ADE Singularities Research Articles

Ground states of Class S\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{S} $$\\end{document} theory on ADE singularities and dual Chern-Simons theory

In radial quantization, the ground states of a gauge theory on ADE singularities ℝ4/Γ are characterized by flat connections that are maps from Γ to the gauge group. We study Class S\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{S} $$\\end{document} theory of type a1\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\mathfrak{a}}_1 $$\\end{document} = su2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathfrak{su}(2) $$\\end{document} on a Riemann surface of genus g > 1, without punctures. The fundamental building block of Class S\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{S} $$\\end{document} theory is the trifundamental Trinion theory — a low energy limit of two M5 branes compactified on the three-punctured Riemann sphere. We show, through the superconformal index, that the supersymmetric Casimir energy of the trifundamental theory imposes a constraint on the set of allowed flat connections, which agrees with the prediction of a duality relating the ground state Hilbert space of Class S\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{S} $$\\end{document} on ADE singularities to the Hilbert space of a certain dual Chern-Simons theory whose gauge group is given by the McKay correspondence. The conjecture is shown to hold for Γ = ℤk, agreeing with the previous results of Benini et al. and Alday et al. A non-abelian generalization of this duality is analyzed by considering the example of the dicyclic group Γ = Dic2, corresponding to Chern-Simons gauge group SO(8).

Exact degeneracy of Casimir energy for N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on ADE singularities and S-duality

Classically, the ground states of N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on ℝ × S3/Γ where Γ is a discrete ADE subgroup of SU(2) are represented by flat Wilson lines winding around the ADE singularity. By a duality relating such ground states to WZW conformal blocks, the ground state degeneracy cannot be lifted by quantum corrections. Using the superconformal index, we compute the supersymmetric Casimir energy of each flat Wilson line for SU(2) SYM on different ADE singularities and find that the flat Wilson lines all have the same supersymmetric Casimir energy. We argue that this exact degeneracy is peculiar to N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 4 supersymmetry and show that the degeneracy is lifted when the number of supersymmetry is reduced. In particular, we uncover a surprising result for the ground state structure of the conformal N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 2 SU(2) four-flavor theory on S3/Γ. For N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 4 SYM, S-duality maps the ground state Wilson lines to ground state t’ Hooft lines taking values in the Langlands dual group. We show that the supersymmetric Casimir energy of the t’ Hooft line ground states is the same as the Wilson line ground states. This can be viewed as a ground state test of S-duality.

On maximizing curves of degree 7

In the present paper we investigate an intriguing question on the existence of maximizing curves of degree 7 with some prescribed ADE\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\ extrm{ADE}$$\\end{document} singularities. We give a result proving the non-existence of such maximizing septics and we give new examples of conic-line arrangements with some ADE\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\ extrm{ADE}$$\\end{document} singularities that are free but not maximizing.

Chern-Simons theory, Ehrhart polynomials, and representation theory

The Hilbert space of level q Chern-Simons theory of gauge group G of the ADE type quantized on T2 can be represented by points that lie on the weight lattice of the Lie algebra g up to some discrete identifications. Of special significance are the points that also lie on the root lattice. The generating functions that count the number of such points are quasi-periodic Ehrhart polynomials which coincide with the generating functions of SU(q) representation of the ADE subgroups of SU(2) given by the McKay correspondence. This coincidence has roots in a string/M theory construction where D3(M5)-branes are put along an ADE singularity. Finally, a new perspective on the McKay correspondence that involves the inverse of the Cartan matrices is proposed.

Super-spin chains for 6D SCFTs

Nearly all 6D superconformal field theories (SCFTs) have a partial tensor branch description in terms of a generalized quiver gauge theory consisting of a long one-dimensional spine of quiver nodes with links given by conformal matter; a strongly coupled generalization of a bifundamental hypermultiplet. For theories obtained from M5-branes probing an ADE singularity, this was recently leveraged to extract a protected large R-charge subsector of operators, with operator mixing controlled at leading order in an inverse large R-charge expansion by an integrable spin s Heisenberg spin chain, where s is determined by the su(2)R R-symmetry representation of the conformal matter operator. In this work, we show that this same structure extends to the full superconformal algebra osp(6,2|1). In particular, we determine the corresponding Bethe ansatz equations which govern this super-spin chain, as well as distinguished subsectors which close under operator mixing. Similar considerations extend to 6D little string theories (LSTs) and 4D N=2 SCFTs with the same generalized quiver structures.

Embedding integrable superspin chain in string theory

Using results on topological line defects of 4D Chern-Simons theory and the algebra/cycle homology correspondence in complex surfaces S with ADE singularities, we study the graded properties of the sl(m|n) chain and its embedding in string theory. Because of the Z2-grading of sl(m|n), we show that the (m+n)!/m!n! varieties of superspin chains with underlying super geometries have different cycle homologies. We investigate the algebraic and homological features of these integrable quantum chains and give a link between graded 2-cycles and genus-g Rieman surfaces Σg. Moreover, using homology language, we yield the brane realisation of the sl(m|n) chain in type IIA string and its uplift to M-theory. Other aspects like graded complex surfaces with sl(m|n) singularity as well as super magnons are also described.

Reflections on the matter of 3DN=1vacua and localSpin(7)compactifications

We use Higgs bundles to study the 3d $\mathcal{N} = 1$ vacua obtained from M-theory compactified on a local $Spin(7)$ space given as a four-manifold $M_4$ of ADE singularities with further generic enhancements in the singularity type along one-dimensional subspaces. There can be strong quantum corrections to the massless degrees of freedom in the low energy effective field theory, but topologically robust quantities such as "parity" anomalies are still calculable. We show how geometric reflections of the compactification space descend to 3d reflections and discrete symmetries. The "parity" anomalies of the effective field theory descend from topological data of the compactification. The geometric perspective also allows us to track various perturbative and non-perturbative corrections to the 3d effective field theory. We also provide some explicit constructions of well-known 3d theories, including those which arise as edge modes of 4d topological insulators, and 3d $\mathcal{N} = 1$ analogs of grand unified theories. An additional result of our analysis is that we are able to track the spectrum of extended objects and their transformations under higher-form symmetries.

The perfect cone compactification of quotients of type IV domains

The perfect cone compactification is a toroidal compactification which can be defined for locally symmetric varieties. Let overline{D_{L}/widetilde{O}^{+}(L)}^{p} be the perfect cone compactification of the quotient of the type IV domain D_{L} associated to an even lattice L. In our main theorem we show that the pair { (overline{D_{L}/widetilde{O}^{+}(L)}^{p}, Delta /2) } has klt singularities, where Delta is the closure of the branch divisor of { D_{L}/widetilde{O}^{+}(L) }. In particular this applies to the perfect cone compactification of the moduli space of 2d-polarised K3 surfaces with ADE singularities when d is square-free.

Characteristic classes and stability conditions for projective Kleinian orbisurfaces

We construct Bridgeland stability conditions on the derived category of smooth quasi-projective Deligne-Mumford surfaces whose coarse moduli spaces have ADE singularities. This unifies the construction for smooth surfaces and Bridgeland's work on Kleinian singularities. The construction hinges on an orbifold version of the Bogomolov-Gieseker inequality for slope semistable sheaves on the stack, and makes use of the To\"en-Hirzebruch-Riemann-Roch theorem.

The ABCDEFG of little strings

Starting from type IIB string theory on an ADE singularity, the (2, 0) little string arises when one takes the string coupling gs to 0. In this setup, we give a unified description of the codimension-two defects of the little string, labeled by a simple Lie algebra mathfrak{g} . Geometrically, these are D5 branes wrapping 2-cycles of the singularity, subject to a certain folding operation when the algebra is non simply-laced. Equivalently, the defects are specified by a certain set of weights of {}^Lmathfrak{g} , the Langlands dual of mathfrak{g} . As a first application, we show that the instanton partition function of the mathfrak{g} -type quiver gauge theory on the defect is equal to a 3-point conformal block of the mathfrak{g} -type deformed Toda theory in the Coulomb gas formalism. As a second application, we argue that in the (2, 0) CFT limit, the Coulomb branch of the defects flows to a nilpotent orbit of mathfrak{g} .

Moduli Space of Quasi-Polarized K3 Surfaces of Degree 6 and 8

In this paper, the authors study the moduli space of quasi-polarized complex K3 surfaces of degree 6 and 8 via geometric invariant theory. The general members in such moduli spaces are complete intersections in projective spaces and they have natural GIT constructions for the corresponding moduli spaces and they show that the K3 surfaces with at worst ADE singularities are GIT stable. They give a concrete description of boundary of the compactification of the degree 6 case via the Hilbert-Mumford criterion. They compute the Picard group via Noether-Lefschetz theory and discuss the connection to the Looijenga’s compactifications from arithmetic perspective. One of the main ingredients is the study of the projective models of K3 surfaces in terms of Noether-Lefschetz divisors.

The Tanaka–Thomas’s Vafa–Witten invariants via surface Deligne–Mumford stacks

We provide a definition of Vafa-Witten invariants for projective surface Deligne-Mumford stacks, generalizing the construction of Tanaka-Thomas on the Vafa-Witten invariants for projective surfaces inspired by the S-duality conjecture. We give calculations for a root stack over a general type quintic surface, and quintic surfaces with ADE singularities. The relationship between the Vafa-Witten invariants of quintic surfaces with ADE singularities and the Vafa-Witten invariants of their crepant resolutions is also discussed.

Integral Structure for Simple Singularities

We compute the image of the Milnor lattice of an ADE singularity under a period map. We also prove that the Milnor latticecan be identified with an appropriate relative $K$-group defined through the Berglund-H\"ubsch dual of the corresponding singularity.

On the Generalized Cartan Matrices Arising from k-th Yau Algebras of Isolated Hypersurface Singularities

Let (V,0) be an isolated hypersurface singularity defined by the holomorphic function $f: (\mathbb {C}^{n}, 0)\rightarrow (\mathbb {C}, 0)$ . The k-th Yau algebra Lk(V ) is defined to be the Lie algebra of derivations of the k-th moduli algebra $A^{k}(V) := \mathcal {O}_{n}/(f, m^{k}J(f))$ , where k ≥ 0, m is the maximal ideal of $\mathcal {O}_{n}$ . I.e., Lk(V ) := Der(Ak(V ),Ak(V )). These new series of derivation Lie algebras are quite subtle invariants since they capture enough information about the complexity of singularities. In this paper we formulate a conjecture for the complete characterization of ADE singularities by using generalized Cartan matrix Ck(V ) associated to k-th Yau algebras Lk(V ), k ≥ 1. In this paper, we provide evidence for the conjecture and give a new complete characterization for ADE singularities. Furthermore, we compute their other various invariants that arising from the 1-st Yau algebra L1(V ).

T-branes and G2 backgrounds

Compactification of M- / string theory on manifolds with $G_2$ structure yields a wide variety of 4D and 3D physical theories. We analyze the local geometry of such compactifications as captured by a gauge theory obtained from a three-manifold of ADE singularities. Generic gauge theory solutions include a non-trivial gauge field flux as well as normal deformations to the three-manifold captured by non-commuting matrix coordinates, a signal of T-brane phenomena. Solutions of the 3D gauge theory on a three-manifold are given by a deformation of the Hitchin system on a marked Riemann surface which is fibered over an interval. We present explicit examples of such backgrounds as well as the profile of the corresponding zero modes for localized chiral matter. We also provide a purely algebraic prescription for characterizing localized matter for such T-brane configurations. The geometric interpretation of this gauge theory description provides a generalization of twisted connected sums with codimension seven singularities at localized regions of the geometry. It also indicates that geometric codimension six singularities can sometimes support 4D chiral matter due to physical structure "hidden" in T-branes.

Compactifications of ADE conformal matter on a torus

In this paper we study compactifications of ADE type conformal matter, N M5 branes probing ADE singularity, on torus with flux for global symmetry. We systematically construct the four dimensional theories by first going to five dimensions and studying interfaces. We claim that certain interfaces can be associated with turning on flux in six dimensions. The interface models when compactified on a circle comprise building blocks for constructing four dimensional models associated to flux compactifications of six dimensional theories on a torus. The theories in four dimensions turn out to be quiver gauge theories and the construction implies many interesting cases of IR symmetry enhancements and dualities of such theories.

Punctures and dynamical systems

With the aim of better understanding the class of 4D theories generated by compactifications of 6D superconformal field theories (SCFTs), we study the structure of N = 1 supersymmetric punctures for class S_Gamma theories, namely the 6D SCFTs obtained from M5-branes probing an ADE singularity. For M5-branes probing a C^2 / Z_k singularity, the punctures are governed by a dynamical system in which evolution in time corresponds to motion to a neighboring node in an affine A-type quiver. Classification of punctures reduces to determining consistent initial conditions which produce periodic orbits. The study of this system is particularly tractable in the case of a single M5-brane. Even in this "simple" case, the solutions exhibit a remarkable level of complexity: Only specific rational values for the initial momenta lead to periodic orbits, and small perturbations in these values lead to vastly different late time behavior. Another difference from half BPS punctures of class S theories includes the appearance of a continuous complex "zero mode" modulus in some puncture solutions. The construction of punctures with higher order poles involves a related set of recursion relations. The resulting structures also generalize to systems with multiple M5-branes as well as probes of D- and E-type orbifold singularities.

6d string chains

We consider bound states of strings which arise in 6d (1,0) SCFTs that are realized in F-theory in terms of linear chains of spheres with negative self-intersections 1,2, and 4. These include the strings associated to N small E8 instantons, as well as the ones associated to M5 branes probing A and D type singularities in M-theory or D5 branes probing ADE singularities in Type IIB string theory. We find that these bound states of strings admit (0,4) supersymmetric quiver descriptions and show how one can compute their elliptic genera.

Small instanton transitions for M5 fractions

M5-branes on an ADE singularity are described by certain six-dimensional “conformal matter” superconformal field theories. Their Higgs moduli spaces contain information about various dynamical processes for the M5s; however, they are not directly accessible due to the lack of a Lagrangian formulation. Using anomaly matching, we compute their dimensions. The result implies that M5 fractions can recombine in several different ways, where the M5s are leaving behind frozen versions of the singularity. The anomaly polynomial gives hints about the nature of the freezing. We also check the Higgs dimension formula by comparing it with various existing conjectures for the CFTs one obtains by torus compactifications down to four and three dimensions. Aided by our results, we also extend those conjectures to compactifications of theories not previously considered. These involve class mathcal{S} theories with twisted punctures in four dimensions, and affine-Dynkin-shaped quivers in three dimensions.

T-branes, anomalies and moduli spaces in 6D SCFTs

The worldvolume theory of M5-branes on an ADE singularity ℝ5/ΓG can be Higgsed in various ways, corresponding to the possible nilpotent orbits of G. In the F-theory dual picture, this corresponds to activating T-brane data along two stacks of 7-branes and yields a tensor branch realization for a large class of 6D SCFTs. In this paper, we show that the moduli spaces and anomalies of these T-brane theories are related in a simple, universal way to data of the nilpotent orbits. This often works in surprising ways and gives a nontrivial confirmation of the conjectured properties of T-branes in F-theory. We use this result to formally engineer a class of theories where the IIA picture naïvely breaks down. We also give a proof of the a-theorem for all RG flows within this class of T-brane theories.