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What would be an experimental test of AdS/CFT correspondence? Or it's extensions?

I've heard that people are studying AdS/CMT (condensed matter) correspondence, but I don't know the details of it?

But in general, how would you test it?

dingo_d
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  • I'm not an expert on this, but is this possibly similar to http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/15/what-experiment-would-disprove-string-theory/3177? – DumpsterDoofus Feb 16 '14 at 14:04
  • Yeah, but that's only for string theory. AdS/CFT doesn't necessary need string theory in some cases (Kerr/CFT and AdS${}_3$/CFT${}_2$ where you work within the framework of asymptotic symmetries). – dingo_d Feb 16 '14 at 23:45

1 Answers1

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It is hard to prove something experimentally that is actually an equivalence of two theories on a mathematical level. The AdS/CFT correspondence is supposed to be an exact correspondence between a quantum field theory and a string theory.

However, it is in principle possible to find support for the correspondence in the following way: construct the holographic dual (or a suitable approximation to it) of a theory that we know describes physics as we know it (e.g. QCD) and use this dual to calculate measurable quantities. If the results agree (if applicable, within the bounds of the approximation) with the observations, you have found experimental support for the correspondence.

Frederic Brünner
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  • Why would you compare the QCD holographic dual predictions with experimental results, rather than QCD predictions? – innisfree Oct 15 '14 at 10:24
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    @innisfree Comparing it to QCD itself is also of great relevance, but since the question is about experiment, I did not go into that. Furthermore, holographic duals can make predictions where QCD itself fails, i.e. in a low energy regime where it is strongly coupled. – Frederic Brünner Oct 15 '14 at 11:28
  • Good point about predictions in the strongly coupled regime. – innisfree Oct 18 '14 at 15:04