Effervescent Spikes in M-theory

Abstract

AdS${}_3\times$ S${}^3\times$ S${}^3$ solutions warped over a Riemann surface, $\hat{I}\pounds$, are indexed by a parameter, ${\hat{I}}^3$, that defines the superconformal algebra, $D(2,1;{\hat{I}}^3)\oplus D(2,1;{\hat{I}}^3)$ they preserve. We show that these solutions come from multiple back-reacted M2-M5 spikes, and that different values of ${\hat{I}}^3$ correspond to different scaling limits of the same M2-M5 solutions. We find that when ${\hat{I}}^3$ switches from positive to negative, the infrared region of the AdS${}_3$ switches from the tip of spikes, far from the M5 branes, to the bottom of the spikes, far from the M2 branes. We also explain how the bubbling negative-${\hat{I}}^3$ solutions emerge from the geometric transition of multiple M2-M5 spikes.

44 pages, 8 figures