Reggeon exchange from AdS/CFT

Abstract

Using the AdS/CFT correspondence in a confining backgroundand the worldline formalism of gauge field theories,we compute scattering amplitudes with an exchange of quark andantiquark in the $t$-channel corresponding to Reggeon exchange. Itrequires going beyond the eikonal approximation, which was used when studying Pomeron exchange. The wordline path integral is evaluated through the determination of minimal surfaces and their boundaries by the saddle-point method at large gauge coupling g^2N_c. We find a Regge behaviour with linear Regge trajectories. The slope is related to the $q\bar q$ static potential and is four times the Pomeronslope obtained in the same framework. A contribution to the intercept, related to the Lüscher term, comes from the fluctuations around the minimal surface.