Speeding Strings

Abstract

There is a class of single trace operators in ${\cal N}=4$ Yang-Mills theory which are related by the AdS/CFT correspondence to classical string solutions. Interesting examples of such solutions corresponding to periodic trajectories of the Neumann system were studied recently. In our paper we study a generalization of these solutions. We consider strings moving with large velocities. We show that the worldsheet of the fast moving string can be considered as a perturbation of the degenerate worldsheet, with the small parameter being the relativistic factor $\sqrt{1-v^2}$. The series expansion in this relativistic factor should correspond to the perturbative expansion in the dual Yang-Mills theory. The operators minimizing the anomalous dimension in the sector with given charges correspond to periodic trajectories in the mechanical system which is closely related to the product of two Neumann systems.