Monopoles Can be Confined by 0, 1 or 2 Vortices

There are three types of monopole in gauge theories with fundamental matter and N=2 supersymmetry broken by a superpotential. There are unconfined 0-monopoles and also 1 and 2-monopoles confined respectively by one or two vortices transforming under distinct components of the unbroken gauge group. If a Fayet-Iliopoulos term is added then there are only 2-monopoles. Monopoles transform in the bifundamental representation of two components of the unbroken gauge symmetry, and if two monopoles share a component they may form a boundstate. Selection rules for this process are found, for example vortex number is preserved modulo 2. We find the tensions of the vortices, which are in general distinct, and also the conditions under which vortices are mutually BPS. Results are derived in field theory and also in MQCD, and in quiver theories a T-dual picture may be used in which monopoles are classified by quiver diagrams with two colors of vertices.Comment: 46 pages, 13 figures, V2: Comment on non-BPS correction added; 1 figure adde

NonAbelian Vortices, Large Winding Limits and Aharonov-Bohm Effects

Remarkable simplification arises from considering vortex equations in the large winding limit. This was recently used in [1] to display all sorts of vortex zeromodes, the orientational, translational, fermionic as well as semi-local, and to relate them to the apparently distinct phenomena of the Nielsen-Olesen-Ambjorn magnetic instabilities. Here we extend these analyses to more general types of BPS nonAbelian vortices, taking as a prototype a system with gauged U(1) x SU(N) x SU(N) symmetry where the VEV of charged scalar fields in the bifundamental representation breaks the symmetry to SU(N)_{l+r} . The presence of the massless SU(N)_{l+r} gauge fields in 4D bulk introduces all sorts of non-local, topological phenomena such as the nonAbelian Aharonov-Bohm effects, which in the theory with global SU(N)_r group (g_r=0) are washed away by the strongly fluctuating orientational zeromodes in the worldsheet. Physics changes qualitatively at the moment the right gauge coupling constant g_r is turned on.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figure

A Coincidence Problem: How to Flow from N=2 SQCD to N=1 SQCD

We discuss, and propose a solution for, a still unresolved problem regarding the breaking from $\N=2$ super-QCD to $\N=1$ super-QCD. A mass term W=\mu \Tr \Phi^2 / 2 for the adjoint field, which classically does the required breaking perfectly, quantum mechanically leads to a relevant operator that, in the infrared, makes the theory flow away from pure $\N=1$ SQCD. To avoid this problem, we first need to extend the theory from \SU (n_c) to \U (n_c). We then look for the quantum generalization of the condition $W^{\prime}(m)=0$, that is, the coincidence between a root of the derivative of the superpotential $W(\phi)$ and the mass $m$ of the quarks. There are $2n_c -n_f$ of such points in the moduli space. We suggest that with an opportune choice of superpotential, that selects one of these coincidence vacua in the moduli space, it is possible to flow from $\N=2$ SQCD to $\N=1$ SQCD. Various arguments support this claim. In particular, we shall determine the exact location in the moduli space of these coincidence vacua and the precise factorization of the SW curve.Comment: 45 pp. v2: typos corrected. v3,v4: other minor correction

Large N, Z_N Strings and Bag Models

We study Z_N strings in nonabelian gauge theories, when they can be considered as domain walls compactified on a cylinder and stabilized by the flux inside. To make the wall vortex approximation reliable, we must take the 't Hooft large N limit. Our construction has many points in common with the phenomenological bag models of hadrons.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures. v2: Corrected a 1/N factor in the large N QCD sectio

On Some Universal Features of the Holographic Quantum Complexity of Bulk Singularities

We perform a comparative study of the time dependence of the holographic quantum complexity of some space like singular bulk gravitational backgrounds. This is done by considering the two available notions of complexity, one that relates it to the maximal spatial volume and the other that relates it to the classical action of the Wheeler-de Witt patch. We calculate and compare the leading and the next to leading terms and find some universal features. The complexity decreases towards the singularity for both definitions, for all types of singularities studied. In addition the leading terms have the same quantitative behavior for both definitions in restricted number of cases and the behaviour itself is different for different singular backgrounds. The quantitative details of the next to leading terms, such as their specific form of time dependence, are found not to be universal. They vary between the different cases and between the different bulk definitions of complexity. We also address some technical points inherent to the calculation.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures. v2: minor correction

Holographic Dual of the Lowest Landau Level

We describe the lowest Landau level of a quantum electron star in AdS4. In the presence of a suitably strong magnetic field, the dynamics of fermions in the bulk is effectively reduced from four to two dimensions. These two-dimensional fermions can subsequently be treated using the techniques of bosonization and the difficult many-body problem of building a gravitating, charged quantum star is reduced to solving the sine-Gordon model coupled to a gauge field and a metric. The kinks of the sine-Gordon model provide the holographic dual of the lowest Landau levels of the strongly-coupled d=2+1 dimensional boundary field theory. The system exhibits order one oscillations in the magnetic susceptibility, now arising as a classical effect in the bulk. Moreover, as the chemical potential is varied, we find jumps in the charge density, oscillations in the fractionalised charge density and plateaux in the cohesive charge densityComment: 39 pages; 8 Figure