No Arabic abstract
We study a perturbation family of N=2 3d gauge theories and its relation to quantum K-theory. A 3d version of the Intriligator-Vafa formula is given for the quantum K-theory ring of Grassmannians. The 3d BPS half-index of the gauge theory is connected to the theory of bilateral hypergeometric q-series, and to modular q-characters of a class of conformal field theories in a certain massless limit. Turning on 3d Wilson lines at torsion points leads to mock modular behavior. Perturbed correlators in the IR regime are computed by determining the UV-IR map in the presence of deformations.
Inspired by the split attractor flow conjecture for multi-centered black hole solutions in N=2 supergravity, we propose a formula expressing the BPS index $Omega(gamma,z)$ in terms of `attractor indices $Omega_*(gamma_i)$. The latter count BPS states in their respective attractor chamber. This formula expresses the index as a sum over stable flow trees weighted by products of attractor indices. We show how to compute the contribution of each tree directly in terms of asymptotic data, without having to integrate the attractor flow explicitly. Furthermore, we derive new representations for the index which make it manifest that discontinuities associated to distinct trees cancel in the sum, leaving only the discontinuities consistent with wall-crossing. We apply these results in the context of quiver quantum mechanics, providing a new way of computing the Betti numbers of quiver moduli spaces, and compare them with the Coulomb branch formula, clarifying the relation between attractor and single-centered indices.
F-theory compactifications on appropriate local elliptic Calabi-Yau manifolds engineer six dimensional superconformal field theories and their mass deformations. The partition function $Z_{top}$ of the refined topological string on these geometries captures the particle BPS spectrum of this class of theories compactified on a circle. Organizing $Z_{top}$ in terms of contributions $Z_beta$ at base degree $beta$ of the elliptic fibration, we find that these, up to a multiplier system, are meromorphic Jacobi forms of weight zero with modular parameter the Kaehler class of the elliptic fiber and elliptic parameters the couplings and mass parameters. The indices with regard to the multiple elliptic parameters are fixed by the refined holomorphic anomaly equations, which we show to be completely determined from knowledge of the chiral anomaly of the corresponding SCFT. We express $Z_beta$ as a quotient of weak Jacobi forms, with a universal denominator inspired by its pole structure as suggested by the form of $Z_{top}$ in terms of 5d BPS numbers. The numerator is determined by modularity up to a finite number of coefficients, which we prove to be fixed uniquely by imposing vanishing conditions on 5d BPS numbers as boundary conditions. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach with many examples, in particular solving the E-string and M-string theories including mass deformations, as well as theories constructed as chains of these. We make contact with previous work by showing that spurious singularities are cancelled when the partition function is written in the form advocated here. Finally, we use the BPS invariants of the E-string thus obtained to test a generalization of the Goettsche-Nakajima-Yoshioka $K$-theoretic blowup equation, as inspired by the Grassi-Hatsuda-Marino conjecture, to generic local Calabi-Yau threefolds.
In recent work, we conjectured that Calabi-Yau threefolds defined over $mathbb{Q}$ and admitting a supersymmetric flux compactification are modular, and associated to (the Tate twists of) weight-two cuspidal Hecke eigenforms. In this work, we will address two natural follow-up questions, of both a physical and mathematical nature, that are surprisingly closely related. First, in passing from a complex manifold to a rational variety, as we must do to study modularity, we are implicitly choosing a rational model for the threefold; how do different choices of rational model affect our results? Second, the same modular forms are associated to elliptic curves over $mathbb{Q}$; are these elliptic curves found anywhere in the physical setup? By studying the F-theory uplift of the supersymmetric flux vacua found in the compactification of IIB string theory on (the mirror of) the Calabi-Yau hypersurface $X$ in $mathbb{P}(1,1,2,2,2)$, we find a one-parameter family of elliptic curves whose associated eigenforms exactly match those associated to $X$. Actually, we find two such families, corresponding to two different choices of rational models for the same family of Calabi-Yaus.
Whenever available, refined BPS indices provide considerably more information on the spectrum of BPS states than their unrefined version. Extending earlier work on the modularity of generalized Donaldson-Thomas invariants counting D4-D2-D0 brane bound states in type IIA strings on a Calabi-Yau threefold $mathfrak{Y}$, we construct the modular completion of generating functions of refined BPS indices supported on a divisor class. Although for compact $mathfrak{Y}$ the refined indices are not protected, switching on the refinement considerably simplifies the construction of the modular completion. Furthermore, it leads to a non-commutative analogue of the TBA equations, which suggests a quantization of the moduli space consistent with S-duality. In contrast, for a local CY threefold given by the total space of the canonical bundle over a complex surface $S$, refined BPS indices are well-defined, and equal to Vafa-Witten invariants of $S$. Our construction provides a modular completion of the generating function of these refined invariants for arbitrary rank. In cases where all reducible components of the divisor class are collinear (which occurs e.g. when $b_2(mathfrak{Y})=1$, or in the local case), we show that the holomorphic anomaly equation satisfied by the completed generating function truncates at quadratic order. In the local case, it agrees with an earlier proposal by Minahan et al for unrefined invariants, and extends it to the refined level using the afore-mentioned non-commutative structure. Finally, we show that these general predictions reproduce known results for $U(2)$ and $U(3)$ Vafa-Witten theory on $mathbb{P}^2$, and make them explicit for $U(4)$.
The 2d gauged linear sigma model (GLSM) gives a UV model for quantum cohomology on a Kahler manifold X, which is reproduced in the IR limit. We propose and explore a 3d lift of this correspondence, where the UV model is the N=2 supersymmetric 3d gauge theory and the IR limit is given by Giventals permutation equivariant quantum K-theory on X. This gives a one-parameter deformation of the 2d GLSM/quantum cohomology correspondence and recovers it in a small radius limit. We study some novelties of the 3d case regarding integral BPS invariants, chiral rings, deformation spaces and mirror symmetry.