The multicenter solutions of 4d ${cal N}=2$ supergravity contain a subset of scaling solutions with vanishing total angular momentum. In a near limit those solutions are asymptotically locally AdS$_2times$ S$^2$, but we show that a higher moment of a
ngular momentum contributes a subtle twist, rotating the S$^2$ with time. This provides some potential hair distinguishing the asymptotics of these scaling solutions from the near horizon geometry of an extremal BPS black hole.
We consider classical, pure Yang-Mills theory in a box. We show how a set of static electric fields that solve the theory in an adiabatic limit correspond to geodesic motion on the space of vacua, equipped with a particular Riemannian metric that we
identify. The vacua are generated by spontaneously broken global gauge symmetries, leading to an infinite number of conserved momenta of the geodesic motion. We show that these correspond to the soft multipole charges of Yang-Mills theory.
We revisit the holographic dictionary for a free massless scalar in AdS$_3$, focusing on the `singleton solutions for which the boundary profile is an arbitrary chiral function. We look for consistent boundary conditions which include this class of s
olutions. On one hand, we give a no-go argument that they cannot be interpreted within any boundary condition which preserves full conformal invariance. On the other hand, we show that such solutions fit naturally in a generalization of the Comp`{e}re-Song-Strominger boundary conditions, which preserve a chiral Virasoro and current algebra. These observations have implications for the black hole deconstruction proposal, which proposes singleton solutions as candidate black hole microstate geometries. Our results suggest that the chiral boundary condition, which also contains the extremal BTZ black hole, is the natural setting for holographically interpreting the black hole deconstruction proposal.
We revisit the manifestly covariant large $c$ expansion of General Relativity, $c$ being the speed of light. Assuming the relativistic connection has no pole in $c^{-2}$, this expansion is known to reproduce Newton-Cartan gravity and a covariant vers
ion of Post-Newtonian corrections to it. We show that relaxing this assumption leads to the inclusion of twistless torsion in the effective non-relativistic theory. We argue that the resulting TTNC theory is an effective description of a non-relativistic regime of General Relativity that extends Newtonian physics by including strong gravitational time dilation.
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, li
ke 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 study Kaluza-Klein reduction in Newton-Cartan gravity. In particular we show that dimensional reduction and the nonrelativistic limit commute. The resulting theory contains Galilean electromagnetism and a nonrelativistic scalar. It provides the fi
rst example of back-reacted couplings of scalar and vector matter to Newton-Cartan gravity. This back-reaction is interesting as it sources the spatial Ricci curvature, providing an example where nonrelativistic gravity is more than just a Newtonian potential.
We present a new family of asymptotic AdS_3 x S^2 solutions to eleven dimensional supergravity compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold. They originate from the backreaction of S^2-wrapped M2-branes, which play a central role in the deconstruction prop
osal for the microscopic interpretation of the D4-D0 black hole entropy. We show that they are free of possible pathologies such as closed timelike curves and discuss their holographic interpretation.
We revisit supersymmetric solutions to five dimensional ungauged N=1 supergravity with dynamic hypermultiplets. In particular we focus on a truncation to the axion-dilaton contained in the universal hypermultiplet. The relevant solutions are fibratio
ns over a four-dimensional Kahler base with a holomorphic axion-dilaton. We focus on solutions with additional symmetries and classify Killing vectors which preserve the additional structure imposed by supersymmetry; in particular we extend the existing classification of solutions with a space-like U(1) isometry to the case where the Killing vector is rotational. We elaborate on general geometrical aspects which we illustrate in some simple examples. We especially discuss solutions describing the backreaction of M2-branes, which for example play a role in the black hole deconstruction proposal for microstate geometries.
We study intersecting brane systems that realize a class of singular monopole configurations in four-dimensional Yang-Mills-Higgs theory. Singular monopoles are solutions to the Bogomolny equation on R^3 with a prescribed number of singularities corr
esponding to the insertion of t Hooft defects. We use the brane construction to motivate a recent conjecture on the conditions for which the moduli space of solutions is non-empty. We also show how branes provide physical intuition for various aspects of the dimension formula derived in {arXiv:1404.5616}, including the contribution to the dimension from the defects and its invariance under Weyl reflections of the t Hooft charges. Along the way we uncover and illustrate new dynamical phenomena for the brane systems, including a description of smooth monopole extraction and bubbling from t Hooft defects.
We show that M-theory admits a supersymmetric compactification to the Godel universe of the form Godel3 x S2 x CY3. We interpret this geometry as coming from the backreaction of M2-branes wrapping the S2 in an AdS3 x S2 x CY3 flux compactification. I
n the black hole deconstruction proposal similar states give rise to the entropy of a D4-D0 black hole. The system is effectively described by a three-dimensional theory consisting of an axion-dilaton coupled to gravity with a negative cosmological constant. Other embeddings of the three-dimensional theory imply similar supersymmetric Godel compactifications of type IIA/IIB string theory and F-theory.
