BPS Walls Research Articles

Shifted quiver Yangians and representations from BPS crystals

We introduce a class of new algebras, the shifted quiver Yangians, as the BPS algebras for type IIA string theory on general toric Calabi-Yau three-folds. We construct representations of the shifted quiver Yangian from general subcrystals of the canonical crystal. We derive our results via equivariant localization for supersymmetric quiver quantum mechanics for various framed quivers, where the framings are determined by the shape of the subcrystals.Our results unify many known BPS state counting problems, including open BPS counting, non-compact D4-branes, and wall crossing phenomena, simply as different representations of the shifted quiver Yangians. Furthermore, most of our representations seem to be new, and this suggests the existence of a zoo of BPS state counting problems yet to be studied in detail.

BPS Spectra, Barcodes and Walls

BPS spectra give important insights into the non-perturbative regimes of supersymmetric theories. Often from the study of BPS states one can infer properties of the geometrical or algebraic structures underlying such theories. In this paper we approach this problem from the perspective of persistent homology. Persistent homology is at the base of topological data analysis, which aims at extracting topological features out of a set of points. We use these techniques to investigate the topological properties which characterize the spectra of several supersymmetric models in field and string theory. We discuss how such features change upon crossing walls of marginal stability in a few examples. Then we look at the topological properties of the distributions of BPS invariants in string compactifications on compact threefolds, used to engineer black hole microstates. Finally we discuss the interplay between persistent homology and modularity by considering certain number theoretical functions used to count dyons in string compactifications and by studying equivariant elliptic genera in the context of the Mathieu moonshine.

BPS spectrum, wall crossing and quantum dilogarithm identity

BPS spectrum with finite number of states are found for higher rank four dimensional N=2 theory engineered from six dimensional A_{N-1} (2,0) theory on a Riemann surface with various kinds of defects. The wall crossing formula is interpreted as the quantum dilogarithm identity. Various methods including quiver representation theory, maximal green mutation, and cluster algebra are used extensively. The spectral generator and its refined version for the higher rank theory are written down using the explicit spectrum information. The finite chamber has an interesting N^3 behavior in the large N limit.

Quantum-induced interactions in the moduli space of degenerate BPS domain walls

In this paper quantum effects are investigated in a very special two-scalar field model having a moduli space of BPS topological defects. In a $(1+1)$-dimensional space-time the defects are classically degenerate in mass kinks, but in $(3+1)$ dimensions the kinks become BPS domain walls, all of them sharing the same surface tension at the classical level. The heat kernel/zeta function regularization method will be used to control the divergences induced by the quantum kink and domain wall fluctuations. A generalization of the Gilkey-DeWitt-Avramidi heat kernel expansion will be developed in order to accommodate the infrared divergences due to zero modes in the spectra of the second-order kink and domain wall fluctuation operators, which are respectively $N\times N$ matrix ordinary or partial differential operators. Use of these tools in the spectral zeta function associated with the Hessian operators paves the way to obtain general formulas for the one-loop kink mass and domain wall tension shifts in any $(1+1)$- or $(3+1)$-dimensional $N$-component scalar field theory model. Application of these formulae to the BPS kinks or domain walls of the $N=2$ model mentioned above reveals the breaking of the classical mass or surface tension degeneracy at the quantum level. Because the main parameter distinguishing each member in the BPS kink or domain wall moduli space is essentially the distance between the centers of two basic kinks or walls, the breaking of the degeneracy amounts to the surge in quantum-induced forces between the two constituent topological defects. The differences in surface tension induced by one-loop fluctuations of BPS walls give rise mainly to attractive forces between the constituent walls except if the two basic walls are very far apart. Repulsive forces between two close walls only arise if the coupling is approaches the critical value from below.

On the BPS spectrum at the root of the Higgs branch

We study the BPS spectrum and walls of marginal stability of the $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric theory in four dimensions with gauge group SU(n) and $n\le N_{f}<2n$ fundamental flavours at the root of the Higgs branch. The strong-coupling spectrum of this theory was conjectured in hep-th/9902134 to coincide with that of the two-dimensional supersymmetric $\mathbb{CP}^{2n-N_{f}-1}$ sigma model. Using the Kontsevich--Soibelman wall-crossing formula, we start with the conjectured strong-coupling spectrum and extrapolate it to all other regions of the moduli space. In the weak-coupling regime, our results precisely agree with the semiclassical analysis of hep-th/9902134: in addition to the usual dyons, quarks, and $W$ bosons, if the complex masses obey a particular inequality, the resulting weak-coupling spectrum includes a tower of bound states consisting of a dyon and one or more quarks. In the special case of $\mathbb{Z}_{n}$-symmetric masses, there are bound states with one quark for odd $n$ and no bound states for even $n$.

Open BPS wall crossing and M-theory

Consider the degeneracies of BPS bound states of one D6-brane wrapping Calabi–Yau X with D0-branes and D2-branes. When we include D4-branes wrapping Lagrangian cycles in addition, D2-branes can end on them. These give rise to new bound states in the d = 2 , N = ( 2 , 2 ) theory of the D4-branes. We call these “open” BPS states, in contrast to closed BPS states that arise from D-branes without boundaries. Lifting this to M-theory, we show that the generating function is captured by free Fock space spanned by M2-brane particles ending on M5-branes wrapping the Lagrangian. This implies that the open BPS bound states are counted by the square of the open topological string partition function on X, reduced to the corresponding chamber. Our results give new predictions for open BPS invariants and their wall crossing phenomena when we change the open and closed string moduli. We relate our results to the work of Cecotti and Vafa on wall crossing in the two-dimensional N = ( 2 , 2 ) theories. The findings from the crystal melting model for the open BPS invariants proposed recently fit well with the M-theory predictions.

Central charges, S-duality and massive vacua of N=1∗ super-Yang–Mills

We provide a simple derivation of the extremal values of the superpotential in massive vacua of N = 1 ∗ SYM, making use of the required modular weight for the central charge of BPS walls interpolating between these vacua. This modular weight descends from the action of S-duality on the N = 4 superalgebra which in turn is inherited from its classical action on the dyon spectrum. We show that this kinematic information, combined with minimal knowledge of the weak coupling asymptotics, is sufficient to determine the exact vacuum superpotentials in terms of Eisenstein series.

Moduli Space of BPS Walls in Supersymmetric Gauge Theories

Existence and uniqueness of the solution are proved for the ‘master equation’ derived from the BPS equation for the vector multiplet scalar in the U(1) gauge theory with N F charged matter hypermultiplets with eight supercharges. This proof establishes that the solutions of the BPS equations are completely characterized by the moduli matrices divided by the V-equivalence relation for the gauge theory at finite gauge couplings. Therefore the moduli space at finite gauge couplings is topologically the same manifold as that at infinite gauge coupling, where the gauged linear sigma model reduces to a nonlinear sigma model. The proof is extended to the U(N C) gauge theory with N F hypermultiplets in the fundamental representation, provided the moduli matrix of the domain wall solution is U(1)-factorizable. Thus the dimension of the moduli space of U(N C) gauge theory is bounded from below by the dimension of the U(1)-factorizable part of the moduli space. We also obtain sharp estimates of the asymptotic exponential decay which depend on both the gauge coupling and the hypermultiplet mass differences.

Global structure of moduli space for BPS walls

We study the global structure of the moduli space of BPS walls in the Higgs branch of supersymmetric theories with eight supercharges. We examine the structure in the neighborhood of a special Lagrangian submanifold $M$, and find that the dimension of the moduli space can be larger than that naively suggested by the index theorem, contrary to previous examples of BPS solitons. We investigate BPS wall solutions in an explicit example of $M$ using Abelian gauge theory. Its Higgs branch turns out to contain several special Lagrangian submanifolds including $M$. We show that the total moduli space of BPS walls is the union of these submanifolds. We also find interesting dynamics between BPS walls as a by-product of the analysis. Namely, mutual repulsion and attraction between BPS walls sometimes forbid a movement of a wall and lock it in a certain position; we also find that a pair of walls can transmute to another pair of walls with different tension after they pass through.

Localized Vector Multiplet on a Wall

The localization of vector multiplets is examined using the {\cal N}=1 supersymmetric U(1) gauge theory with the Fayet-Iliopoulos term coupled to charged chiral multiplets in four dimensions. The vector field becomes localized on a BPS wall connecting two different vacua that break the gauge symmetry. The vacuum expectation values of charged fields vanish (approximately) around the center of the wall, causing the Higgs mechanism to be ineffective. The mass of the localized vector multiplet is found to be the inverse width of the wall. The model gives an explicit example of this general phenomenon. A five-dimensional version of the model can also be constructed if we abandon supersymmetry.

Massive nonlinear sigma models and BPS domain walls in harmonic superspace

Four-dimensional massive N=2 nonlinear sigma models and BPS wall solutions are studied in the off-shell harmonic superspace approach in which N=2 supersymmetry is manifest. The general nonlinear sigma model can be described by an analytic harmonic potential which is the hyper-Kähler analog of the Kähler potential in N=1 theory. We examine the massive nonlinear sigma model with multi-center four-dimensional target hyper-Kähler metrics and derive the corresponding BPS equation. We study in some detail two particular cases with the Taub-NUT and double Taub-NUT metrics. The latter embodies, as its two separate limits, both Taub-NUT and Eguchi–Hanson metrics. We find that domain wall solutions exist only in the double Taub-NUT case including its Eguchi–Hanson limit.

A note on domain walls and the parameter space of Script N = 1 gauge theories

We study the spectrum of BPS domain walls within the parameter space of N=1 U(N) gauge theories with adjoint matter and a cubic superpotential. Using a low energy description obtained by compactifying the theory on R^3 x S^1, we examine the wall spectrum by combining direct calculations at special points in the parameter space with insight drawn from the leading order potential between minimal walls, i.e those interpolating between adjacent vacua. We show that the multiplicity of composite BPS walls -- as characterised by the CFIV index -- exhibits discontinuities on marginal stability curves within the parameter space of the maximally confining branch. The structure of these marginal stability curves for large N appears tied to certain singularities within the matrix model description of the confining vacua.

Effective theory for wall-antiwall system

We propose a useful method for deriving the effective theory for a system where BPS and anti-BPS domain walls coexist. Our method respects an approximately preserved SUSY near each wall. Due to the finite width of the walls, SUSY breaking terms arise at tree-level, which are exponentially suppressed. A practical approximation using the BPS wall solutions is also discussed. We show that a tachyonic mode appears in the matter sector if the corresponding mode function has a broader profile than the wall width.

Modified mode-expansion on a BPS wall related to the nonlinear realization

We propose a modified mode-expansion of the bulk fields in a BPS domain wall background to obtain the effective theory on the wall. The broken SUSY is nonlinearly realized on each mode defined by our mode-expansion. Our work clarifies a relation between two different approaches to derive the effective theory on a BPS wall, {\it i.e.} the nonlinear realization approach and the mode-expansion approach. We also discuss a further modification that respects the Lorentz and $U(1)_R$ symmetries broken by the wall.

Wall solution with weak gravity limit in five-dimensional supergravity

In five-dimensional supergravity, an exact solution of BPS wall is found for a gravitational deformation of the massive Eguchi–Hanson nonlinear sigma model. The warp factor decreases for both infinities of the extra dimension. Thin wall limit gives the Randall–Sundrum model without fine-tuning of input parameters. We also obtain wall solutions with warp factors which are flat or increasing in one side, by varying a deformation parameter of the potential.

Manifest supersymmetry for BPS walls in [formula omitted] nonlinear sigma models

BPS equations and wall solutions are studied keeping (part of) supersymmetry (SUSY) manifest. Using N=1 superfields, massive hyper-Kähler quotient is introduced to obtain massive N=2 (8 SUSY) nonlinear sigma models in four dimensions with T ∗ C P n target manifold, which yield BPS wall solutions for the n=1 case. We also describe massive hyper-Kähler quotient of T ∗ C P n by using the harmonic superspace formalism which preserves all SUSY manifestly, and BPS equations and wall solutions are obtained in the n=1 case.

Exactly solved BPS wall and winding number in N=1 Supergravity(Quantum Field Theories: Fundamental Problems and Applications)

Exactly solved BPS wall and winding number in N=1 Supergravity(Quantum Field Theories: Fundamental Problems and Applications)

Exactly solved BPS wall and winding number [formula omitted] supergravity

A BPS exact wall solution is found in N=1 supergravity in four dimensions. The model uses chiral scalar field with a periodic superpotential admitting winding numbers. Maintaining the periodicity in supergravity requires a gravitational correction to superpotential which allows the exact solution. By introducing boundary cosmological constants, we construct non-BPS multi-wall solutions for which a systematic analytic approximation is worked out for small gravitational coupling.

Winding number and non-BPS bound states of walls in nonlinear sigma models

Non-supersymmetric multi-wall configurations are generically unstable. It is proposed that the stabilization in compact space can be achieved by introducing a winding number into the model. A BPS-like bound is studied for the energy of configuration with nonvanishing winding number. Winding number is implemented in an ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric nonlinear sigma model with two chiral scalar fields and a bound states of BPS and anti-BPS walls is found to exist in noncompact spaces. Even in compactified space $S^1$, this nontrivial bound state persists above a critical radius of the compact dimension.

Bogomol’nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield walls and junctions in supersymmetric nonlinear sigma models

BPS walls and junctions are studied in ${\cal N}=1$ SUSY nonlinear sigma models in four spacetime dimensions. New BPS junction solutions connecting N discrete vacua are found for nonlinear sigma models with several chiral scalar superfields. A nonlinear sigma model with a single chiral scalar superfield is also found which has a moduli space of the topology of $S^1$ and admits BPS walls and junctions connecting arbitrary points in moduli space. SUSY condition in nonlinear sigma models are classified either as stationary points of superpotential or singularities of the K\"ahler metric in field space. The total number of SUSY vacua is invariant under holomorphic field redefinitions if we count ``runaway vacua'' also.