constg^2`$, where $`g`$ is the SYM coupling constant.

Let us now specify the double scaling limit which one considers on SYM side. We have  $`𝒩=4`$ SYM on $`S^3\times R`$ with the action555The conformal transformation from $`R^4`$ to $`S^3\times R`$ is:    $`ds^2=dx_\mu ^2=dr^2+r^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_3,|x_\mu |=e^tds^2=e^{2t}\left(dt^2+d\mathrm{\Omega }_3\right).`$  Note that under such a conformal map the CFT correlation functions are converted into transition amplitudes.:

$`S_{SYM}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{4g^2}}{\displaystyle d^4x\mathrm{Tr}\left\{F_{\mu \nu }^2+\left(D_\mu ^{}\mathrm{\Phi }_{\overline{I}}\right)^2+[\mathrm{\Phi }_{\overline{I}}^{},\mathrm{\Phi }_{\overline{K}}]^2+\frac{2}{3}\mathrm{\Phi }_{\overline{I}}^2+\mathrm{fermions}\right\}},`$ (32)
where $`\nu =0,\mathrm{},3`$, $``$ is the curvature of $`S^3\times R`$ (i.e. of $`S^3`$) and $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{\overline{I}}`$, $`\overline{I}=4,\mathrm{},9`$ are six real scalars. All the fields in the theory are in the adjoint representation of the gauge group $`U(N)`$. It is important that the $`𝒩=4`$ SYM theory is conformally invariant, because it has vanishing $`\beta `$-function. This explains the conformal coupling of the scalars $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ to the curvature $``$ in eq.(32) . Now it is clear what happens with the SYM theory in the limit (12). One has to consider only those states of the theory on $`S^3\times R`$ which have $`J\mathrm{}`$ charge. To construct corresponding operators we combine two of the six scalars $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ into:

$`Z`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Phi }_8+\mathrm{i}\mathrm{\Phi }_9.`$ (33)
This $`Z`$ field carries unit of the $`U_R(1)`$ charge in question. Hence, for example, the operator which saturates the unitarity bound $`\mathrm{\Delta }=J`$ is:

$`𝒪^J\mathrm{Tr}Z^J.`$ (34)
The state corresponding to this operator plays the role of the vacuum in our further considerations of the double scaling limit.

The proper excitations above such a vacuum should have finite energies (anomalous conformal dimensions) in the double scaling limit (12). According to  the simplest such states are as follows:

$`𝒪_{IK}^{Jn}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{J}{}}}\mathrm{Tr}\left\{\mathrm{\Phi }_IZ^l\mathrm{\Phi }_KZ^{Jl}\right\}e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}ln}{J}},`$
$`\mathrm{where}I=4,\mathrm{},7.`$ (35)
In  it was shown that the one loop anomalous dimensions of these operators are given by ($`J\mathrm{}`$):

$`\mathrm{\Delta }_nJ=2+{\displaystyle \frac{g^2N}{J^2}}n^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{g^2J^2}{N}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}+{\displaystyle \frac{35}{16\pi ^2n^2}}\right)+\mathrm{},`$ (36)
where the second term on the RHS is the planar correction, while the third one is non-planar. Actually it was argued in  that all planar corrections can be summed to give the expression:

$`\mathrm{\Delta }_nJ=2\sqrt{1+{\displaystyle \frac{g^2N}{J^2}}n^2}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{g^2J^2}{N}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}+{\displaystyle \frac{35}{16\pi ^2n^2}}\right)+\mathrm{}.`$ (37)
Under the identification (31) one finds the relation between the spectra of the SYM and ST $`\mathrm{\Delta }_nJ=m_{0,n}`$, where $`m_{0,n}`$ is given by eq.(22) . These formulae show that

$`\lambda ={\displaystyle \frac{g^2N}{J^2}}`$ (38)
plays the role of the effective t’Hooft coupling constant in the double scaling limit. On the SYM side it is the weight for planar loop corrections to correlation functions of the operators like (35). On the ST side, due to eq.(31) , it is the weight for $`\sigma `$–model quantum corrections.

At the same time it is tempting to identify:

$`g_s={\displaystyle \frac{J^2}{N}}.`$ (39)
This means that the non-planar correction in eq.(37) is proportional to $`\lambda g_s^2`$. Furthermore, below we show that

$`\mu ^2,`$ (40)
where $`\mu `$ is the parameter of the pp–wave metric (9).

Thus, the free SYM is reproduced when

$`\lambda 0,{\displaystyle \frac{J^2}{N}}0.`$ (41)
On the ST side this limit corresponds to: $`\mu \frac{1}{\alpha ^{}p^+}`$ Hence, we can neglect the second term in eq.(13) in comparison with the mass term for $`x`$:

$`S_{free}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi }}{\displaystyle 𝑑\tau _0^{2\pi }𝑑\sigma \left\{\left(_\tau x_a^{}(\sigma ,\tau )\right)^2\mu ^2x_a^2(\sigma ,\tau )+\overline{S}(\sigma ,\tau )\left(\mathrm{i}^{}_\tau +\mu \mathrm{\Gamma }^{1234}\right)S(\sigma ,\tau )\right\}},`$ (42)
i.e. free SYM theory corresponds to the infinitely many (parameterized by $`\sigma `$) non-interacting SUSY oscillator quantum mechanics666Note that in this limit all the string excitations like (21) have the same mass which is of the same order as the mass $`\mu `$ of oscillator excitations in the pp–wave background.. The relation between the free SYM and the theory (42) can be established with the full mathematical rigor. Moreover, it is not hard, using the relations (31), (38), (39) and (40), to define the SYM perturbation theory from the theory with the action (42).

The opposite — strong coupling — limit corresponds to the situation when $`\mu \frac{1}{\alpha ^{}p^+}`$. Hence, $`_\sigma x_a=0`$, i.e. all the string excitations become infinitely massive and decouple in the limit. In this situation we obtain the weakly coupled supergravity on the pp–wave background. It’s scalar mode is described by the SUSY oscillator quantum mechanics:

$`S_{sc}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi }}{\displaystyle 𝑑\tau \left\{\left(_\tau x_a^{}(\tau )\right)^2\mu ^2x_a^2(\tau )+\overline{S}(\tau )\left(\mathrm{i}^{}\widehat{}_\tau +\mu \mathrm{\Gamma }^{1234}\right)S(\tau )\right\}}.`$ (43)
It is easy to establish a map between physical states of the SYM theory in the strong coupling limit (plus the double scaling limit) and physical states of the theory (43). However, here we are not going to study this limit in any more detail. From now on we consider SYM theory in the weak coupling limit (41) and tern on first $`\lambda `$ and then $`J^2/N`$.

### 3.1 From SYM to ST Hamiltonian

In this subsection we carefully repeat all the arguments of  and clearly specify the limit in which they are valid. Consider separately all KK modes777This does not mean that any of the KK modes are suppressed in any sense in comparison with the zero modes. In fact, KK modes have masses of the same order as the ”zero–modes”, i.e. of order of $`\mu `$. of the SYM fields on $`S^3`$. On the level of the zero-modes the theory is described by MQM:

$`S_{MQM}{\displaystyle \frac{N}{2}}{\displaystyle }dt\mathrm{Tr}\{\left(D_0A_i\right)^2+\left(D_0\mathrm{\Phi }_I\right)^2+|D_0Z|^2+`$
$`+g^2N[A_i^{},A_j]^2+g^2N[\mathrm{\Phi }_I^{},A_i]^2+g^2N\left|[Z^{},\overline{Z}]\right|^2+`$
$`+g^2N\left|[Z^{},A_i]\right|^2+g^2N\left|[Z^{},\mathrm{\Phi }_i]\right|^2g^2N[\mathrm{\Phi }_I^{},\mathrm{\Phi }_K]^2+`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}\mathrm{\Phi }_I^2+{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}|Z|^2+{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}A_i^2+\mathrm{fermions}\},`$ (44)
where $`D_0=_t+\mathrm{i}g^2NA_0`$ and $`A_i^2`$ term appears due to the SUSY with sixteen supercharges.

It is worth mentioning at this point that everything which is done in this subsection is valid only in the planar limit. Thus, we have to consider $`J^2/N0`$. Then if we take $`\lambda =g^2N/J^20`$ as well we can neglect commutator terms in eq.(44) if we are going to consider only correlation functions of such operators as (35) (which survive in the double scaling limit). Hence, the MQM action in the extreme of the weak coupling limit is:

$`\underset{\lambda 0}{lim}S_{MQM}N{\displaystyle }dt\mathrm{Tr}\{\left(_tA_i\right)^2^{}+\left(_t\mathrm{\Phi }_I\right)^2+|_tZ|^2+`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}\mathrm{\Phi }_I^2+{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}|Z|^2^{}+{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}A_i^2+\mathrm{fermions}\}.`$ (45)
This is true even despite the fact that $`g^2N\mathrm{}`$ in our double scaling limit.

It was shown in  that in the planar approximation the master fields for $`A_i`$, $`\mathrm{\Phi }_I`$ and $`Z`$ in the gaussian MQM are described by (up to a gauge transformation ):

$`Z(t)`$ $``$ $`\alpha ^+(t)`$
$`\mathrm{\Phi }_I(t)`$ $``$ $`\beta _I^+(t),`$
$`A_i(t)`$ $``$ $`\beta _i^+(t),`$ (46)
were $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ are Cunz operators. They obey no any relations except:

$`\beta _a(t^{})\beta _b^+(t)=\delta _{ab}\delta (t^{}t),`$
$`\alpha (t^{})\alpha ^+(t)=\delta (t^{}t),`$
$`\beta _a(t^{})\alpha ^+(t)=0,`$
$`\alpha (t^{})\beta _a^+(t)=0,`$
$`\alpha ^+\alpha +{\displaystyle \underset{a}{}}\beta _a^+\beta _a=\mathrm{𝟏}|00|,`$ (47)
where $`\beta _a=(\beta _I,\beta _i)`$ and the vacuum $`|0`$ is annihilated by all operators without $`+`$.

If one considers in the MQM the states with a large $`J`$ charge it is convenient to define new vacuum and operators:

$`\mathrm{Tr}Z^J|0_{MQM}\left(\alpha ^+\right)^J|0|vac,J,`$
$`\beta _{al}^+\left(\alpha ^+\right)^l\beta _a^+\left(\alpha \right)^l,lJ,\mathrm{etc}.`$ (48)
Similarly one can define $`\alpha _l^+`$. The relations which are obeyed by these new operators are:

$`\beta _{al_1}^+(t)\beta _{bl_2}^+(t^{})=0,\mathrm{if}l_2<l_1,`$
$`\beta _{al_1}(t)\beta _{bl_2}(t^{})=0,\mathrm{if}l_2>l_1,`$
$`\beta _{al_1}(t)\beta _{bl_2}^+(t^{})=\delta _{l_1l_2}\delta _{AB}\delta \left(tt^{}\right),`$ (49)
The question is how to see Heisenberg algebra (algebra of the string oscillator modes) within this bigger algebra. In  it was argued that appropriate candidates for the free string harmonics are the large $`J`$ limits of:

$`b_n(t)={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{J}}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{J}{}}}\beta _l(t)e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}nl}{J}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{J}}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{J}{}}}\mathrm{\Phi }_{[l]}(t)e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}nl}{J}}.`$ (50)
In fact, they obey the relations:

$`[b_n(t),b_m(t^{})]={\displaystyle \frac{1}{J}}{\displaystyle \underset{ll^{}}{\overset{J}{}}}\beta _l(t)\beta _l^{}(t^{})\left(e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}(nl+ml^{})}{J}}e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}(nl^{}+ml)}{J}}\right),`$
$`[b_n(t),b_m^+(t^{})]=\delta _{nm}\delta (tt^{}){\displaystyle \frac{1}{J}}{\displaystyle \underset{l^{}=0}{\overset{J}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{J}{}}}\beta _l^{}^+(t)\beta _l(t^{})e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}(nlml^{})}{J}}.`$ (51)
In  it was argued that one should neglect the terms on the RHS which have the pre–factor $`1/J`$. This is not completely clear for us. At this point we do not know how to find any rigorous and explicit relation between the two algebras in question. But we would like to point out that establishing a relation between Heisenberg and Cunz algebras (which should exist) is very important for the understanding of the SYM/pp–wave correspondence.

Assuming that the arguments of  are correct, it is easy to establish the relation between the Hamiltonians of the MQM and ST on the pp–wave background. In fact, let us consider deformations of the free MQM (45) by the potential terms of eq.(44) . In the large $`J`$ limit the contributions of the most of the potential terms (to the correlation functions of the operators (35)) are suppressed. Only the terms Tr$`|[Z,\mathrm{\Phi }_I]|`$ and Tr$`|[Z,A_i]|`$ do contribute in the limit in question. Thus, substituting the master fields of $`Z`$, $`A`$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ into the Hamiltonian of the theory (44) and using the relations for the master fields, we obtain the Hamiltonian :

$`H_{BMN}{\displaystyle 𝑑t\left\{\underset{al}{}\left[\beta _{al}^+\beta _{al}+g^2N\left(\beta _{al}+\beta _{al}^+\beta _{al+1}\beta _{al+1}^+\right)^2\right]\right\}}.`$ (52)
Now changing from $`\beta `$’s to $`b`$’s we obtain in the large $`J`$ limit:

$`\underset{J\mathrm{}}{lim}H_{BMN}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle _0^L}𝑑s\left\{\left(_tx_a\right)^2^{}+\left(_sx_a\right)^2+x_a^2+\mathrm{fermions}\right\},L=J\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\pi }{g^2N}}},`$ (53)
where $`x`$ is constructed from $`b`$’s as in eq.(14) . Thus, in this way we obtain the LC Hamiltonian of the ST on the pp–wave background.

One can go even further  and establish the correspondence between (gauge invariant) operators/states in MQM and (physical) operators/states in the ST. In fact, using the relation (50) and taking into account the constraint (20) one can establish that:

$`|0^{},p^+`$ $``$ $`\underset{J\mathrm{}}{lim}\mathrm{Tr}Z^J|0^{}_{MQM}\underset{J\mathrm{}}{lim}|vac^{},J`$ (54)
$`b_{nI}^+\stackrel{~}{b}_{nK}^+|0^{},p^+`$ $``$ $`\underset{J\mathrm{}}{lim}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{J}{}}}\mathrm{Tr}\left\{\mathrm{\Phi }_IZ^l\mathrm{\Phi }_KZ^{Jl}\right\}e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}ln}{J}}|0^{}_{MQM},\mathrm{etc}..`$
Similar relations one can establish for the insertions of $`A_i`$ and $`D_0`$. Curiously enough the MQM operators corresponding to the unphysical ST states $`b_n^+\stackrel{~}{b}_m^+|0,p^+`$ with $`nm`$ do vanish .

Moreover, only such SYM operators as in (54) have finite anomalous dimensions in the double scaling limit (12). It was argued in  that all other kinds of SYM operators (for example, with insertions od $`\overline{Z}`$) have divergent anomalous dimensions in the double scaling limit (12), i.e. decouple from OPE. In other words, corresponding MQM states have divergent energies and decouple from the spectrum of the theory in such a limit.

At this stage one could ask about KK modes of the SYM fields on $`S^3`$? Are there any ST states related to them? To answer this question consider the following operators in the SYM theory:

$`𝒪_{\{m_1,m_2,\mathrm{}n_1,n_2,\mathrm{}\}}=\mathrm{Tr}\left\{Z^{l_1}\mathrm{\Phi }_{I_1}^{n_1}Z^{l_2}\left(D_i^{m_1}Z^{l_3}\right)\mathrm{}\left(D_j^{m_2}\mathrm{\Phi }_{I_2}^{n_2}\right)\mathrm{}\right\},\mathrm{etc}..`$ (55)
The states corresponding to these operators are linear combinations of the KK excitations of the SYM theory on $`S^3`$. According to eq. (50) we can relate them to the states in ST:

$`b_{0A}^+|0,p^+=|\mathrm{}1,p^+`$ $``$ $`\underset{J\mathrm{}}{lim}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{J}{}}}\mathrm{Tr}\left\{Z^l(D_iZ)^{}Z^{Jl1}\right\}`$
$`b_{ni}^+\stackrel{~}{b}_{n,j}^+|0,p^+`$ $``$ $`\underset{J\mathrm{}}{lim}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{J}{}}}\mathrm{Tr}\left\{(D_iZ)^{}Z^{l1}(D_jZ)Z^{Jl1}\right\}e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}ln}{J}}`$
$`b_{0i}^+b_{nI}^+\stackrel{~}{b}_{nK}^+|0,p^+`$ $``$ $`\underset{J\mathrm{}}{lim}{\displaystyle \underset{l_1,l_2}{\overset{J}{}}}\mathrm{Tr}\left\{\mathrm{\Phi }_IZ^{l_1}\mathrm{\Phi }_KZ^{l_2}(D_iZ)^{}Z^{Jl_1l_21}\right\}e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}l_1n}{J}},\mathrm{etc}.`$ (56)
where in the last line the differential $`D_i`$ in the sum acts both on $`Z`$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$’s. This is enforced by the commutation relations (16) for $`b_0`$ and $`b_n`$, $`n0`$. Hence, insertions of $`D`$’s into Tr$`Z^J`$ with extra phases are related to such string excitations as $`b_{ni}^+\stackrel{~}{b}_{nj}^+|0,p^+`$. Furthermore, insertions of $`D`$’s (as well as extra insertions of $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ without phase) are related to the oscillator levels of the center of mass of the ST on the pp-wave background. Below we give other arguments that support this identification: in particular, we establish relations between correlation function of these ”KK” operators and scattering amplitudes of strings at excited oscillator levels.

In conclusion, there should be a correspondence between SYM theory on $`S^3\times R`$ in the double scaling limit and the ST on the pp–wave background. But from the presented considerations it is not clear what kind of a relation is this? Is there any formula like eq.(1) for this correspondence? Is this a relation between planar SYM theory and free ST or is this a relation between interacting theories? In the next sections we show that there is a relation between the generating functional of correlation functions of the operators (35) and generating functional of LC transition amplitudes of the ST on the pp-wave background.

### 3.2 Correlation functions

Consider the tree–level value of the two–point correlation function of the operators (35) in the SYM theory on $`S^3\times R`$:

$`\overline{𝒪}_{n_1}^{J_1}(t_1,\stackrel{}{\varphi }_1)𝒪_{n_2}^{J_2}(t_2,\stackrel{}{\varphi }_2)\delta _{J_1,J_2}\delta _{n_1,n_2}\left(G(t_1,\stackrel{}{\varphi }_1|t_2,\stackrel{}{\varphi }_2)\right)^{J_1+2}=`$
$`=\delta _{J_1,J_2}\delta _{n_1,n_2}\left({\displaystyle \underset{L,k,m}{}}C_Le^{\mathrm{i}\mu (L+1)(t_2t_1)}Y_{L,k,m}(\stackrel{}{\varphi }_2\stackrel{}{\varphi }_1)\right)^{J_1+2}=`$
$`=\delta _{J_1,J_2}\delta _{n_1,n_2}[C_0^{J_1+2}e^{\mathrm{i}\mu (J_1+2)(t_2t_1)}+{\displaystyle \underset{L}{}}C_0^{J_1+1}C_L^{}e^{\mathrm{i}\mu (L+J_1+2)(t_2t_1)}{\displaystyle \underset{k,m}{}}Y_{L,k,m}(\stackrel{}{\varphi }_2\stackrel{}{\varphi }_1)+`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{L,L^{}}{}}C_0^{J_1}C_L^{}C_L^{}^{}e^{\mathrm{i}\mu (L+L^{}+J_1+2)(t_2t_1)}{\displaystyle \underset{k,m,k^{},m^{}}{}}Y_{L,k,m}(\stackrel{}{\varphi }_2\stackrel{}{\varphi }_1)Y_{L^{},k^{},m^{}}(\stackrel{}{\varphi }_2\stackrel{}{\varphi }_1)+\mathrm{}],`$ (57)
where we consider scalar part of the operator (35), $`\stackrel{}{\varphi }`$ is the coordinate on $`S^3`$, $`\mu `$ is the inverse radius888We denote it as $`\mu `$ to show its relation to the corresponding parameter of the pp–wave metric (9). of $`S^3`$, $`J_1+2`$ is the classical conformal dimension of the operator (35) and $`G(t_1,\stackrel{}{\varphi }_1|t_2,\stackrel{}{\varphi }_2)`$ is the scalar propagator999For definiteness we use the retard propagator $`(t_2>t_1)`$. All our considerations below can be extended to other kinds of propagators on the both sides of the relation. of the theory eq.(32) on $`S^3\times R`$. Note that the first contribution in the third line is due to the zero–modes on $`S^3`$.

In eq.(57) we have used the expansion of the propagator

$`G(t,\stackrel{}{\varphi })={\displaystyle \underset{L,k,m}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{dp}{2\pi }\frac{e^{\mathrm{i}pt}}{\left(p^2\mu ^2L(L+2)\mu ^2\right)}Y_{L,k,m}(\stackrel{}{\varphi })}={\displaystyle \underset{L,k,m}{}}C_Le^{\mathrm{i}\mu (L+1)t}Y_{L,k,m}(\stackrel{}{\varphi })`$ (58)
in the spherical harmonics $`Y`$ on $`S^3`$. Here $`L(L+2)`$ is the eigen–value corresponding to the $`L`$’s harmonic.

Quantum corrections to eq.(57) within four–dimensional SYM theory were considered in . On the level of planar diagrams the result is given by the shift of the conformal dimensions (37). Hence, in eq.(57) the planar loop corrections are taken into account if we substitute

$`J_1+2J_1+2\sqrt{1+{\displaystyle \frac{g^2N}{J_1^2}}n^2}`$ (59)
As well it is not hard to calculate quantum corrections to the first term in the last line of the eq.(57) within MQM. Amazingly enough the one loop result coincides with the one loop result of the four–dimensional SYM theory. This is in accordance with the considerations of . However, if the higher loop corrections within MQM to the zero mode contribution in eq.(57) do not coincide with (59) this is a good sign in favor that it is four–dimensional SYM which corresponds to the ST on the pp–wave background rather than MQM.

To compare eq.(57) to string scattering amplitudes we have to properly normalize the correlation function (57). It is tempting to divide it by the correlation function $`\mathrm{Tr}\overline{Z}^{J_1}(t_1)\mathrm{Tr}Z^{J_1}(t_2)`$ to cancel the $`J_1`$ part in the value of the conformal dimension101010It is interesting to know whether the necessity of such a change of normalization will change conclusions of  concerning four–point functions.. After that, if we take into account quantum corrections and make the Fourier transform over $`t`$ of each term in the last two lines of eq.(57) we obtain that they are equal to:

$`\delta _{J_1,J_2}\delta _{\mathrm{\Delta }_1,\mathrm{\Delta }_2}\delta \left(p2\mu \sqrt{1+{\displaystyle \frac{g^2N}{J_1^2}}n_1^2}\right)`$
$`\delta _{J_1,J_2}\delta _{\mathrm{\Delta }_1,\mathrm{\Delta }_2}\delta \left(p\mu \left[L+2\sqrt{1+{\displaystyle \frac{g^2N}{J_1^2}}n_1^2}\right]\right)`$
$`\delta _{J_1,J_2}\delta _{\mathrm{\Delta }_1,\mathrm{\Delta }_2}\delta \left(p\mu \left[L+L^{}+2\sqrt{1+{\displaystyle \frac{g^2N}{J_1^2}}n_1^2}\right]\right),\mathrm{etc}..`$ (60)
It is not hard to see that the first term (correlation function of the zero KK harmonics on $`S^3`$) in this expression coincides with the string scattering amplitude (27), (28) for the zero–oscillator harmonics on pp–wave (if we identify $`p=p^{}`$).

Furthermore, $`SO(8)`$ invariance acting on the $`x_a`$ and $`\stackrel{}{M}`$ is broken to $`SO(3)\times SO(5)`$ by the fermions  in the theory. The $`SO(3)`$ factor corresponds to the rotations of $`S^3`$ on SYM side. This is in accordance with what we have discussed at the end of the subsection (3.1): the three among eight quantum numbers $`M_a`$ are related to $`L`$, $`k`$ and $`m`$ of the spherical harmonics. In fact, the last two expressions in eq.(60) are equal to the corresponding correlation functions (27), (28), where only three $`M_a`$ are turned on rather than all eight. Thus, we can reproduce full two–point correlation function in SYM theory on $`S^3\times R`$ from the ST on the pp–wave background111111Note that the operator mixing of  is not important for us at this stage. First, we consider planar approximation. Second, even if we were to take into account the mixing it would not change our conclusions about space–time dependence of the correlation functions..

All our considerations so far establish relation between planar approximation of SYM theory and free string theory. To make the first step towards establishing relation between interacting theories we have to consider three–point functions of the zero modes of the operators (35). For scalar parts of the operators (35) they are given by:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\overline{𝒪}_{n_1}^{J_1}(t_1)𝒪_{n_2}^{J_2}(t_2)𝒪_{n_3}^{J_3}}{\mathrm{Tr}\overline{Z}^{J_1}(t_1)\mathrm{Tr}Z^{J_2}(t_2)\mathrm{Tr}Z^{J_3}(t_3)}}`$
$`\delta _{J_1,J_2+J_3}\delta _{\mathrm{\Delta }_1,\mathrm{\Delta }_2+\mathrm{\Delta }_3}C_{J_1J_2J_3}\mathrm{exp}\left\{\mathrm{i}\mu {\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_1+\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_2\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_3}{2}}(t_2t_1)\right\}\times `$
$`\times \mathrm{exp}\left\{\mathrm{i}\mu {\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_1+\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_3\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_2}{2}}(t_3t_1)\right\}\mathrm{exp}\left\{\mathrm{i}\mu {\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_2+\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_3\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_1}{2}}(t_3t_2)\right\}=`$
$`=\delta _{J_1,J_2+J_3}\delta _{\mathrm{\Delta }_1,\mathrm{\Delta }_2+\mathrm{\Delta }_3}C_{J_1J_2J_3}e^{\mathrm{i}\mu \stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_1t_1}e^{\mathrm{i}\mu \stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_2t_2}e^{\mathrm{i}\mu \stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_3t_3}`$ (61)
where $`t_3>t_2>t_3`$ and the full conformal dimensions of the operators (35) are given by $`\mathrm{\Delta }=\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}+J`$. The structure constants $`C_{J_1J_2J_3}`$ should be compared to the $`\mathrm{CFT}_3`$ to find the full agreement between this correlation function and (27), (30). At this stage, however, we see that space–time dependencies agree. In fact, after the Fourier transform of eq.(61) over $`t_1`$, $`t_2`$ and $`t_3`$ we obtain that the three–point correlation function is equal to:

$`\delta _{J_1,J_2+J_3}\delta _{\mathrm{\Delta }_1,\mathrm{\Delta }_2+\mathrm{\Delta }_3}C_{J_1J_2J_3}\delta \left(p_1\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_1\right)\delta \left(p_2\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_2\right)\delta \left(p_3\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_3\right).`$ (62)
This perfectly agrees with (27), (30) if $`p=p^{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$’s are given by eq.(59) (and if the structure constants do coincide). Taking into account the agreement between $`\mathrm{CFT}_3`$ and structure constants $`C_{J_1J_2J_3}`$ found in  we can reproduce full four–dimensional SYM correlation function on $`S^3\times R`$ from the ST. It would be interesting, however, to reproduce the relation between $`\mathrm{CFT}_3`$ and $`C_{J_1J_2J_3}`$ within our approach.

## 4 Conclusions and Acknowledgments

In conclusion, we found the correspondence between the interacting ST on the pp–wave background and the interacting SYM on $`S^3\times R`$ in the double scaling limit. However, the explanation for this relation is still missing: our observations as well as those of , etc. still look mysterious for us.

Apart from that there are several immediate questions answers to which are not obvious for us. It is not obvious how it happens that superstring theory torus correction does not vanish to reproduce non–planar correction in eq.(37) ? It would be interesting to see whether the operator mixing of  is somehow related to the fact that multiple–point SYM correlators are linear combinations of the multiple–point ST correlators.

Furthermore, one of the possible future directions is to calculate the following correlation function:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{vac,J_1\left|_{l_1}\beta _{l_1}e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}l_1n_1}{J_1}}_{l_2}\beta _{l_2}e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}l_2n_1}{J_1}}e^{\mathrm{i}H_{BMN}\mathrm{\Delta }t}_{l_3}\beta _{l_3}^+e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}l_3n_2}{J_2}}_{l_4}\beta _{l_4}^+e^{\frac{2\pi \mathrm{i}l_4n_2}{J_2}}\right|vac,J_2}{vac,J_1|vac,J_1}}`$ (63)
for finite $`J`$. This correlation function is the discretized analog of eq.(29) , where $`H_{BMN}`$ is given by eq.(52) . Hence, its should give a regularization of the string theory amplitudes.

I would like to acknowledge discussions with A.Mikhailov, A.Tseytlin, A.Gorsky, A.Marshakov, G.Semenoff, M.Staudacher and especially with N.Ishibashi and A.Gerasimov. I would like to thank Kitazawa san, Iso san, Kawai san, Yoneya san, Hashimoto san, Osayuki san, Sugawara san and especially Ishibashi san, Tada san and Suzuki san for hospitality in KEK, RIKEN, Kanazawa Univ. and Hongo and Komaba Tokyo Univ. where this project was initiated. This work was partially supported by the grant RFBR 02-02-17260 and INTAS-00-390.


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# Quantum field theory approach to the vacuum replica in QCD

## Abstract

Quantum field theory is used to describe the contribution of possible new QCD vacuum replica to hadronic processes. This sigma-like new state has been recently shown to be likely to appear for any realistic four-quark interaction kernel as a consequence of chiral symmetry. The local operator creating the replica vacuum state is constructed explicitly. Applications to physical processes are outlined.

It was found recently that the fermionic vacuum of QCD is very likely to possess a replica. The first evidence for such a state was given long ago when the oscillator-type confining force was found to support and infinite tower of excited vacuum states. A further analysis demonstrates that the very existence of the replica depends both on the dimensionality of the space-time and on the strength and the form of the interaction, and, for a class of realistic chiral models described below, one, and only one, replica was shown to exist. Furthermore, the existence of such a replica was numerically shown to be stable against variations of the model parameters. The theory is given by the Hamiltonian

$$H=d^3x\overline{\psi }(i\stackrel{}{\gamma }\stackrel{}{})\psi +d^3xd^3y\left[\overline{\psi }\gamma _\mu \frac{\lambda ^a}{2}\psi \right]_xK_{\mu \nu }^{ab}(\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{y})\left[\overline{\psi }\gamma _\nu \frac{\lambda ^b}{2}\psi \right]_y$$
(1)
with the current-current interaction defined by the kernel $`K_{\mu \nu }^{ab}`$, for which various forms can be considered ranging from delta-functional and oscillator-type to more realistic linear form (see, for example, ). Following the paper, we consider the kernel which incorporates the linear confinement, the colour-Coulomb interaction, and the constant term:

$$K_{\mu \nu }^{ab}(\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{y})=\delta ^{ab}g_{\mu \nu }\left[g_{\mu 0}\sigma _0|\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{y}|\frac{\alpha _s}{|\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{y}|}\left(1e^{\mathrm{\Lambda }|\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{y}|}\right)+U\right].$$
(2)
It can be argued that such an interaction is fixed by the only dimensional parameter given by the nonperturbative scale, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }U\sqrt{\sigma _0}`$, which takes the standard value, and so does the strong coupling constant: $`\sqrt{\sigma _0}300MeV`$, $`\alpha _s=0.3`$. The standard Bogoliubov technique is employed to define the dressed quarks parameterized by the chiral angle $`\phi (p)`$. The vacuum energy is to be minimal for the true vacuum state, and this yields the mass-gap equation $`\delta E_{\mathrm{vac}}/\delta \phi =0`$. In Fig. 1 we give the profiles of the solutions to the mass-gap equation for the kernel (2). Both nontrivial solutions, $`\phi _0`$ and $`\phi _1`$, were shown to be extremely resistant against variations of the interaction, and no more solutions were found. The mere existence of such a replica, as described by the second solution $`\phi _1`$, is enough for what follows without the need to refer to any given particular model .

The operator connecting the BCS vacuum with the replica is

$$|1=e^{\mathrm{\Delta }Q^{}\mathrm{\Delta }Q}|0S|0,\mathrm{\Delta }Q^{}=\frac{1}{2}\frac{d^3p}{(2\pi )^3}\mathrm{\Delta }\phi C_{pcf}^{},$$
(3)
where the operator $`C_{pcf}^{}`$ creates a pair of the quark and the antiquark of a given colour and flavour with the vacuum quantum numbers $`0^+`$ and with the relative momentum $`2\stackrel{}{p}`$. Using Eq. (3) one can show that the two vacua are orthogonal. For the unitary operator $`S`$ from (3) we find the following representation in terms of the quark fields:

$$S=T\mathrm{exp}\left[d^4xf(x_0)\overline{\psi }(\stackrel{}{x},x_0)(i\stackrel{}{\alpha }\stackrel{}{})\psi (\stackrel{}{x},x_0)\right],$$
(4)
where the Fourier transform of the even function $`f(x_0)`$ is $`f(\omega )=f(\omega )=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\phi (p_{})}{2p_{}}`$, $`p_{}`$ being such that $`E_{\mathrm{quark}}(p_{})=\omega /2`$. The operator (4) creates a local excitation of the vacuum, $`f`$ playing the role of an external field. Thus we define the following Feynman rules: each f-vertex is to be supplied by $`f(\omega )(\stackrel{}{\alpha }\stackrel{}{p})`$ with $`\omega `$ and $`\stackrel{}{p}`$ being the energy pumped to the system in this vertex and the floating by three-dimensional momentum, respectively. There is an integral over the energy $`\omega `$. The full diagram is to be supplied by an overall energy conservation $`\delta `$-function and multiplied by the time density of the replica excitations, $`n=N/T`$, which accounts for the fact that during the full time of the hadronic process $`T`$ the replica has been excited $`N`$ times. These rules can be used to consider corrections to hadronic processes due to the replica excitations at the intermediate stages of the reaction. For example, as the first check of selfconsistency, one can rederive the orthogonality condition for the two vauum states:

$`0|1=1V{\displaystyle \frac{d^4p}{(2\pi )^4}\frac{d\omega }{2\pi }f(\omega )f(\omega )\left[(\stackrel{}{\alpha }\stackrel{}{p})S(p_0,\stackrel{}{p})(\stackrel{}{\alpha }\stackrel{}{p})S(p_0+\omega ,\stackrel{}{p})\right]}+\mathrm{}`$
$`=1V{\displaystyle \frac{d^3p}{(2\pi )^3}\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\phi }{2}\right)^2}+\mathrm{}=\mathrm{exp}\left[V{\displaystyle \frac{d^3p}{(2\pi )^3}\mathrm{ln}\left(\mathrm{cos}^2\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\phi }{2}\right)}\right]\underset{V\mathrm{}}{}0.`$
In other words, we predict the existence of a new scalar particle-like object with the dominating hadronic mode of decay being the two-pion mode and which exists in the theory together with the standard $`\sigma `$-meson — the solution of the bound-state Bethe-Salpeter equation.