Related papers: Proving the 6d a-theorem with the double affine Gr…

Among the elementary building blocks in the atomic classification of 5d SCFTs there are 5d bifundamental conformal matter theories of various kinds. In this work we study the Higgs branch of these models and of the corresponding molecules…

In this paper we study a class of $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs with ADE global symmetry defined via Type IIB compactification on a class of hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{C}^3\times\mathbb{C}^*$. These can also be constructed by compactifying the 6d…

We study $AdS_5\times \Sigma_2$ and $AdS_4\times \Sigma_3$ solutions of $N=2$, $SO(4)$ gauged supergravity in seven dimensions with $\Sigma_{2,3}$ being $S^{2,3}$ or $H^{2,3}$. The $SO(4)$ gauged supergravity is obtained from coupling three…

In earlier work, we (KI and BW) gave a two line "almost proof" (for supersymmetric RG flows) of the weakest form of the conjectured 4d a-theorem, that a_{IR}<a_{UV}, using our result that the exact superconformal R-symmetry of 4d SCFTs…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a relationship between the moduli space of vortices and the moduli space of instantons. We study charge k vortices in U(N) Yang-Mills-Higgs theories and show that the moduli space is isomorphic to a…

D-instantons are used to probe the near-horizon geometry of D3-branes systems on orbifold spaces. For fractional D3-branes, D-instanton calculus correctly reproduces the gauge beta-function and U(1)_R anomaly of the corresponding N=2…

Type IIB AdS$_6$ solutions with orientifold 7-planes are constructed. The geometry is a warped product of AdS$_6$ and S$^2$ over a Riemann surface $\Sigma$ and the O7-planes correspond to a particular type of puncture on $\Sigma$. The…

We study the dynamics of M-theory on isolated non-toric Calabi-Yau threefold singularities of type $(A_j,A_l)$ and $(A_k,D_n)$, engineering five-dimensional rank-zero SCFTs. Our approach consists in mapping these backgrounds to type IIA…

For a collection $\mathbf{G}=\{G_1,\dots, G_s\}$ of not necessarily distinct graphs on the same vertex set $V$, a graph $H$ with vertices in $V$ is a $\mathbf{G}$-transversal if there exists a bijection $\phi:E(H)\rightarrow [s]$ such that…

We study the Higgs branch and associated vertex operator algebra (VOA) of 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal field theories (SCFTs) from the geometric engineering of IIB superstring on canonical threefold singularities. For terminal…

We elucidate the correspondence between a particular class of superconformal field theories in six dimensions and homomorphisms from discrete subgroups of $SU(2)$ into $E_8$, as predicted from string dualities. We show how this match works…

We study six-dimensional $F(4)$ gauged supergravity coupled to four vector multiplets with a non-semisimple $ISO(3)\times U(1)$ gauge group. This gauged supergravity arises from a consistent truncation of type IIB string theory on…

We calculate the partition functions of supersymmetric gauge theories on S^5, which acquire non-perturbative contributions from instanton loops wrapping its Hopf fiber. The instantons on the CP^2 base equivariantly localize to 3 fixed…

For $\mathcal{O}$ a hyperbolic orientable 2-orbifold of genus $g$ with at most $2g+6$ conic points, we prove that the geodesic flow on the unitary tangent bundle$\mathrm{T}^1\mathcal{O}$ admits a Birkhoff section whose genus is one.…

The zig-zag symmetry transition is a phase transition in 1D quantum wires, in which a Wigner lattice of electrons transitions to two staggered lattices. Previous studies model this transition as a Luttinger liquid coupled to a Majorana…

We use the Higgs mechanism to investigate connections between higher-rank symmetric $U(1)$ gauge theories and gapped fracton phases. We define two classes of rank-2 symmetric $U(1)$ gauge theories: the $(m,n)$ scalar and vector charge…

Let $H$ be a separable real Hilbert space. Denote by ${\mathcal G}_{\infty}(H)$ the Grassmannian consisting of closed subspaces with infinite dimension and codimension. This Grassmannian is partially ordered by the inclusion relation. We…

We explore some curiosities in 4d susy RG flows. One issue is that the compelling candidate a-function, from a-maximization with Lagrange multipliers, has a `strange branch," with reversed RG flow properties, monotonically increasing…

The strongly interacting 4d N=2 SCFT's of type $(A_n,A_m)$ are the simplest examples of models in the $(G,G^\prime)$ class introduced by Cecotti, Neitzke, and Vafa in arXiv:1006.3435. These systems have a known 3d N=4 mirror only if…

We study self-dual instantons of topological charge $Q=r/N$, for any natural $r$, in $SU(N)$ Yang-Mills theory on a four torus with 't Hooft twists, by embedding them into worldvolume theories of $D$-branes. To study their moduli, we…