A note on the holographic interpretation of string theory backgrounds withvarying flux

We discuss the field theory interpretation (via holographic duality) of som e recently-discovered string theory solutions with varying flux, focusing o n four-dimensional theories with N = 2 supersymmetry and with N = 1 supersy mmetry which arise as the near-horizon limits of "fractional D3-branes". We argue that in the N = 2 case the best interpretation of the varying flux i n field theory is via a Higgs mechanism reducing the rank of the gauge grou p, and that there is no need to invoke a duality to explain the varying flu x in this case. We discuss why a similar interpretation does not seem to ap ply to the N = 1 case of Klebanov and Strassler, which was interpreted as a "duality cascade". However, we suggest that it might apply to different va cua of the same theory, such as the one constructed by Pando Zayas and Tsey tlin.