Categorical webs and S-duality in 4d N = 2 QFT

DOI10.1007/S00220-019-03461-0MaRDI QIDQ2415346zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Matteo Caorsi, Sergio Cecotti

Publication date 21 May 2019

Published in Communications in Mathematical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1707.08981

zbMATH Keywords

BPS statesGrothendieck groupquantum field theorysupersymmetryWKB approximation

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Grothendieck groups, (K)-theory and commutative rings (13D15) Semiclassical techniques, including WKB and Maslov methods applied to problems in quantum theory (81Q20) Yang-Mills and other gauge theories in quantum field theory (81T13) String and superstring theories; other extended objects (e.g., branes) in quantum field theory (81T30) Supersymmetric field theories in quantum mechanics (81T60)

Abstract: We review the categorical approach to the BPS sector of a 4d $mathcalN=2$ QFT, clarifying many tricky issues and presenting a few novel results. To a given $mathcalN=2$ QFT one associates several triangle categories: they describe various kinds of BPS objects from different physical viewpoints (e.g. IR versus UV). These diverse categories are related by a web of exact functors expressing physical relations between the various objects/pictures. A basic theme of this review is the emphasis on the full web of categories, rather than on what we can learn from a single description. A second general theme is viewing the cluster category as a sort of `categorification' of 't Hooft's theory of quantum phases for a 4d non-Abelian gauge theory. The $S$-duality group is best described as the auto-equivalences of the full web of categories. This viewpoint leads to a combinatorial algorithm to search for $S$-dualities of the given $mathcalN=2$ theory. If the ranks of the gauge and flavor groups are not too big, the algorithm may be effectively run on a laptop. This viewpoint also leads to a clearer view of $3d$ mirror symmetry. For class $mathcalS$ theories, all the relevant triangle categories may also be constructed in terms of geometric objects on the Gaiotto curve, and we present the dictionary between triangle categories and the WKB approach of GMN. We also review how the VEV's of UV line operators are related to cluster characters.

Review text

This very exhaustive and self-contained review on in total 100 pages deals with the BPS sector of \(4d\) \(\mathcal{N}=2\) supersymmetric Quantum Field Theories which are relevant to certain classes of string theory. This updated view clarifies open issues and dervies new results. Its goal ois easily detect dualities by triangulated categories. Such categories are outlined in the introduction and derived from a Ginzburg algebra and its bounded derived category. The cluster category describes BPS UV line operators and has multiplicative quantum numbers determined by the topology of the gauge group. Furthermore the perfect derived category describing all possible BPS IR objects. Self dualities relate such BPS objects to other BPS objects, from the IR to the UV. In Section 2, the mathematical background is wrapped up with a long list of relevant definitions, quiver mutations with a theorem, and the Ginzburg DG algebra. Furthermore, Grothendieck groups, periodic subcategories and stability conditions. The physical preliminaries are given in Section 3 with an IR view and excursion to the string landscape, UV line operators and 't Hooft groups and a short explanation of t' Hooft theory. The physical meaning of the three categories is discussed in Section 4 with a special focus on stable objects, physical charges and the Grothendieck group. Finally, in Section 5 cluster automorphisms and \(S\) dualities are discussed leading to a computer algorithm for the determination of the \(S\)-duality group in Section 6. Some examples of class \(\mathcal{S}\) QFTs, cluster characters and line operators are given in Sections 8 and 9. The three appendices provide some Mathematica code for the presented work.

Recommendations

• S duality and framed BPS states via BPS graphs
• CATEGORICAL TINKERTOYS FOR ${\mathcal N} = 2$ GAUGE THEORIES
• Higher \(S\)-dualities and Shephard-Todd groups
• S-duality and 2d topological QFT
• Bias in estimation of misclassification rates

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Cited in

(11)

• Cluster integrable systems, \(q\)-Painlevé equations and their quantization
• Homological classification of 4d \(\mathcal{N} = 2\) QFT. Rank-1 revisited
• Categorified canonical bases and framed BPS states
• Higher \(S\)-dualities and Shephard-Todd groups
• S duality and framed BPS states via BPS graphs
• CATEGORICAL TINKERTOYS FOR ${\mathcal N} = 2$ GAUGE THEORIES
• Classification of complete N = 2 supersymmetric theories in 4 dimensions
• A slow review of the AGT correspondence
• Global structures from the infrared
• Topological twists of massive SQCD. II
• Generalized symmetries of non-SUSY and discrete torsion string backgrounds

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