Giant gravitons in D$p$-brane holography

Abstract

We consider half BPS operators in maximally supersymmetric Yang Mills (SYM) in $p+1$ dimensions. These operators satisfy trace relations that are identical to those discussed in the $p=3$ case ($\mathcal{N} = 4$ SYM). Nevertheless, the bulk explanation of these trace relations must differ from the $p = 3$ case as their holographic duals are not AdS spacetimes. We identify giant graviton solutions in the dual holographic backgrounds for $-1 \le p \le 4$. In the 't Hooft limit, these giants are D$(6-p)$-branes that wrap a $S_{6-p} \subset S_{8-p}$. We also follow the giants into the strong coupling region where they become other branes. Despite propagating in a non-AdS geometry, we find that the branes "feel" like they are in AdS. This is closely related to the emergent scaling symmetry present in these boundary theories.