A generalization of Chern-Simons gauge theory is formulated in any dimension and arbitrary gauge group where gauge fields and gauge parameters are differential forms of any degree. The quaternion algebra structure of this formulation is shown to be equivalent to a three Z(2)-gradings structure, thus clarifying the quaternion role in a previous formulation.
We study large $N$ 2+1 dimensional fermions in the fundamental representation of an $SU(N)_k$ Chern Simons gauge group in the presence of a uniform background magnetic field for the $U(1)$ global symmetry of this theory. The magnetic field modifies t
he Schwinger Dyson equation for the propagator in an interesting way; the product between the self energy and the Greens function is replaced by a Moyal star product. Employing a basis of functions previously used in the study of non-commutative solitons, we are able to exactly solve the Schwinger Dyson equation and so determine the fermion propagator. The propagator has a series of poles (and no other singularities) whose locations yield a spectrum of single particle energies at arbitrary t Hooft coupling and chemical potential. The usual free fermion Landau levels spectrum is shifted and broadened out; we compute the shifts and widths of these levels at arbitrary tHooft coupling. As a check on our results we independently solve for the propagators of the conjecturally dual theory of Chern Simons gauged large $N$ fundamental Wilson Fisher bosons also in a background magnetic field but this time only at zero chemical potential. The spectrum of single particle states of the bosonic theory precisely agrees with those of the fermionic theory under Bose-Fermi duality.
The Frenet equation governs the extrinsic geometry of a string in three-dimensional ambient space in terms of the curvature and torsion, which are both scalar functions under string reparameterisations. The description engages a local SO(2) gauge sym
metry, which emerges from the invariance of the extrinsic string geometry under local frame rotations around the tangent vector. Here we inquire how to construct the most general SO(2) gauge invariant Hamiltonian of strings, in terms of the curvature and torsion. The construction instructs us to introduce a long-range (self-) interaction between strings, which is mediated by a three dimensional bulk gauge field with a Chern-Simons self-interaction. The results support the proposal that fractional statistics should be prevalent in the case of three dimensional string-like configurations.
We study the algebra of BPS Wilson loops in 3d gauge theories with N=2 supersymmetry and Chern-Simons terms. We argue that new relations appear on the quantum level, and that in many cases this makes the algebra finite-dimensional. We use our results
to propose the mapping of Wilson loops under Seiberg-like dualities and verify that the proposed map agrees with the exact results for expectation values of circular Wilson loops. In some cases we also relate the algebra of Wilson loops to the equivariant quantum K-ring of certain quasi projective varieties. This generalizes the connection between the Verlinde algebra and the quantum cohomology of the Grassmannian found by Witten.
This is a compact review of recent results on supersymmetric Wilson loops in ABJ(M) and related theories. It aims to be a quick introduction to the state of the art in the field and a discussion of open problems. It is divided into short chapters dev
oted to different questions and techniques. Some new results, perspectives and speculations are also presented. We hope this might serve as a baseline for further studies of this topic.
It has been conjectured that 3d fermions minimally coupled to Chern-Simons gauge fields are dual to 3d critical scalars, also minimally coupled to Chern-Simons gauge fields. The large $N$ arguments for this duality can formally be used to show that C
hern-Simons-gauged {it critical} (Gross-Neveu) fermions are also dual to gauged `{it regular} scalars at every order in a $1/N$ expansion, provided both theories are well-defined (when one fine-tunes the two relevant parameters of each of these theories to zero). In the strict large $N$ limit these `quasi-bosonic theories appear as fixed lines parameterized by $x_6$, the coefficient of a sextic term in the potential. While $x_6$ is an exactly marginal deformation at leading order in large $N$, it develops a non-trivial $beta$ function at first subleading order in $1/N$. We demonstrate that the beta function is a cubic polynomial in $x_6$ at this order in $1/N$, and compute the coefficients of the cubic and quadratic terms as a function of the t Hooft coupling. We conjecture that flows governed by this leading large $N$ beta function have three fixed points for $x_6$ at every non-zero value of the t Hooft coupling, implying the existence of three distinct regular bosonic and three distinct dual critical fermionic conformal fixed points, at every value of the t Hooft coupling. We analyze the phase structure of these fixed point theories at zero temperature. We also construct dual pairs of large $N$ fine-tuned renormalization group flows from supersymmetric ${cal N}=2$ Chern-Simons-matter theories, such that one of the flows ends up in the IR at a regular boson theory while its dual partner flows to a critical fermion theory. This construction suggests that the duality between these theories persists at finite $N$, at least when $N$ is large.