We employ the free field realisation of the $$ \mathfrak{psu}{\left(1,1\left|2\right.\right)}_1 $$ psu 1 1 2 1 world-sheet theory to constrain the correlators of string theory on AdS3× S3× 𝕋4 with unit NS-NS flux. In particular, we directly obtain the unusual delta function localisation of these correlators onto branched covers of the boundary S2 by the (genus zero) world-sheet — this is the key property which makes the equivalence to the dual symmetric orbifold manifest. In our approach, this feature follows from a remarkable ‘incidence relation’ obeyed by the correlators, which is reminiscent of a twistorial string description. We also illustrate our results with explicit computations in various special cases.

Correlators in symmetric orbifold CFTs are given by a finite sum of admissible branched covers of the 2d spacetime. We consider a Gross-Mende like limit where all operators have large twist, and show that the corresponding branched covers can be described via a Penner-like matrix model. The limiting branched covers are given in terms of the spectral curve for this matrix model, which remarkably turns out to be directly related to the Strebel quadratic differential on the covering space. Interpreting the covering space as the world-sheet of the dual string theory, the spacetime CFT correlator thus has the form of an integral over the entire world-sheet moduli space weighted with a Nambu-Goto-like action. Quite strikingly, at leading order this action can also be written as the absolute value of the Schwarzian of the covering map.Given the equivalence of the symmetric product CFT to tensionless string theory on AdS3, this provides an explicit realisation of the underlying mechanism of gauge-string duality originally proposed in [1] and further refined in [2].

It was recently shown in [1] that tree-level correlation functions in tensionless string theory on AdS3 × S3 × $$ {\mathbbm{T}}^4 $$ T 4 match the expected form of correlation functions in the symmetric orbifold CFT on $$ {\mathbbm{T}}^4 $$ T 4 in the large N limit. This analysis utilized the free-field realization of the $$ \mathfrak{psu}{\left(1,\left.1\right|2\right)}_1 $$ psu 1 1 2 1 Wess-Zumino-Witten model, along with a surprising identity directly relating these correlation functions to a branched covering of the boundary of AdS3. In particular, this identity implied the unusual feature that the string theory correlators localize to points in the moduli space for which the worldsheet covers the boundary of AdS3 with specified branching near the insertion points. In this work we generalize this analysis past the tree-level approximation, demonstrating its validity to higher genus worldsheets, and in turn providing strong evidence for this incarnation of the AdS/CFT correspondence at all orders in perturbation theory.

String theory on AdS3× S3× 𝕋4 with minimal k = 1 NS-NS flux can be described in terms of a free field worldsheet theory in the hybrid formalism. We construct various D-branes of this string theory and calculate their associated cylinder amplitudes. We find that these amplitudes match with the cylinder correlators of certain boundary states of the dual symmetric orbifold CFT Sym(𝕋4), thus suggesting a direct correspondence between these boundary conditions. We also show that the disk amplitudes of these D-branes localise to those points in the worldsheet moduli space where the worldsheet disk holomorphically covers the spacetime disk.