We construct exact solutions of BPS pion domain walls in the four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric SU(N) chiral Lagrangian with pion masses introduced via linear and quadratic superpotentials. The model admits N discrete vacua in the center of SU(N) for the linear superpotential. In addition to the latter, new vacua appear for the quadratic superpotential. We find that the domain wall solutions of pions (Nambu-Goldstone bosons) that interpolate between a pair of (pion) vacua preserve half of supersymmetry. Contrary to our expectations, we have not been able to find domain walls involving the quasi-Nambu-Goldstone bosons present in the theory, which in turn has the consequence that not all vacua of the theory are connected by a BPS domain wall solution.
We explicitly construct BPS domain walls interpolating between neighboring chirally asymmetric vacua in a model for large N pure supersymmetric QCD. The BPS equations for the corresponding ${\bf Z}_N$ symmetric order parameter effective Lagrangian reduce to those in the $A_N$ Landau-Ginsburg model assuming that the higher derivative terms in the K{ä}hler potential are suppressed in the large N limit. These BPS domain walls, which have vanishing width in the large N limit, can be viewed as supermembranes embedded in a (3+1)-dimensional supersymmetric QCD background. The supermembrane couples to…
We study the higher derivative chiral models with four supercharges and BPS states in these models. The off-shell Lagrangian generically includes higher powers of the auxiliary fields F which causes distinct on-shell branches associated with the solutions to the auxiliary fields equation. We point out that the model admits a supersymmetric completion of arbitrary higher derivative bosonic models of a single complex scalar field and an arbitrary scalar potential can be introduced even without superpotentials. As an example, we present a supersymmetric extension of the Faddeev-Skyrme model witho…
We study N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories coupled with higher derivative chiral models in four dimensions in the off-shell superfield formalism. We solve the equation of motion for the auxiliary fields and find two distinct on-shell structures of the Lagrangian that we call the canonical and non-canonical branches characterized by zero and non-zero auxiliary fields, respectively. We classify BPS states of the models in Minkowski and Euclidean spaces. In Minkowski space, we find Abelian and non-Abelian vortices, vortex-lumps (or gauged lumps with fractional lump charges) as 1/2 BPS states in t…
We explore BPS soliton configurations in N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with matter fields arising from parallel D3 branes on D7 branes. Especially we focus on two parameter family of 1/8 BPS equations, dyonic objects, and 1/8 BPS objects and raise a possibility of absence of BPS vortices when the number of D3 branes is larger than that of D7 branes.
We analyze the spectrum of the N=(2,2) supersymmetric Landau-Ginzburg theory in two dimensions with superpotential W=X^{n+2}-lambda X^2. We find the full BPS spectrum of this theory by exploiting the direct connection between the UV and IR limits of the theory. The computation utilizes results from the Picard-Lefschetz theory of singularities and its extension to boundary singularities. The additional fact that this theory is integrable requires that the BPS states do not close under scattering. This observation fixes the masses of non-BPS states as well.
We construct BPS saturated regular configurations of N=4 SU(3) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory carrying non-parallel electric and magnetic charges. These field theory BPS states correspond to the string theory BPS states of 3-string junctions connecting three different D3-branes by regarding the N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory as an effective field theory on parallel D3-branes.
We perform a systematic analysis on supersymmetric states in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory (SYM) on R x S^3. We find a new set of 1/16 BPS equations and determine the precise configuration of the supersymmetric states by solving all 1/16 BPS equations when they are valued in Cartan subalgebra of a gauge group and the fermionic fields vanish. We also determine the number of supersymmetries preserved by the supersymmetric states varying the parameters of the BPS solutions. As a byproduct we present the complete set of such supersymmetric states in N=8 SYM on R x S^2 by carrying out dimens…
We consider BPS domain walls in the four dimensional N=1 supersymmetric models with continuous global symmetry. Since the BPS equation is covariant under the global transformation, the solutions of the BPS walls also have the global symmetry. The moduli space of the supersymmetric vacua in such models have non-compact flat directions, and the complex BPS walls interpolating between two disjoint flat directions can exist. We examine this possibility in two models with global O(2) symmetry, and construct the solution of such BPS walls.
We revisit the BPS spectrum of the supersymmetric CP(N-1) two-dimensional model with Z_N-symmetric twisted masses m_l (l=0,1, ..., N-1). A related issue we address is that of the curves of marginal stability (CMS) in this theory. Previous analyses were incomplete. We close the gap by exploiting a number of consistency conditions. In particular, we amend the Dorey formula for the BPS spectrum. Our analysis is based on the exact Veneziano--Yankielowicz-type superpotential and on the strong-coupling spectrum of the theory found from the mirror representation at small masses, |m_l| << Λ. We show t…
We derive the central charge and BPS equations from the low-energy effective action for N=2 SU(2) Yang-Mills theory in the Coulomb phase, using a systematic, canonical procedure. We then obtain solutions for monopole and dyon BPS states, whose core structure is described by a dual Lagrangian containing the monopole or dyon as a fundamental field. Spherically symmetric states possess a shell of charge at a characteristic radius.
In this paper, the non-BPS amplitudes ($Z < 2m$) are considered. Utilizing on-shell methods, the three point amplitudes of two equal-mass particles and one massless particle were constructed, where the two massive particles are non-BPS states. We verify the result by matching the $Z = 0$ and BPS limit with $N = 2$ supersymmetry. As an application we derive the non-BPS coupling for $N = 4$ super-Maxwell and supergravity.
We study the spectrum of the domain walls interpolating between different chirally asymmetric vacua in supersymmetric QCD with the SU(3) gauge group and including 2 pairs of chiral matter multiplets in fundamental and anti-fundamental representations. For small enough masses m < m* = .286... (in the units of Λ), there are two different domain wall solutions which are BPS-saturated and two types of ``wallsome sphalerons''. At m = m*, two BPS branches join together and, in the interval m* < m < m** = 3.704..., BPS equations have no solutions but there are solutions to the equations of motion des…
We study the domain walls connecting different chirally asymmetric vacua in supersymmetric QCD. We show that BPS - saturated solutions exist only in the limited range of mass. When m exceeds some critical value, the domain wall either ceases to be BPS - saturated or disappears altogether. In any case, the properties of the system are qualitatively changed.
We study the baby Skyrme model as a theory that interpolates between two distinct BPS systems. For this a near-BPS approximation can be used which, however, involves a small deviation from each of the two BPS limits. We provide analytical explanation and numerical support for the validity of this approximation. We then study the set of all possible supersymmetric extensions of the baby Skyrme model with ${\cal N}=1$ and the particular ones with extended ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetries and relate this to the above mentioned almost-BPS approximation.
A systematic method to obtain the effective Lagrangian on the BPS background in supersymmetric gauge theories is worked out, taking domain walls and vortices as concrete examples. The Lagrangian in terms of the superfields for four preserved SUSY is expanded in powers of the slow-movement parameter lambda. The expansion gives the superfield form of the BPS equations at {O}(lambda^0), and all the fluctuation fields at {O}(lambda^1). The density of the Kaehler potential for the effective Lagrangian follows as an automatic consequence of the lambda expansion with manifest (four preserved) SUSY.
We investigate the equations of motion in the four-dimensional non-anticommutative N=2 supersymmetric U(1) gauge field theory, in the search for BPS configurations. The BPS-like equations, generalizing the abelian (anti)self-duality conditions, are proposed. We prove full solvability of our BPS-like equations, as well their consistency with the equations of motion. Certain restrictions on the allowed scalar field values are also found. Surviving supersymmetry is briefly discussed too.
We construct the classical configurations of BPS states with 1/4 unbroken supersymmetries in four-dimensional N=4 SU(n+1) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, and discuss that these configurations correspond to string networks connecting (n+1) D3-branes in Type IIB string theory.
In certain regions of the moduli space of K3 and Calabi-Yau manifolds, D-branes wrapped on non-supersymmetric cycles may give rise to stable configurations. We show that in the orbifold limit, some of these stable configurations can be described by solvable boundary conformal field theories. The world-volume theory of N coincident branes of this type is described by a non-supersymmetric U(N) gauge theory. At the boundary of the region of stability, there are marginal deformations connecting the non-supersymmetric brane to a pair of D-branes wrapped on supersymmetric cycles. We also discuss var…
We study the spectrum of the domain walls interpolating between different chirally asymmetric vacua in supersymmetric QCD with the SU(N) gauge group and including N-1 pairs of chiral matter multiplets in fundamental and anti-fundamental representations. There are always "real walls" interpolating between the chirally symmetric and a chirally asymmetric vacua which are BPS saturated. For small enough masses, there are two different "complex" BPS wall solutions interpolating between different chirally asymmetric vacua and two types of "wallsome sphalerons". At some m = m_*, two BPS branches join…
Extending our previous work on SU(3), we construct spherically symmetric BPS saturated regular configurations of N=4 SU(N) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory preserving 1/4 supersymmetry, and investigate their features. We also give exact solutions in the case some of the free parameters of the general solutions take certain values. These field theory BPS states correspond to the string theory BPS states of multi-pronged strings connecting N different D3-branes by regarding the N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory as an effective field theory on parallel D3-branes. We compare our solutions with …
We construct the world-volume action for non-BPS D-branes in type II string theories. This action is invariant under all the unbroken supersymmetries in the bulk, but these symmetries are realised as spontaneously broken symmetries in the world-volume theory. Coupling of this action to background supergravity fields is straightforward. We also discuss the fate of the U(1) gauge field on the D-brane world-volume after tachyon condensation.
We introduce some techniques for making a more global analysis of the existence of geodesics on a Seiberg-Witten Riemann surface with metric $ds^2 = |λ_{SW}|^2$. Because the existence of such geodesics implies the existence of BPS states in N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, one can use these methods to study the BPS spectrum in various phases of the Yang-Mills theory. By way of illustration, we show how, using our new methods, one can easily recover the known results for the N=2 supersymmetric SU(2) pure gauge theory, and we show in detail how it also works for the N=2, SU(2) theory couple…
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…
We study supersymmetric open strings in type IIB $AdS_3 \times S^3 \times S^3 \times S^1$ with mixed R-R and NS-NS fields. We focus on strings ending along a straight line at the boundary of $AdS_3$, which can be interpreted as line operators in a dual CFT$_2$. We study both classical configurations and quadratic fluctuations around them. We find that strings sitting at a fixed point in $S^3 \times S^3 \times S^1$, i.e. satisfying Dirichlet boundary conditions, are 1/2 BPS. We also show that strings sitting at different points of certain submanifolds of $S^3 \times S^3 \times S^1$ can still sh…
We demonstrate that in the supersymmetric extensions of a class of generalized (or K) field theories introduced recently, the static energy satisfies a BPS bound in each topological sector. Further, the corresponding soliton solutions saturate the bound. We also find strong indications that the BPS bound shows up in the SUSY algebra as a central extension, as is the case in the well-known supersymmetric field theories with standard kinetic terms.
We derive general BPS boundary conditions in two-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ supersymmetric gauge theories. We analyze the solutions of these boundary conditions, and in particular those that allow the bulk fields to have poles at the boundary. We also present the brane configurations for the half- and quarter-BPS boundary conditions of the $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ supersymmetric gauge theories in terms of branes in Type IIA string theory. We find that both A-type and B-type brane configurations are lifted to M-theory as a system of M2-branes ending on an M5-brane wrapped on a product of a holo…
Dyonic non-Abelian local/semi-global vortex strings are studied in detail in supersymmetric/non-supersymmetric Yang-Mills-Higgs theories. While the BPS tension formula is known to be the same as that for the BPS dyonic instanton, we find that the non-BPS tension formula is approximated very well by the well-known tension formula of the BPS dyon. We show that this mysterious tension formula for the dyonic non-BPS vortex stings can be understood from the perspective of a low energy effective field theory. Furthermore, we propose an efficient method to obtain an effective theory of a single vorte…
I review, with some pedagogy, two different approaches to the computation of BPS spectra in N=2 supersymmetric QCD with gauge group SU(2). The first one is semiclassical and has been widely used in the literature. The second one makes use of constraints coming from the non perturbative, global structure of the Coulomb branch of these theories. The second method allows for a description of discontinuities in the BPS spectra at strong coupling, and should lead to accurate test of duality conjectures in N=2 theories.
An exact solution of non-BPS multi-walls is found in supersymmetric massive T^\star(\mathbb{CP}^1) model in five dimensions. The non-BPS multi-wall solution is found to have no tachyon. Although it is only metastable under large fluctuations, we can give topological stability by considering a model with a double covering of the T^\star(\mathbb{CP}^1) target manifold. The {\cal N}=1 supersymmetry preserved on the four-dimensional world volume of one wall is broken by the coexistence of the other wall. The supersymmetry breaking is exponentially suppressed as the distance between the walls incre…
The D0-D6 system, which is not supersymmetric in the absence of a Neveu-Schwarz B-field, becomes supersymmetric if a suitable constant B-field is turned on. On one side of the supersymmetric locus, this system has a BPS bound state, and on the other side it does not. After compactification on T^6, this gives a simple example in which the number of 1/8 BPS states jumps as the moduli of the compactification are changed. The D0-D8 system in a B-field has two different supersymmetric loci, only one of which is continuously connected to the familiar supersymmetric D0-D8 system without a B-field. In…
BPS states in N=4 supersymmetric SU(N) gauge theories in four dimensions can be represented as planar string networks with ends lying on D3-branes. We introduce several protected indices which capture information on the spectrum and various quantum numbers of these states, give their wall crossing formula and describe how using the wall crossing formula we can compute all the indices at all points in the moduli space.
We obtain, in a systematic way, all the classical BPS equations which correspond to the quantum BPS states in the M-theory on a fully supersymmetric pp-wave. The superalgebra of the M-theory matrix model shows that the BPS states always preserve pairs of supersymmetry, implying the possible fractions of the unbroken supersymmetry as 2/16, 4/16, 6/16,.... We study their classical counterparts, and find there are essentially one unique set of 2/16 BPS equations, three inequivalent types of 4/16 BPS equations, and three inequivalent types of 8/16 BPS equations only, in addition to the 16/16 stati…
We consider the N=1 supersymmetric QCD with SU(N_c) gauge group involving N_f = N_c - 1 pairs of chiral matter multiplets in fundamental and antifundamental color representations. For this theory in the framework of the effective lagrangian approach, we solve the BPS equations for the domain walls interpolating between different vacua. The equations always have a unique solution for the walls interpolating between the chirally symmetric and a chirally asymmetric vacua. For the walls interpolating between different chirally asymmetric vacua, the equations admit two different solutions which exi…
We consider the small deformation of the point-like Wilson loop in the 3-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=6$ superconformal Chern-Simons theory. By Taylor expansion of the point-like Wilson loop in powers of the loop variables, we obtain the BPS operators that correspond to the excited string states of the dual IIA string theory on the pp wave background. The BPS conditions of the Wilson loop constrain both the loop variables and the forms of the operators obtained in the Taylor expansion.
Conformal mapping techniques are used to determine analytically the geodesics on the Seiberg-Witten Riemann surface which correspond to the BPS dyon states in N=2 SUSY QCD with gauge group SU(2) and up to three flavors of massless fundamental matter. The results are exact for zero and two flavors, and approximate in the weak-coupling limit for one and three flavors. The presence of states of magnetic charge 2, in the three-flavor case only, is confirmed.
We consider one-loop quantum corrections to soliton energies and central charges in the supersymmetric $ϕ^4$ and sine-Gordon models in 1+1 dimensions. In both models, we unambiguously calculate the correction to the energy in a simple renormalization scheme and obtain $ΔH = - m/(2π)$, in agreement with previous results. Furthermore, we show that there is an identical correction to the central charge, so that the BPS bound remains saturated in the one-loop approximation. We extend these results to arbitrary 1+1 dimensional supersymmetric theories.
We study the moduli dependence of a class of couplings in $K3\times T^2$ compactifications of type I string theory, for which one-loop amplitudes can be written in terms of an N=2 supersymmetric index. This index is determined for generic models as a function of the BPS spectrum. As an application we compute the one-loop moduli dependence of the $F_g W^{2g}$ couplings, where W is the N=2 gravitational superfield, for type I compactifications based on the Gimon-Johnson K3 orientifolds, showing explicitly their dependence on the aforementioned index.
We study the Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen string in N=2 supersymmetric QED with N=2-preserving superpotential, in which case the Abrikosov string is found to be 1/2-BPS saturated. Adding a quadratic small perturbation in the superpotential breaks N=2 supersymmetry to N=1 supersymmetry. Then the Abrikosov string is no longer BPS saturated. The difference between the string tensions for the non-BPS and BPS saturated situation is found to be negative to the first order of the perturbation parameter.
We discuss BPS states preserving 1/4 supersymmetries of N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory as M2-branes holomorphically embedded and ending on M5-branes. We use techniques in electrodynamics to find the M2-brane configurations, and give some explicit examples. In case the M2-brane worldsheet has handles, the worldsheet moduli of the M2-brane is constrained in a discrete manner. Several aspects of multi-pronged strings in type IIB string theory are beautifully reproduced in the M-theory description. We also discuss the relation between the above construction and the D2-brane dynamics in type …
A supersymmetric string model in the D=11 superspace maximally extended by antisymmetric tensor bosonic coordinates, $Σ^{(528|32)}$, is proposed. It possesses 30 $κ$-symmetries and 32 target space supersymmetries. The usual preserved supersymmetry-$κ$-symmetry correspondence suggests that it describes the excitations of a BPS state preserving all but two supersymmetries. The model can also be formulated in any $Σ^{({n(n+1)\over 2}|n)}$ superspace, n=32 corresponding to D=11. It may also be treated as a `higher--spin generalization' of the usual Green--Schwarz superstring. Although the global s…
We elucidate the relationship between supersymmetric D3-branes and chiral baryonic operators in the AdS/CFT correspondence. For supersymmetric backgrounds of the form AdS_5 x H, we characterize via holomorphy a large family of supersymmetric D3-brane probes wrapped on H. We then quantize this classical family of probe solutions to obtain a BPS spectrum which describes D3-brane configurations on H. For the particular examples H = T^{1,1} and H = S^5, we match the BPS spectrum to the spectrum of chiral baryonic operators in the dual gauge theory.
We study the central extensions of the N=1 superalgebras relevant to the soliton solutions with the axial geometry - strings, wall junctions, etc. A general expression valid in any four-dimensional gauge theory is obtained. We prove that the only gauge theory admitting BPS strings at weak coupling is supersymmetric electrodynamics with the Fayet-Iliopoulos term. The problem of ambiguity of the (1/2,1/2) central charge in the generalized Wess-Zumino models and gauge theories with matter is addressed and solved. A possibility of existence of the BPS strings at strong coupling in N=2 theories is …
The complete Type IIB supergravity solutions with 16 supersymmetries are obtained on the manifold $AdS_4 \times S^2 \times S^2 \times Σ$ with $SO(2,3) \times SO(3) \times SO(3)$ symmetry in terms of two holomorphic functions on a Riemann surface $Σ$, which generally has a boundary. This is achieved by reducing the BPS equations using the above symmetry requirements, proving that all solutions of the BPS equations solve the full Type IIB supergravity field equations, mapping the BPS equations onto a new integrable system akin to the Liouville and Sine-Gordon theories, and mapping this integrabl…
We use the techniques of supersymmetric localization to compute the BPS black hole entropy in N=2 supergravity. We focus on the n_v+1 vector multiplets on the black hole near horizon background which is AdS_2 x S^2 space. We find the localizing saddle point of the vector multiplets by solving the localization equations, and compute the exact one loop partition function on the saddle point. Furthermore, we propose the appropriate functional integration measure. Through this measure, the one loop determinant is written in terms of the radius of the physical metric, which depends on the localizin…
Until now all known static multi black hole solutions described BPS states with charges of the same sign. Such solutions could not be related to flat directions in the space of BPS states. The total number of such states could not spontaneously increase because of the charge conservation. We show that there exist static BPS configurations which remain in equilibrium even if they consist of states with opposite electric (or magnetic) charges from vector multiplets. This is possible because of the exact cancellation between the Coulomb and scalar forces. In particular, in the theories with N=4 o…
The near-horizon geometry of an asymptotically AdS_5 supersymmetric black hole discovered by Gutowski and Reall is analysed. After lifting the solution to 10 dimensions, we explicitly solve the Killing spinor equations in both Poincare and global coordinates. It is found that exactly four supersymmetries are preserved which is twice the number for the full black hole. The full set of isometries is constructed and the isometry supergroup is shown to be SU(1,1|1) X SU(2) X U(3). We further study half-BPS configurations of D3-branes in the near-horizon geometry in Poincare and global coordinates.…
We analyze four- and six-derivative couplings in the low energy effective action of $D=3$ string vacua with half-maximal supersymmetry. In analogy with an earlier proposal for the $(\nablaΦ)^4$ coupling, we propose that the $\nabla^2(\nablaΦ)^4$ coupling is given exactly by a manifestly U-duality invariant genus-two modular integral. In the limit where a circle in the internal torus decompactifies, the $\nabla^2(\nablaΦ)^4$ coupling reduces to the $D^2 F^4$ and $R^2 F^2$ couplings in $D=4$, along with an infinite series of corrections of order $e^{-R}$, from four-dimensional 1/4-BPS dyons whos…
We explicitly determine the global structure of the $SL(2,Z)$ bundle over the Coulomb branch of the moduli space of asymptotically free $N=2$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories with gauge group $SU(2)$ when massless hypermultiplets are present. For each relevant number of flavours, we show that there is a curve of marginal stability on the Coulomb branch, diffeomorphic to a circle, across which the BPS spectrum is discontinuous. We determine rigorously and completely the BPS spectra inside and outside the curve. In all cases, the spectrum inside the curve consists of only those BPS states that…
We construct a supersymmetric generalization of the holographic dual of a fractional topological insulator found in \cite{HoyosBadajoz:2010ac}. This is accomplished by introducing a nontrivial gauge field on the world volume of the probe D7 brane. The BPS equations are derived from the $κ$-symmetry transformation of the probe brane. The BPS equations are shown to reduce to two first oder nonlinear partial differential equations. Solutions of the BPS equations correspond to a probe brane configuration which preserves four of the thirty-two supersymmetries of the $AdS_5\times S^5$ background. So…
We construct non-BPS regular and black hole solutions of N=4 SU(N) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory coupled to Einstein gravity. Our numerical studies reveal a number of interesting phenomena when the gravitational constant $α=M_{YM}/gM_{Planck}$ (where $M_{Planck}$ is the Planck mass and $M_{YM}$ is the monopole mass) is either weak (flat limit) or comparable to the Yang-Mills interaction. In fact, black hole solutions exist in a certain bounded domain in the $(α, r_H)$ plane where $r_H$ denotes the radius of the black
Domain-wall solutions in four-dimensional supersymmetric field theories with distinct discrete vacuum states lead to the spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry, either completely or partially. We consider in detail the case when the domain walls are the BPS-saturated states, and 1/2 of supersymmetry is preserved. Several useful criteria that relate the preservation of 1/2 of supersymmetry on the domain walls to the central extension appearing in the N=1 superalgebras are established. We explain how the central extension can appear in N=1 supersymmetry and explicitly obtain the central charge in…
This paper contains the results of our investigations of BPS instantons and of our work on N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories. The BPS instantons we study appear in type II string theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau threefolds. In the corresponding four-dimensional effective supergravity actions the BPS instantons arise as finite action solutions to the Euclidean equations of motion. For N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories we construct general Lagrangians involving gauge groups with (non-abelian) electric and magnetic (dyonic) charges. In this work a coupling to hypermultiplets is included.
We study 1/4 Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield (BPS) composite solitons of vortex strings, domain walls and boojums in ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric Abelian gauge theories in four dimensions. We obtain solutions to the 1/4 BPS equations with the finite gauge coupling constant. To obtain numerical solutions for generic coupling constants, we construct globally correct approximate functions which allow us to easily find fixed points of gradient flow equations. We analytically/numerically confirm that the negative mass of a single boojum appearingat the endpoint of the vortex string on the logarithmic…
It is possible to understand whether a given BPS spectrum is generated by a relevant deformation of a 4D N=2 SCFT or of an asymptotically free theory from the periodicity properties of the corresponding quantum monodromy. With the aim of giving a better understanding of the above conjecture, in this paper we revisit the description of framed BPS states of four-dimensional relativistic quantum field theories with eight conserved supercharges in terms of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. We unveil aspects of the deep interrelationship in between the Seiberg-dualities of the latter, the discrete …
The question of whether BPS invariants are protected in maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories is investigated from the point of view of algebraic renormalisation theory. The protected invariants are those whose cohomology type differs from that of the action. It is confirmed that one-half BPS invariants ($F^4$) are indeed protected while the double-trace one-quarter BPS invariant ($d^2F^4$) is not protected at two loops in D=7, but is protected at three loops in D=6 in agreement with recent calculations. Non-BPS invariants, i.e. full superspace integrals, are also shown to be unprotecte…
We study the BPS spectrum in $D=4, N=4$ heterotic string compactifications, with some emphasis on intermediate $N=4$ BPS states. These intermediate states, which can become short in $N=2$ compactifications, are crucial for establishing an $S-T$ exchange symmetry in $N=2$ compactifications. We discuss the implications of a possible $S-T$ exchange symmetry for the $N=2$ BPS spectrum. Then we present the exact result for the 1-loop corrections to gravitational couplings in one of the heterotic $N=2$ models recently discussed by Harvey and Moore. We conjecture this model to have an $S-T$ exchange …
