Abstract:

An interesting instance of the AdS/CFT correspondence is the case of AdS3/CFT2. Strings on AdS_3xS^3xS^3xS^1 can be completely understood when the background is purely NSNS thanks to 2-dimensional conformal symmetry. Unfortunately this symmetry is not as useful in the case of RR backgrounds. However, it appears that the integrability techniques that proved successful in understanding the planar limit of AdS5/CFT4 may be applicable also here, which sparked new interest and efforts in this field.

I will review such techniques and report on some recent developments (arXiv:1211.5119, 1212.0505) in the understanding of the string spectrum on AdS_3xS^3xS^3xS^1, exploring in particular the limit in which one S^3 blows up to a flat space.