Holomorphic D7-branes and flavored N=1 gauge theories

We consider D7-branes in the gauge theory/string theory correspondence, using a probe approximation. The D7-branes have four directions embedded holomorphically in a non-compact Calabi-Yau 3-fold (which for specificity we take to be the conifold) and their remaining four directions are parallel to a stack of D3-branes transverse to the Calabi-Yau space. The dual gauge theory, which has N = 1 supersymmetry, contains quarks which transform in the fundamental representation of the gauge group, and we identify the interactions of these quarks in terms of a superpotential. By activating three-form fluxes in the gravity background, we obtain a dual gauge theory with a cascade of Seiberg dualities. We find a supersymmetric supergravity solution for the leading backreaction effects of the D7-branes, valid for large radius. The cascading theory with flavors exhibits the interesting phenomenon that the rate of the cascade slows and can stop as the theory flows to the infrared. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.