Gravity from quantum mechanics of finite matrices

A bstract We revisit the Berenstein-Maldacena-Nastase (BMN) conjecture relating M-theory on a PP-wave background and Matrix Quantum Mechanics (MQM) of N × N matrices. In particular, we study the BMN MQM at strong coupling and finite N and derive an effective Hamiltonian that describes non-relativistic free particles in a harmonic trap. The energy spectrum predicted by this Hamiltonian matches the supergravity excitation spectrum around the PP-wave background, if we further assume the existence of bound states. Our derivation is based on the strong coupling expansion of the wavefunction and supersedes the naive path integral approach that can lead to incorrect results, as we demonstrate in a simple toy model. We conclude with open questions about various regimes of the theory when we vary the size of the matrices, the coupling and the temperature.