A holographic kaleidoscope for N $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1

Abstract We study in detail the recently-found family of asymptotically AdS5 × S 5 type IIB supergravity solutions dual to the N $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1* SYM theory with equal masses. The backgrounds exhibit a naked singularity and are labelled by a dimensionless parameter, λ, which is interpreted as the ratio of the gaugino condensate and the mass in the dual field theory. When |λ| < 1 we show that the naked singularity is due to a smeared distribution of polarized (p, q) five-branes. For this range of parameters we study the nature of the singularity using probe strings and show that the dual line operators exhibit screening behavior. These features are in line with the physics anticipated in the work of Polchinski-Strassler. For |λ| = 1 the naked singularity has qualitatively different behavior which has no clear brane interpretation. We show that when λ = 1 the singularity can be excised and replaced by a smooth Euclidean supergravity solution with an S 4 boundary.