We present the gravity dual to a class of three-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories on a biaxially squashed three-sphere, with a non-trivial background gauge field. This is described by a 1/2 BPS Euclidean solution of four-dimensional N=2 gauged supergravity, consisting of a Taub-NUT-AdS metric with a non-trivial instanton for the graviphoton field. The holographic free energy of this solution agrees precisely with the large N limit of the free energy obtained from the localized partition function of a class of Chern-Simons quiver gauge theories. We also discuss a different supersymmetric solution, whose boundary is a biaxially squashed Lens space S^3/Z_2 with a topologically non-trivial background gauge field. This metric is of Eguchi-Hanson-AdS type, although it is not Einstein, and has a single unit of gauge field flux through the S^2 cycle.
We study exact solutions of three-dimensional gravity with a cosmological constant and a gravitational Chern-Simons term: the theory known as topologically massive gravity. After reviewing the algebraic classification, we show that if a solution has curvature of algebraic type D, then it is biaxially squashed AdS_3. Applying the classification, we provide a comprehensive review of the literature, showing that most known solutions are locally equivalent to biaxially squashed AdS_3 or to AdS pp-waves.
We construct supersymmetric theories on the SU(3)xU(1) symmetric squashed five-sphere with 2, 4, 6, and 12 supercharges. We first determine the Killing equation by dimensional reduction from 6d, and use Noether procedure to construct actions. The supersymmetric Yang-Mills action is straightforwardly obtained from the supersymmetric Chern-Simons action by using a supersymmetry preserving constant vector multiplet.
Localization of supersymmetric $\mathcal{N}=2$ Chern-Simons-Matter theory on a squashed $S^3$ with $SU(2)\times U(1)$ isometry has been studied by different groups of authors. In this paper, we localize the theory on a squashed $S^3$ with $SU(2)\times U(1)$ isometry and a class of complex background. We see that certain kinds of shifts of the background gauge fields are crucial in obtaining nontrivial results, and the previously found results on this manifold can be incorporated in our results as special limits.
We define a squashed four-sphere by a dimensional reduction of a twisted S^4 x S^1, and construct explicitly a supersymmetric Yang-Mills action on it. The action includes a non-trivial dilaton factor and a theta term with a non-constant theta. The partition function of this theory is calculated using the localization technique. The resulting partition function can be written in the form consistent with the AGT relation due to the non-constant theta term. The parameter b which characterizes the partition function in this form is not restricted to be real for the squashed four-sphere.
We present the gravity dual of large N supersymmetric gauge theories on a squashed five-sphere. The one-parameter family of solutions is constructed in Euclidean Romans F(4) gauged supergravity in six dimensions, and uplifts to massive type IIA supergravity. By renormalizing the theory with appropriate counterterms we evaluate the renormalized on-shell action for the solutions. We also evaluate the large N limit of the gauge theory partition function, and find precise agreement.
We show that a given conformal boundary can have a rich and intricate space of supersymmetric supergravity solutions filling it, focusing on the case where this conformal boundary is a biaxially squashed Lens space. Generically we find that the biaxially squashed Lens space S^3/Z_p admits Taub-NUT-AdS fillings, with topology R^4/Z_p, as well as smooth Taub-Bolt-AdS fillings with non-trivial topology. We show that the Taub-NUT-AdS solutions always lift to solutions of M-theory, and correspondingly that the gravitational free energy then agrees with the large N limit of the dual field theory fre…
We investigate a squashing deformation of 3d N=2 supersymmetric theories on three-sphere, which have four supercharges. The deformation preserves SU(2)_L x U(1)_r isometry and all four supersymmetries. We compute the partition function and find non-trivial dependence on the squashing parameter. We also consider the large N limit of a certain class of quiver gauge theories which have free energy of order N^{3/2}, and show that the free energy on the squashed sphere differs from that on round sphere by a certain factor depending only on the squashing parameter.
We compute the partition function of $\mathcal N=2$ supersymmetric mixed dimensional QED on a squashed hemisphere using localization. Mixed dimensional QED is an abelian gauge theory coupled to charged matter fields at the boundary. The partition function is a function of the complex gauge coupling $τ$, the choice of R-symmetry and the squashing deformation. The superconformal R-symmetry is determined using the 3-dimensional F-maximization. The free energy as a function of squashing deformation allows computing correlation functions that contain the insertion of the energy-momentum tensor. We …
We present a new one-parameter family of supersymmetric solutions deforming AdS_5. This is constructed as an asymptotically locally anti de Sitter (AlAdS) solution of five-dimensional minimal gauged supergravity, with topology R x R^4 and a non-trivial graviphoton field, and can be uplifted to ten or eleven dimensional supergravities. An analytic continuation of this solution yields the gravity dual to a class of four-dimensional N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories on a curved manifold with topology S^1 x S^3, comprising an SU(2) x U(1)-symmetric squashed three-sphere, with a non-trivial backgro…
We present the gravity dual to a class of three-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories on a U(1) x U(1)-invariant squashed three-sphere, with a non-trivial background gauge field. This is described by a supersymmetric solution of four-dimensional N=2 gauged supergravity with a non-trivial instanton for the graviphoton field. The particular gauge theory in turn determines the lift to a solution of eleven-dimensional supergravity. We compute the partition function for a class of Chern-Simons quiver gauge theories on both sides of the duality, in the large N limit, finding precise agreemen…
We study Euclidean 3D N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories on squashed three-spheres preserving isometries SU(2) x U(1) or U(1) x U(1). We show that, when a suitable background U(1) gauge field is turned on, these squashed spheres support charged Killing spinors and therefore N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories. We present the Lagrangian and supersymmetry rules for general gauge theories. The partition functions are computed using localization principle, and are expressed as integrals over Coulomb branch. For the squashed sphere with U(1) x U(1) isometry, its measure and integrand are identified wi…
We construct the gravity duals of large N supersymmetric gauge theories defined on squashed five-spheres with SU(3) x U(1) symmetry. These five-sphere backgrounds are continuously connected to the round sphere, and we find a one-parameter family of 3/4 BPS deformations and a two-parameter family of (generically) 1/4 BPS deformations. The gravity duals are constructed in Euclidean Romans F(4) gauged supergravity in six dimensions, and uplift to massive type IIA supergravity. We holographically renormalize the Romans theory, and use our general result to compute the renormalized on-shell actions…
We study $N=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories on a large family of squashed 4-spheres preserving $SU(2)\times U(1)\subset SO(4)$ isometry and determine the conditions under which this background is supersymmetric. We then compute the partition function of the theories by using localization technique. The results indicate that for $N=2$ SUSY, including both vector-multiplets and hypermultiplets, the partition function is independent of the arbitrary squashing functions as well as of the other supergravity background fields.
We studied the supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric perturbations to cascading gauge theory. In particular we use KT background and the back reaction of the generic linearized perturbation make the dilaton to run and the $T^{(1,1)}$ gets squashed which in turn make the supersymmetry to be broken. But if we make a special linearized perturbation in such way that the $T^{(1,1)}$ is not squashed then the corresponding perturbation preserve supersymmetry.
We provide a consistent N=4 Kaluza-Klein truncation of type IIB supergravity on general 5-dimensional squashed Sasaki-Einstein manifolds. Our reduction ansatz keeps all and only the supergravity modes dual to the universal gauge sector of the associated conformal theories, via the gauge/gravity correspondence. The reduced 5-dimensional model displays remarkable features: it includes both zero-modes as well as massive iterations of the Kaluza-Klein operators on the internal manifold; it contains tensor fields dual to vectors charged under a non-abelian gauge group; it has a scalar potential wit…
We show that there are two supersymmetric completions of the three-dimensional Chern-Simons theory of level k with gauge group U(N)xU(N) coupled to four sets of massless scalars and spinors in the bi-fundamental representation, if we require Sp(2) global symmetry with the matter fields in the fundamental representation of SU(4). One is the N=6 superconformal theory recently studied in arXiv:0806.1218 [hep-th] and another is a new theory with N=1 superconformal symmetry. We conjecture that the N=1 theory is dual to M theory on AdS_4 x Squashed S^7/Z_k.
We present a new family of asymptotically locally AdS$_5$ squashed supersymmetric black hole solutions of Fayet-Iliopoulos gauged ${\cal N}=2$, $D=5$ supergravity with two vector multiplets that have a natural uplift to type IIB supergravity. Our new family of black holes is characterized by three parameters, of which two control the horizon geometry while the latter regulates the squashing at the boundary. We evaluate the main physical properties of the family of solutions using holographic renormalization and find that the entropy is independent on the squashing and it is reproduced by using…
We consider mass-deformed theories with ${\cal N}\geq2$ supersymmetry on round and squashed three-spheres. By embedding the supersymmetric backgrounds in extended supergravity we show that at special values of mass deformations the supersymmetry is enhanced on the squashed spheres. When the $3d$ partition function can be obtained by a limit of a $4d$ index we also show that for these special mass deformations only the states annihilated by extra supercharges contribute to the index. By using an equivalence between partition functions on squashed spheres and ellipsoids, we explain the recently …
We consider giant gravitons in the maximally supersymmetric type IIB plane-wave, in the presence of a constant NSNS B-field background. We show that in response to the background B-field the giant graviton would take the shape of a deformed three-sphere, the size and shape of which depend on the B-field, and that the giant becomes classically unstable once the B-field is larger than a critical value B_{cr}. In particular, for the B-field which is (anti-)self-dual under the SO(4) isometry of the original giant S^3, the closed string metric is that of a round S^3, while the open string metric is…
We discuss the dimensional reduction of fermionic modes in a recently found class of consistent truncations of D=11 supergravity compactified on squashed seven-dimensional Sasaki-Einstein manifolds. Such reductions are of interest, for example, in that they have $(2+1)$-dimensional holographic duals, and the fermionic content and their interactions with charged scalars are an important aspect of their applications. We derive the lower-dimensional equations of motion for the fermions and exhibit their couplings to the various bosonic modes present in the truncations under consideration, which m…
We determine the most general form of off-shell N=(1,1) supergravity field configurations in three dimensions by requiring that at least one off-shell Killing spinor exists. We then impose the field equations of the topologically massive off-shell supergravity and find a class of solutions whose properties crucially depend on the norm of the auxiliary vector field. These are spacelike-squashed and timelike-stretched AdS_3 for the spacelike and timelike norms, respectively. At the transition point where the norm vanishes, the solution is null warped AdS_3. This occurs when the coefficient of th…
Three-dimensional $\mathcal{N} = 4$ superconformal field theories contain 1d topological sectors consisting of twisted linear combinations of half-BPS local operators that can be inserted anywhere along a line. After a conformal mapping to a round three-sphere, the 1d sectors are now defined on a great circle of $S^3$. We show that the 1d topological sectors are preserved under the squashing of the sphere. For gauge theories with matter hypermultiplets, we use supersymmetric localization to derive an explicit description of the topological sector associated with the Higgs branch. Furthermore, …
Supersymmetric zero-brane and one-brane probes in the squashed $AdS_2\times S^3$ near-horizon geometry of the BMPV black hole are studied. Supersymmetric zero-brane probes stabilized by orbital angular momentum on the $S^3$ are found and shown to saturate a BPS bound. We also find supersymmetric one-brane probes which have momentum and winding around a $U(1)_L\times U(1)_R$ torus in the $S^3$ and in some cases are static.
We discuss some aspects of higher-dimensional gravitational solitons and kinks, including in particular their stability. We illustrate our discussion with the examples of (non-BPS) higher-dimensional Taub-NUT solutions as the spatial metrics in (6+1) and (8+1) dimensions. We find them to be stable against small but non-infinitesimal disturbances, but unstable against large ones, which can lead to black-hole formation. In (8+1) dimensions we find a continuous non-BPS family of asymptotically-conical solitons connecting a previously-known kink metric with the supersymmetric A_8 solution which ha…
We describe the defect operator interpretation of the supersymmetric Renyi entropies of superconformal field theories in three, four and five dimensions. The operators involved are supersymmetric codimension-two defects in an auxiliary Z_n gauge theory coupled to n copies of the SCFT. We compute the exact expectation values of such operators using localization, and compare the results to the supersymmetric Renyi entropy. The agreement between the two implies a relationship between the partition function on a squashed sphere and the one on a round sphere in the presence of defects.
In this paper we construct the subset of modes on $S^7$ that are relevant in the compactification of eleven-dimensional supergravity on a squashed $S^7$ when restricted to the sector that comprises singlets under the $Sp(1)\times Sp(2)$ isometry of the squashed sphere. Some of the properties of these modes, connected to the transition from the round $S^7$ to the squashed $S^7$, are analysed in detail. Special features of the Rarita-Schwinger operator, described in earlier work by Buchdahl, are explained and related to properties of the squashed $S^7$ operator spectrum obtained in previous work…
We study chiral deformations of ${\cal N}=2$ and ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric gauge theories obtained by turning on $τ_J \,{\rm tr} \, Φ^J$ interactions with $Φ$ the ${\cal N}=2$ superfield. Using localization, we compute the deformed gauge theory partition function $Z(\vecτ|q)$ and the expectation value of circular Wilson loops $W$ on a squashed four-sphere. In the case of the deformed ${\cal N}=4$ theory, exact formulas for $Z$ and $W$ are derived in terms of an underlying $U(N)$ interacting matrix model replacing the free Gaussian model describing the ${\cal N}=4$ theory. Using the AGT corre…
We construct novel $7d$ supersymmetric gauge theories which include a Chern-Simons-like term on curved spaces. In order to so, we examine the supersymmetry constraints for E7-branes in type IIA$^*$ theory, rather than making use of an off-shell supergravity. We find two classes of solutions to the constraints, expressed in terms of a $G_2$-structure with non-vanishing intrinsic torsion. The supersymmetric gauge theories are then obtained by coupling flat gauge theory to such supersymmetric backgrounds. Various examples are given, including round and squashed $S^7$ as well as $S^3 \times M_4$ w…
This is the 9th article in the collection of reviews "Exact results on N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories", ed. J.Teschner. We review the exact computations in 3D N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories on the round or squashed $S^3$ and the relation between 3D partition functions and 4D superconformal indices.
It is observed that three-dimensional Gödel black holes can be promoted to exact string theory backgrounds through an orbifold of an hyperbolic asymmetric marginal deformation of the SL(2,R) WZW model. Tachyons are found in the spectrum of long strings. Uplifting these solutions in type IIB supergravity, extremal black holes are shown to preserve one supersymmetry in accordance with the BTZ limit. We also make connections with some recently discussed warped black hole solutions of topologically massive gravity, showing that they actually correspond to quotients of spacelike squashed AdS_3.
We reconsider the relation of superconformal indices of superconformal field theories of class S with five-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory compactified on the product space of a round three-sphere and a Riemann surface. We formulate the five-dimensional theory in supersymmetric backgrounds preseving N=2 and N=1 supersymmetries and discuss a subtle point in the previous paper concerned with the partial twisting on the Riemann surface. We further compute the partition function by localization of the five-dimensional theory on a squashed three-sphere in N=2 and N=1 supersymmetric…
We find a new family of supersymmetric vacuum solutions in the six-dimensional chiral gauged N=(1,0) supergravity theory. They are generically of the form AdS_3 x S^3, where the 3-sphere is squashed homogeneously along its Hopf fibres. The squashing is freely adjustable, corresponding to changing the 3-form charge, and the solution is supersymmetric for all squashings. In a limit where the length of the Hopf fibres goes to zero, one recovers, after a compensating rescaling of the fibre coordinate, a solution that is locally the same as the well-known (Minkowski)_4 x S^2 vacuum of this theory. …
We study Euclidean Romans supergravity in six dimensions with a non-trivial Abelian R-symmetry gauge field. We show that supersymmetric solutions are in one-to-one correspondence with solutions to a set of differential constraints on an SU(2) structure. As an application of our results we (i) show that this structure reduces at a conformal boundary to the five-dimensional rigid supersymmetric geometry previously studied by the authors, (ii) find a general expression for the holographic dual of the VEV of a BPS Wilson loop, matching an exact field theory computation, (iii) construct holographic…
We construct a new class of black hole solutions in five-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory with a negative cosmological constant. These configurations are cohomogeneity-1, with two equal-magnitude angular momenta. In the generic case, they possess a non-vanishing magnetic potential at infinity with a boundary metric which is the product of time and a squashed three-dimensional sphere. Both extremal and non-extremal black holes are studied. The non-extremal black holes satisfying a certain relation between electric charge, angular momenta and magnitude of the magnetic potential a…
We construct new supersymmetric black holes in five-dimensional supergravity with an arbitrary number of vector multiplets and Fayet-Iliopoulos gauging. These are asymptotically locally AdS$_5$ and the conformal boundary comprises a squashed three-sphere with $\text{SU}(2)\times \text{U}(1)$ symmetry. The solution depends on two parameters, of which one determines the angular momentum and the Page electric charges, while the other controls the squashing at the boundary. The latter is arbitrary, however in the flow towards the horizon it is attracted to a value that only depends on the other pa…
We revisit the duality between five-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories and deformations of two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory from a new perspective. We give a unified treatment of supersymmetric gauge theories in three and five dimensions using cohomological localization techniques and the Atiyah-Singer index theorem. We survey various known results in a unified framework and provide simplified derivations of localization formulas, as well as various extensions including the case of irregular Seifert fibrations. We describe the reductions to four-dimensional gauge theories, and give an …
We study codimension-two BPS defects in 2d N=(2,2) supersymmetric gauge theories, focusing especially on those characterized by vortex-like singularities in the dynamical or non-dynamical gauge field. We classify possible SUSY-preserving boundary conditions on charged matter fields around the vortex defects, and derive a formula for defect correlators on the squashed sphere. We also prove an equivalence relation between vortex defects and 0d-2d coupled systems. Our defect correlators are shown to be consistent with the mirror symmetry duality between Abelian gauged linear sigma models and Land…
The squashed and stretched 7-dimensional internal metric preserving U(1) x U(1) x U(1)_R symmetry possesses an Einstein-Kahler 2-fold which is a base manifold of 5-dimensional Sasaki-Einstein L^{p, q, r} space. The r(transverse to the domain wall)-dependence of the two 4-dimensional supergravity fields, that play the role of geometric parameters for squashing and stretching, makes the 11-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell equations consistent not only at the two critical points but also along the whole N=2 supersymmetric RG flow connecting them. The Ricci tensor of the solution has common feature wi…
We study N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories on squashed 3-sphere and S^1xS^2. Recent studies have shown that the partition functions in a class of N=2 theories have factorized forms in terms of vortex and anti-vortex partition functions by explicitly evaluating matrix integrals obtained from Coulomb branch localization. We directly derive this structure by performing Higgs branch localization. It turns out that more general N=2 theories have this factorization property. We also discuss the factorization of supersymmetric Wilson loop.
We consider type IIB $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ symmetry to relate the partition functions of different 5d supersymmetric Abelian linear quiver Yang-Mills theories in the $Ω$-background and squashed $S^5$ background. By Higgsing S-dual theories, we extract new and old 3d mirror pairs. Generically, the Higgsing procedure yields 3d defects on intersecting spaces, and we derive new hyperbolic integral identities expressing the equivalence of the squashed $S^3$ partition functions with additional degrees of freedom on the $S^1$ intersection.
We study two well-known classes of dualities in three dimensional N=2 supersymmetric field theories. In the first class there are non trivial interactions involving monopole operators while in the second class the dual gauge theories have Chern-Simons terms in the action. An RG flows connecting the first dual pair to the second one has been studied in the past and tested on the partition function on the squashed three sphere. Recently an opposite RG flow connecting the second dual pair to the first one has been studied in the case of unitary gauge groups. In this paper we study this flow on th…
We develop a method to identify the BPS states in the Hilbert space of a supersymmetric field theory on a generic curved space which preserves at least two real supercharges. We also propose a one-to-one map between BPS states in d-dimensional field theories and states that contribute to the supersymmetric partition function of a corresponding (d-1)-dimensional field theory. As an application we obtain the superconformal index on rounded and squashed three spheres, and we show a natural reduction of the respective indices to the three-dimensional exact partition functions. We discuss the valid…
We construct the 11-dimensional lift of the known N=2 supersymmetric RG flow solution in 4-dimensional N=8 gauged supergravity. The squashed and stretched 7-dimensional internal metric preserving SU(2) x U(1) x U(1)_R symmetry contains an Einstein-Kahler 2-fold which is a base manifold of 5-dimensional Sasaki-Einstein Y^{p, q} space found in 2004. The nontrivial r(transverse to the domain wall)-dependence of the AdS_4 supergravity fields makes the Einstein-Maxwell equations consistent not only at the critical points but also along the supersymmetric whole RG flow connecting two critical points…
The coefficient tau_{RR} of the two-point function of the superconformal U(1)_R currents of N=2 SCFTs in three-dimensions is recently shown to be obtained by differentiating the partition function on a squashed three-sphere with respect to the squashing parameter. With this method, we compute the tau_{RR} for N=2 Wess-Zumino models and SQCD numerically for small number of flavors and analytically in the large number limit. We study the behavior of tau_{RR} under an RG flow by adding superpotentials to the theories. While the tau_{RR} decreases for the gauge theories, we find an N=2 Wess-Zumino…
Supersymmetric bosonic backgrounds governed by first-order BPS equations, can be realised in a much broader setting by relaxing the requirement of closure of the superalgebra beyond the level of quadratic fermion terms. The resulting pseudo-supersymmetric theories can be defined in arbitrary spacetime dimensions. We focus here on the ${\cal N}=1$ pseudo-supersymmetric extensions of the arbitrary-dimensional bosonic string action, which were constructed a few years ago. In this paper, we recast these in the language of generalised geometry. More precisely, we construct the action and the corres…
Building on our recent results on dynamic SU(3)xSU(3) structures we present a set of sufficient conditions for supersymmetric AdS4xM6 backgrounds of type IIA/IIB supergravity. These conditions ensure that the background solves, besides the supersymmetry equations, all the equations of motion of type II supergravity. The conditions state that the internal manifold is locally a codimension-one foliation such that the five dimensional leaves admit a Sasaki-Einstein structure. In type IIA the supersymmetry is N=2, and the total six-dimensional internal space is locally an S^2 bundle over a four-di…
We consider supersymmetric gauge theories on round 3-sphere with a certain background gauge field. The Lagrangians break the usual symmetry because the background gauge field which we have turned on violates the isometry. In order to maintain the supersymmetry, we choose unfamiliar charged Killing spinors as N = 2 SUSY parameters. We perform localization calculous within this setup and find the double sine function as we expected. We comment on more direct relationship between theories on round sphere and squashed sphere via Weyl transformation.
We study compactifications on ${\rm AdS}_3\times S^3$ and deformations thereof. We exploit the triality symmetry of the underlying duality group ${\rm SO}(4,4)$ of three-dimensional supergravity in order to construct and relate new consistent truncations. For non-chiral $D=6$, ${\cal N}_{\rm 6d}=(1,1)$ supergravity, we find two different consistent truncations to three-dimensional supergravity, retaining different subsets of Kaluza-Klein modes, thereby offering access to different subsectors of the full nonlinear dynamics. As an application, we construct a two-parameter family of ${\rm AdS}_3\…
Using a recently proposed duality for $U(N)$ supersymmetric QCD (SQCD) in three dimensions with monopole superpotential, in this paper we derive the mirror dual description of $\mathcal{N}=2$ SQCD with unitary gauge group, generalizing the known mirror dual description of abelian gauge theories. We match the chiral ring of the dual theories and their partition functions on the squashed sphere. We also conjecture a generalization for SQCD with orthogonal and symplectic gauge groups.
The computation of the emitted radiation by an accelerated external particle can be addressed in a gauge theory with the insertion of a Wilson loop. With the addition of conformal symmetry this problem is consistently formalized in terms of correlation functions in presence of the Wilson loop, which are constrained by defect CFT techniques. In theories with extended supersymmetry we can also resort to supersymmetric localization on a four-sphere. By using this set of tools, we review the close relation between the Bremsstrahlung function and the stress energy tensor one-point coefficient in ab…
Using gauge theory, we describe how to construct generalized Kahler geometries with (2,2) two-dimensional supersymmetry, which are analogues of familiar examples like projective spaces and Calabi-Yau manifolds. For special cases, T-dual descriptions can be found which are squashed Kahler spaces. We explore the vacuum structure of these gauge theories by studying the Coulomb branch, which usually encodes the quantum cohomology ring. Some models without Kahler dual descriptions possess unusual Coulomb branches. Specifically, there appear to be an infinite number of supersymmetric vacua.
We explore aspects of the correspondence between Seifert 3-manifolds and 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric theories with a distinguished abelian flavour symmetry. We give a prescription for computing the squashed three-sphere partition functions of such 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories constructed from boundary conditions and interfaces in a 4d $\mathcal{N}=2^*$ theory, mirroring the construction of Seifert manifold invariants via Dehn surgery. This is extended to include links in the Seifert manifold by the insertion of supersymmetric Wilson-'t Hooft loops in the 4d $\mathcal{N}=2^*$ theory. In th…
We consider supersymmetric field theories on compact manifolds M and obtain constraints on the parameter dependence of their partition functions Z_M. Our primary focus is the dependence of Z_M on the geometry of M, as well as background gauge fields that couple to continuous flavor symmetries. For N=1 theories with a U(1)_R symmetry in four dimensions, M must be a complex manifold with a Hermitian metric. We find that Z_M is independent of the metric and depends holomorphically on the complex structure moduli. Background gauge fields define holomorphic vector bundles over M and Z_M is a holomo…
In this paper we briefly review the main idea of the localization technique and its extension suitable in supersymmetric gauge field theory. We analyze the partition function of the vector multiplets with supercharges and its blocks on the even- and odd-dimensional spheres and squashed spheres. We exploit so-called Faà di Bruno's formula and show that multipartite partition functions can be written in the form of expansion series of the Bell polynomials. Applying the restricted specialization argument we show that $q$-infinite-product representation of partition functions admits presentation i…
The M-theory lift of N=1 G_2-invariant RG flow via a combinatoric use of the 4-dimensional RG flow and 11-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell equations was found some time ago. The 11-dimensional metric, a warped product of an asymptotically AdS_4 space with a squashed and stretched 7-sphere, for SU(3)-invariance was found before. In this paper, by choosing the 4-dimensional internal space as CP^2 space, we discover an exact solution of N=1 G_2-invariant flow to the 11-dimensional field equations. By an appropriate coordinate transformation on the three internal coordinates, we also find an 11-dimens…
We study the quantum dynamics of a supersymmetric squashed three-sphere by dimensionally reducing (to one timelike dimension) the action of D=4 simple supergravity for an SO(3)-homogeneous (Bianchi IX) cosmological model. The quantization of the homogeneous gravitino field leads to a 64-dimensional fermionic Hilbert space. The algebra of the supersymmetry constraints and of the Hamiltonian one is found to close. One finds that the quantum Hamiltonian is built from operators that generate a 64-dimensional representation of the (infinite-dimensional) maximally compact sub-algebra of the rank-3 h…
