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Sicilian gauge theories and \( \mathcal{N} \) = 1 dualities

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Abstract

In theories without known Lagrangian descriptions, knowledge of the global symmetries is often one of the few pieces of information we have at our disposal. Gauging (part of) such global symmetries can then lead to interesting new theories, which are usually still quite mysterious. In this work, we describe a set of tools that can be used to explore the superconformal phases of these theories. In particular, we describe the contribution of such non-Lagrangian sectors to the NSVZ β-function, and elucidate the counting of marginal deformations. We apply our techniques to \( \mathcal{N} \) = 1 theories obtained by mass deformations of the \( \mathcal{N} \) = 2 conformal theories recently found by Gaiotto. Because the basic building block of these theories is a triskelion, or trivalent vertex, we dub them “Sicilian gauge theories.” We identify these \( \mathcal{N} \) = 1 theories as compactifications of the six-dimensional A N (2, 0) theory on Riemann surfaces with punctures and SU(2) Wilson lines. These theories include the holographic duals of the \( \mathcal{N} \) = 1 supergravity solutions found by Maldacena and Nuñez.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, U.S.A.

    Francesco Benini

  2. School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, 08540, U.S.A.

    Yuji Tachikawa & Brian Wecht

Authors
  1. Francesco Benini
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  2. Yuji Tachikawa
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  3. Brian Wecht
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Correspondence to Francesco Benini.

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ArXiv ePrint: 0909.1327

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Benini, F., Tachikawa, Y. & Wecht, B. Sicilian gauge theories and \( \mathcal{N} \) = 1 dualities. J. High Energ. Phys. 2010, 88 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2010)088

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