Superconformal Quiver Gauge Theories Research Articles

Localization vs holography in 4d mathcal{N} = 2 quiver theories

We study 4-dimensional mathcal{N} = 2 superconformal quiver gauge theories obtained with an orbifold projection from mathcal{N} = 4 SYM, and compute the 2- and 3-point correlation functions among chiral/anti-chiral single-trace scalar operators and the corresponding structure constants. Exploiting localization, we map the computation to an interacting matrix model and obtain expressions for the correlators and the structure constants that are valid for any value of the ’t Hooft coupling in the planar limit of the theory. At strong coupling, these expressions simplify and allow us to extract the leading behavior in an analytic way. Finally, using the AdS/CFT correspondence, we compute the structure constants from the dual supergravity theory and obtain results that perfectly match the strong-coupling predictions from localization.

Strong-coupling results for mathcal{N} = 2 superconformal quivers and holography

We consider mathcal{N} = 2 superconformal quiver gauge theories in four dimensions and evaluate the chiral/anti-chiral correlators of single-trace operators. We show that it is convenient to form particular twisted and untwisted combinations of these operators suggested by the dual holographic description of the theory. The various twisted sectors are orthogonal and the correlators in each sector have always the same structure, as we show at the lowest orders in perturbation theory with Feynman diagrams. Using localization we then map the computation to a matrix model. In this way we are able to obtain formal expressions for the twisted correlators in the planar limit that are valid for all values of the ‘t Hooft coupling λ, and find that they are proportional to 1/λ at strong coupling. We successfully test the correctness of our extrapolation against a direct numerical evaluation of the matrix model and argue that the 1/λ behavior qualitatively agrees with the holographic description.

Mass deformations of unoriented quiver theories

We study the interplay between mass deformations and unoriented projections of super-conformal quiver gauge theories resulting from D3-branes at (toric) Calabi-Yau singularities. We focus on simple orbifold cases (ℂ3/ℤ3 and ℂ3/ℤ4) and their non-orbifold descendants. This allows us to generalize the construction rules and clarify points that have been previously overlooked. In particular we spell out the conditions of anomaly cancellations as well as super-conformal invariance that typically require the introduction of flavour branes, which in turn may spoil toric symmetry. Finally, we discuss duality cascades in this context and the interplay between Seiberg/toric duality and unoriented projection with (or without) mass deformations.

A note on chiral trace relations from qq-characters

We study chiral operators in four-dimensional mathcal{N} = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories. We provide a general procedure to derive the exact relations among the vacuum expectation values of chiral operators in the Ω-background using the non-perturbative Dyson-Schwinger equations of qq-characters. We demonstrate our procedure using several examples. For pure SU(N ) gauge theory and SU(N ) gauge theory with 2N fundamental hypermultiplets, we verify the relations conjectured previously in the literature. We also briefly discuss the relations in SU(N) linear superconformal quiver gauge theories.

A Family of GL<sub>r</sub> Multiplicative Higgs Bundles on Rational Base

In this paper we study a restricted family of holomorphic symplectic leaves in the Poisson-Lie group ${\rm GL}_r(\mathcal{K}_{\mathbb{P}^1_x})$ with rational quadratic Sklyanin brackets induced by a one-form with a single quadratic pole at $\infty \in \mathbb{P}_{1}$. The restriction of the family is that the matrix elements in the defining representation are linear functions of $x$. We study how the symplectic leaves in this family are obtained by the fusion of certain fundamental symplectic leaves. These symplectic leaves arise as minimal examples of (i) moduli spaces of multiplicative Higgs bundles on $\mathbb{P}^{1}$ with prescribed singularities, (ii) moduli spaces of $U(r)$ monopoles on $\mathbb{R}^2 \times S^1$ with Dirac singularities, (iii) Coulomb branches of the moduli space of vacua of 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric $A_{r-1}$ quiver gauge theories compactified on a circle. While degree 1 symplectic leaves regular at $\infty \in \mathbb{P}^1$ (Coulomb branches of the superconformal quiver gauge theories) are isomorphic to co-adjoint orbits in $\mathfrak{gl}_{r}$ and their Darboux parametrization and quantization is well known, the case irregular at infinity (asymptotically free quiver gauge theories) is novel. We also explicitly quantize the algebra of functions on these moduli spaces by presenting the corresponding solutions to the quantum Yang-Baxter equation valued in Heisenberg algebra (free field realization).

Large N correlation functions mathcal{N} = 2 superconformal quivers

Using supersymmetric localization, we consider four-dimensional mathcal{N} = 2 superconformal quiver gauge theories obtained from {mathbb{Z}}_n orbifolds of mathcal{N} = 4 Super Yang-Mills theory in the large N limit at weak coupling. In particular, we show that: 1) The partition function for arbitrary couplings can be constructed in terms of universal building blocks. 2) It can be computed in perturbation series, which converges uniformly for |λI | < π2, where λI are the ’t Hooft coupling of the gauge groups. 3) The perturbation series for two-point functions can be explicitly computed to arbitrary orders. There is no universal effective coupling by which one can express them in terms of correlators of the mathcal{N} = 4 theory. 4) One can define twisted and untwisted sector operators. At the perturbative orbifold point, when all the couplings are the same, the correlators of untwisted sector operators coincide with those of mathcal{N} = 4 Super Yang-Mills theory. In the twisted sector, we find remarkable cancellations of a certain number of planar loops, determined by the conformal dimension of the operator.

Holographic effective field theories

We derive the four-dimensional low-energy effective field theory governing the moduli space of strongly coupled superconformal quiver gauge theories associated with D3-branes at Calabi-Yau conical singularities in the holographic regime of validity. We use the dual supergravity description provided by warped resolved conical geometries with mobile D3-branes. Information on the baryonic directions of the moduli space is also obtained by using wrapped Euclidean D3-branes. We illustrate our general results by discussing in detail their application to the Klebanov-Witten model.

$${\mathcal{N} = 2}$$ N = 2 Quiver Gauge Theories on A-type ALE Spaces

We survey and compare recent approaches to the computation of the partition functions and correlators of chiral BPS observables in $\mathcal{N}=2$ gauge theories on ALE spaces based on quiver varieties and the minimal resolution $X_k$ of the $A_{k-1}$ toric singularity $\mathbb{C}^2/\mathbb{Z}_k$, in light of their recently conjectured duality with two-dimensional coset conformal field theories. We review and elucidate the rigorous constructions of gauge theories for a particular family of ALE spaces, using their relation to the cohomology of moduli spaces of framed torsion free sheaves on a suitable orbifold compactification of $X_k$. We extend these computations to generic $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal quiver gauge theories, obtaining in these instances new constraints on fractional instanton charges, a rigorous proof of the Nekrasov master formula, and new quantizations of Hitchin systems based on the underlying Seiberg-Witten geometry.

THE GRAVITY DUALS OF SO/USp SUPERCONFORMAL QUIVERS

We discuss the gravity duals of SO/USp superconformal quiver gauge theories on M5-branes which are localized on top of ℝ5/ℤ2 and wrapping on a Riemann surface of genus g. We concentrate on Riemann surfaces with no punctures and show that the gravity solutions are classified by the genus g of the Riemann surface and the torsion part of the four-form flux.

Brane resolution through fibration

We consider p-branes with one or more circular directions fibered over the transverse space. The fibration, in conjunction with the transverse space having a blown-up cycle, enables these p-brane solutions to be completely regular. Some such circularly-wrapped D3-brane solutions describe flows from SU(N)^3 N=2 theory, F_0 theory, as well as an infinite family of superconformal quiver gauge theories, down to three-dimensional field theories. We discuss the operators that are turned on away from the UV fixed points. Similarly, there are wrapped M2-brane solutions which describe smooth flows from known three-dimensional supersymmetric Chern-Simons matter theories, such as ABJM theory. We also consider p-brane solutions on gravitational instantons, and discuss various ways in which U-duality can be applied to yield other non-singular solutions.

Network and Seiberg duality

We define and study a new class of 4d N=1 superconformal quiver gauge theories associated with a planar bipartite network. While UV description is not unique due to Seiberg duality, we can classify the IR fixed points of the theory by a permutation, or equivalently a cell of the totally non-negative Grassmannian. The story is similar to a bipartite network on the torus classified by a Newton polygon. We then generalize the network to a general bordered Riemann surface and define IR SCFT from the geometric data of a Riemann surface. We also comment on IR R-charges and superconformal indices of our theories.

N = 2 dualities

We study the generalization of S-duality and Argyres-Seiberg duality for a large class of N = 2 superconformal gauge theories. We identify a family of strongly interacting SCFTs and use them as building blocks for generalized superconformal quiver gauge theories. This setup provides a detailed description of the “very strongly coupled” regions in the moduli space of more familiar gauge theories. As a byproduct, we provide a purely four dimensional construction of N = 2 theories defined by wrapping M5 branes over a Riemann surface.

The gravity duals of SO/USp superconformal quivers

We study the gravity duals of SO/USp superconformal quiver gauge theories realized by M5-branes wrapping on a Riemann surface ("G-curve") together with a Z_2-quotient. When the G-curve has no punctures, the gravity solutions are classified by the genus g of the G-curve and the torsion part of the four-form flux G_4. We also find that there is an interesting relation between anomaly contributions from two mysterious theories: T_{SO(2N)} theory with SO(2N)^3 flavor symmetry and \tilde{T}_{SO(2N)} theory with SO(2N) x USp(2N-2)^2 flavor symmetry. The dual gravity solutions for various SO/USp-type tails are also studied.

Quivers, YBE and 3-manifolds

We study 4d superconformal indices for a large class of $ \mathcal{N} = 1 $ superconformal quiver gauge theories realized combinatorially as a bipartite graph or a set of “zig-zag paths” on a two-dimensional torus T 2. An exchange of loops, which we call a “double Yang-Baxter move”, gives the Seiberg duality of the gauge theory, and the invariance of the index under the duality is translated into the Yang-Baxter-type equation of a spin system defined on a “Z-invariant” lattice on T 2. When we compactify the gauge theory to 3d, Higgs the theory and then compactify further to 2d, the superconformal index reduces to an integral of quantum/classical dilogarithm functions. The saddle point of this integral unexpectedly reproduces the hyperbolic volume of a hyperbolic 3-manifold. The 3-manifold is obtained by gluing hyperbolic ideal polyhedra in $ {\mathbb{H}^3} $ , each of which could be thought of as a 3d lift of the faces of the 2d bipartite graph. The same quantity is also related with the thermodynamic limit of the BPS partition function, or equivalently the genus 0 topological string partition function, on a toric Calabi-Yau manifold dual to quiver gauge theories. We also comment on brane realization of our theories. This paper is a companion to another paper summarizing the results [1].

Moore-Read fractional quantum Hall wave functions andSU(2)quiver gauge theories

We identify Moore-Read wavefunctions, describing non-abelian statistics in fractional quantum Hall systems, with the instanton partition of N=2 superconformal quiver gauge theories at suitable values of masses and \Omega-background parameters. This is obtained by extending to rational conformal field theories the SU(2) gauge quiver/Liouville field theory duality recently found by Alday-Gaiotto-Tachikawa. A direct link between the Moore-Read Hall $n$-body wavefunctions and Z_n-equivariant Donaldson polynomials is pointed out.

Six-dimensionalDNtheory and four-dimensional SO-USp quivers

We realize four-dimensional = 2 superconformal quiver gauge theories with alternating SO and USp gauge groups as compactifications of the six-dimensional DN theory with defects. The construction can be used to analyze infinitely strongly-coupled limits and S-dualities of such gauge theories, resulting in a new class of isolated four-dimensional = 2 superconformal field theories with SO(2N)3 flavor symmetry.

Superconformal Chern-Simons theories and AdS4/CFT3correspondence

We discuss the N = 2 superspace formulation of the N = 8 superconformal Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson theory, and of the N = 6 superconformal Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena U(N) x U(N) Chern-Simons theory. In particular, we prove the full SU(4)R-symmetry of the ABJM theory. We then consider orbifold projections of this theory that give non-chiral and chiral (U( N) x U(N))(n) superconformal quiver gauge theories. We argue that these theories are dual to certain AdS(4) x S-7/(Z(n) x Z (k$) over tilde) backgrounds of M-theory. We also study a SU(3) invariant mass term in the superpotential that makes the N = 8 theory flow to a N = 2 superconformal gauge theory with a sextic superpotential. We conjecture that this gauge theory is dual to the U(1)(R) x SU(3) invariant extremum of the N = 8 gauged supergravity, which was discovered by N. Warner 25 years ago and whose uplifting to 11 dimensions was found more recently.

Typicality, black hole microstates and superconformal field theories

We analyze the structure of heavy multitrace BPS operators in N = 1 superconformal quiver gauge theories that arise on the worldvolume of D3-branes on an affine toric cone. We exhibit a geometric procedure for counting heavy mesonic operators with given U(1) charges. We show that for any fixed linear combination of the U(1) charges, the entropy is maximized when the charges are in certain ratios. This selects preferred directions in the charge space that can be determined with the help of a piece of string. We show that almost all heavy mesonic operators of fixed U(1) charges share a universal structure. This universality reflects the properties of the dual extremal black holes whose microstates they create. We also interpret our results in terms of typical configurations of dual giant gravitons in AdS space.

Exactly Marginal Deformations of Quiver Gauge Theories as Seen from Brane Tilings

We study the relation between exactly marginal deformations in a large class of N=1 superconformal quiver gauge theories described by brane tilings and the degrees of freedom in the corresponding 5-brane systems. We show, with the help of NSVZ exact beta functions, that there are generically d-1 complex exactly marginal deformations of a gauge theory, where d is the perimeter of the corresponding n it, and the other two, the diagonal gauge coupling and a beta-like deformation, as background supergravity fields.toric diagram. We identify d-3 complex marginal deformations as deformations of the brane system and the Wilson lines on it, and the other two, the diagonal gauge coupling and a beta-like deformation, as background supergravity fields.

An infinite family of superconformal quiver gauge theories with Sasaki-Einstein duals

We describe an infinite family of quiver gauge theories that are AdS/CFT dual to a corresponding class of explicit horizon Sasaki-Einstein manifolds. The quivers may be obtained from a family of orbifold theories by a simple iterative procedure. A key aspect in their construction relies on the global symmetry which is dual to the isometry of the manifolds. For an arbitrary such quiver we compute the exact R-charges of the fields in the IR by applying a-maximization. The values we obtain are generically quadratic irrational numbers and agree perfectly with the central charges and baryon charges computed from the family of metrics using the AdS/CFT correspondence. These results open the way for a systematic study of the quiver gauge theories and their dual geometries.