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We propose 2d $\mathcal{N}=(0,2)$ dualities between SU(N) gauge theories with fundamental and antisymmetric chiral matter and Landau-Ginzburg theories with chiral and Fermi multiplets. Many of these dualities can be derived by topologically twisting 4d s-confining gauge theories on a two-sphere, with integer non-negative $R$ charges. We provide various checks of the dualities, showing that they descend from more "basic" dualities, similarly to analogous derivations in higher dimensions. The proof are based on the fact that the antisymmetric tensors can be traded with USp(2n) gauge theories with fundamental chirals, mimicking the higher dimensional mechanism known as tensor deconfinement. The quivers obtained in this way can be shown to be dual to LG models after applying other elementary "basic" dualities., Comment: 55 pages + appendices, 17 figures

We classify all possible charge lattices and 1-form symmetry groups for $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs with characteristic dimension $\varkappa \neq \{1,2\}$. For rank-$r$ SCFTs that are not stacks of lower rank theories the order of the 1-form symmetry group can be 1,2,3,4 and $r+1$. As an application of the classification we show that $\mathcal{N}=2$ $S$-folds and Minahan-Nemeschansky SCFTs have trivial 1-form symmetry. We find two sporadic lattices compatible with the Coulomb branch geometries $\mathbb{C}^5/G_{33}$ and $\mathbb{C}^6/G_{34}$ that are not realized by any known SCFT. The former, if realized, would have a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ 1-form symmetry and a non-invertible topological defect., Comment: 37 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables

In this paper we study 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ $SU(N)$ confining gauge theories with a matter field in the rank-two index symmetric representation. The models found here are obtained from the application of the duplication formula for hyperbolic gamma functions from \emph{parent} confining models, with antisymmetric fields and (anti)-fundamental matter by \emph{freezing} some of the mass parameters for the latter. We find a series of identities that can give rise to candidate confining theories with $SU(N)$ gauge group, a symmetric tensor and in addition other charged matter fields, in general with a non-vanishing superpotential. We provide for each case further checks of the proposed dualities, by studying the Coulomb branch and by deconfining the tensorial matter by using other known 3d dualities. From the final picture a refined classification emerges, distinguishing the confining theories obtained in the paper in classes with common properties., Comment: 92 pages + appendices, 19 Figures, 21 Tables

We consider the insertion of a Gukov-Witten surface defect in $\mathrm{SU}(N)$ $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM corresponding to a probe D3-brane in the holographic dual setup. The defect gives rise to a $4d$-$2d$ coupled system encoding the entropy of the dual perturbed black hole, which can be extracted from the corresponding Superconformal Index. Elaborating on previous studies, we refine the results using both a saddle-point and a Bethe-Ansatz approach. The consistency of our computation is corroborated by the complete agreement between the two results in the appropriate regime of fugacities. Eventually, the sub-leading structure, emerging from our analysis, provides a suggestive EFT interpretation for the addition of the defect to the $4d$ system, mirroring the behavior of the probe D3-brane in the gravity dual., Comment: 42 pages, 2 figures; minor typos fixed

In this paper we revisit the $S^1$ reduction of 4d $\mathcal{N}=1$ gauge theories, considering a double scaling on the radius of the circle and on the real masses arising from the global symmetries in the compactification. We discuss the implication of this double scaling for SQCD with gauge algebra of ABCD type. We then show how our prescription translates in the reduction of the 4d superconformal index to the 3d squashed three sphere partition function. This allows us to derive the expected integral identities for the 3d dualities directly from the four dimensional ones. This is relevant for the study of orthogonal SQCD, where the derivation from the 4d index is not possible in absence of the double scaling, because of a divergence due to a flat direction in the Coulomb branch of the effective theory on the circle. Furthermore, we obtain, for the even orthogonal case, a 3d duality with a quadratic fundamental monopole superpotential already discussed in the literature, that receives in this way an explanation from 4d., Comment: 36 pages, 1 Figure; reference added

In this paper we propose a physical derivation of a 4d conjectural duality for $USp(2N)$ with an anti-symmetric rank-two tensor and fundamental flavors, in presence of a non-trivial superpotential. This duality has been conjectured as a consequence of an exact identity between the superconformal indices of the two phases, proved in the mathematical literature. Here we show that the duality can be derived by a combined sequence of known dualities, deconfinement of tensor matter, RG flow and Higgsing. Furthermore, by following these steps on the superconformal index, we provide an alternative derivation of the integral identity as well., Comment: 24 pages, 12 Figures

We study 4d exceptional S-fold SCFTs obtained from the 6d $(2,0)$ theories of type $E_{6,7,8}$. We show that all but one of these theories are discrete gaugings of free theories because they do not admit a consistent charge lattice. We compute the 1-form symmetry of the only interacting theory, the $k=4$ exceptional S-fold SCFT of type $E_8$, and find that it is trivial. Along the way we develop a consistency condition for the Coulomb Branch stratification of $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs with characteristic dimension $\varkappa \neq \{1,2\}$ and show that the triviality of (most) exceptional S-fold SCFTs follows directly from this constraint., Comment: 52 pages

We study the spindle compactification of families of AdS$_5$ consistent truncations corresponding to M5 branes wrapped on complex curves in Calabi-Yau three-folds. From the AdS/CFT correspondence these models are dual to $\mathcal{N}=1$ SCFTs obtained by gluing of $T_N$ blocks. The truncations considered here have both vector and hyper multiplets and the analysis of the BPS equations on the spindle allows to extract the central charges. Such analysis gives also consistency conditions for the existence of the solutions. The solutions are then found both analytically and numerically for opportune choices of the charges for some sub-families of truncations. We then compare our results with the one expected from the field theory side, by integrating the anomaly polynomial., Comment: 34 pages, 1 figure

In this paper we give a field theory explanation of two confining dualities that have been proposed in the literature based on exact results from supersymmetric localization. The first confining model under investigation is 4d $SU(N_c+1)$ SQCD with a conjugate rank-$2$ anti-symmetric tensor, $N_c+3$ anti-fundamentals, $2N_c$ fundamentals and a superpotential that couples the anti-symmetric tensor and the fundamentals. The second confining model studied here is $3d$ $\mathcal{N}=2$ $USp(4)$ gauge SQCD with two fundamentals, two rank-$2$ anti-symmetric tensors and vanishing superpotential. Here we prove that these models are confining by using the technique of deconfining the anti-symmetric tensors and then by flowing to the IR description by sequential dualities. As a bonus the analysis provides (alternative) proofs of the identities obtained from supersymmetric localization., Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures

We evaluate the superconformal index of 4d $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM with gauge algebra $so(2N_c+1)$ in the Cardy-like limit. We then study the relation with the results obtained for the S-dual $usp(2N_c)$, discussing the fate of S-duality in different regions of charges. We find that S-duality is preserved thanks to a non-trivial integral identity that relates the three sphere partition functions of pure 3d Chern-Simons gauge theories., Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures

We investigate 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories on $S^1 \times S^2$ and the corresponding 2d effective field theories arising in the limit of small ratio of radii, $\beta=R_{S^1}/R_{S^2}\to 0$. We evaluate the exact partition function of these theories in the framework of A-twisted backgrounds. As a result, we establish a finite-$N$ map between a particular, superconformal-index-inspired A-twisted partition function and the topologically twisted index. Taking the large-$N$ limit of the partition functions, we reproduce the entropy functions of either spherically symmetric, magnetically charged, or rotating, electrically charged asymptotically AdS$_4$ black holes. We then recast the problem of evaluating the 3d partition functions directly in the framework of rigid supersymmetry. By carefully tracking the background fields, we find that in the small-$\beta$ limit, the partition functions of these 3d large-$N$ superconformal field theories have a universal behavior related to the coefficients of the R-symmetry or flavor symmetry 2-point current correlation functions, thus obtaining a universal Cardy-like formula for 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal field theories., Comment: 36 pages, 2 figures; v2: expositions improved in Sec. 4.3, typos corrected in Sec. 4.4

We study the compactification of the $\mathcal{N}=2$ AdS$_5$ consistent truncation of the conifold, in presence of a Betti vector multiplet, on the spindle. We derive the BPS equations and solve them at the poles, computing the central charge for both the twist and the anti-twist class, turning on the magnetic charge associated to the baryonic symmetry. Then, in the anti-twist class, where there are choices of the quantized flux that give origin to a positive central charge, we numerically solve the BPS equations interpolating between the poles of the spindle. We conclude by comparing our results with the one obtained from the analysis of the dual field theory, finding an exact agreement., Comment: 35 pages, 2 figures, reference added, typos corrected

We classify the global one-form symmetries for non-Lagrangian $\mathcal{N}=3$ SCFTs that arise by the action of $S$-fold projections on D3-branes. Such a classification is dictated, on a generic point of the Coulomb branch, by probing the charge spectrum of $(p, q)$-strings in the brane setup. The charge lattice of lines is then obtained by finding the ones that are genuine modulo screening by dynamical particles. The one-form symmetries are then extracted from the maximal sub-lattices of mutually local lines. We further comment on the existence of non-invertible symmetries for some of these $\mathcal{N}=3$ SCFTs., Comment: 32 pages, 2 figures

We study orientifold projections of families of four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ toric quiver gauge theories. We restrict to quivers that have the unusual property of being associated with multiple periodic planar diagrams which give rise, in general, to inequivalent models. A suitable orientifold projection relates a subfamily of the latter by conformal duality. That is, there exist exactly marginal deformations that connect the projected models. The deformations take the form of a sign flip in some of the superpotential interactions, similarly to the $\beta$-deformation of $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM. Our construction generalizes previous results on the orientifold projections of the PdP$_{3b}$ and PdP$_{3c}$ singularities., Comment: 47 pages, 25 figures, 2 appendices. v2: Typos corrected, improved text, 3 tables added

We discuss and reinterpret a 4d conformal triality recently discovered in the literature in terms of ordinary Seiberg duality. We observe that a non-abelian global symmetry is explicitly realized by only two out of the three phase. We corroborate the result by matching the superconformal index in terms of an expansion on the fugacities., Comment: 7 pages

We compute the Lens space index for 4d supersymmetric gauge theories involving symplectic gauge groups. This index can distinguish between different gauge groups from a given algebra and it matches across theories related by supersymmetric dualities. We provide explicit calculations for $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM and for classes of $\mathcal{N}=2$ and $\mathcal{N}=1$ Lagrangian quivers related by S-duality. In these cases the index matches across the S-dual phases, while models in different S-duality orbits have a different Lens index. We provide analogous computations for a 4d $\mathcal{N}=1$ toric quiver gauge theory corresponding to a $\mathbb{Z}_7$ orbifold of $\mathbb{C}^3$. This $SU(n)^7$ gauge theory becomes interesting in the case of $n=2$ because it is conformally dual to other two models, with symplectic and unitary gauge groups, bifundamentals and antisymmetric tensors. We explicitly check this triality at the level of the Lens space index., Comment: 38 pages, 10 figures

The microstate counting of charged rotating AdS$_5$ supersymmetric black holes has been reformulated in terms of an extremization problem, obtained from the superconformal index of the 4d dual SCFT. On the gravitational side this problem corresponds to the attractor mechanism of the theory KK reduced on AdS$_4$. Such procedure has indeed been successfully applied to some consistent truncations with a known field theory dual description. In this paper we study the case of the Leigh-Strassler fixed point along these lines, finding an agreement between the field theory and the gravitational results., Comment: 32 pages

We study dualities for $3d$ $\text{U}(N_{c})_k$ chiral SQCD with $D_{n+2}$-type superpotential, with $n$ odd. We give a complete classification of such dualities in terms of the number of fundamentals and anti-fundamentals and the Chern-Simons level. The classification is obtained by real mass and Higgs flows from non-chiral dualities and we check the consistency of the new non-chiral dualities at the level of the partition function. We we also check that the complex phases appearing in the integral identities between the partition functions are consistent with the contact terms computed as quantum corrections to the effective Chern-Simons level. The $\text{SU}(N_{c})_k$ cases are recovered by gauging the topological symmetry from the $\text{U}(N_{c})$ dualities. Finally, we consider the case of $\text{USp}(2N_{c})_{2k}$ with two antisymmetric tensors and $D_{n+2}$-type superpotential., Comment: 29 pages

We study various orientifold projections of 4d $\mathcal{N}=1$ toric gauge theories, associated with CY singularities known as $L^{a,b,a}/\mathbb{Z}_2$, with $a+b$ even. We obtain superconformal chiral theories that have the same central charge, anomalies and superconformal index, whereas they were different before the orientifold. Some of these projections are implemented by a novel type of orientifold without fixed loci, known as glide orientifold. We claim that these theories flow to the same conformal manifold, and they are connected by quadratic exactly marginal deformations. The latter can be written in terms of conjugate pairs of bifundamental fields of $R$-charge one, generalizing previous results for unoriented non-chiral theories., Comment: 42 pages, 33 figures

We study 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ dualities arising from the compactification of 4d $\mathcal{N}=1$ $Usp(2 n)$ SQCD with two antisymmetric rank-two tensors and $D_{k+2}$-type superpotential, with odd $k$. The analysis is carried out by using field theory methods and by checking the various steps on the three sphere partition function. Most of the results are based on a conjectural confining duality that we do not prove but that fits consistently with the web of dualities that we obtain. Along the analysis we recover dualities already claimed in the literature and we propose new ones. The final picture that emerges fits with the general scheme worked out for ordinary SQCD and for adjoint SQCD with $A_k$-type superpotentials., Comment: 34 pages, 1 figure

We study 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ SQCD with symplectic and orthogonal gauge groups and adjoint matter. For $USp(2n)$ with two fundamentals and $SO(N)$ with one vector these models have been recently shown to s-confine. Here we corroborate the validity of this proposal by relating it to the confinement of $USp(2n)$ with four fundamentals and an antisymmetric tensor, using exact mathematical results coming from the analysis of the partition function on the squashed three-sphere. Our analysis allows us to conjecture new s-confining theories for a higher number of fundamentals and vectors, in presence of linear monopole superpotentials. We then prove the new dualities through a chain of adjoint deconfinements and s-confining dualities., Comment: 39 pages, 5 figures

We study 4d SCFTs obtained by orientifold projections on necklace quivers with fractional branes. The models obtained by this procedure are $\mathcal{N}=1$ linear quivers with unitary, symplectic and orthogonal gauge groups, bifundamental and tensorial matter. Remarkably, models that are not dual in the unoriented case can have the same central charges and superconformal index after the projection. The reason for this behavior rests upon the ubiquitous presence of adjoint fields with R-charge one. We claim that the presence of such fields is at the origin of the notion of inherited S-duality on the models' conformal manifold., Comment: 39 pages (1 landscape), 13 figures, 8 tables; v2: typos fixed; v3: citations added, version published in JHEP

We compute $\tau_{RR}$ minimization in gauged supergravity for M-theory and String Theory truncations with both massless and massive vector multiplets. We explicitly compute, as anticipated in \cite{Amariti:2015ybz}, that massive vector fields at the vacuum require the introduction of a constraint through a Lagrange multiplier. We illustrate this explicitly in two examples, namely the $U(1)^2$-invariant truncation dual to the mABJM model and the ISO(7) truncation in massive IIA, the latter being a theory with both electric and magnetic gauging. We revisit the vacuum constraints at $AdS_4$ and show how the supergravity analysis matches the results of the field theory dual computation., Comment: 31 pages

We systematically study 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ dualities for $U(N_c)$ gauge theories with different CS levels for the abelian and the non-abelian factors. We derive such dualities by a gauging/ungauging procedure on other known dualities and by adding an opportune CS contact term for the baryonic symmetry. This allows us to follow the various steps on the three sphere partition function, obtaining exact identities among the new dual phases proposed here. We apply the procedure to various cases, namely SQCD without and with adjoint, chiral dualities and some sporadic cases arising from the real mass flow of models with an $E_7 \times U(1)$ enhancement of the global symmetry., Comment: 29 pages

We study the Cardy-like limit of the superconformal index of generic $\mathcal{N}=1$ SCFTs with ABCD gauge algebra, providing strong evidence for a universal formula that captures the behavior of the index at finite order in the rank and in the fugacities associated to angular momenta. The formula extends previous results valid at lowest order, and generalizes them to generic SCFTs. We corroborate the validity of our proposal by studying several examples, beyond the well-understood toric class. We compute the index also for models without a weakly-coupled gravity dual, whose gravitational anomaly is not of order one., Comment: 40 pages, 3 figures; v2: typos fixed, citations added; v3: further typos fixed, version published in JHEP

We study the superconformal index of 4d $\mathcal{N}=4$ $USp(2N_c)$ and $SO(N_c)$ SYM from a matrix model perspective. We focus on the Cardy-like limit of the index. Both in the symplectic and orthogonal case the index is dominated by a saddle point solution which we identify, reducing the calculation to a matrix integral of a pure Chern-Simons theory on the three-sphere. We further compute the subleading logarithmic corrections, which are of the order of the center of the gauge group. In the $USp(2N_c)$ case we also study other subleading saddles of the matrix integral. Finally we discuss the case of the Leigh-Strassler fixed point with $SU(N_c)$ gauge group, and we compute the entropy of the dual black hole from the Legendre transform of the entropy function., Comment: 29 pages, 1 appendix; v2: typos corrected and references added; v3: corrected a mistake in the appendix, expanded discussion about logarithmic corrections in the introduction and about saddle points for SO groups in section 4

We study the Euclidean bounce action interpolating between a false and a true vacuum for a scalar field theory with various types of potential. We focus on the cases of a triangular, a square and a quadratic barrier, where the bounce action has already been computed analytically in four dimensions. We generalize the result to d dimensions, providing an analytic formula in each case. Furthermore we show that our results reduce to the ones computed from the thin wall approximation, when the true and the false vacuum are close in energy. When the true vacuum cannot be reached in a finite amount of Euclidean time we study the damped oscillations of the solution by analytical continuation to Lorentzian spacetime., Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures

We study dualities for 3d $\mathcal{N} = 2$ $SU(N_c)$ SQCD at Chern-Simons level $k$ in presence of an adjoint with polynomial superpotential. The dualities are dubbed chiral because there is a different amount of fundamentals $N_f$ and antifundamentals $N_a$. We build a complete classification of such dualities in terms of $ |N_f - N_a| $ and $k$. The classification is obtained by studying the flow from the non-chiral case, and we corroborate our proposals by matching the three-sphere partition functions. Finally, we revisit the case of $SU(N_c)$ SQCD without the adjoint, comparing our results with previous literature., Comment: 49 pages, 4 appendices, 4 figures; v2: typos fixed; v3: minor comments added, references added, figures fixed, version published in JHEP

In this note we elaborate on a recent counter-example to the Nelson-Seiberg theorem and to its generalizations. We provide sufficient conditions for the existence of such counter-examples, finding new ones. We claim that these counter-examples are connected with the presence of pairs of fields with opposite R-charge getting a VEV. Furthermore we comment on the "non-genericity" of our models, showing that none of them violates the original Nelson-Seiberg theorem, Comment: 13 pages

We study little string theory (LST) compactified on $\mathbf{T}^2$, partially breaking supersymmetry by a discrete T-duality twist acting on both the K\"ahler and the complex structure of the torus. This setup gives raise to 4d $\mathcal{N}=3$ models and it can be performed in both the type IIA and type IIB LSTs. We comment on the relation with other constructions proposed in the literature., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures

The additional data necessary to univocally fix the gauge group for a given algebra are represented by the same charge lattices of mutually local Wilson and 't Hooft lines for both 4d $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM and $\mathcal{N}=2$ elliptic models. Motivated by this equivalence in this paper we study the Lens space index of these $\mathcal{N}=2$ elliptic models. The index is indeed sensitive to the global properties and in the $\mathcal{N}=4$ case it is expected to coincide among S-dual models with different global properties, while it gives different results for models that lie in other S-duality orbits. Here by an explicit calculation we show that the same results hold for the $\mathcal{N}=2$ elliptic models as well., Comment: 17 pages, typos corrected

It has recently been claimed that a Cardy-like limit of the superconformal index of 4d $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM accounts for the entropy function, whose Legendre transform corresponds to the entropy of the holographic dual AdS$_5$ rotating black hole. Here we study this Cardy-like limit for $\mathcal{N}=1$ toric quiver gauge theories, observing that the corresponding entropy function can be interpreted in terms of the toric data. Furthermore, for some families of models, we compute the Legendre transform of the entropy function, comparing with similar results recently discussed in the literature., Comment: 34 pages, typos corrected in section 2, a reference added

The cosmology of branes undergoing the self-tuning mechanism of the cosmological constant is considered. The equations and matching conditions are derived in several coordinate systems, and an exploration of possible solution strategies is performed. The ensuing equations are solved analytically in the probe brane limit. We classify the distinct behavior for the brane cosmology and we correlate them with properties of the bulk (static) solutions. Their matching to the actual universe cosmology is addressed., Comment: 44 pages + appendix, 1 figure

We construct several novel examples of 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ models whose free energy scales as $N^{3/2}$ at large $N$. This is the first step towards the identification of field theories with an M-theory dual. Furthermore, we match the volumes extracted from the free energy with the ones computed from the Hilbert series. We perform a similar analysis for the 4d parents of the 3d models, matching the volume extracted from the $a$ conformal anomaly to that obtained from the Hilbert series. For some of the 4d models, we show the existence of a Sasaki-Einstein metric on the internal space of the candidate type IIB gravity dual., Comment: 33+34 pages, 4 appendices, 7 figures, 3 tables; v2: references added, minor corrections; v3: version published in JHEP

We obtain the brane setup describing 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ dualities for $USp(2N_c)$ and $U(N_c)$ SQCD with monopole superpotentials. This classification follows from a complete analysis of affine and twisted affine compactifications from 4d. The analysis leads to a new duality for the unitary case that has been previously overlooked in the literature. We check this by matching of the three sphere partition function of the two sides of this new duality and find a perfect agreement. Furthermore we use the partition function to predict new 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ dualities for SQCD with monopole superpotentials and tensorial matter., Comment: 30 pages