Holographic reformulation of string theory on AdS5 x S5 background in the PP-wave limit

The recent proposal on the correspondence between the N = 4 super-Yang-Mills theory and string theory in the Penrose limit of the AdS(5) x S-5 geometry involves a few puzzles from the viewpoint of holographic principle, especially in connection with the interpretation of times. To resolve these puzzles, we propose to interpret the PP-wave strings on the basis of tunneling null geodesics connecting boundaries of the AdS geometry. Our approach predicts a direct and systematic identification of the S-matrix of Euclidean string theory in the bulk with the short-distance structure of correlation functions of super-Yang-Mills theory on the AdS boundary, as an extension of the ordinary relation in supergravity-CFT correspondence. Holography requires an infinite number of contact terms for interaction vertices of string field theory and constrains their forms in a way consistent with supersymmetry. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.