OZR back-up mandate Paolo Vallerino

This research proposal aims to advance the study of the strong-coupling regime of Quantum Field Theories (QFTs) and address open problems in String Theory within the Anti-de Sitter/Conformal Field Theory (AdS/CFT) correspondence. AdS/CFT establishes a duality between a string theory in a (d+1)-dimensional AdS spacetime and a conformal field theory on its d-dimensional boundary. The benchmark realization relates N=4 Super Yang–Mills (SYM) theory to Type IIB string theory on AdS. The project is designed to investigate the AdS/CFT duality beyond this canonical setup, focusing on two complementary directions. First, it will investigate N=2 Superconformal Field Theories (SCFTs) with known holographic duals. These theories, possessing half the supersymmetry of N=4 SYM, exhibit richer dynamics and offer a fertile arena for studying scattering in AdS, particularly in the presence of D-branes. Second, it will explore Boundary Conformal Field Theories (BCFTs), with special emphasis on supersymmetric boundaries in N=4 SYM, which admit holographic realizations and add structural complexity.
The methodology is purely theoretical, relying on non-perturbative techniques for SCFTs, notably supersymmetric localization, alongside holographic tools to analyze and match the dual gravitational descriptions. Expected outcomes include deeper insights into the strong-coupling behavior of highly non-trivial CFTs and progress in understanding their dual quantum-gravity counterparts.