Bethe Ansatz for Quantum Strings

TL;DR

The paper introduces a discrete Bethe ansatz tailored to the quantum string spectrum on AdS_5×S^5 in the SU(2) subsector, incorporating an exponential wrapping-like term in the S-matrix to capture string-specific dynamics. In the thermodynamic limit, it reproduces the classical integral equations for spinning strings; in the near-BMN regime it yields the BMN spectrum and 1/J corrections for arbitrary M-impurity states, including separated and confluent mode numbers; at strong coupling it produces the characteristic 2(n^2 λ)^{1/4} growth for massive string modes, with the exponential term driving the behavior. The authors further propose an interpolating Bethe ansatz with wrapping functions c_r(g,L) to bridge gauge and string theories, offering a framework to understand wrapping effects and potential paths toward a full AdS/CFT quantization. Overall, the work furnishes a coherent, testable discretization of string quantization that is consistent with current string theory results and motivates a broader interpolating scheme between perturbative gauge theory and string theory.

Abstract

We propose Bethe equations for the diagonalization of the Hamiltonian of quantum strings on AdS_5 x S^5 at large string tension and restricted to certain large charge states from a closed su(2) subsector. The ansatz differs from the recently proposed all-loop gauge theory asymptotic Bethe ansatz by additional factorized scattering terms for the local excitations. We also show that our ansatz quantitatively reproduces everything that is currently known about the string spectrum of these states. Firstly, by construction, we recover the integral Bethe equations describing semiclassical spinning strings. Secondly, we explain how to derive the 1/J energy corrections of arbitrary M-impurity BMN states, provide explicit, general formulae for both distinct and confluent mode numbers, and compare to asymptotic gauge theory. In the special cases M=2,3 we reproduce the results of direct quantization of Callan et al. Lastly, at large string tension and relatively small charge we recover the famous 2 (n^2 lambda)^(1/4) asymptotics of massive string modes at level n. Remarkably, this behavior is entirely determined by the novel scattering terms. This is qualitatively consistent with the conjecture that these terms occur due to wrapping effects in gauge theory. Our finding does not in itself cure the disagreements between gauge and string theory, but leads us to speculate about the structure of an interpolating Bethe ansatz for the AdS/CFT system at finite coupling and charge.