Subleading corrections to the S3 free energy of necklace quiver theories dual to massive IIA

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the S3 free energy of $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 3 Chern-Simons-matter quiver gauge theories with gauge group U(N)r (r ≥ 2) where the sum of Chern-Simons levels does not vanish, beyond the leading order in the large-N limit. We take two different approaches to explore the sub-leading structures of the free energy. First we evaluate the matrix integral for the partition function in the ’t Hooft limit using a saddle point approximation. Second we use an ideal Fermi-gas model to compute the same partition function, but in the limit of fixed Chern-Simons levels. The resulting expressions for the free energy F = − log Z are then compared in the overlapping parameter regime. The Fermi-gas approach also hints at a universal $$ \frac{1}{6} $$ 1 6 log N correction to the free energy. Since the quiver gauge theories we consider are dual to massive Type IIA theory, we expect the sub-leading correction of the planar free energy in the large ’t Hooft parameter limit to match higher-derivative corrections to the tree-level holographic dual free energy, which have not yet been fully investigated.