We consider $3d$ $\mathcal{N}\!=\!2$ gauge theories with fundamental matter plus a single field in a rank-$2$ representation. Using iteratively a process of "deconfinement" of the rank-$2$ field, we produce a sequence of Seiberg-dual quiver theories. We detail this process in two examples with zero superpotential: $Usp(2N)$ gauge theory with an antisymmetric field and $U(N)$ gauge theory with an adjoint field. The fully deconfined dual quiver has $N$ nodes, and can be interpreted as an Aharony dual of theories with rank-$2$ matter. All chiral ring generators of the original theory are mapped into gauge singlet fields of the fully deconfined quiver dual.
We apply the technique of sequential deconfinement to the four dimensional $\mathcal{N}\!=\!1$ $Usp(2N)$ gauge theory with an antisymmetric field and $2F$ fundamentals. The fully deconfined frame is a length-$N$ quiver. We use this deconfined frame to prove the known self-duality of $Usp(2N)$ with an antisymmetric field and $8$ fundamentals. Along the way we encounter a subtlety: in certain quivers with degenerate holomorphic operators, a naive application of Seiberg duality rules leads to an incorrect superpotential or chiral ring. We also consider the reduction to $3d$ $\mathcal{N}\!=\!2$ th…
It is an interesting question whether a given infra-red duality between quantum field theories can be explained in terms of other more elementary dualities. For example recently it has been shown that mirror dualities can be obtained by iterative applications of Seiberg-like dualities. In this paper we continue this line of investigation focusing on theories with tensor matter. In such cases one can apply the idea of deconfinement, which consists of trading the tensor matter for extra gauge nodes by means of a suitable elementary duality. This gives an auxiliary dual frame which can then be ma…
We construct a three dimensional deconfinement method which enables us to find new three-dimensional dualities and we apply various techniques developed in four dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories, such as the product gauge groups and Seiberg-Witten curves to the three dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories. Dual descriptions of three dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories which involve two-index matters, for example, adjoint, symmetric, and anti-symmetric matters without superpotentials can be obtained. These matters are described in terms of s-conf…
We consider four dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ gauge theories that are S-confining, that is they are dual to a Wess-Zumino model. S-confining theories with a simple gauge group have been classified. We prove all the S-confining dualities in the list, when the matter fields transform in rank-$1$ and/or rank-$2$ representations. Our only assumptions are the S-confining dualities for $SU(N)$ with $N+1$ flavors and for $Usp(2N)$ with $2N+4$ fundamentals. The strategy consists in a sequence of deconfinements and re-confinements. We pay special attention to the explicit superpotential at each step.
We revisit the confinement/deconfinement transition in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills (SYM) theory and its relation to the Hawking-Page transition in gravity. Recently there has been substantial progress on counting the microstates of 1/16-BPS extremal black holes. However, there is presently a mismatch between the Hawking-Page transition and its avatar in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM. This led to speculations about the existence of new gravitational saddles that would resolve the mismatch. Here we exhibit a phenomenon in complex matrix models which we call "delayed deconfinement". It turns out that …
We discuss the deconfinement and the CP-breaking phase transitions at $θ=π$ in Yang-Mills theories. The 't Hooft anomaly matching prohibits the confined phase with CP symmetry and requires $T_{dec}(θ=π) \le T_{CP}$, where $T_{dec}(θ=π)$ and $T_{CP}$ denote the deconfinement and the CP-restoration temperatures, respectively, at $θ=π$. We analytically study these two phase transitions in softly-broken $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories on small $\mathbb{R}^3\times S^1$ with the periodic boundary condition for gluinos. For most gauge groups except SU(2) in this model, we find that…
Recently, an indicative evidence of a stochastic process, reported by the NANOGrav Collaboration based on the analysis of 12.5-year pulsar timing array data which might be interpreted as a potential stochastic gravitational wave signal, has aroused keen interest of theorists. The first-order color charge confinement phase transition at the QCD scale could be one of the cosmological sources for the NANOGrav signal. If the phase transition is flavor dependent and happens sequentially, it is important to find that what kind of QCD matter in which the first-order confinement/deconfinement phase tr…
We analyze S-duality of orientifolds of the Calabi-Yau cone over the first del Pezzo surface ($dP_1$). The S-duals of known phases, described by quiver gauge theories, contain intrinsically strongly-coupled sectors. These sectors are realized by a higher multiplicity intersection of NS5 branes and D5 branes atop an O5 plane, and can be thought of as stuck at the infinite coupling point between two Seiberg-dual gauge theories. We argue that such sectors appear generically in orientifolds of non-orbifold singularities, where in many examples every orientifold phase contains such a sector. Unders…
We consider the lagrangian description of Argyres-Douglas theories of type $A_{2N-1}$, which is a $SU(N)$ gauge theory with an adjoint and one fundamental flavor. An appropriate reformulation allows us to map the moduli space of vacua across the duality, and to dimensionally reduce. Going down to three dimensions, we find that the adjoint SQCD "abelianizes": in the infrared it is equivalent to a $\mathcal{N}=4$ linear quiver theory. Moreover, we study the mirror dual: using a monopole duality to "sequentially confine" quivers tails with balanced nodes, we show that the mirror RG flow lands on …
An electric field quench, a suddenly applied electric field, can induce nontrivial dynamics in confining systems which may lead to thermalization as well as a deconfinement transition. In order to analyze this nonequilibrium transitions,we use the AdS/CFT correspondence for $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric QCD that has a confining meson sector. We find that the electric field quench causes the deconfinement transition even when the magnitude of the applied electric field is smaller than the critical value for the static case (which is the QCD Schwinger limit for quark-antiquark pair creation). T…
I study finite-temperature $\mathcal N=1$ super Yang-Mills for any gauge group $G=A_N, B_N, C_N, D_N, E_{6,7,8},F_4,G_2$, compactified from four dimensions on a torus, $\mathbb R^2\times S^1_L\times S^1_β$. I examine in particular the low temperature regime $L\llβ=1/T$, where $L$ is the length of the spatial circle with periodic boundary conditions and with anti-periodic boundary conditions for the adjoint gauginos along the thermal cycle $S^1_β$. For small such $L$ we are in a regime were semiclassical calculations can be performed and a transition occurs at $T_c$ much smaller than $1/NL$. Th…
We classify symmetry fractionalization and anomalies in a (3+1)d U(1) gauge theory enriched by a global symmetry group $G$. We find that, in general, a symmetry-enrichment pattern is specified by 4 pieces of data: $ρ$, a map from $G$ to the duality symmetry group of this $\mathrm{U}(1)$ gauge theory which physically encodes how the symmetry permutes the fractional excitations, $ν\in\mathcal{H}^2_ρ[G, \mathrm{U}_\mathsf{T}(1)]$, the symmetry actions on the electric charge, $p\in\mathcal{H}^1[G, \mathbb{Z}_\mathsf{T}]$, indication of certain domain wall decoration with bosonic integer quantum Ha…
In gauge theories, spontaneous breaking of the centre symmetry provides a precise definition of deconfinement. In large-$N$ gauge theories, evidence has emerged recently that between confined and deconfined phases a partially-deconfined phase can appear, in which only a subset of colours deconfine. In the partially-deconfined phase, the centre symmetry is spontaneously broken, raising the question of whether an order parameter exists that can distinguish completely- and partially-deconfined phases. We present two examples in gauge theories of global symmetries that are spontaneously broken in …
We continue the study of Lagrangian descriptions of $\mathcal{N}=2$ Argyres-Douglas theories. We use our recent interpretation in terms of sequential confinement to guess the Lagrangians of all the Argyres-Douglas models with Abelian three dimensional mirror. We find classes of four dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ quivers that flow in the infrared to generalized Argyres-Douglas theories, such as the $(A_k,A_{kN+N-1})$ models. We study in detail how the $\mathcal{N}=1$ chiral rings map to the Coulomb and Higgs Branches of the $\mathcal{N}=2$ CFT's. The three dimensional mirror RG flows are shown to…
In this thesis, we investigate properties of the one-parameter $β$- and the three-parameter $γ_i$-deformed descendents of $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM theory. We find additional multi-trace interactions that must be included in the deformed theories to prevent persistent divergences in observables. For the $γ_i$-deformation, we show in an explicit Feynman-diagrammatic calculation that these interactions have running coupling constants which spoil the conformal invariance of the quantised theory, even in the 't Hooft limit. We show that the running coupling constant in principle also affect the anomalou…
