Rotating strings and the gauge/string theory correspondence

The AdS/CFT correspondence has provided a concrete example of the relation between gauge and string theories, namely N=4 SYM and IIB strings moving in AdS5xS5. A useful probe of this relation are rotating strings whose energies are equal to the anomalous dimensions of certain operators in the field theory. After reviewing these ideas I am going to describe particular examples which include various strings rotating in the S5 part of the background. Finally I will describe how similar ideas apply for strings moving exclusively on the AdS5 part of the background. These include certain configurations of strings with spikes.