"Exact Worldsheet Duals to Matrix Integrals" by Edward Mazenc, ETH Zurich

We derive a concrete closed string dual to any interacting
Hermitian one-matrix model, away from the double-scaling limit. Matrix
and string correlators are shown to manifestly agree, to all orders in
the genus expansion and all orders in the 't Hooft coupling(s).

The worldsheet theory consists of a supersymmetric B-twisted
Landau--Ginzburg model coupled to two-dimensional topological gravity.
We provide a precise dictionary between traces of the matrix and vertex
operators on the worldsheet. Matrix model observables are explicitly
mapped to computable integrals over the moduli-space of Riemann
surfaces. We perform several cross-checks by direct computation on both
sides of the duality.

This work furnishes an finite-dimensional instantiation of gauge/string
duality, in the standard 't Hooft limit, and hopefully a useful
worldsheet toy model for the AdS/CFT correspondence.