AdS RG-flow and the super-Yang–Mills cascade Original Research Article

We study the 5-dimensional SUGRA AdS duals of N=4, N=2 and N=1 super-Yang–Mills theories. To sequentially break the N=4 theory mass terms are introduced that correspond, via the duality, to scalar VEVs in the SUGRA. We determine the appropriate scalar potential and study solutions of the equations of motion that correspond to RG flows in the field theories. Analysis of the potential at the end of the RG flows distinguishes the flows appropriate to the field theory expectations. As already identified in the literature, the dual to the N=2 theory has flows corresponding to the moduli space of the field theory. When the N=2 theory is broken to N=1 the single flow corresponding to the singular point on the N=2 moduli space is picked out as the vacuum. As the N=2 breaking mass scale is increased the vacuum deforms smoothly to previously analysed N=1 flows.