Holography from lattice $N=4$ super Yang-Mills

Abstract

In this paper we use lattice simulation to study four dimensional $N=4$ super Yang-Mills (SYM) theory. We have focused on the three color theory on lattices of size $12^4$ and for 't Hooft couplings up to $\lambda=40.0$. Our lattice action is based on a discretization of the Marcus or GL twist of $N=4$ SYM and retains one exact supersymmetry for non-zero lattice spacing. We show that lattice theory exists in a single non-Abelian Coulomb phase for all 't Hooft couplings. Furthermore the static potential we obtain from correlators of Polyakov lines is in good agreement with that obtained from holography - specifically the potential has a Coulombic form with a coefficent that varies as the square root of the 't Hooft coupling.