Vacuum alignment in supersymmetric gauge theories

We investigate the dynamical mass generation resulted from interaction terms with four chiral superfields. The kind of interactions maybe considered a supersymmetric generalization of the four-fermion interactions of the classic Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. A four-superfield interaction that contains a four-fermion interaction as one of its component terms has been the standard supersymmetrization of the NJL model for decades. Recently, we introduced a holomorphic variant with a dimension five interaction term instead. The latter is a main target of the present analysis. With the introduction of a new perspective on the superfield gap equation, we derive it for each one of the four-superfield interactions, using the supergraph technique. Through analyzing solutions to the gap equations, we illustrate the dynamical generation of superfield Dirac mass, including a supersymmetry breaking part. A dynamical symmetry breaking generally goes along with the dynamical mass generation, for which a bi-superfield condensate is responsible. The explicit illustration of dynamical symmetry breaking from the holomorphic dimension five interaction is reported for the first time. It has rich and novel features, which would be easily missed without the superfield approach developed here. We also discuss the nature of the bi-superfield condensate and its role of the effective Higgs superfield picture for both cases, illustrating their difference. Note that such a holomorphic quark superfield interaction term can successful account for the electroweak symmetry breaking with Higgs superfields as composites.

Since the discovery of D-branes as non-perturbative, dynamic objects in string theory, various configurations of branes in type IIA/B string theory and M-theory have been considered to study their low-energy dynamics described by supersymmetric quantum field theories. One example of such a construction is based on the description of Seiberg-Witten curves of four-dimensional N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories as branes in type IIA string theory and M-theory. This enables us to study the gauge theories in strongly-coupled regimes. Spectral networks are another tool for utilizing branes to study non-perturbative regimes of two- and four-dimensional supersymmetric theories. Using spectral networks of a Seiberg-Witten theory we can find its BPS spectrum, which is protected from quantum corrections by supersymmetry, and also the BPS spectrum of a related two-dimensional N = (2,2) theory whose (twisted) superpotential is determined by the Seiberg-Witten curve. When we don’t know the perturbative description of such a theory, its spectrum obtained via spectral networks is a useful piece of information. In this thesis we illustrate these ideas with examples of the use of Seiberg-Witten curves and spectral networks to understand various two- and four-dimensional supersymmetric theories. First, we examine how the geometry of a Seiberg-Witten curve serves as a useful tool for identifying various limits of the parameters of the Seiberg-Witten theory, including Argyres-Seiberg duality and Argyres-Douglas fixed points. Next, we consider the low-energy limit of a two-dimensional N = (2, 2) supersymmetric theory from an M-theory brane configuration whose (twisted) superpotential is determined by the geometry of the branes. We show that, when the two-dimensional theory flows to its infra-red fixed point, particular cases realize Kazama-Suzuki coset models. We also study the BPS spectrum of an Argyres-Douglas type superconformal field theory on the Coulomb branch by using its spectral networks. We provide strong evidence of the equivalence of superconformal field theories from different string-theoretic constructions by comparing their BPS spectra.

Recently, there has been observed an interesting correspondence between supersymmetric quiver gauge theories with four supercharges and integrable lattice models of statistical mechanics such that the two-dimensional spin lattice is the quiver diagram, the partition function of the lattice model is the partition function of the gauge theory and the Yang-Baxter equation expresses the identity of partition functions for dual pairs. This correspondence is a powerful tool which enables us to generate new integrable models. The aim of the present paper is to give a short account on a progress in integrable lattice models which has been made due to the relationship with supersymmetric gauge theories.

We suggest simple models of spontaneous parity violation in supersymmetric strong gauge theory. We focus on left-right symmetric model and investigate vacuum with spontaneous parity violation. Non-perturbative effects are calculable in supersymmetric gauge theory, and we suggest two new models. The first model shows confinement, and the second model has a dual description of the theory. The left-right symmetry breaking and electroweak symmetry breaking are simultaneously occurred with the suitable energy scale hierarchy. The second model also induces spontaneous supersymmetry breaking.

A large class of supersymmetric quantum field theories, including all theories with $\mathcal{N} = 2$ supersymmetry in three dimensions and theories with $\mathcal{N} = 2$ supersymmetry in four dimensions, possess topological-holomorphic sectors. We formulate Poisson vertex algebras in such topological-holomorphic sectors and discuss some examples. For a four-dimensional $\mathcal{N} = 2$ superconformal field theory, the associated Poisson vertex algebra is the classical limit of a vertex algebra generated by a subset of local operators of the theory.

We discuss dynamical mass generation for fermions and (string-inspired) pseudoscalar fields (axion-like particles (ALP)), in the context of effective theories containing Yukawa type interactions between the fermions and ALPs. We discuss both Hermitian and non-Hermitian Yukawa interactions, which are motivated in the context of some scenarios for radiative (anomalous) Majorana sterile neutrino masses in some effective field theories. The latter contain shift-symmetry breaking Yukawa interactions between sterile neutrinos and ALPs. Our models serve as prototypes for discussing dynamical mass generation in string-inspired theories, where ALP potentials are absent in any order of string perturbation theory, and could only be generated by stringy non perturbative effects, such as instantons. The latter are also thought of as being responsible for generating our Yukawa interactions, which are thus characterised by very small couplings. We show that, for a Hermitian Yukawa interaction, there is no (pseudo)scalar dynamical mass generation, but there is fermion dynamical mass generation, provided one adds a bare (pseudo)scalar mass. The situation is opposite for an anti-Hermitian Yukawa model: there is (pseudo)scalar dynamical mass generation, but no fermion dynamical mass generation. In the presence of additional attractive four-fermion interactions, dynamical fermion mass generation can occur in these models, under appropriate conditions and range of their couplings.

We construct a three dimensional deconfinement method which enables us to find new three-dimensional dualities and we apply various techniques developed in four dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories, such as the product gauge groups and Seiberg-Witten curves to the three dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories. Dual descriptions of three dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories which involve two-index matters, for example, adjoint, symmetric, and anti-symmetric matters without superpotentials can be obtained. These matters are described in terms of s-confining phases of the supersymmetric gauge theories.

We study weak coupling perturbative series in 4D N=2 and 5D N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories with Lagrangians. We prove that the perturbative series of these theories in the zero-instanton sector are Borel summable for various observables. Our result for the 4D N=2 case supports an expectation from a recent proposal on a semiclassical realization of infrared renormalons in QCD-like theories, where the semiclassical solution does not exist in N=2 theories and the perturbative series are unambiguous, namely, Borel summable. We also prove that the perturbative series in an arbitrary number of instanton sectors are Borel summable for a wide class of theories. It turns out that exact results can be obtained by summing over the Borel resummations with every instanton number.

We revisit the definition of the 6j symbols from the modular double of \({\mathcal{U}_q(\mathfrak{sl}(2, \mathbb{R}))}\), referred to as b-6j symbols. Our new results are (1) the identification of particularly natural normalization conditions, and (2) new integral representations for this object. This is used to briefly discuss possible applications to quantum hyperbolic geometry, and to the study of certain supersymmetric gauge theories. We show, in particular, that the b-6j symbol has leading semiclassical asymptotics given by the volume of a non-ideal tetrahedron. Our new integral representations finally indicate a possible interpretation of the b-6j symbols as partition functions of non-abelian three-dimensional \({\mathcal{N}=2}\) supersymmetric gauge theories.

Quantum field theory in the large N limit: a review

In supersymmetric theories, the signs of quartic terms in the Kähler potential control the stability of non-supersymmetric field configurations. In particular, in supersymmetric inflation models, the signs are important for the stability of an inflationary trajectory as well as for the prediction of the spectral index. In this paper, we clarify what properties of a UV theory determine the sign from unitarity arguments of scattering amplitudes. As non-trivial examples, we discuss the sign of a four-meson term in large N supersymmetric gauge theories and also those of the quartic terms obtained in the intersecting D-brane models in superstring theory. The UV origins of inflationary models and supersymmetry breaking models are constrained by this discussion.

Non-abelian chiral anomalies in supersymmetric gauge theories

We review the non-anticommutative Q-deformations of $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = (1, 1) supersymmetric theories in four-dimensional Euclidean harmonic superspace. These deformations preserve chirality and harmonic Grassmann analyticity. The associated field theories arise as a low-energy limit of string theory in specific backgrounds and generalize the Moyal-deformed supersymmetric field theories. A characteristic feature of the Q-deformed theories is the half-breaking of supersymmetry in the chiral sector of the Euclidean superspace. Our main focus is on the chiral singlet Q-deformation, which is distinguished by preserving the SO(4) ∼ Spin(4) “Lorentz” symmetry and the SU(2) R-symmetry. We present the superfield and component structures of the deformed $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = (1, 0) supersymmetric gauge theory as well as of hypermultiplets coupled to a gauge superfield: invariant actions, deformed transformation rules, and so on. We discuss quantum aspects of these models and prove their renormalizability in the Abelian case. For the charged hypermultiplet in an Abelian gauge superfield background we construct the deformed holomorphic effective action.

We construct $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric nonlocal theories in four dimension. We discuss higher derivative extensions of chiral and vector superfields, and write down generic forms of K\"ahler potential and superpotential up to quadratic order. We derive the condition in which an auxiliary field remains non-dynamical, and the dynamical scalars and fermions are free from the ghost degrees of freedom. We also investigate the nonlocal effects on the supersymmetry breaking and find that supertrace (mass) formula is significantly modified even at the tree level.

We explore a weakly coupled $SU(N_{c})$ gauge theory, examining its fixed-point structure and the transition from infrared conformality to spontaneous symmetry breaking. Following a previous study, we couple the gauge field to $N_s$ scalars and $N_f$ fermions, take the large-$N_c$ limit with $N_s/N_c$ and $N_f/N_c$ fixed, and adjust these ratios to produce weakly coupled infrared fixed points while maintaining asymptotic freedom. We map out renormalization-group trajectories, and describe the transition to symmetry breaking as the ratio $N_s/N_c$ is increased. We examine the breaking by employing the one-loop effective potential. At tree level, a scalar-field vacuum expectation value (VEV) of a certain form is allowed, leading to masses for a subset of the scalar fields. Among the remaining massless scalars, one corresponds to a massless dilaton and the others are Nambu-Goldstone bosons absorbed by the gauge fields. The one-loop potential breaks the scale symmetry explicitly, determining the VEV and generating a dilaton mass suppressed relative to the other masses by a factor of the weak scalar coupling.