Dimensional renormalization in AdS/CFT

Abstract: In this paper we present a dimensional renormalization scheme suitable for holographic theories. We use the bulk physics in the supergravity limit as a definition of the dual CFT. Similar to the perturbative quantization of a QFT, one is free to choose a convenient renormalization scheme, and the holographic renormalization method is only one such choice. We show how the bulk theory can be rendered finite with a renormalization scheme that corresponds to dimensional renormalization in the dual CFT. The method does not require any cut-offs and does not introduce any dimensionful parameters. It delivers a one-to-one map between bulk and boundary counterterms and leads to an exact and unambiguous identification of field theoretical objects in terms of bulk data. In particular, we resolve long standing issues regarding the identification of the renormalization scale and beta functions on both sides of the AdS/CFT correspondence. Furthermore, the method is considerably simpler than standard holographic renormalization on a practical level when evaluating correlation functions.