We investigate BPS solutions in ABJM theory on RxS^2. We find new BPS solutions, which have nonzero angular momentum as well as nontrivial configurations of fluxes. Applying the "Higgsing procedure" of arxiv:0803.3218 around a 1/2-BPS solution of ABJM theory, one obtains N=8 super Yang-Mills (SYM) on RxS^2. We also show that other BPS solutions of the SYM can be obtained from BPS solutions of ABJM theory by this higgsing procedure.
We discuss topologically stable solitons in two-dimensional theories with the extended supersymmetry assuming that the spatial coordinate is compact. This problem arises in the consideration of the domain walls in the popular theories with compactified extra dimensions. Contrary to naive expectations, it is shown that the solitons on the cylinder can be BPS saturated. In the case of one chiral superfield, a complete theory of the BPS saturated solitons is worked out. We describe the classical solutions of the BPS equations. Depending on the choice of the Kahler metric, the number of such solut…
We compute the expectation value of the 1/2 BPS circular Wilson loop in ABJM theory at two loops in perturbation theory. The result shows perfect agreement with the prediction from localization and the proposed framing factor.
We study Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena (ABJM) theory without and with mass deformation. It is shown that maximally supersymmetry preserving, D-term, and F-term mass deformations of single mass parameter are equivalent. We obtain vortex-type half-BPS equations and the corresponding energy bound. For the undeformed ABJM theory, the resulting half-BPS equation is the same as that in supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory and no finite energy regular BPS solution is found. For the mass-deformed ABJM theory, the half-BPS equations for U(2)xU(2) case reduce to the vortex equation in Maxwell-Higgs the…
We consider BPS Wilson loops in planar ABJM theory, wound multiple times around the great circle. We compute the expectation value of the 1/6-BPS and 1/2-BPS Wilson loops to three- and two-loop order in perturbation theory, respectively, dealing with the combinatorics of multiple winding via recursive relations. For the 1/6-BPS Wilson loop we perform the computation at generic framing and at framing 1 we find agreement with the localization result. For the 1/2-BPS Wilson loop we compute the expectation value at trivial framing and by comparison with the matrix model expression we extract the f…
As holographic description of BPS Wilson loops in ${\cal N}=3$ flavored ABJM theory with $N_f=k=1$, BPS M2-branes in $AdS_4\times N(1, 1)$ are studied in details. Two $1/3$-BPS membrane configurations are found. One of them is dual to the $1/3$-BPS Wilson loop of Gaiotto-Yin type. The regulated membrane action captures precisely the leading exponential behavior of the vacuum expectation values of $1/3$-BPS Wilson loops in the strong coupling limit, which was computed before using supersymmetric localization technique. Moreover, there is no BPS membrane with more supersymmetries in the backgrou…
We study the BPS spectrum of monopole operators in ABJM theory. First we work out the complete spectrum of the chiral ring by using a semiclassical analysis of the field theory compactified on a two sphere. By properly taking into account the full quantization condition of monopole charges, we show that the moduli space of ABJM theory with Chern-Simons level k, -k is a particular Z_k cover of the symmetric product of C^4/Z_k. We also work out in detail the spectrum of fluctuations around half-BPS monopole configurations and we find candidate states for a dual BPS configuration to the giant tor…
We study instanton corrections to the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of 1/6 BPS Wilson loops in ABJM theory from the Fermi gas approach. We mainly consider Wilson loops in the fundamental representation and winding Wilson loops, but we also initiate the study of Wilson loops with two boundaries. We find that the membrane instanton corrections to the Wilson loop VEV are determined by the refined topological string in the Nekrasov-Shatashvili limit, and the pole cancellation mechanism between membrane instantons and worldsheet instantons works also in the Wilson loop VEVs as in the case of the p…
We explore the low-energy dynamics of 1/2-BPS heavy particles coupled to the ABJM model via the Higgsing of M2-branes, with focus on physical understanding of the recently discovered 1/2-BPS Wilson loop operators. The low-energy theory of 1/2-BPS heavy particles turns out to have the U(N|N) supergauge symmetry, which explains the novel structure of the 1/2-BPS Wilson loop operator as a holonomy of a U(N|N) superconnection. We show that the supersymmetric transformation of the Wilson loop operator can be identified as a fermionic supergauge transformation, which leads to their invariance under …
We introduce a new purely bosonic, $\frac{1}{6}$ BPS Wilson loop for ABJM theory on $S^3$ that couples scalar fields to a latitude at an angle $θ$ on $S^2\in\mathbb{C}P^3$. Through localization of this operator, we relate the expansion of the cusp anomalous dimension at small cusp angles to the logarithmic derivative of the ABJM Wilson loop. This defines, non-perturbatively in the 't Hooft coupling, the bremsstrahlung function $B(λ)$ describing in three dimensions the soft radiation of a $W$-boson undergoing a sudden change in trajectory. We compare our results for $B(λ)$ to the known weak/str…
We analyze SU(2) invariant half-BPS states of the 3d \cN=8 or \cN=6 SCFT within the radial quantization of the ABJM theory, the theory proposed to describe N M2-branes in the R^3x C^4/Z_k background. After studying the classical moduli space of these configurations, we explicitly construct a set of gauge invariant operators involving 't Hooft monopole operators corresponding to these states. We show there is a one--to--one correspondence between the two sets carrying R-charge J and that they are labeled by Young tableaux of J boxes with a maximum of N rows. Restricting the full path integral t…
We present the three-loop calculation of the Bremsstrahlung function associated to the 1/2-BPS cusp in ABJM theory, including color subleading corrections. Using the BPS condition we reduce the computation to that of a cusp with vanishing angle. We work within the framework of heavy quark effective theory (HQET) that further simplifies the analytic evaluation of the relevant cusp anomalous dimension in the near-BPS limit. The result passes nontrivial tests, such as exponentiation, and is in agreement with the conjecture made in [1] for the exact expression of the Bremsstrahlung function, based…
We investigate BPS conditions preserving n/12 (n = 1,...,6) supersymmetries in the Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena (ABJM) model. The BPS equations are classified in terms of the number of preserved supercharges and remaining subgroups of the SU(4)_R symmetry. We study structures of a map between projection conditions for the supercharges in eleven dimensions and those in the ABJM model. The BPS configurations in the ABJM model can be interpreted as known BPS objects in eleven-dimensional Mtheory,such as intersecting M2, M5-branes, M-waves, KK-monopoles and M9-branes. We also show that these…
We construct BPS solutions representing M2-M5 bound state in the ABJM action explicitly. They include the funnel type solutions and 't Hooft Polyakov monopole solutions. Furthermore, we give a one to one correspondence between the solutions of the BPS equation and the ones of an extended Nahm equation which includes the Nahm equation. This enables us to construct infinitely many conserved quantities from the Lax form of the Nahm equation.
In this paper we construct and classify novel Drukker-Trancanelli (DT) type BPS Wilson loops along infinite straight lines and circles in $\mathcal N=2,3$ quiver superconformal Chern-Simons-matter theories, Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena (ABJM) theory, and $\mathcal N=4$ orbifold ABJM theory. Generally we have four classes of Wilson loops, and all of them preserve the same supersymmetries as the BPS Gaiotto-Yin (GY) type Wilson loops. There are several free complex parameters in the DT type BPS Wilson loops, and for two classes of Wilson loops in ABJM theory and $\mathcal N=4$ orbifold ABJ…
It is well-known that a supermembrane in the light-cone gauge has a continuous spectrum and is unstable. Physical interpretation of this instability is that a supermembrane can have a long thin tube without cost of energy and consequently it becomes a spiky configuration in which multiple membranes are connected by thin tubes. On the other hand, the ABJM model was proposed as a low-energy description of multiple M2-branes in the static gauge. It is natural that an M2-brane is also unstable in this gauge if we believe the physical picture in the light-cone gauge. In order to examine this, we co…
We study the BPS equations in ABJM theory furthermore. Besides the known funnel solutions which are proposed to describe M2-M5 systems we find a new kind solution. We analyze the properties therein and see that it can describe M2-KK6 (2D membranes with 6D Kaluza-Klein monopole) systems. Our solutions also reveal new vacua in the mass deformed ABJM theory. Contrast to the previous investigation in which the vacua are reducible, ours may be irreducible. We also discuss a possible interpretation of the new BPS solutions as a M2-2M5 system.
In this paper we study the Bremsstrahlung functions for the 1/6 BPS and the 1/2 BPS Wilson lines in ABJM theory. First we use a superconformal defect approach to prove a conjectured relation between the Bremsstrahlung functions associated to the geometric ($B^φ_{1/6}$) and R-symmetry ($B^θ_{1/6}$) deformations of the 1/6 BPS Wilson line. This result, non-trivially following from a defect supersymmetric Ward identity, provides an exact expression for $B^θ_{1/6}$ based on a known result for $B^φ_{1/6}$. Subsequently, we explore the consequences of this relation for the 1/2 BPS Wilson line and, u…
We investigate BPS equations which determine the configuration of an M2-M5 bound state preserving half of the supersymmetries in the ABJM theory. We argue that the BPS equations are classically integrable, showing that they admit a Lax representation. The integrable structure of the BPS equations is closely related to that of the Nahm equations. Using this relation we formulate an efficient way of constructing solutions of the BPS equations from those of the Nahm equations. As an illustration of our method, we construct explicitly the most general solutions describing two M2-branes suspended b…
We investigate several aspects of BPS latitude Wilson loops in gauge theories in three dimensions with $\mathcal{N}\ge 4$ supersymmetry. We derive a matrix model for the bosonic latitude Wilson loop in ABJM using supersymmetric localization, and show how to extend the computation to more general Chern-Simons-matter theories. We then define latitude type Wilson and vortex loop operators in theories without Chern-Simons terms, and explore a connection to the recently derived superalgebra defining local Higgs and Coulomb branch operators in these theories. Finally, we identify a BPS loop operator…
We compute the 1-loop partition function for strings in $AdS_4\times\mathbb{CP}^3$, whose worldsheets end along a line with small cusp angles in the boundary of AdS. We obtain these 1-loop results in terms of the vacuum energy for on-shell modes. Our results verify the proposal by Lewkowycz and Maldacena in arXiv:1312.5682 for the exact Bremsstrahlung function up to the next to leading order in the strong coupling expansion. The agreement is observed for cusps distorting either the 1/2 BPS or the 1/6 BPS Wilson line.
We study the thermodynamics of U(N) N=4 Super Yang-Mills (SYM) on RxS^3 with non-zero chemical potentials for the SU(4) R-symmetry. We find that when we are near a point with zero temperature and critical chemical potential, N=4 SYM on RxS^3 reduces to a quantum mechanical theory. We identify three such critical regions giving rise to three different quantum mechanical theories. Two of them have a Hilbert space given by the SU(2) and SU(2|3) sectors of N=4 SYM of recent interest in the study of integrability, while the third one is the half-BPS sector dual to bubbling AdS geometries. In the pl…
In $\mathcal N \geq 2$ superconformal Chern-Simons-matter theories we construct the infinite family of Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield (BPS) Wilson loops featured by constant parametric couplings to scalar and fermion matter, including both line Wilson loops in Minkowski spacetime and circle Wilson loops in Euclidean space. We find that the connection of the most general BPS Wilson loop cannot be decomposed in terms of double-node connections. Moreover, if the quiver contains triangles, it cannot be interpreted as a supermatrix inside a superalgebra. However, for particular choices of the param…
We investigate the exact results for circular 1/4 and 1/2 BPS Wilson loops in the $d=3$ ${\mathcal N}=4$ super Chern-Simons-matter theory that could be obtained by orbifolding Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena (ABJM) theory. The partition function of the ${\mathcal N}=4$ orbifold ABJM theory has been computed previously in the literature. In this paper, we re-derive it using a slightly different method. We calculate the vacuum expectation values of the circular 1/4 BPS Wilson loops in fundamental representation and of circular 1/2 BPS Wilson loops in arbitrary representations. We use both the…
We introduce non-trivial two-point functions of the super Schur polynomials in the ABJM matrix model and study their exact values with the Fermi gas formalism. We find that, although defined non-trivially, these two-point functions enjoy two simple relations with the one-point functions. One of them is associated with the Littlewood-Richardson rule, while the other is more novel. With plenty of data, we also revisit the one-point functions and study how the diagonal BPS indices are split asymmetrically by the degree difference.
Strong coupling dynamics of defect RG flows in ABJM
Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad San Sebastián（圣塞巴斯蒂安大学工程学院）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano–Bicocca and INFN, Sezione di Milano–Bicocca（米兰比可卡大学物理系及意大利国家核物理研究所米兰比可卡分部）；International Institute of Physics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte（北里奥格兰德联邦大学国际物理研究所）
We investigate the vortex-type BPS equations in the ABJM theory without and with mass-deformation. We systematically classify the BPS equations in terms of the number of supersymmetry and the R-symmetries of the undeformed and mass-deformed ABJM theories. For the undeformed case, we analyze the ${\cal N}=2$ BPS equations for U(2)$\times$U(2) gauge symmetry and obtain a coupled differential equation which can be reduced to either Liouville- or Sinh-Gordon-type vortex equations according to the choice of scalar functions. For the mass-deformed case with U($N$)$\times$U($N$) gauge symmetry, we ob…
We investigate the large N limit of the expectation value W(λ) of a BPS Wilson loop in ABJM theory, using an integral expression of the partition function obtained recently by Kapustin et.al. Certain saddle-point equations provide the correct perturbative expansion of W(λ). The large λbehavior of W(λ) is also obtained from the saddle-point equations. The result is compatible with AdS/CFT correspondence.
We study operator insertions into 1/2 BPS Wilson loops in N = 6 ABJM theory and investigate their two-point correlators. In this framework, the energy emitted by a heavy moving probe can be exactly obtained from some two-point coefficients of bosonic and fermionic insertions. This allows us to confirm an early proposal for computing the Bremsstrahlung function in terms of certain supersymmetric circular Wilson loops, whose value might be accessible to localization techniques. In the derivation of this result we also elucidate the structure of protected multiplets in the relevant superconformal…
We study local operator insertions on 1/2-BPS line defects in ABJM theory. Specifically, we consider a class of four-point correlators in the CFT$_1$ with SU$(1, 1|3)$ superconformal symmetry defined on the 1/2-BPS Wilson line. The relevant insertions belong to the short supermultiplet containing the displacement operator and correspond to fluctuations of the dual fundamental string in AdS$_4 \times \mathbb{C}\textrm{P}^3$ ending on the line at the boundary. We use superspace techniques to represent the displacement supermultiplet and we show that superconformal symmetry determines the four-po…
M2 brane in AdS$_4\times S^7/\mathbb Z_k$: 2-loop correction to $\frac{1}{2}$-BPS Wilson loop vs localization in ABJM theory
Università del Salento（萨伦托大学）；INFN - sezione di Lecce（意大利国家核物理研究所莱切分部）；Abdus Salam Centre for Theoretical Physics, Imperial College London（伦敦帝国理工学院阿卜杜斯·萨拉姆理论物理中心）；ITMP of MSU（莫斯科国立大学理论与数学物理研究所）；Lebedev Inst.（列别捷夫研究所）
We study the BPS counting functions (free energies) of the M-string configurations. We consider separated M5-branes along with M2-branes stretched between them, with M5-branes acting as domain walls interpolating different configurations of M2-branes. We find recursive structure in the free energies of these configurations. The M-string degrees of freedom on the domain walls are interpreted in terms of a pair of interacting supersymmetric WZW models. We also compute the elliptic genus of the M-string in a toy model of the ABJM theory and compare it with the M-theory computation.
We find a closed formula for the overlap of Bethe eigenstates of an alternating $SU(4)$ spin chain, describing the scalar sector of ABJM theory, and matrix product states of any bond dimension representing 1/2 BPS co-dimension one domain walls in the field theory. One point functions of the defect CFTs involved, being directly expressible in terms of these overlaps, are hence completely determined.
We discuss non-perturbative effects in the ABJM model due to monopole instantons. We begin by constructing the instanton solutions in the $U(2)\times U(2)$ model, explicitly, and computing the Euclidean action. The Wick-rotated Lagrangian is complex and its BPS monopole instantons are found to be a delicate version of the usual 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole solutions. They are generically 1/3 BPS but become 1/2 BPS at special locus in the moduli space of two M2-branes, yet each instanton carries eight fermionic zero modes, regardless of the vacuum choice. The low energy effective action induced b…
This review covers a number of applications of conformal field theory methods for perturbative calculations in N=4 Super Yang-Mills and ABJM theory. After motivating the role of superconformal symmetry for elementary particle physics research, we review some basic facts about conformal symmetry and conformal transformations of fields in a pedagogical manner. The implications for perturbative quantum field theory calculations are discussed in terms of Ward identities. Recent developments and relations between amplitudes, correlators and Wilson loops are reviewed for N=4 Super Yang-Mills as well…
We calculate the non-abelian R-charges of BPS monopole operators in three-dimensional gauge theories with N=3 supersymmetry. This class of models includes ABJM theory, the proposed gauge theory dual of M-theory on AdS_4 x S^7/Z_k, as a special case. In the UV limit of the N=3 theories the Yang-Mills coupling becomes weak and the monopole operators are described by classical backgrounds. This allows us to find their SU(2)_R charges in a one-loop computation which by virtue of the non-renormalization of non-abelian R-charges yields the exact result for any value of the coupling. The spectrum of …
We consider the holographic anyons in the ABJM theory from three different aspects of AdS/CFT correspondence. First, we identify the holographic anyons by using the field equations of supergravity, including the Chern-Simons terms of the probe branes. We find that the composite of Dp-branes wrapped over CP3 with the worldvolume magnetic fields can be the anyons. Next, we discuss the possible candidates of the dual anyonic operators on the CFT side, and find the agreement of their anyonic phases with the supergravity analysis. Finally, we try to construct the brane profile for the holographic a…
We present ansätze that reduce the mass-deformed ABJM model to gauged Abelian scalar theories, using the fuzzy sphere matrices $G^α$. One such reduction gives a Toda system, for which we find a new type of nonabelian vortex. Another gives the standard Abelian-Higgs model, thereby allowing us to embed all the usual (multi-)vortex solutions of the latter into the ABJM model. By turning off the mass deformation at the level of the reduced model, we can also continuously deform to the massive $ϕ^4$ theory in the massless ABJM case. In this way we can embed the Landau-Ginzburg model into the AdS/CF…
We study supersymmetric Wilson loops in $d=3$, $\mathcal{N}=3$ harmonic superspace, leading to a construction of a supersymmetrized generalization of the $\frac{1}{3}$-BPS Wilson loop for $\mathcal{N}=3$ gauge theories. This also includes a generalization of the $\frac{1}{6}$-BPS loop for ABJM theory. We perform a 'one-loop' computation of the vacuum expectation value of this operator directly in superspace and compare with the known $\mathcal{N}=2$ localization results at large $N$. This comparison also lets us identify certain fermionic contributions that do not receive any subleading correc…
We study the BPS spectrum and vacuum moduli spaces in dimensional reductions of Chern-Simons-matter theories with N>=2 supersymmetry to zero dimensions. Our main example is a matrix model version of the ABJM theory which we relate explicitly to certain reduced 3-algebra models. We find the explicit maps from Chern-Simons quiver matrix models to dual IKKT matrix models. We address the problem of topologically twisting the ABJM matrix model, and along the way construct a new twist of the IKKT model. We construct a cohomological matrix model whose partition function localizes onto a moduli space …
For three-dimensional ABJ(M) theories and $\mathcal N=4$ Chern-Simons-matter quiver theories, we construct two sets of 1/2 BPS Wilson loop operators by applying the Higgsing procedure along independent directions of the moduli space, and choosing different massive modes. For theories whose dual M-theory description is known, we also determine the corresponding spectrum of 1/2 BPS M2-brane solutions. We identify the supercharges in M-theory and field theory, as well as the supercharges preserved by M2-/anti-M2-branes and 1/2 BPS Wilson loops. In particular, in $\mathcal N=4$ orbifold ABJM theor…
We study the system of M2-branes suspended between parallel M5-branes using ABJM model with a natural half-BPS boundary condition. For small separation between M5-branes, the worldvolume theory is shown to reduce to a 2D N=(4,4) super Yang-Mills theory with some similarity to q-deformed Yang-Mills theory. The gauge coupling is related to the position of the branes in an interesting manner. The theory is considerably different from the 2D theory proposed for multiple "M-strings". We make a detailed comparison of elliptic genus of the two descriptions and find only a partial agreement.
We investigate the supersymmetric Wilson loops in $d=3$ $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Chern-Simons-matter theory obtained from non-chiral orbifold of ABJM theory. We work in both Minkowski spacetime and Euclidean space, and we construct 1/4 and 1/2 BPS Wilson loops. We also provide a complete proof that the difference between 1/4 and 1/2 Wilson loops is $Q$-exact with $Q$ being some supercharge that is preserved by both the 1/4 and 1/2 Wilson loops. This plays an important role in applying the localization techniques to compute the vacuum expectation values of Wilson loops. We also study the M-theory …
