arXiv subjects

Jan Manschot

Publications and source records attributed to Jan Manschot.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Equivariant Localization for N=2 Theories with Hypermultiplets

Equivariant localization in the $\Omega$-background is a powerful technique for the evaluation of the partition function of $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric field theory on a toric four-manifold. For the complex projective plane $\mathbb{CP}^2$, we apply equivariant localization to supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories with gauge groups $SU(2)$ and $SO(3)$ with $N_f$ massive hypermultiplets in the fundamental representation, and the $\mathcal{N}=2^*$ theory with the hypermultiplet in the adjoint representation. We evaluate equivariant correlation functions, which provide an equivariant extension of intersection numbers of moduli spaces of instantons on $\mathbb{CP}^2$, such as Euler numbers and Segre invariants. In the non-equivariant limit, we compare our results with the evaluation using low energy field theory and integration over the $u$-plane. Using this comparison, we identify a specific overall factor, which captures the difference between a partition function for gauge group $U(2)$ and $SU(2)$ or $SO(3)$ on a compact four-manifold. We also discuss our results in the context of $S$-duality of the $N_f=4$ and $\mathcal{N}=2^*$ theory, which includes the triality automorphism group of the flavor group for $N_f=4$.

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arXiv2026

Galois Covers of Calabi-Yau Quivers and BPS State Counting

BPS quivers are central to our understanding of BPS states in 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric field theories and of D-branes at Calabi-Yau threefold singularities. The two subjects are deeply interrelated through geometric engineering in Type II string theory, where a CY$_3$ quiver, also known as a 5d BPS quiver, describes fractional branes at a threefold singularity ${\bf X}$. We study the Galois cover ${\skew{2}\tilde Q}\rightarrow Q$ of any BPS quiver $Q$ by a finite abelian group $\mathbb{G}$, leading to a covering quiver ${\skew{2}\tilde Q}$. The Galois cover is determined by a $\mathbb{G}$-grading of the arrows of the quiver $Q$, which can be understood as an orbifolding procedure. In particular, if $Q$ is a CY$_3$ quiver for ${\bf X}$, then the Galois cover $\skew{2}\tilde Q$ is the CY$_3$ quiver for the orbifold singularity ${\bf X}/\mathbb{G}$. We explore such Galois covering procedures in the language of supersymmetric quiver quantum mechanics, in terms of fixed loci under $\mathbb{G}$ actions on moduli spaces of quiver representations, and in terms of homomorphisms between the Kontsevich-Soibelman algebras of $Q$ and ${\skew{2}\tilde Q}$. Our main result is an explicit covering formula for the BPS invariants of 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ field theories, wherein the rational BPS invariant $\bar{\Omega}^Q(\gamma)$ of $Q$ is expressed as a sum of BPS invariants of $\skew{2}\tilde Q$. We derive this formula in various special cases, which include the case when $\gamma$ is a primitive charge vector, the case of general charge vectors for quivers without loops, and the case of CY$_3$ quivers for some simple geometries such as the conifold or local del Pezzo surfaces. The general formula is presented as a conjecture that can be verified in many examples.

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arXiv2026

Universal Functions for Topological Correlators

We consider correlation functions of topologically twisted, $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with gauge group ${\rm SU}(2)$ and $N_f\leq 3$ massive hypermultiplets in the fundamental representation. For a smooth, compact, oriented four-manifold $X$ with $b_2^+>1$, the correlation functions are expressed in terms of a finite set of universal functions. The mass dependence of these functions encodes intersection numbers of the moduli space of instantons. We determine closed expressions for the universal functions by combining techniques of the Seiberg-Witten geometry, $u$-plane integral and the blowup formula. If $X$ is specialised to a complex algebraic surface $S$, the correlation functions can be identified with generating functions of Segre invariants for moduli spaces of sheaves on $S$. We verify that our results agree with the results by G\"ottsche and Kool for these generating functions.

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arXiv2025

Appell Functions for General Lattices

We study Appell functions associated to an arbitrary positive definite lattice $\Lambda$ and a choice of $M\leq {\rm dim}(\Lambda)$ linearly independent vectors $d_r\in \Lambda$, $r=1,\dots,M$. These functions are instances of multi-variable quasi-elliptic functions, and specific examples have appeared at various places in mathematics and theoretical physics. For example, if $\Lambda$ is chosen to be one-dimensional, these functions reduce to the classical Appell function, which is a prominent example in the theory of mock modular forms. The Appell functions introduced here are examples of depth $M$ mock modular forms. We derive a structural formula for their modular completion. Motivated by partition functions in theoretical physics, we discuss the case where $\Lambda$ is the $A_N$ root lattice in detail.

math.NT↗

arXiv2025

Path Integral Derivations Of K-Theoretic Donaldson Invariants

We consider 5d $\mathcal{N}=1$ SU(2) super Yang-Mills theory on $X\times S^1$, with $X$ a closed smooth four-manifold. A partial topological twisting along $X$ renders the theory formally independent of the metric on $X$. The theory depends on the spin structure and the circumference $R$ of $S^1$. The coefficients of the $R$-expansion of the partition function are Witten indices, which are identified with $L^2$-indices of Dirac operators on moduli spaces of instantons. The partition function encodes BPS indices for instanton particles on a spatial manifold $X$, and these indices are special cases of K-theoretic Donaldson invariants. When the 't Hooft flux of the gauge theory is nonzero and $X$ is not spin, the 5d theory can be anomalous, but this anomaly can be canceled by coupling to a line bundle with connection for the global $U(1)$ ``instanton number symmetry''. For $b_2^+(X)>0$ we can derive the partition function from integration over the Coulomb branch of the effective 4d low-energy theory. When $X$ is toric we can also use equivariant localization with respect to the $\mathbb{C}^* \times \mathbb{C}^*$ symmetry. The two methods lead to the same results for the wall-crossing formula. We also determine path integrals for four-manifolds with $b_2^+(X)>1$. Our results agree with those for algebraic surfaces by G\"ottsche, Kool, Nakajima, Yoshioka, and Williams, but apply to a larger class of manifolds. When the circumference of the circle is tuned to special values, the path integral is associated with the 5d superconformal $E_1$ theory. Topological invariants in this case involve generalizations of Seiberg-Witten invariants.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

The $i\varepsilon$-Prescription for String Amplitudes and Regularized Modular Integrals

We study integrals appearing in one-loop amplitudes in string theory, and in particular their analytic continuation based on a string theoretic analog of the $i\varepsilon$-prescription of quantum field theory. For various zero- and two-point one-loop amplitudes of both open and closed strings, we prove that this analytic continuation is equivalent to a regularization using generalized exponential integrals. Our approach provides exact expressions in terms of the degeneracies at each mass level. For one-loop amplitudes with boundaries, our result takes the form of a linear combination of three partition functions at different temperatures depending on a variable $T_0$, yet their sum is independent of this variable. The imaginary part of the amplitudes can be read off in closed form, while the real part is amenable to numerical evaluation. While the expressions are rather different, we demonstrate agreement of our approach with the contour put forward by Eberhardt-Mizera (2023) following the Hardy-Ramanujan-Rademacher circle method, and compare these two approaches. We include applications to the Ramond-Ramond sector of the vacuum amplitude and two-point amplitudes of Type I superstring theory.

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arXiv2023

Four-Manifold Invariants and Donaldson-Witten Theory

This article surveys invariants of four-manifolds and their relation to Donaldson-Witten theory, and other topologically twisted Yang-Mills theories. The article is written for the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, and focuses on the period since the first edition in 2006.

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arXiv2023

Topological twists of massive SQCD, Part II

This is the second and final part of ``Topological twists of massive SQCD''. Part I is available at arXiv:2206.08943. In this second part, we evaluate the contribution of the Coulomb branch to topological path integrals for $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric QCD with $N_f\leq 3$ massive hypermultiplets on compact four-manifolds. Our analysis includes the decoupling of hypermultiplets, the massless limit and the merging of mutually non-local singularities at the Argyres-Douglas points. We give explicit mass expansions for the four-manifolds $\mathbb{P}^2$ and $K3$. For $\mathbb{P}^2$, we find that the correlation functions are polynomial as function of the masses, while infinite series and (potential) singularities occur for $K3$. The mass dependence corresponds mathematically to the integration of the equivariant Chern class of the matter bundle over the moduli space of $Q$-fixed equations. We demonstrate that the physical partition functions agree with mathematical results on Segre numbers of instanton moduli spaces.

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arXiv2023

Numerical experiments on coefficients of instanton partition functions

We analyze the coefficients of partition functions of Vafa-Witten theory for the complex projective plane $\mathbb{CP}^2$. We experimentally study the growth of the coefficients for gauge group $SU(2)$ and $SU(3)$, which are examples of mock modular forms of depth $1$ and 2 respectively. We also introduce the notion of ``mock cusp form'', and study an example of weight 3 related to the $SU(3)$ partition function. Numerical experiments on the first 200 coefficients suggest that the coefficients of a mock modular form of weight $k$ grow as the coefficients of a modular form of weight $k$, that is to say as $n^{k-1}$. On the other hand the coefficients of the mock cusp form appear to grow as $n^{3/2}$, which exceeds the growth of classical cusp forms of weight 3. We provide bounds using saddle point analysis, which however largely exceed the experimental observation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Decay channels for double extremal black holes in four dimensions

We explore decay channels for charged black holes with vanishing temperature in $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric compactifications of string theory. If not protected by supersymmetry, such extremal black holes are expected to decay as a consequence of the weak gravity conjecture. We concentrate on double extremal, non-supersymmetric black holes for which the values of the scalar fields are constant throughout space-time, and explore decay channels for which decay into BPS and anti-BPS constituents is energetically favorable. We demonstrate the existence of decay channels at tree level for large families of double extremal black holes. For specific charges, we also find stable non-supersymmetric black holes, suggesting recombination of (anti)-supersymmetric constituents to a non-supersymmetric object.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Supersymmetric black holes and $T\bar T$ deformation

The entropy of supersymmetric black holes in string theory compactifications can be related to that of a D- or M-brane system, which in many cases can be further reduced to a two-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT). For black holes in M-theory, this relation involves a decoupling limit where the black hole mass diverges. We suggest that moving away from this limit corresponds to a specific irrelevant perturbation of the CFT, namely the supersymmetric completion of the $T\bar T$ deformation. We demonstrate that the black hole mass matches precisely with the $T\bar T$ deformed energy levels, upon identifying the $T\bar T$ deformation parameter with the inverse of the leading term of the black hole mass. We discuss various implications for black holes and deformed CFT's, including a Hagedorn temperature for wrapped M5-branes, and potential change of degeneracies in the deformed theory.

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arXiv2022

Topological twists of massive SQCD, Part I

We consider topological twists of four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric QCD with gauge group SU(2) and $N_f\leq 3$ fundamental hypermultiplets. The twists are labelled by a choice of background fluxes for the flavour group, which provides an infinite family of topological partition functions. In this Part I, we demonstrate that in the presence of such fluxes the theories can be formulated for arbitrary gauge bundles on a compact four-manifold. Moreover, we consider arbitrary masses for the hypermultiplets, which introduce new intricacies for the evaluation of the low-energy path integral on the Coulomb branch. We develop techniques for the evaluation of these path integrals. In the forthcoming Part II, we will deal with the explicit evaluation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Modular bootstrap for D4-D2-D0 indices on compact Calabi-Yau threefolds

We investigate the modularity constraints on the generating series $h_r(\tau)$ of BPS indices counting D4-D2-D0 bound states with fixed D4-brane charge $r$ in type IIA string theory compactified on complete intersection Calabi-Yau threefolds with $b_2 = 1$. For unit D4-brane, $h_1$ transforms as a (vector-valued) modular form under the action of $SL(2,Z)$ and thus is completely determined by its polar terms. We propose an Ansatz for these terms in terms of rank 1 Donaldson-Thomas invariants, which incorporates contributions from a single D6-anti-D6 pair. Using an explicit overcomplete basis of the relevant space of weakly holomorphic modular forms (valid for any $r$), we find that for 10 of the 13 allowed threefolds, the Ansatz leads to a solution for $h_1$ with integer Fourier coefficients, thereby predicting an infinite series of DT invariants.For $r > 1$, $h_r$ is mock modular and determined by its polar part together with its shadow. Restricting to $r = 2$, we use the generating series of Hurwitz class numbers to construct a series $h^{an}_2$ with exactly the same modular anomaly as $h_2$, so that the difference $h_{2}-h^{an}_2$ is an ordinary modular form fixed by its polar terms. For lack of a satisfactory Ansatz, we leave the determination of these polar terms as an open problem.

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arXiv2021

Four flavours, triality and bimodular forms

We consider $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric $\text{SU}(2)$ gauge theory with $N_f=4$ massive hypermultiplets. The duality group of this theory contains transformations acting on the UV-coupling $τ_{\text{UV}}$ as well as on the running coupling $τ$. We establish that subgroups of the duality group act separately on $τ_{\text{UV}}$ and $τ$, while a larger group acts simultaneously on $τ_{\text{UV}}$ and $τ$. For special choices of the masses, we find that the duality groups can be identified with congruence subgroups of $\text{SL}(2,\mathbb Z)$. We demonstrate that in such cases, the order parameters are instances of bimodular forms with arguments $τ$ and $τ_{\text{UV}}$. Since the UV duality group of the theory contains the triality group of outer automorphisms of the flavour symmetry $\text{SO}(8)$, the duality action gives rise to an orbit of mass configurations. Consequently, the corresponding order parameters combine to vector-valued bimodular forms with $\text{SL}(2,\mathbb Z)$ acting simultaneously on the two couplings.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Scaling Black Holes and Modularity

Scaling black holes are solutions of supergravity with multiple black hole singularities, which can be adiabatically connected to a single center black hole solution. We develop techniques to determine partition functions for such scaling black holes, if each constituent carries a non-vanishing magnetic charge corresponding to a D4-brane in string theory, or equivalently M5-brane in M-theory. For three constituents, we demonstrate that the partition function is a mock modular form of depth two, and we determine the appropriate non-holomorphic completion using generalized error functions. From the four-dimensional perspective, the modular parameter is the axion-dilaton, and our results show that $S$-duality leaves this subset of the spectrum invariant. From the five-dimensional perspective, the modular parameter is the complex structure of a torus $T^2$, and the scaling black holes are dual to states in the dimensional reduction of the M5-brane worldvolume theory to $T^2$. As a case study, we specialize the compactification manifold to a K3 fibration, and explicitly evaluate holomorphic parts of partition functions.

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arXiv2021

Cutting and gluing with running couplings in $\mathcal{N}=2$ QCD

We consider the order parameter $u=\left<{\rm Tr}ϕ^2\right>$ as function of the running coupling constant $τ\in \mathbb{H}$ of asymptotically free $\mathcal{N}=2$ QCD with gauge group $SU(2)$ and $N_f\leq 3$ massive hypermultiplets. If the domain for $τ$ is restricted to an appropriate fundamental domain $\mathcal{F}_{N_f}$, the function $u$ is one-to-one. We demonstrate that these domains consist of six or less images of an ${\rm SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ keyhole fundamental domain, with appropriate identifications of the boundaries. For special choices of the masses, $u$ does not give rise to branch points and cuts, such that $u$ is a modular function for a congruence subgroup $Γ$ of ${\rm SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ and the fundamental domain is $Γ\backslash\mathbb{H}$. For generic masses, however, branch points and cuts are present, and subsets of $\mathcal{F}_{N_f}$ are being cut and glued upon varying the mass. We study this mechanism for various phenomena, such as decoupling of hypermultiplets, merging of local singularities, as well as merging of non-local singularities which give rise to superconformal Argyres-Douglas theories.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Elliptic Loci of SU(3) Vacua

The space of vacua of many four-dimensional, $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories can famously be identified with a family of complex curves. For gauge group $SU(2)$, this gives a fully explicit description of the low-energy effective theory in terms of an elliptic curve and associated modular fundamental domain. The two-dimensional space of vacua for gauge group $SU(3)$ parametrizes an intricate family of genus two curves. We analyze this family using the so-called Rosenhain form for these curves. We demonstrate that two natural one-dimensional subloci of the space of $SU(3)$ vacua, $\mathcal{E}_u$ and $\mathcal{E}_v$, each parametrize a family of elliptic curves. For these elliptic loci, we describe the order parameters and fundamental domains explicitly. The locus $\mathcal{E}_u$ contains the points where mutually local dyons become massless, and is a fundamental domain for a classical congruence subgroup. Moreover, the locus $\mathcal{E}_v$ contains the superconformal Argyres-Douglas points, and is a fundamental domain for a Fricke group.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Topological correlators of $SU(2)$, $\mathcal{N}=2^*$ SYM on four-manifolds

We consider topologically twisted $\mathcal{N}=2$, $SU(2)$ gauge theory with a massive adjoint hypermultiplet on a smooth, compact four-manifold $X$. A consistent formulation requires coupling the theory to a ${\rm Spin}^c$ structure, which is necessarily non-trivial if $X$ is non-spin. We derive explicit formulae for the topological correlation functions when $b_2^+\geq 1$. We demonstrate that, when the ${\rm Spin}^c$ structure is canonically determined by an almost complex structure and the mass is taken to zero, the path integral reproduces known results for the path integral of the $\mathcal{N}=4$ gauge theory with Vafa-Witten twist. On the other hand, we reproduce results from Donaldson-Witten theory after taking a suitable infinite mass limit. The topological correlators are functions of the UV coupling constant $τ_{\rm uv}$ and we confirm that they obey the expected $S$-duality transformation laws. The holomorphic part of the partition function is a generating function for the Euler numbers of the matter (or obstruction) bundle over the instanton moduli space. For $b_2^+=1$, we derive a non-holomorphic contribution to the path integral, such that the partition function and correlation functions are mock modular forms rather than modular forms. We comment on the generalization of this work to the large class of $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories of class $S$.

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