We construct the first eleven-dimensional supergravity solutions, which are regular, have no smearing and possess only SO(2,4) x SO(3) x U(1)_R isometry. They are dual to four-dimensional field theories with N = 2 superconformal symmetry. We utilise the Toda frame of self-dual four-dimensional Euclidean metrics with SU(2) rotational symmetry. They are obtained by transforming the Atiyah--Hitchin instanton under SL(2,R) and are expressed in terms of theta functions. The absence of any extra U(1) symmetry, even asymptotically, renders inapplicable the electrostatic description of our solution.

I will review the computation of the quark-antiquark potential within the AdS/CFT correspondence. I will explain in detail the conformal case and apply this machinery in more general backgrounds, where multivalued potentials appear and stability issues have to be considered in order to isolate the physical branches of the potential. Finally I will extend this idea in the case of dyons and baryons. Mechanical analogues of the above configurations will be given.