Resumming quantum corrections hints at a refined AdS/CFT dictionary

Using supersymmetric localization on the four-sphere, the authors compute the free energy and half-BPS Wilson loop expectation value for a family of N=2 gauge theories at large N. A key observation is that all non-planar 1/N corrections at large 't Hooft coupling λ resum neatly into an effective coupling λ̃. For the non-conformal theories (fewer than four flavors), this yields the first explicit planar strong-coupling results from localization. For the superconformal case, the pattern suggests that λ̃, not λ, is the natural expansion parameter on the string-theory side of AdS/CFT.