Localization techniques in quantum field theories
This is the foreword to the special volume on localization techniques in quantum field theory. We summarize the individual chapters and their relation.
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arXiv subjects
Yuji Tachikawa
Publications and source records attributed to Yuji Tachikawa.
Gauge interactions and topological phases of matter
We initiate the study of the effects of strongly-coupled gauge interactions on the properties of the topological phases of matter. In particular, we discuss fermionic systems with three spatial dimensions, protected by time reversal symmetry. We first derive a sufficient condition for the introduction of a dynamical Yang-Mills field to preserve the topological phase of matter, and then show how the massless pions capture in the infrared the topological properties of the fermions in the ultraviolet. Finally, we use the S-duality of ${\mathcal N}=2$ supersymmetric $SU(2)$ gauge theory with $N_f{=}4$ flavors to show that the $ν{=}16$ phase of Majorana fermions can be continuously connected to the trivial $ν{=}0$ phase.
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Hofstadter's Butterfly in Quantum Geometry
We point out that the recent conjectural solution to the spectral problem for the Hamiltonian $H=e^{x}+e^{-x}+e^{p}+e^{-p}$ in terms of the refined topological invariants of a local Calabi-Yau geometry has an intimate relation with two-dimensional non-interacting electrons moving in a periodic potential under a uniform magnetic field. In particular, we find that the quantum A-period, determining the relation between the energy eigenvalue and the Kahler modulus of the Calabi-Yau, can be found explicitly when the quantum parameter $q=e^{i\hbar}$ is a root of unity, that its branch cuts are given by Hofstadter's butterfly, and that its imaginary part counts the number of states of the Hofstadter Hamiltonian. The modular double operation, exchanging $\hbar$ and $4π^2/\hbar$, plays an important role.
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On 4d rank-one N=3 superconformal field theories
We study the properties of 4d N=3 superconformal field theories whose rank is one, i.e. those that reduce to a single vector multiplet on their moduli space of vacua. We find that the moduli space can only be of the form C^3/Z_k for k=1,2,3,4,6, and that the supersymmetry automatically enhances to N=4 for k=1,2. In addition, we determine the central charges a and c in terms of k, and construct the associated 2d chiral algebras, which turn out to be exotic N=2 supersymmetric W-algebras.
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6d $\mathcal{N}{=}(1,0)$ theories on $S^1/T^2$ and class S theories: part II
We study the $T^2$ compactification of a class of 6d $\mathcal{N}{=}(1,0)$ theories that is Higgsable to $\mathcal{N}{=}(2,0)$ theories. We show that the resulting 4d $\mathcal{N}{=}2$ theory at the origin of the Coulomb branch and the parameter space is generically given by two superconformal matter sectors coupled by an infrared-free gauge multiplet and another conformal gauge multiplet. Our analysis utilizes the 5d theories obtained by putting the same class of 6d theories on $S^1$. Our class includes, among others, the 6d theories describing multiple M5 branes on an ALE singularity, and we analyze them in detail. The resulting 4d theory has manifestly both the $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ and the full flavor symmetry. We also discuss in detail the special cases of 6d theories where the infrared-free gauge multiplet is absent. In an appendix, we give a field-theoretical argument for an F-theoretic constraint that forbids a particular 6d anomaly-free matter content, as an application of our analysis.
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On skein relations in class S theories
Loop operators of a class S theory arise from networks on the corresponding Riemann surface, and their operator product expansions are given in terms of the skein relations, that we describe in detail in the case of class S theories of type A. As two applications, we explicitly determine networks corresponding to dyonic loops of $N=4$ $SU(3)$ super Yang-Mills, and compute the superconformal index of a nontrivial network operator of the $T_3$ theory.
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A review of the T_N theory and its cousins
The T_N theory is a four-dimensional N=2 superconformal field theory that has played a central role in the analysis of supersymmetric dualities in the last few years. The aim of this review is to collect known properties of the T_N theory and its cousins in one place as a quick reference.
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6d $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ theories on $T^2$ and class S theories: part I
We show that the $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ superconformal theory on a single M5 brane on the ALE space of type $G=A_n, D_n, E_n$, when compactified on $T^2$, becomes a class S theory of type $G$ on a sphere with two full punctures and a simple puncture. We study this relation from various viewpoints. Along the way, we develop a new method to study the 4d SCFT arising from the $T^2$ compactification of a class of 6d $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ theories we call very Higgsable.
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Physics at the entangling surface
To consider the entanglement between the spatial region $A$ and its complement in a QFT, we need to assign a Hilbert space $\mathcal{H}_A$ to the region, by making a certain choice on the boundary $\partial A$. We argue that a small physical boundary is implicitly inserted at the entangling surface. We investigate these issues in the context of 2d CFTs, and show that we can indeed read off the Cardy states of the $c=1/2$ minimal model from the entanglement entropy of the critical Ising chain.
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Instanton operators and symmetry enhancement in 5d supersymmetric gauge theories
Supersymmetric gauge theories in five dimensions often exhibit less symmetry than the ultraviolet fixed points from which they flow. The fixed points might have larger flavor symmetry or they might even be secretly six-dimensional theories on S^1. Here we provide a simple criterion when such symmetry enhancement in the ultraviolet should occur, by a direct study of the fermionic zero modes around one-instanton operators.
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A review on instanton counting and W-algebras
This is the third article in the collection of reviews "Exact results on N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories", ed. J. Teschner. It is explained how to compute the instanton partition functions. The results can be written as sums over bases for the equivariant cohomology of instanton moduli spaces. The known results relating the symmetries of these spaces to the symmetries of conformal field theory are reviewed.
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Magnetic discrete gauge field in the confining vacua and the supersymmetric index
It has recently been argued that the confining vacua of Yang-Mills theory in the far infrared can have topological degrees of freedom given by magnetic $\mathbb{Z}_q$ gauge field, both in the non-supersymmetric case and in the N=1 supersymmetric case. In this short note we give another piece of evidence by computing and matching the supersymmetric index of the pure super Yang-Mills theory both in the ultraviolet and in the infrared.
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Mass-deformed $T_N$ as a linear quiver
The $T_N$ theory is a non-Lagrangian theory with SU(N) flavor symmetry. We argue that when mass terms are given so that two of SU(N)'s are both broken to SU(N-1) x U(1), it becomes $T_{N-1}$ theory coupled to an SU(N-1) vector multiplet together with N fundamentals. This implies that when two of SU(N)'s are both broken to U(1)$^{N-1}$, the theory becomes a linear quiver. We perform various checks of this statement, by using the 5d partition function, the structure of the coupling constants, the Higgs branch, and the Seiberg-Witten curve. We also study the case with more general punctures.
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Anomaly polynomial of general 6d SCFTs
We describe a method to determine the anomaly polynomials of general 6d $\mathcal{N}=(2,0)$ and $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ SCFTs, in terms of the anomaly matching on their tensor branches. This method is almost purely field theoretical, and can be applied to all known 6d SCFTs. We demonstrate our method in many concrete examples, including $\mathcal{N}=(2,0)$ theories of arbitrary type and the theories on M5 branes on ALE singularities, reproducing the $N^3$ behavior. We check the results against the anomaly polynomials computed M-theoretically via the anomaly inflow.
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Moduli spaces of SO(8) instantons on smooth ALE spaces as Higgs branches of 4d N=2 supersymmetric theories
The worldvolume theory of D3-branes probing four D7-branes and an O7-plane on $\mathbb{C}^2/\mathbb{Z}_2$ is given by a supersymmetric USp x USp gauge theory. We demonstrate that, at least for a particular choice of the holonomy at infinity, we can go to a dual description of the gauge theory, where we can add a Fayet-Iliopoulos term describing the blowing-up of the orbifold to the smooth ALE space. This allows us to express the moduli space of SO(8) instantons on the smooth ALE space as a hyperkähler quotient of a flat space times the Higgs branch of a class S theory. We also discuss a generalization to $\mathbb{C}^2/\mathbb{Z}_{2n}$, and speculate how to extend the analysis to bigger SO groups and to ALE spaces of other types.
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A counterexample to the a-'theorem'
The conclusion of the original paper was wrong, due to the incorrect assumption that the low-energy limit at the strongly-coupled point consists of a single, coupled SCFT. By taking into account the fact that the low-energy limit consists of multiple decoupled parts, it was later shown in arXiv:1011.4568 that there is no violation of the a-theorem in this system. Furthermore, the a-theorem itself was convincingly demonstrated in arXiv:1107.3987, and the argument presented there has been further refined. The rest of this paper is kept as it was, for some parts of the discussions might still be of interest. Original abstract: We exhibit a renormalization group flow for a four-dimensional gauge theory along which the conformal central charge 'a' increases. The flow connects the maximally superconformal point of an N=2 gauge theory with gauge group SU(N+1) and N_f=2N flavors in the ultraviolet, to a strongly-coupled superconformal point of the SU(N) gauge theory with N_f=2N massless flavors in the infrared. Our example does not contradict the proof of the a-theorem via a-maximization, due to the presence of accidental symmetries in the infrared limit. Nor does it contradict the holographic a-theorem, because these gauge theories do not possess weakly-curved holographic duals.
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Anomaly polynomial of E-string theories
We determine the anomaly polynomial of the E-string theory and its higher-rank generalizations, that is, the 6d $\mathcal{N} =(1, 0)$ superconformal theories on the worldvolume of one or multiple M5-branes embedded within the end-of-the-world brane with $E_8$ symmetry.
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On the 6d origin of discrete additional data of 4d gauge theories
Starting with a choice of gauge algebras, specification of a 4d gauge theory involves additional data, namely the gauge groups and the discrete theta angles. Equivalently, one needs to specify the set of charges of allowed line operators. In this note, we study how these additional data are represented in 6d, when the 4d theory in question is an N=4 super Yang-Mills theory or an N=2 class S theory. We will see that the Z_N symmetry of the so-called T_N theory plays an important role. As a byproduct, we will find that the superconformal index of class S theories can be refined so that it can give 2d q-deformed Yang-Mills theory with different gauge groups associated to the same gauge algebra.
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