Sequential deconfinement and self-dualities in 4d N $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1 gauge theories

Abstract We apply the technique of sequential deconfinement to the four dimensional N $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1 U sp(2N) gauge theory with an antisymmetric field and 2F fundamentals. The fully deconfined frame is a length-N quiver. We use this deconfined frame to prove the known self-duality of U sp(2N) with an antisymmetric field and 8 fundamentals. Along the way we encounter a subtlety: in certain quivers with degenerate holomorphic operators, a naive application of Seiberg duality rules leads to an incorrect superpotential or chiral ring. We also consider the reduction to 3d N $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 theories, recovering known fully deconfined duals of U sp(2N) and U(N) gauge theories, and obtaining new ones.