415 research outputs found
Six-dimensional D_N theory and four-dimensional SO-USp quivers
We realize four-dimensional N=2 superconformal quiver gauge theories with
alternating SO and USp gauge groups as compactifications of the six-dimensional
D_N 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 N=2 superconformal field theories with
SO(2N)^3 flavor symmetry.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures; v2: published versio
Higher form symmetries of Argyres-Douglas theories
We determine the structure of 1-form symmetries for all 4d N = 2 theories that have a geometric engineering in terms of type IIB string theory on isolated hypersurface singularities. This is a large class of models, that includes Argyres-Douglas theories and many others. Despite the lack of known gauge theory descriptions for most such theories, we find that the spectrum of 1-form symmetries can be obtained via a careful analysis of the non-commutative behaviour of RR fluxes at infinity in the IIB setup. The final result admits a very compact field theoretical reformulation in terms of the BPS quiver. We illustrate our methods in detail in the case of the (g,gâČ) Argyres-Douglas theories found by Cecotti-Neitzke-Vafa. In those cases where N = 1 gauge theory descriptions have been proposed for theories within this class, we find agreement between the 1-form symmetries of such N = 1 Lagrangian flows and those of the actual Argyres-Douglas fixed points, thus giving a consistency check for these proposals
Higher form symmetries and M-theory
We discuss the geometric origin of discrete higher form symmetries of quantum field theories in terms of defect groups from geometric engineering in M-theory. The flux non-commutativity in M-theory gives rise to (mixed) ât Hooft anomalies for the defect group which constrains the corresponding global structures of the associated quantum fields. We analyze the example of 4d N = 1 SYM gauge theory in four dimensions, and we reproduce the well-known classification of global structures from reading between its lines. We extend this analysis to the case of 7d N = 1 SYM theory, where we recover it from a mixed ât Hooft anomaly among the electric 1-form center symmetry and the magnetic 4-form center symmetry in the defect group. The case of five-dimensional SCFTs from M-theory on toric singularities is discussed in detail. In that context we determine the corresponding 1-form and 2-form defect groups and we explain how to determine the corresponding mixed ât Hooft anomalies from flux non-commutativity. Several predictions for non-conventional 5d SCFTs are obtained. The matching of discrete higher-form symmetries and their anomalies provides an interesting consistency check for 5d dualities
D-brane Instantons as Gauge Instantons in Orientifolds of Chiral Quiver Theories
Systems of D3-branes at orientifold singularities can receive
non-perturbative D-brane instanton corrections, inducing field theory operators
in the 4d effective theory. In certain non-chiral examples, these systems have
been realized as the infrared endpoint of a Seiberg duality cascade, in which
the D-brane instanton effects arise from strong gauge theory dynamics. We
present the first UV duality cascade completion of chiral D3-brane theories, in
which the D-brane instantons arise from gauge theory dynamics. Chiral examples
are interesting because the instanton fermion zero mode sector is topologically
protected, and therefore lead to more robust setups. As an application of our
results, we provide a UV completion of certain D-brane orientifold systems
recently claimed to produce conformal field theories with conformal invariance
broken only by D-brane instantons.Comment: 50 pages, 32 figures. v2: version published in JHEP with references
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A natural renormalizable model of metastable SUSY breaking
We propose a model of metastable dynamical supersymmetry breaking in which
all scales are generated dynamically. Our construction is a simple variant of
the Intriligator-Seiberg-Shih model, with quark masses induced by
renormalizable couplings to an auxiliary supersymmetric QCD sector. Since all
scales arise from dimensional transmutation, the model has no fundamental
dimensionful parameters. It also does not rely on higher-dimensional operators.Comment: 9 pages; v2: typos correcte
Non-Perturbative Effects on a Fractional D3-Brane
In this note we study the N=1 abelian gauge theory on the world volume of a
single fractional D3-brane. In the limit where gravitational interactions are
not completely decoupled we find that a superpotential and a fermionic bilinear
condensate are generated by a D-brane instanton effect. A related situation
arises for an isolated cycle invariant under an orientifold projection, even in
the absence of any gauge theory brane. Moreover, in presence of supersymmetry
breaking background fluxes, such instanton configurations induce new couplings
in the 4-dimensional effective action, including non-perturbative contributions
to the cosmological constant and non-supersymmetric mass terms.Comment: 18 pages, v3: refs adde
Toric AdS4/CFT3 duals and M-theory Crystals
We study the recently proposed crystal model for three dimensional
superconformal field theories arising from M2-branes probing toric Calabi-Yau
four-fold singularities. We explain the algorithms mapping a toric Calabi-Yau
to a crystal and vice versa, and show how the spectrum of BPS meson states fits
into the crystal model.Comment: 24 pages, 24 figure
A Note on Dimer Models and D-brane Gauge Theories
The connection between quiver gauge theories and dimer models has been well
studied. It is known that the matter fields of the quiver gauge theories can be
represented using the perfect matchings of the corresponding dimer model.We
conjecture that a subset of perfect matchings associated with an internal point
in the toric diagram is sufficient to give information about the charge matrix
of the quiver gauge theory. Further, we perform explicit computations on some
aspects of partial resolutions of toric singularities using dimer models. We
analyse these with graph theory techniques, using the perfect matchings of
orbifolds of the form \BC^3/\Gamma, where the orbifolding group may
be noncyclic. Using these, we study the construction of the superpotential of
gauge theories living on D-branes which probe these singularities, including
the case where one or more adjoint fields are present upon partial resolution.
Applying a combination of open and closed string techniques to dimer models, we
also study some aspects of their symmetries.Comment: Discussions expanded, clarifications added, typos fixed. 1+49 page
D-brane instantons and the effective field theory of flux compactifications
We provide a description of the effects of fluxes on euclidean D-brane
instantons purely in terms of the 4d effective action. The effect corresponds
to the dressing of the effective non-perturbative 4d effective vertex with 4d
flux superpotential interactions, generated when the moduli fields made massive
by the flux are integrated out. The description in terms of effective field
theory allows a unified description of non-perturbative effects in all flux
compactifications of a given underlying fluxless model, globally in the moduli
space of the latter. It also allows us to describe explicitly the effects on
D-brane instantons of fluxes with no microscopic description, like
non-geometric fluxes. At the more formal level, the description has interesting
connections with the bulk-boundary map of open-closed two-dimensional
topological string theory, and with the \NN=1 special geometry.Comment: 33 page
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