Perturbative quantization of superstring theory in Anti de-Sitter spaces

In this thesis we study superstring theory on AdS5 x S5, AdS3 x S3 and AdS4 x CP3. A shared feature of each theory is that their corresponding symmetry algebras allows for a decomposition under a Z4 grading. The grading can be realized through an automorphism which allows for a convenient construction of the string Lagrangians directly in terms of graded components. We adopt a uniform light-cone gauge and expand in a near plane wave limit, or equivalently, an expansion in transverse string coordinates. With a main focus on the two critical string theories, we perform a perturbative quantization up to quartic order in the number of fields. Each string theory is, through holographic descriptions, conjectured to be dual to lower dimensional gauge theories. The conjectures imply that the conformal dimensions of single trace operators in gauge theory should be equal to the energy of string states. What is more, through the use of integrable methods, one can write down a set of Bethe equations whose solutions encode the full spectral problem. One main theme of this thesis is to match the predictions of these equations, written in a language suitable for the light-cone gauge we employ, against explicit string theory calculations. We do this for a large class of string states and the perfect agreement we find lends strong support for the validity of the conjectures. (orig.)