Strings from quivers, membranes from moose

Abstract

We consider N = 2 moose/quiver gauge theories corresponding to N₁ D3-branes at a C²/Z_N2 singularity in the "large moose" limit where N₁ and N₂ are scaled to infinity together. In the dual holographic description, this scaling gives rise to a maximally supersymmetric pp-wave background with a compact light-cone direction. We identify the gauge theory operators that describe the Discrete Light-Cone Quantization (DLCQ) of the string in this background. For each discrete light-cone momentum and winding sector there is a separate ground state and Fock space. The large moose/quiver diagram provides a useful graphical representation of the string and its excitations. This representation has a natural explanation in a T-dual language. The dual theory is a non-relativistic type-IIA string wound around the T-dual direction, and bound by a quadratic newtonian potential. We end with some comments on D-string/D-particle states, a possible lift to M-theory and the relation to deconstruction.