Q(Q)over-bar potential from strings in curved space-time - classical results

We compute the leading behaviour of the quark-anti-quark potential from a generalized Nambu-Goto action associated with a curved space-time having an extra dimension. The extra dimension can be the radial coordinate in the AdS/CFT correspondence, the Liouville field in Polyakov's approach, or an internal dimension in MQCD. In particular, we derive the condition for confinement, and in the case it occurs we find the string tension and the correction to the linear potential. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.