Dec. 7, 2015
Quantum field theory on curved space has long been studied for its interesting phenomenology, and more recently as a means to obtain exact results in supersymmetric theories. In this talk I will describe the holographic duals for N=4 SYM coupled to massive N=2 flavors on AdS_4 and S^4, which reveals an interesting phase structure in both cases. I will discuss a topology-changing phase transition for S^4 and – to test probe-brane constructions as an extra ingredient in AdS/CFT – confront holographic computations with exact field theory results obtained using supersymmetric localization.