English

Topological defects in K3 sigma models

High Energy Physics - Theory 2024-07-04 v2

Abstract

We consider the topological defect lines commuting with the spectral flow and the N=(4,4)\mathcal{N}=(4,4) superconformal symmetry in two dimensional non-linear sigma models on K3. By studying their fusion with boundary states, we derive a number of general results for the category of such defects. We argue that while for certain K3 models infinitely many simple defects, and even a continuum, can occur, at generic points in the moduli space the category is actually trivial, i.e. it is generated by the identity defect. Furthermore, we show that if a K3 model is at the attractor point for some BPS configuration of D-branes, then all topological defects have integral quantum dimension. We also conjecture that a continuum of topological defects arises if and only if the K3 model is a (possibly generalized) orbifold of a torus model. Finally, we test our general results in a couple of examples, where we provide a partial classification of the topological defects.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2402.08719,
  title  = {Topological defects in K3 sigma models},
  author = {Roberta Angius and Stefano Giaccari and Roberto Volpato},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.08719},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

58 pages + appendices

R2 v1 2026-06-28T14:47:44.906Z