arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Pavel Putrov.
Many BPS partition functions depend on a choice of additional structure: fluxes, Spin or Spin$^c$ structures, etc. In a context where the BPS generating series depends on a choice of Spin$^c$ structure we show how different limits with respect to the expansion variable $q$ and different ways of summing over Spin$^c$ structures produce different invariants of homology cobordisms out of the BPS $q$-series.
This is a compact review of recent results on supersymmetric Wilson loops in ABJ(M) and related theories. It aims to be a quick introduction to the state of the art in the field and a discussion of open problems. It is divided into short chapters devoted to different questions and techniques. Some new results, perspectives and speculations are also presented. We hope this might serve as a baseline for further studies of this topic.
We study dynamics of two-dimensional N=(0,1) supersymmetric gauge theories. In particular, we propose that there is an infrared triality between certain triples of theories with orthogonal and symplectic gauge groups. The proposal is supported by matching of anomalies and elliptic genera. This triality can be viewed as a (0,1) counterpart of the (0,2) triality proposed earlier by two of the authors and A. Gadde. We also describe the relation between global anomalies in gauge theoretic and sigma-model descriptions, filling in a gap in the present literature.
We formulate a family of spin Topological Quantum Filed Theories (spin-TQFTs) as fermionic generalization of bosonic Dijkgraaf-Witten TQFTs. They are obtained by gauging $G$-equivariant invertible spin-TQFTs, or, in physics language, gauging the interacting fermionic Symmetry Protected Topological states (SPTs) with a finite group $G$ symmetry. We use the fact that the latter are classified by Pontryagin duals to spin-bordism groups of the classifying space $BG$. We also consider unoriented analogues, that is $G$-equivariant invertible pin$^\pm$-TQFTs (fermionic time-reversal-SPTs) and their gauging. We compute these groups for various examples of abelian $G$ using Adams spectral sequence and describe all corresponding TQFTs via certain bordism invariants in dimensions 3, 4, and other. This gives explicit formulas for the partition functions of spin-TQFTs on closed manifolds with possible extended operators inserted. The results also provide explicit classification of 't Hooft anomalies of fermionic QFTs with finite abelian group symmetries in one dimension lower. We construct new anomalous boundary deconfined spin-TQFTs (surface fermionic topological orders). We explore SPT and SET (symmetry enriched topologically ordered) states, and crystalline SPTs protected by space-group (e.g. translation $\mathbb{Z}$) or point-group (e.g. reflection, inversion or rotation $C_m$) symmetries, via the layer-stacking construction.
We build a connection between topology of smooth 4-manifolds and the theory of topological modular forms by considering topologically twisted compactification of 6d (1,0) theories on 4-manifolds with flavor symmetry backgrounds. The effective 2d theory has (0,1) supersymmetry and, possibly, a residual flavor symmetry. The equivariant topological Witten genus of this 2d theory then produces a new invariant of the 4-manifold equipped with a principle bundle, valued in the ring of equivariant weakly holomorphic (topological) modular forms. We describe basic properties of this map and present a few simple examples. As a byproduct, we obtain some new results on 't Hooft anomalies of 6d (1,0) theories and a better understanding of the relation between 2d (0,1) theories and TMF spectra.
We introduce a web of strongly correlated interacting 3+1D topological superconductors/insulators of 10 particular global symmetry groups of Cartan classes, realizable in electronic condensed matter systems, and their new SU(N) generalizations. The symmetries include SU(N), SU(2), U(1), fermion parity, time reversal and relate to each other through symmetry embeddings. We overview the lattice Hamiltonian formalism. We complete the list of field theories of bulk symmetry-protected topological invariants (SPT invariants/partition functions that exhibit boundary 't Hooft anomalies) via cobordism calculations, matching their full classification. We also present explicit 4-manifolds that detect these SPTs. On the other hand, once we dynamically gauge part of their global symmetries, we arrive in various new phases of SU(N) Yang-Mills (YM) gauge theories, analogous to quantum spin liquids with emergent gauge fields. We discuss how coupling YM theories to time reversal-SPTs affects the strongly coupled theories at low energy. For example, we point out a possibility of having two deconfined gapless time-reversal symmetric SU(2) YM theories at $θ=π$ as two distinct conformal field theories, which although are secretly indistinguishable by correlators of local operators on orientable spacetimes nor by gapped SPT states, can be distinguished on non-orientable spacetimes or potentially by correlators of extended operators.
Distinct quantum vacua of topologically ordered states can be tunneled into each other via extended operators. The possible applications include condensed matter and quantum cosmology. We present a straightforward approach to calculate the partition function on various manifolds and ground state degeneracy (GSD), mainly based on continuum/cochain Topological Quantum Field Theories (TQFT), in any dimension. This information can be related to the counting of extended operators of bosonic/fermionic TQFT. On the lattice scale, anyonic particles/strings live at the ends of line/surface operators. Certain systems in different dimensions are related to each other through dimensional reduction schemes, analogous to (de)categorification. Examples include spin TQFTs derived from gauging the interacting fermionic symmetry protected topological states (with fermion parity $\mathbb{Z}_2^f$) of symmetry group $\mathbb{Z}_4\times \mathbb{Z}_2$ and $(\mathbb{Z}_4)^2$ in 3+1D, also $\mathbb{Z}_2$ and $(\mathbb{Z}_2)^2$ in 2+1D. Gauging the last three cases begets non-Abelian spin TQFT/topological order. We consider situations where a TQFT lives on (1) a closed spacetime or (2) a spacetime with boundary, such that the bulk and boundary are fully-gapped and short or long-range entangled (SRE/LRE). Anyonic excitations can be deconfined on the boundary. We introduce new exotic topological interfaces on which neither particle nor string excitations alone condensed, but only fuzzy-composite objects of extended operators can end (e.g. a string-like composite object formed by a set of particles can end on a special 2+1D boundary of 3+1D bulk). We explore the relations between group extension constructions and partially breaking constructions (e.g. 0-form/higher-form/composite breaking) of topological boundaries, after gauging. We comment on the implications of entanglement entropy for some of such LRE systems.
Topological Quantum Field Theories (TQFTs) pertinent to some emergent low energy phenomena of condensed matter lattice models in 2+1 and 3+1D are explored. Many of our field theories are highly-interacting without free quadratic analogs. Some of our bosonic TQFTs can be regarded as the continuum field theory formulation of Dijkgraaf-Witten twisted discrete gauge theories. Other bosonic TQFTs beyond the Dijkgraaf-Witten description and all fermionic spin TQFTs are either higher-form gauge theories where particles must have strings attached, or fermionic discrete gauge theories obtained by gauging the fermionic Symmetry-Protected Topological states (SPTs). We calculate both Abelian and non-Abelian braiding statistics data of anyon particle and string excitations, where the statistics data can one-to-one characterize the underlying topological orders of TQFTs. We derive path integral expectation values of links formed by line and surface operators in the TQFTs. The acquired link invariants include not only the Aharonov-Bohm linking number, but also Milnor triple linking number in 2+1D, triple and quadruple linking numbers of surfaces, and intersection number of surfaces in 3+1D. We also construct new spin TQFTs with the corresponding knot/link invariants of Arf(-Brown-Kervaire), Sato-Levine and others. We propose a new relation between the fermionic SPT partition function and Rokhlin invariant. We can use these invariants and other observables, including ground state degeneracy, reduced modular $\mathcal{S}^{xy}$ and $\mathcal{T}^{xy}$ matrices, and the partition function on $\mathbb{RP}^3$ manifold, to identify all $\mathbb{Z}_8$ classes of 2+1D gauged $\mathbb{Z}_2$-Ising-symmetric $\mathbb{Z}_2^f$-fermionic Topological Superconductors (TSC, realized by stacking layers of a pair of $p+ip$ and $p-ip$ SC, where boundary supports non-chiral Majorana-Weyl modes) with continuum spin-TQFTs.
We provide a physical definition of new homological invariants $\mathcal{H}_a (M_3)$ of 3-manifolds (possibly, with knots) labeled by abelian flat connections. The physical system in question involves a 6d fivebrane theory on $M_3$ times a 2-disk, $D^2$, whose Hilbert space of BPS states plays the role of a basic building block in categorification of various partition functions of 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ theory $T[M_3]$: $D^2\times S^1$ half-index, $S^2\times S^1$ superconformal index, and $S^2\times S^1$ topologically twisted index. The first partition function is labeled by a choice of boundary condition and provides a refinement of Chern-Simons (WRT) invariant. A linear combination of them in the unrefined limit gives the analytically continued WRT invariant of $M_3$. The last two can be factorized into the product of half-indices. We show how this works explicitly for many examples, including Lens spaces, circle fibrations over Riemann surfaces, and plumbed 3-manifolds.
We propose a way of computing 4-manifold invariants, old and new, as chiral correlation functions in half-twisted 2d $\mathcal{N}=(0,2)$ theories that arise from compactification of fivebranes. Such formulation gives a new interpretation of some known statements about Seiberg-Witten invariants, such as the basic class condition, and gives a prediction for structural properties of the multi-monopole invariants and their non-abelian generalizations.
We propose a unified approach to a general class of codimension-2 defects in field theories with non-trivial duality symmetries and discuss various constructions of such "duality defects" in diverse dimensions. In particular, in d=4 we propose a new interpretation of the Seiberg-Witten u-plane by "embedding" it in the physical space-time: we argue that it describes a BPS configuration of two duality defects (at the monopole/dyon points) and propose its vast generalization based on Lefschetz fibrations of 4-manifolds.
We study resurgence properties of partition function of SU(2) Chern-Simons theory (WRT invariant) on closed three-manifolds. We check explicitly that in various examples Borel transforms of asymptotic expansions posses expected analytic properties. In examples that we study we observe that contribution of irreducible flat connections to the path integral can be recovered from asymptotic expansions around abelian flat connections. We also discuss connection to Floer instanton moduli spaces, disk instantons in 2d sigma models, and length spectra of "complex geodesics" on the A-polynomial curve.
In this paper we study the low energy physics of Landau-Ginzburg models with N=(0,2) supersymmetry. We exhibit a number of classes of relatively simple LG models where the conformal field theory at the low energy fixed point can be explicitly identified. One interesting class of fixed points can be thought of as "heterotic" minimal models. Other examples include N=(0,2) renormalization group flows that end up at N=(2,2) minimal models and models with non-abelian symmetry.
Motivated by physical constructions of homological knot invariants, we study their analogs for closed 3-manifolds. We show that fivebrane compactifications provide a universal description of various old and new homological invariants of 3-manifolds. In terms of 3d/3d correspondence, such invariants are given by the Q-cohomology of the Hilbert space of partially topologically twisted 3d N=2 theory T[M_3] on a Riemann surface with defects. We demonstrate this by concrete and explicit calculations in the case of monopole/Heegaard Floer homology and a 3-manifold analog of Khovanov-Rozansky link homology. The latter gives a categorification of Chern-Simons partition function. Some of the new key elements include the explicit form of the S-transform and a novel connection between categorification and a previously mysterious role of Eichler integrals in Chern-Simons theory.
We study a class of two-dimensional ${\cal N}=(0, 4)$ quiver gauge theories that flow to superconformal field theories. We find dualities for the superconformal field theories similar to the 4d ${\cal N}=2$ theories of class ${\cal S}$, labelled by a Riemann surface ${\cal C}$. The dual descriptions arise from various pair-of-pants decompositions, that involves an analog of the $T_N$ theory. Especially, we find the superconformal index of such theories can be written in terms of a topological field theory on ${\cal C}$. We interpret this class of SCFTs as the ones coming from compactifying 6d ${\cal N}=(2, 0)$ theory on $\mathbb{CP}^1 \times {\cal C}$
We describe rules for building 2d theories labeled by 4-manifolds. Using the proposed dictionary between building blocks of 4-manifolds and 2d N=(0,2) theories, we obtain a number of results, which include new 3d N=2 theories T[M_3] associated with rational homology spheres and new results for Vafa-Witten partition functions on 4-manifolds. In particular, we point out that the gluing measure for the latter is precisely the superconformal index of 2d (0,2) vector multiplet and relate the basic building blocks with coset branching functions. We also offer a new look at the fusion of defect lines / walls, and a physical interpretation of the 4d and 3d Kirby calculus as dualities of 2d N=(0,2) theories and 3d N=2 theories, respectively
We study dynamics of two-dimensional non-abelian gauge theories with N=(0,2) supersymmetry that include N=(0,2) supersymmetric QCD and its generalizations. In particular, we present the phase diagram of N=(0,2) SQCD and determine its massive and low-energy spectrum. We find that the theory has no mass gap, a nearly constant distribution of massive states, and lots of massless states that in general flow to an interacting CFT. For a range of parameters where supersymmetry is not dynamically broken at low energies, we give a complete description of the low-energy physics in terms of 2d N=(0,2) SCFTs using anomaly matching and modular invariance. Our construction provides a vast landscape of new N=(0,2) SCFTs which, for small values of the central charge, could be used for building novel heterotic models with no moduli and, for large values of the central charge, could be dual to AdS_3 string vacua.
In this paper we analyze various half-BPS defects in a general three dimensional N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory T. They correspond to closed paths in SUSY parameter space and their tension is computed by evaluating period integrals along these paths. In addition to such defects, we also study wall defects that interpolate between T and its SL(2,Z) transform by coupling the 3d theory to a 4d theory with S-duality wall. We propose a novel spectral duality between 3d gauge theories and integrable systems. This duality complements a similar duality discovered by Nekrasov and Shatashvili. As another application, for 3d N=2 theories associated with knots and 3-manifolds we compute periods of (super) A-polynomial curves and relate the results with the spectrum of domain walls and line operators.