Large-N phase transitions occurring in massive N=2 theories can be probed by Wilson loops in large antisymmetric representations. The logarithm of the Wilson loop is effectively described by the free energy of a Fermi distribution and exhibits second-order phase transitions (discontinuities in the second derivatives) as the size of representation varies. We illustrate the general features of antisymmetric Wilson loops on a number of examples where the phase transitions are known to occur: N=2 SQCD with various mass arrangements and N=2* theory. As a byproduct we solve planar N=2 SQCD with three independent mass parameters. This model has two effective mass scales and undergoes two phase transitions.
We study the $\frac{1}{2}$-BPS circular Wilson loop in the totally antisymmetric representation of the gauge group in $\mathcal N =4 $ supersymmetric Yang-Mills. This observable is captured by a Gaussian matrix model with appropriate insertion. We compute the first $1/N$ correction at leading order in 't Hooft coupling by means of the matrix model loop equations. Disagreement with the 1-loop effective action of the holographically dual $D5$-brane suggests the need to account for gravitational backreaction on the string theory side.
We consider the vacuum expectation values of 1/2-BPS circular Wilson loops in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory in the totally antisymmetric representation of the gauge group U(N) or SU(N). Localization and matrix model techniques provide exact, but rather formal, expressions for these expectation values. In this paper we show how to extract the leading and sub-leading behavior in a 1/N expansion with fixed 't Hooft coupling starting from these exact results. This is done by exploiting the relation between the generating function of antisymmetric Wilson loops and a finite-dimensional quantum system …
We study the phase transitions of three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ $U(N)$ Chern-Simons theory on $\mathbb{S}^3$ with a varied number of massive fundamental hypermultiplets and with a Fayet-Iliopoulos parameter. We characterize the various phase diagrams in the decompactification limit, according to the number of different mass scales in the theory. For this, we extend the known solution of the saddle-point equations to the setting where the one cut solution is characterized by asymmetric intervals. We then study the large $N$ limit of Wilson loops in antisymmetric representations, with the ad…
We compute the vacuum expectation values of $1/6$ supersymmetric Wilson loops in higher dimensional representations of the gauge group in ABJM theory. We present results for the $m$-symmetric and $m$-antisymmetric representations by exploiting standard matrix model techniques. At leading order, in the saddle point approximation, our expressions reproduce holographic results from both D6 and D2 branes corresponding to the antisymmetric and symmetric representations, respectively. We also compute 1/N corrections to the leading saddle point results.
We study the 1-loop dilatation operator for insertions of composite operators in a generalized Wilson loop in ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills, which interpolates between the supersymmetric Wilson-Maldacena loop and the ordinary Wilson loop with no scalar coupling. For $SO(6)$ scalar insertions, we show that the 1-loop dilatation operator is integrable for the endpoints of the interpolation, i.e. either for the Wilson-Maldacena or the ordinary Wilson loop. Moreover, we also show that integrability persists for $SU(2|3)$ insertions in the ordinary Wilson loop, even when the term making the spin ch…
We classify bosonic $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ supersymmetric Wilson loops on arbitrary backgrounds with vector-like R-symmetry. These can be defined on any smooth contour and come in two forms which are universal across all backgrounds. We show that these Wilson loops, thanks to their cohomological properties, are all invariant under smooth deformations of their contour. At genus zero they can always be mapped to local operators and computed exactly with supersymmetric localisation. Finally, we find the precise map, under two-dimensional Seiberg-like dualities, of correlators of supersymmetric Wilso…
We study supersymmetric Wilson loops from a geometrical perspective. To this end, we propose a new formulation of these operators in terms of an integral form associated to the immersion of the loop into a supermanifold. This approach provides a unifying description of Wilson loops preserving different sets of supercharges, and clarifies the flow between them. Moreover, it allows to exploit the powerful techniques of super-differential calculus for investigating their symmetries. As remarkable examples, we discuss supersymmetry and kappa-symmetry invariance.
Following Polchinski and Sully (arXiv:1104.5077), we consider a generalized Wilson loop operator containing a constant parameter $ζ$ in front of the scalar coupling term, so that $ζ=0$ corresponds to the standard Wilson loop, while $ζ=1$ to the locally supersymmetric one. We compute the expectation value of this operator for circular loop as a function of $ζ$ to second order in the planar weak coupling expansion in N=4 SYM theory. We then explain the relation of the expansion near the two conformal points $ζ=0$ and $ζ=1$ to the correlators of scalar operators inserted on the loop. We also disc…
In this note we compute the expectation value of a circular BPS Wilson loop in the higher rank totally symmetric and antisymmetric representations of SU(N) in the $\hat{A}_1$ quiver $\mathcal{N} = 2$ SCFT, using a matrix model. We discuss the connection with a recent conjecture stating that expectation values of observables in this sector are obtained from $\mathcal{N = 4}$ SYM by a universal renormalization of the `t Hooft coupling.
We report a perturbative calculation of the expectation value of the infinite straight line Maldacena-Wilson loop in $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory to order $g^6$. Thus, we extend the previous perturbative result by one order. The vacuum expectation value is reformulated in terms of a non-linear and non-local transformation, the Nicolai map, mapping the full functional measure of the interacting theory to that of a free bosonic theory. The results are twofold. The perturbative cancellations of the different contributions to the Maldacena-Wilson loop are by no means trivial an…
本文研究了不同维数下平面超对称Yang-Mills理论中的超对称威尔逊圈a la Zarembo。利用微扰理论，我们表明，这些回路有平凡的真空期望值的第二阶的t Hooft耦合。我们回顾了已知的超空间的结果，对于特定的尺寸，扩展这种平凡的所有订单的特胡夫特耦合。利用规范/引力对应，我们构造了圆几何情形下对应于这些威尔逊圈的显式对偶基本弦解。我们发现这些弦解的正则化作用消失了。我们还推广了校准表面的框架，以证明一般几何循环的正则化作用的消失。我们提出了一个可能的弦侧表现的规范理论广义小西异常在七维。
Within the electrostatic formulation of holographic duals to (balanced) conformal quivers in five and three dimensions, we study Wilson loops in antisymmetric representations. We derive general expressions for various quantities participating in the formalism (VEV of Wilson loops, representation, gauge-node) and apply these to examples, connecting some results present in the bibliography. In the case of three dimensional quivers, we present a relation between Wilson loops in an 'electric' and in the 'magnetic/mirror' descriptions. In a very detailed appendix, we relate the electrostatic and ho…
The N=2* Super-Yang-Mills theory (SYM*) undergoes an infinite sequence of large-N quantum phase transitions. We compute expectation values of Wilson loops in k-symmetric and antisymmetric representations of the SU(N) gauge group in this theory and show that the same phenomenon that causes the phase transitions at finite coupling leads to a non-analytic dependence of Wilson loops on k/N when the coupling is strictly infinite, thus making the higher-representation Wilson loops ideal holographic probes of the non-trivial phase structure of SYM*.
本文详细研究了我们最近发现的N=4超对称Yang-Mills理论中的一族超对称威尔逊圈算子，对于时空中S^3上的一般曲线，这些圈保持两个超荷，但我们也将研究保持4、8和16个超荷的特殊情况。对于某些循环，我们发现的弦论对偶明确和一般情况下，我们表明，弦的解决方案满足一阶微分方程。这个方程表达了这样一个事实，即弦相对于我们在AdS_4 x S^2上构造的一个新的几乎复结构是伪全纯的。然后，我们讨论了限制在S^2上的循环，并提供了证据，证明它们可以用球面上二维纯玻色子YM中的相似观测量来计算。
The generating functions for the Wilson loops in the symmetric and antisymmetric representations of the gauge group $U(N)$ are expressed in terms of the connected correlators of multiply-wound Wilson loops, using ingredients from the representation theory of the symmetric group. This provides a proof of a recent observation by Okuyama. As a by-product, we present a new calculation of the connected 2-point correlator of multiply-wound Wilson loops at leading order in $1/N$.
We consider soliton solutions in AdS$_{4}$ with a flat slicing and Wilson loops around one cycle. We study the phase structure and find the ground state and identify supersymmetric solutions as a function of the Wilson loops. We work in the context of a scalar field truncation of gauged $\mathcal{N}=8$ supergravity, where all the dilatons are equal and all the axions vanish in the STU model. In this theory, we construct new soliton solutions parameterized by two Wilson lines. We find that there is a degeneracy of supersymmetric solutions. We also show that, for alternate boundary conditions, t…
Correlators of local operators inserted on a straight Wilson loop in a conformal gauge theory have the structure of a one-dimensional "defect" CFT. As was shown in arXiv:1706.00756, in the case of supersymmetric Wilson-Maldacena loop in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM one can compute the strong-coupling contributions to 4-point correlators of operator insertions by starting with the AdS$_5 \times S^5$ string action expanded near the AdS$_2$ minimal surface and evaluating the corresponding AdS$_2$ Witten diagrams. We perform the analogous computations in the non-supersymmetric case of the standard Wilson l…
