Strings on Plane Waves and AdS x S

Abstract

We consider the RNS superstrings in $Ad{S}_3\times S^3\times \mathcal{M}$, where $\mathcal{M}$ may be $K3$ or $T^4$, based on $SL(2,R)$ and SU(2) WZW models. We construct the physical states and calculate the spectrum. A subsector of this theory describes strings propagating in the six dimensional plane wave obtained by the Penrose limit of $Ad{S}_3\times S^3\times \mathcal{M}$. We reproduce the plane wave spectrum by taking $J$ and the radius to infinity. We show that the plane wave spectrum actually coincides with the large $J$ spectrum at fixed radius, i.e. in $Ad{S}_3\times S^3$. Relation to some recent topics of interest such as the Frolov-Tseytlin string and strings with critical tension or in zero radius $AdS$ are discussed.

34 pages, harvmac. V2: reference added

References in corpus (4)

• Spinning strings and AdS/CFT duality
• On lightcone string field theory from Super Yang-Mills and holography
• String bits in small radius AdS and weakly coupled N=4 Super Yang-Mills Theory: I
• Light-Cone String Field Theory in a Plane Wave Background