Supersymmetric Defect Expansion in CFT from AdS Supertubes

TL;DR

This work analyzes how planar defects in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM, viewed via the AdS/dCFT correspondence, can supersymmetry-preservingly expand into higher-dimensional tubular defects when electric charge and angular momentum are added, yielding geometries of the form $\mathbb{R}^q \times \mathcal{C}$. The dual description uses D$(p+2)$-tubes in $AdS_5\times S^5$, with the cross-section $\mathcal{C}$ arbitrary, and the analysis derives the necessary BPS conditions and kappa-symmetry projections that ensure supersymmetry is preserved. The paper distinguishes expansions along ${\rm AdS}_5$ and along ${\rm S}^5$, showing conformal invariance is preserved only in restricted cases (e.g., straight cross-sections with vanishing worldvolume BI fields), while many expanded defects are non-conformal yet supersymmetric. It further investigates D3-branes ending on D5-tubes, the possibility of gauge-group jumps across defects, and networks of multiple defects, highlighting probe-limit constraints, end-point structures, and T-duality subtleties that shape the holographic defect dynamics and their CFT interpretations.

Abstract

The AdS/dCFT correspondence is used to show that a planar q-dimensional superconformal CFT defect expands, under the addition of electric charge and angular momentum, to a supersymmetric higher-dimensional defect of geometry R^q x C, where C is an arbitrary curve. The dual string theory process is the expansion of D-branes and fundamental strings into a supertube in an AdS background.