Strings on AdS_2 and the High-Energy Limit of Noncritical M-Theory

Understand

Noncritical M-theory in 2+1 dimensions has been defined as a double-scaling limit of a nonrelativistic Fermi liquid on a flat two-dimensional plane.

• Here we study this noncritical M-theory in the limit of high energies, analogous to the \alpha'\to\infty limit of string theory.
• In the related case of two-dimensional Type 0A strings, it has been argued that the conformal \alpha'\to\infty limit leads to AdS_2 with a propagating fermion whose mass is set by the value of the RR flux.
• Here we provide evidence that in the high-energy limit, the natural ground state of noncritical M-theory similarly describes the AdS_2\times S^1 spacetime, with a massless propagating fermion.