String corrections to circular Wilson loop and anomalies

Authors: A. Cagnazzo, D. Medina-Rincon and K. Zarembo Preprint number: UUITP-52/17 We study string quantum corrections to the ratio of latitude and circular Wilson loops in N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory at strong coupling. Conformal gauge for the corresponding minimal surface in AdS(5)xS(5) is singular and  we show that an IR anomaly associated with the divergence in the conformal factor removes previously reported discrepancy with exact field-theory results. We also carefully check conformal anomaly cancellation and recalculate fluctuation determinants by directly evaluting phaseshifts for all the fluctuation modes.