A large spin limit of strings on AdS_5 x S^5 in a non-compact sector

Abstract

We study the scaling law of the energy spectrum of classical strings on AdS_5 x S^5, in particular, in the SL(2) sector for large S (AdS spin) and fixed J (S^1 \subset S^5 spin). For any finite gap solution, we identify the limit in which the energy exhibits the logarithmic scaling in S, characteristic to the anomalous dimension of low-twist gauge theory operators. Our result therefore shows that the log S scaling, first observed by Gubser, Klebanov and Polyakov for the folded string, is universal also on the string side, suggesting another interesting window to explore the AdS/CFT correspondence as in the BMN/Frolov-Tseytlin limit.