Recently, Douglas and Taylor proposed to identify the Higgs vev of the Coul
omb branch of the 4 dimensional N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory with the posi
tions of D3-branes in the AdS(5) x S-5 String theory. We extend this identi
fication to more general configurations that preserve less supersymmetry. W
e show that a single D3-brane in AdS(5) x S-5 String theory can break the s
pace-time supersymmetry to 1/4 or even 1/8. Such configurations, interprete
d as backgrounds of the SYM, also break the N = 4 superconformal symmetry o
f SYM to 1/4 or 1/8, giving N = 2 or N = 1. We discuss the implications of
this correspondence. We also present other BPS D3-brane configurations that
preserve 1/8 supersymmetry corresponding to N = 1 on the SYM side. (C) 199
9 Elsevier Science B.V.