We study the supersymmetric ground states of the Kronecker model of quiver quantum mechanics. This is the simplest quiver with two gauge groups and bifundamental matter fields, and appears universally in four-dimensional N=2 systems. The ground state degeneracy may be written as a multi-dimensional contour integral, and the enumeration of poles can be simply phrased as counting bipartite trees. We solve this combinatorics problem, thereby obtaining exact formulas for the degeneracies of an infinite class of models. We also develop an algorithm to compute the angular momentum of the ground states, and present explicit expressions for the refined indices of theories where one rank is small.
Exact results for the BPS index are known for a class of BPS dyons in type II string theory compactified on a six dimensional torus. In this paper we set up the problem of counting the same BPS states in a duality frame in which the states carry only Ramond-Ramond charges. We explicitly count the number of states carrying the lowest possible charges and find agreement with the result obtained in other duality frames. Furthermore, we find that after factoring out the supermultiplet structure, each of these states carry zero angular momentum. This is in agreement with the prediction obtained fro…
Maximal supergravity solutions are revisited and classified, with particular emphasis on objects of co-dimension at most two. This class of solutions includes branes whose tension scales with g_s^{-σ} for σ>2. We present a group theory derivation of the counting of these objects based on the corresponding tensor hierarchies derived from E11 and discrete T- and U-duality transformations. This provides a rationale for the wrapping rules that were recently discussed for σ<4 in the literature and extends them. Explicit supergravity solutions that give rise to co-dimension two branes are constructe…
This note is presenting the generating functions which count the BPS operators in the chiral ring of a N=2 quiver gauge theory that lives on N D3 branes probing an ALE singularity. The difficulty in this computation arises from the fact that this quiver gauge theory has a moduli space of vacua that splits into many branches -- the Higgs, the Coulomb and mixed branches. As a result there can be operators which explore those different branches and the counting gets complicated by having to deal with such operators while avoiding over or under counting. The solution to this problem turns out to b…
We give further support for our conjecture relating eigenvalue distributions of the Kapustin-Willett-Yaakov matrix model in the large N limit to numbers of operators in the chiral ring of the corresponding supersymmetric three-dimensional gauge theory. We show that the relation holds for non-critical R-charges and for examples with {\mathcal N}=2 instead of {\mathcal N}=3 supersymmetry where the bifundamental matter fields are nonchiral. We prove that, for non-critical R-charges, the conjecture is equivalent to a relation between the free energy of the gauge theory on a three sphere and the vo…
We study the degeneracy of quarter BPS dyons in N =4 type II compactifications of string theory. We find that the genus-two Siegel modular forms generating the degeneracies of the quarter BPS dyons in the type II theories can be expressed in terms of the genus-two Siegel modular forms generating the degeneracies of quarter BPS dyons in the CHL theories and the heterotic string. This helps us in understanding the algebra structure underlying the degeneracy of the quarter BPS states. The Conway group, Co_1, plays a role similar to Mathieu group, M_{24}, in the CHL models with eta quotients appea…
Various features of domain walls in supersymmetric gluodynamics are discussed. We give a simple field-theoretic interpretation of the phenomenon of strings ending on the walls recently conjectured by Witten. An explanation of this phenomenon in the framework of gauge field theory is outlined. The phenomenon is argued to be particularly natural in supersymmetric theories which support degenerate vacuum states with distinct physical properties. The issue of existence (or non-existence) of the BPS saturated walls in the theories with glued (super)potentials is addressed. The amended Veneziano-Yan…
The exact entropy of two-charge supersymmetric black holes in N=4 string theories is computed to all orders using Wald's formula and the supersymmetric attractor equations with an effective action that includes the relevant higher curvature terms. Classically, these black holes have zero area but the attractor equations are still applicable at the quantum level. The quantum corrected macroscopic entropy agrees precisely with the microscopic counting for an infinite tower of fundamental string states to all orders in an asymptotic expansion.
The geometric models of N=4 supersymmetric mechanics with $(2d.2d)_{\DC}$-dimensional phase space are proposed, which can be viewed as one-dimensional counterparts of two-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric sigma-models by Alvarez-Gaumé and Freedman. The related construction of supersymmetric mechanics whose phase space is a Kähler supermanifold is considered. Also, its relation with antisymplectic geometry is discussed.
We compute the number of massive vacua of N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory mass-deformed to preserve N=1 supersymmetry, for any gauge group G. We use semi-classical techniques and efficiently reproduce the known counting for A,B and C-type gauge groups, present the generating function for both O(2n) and SO(2n), and compute the supersymmetric index for gauge groups of exceptional type. A crucial role is played by the classification of nilpotent orbits, as well as global properties of their centralizers. We give illustrative examples of new features of our analysis for the D-type algebras.
A supersymmetric collective coordinate expansion of the monopole solution of $N=4$ Yang-Mills theory is performed resulting in an $N=4$ supersymmetric quantum mechanics on the moduli space of monopole solutions.
Using odd symplectic structure constructed over tangent bundle of the symplectic manifold, we construct the simple supergeneralization of an arbitrary Hamiltonian mechanics on it. In the case, if the initial mechanics defines Killing vector of some Riemannian metric, corresponding supersymmetric mechanics can be reformulated in the terms of even symplectic structure on the supermanifold.
We perform an su(2) Hamiltonian reduction of the general su(2)-invariant action for a self-coupled (4,4,0) supermultiplet. As a result, we elegantly recover the N=4 supersymmetric mechanics with spin degrees of freedom which was recently constructed in arXiv:0812.4276. This observation underscores the exceptional role played by the ``root'' supermultiplet in N=4 supersymmetric mechanics.
In this talk we briefly review the concept of supersymmetric quantum mechanics using a model introduced by Witten. A quasi-classical path-integral evaluation for this model is performed, leading to a so-called supersymmetric quasi-classical quantization condition. Properties of this quantization condition are compared with those derived from the standard WKB approach.
We propose a method for the evaluation of Witten index in D=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills quantum mechanics. We rederive a known result for the SU(2) gauge group and generalize it to any SU(N) gauge group.
By assuming the existence of a novel multipronged string state for D-particles interacting with D-brane intersections in type IIA string theory, we are able to derive a quantum mechanical description of supersymmetric Reissner-Nordstrom black holes. A supersymmetric index calculation provides evidence for this conjecture. The quantum mechanical system becomes two decoupled conformal quantum mechanical systems in the low energy limit. The conformal quantum mechanics has expected properties of a dual description of string theory on $AdS_2\times S^2$.
In my lecture I consider integrals over moduli spaces of supersymmetric gauge field configurations (instantons, Higgs bundles, torsion free sheaves). The applications are twofold: physical and mathematical; they involve supersymmetric quantum mechanics of D-particles in various dimensions, direct computation of the celebrated Seiberg-Witten prepotential, sum rules for the solutions of the Bethe ansatz equations and their relation to the Laumon's nilpotent cone. As a by-product we derive some combinatoric identities involving the sums over Young tableaux.
The hamiltonian formulation of Supersymmetric Yang-Mills quantum mechanics (SYMQM) is discussed. We focus on the Fock space formulation of the models since it is convenient for the numerical analysis, however some novel analytical results are also pointed out.
To every 3-manifold M one can associate a two-dimensional N=(2,2) supersymmetric field theory by compactifying five-dimensional N=2 super-Yang-Mills theory on M. This system naturally appears in the study of half-BPS surface operators in four-dimensional N=2 gauge theories on one hand, and in the geometric approach to knot homologies, on the other. We study the relation between vortex counting in such two-dimensional N=(2,2) supersymmetric field theories and the refined BPS invariants of the dual geometries. In certain cases, this counting can be also mapped to the computation of degenerate co…
We propose a general method that allows to detect the existence of normalizable ground states in supersymmetric quantum mechanical systems with non-Fredholm spectrum. We apply our method to show the existence of bound states at threshold in two important cases: 1) the quantum mechanical system describing H-monopoles; 2) the quantum mechanics of D0 branes.
Quaternionic formulation of supersymmetric quantum mechanics has been developed consistently in terms of Hamiltonians, superpartner Hamiltonians, and supercharges for free particle and interacting field in one and three dimensions. Supercharges, superpartner Hamiltonians and energy eigenvalues are discussed and it has been shown that the results are consistent with the results of quantum mechanics.
The formalism of Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics supplies a trial wave function to be used in the Variational Method. The screened Coulomb potential is analysed within this approach. Numerical and exact results for energy eigenvalues are compared.
In the quantum mechanics of collision problems we must consider scattering states of the system. For these states, the wave functions do not remain in Hilbert space, but they are expressible in terms of generalized functions of a Gel'fand triplet. Supersymmetric quantum mechanics for dealing with the scattering states is here proposed.
We discuss two distinct aspects in supersymmetric quantum mechanics. First, we introduce a new class of operators A and $\bar{A}$ in terms of anticommutators between the momentum operator and N+1 arbitrary superpotentials. We show that these operators reduce to the conventional ones which are the starting point in standard supersymmetric quantum mechanics. In this context, we argue furthermore that supersymmetry does not only connect Schrödinger-like operators, but also a more general class of differential operators. Second, we revisit the supersymmetric $\varepsilon$-system recently introduce…
We present a review work on Supersymmetric Classical Mechanics in the context of a Lagrangian formalism, with $N=1-$supersymmetry. We show that the N=1 supersymmetry does not allow the introduction of a potential energy term depending on a single commuting supercoordinate, $ϕ(t;Θ)$.
The connection between supersymmetric quantum mechanics and the Korteweg- de Vries (KdV) equation is discussed, with particular emphasis on the KdV conservation laws. It is shown that supersymmetric quantum mechanics aids in the derivation of the conservation laws, and gives some insight into the Miura transformation that converts the KdV equation into the modified KdV equation. The construction of the $τ$-function by means of supersymmetric quantum mechanics is discussed.
We review models of supersymmetric quantum mechanics that are important in the description of supermembranes and of Dirichlet particles, which play a role in the context of M-theory.
A recurrence relation of Riccati-type differential equations known in supersymmetric quantum mechanics is investigated to find exactly solvable potentials. Taking some simple {\it ansätze}, we find new classes of solvable potentials as well as reproducing the known shape-invariant ones.
Reducing Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Field Theory to a single point in the three dimensional space results in the Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Quantum Mechanics (SYMQM) which basically is the effective quantum mechanics of zero momentum modes of the original theory. Such a system is still quite non-trivial and usually inherits many properties of the original field theory. In this talk some beautiful features of the three-dimensional model will be reviewed and illustrated with the aid of the recent, quantitative solution. In particular the structure of the supersymmetric vacua and condensates will b…
It has recently been proposed that a class of supersymmetric higher-derivative interactions in N=2 supergravity may encapsulate an infinite number of finite size corrections to the microscopic entropy of certain supersymmetric black holes. If this proposal is correct, it allows one to probe the string theory description of black-hole micro-states to far greater accuracy than has been possible before. We test this proposal for ``small'' black holes whose microscopic degeneracies can be computed exactly by counting the corresponding perturbative BPS states. We also study the ``black hole partiti…
General non-commutative supersymmetric quantum mechanics models in two and three dimensions are constructed and some two and three dimensional examples are explicitly studied. The structure of the theory studied suggest other possible applications in physical systems with potentials involving spin and non-local interactions.
Links between supersymmetric classical and quantum mechanics are explored. Diagrammatic representations for \hbar-expansions of norms of ground states are provided. The WKB spectra of supersymmetric non harmonic oscillators are found.
We show that the formalism of supersymmetric quantum mechanics applied to the solvable elliptic function potentials $V(x) = mj(j+1){sn}^2(x,m)$ produces new exactly solvable one-dimensional periodic potentials.
This is a brief survey of applications of the harmonic superspace methods to the models of N=4 supersymmetric quantum mechanics (SQM). The main focus is on a recent progress in constructing SQM models with couplings to the background non-Abelian gauge fields. Besides reviewing and systemizing the relevant results, we present some new examples and make clarifying comments.
We review the explicit derivation of the Gauss-Bonet and Hirzebruch formulae by physical model and give a physical proof of the Lefschetz fixed-point formula by twisting boundary conditions for the path integral.
Witten's non-relativistic formalism of supersymmetric quantum mechanics was based on a factorization and partnership between Schroedinger equations. We show how it accommodates a transition to the partnership between relativistic Klein-Gordon equations. In such a class of models the requirement of supersymmetry is shown to lead to a certain "exceptional-point" instability of ground states.
We show that the spectral theory of the Dirac operator $D = i\delsl-σ(x) -iπ(x)\gam_5$ in a static background $(σ(x),π(x))$ in 1+1 space-time dimensions, is underlined by a certain generalization of supersymmetric quantum mechanics, and explore its consequences.
In this work we report a new result that appears when one investigates the route that starts from a scalar field theory and ends on a supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The subject has been studied before in several distinct ways and here we unveil an interesting novelty, showing that the same scalar field model may describe distinct quantum mechanical problems.
We study the supersymmetric quantum mechanical systems that arise from discrete light cone quantization of theories with minimal supersymmetry in various dimensions. These systems, which have previously arisen in the study of black hole moduli spaces, are distinguished by having fewer fermionic fields than the familiar Kähler and hyper-Kähler models.
We compute generating functions for number of U(N) (SU(N)) singlets in Fock space in several space dimensions. The motivation to find the explicit form of the functions is from the numerical approach to supersymmetric Yang-Mills quantum mechanics, based on Fock space. Incidently the functions give many important insights into the quantum mechanical models based U(N) (SU(N)) gauge group.
We construct N=8 supersymmetric mechanics with four bosonic end eight fermionic physical degrees of freedom. Starting from the most general N=4 superspace action in harmonic superspace for the ({\bf 4,8,4}) supermultiplet we find conditions which make it N=8 invariant. We introduce in the action Fayet-Iliopoulos terms which give rise to potential terms. We present the action in components and give explicit expressions for the Hamiltonian and Poisson brackets. Finally we discuss the possibility of N=9 supersymmetric mechanics.
We present in details a numerical approach for solving supersymmetric quantum mechanical systems with a gauge symmetry valid in all fermionic sectors. The method uses a recursive algorithm to calculate matrix elements of any gauge invariant operator in the Fock basis, in particular of the Hamiltonian operator, and can be used for any gauge group. We describe its application to a supersymmetric anharmonic oscillator model with discrete spectrum.
The statistical model of crystal melting represents BPS configurations of D-branes on a toric Calabi-Yau three-fold. Recently it has been noticed that an infinite-dimensional algebra, the quiver Yangian, acts consistently on the crystal-melting configurations. We physically derive the algebra and its action on the BPS states, starting with the effective supersymmetric quiver quantum mechanics on the D-brane worldvolume. This leads to remarkable combinatorial identities involving equivariant integrations on the moduli space of the quantum mechanics, which can be checked by numerical computation…
We implement the Rayleigh-Ritz method in supersymmetric quantum mechanics with flat directions, and extract the S-matrix and metastable resonances. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated in two strongly coupled systems: an N=1 toy supermembrane model, and an N=4 model with a U(1) gauge multiplet and a charged chiral multiplet.
We give an elementary derivation of the de Rham cohomology of SO(n) in terms of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. Our analysis is based on Witten's Morse theory. We show reflection symmetries of the theory are useful to select true vacuums. The number of the selected vacuums will agree with the de Rham cohomology of SO(n).
By exploiting the supersymmetric invariant restrictions on the chiral and anti-chiral supervariables, we derive the off-shell nilpotent symmetry transformations for a specific (0 + 1)-dimensional N = 2 supersymmetric quantum mechanical model which is considered on a (1, 2)-dimensional supermanifold (parametrized by a bosonic variable t and a pair of Grassmannian variables (θ, \barθ). We also provide the geometrical meaning to the symmetry transformations. Finally, we show that this specific N = 2 SUSY quantum mechanical model is a model for Hodge theory.
We examine supersymmetric quantum mechanics on $SO(4)$ to realize Witten's idea. We find instanton solutions connecting approximate vacuums. We calculate Hessian matrices for these solutions to determine true vacuums. Our result is in agreement with de Rham cohomology of $SO(4)$. We also give a criterion for cancellation of instanton effects for a pair of instanton paths.
We rederive the recently introduced $N=2$ topological gauge theories, representing the Euler characteristic of moduli spaces ${\cal M}$ of connections, from supersymmetric quantum mechanics on the infinite dimensional spaces ${\cal A}/{\cal G}$ of gauge orbits. To that end we discuss variants of ordinary supersymmetric quantum mechanics which have meaningful extensions to infinite-dimensional target spaces and introduce supersymmetric quantum mechanics actions modelling the Riemannian geometry of submersions and embeddings, relevant to the projections ${\cal A}\rightarrow {\cal A}/{\cal G}$ an…
I show that the method of finding if the ground state energy is nonzero or not by saturating the functional integral directly with instanton-anti-instanton type fluctuations is not reliable either for the double or for the triple well potential models in supersymmetric quantum mechanics.
We review the last year progress in understanding supersymmetric SU(2) Yang-Mills quantum mechanics in four and ten space-time dimensions. The four dimensional system is now well under control and the precise spectrum is obtained in all channels. In D=10 some new results are also available.
Supersymmetric quantum mechanical models are computed by the Path integral approach. In the $β\rightarrow0$ limit, the integrals localize to the zero modes. This allows us to perform the index computations exactly because of supersymmetric localization, and we will show how the geometry of target space enters the physics of sigma models resulting in the relationship between the supersymmetric model and the geometry of the target space in the form of topological invariants. Explicit computation details are given for the Euler characteristics of the target manifold, and the index of Dirac operat…
We consider some simple examples of supersymmetric quantum mechanical systems and explore their possible geometric interpretation with the help of geometric aspects of real Clifford algebras. This leads to natural extensions of the considered systems to higher dimensions and more complicated potentials.
We identify a class of point-particle models that exhibit a target-space duality. This duality arises from a construction based on supersymmetric quantum mechanics with a non-vanishing central charge. Motivated by analogies to string theory, we are led to speculate regarding mechanisms for restricting the background geometry.
Supersymmetry (SUSY) in non-relativistic quantum mechanics (QM) is applied to a 2-dimensional physical system: a neutron in an external magnetic field. The superpotential and the two-component wave functions of the ground state are found out.
