Towards the solution to the giant graviton puzzle

TL;DR

This paper resolves the giant graviton puzzle in AdS/CFT by proposing a two-step dictionary: boundary chiral primaries map to vacua of an auxiliary theory living on $L$ coincident gravitons, and these vacua in turn correspond to giant-graviton configurations. Through a dualization of the giant gravitons and an analysis of the ${\cal N}=1^*$ D0-brane theory, the authors show that the unpolarized KK graviton is unphysical in the giant-graviton regime and that sphere and AdS giants have non-overlapping ranges of validity, eliminating the apparent 3-to-1 degeneracy. The one-to-one map between boundary operators and auxiliary vacua explains how a given chiral primary can have two bulk duals—one particle-like and one multi-particle—depending on the parameter regime, aligning with and extending the CJR correspondence. The framework also leverages T-duality, BDHM, and M-theory uplifts to unify the bulk descriptions and highlights how polarization channels impose distinct field-theory interpretations while preserving a consistent AdS/CFT dictionary.

Abstract

In this note we present several ideas toward the solution to the giant graviton puzzle - the apparent multiplicity of supergravity states dual to field theory chiral primary operators. We use the fact that, for certain ranges of the angular momentum, giant gravitons can be mapped into vacua of a dual theory to argue that the sphere and $AdS$ giant gravitons have very different boundary descriptions, and that an unpolarized KK graviton is unphysical in the regime where giant gravitons exist. We also show that a generic boundary state can correspond to different giant graviton configurations, which have non-overlapping ranges of validity.

Figures (1)

• Figure 1: The dualities behind of the proposed solution.