| Abstract: |
In this talk I will discuss the Distance Conjecture in the context of AdS/CFT. This conjecture is one of the most important Swampland constraints, which should be satisfied by all effective field theories that can be UV completed in quantum gravity. I will review the state-of-the art of translating this conjecture to a CFT statement, implying the existence of a higher spin symmetry at every infinite distance limit with respect to the Zamolodchikov metric in a conformal manifold, and signaling a string becoming tensionless in Planck units in the gravitational dual. We initiate a classification of infinite distance limits in the conformal manifolds of 4d SCFTs. Focusing on 4d large N SCFTs with simple gauge groups, we show that only three types of limits arise, which are distinguished by the exponential rate of the higher spin tower. We also show a universal relation between this exponential rate, the Hagedorn behavior of the spectrum and the central charge ratio a/c, suggesting that each limit maps to the tensionless limit of three different (non-)critical strings. We also construct the holographic brane description for each of these SCFTs, which allows us to identify the bulk origin of each string. |
