SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 64 (2022) ·
published 26 October 2022
|
· pdf
Superconformal field theory with $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetry in four dimensional spacetime provides a prime playground to study strongly coupled phenomena in quantum field theory. Its rigid structure ensures valuable analytic control over non-perturbative effects, yet the theory is still flexible enough to incorporate a large landscape of quantum systems.
Here we aim to offer a guidebook to fundamental features of the 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal field theories and basic tools to construct them in string/M-/F-theory.
The content is based on a series of lectures at the Quantum
Field Theories and Geometry School
(https://sites.google.com/view/qftandgeometrysummerschool/home) in July 2020.
Stephen Ebert, Christian Ferko, Hao-Yu Sun, Zhengdi Sun
SciPost Phys. 13, 096 (2022) ·
published 13 October 2022
|
· pdf
JT gravity has a first-order formulation as a two-dimensional BF theory,
which can be viewed as the dimensional reduction of the Chern-Simons
description of $3d$ gravity. We consider $T\bar{T}$-type deformations of the
$(0+1)$-dimensional dual to this $2d$ BF theory and interpret the deformation
as a modification of the BF theory boundary conditions. The fundamental
observables in this deformed BF theory, and in its $3d$ Chern-Simons lift, are
Wilson lines and loops. In the $3d$ Chern-Simons setting, we study
modifications to correlators involving boundary-anchored Wilson lines which are
induced by a $T\bar{T}$ deformation on the $2d$ boundary; results are presented
at both the classical level (using modified boundary conditions) and the
quantum-mechanical level (using conformal perturbation theory). Finally, we
calculate the analogous deformed Wilson line correlators in $2d$ BF theory
below the Hagedorn temperature where the principal series dominates over the
discrete series.
