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Dual superconformal symmetry, and the amplitude/Wilson loop connection. (English) Zbl 1245.81267

Summary: We show that tree level superstring theories on certain supersymmetric backgrounds admit a symmetry which we call “fermionic T-duality”. This is a non-local redefinition of the fermionic worldsheet fields similar to the redefinition we perform on bosonic variables when we do an ordinary T-duality. This duality maps a supersymmetric background to another supersymmetric background with different RR fields and a different dilaton. We show that a certain combination of bosonic and fermionic T-dualities maps the full superstring theory on \(AdS_{5} \times S^{5}\) back to itself in such a way that gluon scattering amplitudes in the original theory map to something very close to Wilson loops in the dual theory. This duality maps the “dual superconformal symmetry” of the original theory to the ordinary superconformal symmetry of the dual model. This explains the dual superconformal invariance of planar scattering amplitudes of \(N = 4\) super Yang Mills and also sheds some light on the connection between amplitudes and Wilson loops. In the appendix, we propose a simple prescription for open superstring MHV tree amplitudes in a flat background.

MSC:

81T60 Supersymmetric field theories in quantum mechanics
81T18 Feynman diagrams
81T30 String and superstring theories; other extended objects (e.g., branes) in quantum field theory
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