Abstract
We propose a method to calculate the expectation values of an operator similar to the Wilson loop in the large limit of field theories. We consider -dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. The prescription involves calculating the area of a fundamental string world sheet in certain supergravity backgrounds. We also consider the case of coincident -theory five-branes where one is led to calculating the area of -theory two-branes. We briefly discuss the computation for -dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with 16 supercharges which is nonconformal. In all of these cases, we calculate the energy of a quark-antiquark pair.
- Received 19 March 1998
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.4859
©1998 American Physical Society