AdS Veneziano Amplitude

• The AdS Veneziano amplitude is a class of Anti-de Sitter observables that generalizes the flat-space Veneziano amplitude by incorporating curvature, Kaluza-Klein modes, and holographic features.
• It is realized through various methods including string world-sheet disk integrals, Mellin amplitude Borel transforms in AdS/CFT, and higher-spin four-point correlators, each emphasizing specific analytic structures.
• Curvature corrections, monodromy relations, and single-valued polylogarithms play a crucial role in matching effective-field-theory predictions with the universal pole and Regge behavior observed in these amplitudes.

Searching arXiv for papers on the AdS Veneziano amplitude and closely related work. The AdS Veneziano amplitude denotes a family of Anti-de Sitter analogues of the flat-space Veneziano amplitude, realized in several distinct but related settings: string world-sheet disk amplitudes in curved backgrounds, Borel transforms of Mellin amplitudes in AdS/CFT, higher-spin four-point correlators with infinite exchange towers, and Veneziano-like zero-momentum-transfer objects in holographic QCD. Across these settings, the common structural theme is the persistence, deformation, or recovery of standard Veneziano features—crossing symmetry, meromorphic pole structure, factorization on infinitely many exchanged states, and softened high-energy behavior—after curvature, Kaluza-Klein data, or non-conformality are incorporated (Alday et al., 2024, Alday et al., 2024, Turiaci et al., 2018, Maldacena et al., 2022, Afonin, 2011, Armoni, 2015, Afonin, 2011).

1. Flat-space prototype and the scope of the AdS generalization

The flat-space open-string Veneziano amplitude provides the reference point for essentially all AdS constructions. In the notation used in the higher-spin analysis,

$$A_V(s,t)=B\bigl(-\alpha(s),-\alpha(t)\bigr) =\frac{\Gamma\bigl(-\alpha(s)\bigr)\Gamma\bigl(-\alpha(t)\bigr)} {\Gamma\bigl(-\alpha(s)-\alpha(t)\bigr)}, \qquad \alpha(s)=\alpha_0+\alpha' s.$$

It is crossing-symmetric under $s\leftrightarrow t$, has simple poles at $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$, and displays soft Regge behavior (Turiaci et al., 2018). In the AdS$_5\times S^3$ string constructions, the leading small-curvature term reproduces the standard tree-level open-string disk amplitude,

$$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$

so the curved-space object is explicitly organized as a deformation of the flat amplitude rather than an unrelated observable (Alday et al., 2024, Alday et al., 2024).

In current usage, the same expression refers to several non-identical realizations. The literature therefore treats “AdS Veneziano amplitude” less as a single formula than as a structural program: identify an AdS observable whose analytic organization mirrors the Euler Beta-function amplitude in flat space.

Setting	AdS object	Veneziano property emphasized
Type IIB on $AdS_5\times S^3$ or $AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$ with D7-branes	Color-ordered amplitude $A(S,T)$ from Mellin/Borel and disk integrals	Flat-space limit, curvature expansion, monodromy
Vasiliev theory / vector models in $AdS_4$	Four-point scalar correlator / Mellin amplitude	Infinite higher-spin tower, analyticity in spin
Open strings on a D-brane in AdS	Classical saddle-point amplitude ${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$	Low-energy Veneziano limit and AdS-Regge regime
AdS/QCD and large-$s\leftrightarrow t$0 QCD	Zero-momentum-transfer Beta-function or confining-worldsheet amplitude	Pole sums, radial towers, holographic emergence of Veneziano form

A recurrent misconception is that the AdS analogue is defined only through the flat-space limit. The higher-spin and AdS/QCD constructions show otherwise: in those cases the relevant object is defined directly in AdS or in the dual CFT, and the Veneziano comparison is made through analytic structure rather than by a literal world-sheet limit (Turiaci et al., 2018, Afonin, 2011).

2. Mellin-space and world-sheet definitions in AdS/CFT

For type IIB gluon scattering on $s\leftrightarrow t$1, the AdS amplitude is defined from the color-ordered Mellin amplitude $s\leftrightarrow t$2 of the dual $s\leftrightarrow t$3 SCFT by a Borel transform at large ’t Hooft coupling, and equivalently by a disk world-sheet integral in a small-curvature expansion (Alday et al., 2024, Alday et al., 2024). The latter takes the form

$s\leftrightarrow t$4

The disk is mapped to the upper half-plane, and the four massless open-string vertex operators sit at $s\leftrightarrow t$5 on the real axis (Alday et al., 2024).

This formulation makes the hierarchy of curvature corrections explicit. The term $s\leftrightarrow t$6 yields the flat-space Veneziano amplitude, while each $s\leftrightarrow t$7 encodes the $s\leftrightarrow t$8-th correction in $s\leftrightarrow t$9, equivalently in $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$0 (Alday et al., 2024). In the small-curvature analysis, the first correction is fully fixed by combining a dispersion relation in the dual SCFT with a one-dimensional world-sheet ansatz built from multiple polylogarithms. The resulting $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$1 survives several independent checks: the high-energy saddle-point limit, the low-energy expansion as constrained by supersymmetric localization, and the semiclassical energy of massive open-string operators (Alday et al., 2024).

The same framework also ties the amplitude to effective-field-theory data in AdS. Expanding around small $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$2, one obtains Wilson coefficients such as $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$3, $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$4, and $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$5, and these coefficients agree in the $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$6 theory with localization results for the protected terms (Alday et al., 2024). The low-energy expansion was further combined with localization to fix the unprotected $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$7 term at finite curvature (Alday et al., 2024).

3. Curvature corrections, single-valuedness, and monodromy

A central development is the identification of AdS curvature corrections with soft closed-string graviton insertions on the disk. In the $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$8 construction with D7-branes, expanding AdS around flat space is equivalent to inserting soft graviton vertices, and their restriction to the boundary produces single-valued multiple polylogarithms (SVMPLs) on the real line (Alday et al., 2024). Accordingly, the first correction $\alpha(s)=0,1,2,\dots$9 can be written entirely in terms of the symmetrized and antisymmetrized combinations

$_5\times S^3$0

with only single-valued zeta values appearing at that order (Alday et al., 2024).

The same logic extends to the second curvature correction. One makes the general ansatz

$_5\times S^3$1

where $_5\times S^3$2 are homogeneous polynomials and $_5\times S^3$3 form a basis of SVMPLs on the real line. Matching the pole expansion around each flat-space mass level against the CFT dispersion relation, and imposing that only single-valued zeta values such as $_5\times S^3$4 occur, fixes all but one rational parameter $_5\times S^3$5; for the $_5\times S^3$6 flavor group this remaining parameter is then fixed by localization (Alday et al., 2024).

Monodromy relations provide an additional organizing principle. For the color-ordered AdS disk amplitude one finds

$_5\times S^3$7

where $_5\times S^3$8 and $_5\times S^3$9 encode the analytic continuation of the multiple polylogarithms around $$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$0 and $$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$1 (Alday et al., 2 Sep 2025). In the flat-space limit this reduces to the usual monodromy relation of the Veneziano amplitude. The available results show that these AdS monodromy relations hold order by order in the small-curvature expansion, including the known first curvature correction and the extension to arbitrary KK modes (Alday et al., 2 Sep 2025).

These results also clarify a common point of confusion. Single-valuedness does not replace crossing or dispersion relations; rather, it supplements them. In the AdS string constructions, crossing, residue matching, localization input, monodromy, and single-valuedness act as mutually reinforcing constraints rather than interchangeable ones (Alday et al., 2024, Alday et al., 2 Sep 2025).

4. Kaluza-Klein modes, effective actions, and high-energy universality

The AdS Veneziano program extends beyond the equal-charge or lowest-KK sector. In the $$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$2 formalism for half-BPS operators of dimensions $$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$3, one introduces both continuous Mellin variables and discrete spherical data $$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$4, together with the crossing-invariant combinations

$$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$5

and

$$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$6

with $$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$7 and $$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$8 (Wang, 20 Aug 2025). After the large-twist/Borel limit,

$$A^{(0)}(S,T)=-\,\frac{\Gamma(-S)\Gamma(-T)}{\Gamma(1-S-T)},$$9

the leading term is again

$AdS_5\times S^3$0

while the first curvature correction admits a universal world-sheet representation built from SVMPLs up to weight $AdS_5\times S^3$1 and rational prefactors depending on the shifted spherical variables

$AdS_5\times S^3$2

Because the rational prefactors depend only on $AdS_5\times S^3$3 and $AdS_5\times S^3$4, the resulting formula is explicitly independent of any special low-lying KK configuration (Wang, 20 Aug 2025).

The same analysis yields concrete low-energy and high-energy information. At small $AdS_5\times S^3$5, the first curvature correction contains poles reproducing massless super-gluon exchange and a finite $AdS_5\times S^3$6 term interpreted as the first genuine string-correction Wilson coefficient in the AdS effective action. Comparison with the reduced Mellin amplitude gives

$AdS_5\times S^3$7

as predictions for higher-derivative couplings valid for arbitrary KK charges (Wang, 20 Aug 2025). In the Regge limit $AdS_5\times S^3$8 at fixed ratio, the amplitude behaves as

$AdS_5\times S^3$9

with the universal flat-space exponent

$AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$0

and a first curvature correction $AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$1 that is numerically independent of the KK charges. At this order one moreover finds

$AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$2

This charge-independence is a precise universality statement rather than a heuristic analogy (Wang, 20 Aug 2025).

A complementary perspective is provided by the eight-dimensional effective action on $AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$3. In that formulation a single scalar field $AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$4 in the adjoint of $AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$5, with $AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$6, generates all half-BPS four-point functions through generalized contact Witten diagrams on the full product space. The Mellin amplitude has an $AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$7-expansion

$AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$8

which matches the low-energy expansion of the flat open-string Veneziano amplitude under a double-integral “pre-amplitude” transform generalizing the Penedones limit. At each order a finite number of ambiguities remains, corresponding to genuinely curved-space completions that must be fixed by supersymmetry, localization, or bootstrap input (Glew et al., 2023).

5. Higher-spin and vector-model realizations in $AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb Z_2$9

In $A(S,T)$0 higher-spin holography, the AdS Veneziano amplitude is realized as the four-point function of scalar operators in CFTs with weakly broken higher-spin symmetry (Turiaci et al., 2018). For a single-trace scalar $A(S,T)$1 of dimension $A(S,T)$2,

$A(S,T)$3

with

$A(S,T)$4

and crossing symmetry requires

$A(S,T)$5

The Lorentzian inversion formula reconstructs the OPE data from the double discontinuity, and known three-point higher-spin couplings together with crossing determine all single-trace exchanges for $A(S,T)$6 (Turiaci et al., 2018).

The remaining ambiguity consists of three AdS contact terms with $A(S,T)$7 derivatives,

$A(S,T)$8

corresponding to $A(S,T)$9, $AdS_4$0, and $AdS_4$1 vertices in $AdS_4$2. In large-$AdS_4$3 $AdS_4$4 Chern-Simons-matter theories, Schwinger-Dyson equations fix these coefficients to

$AdS_4$5

The resulting Mellin amplitude is meromorphic, with simple poles at the dimensions of the exchanged higher-spin currents, and the OPE data is analytic in spin $AdS_4$6 for $AdS_4$7, with a possible non-analyticity only at $AdS_4$8 (Turiaci et al., 2018).

A related bootstrap based on the broken spin-$AdS_4$9 Ward identity arrives at the same general picture from the CFT side (Li, 2019). There the parity-even and parity-odd sectors separate, the ${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$0-expansion terminates at order ${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$1, and the solution is exact in ${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$2. The parity-odd term at order ${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$3 is identified with the Legendre transform of the free-boson correlator. In this setting, the phrase “AdS Veneziano amplitude” refers not to an open-string disk integral but to an AdS four-point function whose infinite higher-spin exchange tower reproduces the Beta-function-like pole organization in Mellin space (Li, 2019).

6. QCD, confining backgrounds, and accumulation-point deformations

Several QCD-oriented papers use the Veneziano analogy in settings where AdS curvature or confinement, rather than supersymmetric string perturbation theory, is central. A hypothesis formulated for low-energy QCD states that the holographic prescription for correlation functions may lead to dual scattering amplitudes of Veneziano type at zero momentum transfer if the non-conformality is properly taken into account, and a concrete example was proposed to demonstrate the idea (Afonin, 2011). In a bottom-up AdS/QCD model with metric

${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$4

and a dilaton-like profile ${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$5, the scalar two-point function behaves as

${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$6

which yields an infinite tower of simple poles and can be rewritten as the zero-momentum-transfer Beta function

${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$7

with intercept ${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$8 (Afonin, 2011).

In large-${\cal A}_{\rm AdS}(s,t)$9 QCD, the worldline formalism rewrites four-meson scattering as a sum over Wilson loops, and AdS/CFT maps this sum to string worldsheets of disk topology in a confining background. Using Witten’s D4-brane geometry, large Wilson loops fall to the IR wall at $s\leftrightarrow t$00 and spread out approximately flatly there. Under the stated simplifying assumptions, the world-sheet path integral reduces to the ordinary flat four-dimensional open-string disk amplitude with effective slope

$s\leftrightarrow t$01

and the resulting four-scalar amplitude is

$s\leftrightarrow t$02

Here the Veneziano form emerges because the dominant saddle is effectively flat even though the full background is confining (Armoni, 2015).

A different deformation appears in open-string scattering on a D-brane in AdS. For the AdS$s\leftrightarrow t$03 metric

$s\leftrightarrow t$04

with $s\leftrightarrow t$05, the fixed-angle high-energy regime admits a classical saddle-point evaluation,

$s\leftrightarrow t$06

For $s\leftrightarrow t$07, this reduces to the flat-space Veneziano amplitude; for $s\leftrightarrow t$08, one instead finds

$s\leftrightarrow t$09

The same system exhibits a finite threshold energy

$s\leftrightarrow t$10

with a tower of normal modes accumulating exponentially below $s\leftrightarrow t$11, while the large-$s\leftrightarrow t$12 highest-spin states approach the threshold only as $s\leftrightarrow t$13 (Maldacena et al., 2022). This makes the AdS deformation close to the Coon amplitude in some respects—low-energy Veneziano limit, accumulation point, and double-log high-energy scaling—while differing in the detailed highest-spin spectrum (Maldacena et al., 2022).

Taken together, these QCD and D-brane constructions show that the AdS Veneziano idea is not restricted to supersymmetric Mellin amplitudes. It also functions as a diagnostic of holographic non-conformality, confinement, and warped-background string dynamics, especially when an infinite pole tower or a Beta-function structure survives away from strict flat space (Afonin, 2011, Armoni, 2015, Maldacena et al., 2022).