Beyond AdS$_2$/dCFT$_1$: Insertions in Two Wilson Loops

Abstract

We consider two-point correlators of local operator insertions in a system of two Wilson-Maldacena loops in ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on both sides of the AdS/CFT correspondence. On the holographic side the correlator of two Wilson-Maldacena loops is given by a classical string world-sheet which in one phase connects two asymptotically AdS$_2$ regions and in the other phase is given by two disconnected AdS$_2$ caps; this configuration breaks supersymmetry as well as conformal invariance. We present a complete systematic account of the string world-sheet fluctuations, including the fermionic sector, and study the behavior of the holographic two-point correlators. On the field theory side we compute certain two-point correlators of local operator insertions by resumming sets of ladder diagrams. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of previously developed methods in tackling this non-conformal, non-susy regime.