Yaron Oz

Bio: Yaron Oz is an academic researcher from Tel Aviv University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Gauge theory & Supergravity. The author has an hindex of 50, co-authored 287 publications receiving 14380 citations. Previous affiliations of Yaron Oz include University of California, Berkeley & Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Large N Field Theories, String Theory and Gravity

Abstract: We review the holographic correspondence between field theories and string/M theory, focusing on the relation between compactifications of string/M theory on Anti-de Sitter spaces and conformal field theories. We review the background for this correspondence and discuss its motivations and the evidence for its correctness. We describe the main results that have been derived from the correspondence in the regime that the field theory is approximated by classical or semiclassical gravity. We focus on the case of the N=4 supersymmetric gauge theory in four dimensions, but we discuss also field theories in other dimensions, conformal and non-conformal, with or without supersymmetry, and in particular the relation to QCD. We also discuss some implications for black hole physics.

An Alternative to compactification

Abstract: Conventional wisdom states that Newton's force law implies only four noncompact dimensions. We demonstrate that this is not necessarily true in the presence of a nonfactorizable background geometry. The specific example we study is a single 3-brane embedded in five dimensions. We show that even without a gap in the Kaluza-Klein spectrum, four-dimensional Newtonian and general relativistic gravity is reproduced to more than adequate precision.

Non-Gaussian features of primordial fluctuations in single field inflationary models

Abstract: We compute the three point correlation functions for primordial scalar and tensor fluctuations in single field inflationary models We obtain explicit expressions in the slow roll limit where the answer is given terms of the two usual slow roll parameters In a particular limit the three point functions are determined completely by the tilt of the spectrum of the two point functions We also make some remarks on the relation of this computation to dS/CFT and AdS/CFT We emphasize that (A)dS/CFT can be viewed as a statement about the wavefunction of the universe

N=6 superconformal Chern-Simons-matter theories, M2-branes and their gravity duals

Abstract: We construct three dimensional Chern-Simons-matter theories with gauge groups U(N) × U(N) and SU(N) × SU(N) which have explicit = 6 superconformal symmetry. Using brane constructions we argue that the U(N) × U(N) theory at level k describes the low energy limit of N M2-branes probing a C4/Zk singularity. At large N the theory is then dual to M-theory on AdS4 × S7/Zk. The theory also has a 't Hooft limit (of large N with a fixed ratio N/k) which is dual to type IIA string theory on AdS4 × CP3. For k = 1 the theory is conjectured to describe N M2-branes in flat space, although our construction realizes explicitly only six of the eight supersymmetries. We give some evidence for this conjecture, which is similar to the evidence for mirror symmetry in d = 3 gauge theories. When the gauge group is SU(2) × SU(2) our theory has extra symmetries and becomes identical to the Bagger-Lambert theory.