Superconformal surfaces in four dimensions

Bianchi, Lorenzo; Lemos, Madalena

Abstract

We study the constraints of superconformal symmetry on codimension two defects in four-dimensional superconformal field theories. We show that the one-point function of the stress tensor and the two-point function of the displacement operator are related, and we discuss the consequences of this relation for the Weyl anomaly coefficients as well as in a few examples, including the supersymmetric Rényi entropy. Imposing consistency with existing results, we propose a general relation that could hold for sufficiently supersymmetric defects of arbitrary dimension and codimension. Turning to N = (2, 2) surface defects in N≥ 2 superconformal field theories, we study the associated chiral algebra. We work out various properties of the modules introduced by the defect in the original chiral algebra. In particular, we find that the one-point function of the stress tensor controls the dimension of the defect identity in chiral algebra, providing a novel way to compute it, once the defect identity is identified. Studying a few examples, we show explicitly how these properties are realized.

Citation

Bianchi, L., & Lemos, M. (2020). Superconformal surfaces in four dimensions. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2020(6), Article 56. https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep06%282020%29056

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 22, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jun 8, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Deposit Date: Jun 9, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 14, 2020
• Journal: Journal of High Energy Physics
• Print ISSN: 1126-6708
• Electronic ISSN: 1029-8479
• Publisher: Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2020
• Issue: 6
• Article Number: 56
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep06%282020%29056
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1269038