Just as parallel threebranes on a smooth manifold are related to string theory on AdS_5 \times S^5, parallel threebranes near a conical singularity are related to string theory on AdS_5 \times X_5 for a suitable X_5. For the example of the conifold singularity Klebanov and Witten conjectured that a string theory on AdS_5 \times X^5 can be described by a certain \mathcal{N}=1 supersymmetric gauge theory. Based primarily on their work (arXiv:hep-th/9807080), I describe the gravitational setup of this correspondence as well as their construction of the field theory, allowing for various checks of the duality.
Junior Strings is a seminar series where DPhil students present topics of common interest that do not necessarily overlap with their own research area. This is primarily aimed at PhD students and post-docs but everyone is welcome.