arXiv subjects

James Ratcliffe

Publications and source records attributed to James Ratcliffe.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Holomorphic D-brane embeddings in D-brane backgrounds

We describe families of probe D$q$-brane embeddings in the extremal black D$p$-brane backgrounds of type IIA and type IIB supergravity, specified by an arbitrary holomorphic function of a complex coordinate on the worldvolume of the D$q$-branes. These embeddings preserve one-quarter of the supersymmetry of the D$p$-brane background, or sometimes one-half of the supersymmetry when $p = q$. We discuss the holography of two example families of holomorphic probe branes in the near-horizon limit of the D3-brane background. The first is probe D5-branes, dual to defect hypermultiplets with a holomorphic mass, which in the infrared flow to Wilson lines located at the zeros of the mass. The second is probe D3-branes, holographically dual to states in the presence of Gukov--Witten surface defects in the dual $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang--Mills theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

The resurgence of errors in the localization of $\mathcal{N} = 2$ superconformal Yang-Mills

We give a physical interpretation for the analytic continuation of the partition function of superconformal SU$(2)$ $\mathcal{N}=2$ gauge theory on the four-sphere to all values of the Yang-Mills coupling. We show that a well-motivated 2d construction associates two-dimensional unstable instantons to the 4d complex saddles which appear as singularities in the integrand of the supersymmetric localization expression. The construction is based on the chiral algebra subsector, and aligns with the alternative Higgs branch localization.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Supersymmetric Holomorphic Masses in AdS/CFT with Flavour

In type IIB supergravity (SUGRA), in the extremal background of a number N_c of D3-branes we consider a number N_f of probe D7-branes extended along all four D3-brane directions, (x_0,x_1,x_2,x_3). Using (x_2,x_3) to define complex coordinates (z,\bar{z}) and defining the D7-branes' worldvolume scalars as (y,\bar{y}), we prove that any holomorphic function y(z) or antiholomorphic function y(\bar{z}) is a BPS solution of the D7-branes' equations of motion preserving N=(4,0) or (0,4) supersymmetry (SUSY) along (x_0,x_1), respectively. In the near-horizon geometry, five-dimensional Anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetime times a five-sphere, the AdS/Conformal Field Theory correspondence states that type IIB SUGRA is holographically dual to four-dimensional N=4 supersymmetric SU(N_c) Yang-Mills theory at large N_c and large 't Hooft coupling, and the N_f D7-branes are dual to N_f N=2 hypermultiplets in the fundamental representation, i.e. flavour fields. Our D7-brane solutions are dual to a position-dependent hypermultiplet mass m that is holomorphic, m(z), or antiholomorphic, m(\bar{z}). We provide field theory proofs, valid for any N_c, N_f, and 't Hooft coupling, that such m preserve N=(4,0) or (0,4) SUSY along (x_0,x_1). We also perform holographic calculations with probe D7-branes to show that the theory with such m has zero energy and zero expectation value of the mass operator, and that a zero of m is dual to a superconformal defect described by chiral fermions along (x_0,x_1).

hep-th↗