arXiv subjects

M. Frau

Publications and source records attributed to M. Frau.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Modular and duality properties of surface operators in N=2* gauge theories

We calculate the instanton partition function of the four-dimensional N=2* SU(N) gauge theory in the presence of a generic surface operator, using equivariant localization. By analyzing the constraints that arise from S-duality, we show that the effective twisted superpotential, which governs the infrared dynamics of the two-dimensional theory on the surface operator, satisfies a modular anomaly equation. Exploiting the localization results, we solve this equation in terms of elliptic and quasi-modular forms which resum all non-perturbative corrections. We also show that our results, derived for monodromy defects in the four-dimensional theory, match the effective twisted superpotential describing the infrared properties of certain two-dimensional sigma models coupled either to pure N=2 or to N=2* gauge theories.

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arXiv2016

Chiral observables and S-duality in N = 2* U(N) gauge theories

We study N = 2* theories with gauge group U(N) and use equivariant localization to calculate the quantum expectation values of the simplest chiral ring elements. These are expressed as an expansion in the mass of the adjoint hypermultiplet, with coefficients given by quasi-modular forms of the S-duality group. Under the action of this group, we construct combinations of chiral ring elements that transform as modular forms of definite weight. As an independent check, we confirm these results by comparing the spectral curves of the associated Hitchin system and the elliptic Calogero-Moser system. We also propose an exact and compact expression for the 1-instanton contribution to the expectation value of the chiral ring elements.

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arXiv2016

Resumming instantons in N=2* theories with arbitrary gauge groups

We discuss the modular anomaly equation satisfied by the the prepotential of 4-dimensional N=2* theories and show that its validity is related to S-duality. The recursion relations that follow from the modular anomaly equation allow one to write the prepotential in terms of (quasi)-modular forms, thus resumming the instanton contributions. These results can be checked against the microscopic multi-instanton calculus in the case of classical algebras, but are valid also for the exceptional E6, E7, E8, F4 and G2 algebras, where direct computations are not available.

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arXiv2015

S-duality and the prepotential in N=2* theories (I): the ADE algebras

The prepotential of N=2* supersymmetric theories with unitary gauge groups in an Omega-background satisfies a modular anomaly equation that can be recursively solved order by order in an expansion for small mass. By requiring that S-duality acts on the prepotential as a Fourier transform we generalise this result to N=2* theories with gauge algebras of the D and E type and show that their prepotentials can be written in terms of quasi-modular forms of SL(2,Z). The results are checked against microscopic multi-instanton calculus based on localization for the A and D series and reproduce the known 1-instanton prepotential of the pure N=2 theories for any gauge group of ADE type. Our results can also be used to obtain the multi-instanton terms in the exceptional theories for which the microscopic instanton calculus and the ADHM construction are not available.

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arXiv2015

S-duality and the prepotential in N=2* theories (II): the non-simply laced algebras

We derive a modular anomaly equation satisfied by the prepotential of the N=2* supersymmetric theories with non-simply laced gauge algebras, including the classical B and C infinite series and the exceptional F4 and G2 cases. This equation determines the exact prepotential recursively in an expansion for small mass in terms of quasi-modular forms of the S-duality group. We also discuss the behaviour of these theories under S-duality and show that the prepotential of the SO(2r+1) theory is mapped to that of the Sp(2r) theory and viceversa, while the exceptional F4 and G2 theories are mapped into themselves (up to a rotation of the roots) in analogy with what happens for the N=4 supersymmetric theories. These results extend the analysis for the simply laced groups presented in a companion paper.

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arXiv2015

Modular anomaly equations and S-duality in N=2 conformal SQCD

We use localization techniques to study the non-perturbative properties of an N=2 superconformal gauge theory with gauge group SU(3) and six fundamental flavours. The instanton corrections to the prepotential, the dual periods and the period matrix are calculated in a locus of special vacua possessing a Z_3 symmetry. In a semi-classical expansion, we show that these observables are constrained by S-duality via a modular anomaly equation which takes the form of a recursion relation. The solutions of the recursion relation are quasi-modular functions of Gamma_1(3), which is a subgroup of the S-duality group and is also a congruence subgroup of SL(2,Z).

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arXiv2015

Non-perturbative studies of N=2 conformal quiver gauge theories

We study N=2 super-conformal field theories in four dimensions that correspond to mass-deformed linear quivers with n gauge groups and (bi-)fundamental matter. We describe them using Seiberg-Witten curves obtained from an M-theory construction and via the AGT correspondence. We take particular care in obtaining the detailed relation between the parameters appearing in these descriptions and the physical quantities of the quiver gauge theories. This precise map allows us to efficiently reconstruct the non-perturbative prepotential that encodes the effective IR properties of these theories. We give explicit expressions in the cases n=1,2, also in the presence of an Omega-background in the Nekrasov-Shatashvili limit. All our results are successfully checked against those of the direct microscopic evaluation of the prepotential a la Nekrasov using localization methods.

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arXiv2014

Modular anomaly equations in N=2* theories and their large-N limit

We propose a modular anomaly equation for the prepotential of the N=2* super Yang-Mills theory on R^4 with gauge group U(N) in the presence of an Omega-background. We then study the behaviour of the prepotential in a large-N limit, in which N goes to infinity with the gauge coupling constant kept fixed. In this regime instantons are not suppressed. We focus on two representative choices of gauge theory vacua, where the vacuum expectation values of the scalar fields are distributed either homogeneously or according to the Wigner semi-circle law. In both cases we derive an all-instanton exact formula for the prepotential. As an application, we show that the gauge theory partition function on S^4 at large N localises around a Wigner distribution for the vacuum expectation values leading to a very simple expression in which the instanton contribution becomes independent of the coupling constant.

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arXiv2013

Modular anomaly equation, heat kernel and S-duality in N=2 theories

We investigate epsilon-deformed N=2 superconformal gauge theories in four dimensions, focusing on the N=2* and Nf=4 SU(2) cases. We show how the modular anomaly equation obeyed by the deformed prepotential can be efficiently used to derive its non-perturbative expression starting from the perturbative one. We also show that the modular anomaly equation implies that S-duality is implemented by means of an exact Fourier transform even for arbitrary values of the deformation parameters, and then we argue that it is possible, perturbatively in the deformation, to choose appropriate variables such that it reduces to a Legendre transform.

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arXiv2012

Non-perturbative gauge/gravity correspondence in N=2 theories

We derive the exact supergravity profile for the twisted scalar field emitted by a system of fractional D3 branes at a Z2 orbifold singularity supporting N=2 quiver gauge theories with unitary groups and bifundamental matter. At the perturbative level this twisted field is "dual" to the gauge coupling but it is corrected non-perturbatively by an infinite tower of fractional D-instantons. The explicit microscopic description allows to derive the gravity profile from disk amplitudes computing the emission rate of the twisted scalar field in terms of chiral correlators in the dual gauge theory. We compute these quantum correlators using multi-instanton localization techniques and/or Seiberg-Witten analysis. Finally, we discuss a non-perturbative relation between the twisted scalar and the effective coupling of the gauge theory for some simple choices of the brane set ups.

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arXiv2008

Non-perturbative effective interactions from fluxes

Motivated by possible implications on the problem of moduli stabilization and other phenomenological aspects, we study D-brane instanton effects in flux compactifications. We focus on a local model and compute non-perturbative interactions generated by gauge and stringy instantons in a N = 1 quiver theory with gauge group U(N_0) x U(N_1) and matter in the bifundamentals. This model is engineered with fractional D3-branes at a C^3/(Z_2 x Z_2) singularity, and its non-perturbative sectors are described by introducing fractional D-instantons. We find a rich variety of instanton-generated F- and D-term interactions, ranging from superpotentials and Beasley-Witten like multi-fermion terms to non-supersymmetric flux-induced instanton interactions.

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arXiv2004

Gauge Instantons from Open Strings

In this contribution we describe how to obtain instanton effects in four dimensional gauge theories by computing string scattering amplitudes in D3/D(-1) brane systems. In particular we show that the disks with mixed boundary conditions, which are typical of the D3/D(-1) system, are the sources for the classical instanton solution.

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arXiv2002

Classical gauge instantons from open strings

We study the D3/D(-1) brane system and show how to compute instanton corrections to correlation functions of gauge theories in four dimensions using open string techniques. In particular we show that the disks with mixed boundary conditions that are typical of the D3/D(-1) system are the sources for the classical instanton solution. This can then be recovered from simple calculations of open string scattering amplitudes in the presence of D-instantons. Exploiting this fact we also relate this stringy description to the standard instanton calculus of field theory.

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arXiv2002

More Anomalies from Fractional Branes

In this note we show how the anomalies of both pure and matter coupled N=1,2 supersymmetric gauge theories describing the low energy dynamics of fractional branes on orbifolds can be derived from supergravity.

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arXiv2001

N=2 Gauge theories on systems of fractional D3/D7 branes

We study a bound state of fractional D3/D7-branes in the ten-dimensional space R^{1,5}*R^{4}/Z_2 using the boundary state formalism. We construct the boundary actions for this system and show that higher order terms in the twisted fields are needed in order to satisfy the zero-force condition. We then find the classical background associated to the bound state and show that the gauge theory living on a probe fractional D3-brane correctly reproduces the perturbative behavior of a four-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory with fundamental matter.

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arXiv2001

Fractional D-branes and their gauge duals

We study the classical geometry associated to fractional D3-branes of type IIB string theory on R^4/Z_2 which provide the gravitational dual for N=2 super Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. As one can expect from the lack of conformal invariance on the gauge theory side, the gravitational background displays a repulson-like singularity. It turns out however, that such singularity can be excised by an enhancon mechanism. The complete knowledge of the classical supergravity solution allows us to identify the coupling constant of the dual gauge theory in terms of the string parameters and to find a logarithmic running that is governed precisely by the beta-function of the N=2 super Yang-Mills theory.

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arXiv2001

D-branes in type I string theory

We review the boundary state description of D-branes in type I string theory and show that the only stable non-BPS configurations are the D-particle and the D-instanton. We also compute the gauge and gravitational interactions of the non-BPS D-particles and compare them with the interactions of the dual non-BPS states of the heterotic string, finding complete agreement.

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arXiv2000

The Geometry of Fractional Branes

By looking at fractional Dp-branes of type IIA on T_4/Z_2 as wrapped branes and by using boundary state techniques we construct the effective low-energy action for the fields generated by fractional branes, build their world-volume action and find the corresponding classical geometry. The explicit form of the classical background is consistent only outside an enhancon sphere of radius r_e, which encloses a naked singularity of repulson-type. The perturbative running of the gauge coupling constant, dictated by the NS-NS twisted field that keeps its one-loop expression at any distance, also fails at r_e.

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