Aspects of elliptic hypergeometric functions

General elliptic hypergeometric functions are defined by elliptic hypergeometric integrals. They comprise the elliptic beta integral, elliptic analogues of the Euler-Gauss hypergeometric function and Selberg integral, as well as elliptic extensions of many other plain hypergeometric and $q$-hypergeometric constructions. In particular, the Bailey chain technique, used for proving Rogers-Ramanujan type identities, has been generalized to integrals. At the elliptic level it yields a solution of the Yang-Baxter equation as an integral operator with an elliptic hypergeometric kernel. We give a brief survey of the developments in this field.Comment: 15 pp., 1 fig., accepted in Proc. of the Conference "The Legacy of Srinivasa Ramanujan" (Delhi, India, December 2012

Derivatives of Horn-type hypergeometric functions with respect to their parameters

We consider the derivatives of Horn hypergeometric functions of any number variables with respect to their parameters. The derivative of the function in $n$ variables is expressed as a Horn hypergeometric series of $n+1$ infinite summations depending on the same variables and with the same region of convergence as for original Horn function. The derivatives of Appell functions, generalized hypergeometric functions, confluent and non-confluent Lauricella series and generalized Lauricella series are explicitly presented. Applications to the calculation of Feynman diagrams are discussed, especially the series expansion in $\epsilon$ within dimensional regularization. Connections with other classes of special functions are discussed as well.Comment: 27 page

Rarefied elliptic hypergeometric functions

Two exact evaluation formulae for multiple rarefied elliptic beta integrals related to the simplest lens space are proved. They generalize evaluations of the type I and II elliptic beta integrals attached to the root system $C_n$. In a special $n=1$ case, the simplest $p\to 0$ limit is shown to lead to a new class of $q$-hypergeometric identities. Symmetries of a rarefied elliptic analogue of the Euler-Gauss hypergeometric function are described and the respective generalization of the hypergeometric equation is constructed. Some extensions of the latter function to $C_n$ and $A_n$ root systems and corresponding symmetry transformations are considered. An application of the rarefied type II $C_n$ elliptic hypergeometric function to some eigenvalue problems is briefly discussed.Comment: 41 pp., corrected numeration of formula

Elliptic hypergeometric terms

General structure of the multivariate plain and q-hypergeometric terms and univariate elliptic hypergeometric terms is described. Some explicit examples of the totally elliptic hypergeometric terms leading to multidimensional integrals on root systems, either computable or obeying non-trivial symmetry transformations, are presented.Comment: 20 pp., version to appear in a workshop proceeding

Multiple (inverse) binomial sums of arbitrary weight and depth and the all-order epsilon-expansion of generalized hypergeometric functions with one half-integer value of parameter

We continue the study of the construction of analytical coefficients of the epsilon-expansion of hypergeometric functions and their connection with Feynman diagrams. In this paper, we show the following results: Theorem A: The multiple (inverse) binomial sums of arbitrary weight and depth (see Eq. (1.1)) are expressible in terms of Remiddi-Vermaseren functions. Theorem B: The epsilon expansion of a hypergeometric function with one half-integer value of parameter (see Eq. (1.2)) is expressible in terms of the harmonic polylogarithms of Remiddi and Vermaseren with coefficients that are ratios of polynomials. Some extra materials are available via the www at this http://theor.jinr.ru/~kalmykov/hypergeom/hyper.htmlComment: 24 pages, latex with amsmath and JHEP3.cls; v2: some typos corrected and a few references added; v3: few references added

The 1/2 BPS Wilson loop in ABJ(M) at two loops: The details

We compute the expectation value of the 1/2 BPS circular Wilson loop operator in ABJ(M) theory at two loops in perturbation theory. Our result turns out to be in exact agreement with the weak coupling limit of the prediction coming from localization, including finite N contributions associated to non-planar diagrams. It also confirms the identification of the correct framing factor that connects framing-zero and framing-one expressions, previously proposed. The evaluation of the 1/2 BPS operator is made technically difficult in comparison with other observables of ABJ(M) theory by the appearance of integrals involving the coupling between fermions and gauge fields, which are absent for instance in the 1/6 BPS case. We describe in detail how to analytically solve these integrals in dimensional regularization with dimensional reduction (DRED). By suitably performing the physical limit to three dimensions we clarify the role played by short distance divergences on the final result and the mechanism of their cancellation.Comment: 54 pages, 2 figure

S-duality and 2d Topological QFT

We study the superconformal index for the class of N=2 4d superconformal field theories recently introduced by Gaiotto. These theories are defined by compactifying the (2,0) 6d theory on a Riemann surface with punctures. We interpret the index of the 4d theory associated to an n-punctured Riemann surface as the n-point correlation function of a 2d topological QFT living on the surface. Invariance of the index under generalized S-duality transformations (the mapping class group of the Riemann surface) translates into associativity of the operator algebra of the 2d TQFT. In the A_1 case, for which the 4d SCFTs have a Lagrangian realization, the structure constants and metric of the 2d TQFT can be calculated explicitly in terms of elliptic gamma functions. Associativity then holds thanks to a remarkable symmetry of an elliptic hypergeometric beta integral, proved very recently by van de Bult.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figure