English

Refined 3D index

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-04-21 v1 Geometric Topology

Abstract

We introduce a refined version of the 3D index for 3-manifolds, building on the construction of the 3D N=2\mathcal{N}=2 gauge theory T[M]T[M] by Dimofte-Gaiotto-Gukov and Gang-Yonekura. The refined index is a superconformal index of T[M]T[M] equipped with additional gradings that capture enhanced flavor symmetries of the effective theory. Our construction is based on a Dehn surgery presentation of MM in terms of an ideally triangulated link complement NN. We derive an explicit infinite-sum formula for the refined index and provide nontrivial checks in representative examples, supporting its invariance under changes of triangulation, Dehn surgery presentation, and other auxiliary data. As a strictly stronger invariant, the refined index enables finer distinctions among 3-manifolds and among distinct IR phases of the associated gauge theories. We also introduce a computational tool, \textsc{Refined Index Calculator}, for its explicit evaluation.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.17449,
  title  = {Refined 3D index},
  author = {Dongmin Gang and Kibok Jeong and Taeyoon Kim and Soochang Lee},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.17449},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

66 pages (+ appendices), 5 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T12:16:56.134Z