We consider SU(3)-equivariant dimensional reduction of Yang-Mills theory on Kaehler manifolds of the form M x SU(3)/H, with H = SU(2) x U(1) or H = U(1) x U(1). The induced rank two quiver gauge theories on M are worked out in detail for representations of H which descend from a generic irreducible SU(3)-representation. The reduction of the Donaldson-Uhlenbeck-Yau equations on these spaces induces nonabelian quiver vortex equations on M, which we write down explicitly. When M is a noncommutative deformation of the space C^d, we construct explicit BPS and non-BPS solutions of finite energy for all cases. We compute their topological charges in three different ways and propose a novel interpretation of the configurations as states of D-branes. Our methods and results generalize from SU(3) to any compact Lie group.
We construct explicit BPS and non-BPS solutions of the Yang-Mills equations on the noncommutative space R^{2n}_θx S^2 which have manifest spherical symmetry. Using SU(2)-equivariant dimensional reduction techniques, we show that the solutions imply an equivalence between instantons on R^{2n}_θx S^2 and nonabelian vortices on R^{2n}_θ, which can be interpreted as a blowing-up of a chain of D0-branes on R^{2n}_θinto a chain of spherical D2-branes on R^{2n} x S^2. The low-energy dynamics of these configurations is described by a quiver gauge theory which can be formulated in terms of new geometri…
We discuss the physics of topological vortices moving on an arbitrary surface M in a Yang-Mills-Higgs theory in which the gauge group G breaks to a finite subgroup H. We concentrate on the case where M is compact and/or nonorientable. Interesting new features arise which have no analog on the plane. The consequences for the quantum statistics of vortices are discussed, particularly when H is nonabelian.
A large class of orbifold quiver gauge theories admits the action of finite Heisenberg groups of the form \prod_i Heis(Z_{q_i} x Z_{q_i}). For an Abelian orbifold generated by Γ, the Z_{q_i} shift generator in each Heisenberg group is one cyclic factor of the Abelian group Γ. For general non-Abelian Γ, however, we find that the shift generators are the cyclic factors in the Abelianization of Γ. We explicitly show this for the case Γ=Δ(27), where we construct the finite Heisenberg group symmetries of the field theory. These symmetries are dual to brane number operators counting branes on homolo…
We study the statistics of vortices which appear in (2+1)--dimensional spontaneously broken gauge theories, where a compact group G breaks to a finite nonabelian subgroup H. Two simple models are presented. In the first, a quantum state which is symmetric under the interchange of a pair of indistinguishable vortices can be transformed into an antisymmetric state after the passage through the system of a third vortex with an appropriate $H$-flux element. Further, there exist states containing two indistinguishable spinless vortices which obey Fermi statistics. These results generalize to loops …
We study D-branes on a three complex dimensional nonabelian orbifold ${\bf C}^3/Γ$ with $Γ$ a finite subgroup of SU(3). We present general formulae necessary to obtain quiver diagrams which represent the gauge group and the spectrum of the D-brane worldvolume theory for dihedral-like subgroups $Δ(3n^2)$ and $Δ(6n^2)$. It is found that the quiver diagrams have a similar structure to webs of branes.
We study D-branes on three-dimensional orbifolds ${\bf C}^3/Γ$ where $Γ$ are finite subgroups of SU(3). The quiver diagram of $\ZnZn \in SU(3)$ can be expressed in three-dimensional form. According to the correspondence between quiver diagrams and brane configurations, we construct a brane configuration for ${\bf C}^3/\ZnZn$ which has essentially three-dimensional structrue. Brane configurations for nonabelian orbifolds $\C^3/Δ(3n^2)$ and $\C^3/Δ(6n^2)$ are obtained from that for $\C^3/\ZnZn$ by certain quotienting procedure.
We study nonabelian vortices (flux tubes) in SU(N) gauge theories, which are responsible for the confinement of (nonabelian) magnetic monopoles. In particular a detailed analysis is given of ${\cal N}=2$ SQCD with gauge group SU(3) deformed by a small adjoint chiral multiplet mass. Tuning the bare quark masses (which we take to be large) to a common value $m$, we consider a particular vacuum of this theory in which an SU(2) subgroup of the gauge group remains unbroken. We consider $5 \ge N_f \ge 4$ flavors so that the SU(2) sub-sector remains non asymptotically free: the vortices carrying nona…
We develop an operator formalism for investigating the properties of nonabelian cosmic strings (and vortices) in quantum field theory. Operators are constructed that introduce classical string sources and that create dynamical string loops. The operator construction in lattice gauge theory is explicitly described, and correlation functions are computed in the strong--coupling and weak--coupling limits. These correlation functions are used to study the long--range interactions of nonabelian strings, taking account of charge--screening effects due to virtual particles. Among the phenomena invest…
Nonabelian magnetic monopoles of Goddard-Nuyts-Olive-Weinberg type have recently been shown to appear as the dominant infrared degrees of freedom in a class of softly broken ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories in which the gauge group $G$ is broken to various nonabelian subgroups $H $ by an adjoint Higgs VEV. When the low-energy gauge group $H$ is further broken completely by e.g. squark VEVs, the monopoles representing $π_2(G/H)$ are confined by the nonabelian vortices arising from the breaking of $H$, discussed recently (hep-th/0307278). By considering the system with $G=SU(N+1)$, $ H…
We continue the work hep-th/0411075 considering here the case of degenerate masses. A nonabelian vortex arises in r-vacua upon the breaking by a superpotential for the adjoint field. We find the BPS tension in the strong coupling regime computing the dual-quark condensate. Then we find that it is equal to a simple quantity in the chiral ring of the theory and so we conjecture the validity of our result out of the strong coupling regime. Our result gives an interesting hint about the duality r <--> N_f-r, seeing it as the exchange first <--> second sheet of N=1 Riemann surface.
Remarkable simplification arises from considering vortex equations in the large winding limit. This was recently used in [1] to display all sorts of vortex zeromodes, the orientational, translational, fermionic as well as semi-local, and to relate them to the apparently distinct phenomena of the Nielsen-Olesen-Ambjorn magnetic instabilities. Here we extend these analyses to more general types of BPS nonAbelian vortices, taking as a prototype a system with gauged U(1) x SU(N) x SU(N) symmetry where the VEV of charged scalar fields in the bifundamental representation breaks the symmetry to SU(N)…
We present new solutions of noncommutative gauge theories in which coincident unstable vortices expand into unstable circular shells. As the theories are noncommutative, the naive definition of the locations of the vortices and shells is gauge-dependent, and so we define and calculate the profiles of these solutions using the gauge-invariant noncommutative Wilson lines introduced by Gross and Nekrasov. We find that charge 2 vortex solutions are characterized by two positions and a single nonnegative real number, which we demonstrate is the radius of the shell. We find that the radius is identi…
In this article we review some of the recent advances regarding the charged vortex solutions in abelian and nonabelian gauge theories with Chern-Simons (CS) term in two space dimensions. Since these nontrivial results are essentially because of the CS term, hence, we first discuss in some detail the various properties of the CS term in two space dimensions. In particular, it is pointed out that this parity (P) and time reversal (T) violating but gauge invariant term when added to the Maxwell Lagrangian gives a massive gauge quanta and yet the theory is still gauge invariant. Further, the vacuu…
We study brane configurations corresponding to D-branes on complex three-dimensional orbifolds ${\bf C}^3/Γ$ with $Γ=Δ(3n^2)$ and $Δ(6n^2)$, nonabelian finite subgroups of SU(3). We first construct a brane configuration for ${\bf C}^3/{\bf Z}_n \times {\bf Z}_n$ by using D3-branes and a web of (p,q) 5-branes of type IIB string theory. Brane configurations for the nonabelian orbifolds are obtained by performing certain quotients on the configuration for ${\bf C}^3/{\bf Z}_n \times {\bf Z}_n$. Structure of the quiver diagrams of the groups $Δ(3n^2)$ and $Δ(6n^2)$ can be reproduced from the brane…
We discuss 3d brane webs and effective Chern-Simons levels for 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ gauge theories. We find that turning on real masses for chiral multiplets leads to various equivalent brane webs that are related by flipping positions of D5-branes. We interpret flips as $ST$-transformations for chiral multiplets. $ST$-transformations could turn abelian theories into dual theories with mixed Chern-Simons levels that are interpreted as quiver matrices $C_{ij}$ encoding DT-invariants. We notice that each brane web corresponds to a quiver matrix. $ST$-transformations of holomorphic blocks are discu…
We consider equivariant dimensional reduction of Yang-Mills theory on K"ahler manifolds of the form M times CP^1 times CP^1. This induces a rank two quiver gauge theory on M which can be formulated as a Yang-Mills theory of graded connections on M. The reduction of the Yang-Mills equations on M times CP^1 times CP^1 induces quiver gauge theory equations on M and quiver vortex equations in the BPS sector. When M is the noncommutative space R_theta^{2n} both BPS and non-BPS solutions are obtained, and interpreted as states of D-branes. Using the graded connection formalism, we assign D0-brane ch…
We study charge screening in a system of two dimensional nonabelian vortices, at finite temperature. Such vortices are generated after an \( SO(3) \) global symmetry group is spontaneously broken to a discrete subgroup \( \IQ_8 \), where the latter is isomorphic to the nonabelian group of quaternions. Poisson-Boltzmann like equations are derived for the various inter-vortex potentials, and the solutions to lowest order in a small fugacity expansion, are shown to behave much like those in abelian or Coulomb charge systems. The consequences for the phase structure of the system are discussed, wh…
Lattice studies indicate existence of magnetic strings in QCD vacuum. We argue that recently found nonabelian strings with rich worldsheet dynamics provide a proper pattern for the strings observed on the lattice. In particular, within this pattern we explain the localization of the monopole-antimonopole pairs on the magnetic string worldsheet and the negative contribution of the magnetic strings into the vacuum energy and gluon condensate. We suggest the D2 brane realization of the magnetic string which explains the temperature dependence of its tension.
A study is presented of classical field configurations describing nonabelian vortices in two spatial dimensions, when a global \( SO(3) \) symmetry is spontaneously broken to a discrete group \( \IK \) isomorphic to the group of integers mod 4. The vortices in this model are characterized by the nonabelian fundamental group \(π_1 (SO(3)/{\IK}) \), which is isomorphic to the group of quaternions. We present an ansatz describing isolated vortices and prove that it is stable to perturbations. Kinematic constraints are derived which imply that at a finite temperature, only two species of vortices …
We construct explicit BPS and non-BPS solutions of the Yang-Mills equations on noncommutative spaces R^{2n}_theta x G/H which are manifestly G-symmetric. Given a G-representation, by twisting with a particular bundle over G/H, we obtain a G-equivariant U(k) bundle with a G-equivariant connection over R^{2n}_theta x G/H. The U(k) Donaldson-Uhlenbeck-Yau equations on these spaces reduce to vortex-type equations in a particular quiver gauge theory on R^{2n}_theta. Seiberg-Witten monopole equations are particular examples. The noncommutative BPS configurations are formulated with partial isometrie…
We study the hemisphere partition function of a three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric $U(N)$ gauge theory with one adjoint and one fundamental hypermultiplet -- the ADHM quiver theory. In particular, we propose a distinguished set of UV boundary conditions which yield Verma modules of the quantised chiral rings of the Higgs and Coulomb branches. In line with a recent proposal by two of the authors in collaboration with M. Bullimore, we show explicitly that the hemisphere partition functions recover the characters of these modules in two limits, and realise blocks gluing exactly to t…
We study the moduli space volume of BPS vortices in quiver gauge theories on compact Riemann surfaces. The existence of BPS vortices imposes constraints on the quiver gauge theories. We show that the moduli space volume is given by a vev of a suitable cohomological operator (volume operator) in a supersymmetric quiver gauge theory, where BPS equations of the vortices are embedded. In the supersymmetric gauge theory, the moduli space volume is exactly evaluated as a contour integral by using the localization. Graph theory is useful to construct the supersymmetric quiver gauge theory and to deri…
A twisted quiver bundle is a set of holomorphic vector bundles over a complex manifold, labelled by the vertices of a quiver, linked by a set of morphisms twisted by a fixed collection of holomorphic vector bundles, labelled by the arrows. When the manifold is Kaelher, quiver bundles admit natural gauge-theoretic equations, which unify many known equations for bundles with extra structure. In this paper we prove a Hitchin--Kobayashi correspondence for twisted quiver bundles over a compact Kaehler manifold, relating the existence of solutions to the gauge equations to a stability criterion, and…
Deep insights into the possible infrared dynamics of strongly-coupled nonAbelian gauge theories such as QCD come from the analyses of ${\cal N}=1$ or ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories. Central in the whole discussion will be the topological soliton monopoles and vortices and their quantum dynamics. We review the arguments that nonAbelian monopoles, free from the classic "difficulties", can be defined semi-classically via the topology and stability connection to the better understood nonAbelian vortices. Recent results on $CP^{N-1}$ models on $2D$ worldsheet of finite width, establish …
There are three types of monopole in gauge theories with fundamental matter and N=2 supersymmetry broken by a superpotential. There are unconfined 0-monopoles and also 1 and 2-monopoles confined respectively by one or two vortices transforming under distinct components of the unbroken gauge group. If a Fayet-Iliopoulos term is added then there are only 2-monopoles. Monopoles transform in the bifundamental representation of two components of the unbroken gauge symmetry, and if two monopoles share a component they may form a boundstate. Selection rules for this process are found, for example vor…
We explore 1d vortex dynamics of 3d supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories, as inferred from factorization of exact partition functions. Under Seiberg-like dualities, the 3d partition function must remain invariant, yet it is not a priori clear what should happen to the vortex dynamics. We observe that the 1d quivers for the vortices remain the same, and the net effect of the 3d duality map manifests as 1d Wall-Crossing phenomenon; Although the vortex number can shift along such duality maps, the ranks of the 1d quiver theory are unaffected, leading to a notion of fundamental vortices as basic bui…
The Abelian and non-Abelian vortices on orbifolds are investigated based on the moduli matrix approach, which is a powerful method to deal with the BPS equation. The moduli space and the vortex collision are discussed through the moduli matrix as well as the regular space. It is also shown that a quiver structure is found in the Kahler quotient, and a half of ADHM is obtained for the vortex theory on the orbifolds as the case before orbifolding.
We investigate the classical moduli space of D-branes on a nonabelian Calabi-Yau threefold singularity and find that it admits topology-changing transitions. We construct a general formalism of worldvolume field theories in the language of quivers and give a procedure for computing the enlarged Kahler cone of the moduli space. The topology changing transitions achieved by varying the Fayet-Iliopoulos parameters correspond to changes of linearization of a geometric invariant theory quotient and can be studied by methods of algebraic geometry. Quite surprisingly, the structure of the enlarged Ka…
We consider vortex-type solutions in $d=5$ dimensions of the Einstein gravity coupled to a nonabelian SU(2) field posessing a nonzero electric part. After the dimensional reduction, this corresponds to a $d=4$ Einstein-Yang-Mills-Higgs-U(1)-dilaton model. A general axially symmetric ansatz is presented, and the properties of the spherically symmetric solutions are analysed.
We find the range of parameters for which the open string physics on probe Dq-branes in the near-horizon geometry of Dp-branes decouples from gravity, and is well-approximated by a (q+1)-dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills-Higgs theory on a rigid curved spacetime. We study the vacua of these theories, which include moduli spaces of instantons, monopoles, and vortices. This intricate structure is made possible through couplings to the background Ramond-Ramond flux. The probe brane theories we study provide holographic descriptions of defects in dual field theories.
A detailed analysis of Chern-Simons (CS) theories in which a compact abelian direct product gauge group U(1)^k is spontaneously broken down to a direct product H of (finite) cyclic groups is presented. The spectrum features global H charges, vortices carrying flux labeled by the elements of H and dyonic combinations. Due to the Aharonov-Bohm effect these particles exhibit toplogical interactions. The remnant of the U(1)^k CS term in the discrete H gauge theory describing the effective long distance physics of such a model is shown to be a 3-cocycle for H summarizing the nontrivial topological …
In three-dimensional gauge theories, monopole operators create and destroy vortices. We explore this idea in the context of 3d N=4 gauge theories in the presence of an Omega-background. In this case, monopole operators generate a non-commutative algebra that quantizes the Coulomb-branch chiral ring. The monopole operators act naturally on a Hilbert space, which is realized concretely as the equivariant cohomology of a moduli space of vortices. The action furnishes the space with the structure of a Verma module for the Coulomb-branch algebra. This leads to a new mathematical definition of the C…
Mirror symmetry is a type of infrared duality in 3D quantum field theory that relates the low-energy dynamics of two distinct ultraviolet descriptions. Though first discovered in the supersymmetric context, it has far-reaching implications for understanding nonperturbative physics in general 3D quantum field theories. We study mirror symmetry in 3D $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric field theories whose Higgs or Coulomb branches realize $D$- and $E$-type Kleinian singularities in the $ADE$ classification, generalizing previous work on the $A$-type case. Such theories include the $SU(2)$ gauge theo…
In these lecture notes, we present a self-contained discussion of planar gauge theories broken down to some finite residual gauge group H via the Higgs mechanism. The main focus is on the discrete H gauge theory describing the long distance physics of such a model. The spectrum features global H charges, magnetic vortices and dyonic combinations. Due to the Aharonov-Bohm effect, these particles exhibit topological interactions. Among other things, we review the Hopf algebra related to this discrete H gauge theory, which provides an unified description of the spin, braid and fusion properties o…
We provide evidence for conjectural dualities between nonrelativistic Chern-Simons-matter theories and theories of (fractional, nonAbelian) quantum Hall fluids in $2+1$ dimensions. At low temperatures, the dynamics of nonrelativistic Chern-Simons-matter theories can be described in terms of a nonrelativistic quantum mechanics of vortices. At critical coupling, this may be solved by geometric quantisation of the vortex moduli space. Using localisation techniques, we compute the Euler characteristic $χ(\mathcal{L}^λ)$ of an arbitrary power $λ$ of a quantum line bundle $\mathcal{L}$ on the moduli…
We extend equivariant dimensional reduction techniques to the case of quantum spaces which are the product of a Kaehler manifold M with the quantum two-sphere. We work out the reduction of bundles which are equivariant under the natural action of the quantum group SU_q(2), and also of invariant gauge connections on these bundles. The reduction of Yang-Mills gauge theory on the product space leads to a q-deformation of the usual quiver gauge theories on M. We formulate generalized instanton equations on the quantum space and show that they correspond to q-deformations of the usual holomorphic q…
We consider the exotic vortex equations on compact Riemann surfaces. These generalise the well-known Jackiw-Pi and Ambjørn-Olesen vortex equations and arise as equations for Bogomolny-Prasad-Sommerfield-like configurations in nonrelativistic Chern-Simons-matter theories. We show that (exotic) vortex solutions in $U(N)$ gauge theories with a single fundamental flavour on compact Riemann surfaces can be constructed from gauged holomorphic maps into complex space forms of dimension $N$. We conjecture, with some evidence, that all such solutions arise this way. This leads us to insights regarding …
We successfully exhaust the complete set of exact solutions of non-Abelian vortices in a quiver gauge theory, that is, the S[U(N) x U(N)] gauge theory with a bi-fudamental scalar field on a hyperbolic plane with a certain curvature, from SO(3)-invariant SU(2N) Yang-Mills instanton solutions. This work provides, for the first time, exact non-Abelian vortex solutions. We establish the ADHM construction for non-Abelian vortices and identify all the moduli parameters and the complete moduli space.
Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院理论物理研究所）；School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学物理科学学院）
The so-called Hitchin-Kobayashi correspondence, proved by Donaldson, Uhlenbeck and Yau, establishes that an indecomposable holomorphic vector bundle over a compact Kahler manifold admits a Hermitian-Einstein metric if and only if the bundle satisfies the Mumford-Takemoto stability condition. In this paper we consider a variant of this correspondence for G-equivariant vector bundles on the product of a compact Kahler manifold X by a flag manifold G/P, where G is a complex semisimple Lie group and P is a parabolic subgroup. The modification that we consider is determined by a filtration of the v…
We study elliptic vortices on $\mathbb{C}\times T^2$ by considering the 2d quiver gauge theory describing their moduli spaces. The elliptic genus of these moduli spaces is the elliptic version of vortex partition function of the 4d theory. We focus on two examples: the first is a $\mathcal{N}=1$, $\mathrm{U}(N)$ gauge theory with fundamental and anti-fundamental matter; the second is a $\mathcal{N}=2$, $\mathrm{U}(N)$ gauge theory with matter in the fundamental representation. The results are instances of 4d "holomorphic blocks" into which partition functions on more complicated surfaces facto…
We study pure Yang--Mills theory on $Σ\times S^2$, where $Σ$ is a compact Riemann surface, and invariance is assumed under rotations of $S^2$. It is well known that the self-duality equations in this set-up reduce to vortex equations on $Σ$. If the Yang--Mills gauge group is $\SU{2}$, the Bogomolny vortex equations of the abelian Higgs model are obtained. For larger gauge groups one generally finds vortex equations involving several matrix-valued Higgs fields. Here we focus on Yang--Mills theory with gauge group $\SU{N}/\ZZ_N$ and a special reduction which yields only one non-abelian Higgs fie…
This thesis deals with planar gauge theories in which some gauge group G is spontaneously broken to a finite subgroup H. The spectrum consists of magnetic vortices, global H charges and dyonic combinations exhibiting topological Aharonov-Bohm interactions. Among other things, we review the Hopf algebra D(H) related to this residual discrete H gauge theory, which provides an unified description of the spin, braid and fusion properties of the aforementioned particles. The implications of adding a Chern-Simons (CS) term to these models are also addressed. We recall that the CS actions for a compa…
