Twisted BPS decoupling limits and AdS/CFT

Abstract

BPS decoupling limits of string and M-theory have led to profound insights into gravity and non-perturbative quantum theory, most notably with the AdS/CFT correspondence. In this paper, we initiate the study of twisted BPS decoupling limits, in which the relevant BPS states carry momentum along circle fibers geometrically twisted over a base space. Prime examples are found in type IIB string theory on AdS${}_5\times S^5$, for which the twisted limits involve the BPS states of the global symmetry algebra PSU$(2,2|4)$. In general, string fluctuations in a twisted BPS decoupling limit are described by non-relativistic sigma-models on emergent non-Lorentzian target spaces with a natural symplectic structure. This further supports the broader connection between BPS limits and non-Lorentzian geometry. We introduce analogous limits of D-branes as well, probing the same symplectic structure as the string. For AdS${}_5\times S^5$, twisted BPS decoupling limits are dual to Spin Matrix theory limits of $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, providing tractable and explicit quantum-mechanical descriptions of non-perturbative regimes of AdS/CFT.

17 pages, 1 appendix