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Short Strings in Three-Dimensional Anti–de Sitter Space: From Weak to Strong Coupling

Simon Ekhammar1,2,*, Nikolay Gromov1,†, Bogdan Stefański, Jr.3,‡, and Charles Thull3,§

  • *Contact author: simon.ekhammar@kcl.ac.uk
  • †Contact author: nikolay.gromov@kcl.ac.uk
  • ‡Contact author: bogdan.stefanski.1@citystgeorges.ac.uk
  • §Contact author: charles.thull@citystgeorges.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 251603 – Published 25 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3kxd-wjvs

Abstract

We numerically solve the conjectured quantum spectral curve for strings on AdS3×S3× T4 with Ramond-Ramond charge from weak to strong coupling. At strong coupling, the spectrum organizes into flat-space string mass levels with universal square-root scaling in the string tension at leading order, and additional Kaluza-Klein fine-splitting at subleading order. At weak coupling, the energies are determined by a nearest-neighbor Bethe Ansatz, with universal subleading corrections that are suppressed at large volume.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 251603– Published 25 June, 2026
  • Received 1 April 2026
  • Accepted 26 May 2026
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