Higher spin AdS_3 holography and superstring theory

Abstract

It has been believed for a long time that the tensionless limit of superstring theory can be described by a higher spin gauge theory. Recently, a concrete realization of this idea was proposed via 3d Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis (ABJ) theory with the help of holographic duality. In this note we review our work on finding a similar relation involving 2d coset type models. We start by proposing and examining holographic dualities between 3d higher spin gauge theories with matrix valued fields and the large N limit of 2d coset type models. After that we discuss possible relations to superstring theory with emphasis on the role of the matrix form of the higher spin fields and the extended supersymmetry.

9 pages, contribution to proceedings of String-Math 2014; v2: typos corrected, references added