A quantum check of non-supersymmetric AdS/dCFT

Abstract Via a challenging field-theory computation, we confirm a supergravity prediction for the non-supersymmetric D3-D7 probe-brane system with probe geometry AdS 4 ×S 2 ×S 2, stabilized by fluxes. Supergravity predicts, in a certain double-scaling limit, the value of the one-point functions of chiral primaries of the dual defect version of N = 4 $$ \mathcal{N}=4 $$ SYM theory, where the fluxes translate into SO(3) × SO(3)-symmetric, Lie-algebra-valued vacuum expectation values for all six scalar fields. Using a generalization of the technique based on fuzzy spherical harmonics developed for the related D3-D5 probe-brane system, we diagonalize the resulting mass matrix of the field theory. Subsequently, we calculate the planar one-loop correction to the vacuum expectation values of the scalars in dimensional reduction and find that it is UV finite and non-vanishing. We then proceed to calculating the one-loop correction to the planar one-point function of any single-trace scalar operator and explicitly evaluate this correction for a 1/2-BPS operator of length L at two leading orders in the double-scaling limit, finding exact agreement with the supergravity prediction.