1/2-BPS states in M theory and defects in the dual CFTs

Abstract

We study supersymmetric branes in AdS_7 x S^4 and AdS_4 x S^7. We show that in the former case the membranes should be viewed as M5 branes with fluxes and we identify two types of such fivebranes (they are analogous to giant gravitons and to dual giants). In AdS_4 x S^7 we find both M5 branes with fluxes and freestanding stacks of membranes. We also go beyond probe approximation and construct regular supergravity solutions describing geometries produced by the branes. The metrics are completely specified by one function which satisfies either Laplace or Toda equation and we give a complete classification of boundary conditions leading to smooth geometries. The brane configurations discussed in this paper are dual to various defects in three- and six-dimensional conformal field theories.

82 pages, 12 figures, added refs

References in corpus (3)

• Gravity solutions for the D1-D5 system with angular momentum
• Bubbling AdS and droplet descriptions of BPS geometries in IIB supergravity
• A class of BPS time-dependent 3-charge microstates from spectral flow

Cited by in corpus (11)

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• Strings ending on branes from supergravity
• 1/4-BPS M-theory bubbles with SO(3) x SO(4) symmetry
• Exact Half-BPS Flux Solutions in M-theory III: Existence and rigidity of global solutions asymptotic to AdS4 x S7
• AdS spacetimes from wrapped D3-branes
• A prediction for bubbling geometries
• Operator Product Expansion of Wilson surfaces from M5-branes
• The Self-dual String Soliton in AdS_4\times S^7 spacetime
• Inverting geometric transitions: explicit Calabi-Yau metrics for the Maldacena-Nunez solutions