Confinement and Condensates Without Fine Tuning in Supergravity Duals of Gauge Theories

TL;DR

The paper investigates confinement in strongly coupled gauge theories via a five-dimensional gauged supergravity dual, revealing a universal infrared runaway solution whose qualitative features are largely independent of UV details. The authors derive a model-independent IR metric near a singularity, $ds^2 = dy^2 + |y-a|^{1/2} dx^\mu dx_\mu$, and show universal condensate behavior $\langle O_a \rangle = \tfrac{1}{2} K_a$, along with a generic area-law for Wilson loops indicating confinement and a mass gap. They illustrate the framework with a concrete two-scalar example (dilaton and a scalar) that reproduces the IR universality and yields string tensions $T_{F1}=e^{m+\rho}$ and $T_{D1}=e^{m-\rho}$, confirming confinement for all admissible parameter ranges. The results establish IR universality across type IIB, type 0, and non-critical string contexts, suggesting that confinement and mass-gap features may persist beyond the strict supergravity regime. Overall, the work provides a unifying, robust picture for confining holographic gauge theories via generic IR dynamics in 5-d gauged supergravity.

Abstract

We discuss a solution of the equations of motion of five-dimensional gauged type IIB supergravity that describes confining SU(N) gauge theories at large N and large 't Hooft parameter. We prove confinement by computing the Wilson loop, and we show that our solution is generic, independent of most of the details of the theory. In particular, the Einstein-frame metric near its singularity, and the condensates of scalar, composite operators are universal. Also universal is the discreteness of the glueball mass spectrum and the existence of a mass gap. The metric is also identical to a generically confining solution recently found in type 0B theory.