Modular symmetry and fractional charges in \(\mathcal N=2\) supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the quantum Hall effect (Q2473401)

The modular symmetry is reviewed in the frame of the quantum Hall effect and of the 3+1 dimensional \(\mathcal N=2\) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. Indeed, \(\mathcal N=2\) supersymmetric SU(2) Yang-Mills theory and the quantum Hall effect are connected mathematically in the sense that modular symmetry places on the scaling flow of the two theories. The modular symmetry has significant consequences for the vacuum structures of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories leading to a fractal vacuum which has an infinite hierarchy of related phases. In the case of \(\mathcal N=2\) supersymmetric Yang-Mills \(3+1\) dimensions, scaling functions are modular forms of a subgroup of the full modular group. A mass gap appears for electrically charged particles carrying fractional electric charges. A similar structure applies to the \(2+1\) dimensional quantum Hall effect where the hierarchy of the Hall plateaux can be understood by means of an action of the modular group and the stability of the Hall plateaux is due to the fact that odd denominator Hall conductivities are attractive infrared fixed points.