English

Instanton partition functions in N=2 SU(N) gauge theories with a general surface operator, and their W-algebra duals

High Energy Physics - Theory 2011-03-18 v1 Algebraic Geometry Representation Theory

Abstract

We write down an explicit conjecture for the instanton partition functions in 4d N=2 SU(N) gauge theories in the presence of a certain type of surface operator. These surface operators are classified by partitions of N, and for each partition there is an associated partition function. For the partition N=N we recover the Nekrasov formalism, and when N=1+...+1 we reproduce the result of Feigin et. al. For the case N=1+(N-1) our expression is consistent with an alternative formulation in terms of a restricted SU(N)xSU(N) instanton partition function. When N=1+...+1+2 the partition functions can also be obtained perturbatively from certain W-algebras known as quasi-superconformal algebras, in agreement with a recent general proposal.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.1012.1355,
  title  = {Instanton partition functions in N=2 SU(N) gauge theories with a general surface operator, and their W-algebra duals},
  author = {Niclas Wyllard},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1012.1355},
  year   = {2011}
}

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20 pages