arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Daisuke Yokoyama.
These lecture notes provide a comprehensive introduction to 2d conformal field theory, covering foundational topics such as free fields, minimal models, Zamolodchikov's $c$-theorem, Wess-Zumino-Witten models, modular invariant partition functions, and the connections to entanglement entropy. The material presented is based on lectures at the Southeast University Summer School and the course at Fudan University.
We propose a giant graviton expansion for Wilson line operator indices in general representations. The inserted line operators are specified by power sum symmetric polynomials $p_λ$ labeled by partitions $λ$. We interpret the partitions as the structure of fundamental string worldsheets wrapping around the temporal circle. The strings may or may not end on giant gravitons, and by summing the contributions from all brane configurations consistent with the specified partitions, we obtain the finite $N$ line operator index. The proposed formula is consistent with known results and passes highly non-trivial numerical tests.
We study giant graviton expansions of the superconformal index of 4d orbifold/orientifold theories. In general, a giant graviton expansion is given as a multiple sum over wrapping numbers. It has been known that the expansion can be reduced to a simple sum for the ${\cal N}=4$ $U(N)$ SYM by choosing appropriate expansion variables. We find such a reduction occurs for a few examples of orbifold and orientifold theories: $\mathbb{Z}_k$ orbifold and orientifolds with $O3$ and $O7$. We also argue that for a quiver gauge theory associated with a toric Calabi-Yau $3$-fold the simple-sum expansion works only if the toric diagram is a triangle, that is, the Calabi-Yau is an orbifold of $\mathbb{C}^3$.
We investigate finite-$N$ corrections to the superconformal indices of the theories realized on M2- and M5-branes. For three-dimensional theories realized on a stack of $N$ M2-branes we calculate the finite-$N$ corrections as the contribution of extended M5-branes in the dual geometry $AdS_4\times \boldsymbol{S}^7$. We take only M5-brane configurations with a single wrapping into account, and neglect multiple-wrapping configurations. We compare the results with the indices calculated from the ABJM theory, and find agreement up to expected errors due to the multiple wrapping. For six-dimensional theories on $N$ M5-branes we calculate the indices by analyzing extended M2-branes in $AdS_7\times \boldsymbol{S}^4$. Again, we include only configurations with single wrapping. We first compare the result for $N=1$ with the index of the free tensor multiplet to estimate the order of the error due to multiple wrapping. We calculate first few terms of the index of $A_{N-1}$ theories explicitly, and confirm that they can be expanded by superconformal representations. We also discuss multiple-wrapping contributions to the six-dimensional Schur-like index.
Monopole bubbling effect is screening of magnetic charges of singular Dirac monopoles by regular 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles. We study properties of weak coupling perturbative series in the presence of monopole bubbling effects as well as instantons. For this purpose, we analyze supersymmetric 't Hooft loop in four dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories with Lagrangians and non-positive beta functions. We show that the perturbative series of the 't Hooft loop is Borel summable along positive real axis for fixed instanton numbers and screened magnetic charges. It turns out that the exact result of the 't Hooft loop is the same as the sum of the Borel resummations over instanton numbers and effective magnetic charges. We also obtain the same result for supersymmetric dyonic loops.
We study supersymmetric gauge theories with an R-symmetry, defined on non-compact, hyperbolic, Riemannian three-manifolds, focusing on the case of a supersymmetry-preserving quotient of Euclidean AdS$_3$. We compute the exact partition function in these theories, using the method of localization, thus reducing the problem to the computation of one-loop determinants around a supersymmetric locus. We evaluate the one-loop determinants employing three different techniques: an index theorem, the method of pairing of eigenvalues, and the heat kernel method. Along the way, we discuss aspects of supersymmetry in manifolds with a conformal boundary, including supersymmetric actions and boundary conditions.
We study supersymmetry enhancement from ${\cal N}=3$ to ${\cal N}=4$ proposed by Aharony and Tachikawa by using string junctions in S-folds. The central charges carried by junctions play a central role in our analysis. We consider planer junctions in a specific plane. Before the S-folding they carry two complex central charges, which we denote by $Z$ and $\bar Z$. The S-fold projection eliminates $\bar Z$ as well as one of the four supercharges, and when the supersymmetry is enhanced $\bar Z$ should be reproduced by some non-perturbative mechanism. For the models of $\mathbb{Z}_3$ and $\mathbb{Z}_4$ S-folds which are expected to give $SU(3)$ and $SO(5)$ ${\cal N}=4$ theories we compare the junction spectra with those in perturbative brane realization of the same theories. We establish one-to-one correspondence so that $Z$ coincides. By using the correspondence we also give an expression for the enhanced central charge $\bar Z$.
We initiate a systematic study of 2d (0,2) quiver gauge theories on the worldvolume of D1-branes probing singular toric Calabi-Yau 4-folds. We present an algorithm for efficiently calculating the classical mesonic moduli spaces of these theories, which correspond to the probed geometries. We also introduce a systematic procedure for constructing the gauge theories for arbitrary toric singularities by means of partial resolution, which translates to higgsing in the field theory. Finally, we introduce Brane Brick Models, a novel class of brane configurations that consist of D4-branes suspended from an NS5-brane wrapping a holomorphic surface, tessellating a 3-torus. Brane Brick Models are the 2d analogues of Brane Tilings and allow a direct connection between geometry and gauge theory.
We study the supersymmetric free energy of three dimensional Chern-Simons-matter theories holographically dual to AdS$_4$ times toric Sasaki-Einstein seven-manifolds. In the large $N$ limit, we argue that the square of the free energy can be written as a quartic polynomial of trial R-charges. The coefficients of the polynomial are determined geometrically from the toric diagrams. We present the coefficients of the quartic polynomial explicitly for generic toric diagrams with up to 6 vertices, and some particular diagrams with 8 vertices. Decomposing the trial R-charges into mesonic and baryonic variables, and eliminating the baryonic ones, we show that the quartic polynomial reproduces the inverse of the Martelli-Sparks-Yau volume function. On the gravity side, we explore the possibility of using the same quartic polynomial as the prepotential in the AdS gauged supergravity. Comparing Kaluza-Klein gravity and gauged supergravity descriptions, we find perfect agreement in the mesonic sector but some discrepancy in the baryonic sector.
We investigate S^3/Z_n partition function of 3d N = 2 supersymmetric field theories. In a gauge theory the partition function is the sum of the contributions of sectors specified by holonomies, and we should carefully choose the relative signs among the contributions. We argue that the factorization to holomorphic blocks is a useful criterion to determine the signs and propose a formula for them. We show that the orbifold partition function of a general non-gauge theory is correctly factorized provided that we take appropriate relative signs. We also present a few examples of gauge theories. We point out that the sign factor for the orbifold partition function is closely related to a similar sign factor in the lens space index and the 3d index.
We apply the effective field theory approach to quasi-single field inflation, which contains an additional scalar field with Hubble scale mass other than inflaton. Based on the time-dependent spatial diffeomorphism, which is not broken by the time-dependent background evolution, the most generic action of quasi-single field inflation is constructed up to third order fluctuations. Using the obtained action, the effects of the additional massive scalar field on the primordial curvature perturbations are discussed. In particular, we calculate the power spectrum and discuss the momentum-dependence of three point functions in the squeezed limit for general settings of quasi-single field inflation. Our framework can be also applied to inflation models with heavy particles. We make a qualitative discussion on the effects of heavy particles during inflation and that of sudden turning trajectory in our framework.
We discuss a supersymmetric version of DBI (Dirac-Born-Infeld) inflation, which is a typical inflation model in string cosmology. The supersymmetric DBI action together with a superpotential always leads to correction terms associated with the potential into the kinetic term, which drastically change the dynamics of DBI inflation. We find two significant features of supersymmetric DBI inflation. The first one is that ultra-relativistic motion is prohibited to cause inflation, which leads to order of unity sound velocity squared and hence small non-Gaussianities of primordial curvature perturbations. The second one is that the relation between the tensor-to-scalar ratio and the field variation is modified. Then, significant tensor-to-scalar ratio $r \gtrsim 0.01$ is possible even for sub-Planck variation of the field. These new features are in sharp contrast with those of the standard non-supersymmetric DBI inflation and hence have a lot of interest implications on upcoming observations of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies by the Planck satellite as well as direct detection experiments of gravitational waves like DECIGO and BBO.
We investigate S^3/Z_n partition function of N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories. A gauge theory on the orbifold has degenerate vacua specified by the holonomy. The partition function is obtained by summing up the contributions of saddle points with different holonomies. An appropriate choice of the phase of each contribution is essential to obtain the partition function. We determine the relative phases in the holonomy sum in a few examples by using duality to non-gauge theories. In the case of odd n the phase factors can be absorbed by modifying a single function appearing in the partition function.
We investigate a squashing deformation of 3d N=2 supersymmetric theories on three-sphere, which have four supercharges. The deformation preserves SU(2)_L x U(1)_r isometry and all four supersymmetries. We compute the partition function and find non-trivial dependence on the squashing parameter. We also consider the large N limit of a certain class of quiver gauge theories which have free energy of order N^{3/2}, and show that the free energy on the squashed sphere differs from that on round sphere by a certain factor depending only on the squashing parameter.
We investigate the N=2 superconformal index for supersymmetric quiver Chern-Simons theories with large N gauge groups. After general arguments about the large N limit, we compute the first few terms in the series expansion of the index for theories proposed as dual theories to homogeneous spaces V^{5,2}, Q^{1,1,1}, Q^{2,2,2}, M^{1,1,1}, and N^{0,1,0}. We confirm that the indices have symmetries expected from the isometries of dual manifolds.