Starting with a very pedestrian point of view we compare two different at the first glance definitions for an algebra associated to BPS states in supersymmetric fields theories. One proposed by Harvey and Moore exploits $S$-matrices of BPS states as structure constants of a new algebra. Another one proposed by Kontsevich and Soibelman gives a construction according to the structure of cohomological Hall algebras. We show these two constructions give equivalent algebras.
We provide a semiclassical description of framed BPS states in four-dimensional N = 2 super Yang-Mills theories probed by t Hooft defects, in terms of a supersymmetric quantum mechanics on the moduli space of singular monopoles. Framed BPS states, like their ordinary counterparts in the theory without defects, are associated with the L^2 kernel of certain Dirac operators on moduli space, or equivalently with the L^2 cohomology of related Dolbeault operators. The Dirac/Dolbeault operators depend on two Cartan-valued Higgs vevs. We conjecture a map between these vevs and the Seiberg-Witten special coordinates, consistent with a one-loop analysis and checked in examples. The map incorporates all perturbative and nonperturbative corrections that are relevant for the semiclassical construction of BPS states, over a suitably defined weak coupling regime of the Coulomb branch. We use this map to translate wall crossing formulae and the no-exotics theorem to statements about the Dirac/Dolbeault operators. The no-exotics theorem, concerning the absence of nontrivial SU(2)_R representations in the BPS spectrum, implies that the kernel of the Dirac operator is chiral, and further translates into a statement that all L^2 cohomology of the Dolbeault operator is concentrated in the middle degree. Wall crossing formulae lead to detailed predictions for where the Dirac operators fail to be Fredholm and how their kernels jump. We explore these predictions in nontrivial examples. This paper explains the background and arguments behind the results announced in a short accompanying note.
We show that the $imath$Hall algebra of the Jordan quiver is a polynomial ring in infinitely many generators and obtain transition relations among several generating sets. We establish a ring isomorphism from this $imath$Hall algebra to the ring of symmetric functions in two parameters $t, theta$, which maps the $imath$Hall basis to a class of (modified) inhomogeneous Hall-Littlewood ($imath$HL) functions. The (modified) $imath$HL functions admit a formulation via raising and lowering operators. We formulate and prove Pieri rules for (modified) $imath$HL functions. The modified $imath$HL functions specialize at $theta=0$ to the modified HL functions; they specialize at $theta=1$ to the deformed universal characters of type C, which further specialize at $(t=0, theta =1)$ to the universal characters of type C.
BPS quivers for N=2 SU(N) gauge theories are derived via geometric engineering from derived categories of toric Calabi-Yau threefolds. While the outcome is in agreement of previous low energy constructions, the geometric approach leads to several new results. An absence of walls conjecture is formulated for all values of N, relating the field theory BPS spectrum to large radius D-brane bound states. Supporting evidence is presented as explicit computations of BPS degeneracies in some examples. These computations also prove the existence of BPS states of arbitrarily high spin and infinitely many marginal stability walls at weak coupling. Moreover, framed quiver models for framed BPS states are naturally derived from this formalism, as well as a mathematical formulation of framed and unframed BPS degeneracies in terms of motivic and cohomological Donaldson-Thomas invariants. We verify the conjectured absence of BPS states with exotic SU(2)_R quantum numbers using motivic DT invariants. This application is based in particular on a complete recursive algorithm which determine the unframed BPS spectrum at any point on the Coulomb branch in terms of noncommutative Donaldson-Thomas invariants for framed quiver representations.
We consider the edge transport properties of interacting quantum Hall systems on a cylinder, in the infinite volume and zero temperature limit. We prove that the edge conductance is universal, and equal to the sum of the chiralities of the non-interacting edge modes. With respect to previous work, our result allows to consider a generic class of quantum Hall systems, displaying arbitrarily many edge modes. Our proof quantifies the validity and the limitations of the Luttinger liquid effective description for the edge currents. In particular, due to edge states scattering, the effective description alone is not able to predict the universality of the edge conductance. The exact quantization follows after fully taking into account the bulk degrees of freedom, whose precise contribution to the edge transport is determined thanks to lattice conservation laws.