BPS states in the Minahan-Nemeschansky E₆ theory

Applications of vector bundles and moduli spaces in mathematical physics (twistor theory, instantons, quantum field theory) (14D21) Riemann surfaces (30F99) Spectral sets of linear operators (47A25) String and superstring theories; other extended objects (e.g., branes) in quantum field theory (81T30) Supersymmetric field theories in quantum mechanics (81T60)

Abstract: We use the method of spectral networks to compute BPS state degeneracies in the Minahan-Nemeschansky

E_{6}

theory, on its Coulomb branch, without turning on a mass deformation. The BPS multiplicities come out in representations of the

E_{6}

flavor symmetry. For example, along the simplest ray in electromagnetic charge space, we give the first

14

numerical degeneracies, and the first

7

degeneracies as representations of

E_{6}

. We find a complicated spectrum, exhibiting exponential growth of multiplicities as a function of the electromagnetic charge. There is one unexpected outcome: the spectrum is consistent (in a nontrivial way) with the hypothesis of "spin purity," that if a BPS state in this theory has electromagnetic charge equal to

n

times a primitive charge, then it appears in a spin-

f r a c n 2

multiplet.

Review text

The Minahan-Nemeschansky \(E_6\) theory \(T_3\) introduced in [\textit{J. A. Minahan} and \textit{D. Nemeschansky}, Nucl. Phys., B 482, No. 1--2, 142--152 (1996; Zbl 0925.81309)] is a 4-dimensional \(\mathcal{N}=2\) superconformal field theory of class \(\mathcal{S}[A_2]\). From this point of view, it is associated to the Riemann surface \(C=\mathbb{CP}^1 - \{3 \mathrm{pts.}\}\) with full punctures at those points. The Coulomb branch of theory \(T_3\) is parameterized by the complex numbers \(u\in \mathbb{C}\), and the physics is the same for any nonzero \(u\), thus one can fix \(u=1\). The \(\mathrm{U}(1)\) gauge theory appearing in the infrared of theory \(T_3\) on the Coulomb branch can be naturally described in terms of the Seiberg-Witten curve \[ \Sigma = \left\{x^3 -\frac{1}{(z^3 -1)^2}=0\right\} \] in coordinates \((x,z)\) on \(T^{*}C\), which is a genus 1 curve with 3 punctures. Filling in the punctures of \(\Sigma\) one obtains a smooth compact genus 1 curve, say \(\bar{\Sigma}\), which is a branched covering of \(\mathbb{CP}^1\) with the branch points at the punctures. The electromagnetic charge lattice of the infrared gauge theory on the Coulomb branch is the first homology group \[ \Gamma_{g}=H_1 (\bar{\Sigma}, \mathbb{Z}) \] and has three distinguished elements \(\gamma_i\), for \(i=1,2,3\) satisfying \(\gamma_1 +\gamma_2 + \gamma_3 =0 \). In this article, the authors compute counts of \(4d\) BPS particles of theory \(T_3\) on its Coulomb branch; computing these counts at one point is, in fact, sufficient since there is a \(\mathbb{Z}_3\) symmetry that cyclically permutes the elements \(\gamma_i\) of the lattice \(\Gamma_g\), and thus all points on the Coulomb branch are physically equivalent. The authors compute \textit{indexed counts}, that is, the second helicity supertraces \(\Omega(\gamma)\), for various charges \(\gamma \in \Gamma_g\). In particular, they provide an algorithm that computes \(\Omega(n\gamma_1)\) at least for \(1\leq n \leq 200\) and show that there is an asymptotic exponential growth for \(|\Omega(n\gamma_1)|\). Moreover, since the theory \(T_3\) has unbroken \(F\cong E_6\) flavor symmetry on the Coulomb branch, the second helicity supertraces \(\Omega(\gamma)\) can be ``upgraded from integers to characters \(\mathbf{\Omega}(\gamma)\) of (virtual) representations of \(F\cong E_6\). Among various computations, the authors calculate \(\mathbf{\Omega}(n\gamma_1)\), for \(1\leq n \leq 7\). An important outcome of the computations obtained in this work is that the results are consistent with the so-called \textit{spin-purity conjecture}; the latter predicts that BPS states carrying electromagnetic charges which are \(n\)-times a primitive charge are always in a spin \(\frac{n}{2}\) multiplet. The main tool that is employed here in order to undertake these computations is the method of \textit{spectral networks} introduced by \textit{D. Gaiotto} et al. [Ann. Henri Poincaré 14, No. 7, 1643--1731 (2013; Zbl 1288.81132)], slightly adjusted here to deal with the case of an unbroken nonabelian flavor symmetry. The key physical input in defining the spectral networks is the \textit{canonical surface defect} of \textit{D. Gaiotto} [J. High Energy Phys. 2012, No. 11, Paper No. 90, 25 p. (2012; Zbl 1397.81363)], which in theory \(T_3\) is described by a family of defects \(\mathbb{S}_z\), for the points \(z\) of the curve \(C\); this surface defect breaks the \(\mathcal{N}=2, d=4\) supersymmetry to \(\mathcal{N}=(2,2), d=2\), thus allowing one to reduce the study to that of BPS solitons in pure \(\mathcal{N}=(2,2), d=2\) field theories. A spectral network \(\mathcal{W}(\vartheta) \subset C\) exists for each phase \(\vartheta\) and a point \(z \in C\) lies on \(\mathcal{W}(\vartheta)\) if and only if \(\mathbb{S}_z\) carries BPS solitons of central charge \(Z\) such that \(-Z\) has phase \(\vartheta\). The problem then reduces to computing the soliton spectrum. The article demonstrates yet another example of the profound relevance of spectral networks in BPS state counting. The manuscript is very well-written and provides numerous figures explaining the spectral networks for many different phases. Moreover, the authors list in the Introduction a considerable number of open problems and future directions of study. In one of these directions, the spectral network technique was used in [\textit{Q. Hao} et al., J. High Energy Phys. 2020, No. 4, Paper No. 39, 20 p. (2020; Zbl 1436.81135)] to analyze the Minahan-Nemeschansky theory with global symmetry \(E_7\). In that article, theory \(T_3\) for global symmetry \(E_6\) is revisited using the Fock decomposition method, and the counts \(\mathbf{\Omega}(n\gamma_1)\) have been obtained for \(1\leq n \leq 14\), thus extending some of the results of the article for which this review is provided.

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