Uplifting the baryonic branch: a test for backreacting anti-D3-branes

TL;DR

The paper addresses whether backreacting anti-D3-branes at the KS tip uplift the baryonic branch of the dual gauge theory. It develops a general machinery to compute the baryonic-branch mass $m^2_U$ from a generalized Schrödinger equation for the mode tilde_z in a $Z_2$-even perturbation of KS, and tests it on gaugino-mass perturbations (where $m^2_U=0$ at linear order) and on D3/anti-D3 backreaction. The closed-string results for the uplift mass are cross-checked against open-string probe calculations, yielding a consistent ratio $m^2_{D3}/m^2_{\bar{D}3}\approx 0.512567$, in agreement with the probe result. The findings support the linearized KPV state as a valid backreacted background in the regime $g_s p \ll M$, and illustrate a robust holographic boundary-condition dictionary for baryonic-branch deformations.

Abstract

Placing D3 or anti-D3-branes at the tip of the Klebanov-Strassler background results in uplifting the baryonic branch of the moduli space of the dual field theory. In this paper we derive a mass formula for the scalar particle associated with the motion along the baryonic branch, from both open and closed string points of view. We show that both methods give the same mass at linear order in number of (anti)D3-branes, thus providing a comprehensive check for the recently found linearized supergravity solution describing backreacting anti-D3-branes at the tip.