arXiv subjects

Ethan Torres

Publications and source records attributed to Ethan Torres.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Junctions, Edge Modes, and $G_2$-Holonomy Orbifolds

One of the general strategies for realizing a wide class of interacting QFTs is via junctions and intersections of higher-dimensional bulk theories. In the context of string/M-theory, this includes many $D > 4$ superconformal field theories (SCFTs) coupled to an IR free bulk. Gauging the flavor symmetries of these theories and allowing position dependent gauge couplings provides a general strategy for realizing novel higher-dimensional junctions of theories coupled to localized edge modes. Here, we show that M-theory on singular, asymptotically conical $G_2$-holonomy orbifolds provides a general template for realizing strongly coupled 5D bulk theories with 4D $\mathcal{N} = 1$ edge modes. This geometric approach also shows how bulk generalized symmetries are inherited in the boundary system.

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arXiv2021

Reflections on the Matter of 3d $\mathcal{N} = 1$ Vacua and Local $Spin(7)$ Compactifications

We use Higgs bundles to study the 3d $\mathcal{N} = 1$ vacua obtained from M-theory compactified on a local $Spin(7)$ space given as a four-manifold $M_4$ of ADE singularities with further generic enhancements in the singularity type along one-dimensional subspaces. There can be strong quantum corrections to the massless degrees of freedom in the low energy effective field theory, but topologically robust quantities such as "parity" anomalies are still calculable. We show how geometric reflections of the compactification space descend to 3d reflections and discrete symmetries. The "parity" anomalies of the effective field theory descend from topological data of the compactification. The geometric perspective also allows us to track various perturbative and non-perturbative corrections to the 3d effective field theory. We also provide some explicit constructions of well-known 3d theories, including those which arise as edge modes of 4d topological insulators, and 3d $\mathcal{N} = 1$ analogs of grand unified theories. An additional result of our analysis is that we are able to track the spectrum of extended objects and their transformations under higher-form symmetries.

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arXiv2020

Geometric Approach to 3D Interfaces at Strong Coupling

We study 4D systems in which parameters of the theory have position dependence in one spatial direction. In the limit where these parameters jump, this can lead to 3D interfaces supporting localized degrees of freedom. A priori, this sort of position dependence can occur at either weak or strong coupling. Demanding time-reversal invariance for $U(1)$ gauge theories with a duality group $Γ\subset SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ leads to interfaces at strong coupling which are characterized by the real component of a modular curve specified by $Γ$. This provides a geometric method for extracting the electric and magnetic charges of possible localized states. We illustrate these general considerations by analyzing some 4D $\mathcal{N} = 2$ theories with 3D interfaces. These 4D systems can also be interpreted as descending from a six-dimensional theory compactified on a three-manifold generated by a family of Riemann surfaces fibered over the real line. We show more generally that 6D superconformal field theories compactified on such spaces also produce trapped matter by using the known structure of anomalies in the resulting 4D bulk theories.

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arXiv2020

Geometric Unification of Higgs Bundle Vacua

Higgs bundles are a central tool used to study a range of intersecting brane systems in string compactifications. Solutions to the internal gauge theory equations of motion for the corresponding worldvolume theories of branes give rise to different low energy effective field theories. This has been heavily used in the study of M-theory on local $G_2$ spaces and F-theory on local elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau fourfolds. In this paper we show that the 3D $\mathcal{N} = 1$ effective field theory defined by M-theory on a local $Spin(7)$ space unifies the Higgs bundle data associated with 4D $\mathcal{N} = 1$ M- and F-theory vacua. This 3D system appears as an interface with finite thickness between different 4D vacua. We develop the general formalism of M-theory on such local $Spin(7)$ spaces, and build explicit interpolating solutions. This provides a complementary local gauge theory analysis of a recently proposed approach to constructing $Spin(7)$ spaces from generalized connected sums.

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arXiv2020

T-Branes and $G_2$ Backgrounds

Compactification of M- / string theory on manifolds with $G_2$ structure yields a wide variety of 4D and 3D physical theories. We analyze the local geometry of such compactifications as captured by a gauge theory obtained from a three-manifold of ADE singularities. Generic gauge theory solutions include a non-trivial gauge field flux as well as normal deformations to the three-manifold captured by non-commuting matrix coordinates, a signal of T-brane phenomena. Solutions of the 3D gauge theory on a three-manifold are given by a deformation of the Hitchin system on a marked Riemann surface which is fibered over an interval. We present explicit examples of such backgrounds as well as the profile of the corresponding zero modes for localized chiral matter. We also provide a purely algebraic prescription for characterizing localized matter for such T-brane configurations. The geometric interpretation of this gauge theory description provides a generalization of twisted connected sums with codimension seven singularities at localized regions of the geometry. It also indicates that geometric codimension six singularities can sometimes support 4D chiral matter due to physical structure "hidden" in T-branes.

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