Wilson loops in large N field theories

@article{Maldacena1998WilsonLI,
title={Wilson loops in large N field theories},
author={J. Maldacena},
journal={Physical Review Letters},
year={1998},
volume={80},
pages={4859-4862}
}
We propose a method to calculate the expectation values of an operator similar to the Wilson loop in the large $N$ limit of field theories. We consider $N\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}4$ $(3+1)$-dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. The prescription involves calculating the area of a fundamental string world sheet in certain supergravity backgrounds. We also consider the case of coincident $M$-theory five-branes where one is led to calculating the area of $M$-theory… Expand
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