Skip to main content
Log in

3d dualities from 4d dualities

  • Published:
Journal of High Energy Physics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Many examples of low-energy dualities have been found in supersymmetric gauge theories with four supercharges, both in four and in three space-time dimensions. In these dualities, two theories that are different at high energies have the same low-energy limit. In this paper we clarify the relation between the dualities in four and in three dimensions. We show that every four dimensional duality gives rise to a three dimensional duality between theories that are similar, but not identical, to the dimensional reductions of the four dimensional dual gauge theories to three dimensions. From these specific three dimensional dualities one can flow to many other low-energy dualities, including known three dimensional dualities and many new ones. We discuss in detail the case of three dimensional SU(N c) supersymmetric QCD theories, showing how to derive new duals for these theories from the four dimensional duality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. N. Seiberg, Electric-magnetic duality in supersymmetric nonAbelian gauge theories, Nucl. Phys. B 435 (1995) 129 [hep-th/9411149] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. K.A. Intriligator and N. Seiberg, Lectures on supersymmetric gauge theories and electric-magnetic duality, Nucl. Phys. Proc. Suppl. 45BC (1996) 1 [hep-th/9509066] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. V. Niarchos, Seiberg dualities and the 3d/4d connection, JHEP 07 (2012) 075 [arXiv:1205.2086] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. K.A. Intriligator and N. Seiberg, Duality, monopoles, dyons, confinement and oblique confinement in supersymmetric SO(N (c)) gauge theories, Nucl. Phys. B 444 (1995) 125 [hep-th/9503179] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. I. Affleck, J.A. Harvey and E. Witten, Instantons and (Super)Symmetry Breaking in (2+1)-Dimensions, Nucl. Phys. B 206 (1982) 413 [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. O. Aharony, IR duality in D = 3 N = 2 supersymmetric USp(2N (c)) and U(N (c)) gauge theories, Phys. Lett. B 404 (1997) 71 [hep-th/9703215] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. K.A. Intriligator and P. Pouliot, Exact superpotentials, quantum vacua and duality in supersymmetric SP (N (c)) gauge theories, Phys. Lett. B 353 (1995) 471 [hep-th/9505006] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. A. Karch, Seiberg duality in three-dimensions, Phys. Lett. B 405 (1997) 79 [hep-th/9703172] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. S. Elitzur, A. Giveon and D. Kutasov, Branes and N = 1 duality in string theory, Phys. Lett. B 400 (1997) 269 [hep-th/9702014] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. S. Elitzur, A. Giveon, D. Kutasov, E. Rabinovici and A. Schwimmer, Brane dynamics and N =1 supersymmetric gauge theory, Nucl. Phys. B 505(1997) 202[hep-th/9704104] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. A. Giveon and D. Kutasov, Brane dynamics and gauge theory, Rev. Mod. Phys. 71 (1999) 983 [hep-th/9802067] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. C. Romelsberger, Counting chiral primaries in N = 1, D = 4 superconformal field theories, Nucl. Phys. B 747 (2006) 329 [hep-th/0510060] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. G. Festuccia and N. Seiberg, Rigid Supersymmetric Theories in Curved Superspace, JHEP 06 (2011) 114 [arXiv:1105.0689] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. F. Dolan and H. Osborn, Applications of the Superconformal Index for Protected Operators and q-Hypergeometric Identities to N = 1 Dual Theories, Nucl. Phys. B 818 (2009) 137 [arXiv:0801.4947] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. V. Spiridonov and G. Vartanov, Elliptic hypergeometry of supersymmetric dualities II. Orthogonal groups, knots and vortices, arXiv:1107.5788 [INSPIRE].

  16. V. Spiridonov and G. Vartanov, Elliptic Hypergeometry of Supersymmetric Dualities, Commun. Math. Phys. 304 (2011) 797 [arXiv:0910.5944] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  17. A. Gadde, L. Rastelli, S.S. Razamat and W. Yan, On the Superconformal Index of N = 1 IR Fixed Points: A Holographic Check, JHEP 03 (2011) 041 [arXiv:1011.5278] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. V. Spiridonov and G. Vartanov, Superconformal indices for N = 1 theories with multiple duals, Nucl. Phys. B 824 (2010) 192 [arXiv:0811.1909] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. R. Eager, J. Schmude and Y. Tachikawa, Superconformal Indices, Sasaki-Einstein Manifolds and Cyclic Homologies, arXiv:1207.0573 [INSPIRE].

  20. F. Dolan, V. Spiridonov and G. Vartanov, From 4d superconformal indices to 3d partition functions, Phys. Lett. B 704 (2011) 234 [arXiv:1104.1787] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. A. Gadde and W. Yan, Reducing the 4d Index to the S 3 Partition Function, JHEP 12 (2012) 003 [arXiv:1104.2592] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Y. Imamura, Relation between the 4d superconformal index and the S 3 partition function, JHEP 09 (2011) 133 [arXiv:1104.4482] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. A. Kapustin, B. Willett and I. Yaakov, Nonperturbative Tests of Three-Dimensional Dualities, JHEP 10 (2010) 013 [arXiv:1003.5694] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. N. Seiberg and E. Witten, Gauge dynamics and compactification to three-dimensions, hep-th/9607163 [INSPIRE].

  25. D. Kutasov and A. Schwimmer, On duality in supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, Phys. Lett. B 354 (1995) 315 [hep-th/9505004] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. D. Kutasov, A. Schwimmer and N. Seiberg, Chiral rings, singularity theory and electric-magnetic duality, Nucl. Phys. B 459 (1996) 455 [hep-th/9510222] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. K. Intriligator and N. Seiberg, Aspects of 3d N = 2 Chern-Simons-Matter Theories, arXiv:1305.1633 [INSPIRE].

  28. D.L. Jafferis, The Exact Superconformal R-Symmetry Extremizes Z, JHEP 05 (2012) 159 [arXiv:1012.3210] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. D.L. Jafferis, I.R. Klebanov, S.S. Pufu and B.R. Safdi, Towards the F-Theorem: N = 2 Field Theories on the Three-Sphere, JHEP 06 (2011) 102 [arXiv:1103.1181] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. C. Closset, T.T. Dumitrescu, G. Festuccia, Z. Komargodski and N. Seiberg, Contact Terms, Unitarity and F-Maximization in Three-Dimensional Superconformal Theories, JHEP 10 (2012) 053 [arXiv:1205.4142] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  31. B.R. Safdi, I.R. Klebanov and J. Lee, A Crack in the Conformal Window, arXiv:1212.4502 [INSPIRE].

  32. O. Aharony and I. Shamir, On O(N c) D = 3 N = 2 supersymmetric QCD Theories, JHEP 12 (2011) 043 [arXiv:1109.5081] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  33. O. Aharony, N. Seiberg and Y. Tachikawa, Reading between the lines of four-dimensional gauge theories, arXiv:1305.0318 [INSPIRE].

  34. O. Aharony, S.S. Razamat, N. Seiberg and B. Willett, 3d dualities from 4d dualities for orthogonal groups, arXiv:1307.0511 [INSPIRE].

  35. A. Kapustin, Seiberg-like duality in three dimensions for orthogonal gauge groups, arXiv:1104.0466 [INSPIRE].

  36. F. Benini, C. Closset and S. Cremonesi, Comments on 3d Seiberg-like dualities, JHEP 10 (2011) 075 [arXiv:1108.5373] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  37. C. Hwang, K.-J. Park and J. Park, Evidence for Aharony duality for orthogonal gauge groups, JHEP 11 (2011) 011 [arXiv:1109.2828] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  38. D. Kutasov, A Comment on duality in N = 1 supersymmetric nonAbelian gauge theories, Phys. Lett. B 351 (1995) 230 [hep-th/9503086] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  39. V. Niarchos, Seiberg Duality in Chern-Simons Theories with Fundamental and Adjoint Matter, JHEP 11 (2008) 001 [arXiv:0808.2771] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  40. V. Niarchos, R-charges, Chiral Rings and RG Flows in Supersymmetric Chern-Simons-Matter Theories, JHEP 05 (2009) 054 [arXiv:0903.0435] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  41. T. Morita and V. Niarchos, F-theorem, duality and SUSY breaking in one-adjoint Chern-Simons-Matter theories, Nucl. Phys. B 858 (2012) 84 [arXiv:1108.4963] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  42. A. Kapustin, H. Kim and J. Park, Dualities for 3d Theories with Tensor Matter, JHEP 12 (2011) 087 [arXiv:1110.2547] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  43. H. Kim and J. Park, Aharony Dualities for 3d Theories with Adjoint Matter, JHEP 06 (2013) 106 [arXiv:1302.3645] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  44. O. Aharony, S.S. Razamat, N. Seiberg and B. Willett, work in progress.

  45. K. Hori and D. Tong, Aspects of Non-Abelian Gauge Dynamics in Two-Dimensional N =(2,2) Theories, JHEP 05(2007) 079 [hep-th/0609032] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  46. K. Hori, Duality In Two-Dimensional (2,2) Supersymmetric Non-Abelian Gauge Theories, arXiv:1104.2853 [INSPIRE].

  47. A. Gadde and S. Gukov, 2d Index and Surface operators, arXiv:1305.0266 [INSPIRE].

  48. J. Park and K.-J. Park, Seiberg-like Dualities for 3d N = 2 Theories with SU(N) gauge group, arXiv:1305.6280 [INSPIRE].

  49. O. Aharony, A. Hanany, K.A. Intriligator, N. Seiberg and M. Strassler, Aspects of N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories in three-dimensions, Nucl. Phys. B 499 (1997) 67 [hep-th/9703110] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  50. A. Niemi and G. Semenoff, Axial Anomaly Induced Fermion Fractionization and Effective Gauge Theory Actions in Odd Dimensional Space-Times, Phys. Rev. Lett. 51 (1983) 2077 [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  51. A. Redlich, Parity Violation and Gauge Noninvariance of the Effective Gauge Field Action in Three-Dimensions, Phys. Rev. D 29 (1984) 2366 [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  52. B. Zupnik and D. Pak, Topologically massive gauge theories in superspace, Sov. Phys. J. 31 (1988) 962 [INSPIRE].

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. E. Ivanov, Chern-Simons matter systems with manifest N = 2 supersymmetry, Phys. Lett. B 268 (1991) 203 [INSPIRE].

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  54. A.M. Polyakov, Quark Confinement and Topology of Gauge Groups, Nucl. Phys. B 120 (1977) 429 [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  55. V. Borokhov, A. Kapustin and X.-k. Wu, Topological disorder operators in three-dimensional conformal field theory, JHEP 11 (2002) 049 [hep-th/0206054] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  56. V. Borokhov, A. Kapustin and X.-k. Wu, Monopole operators and mirror symmetry in three-dimensions, JHEP 12 (2002) 044 [hep-th/0207074] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  57. A. Kapustin, Wilson-t Hooft operators in four-dimensional gauge theories and S-duality, Phys. Rev. D 74 (2006) 025005 [hep-th/0501015] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  58. N. Seiberg, Exact results on the space of vacua of four-dimensional SUSY gauge theories, Phys. Rev. D 49 (1994) 6857 [hep-th/9402044] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  59. K.A. Intriligator and N. Seiberg, Mirror symmetry in three-dimensional gauge theories, Phys. Lett. B 387 (1996) 513 [hep-th/9607207] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  60. J. de Boer, K. Hori, H. Ooguri and Y. Oz, Mirror symmetry in three-dimensional gauge theories, quivers and D-branes, Nucl. Phys. B 493 (1997) 101 [hep-th/9611063] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  61. J. de Boer, K. Hori, Y. Oz and Z. Yin, Branes and mirror symmetry in N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories in three-dimensions, Nucl. Phys. B 502 (1997) 107 [hep-th/9702154] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  62. I. Shamir, Aspects of three dimensional Seiberg duality, MSc Thesis submitted to the Weizmann Institute of Science, April 2010.

  63. A. Giveon and D. Kutasov, Seiberg Duality in Chern-Simons Theory, Nucl. Phys. B 812 (2009) 1 [arXiv:0808.0360] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  64. E. Witten, Supersymmetric index of three-dimensional gauge theory, hep-th/9903005 [INSPIRE].

  65. S.G. Naculich, H. Riggs and H. Schnitzer, Group level duality in WZW models and Chern-Simons theory, Phys. Lett. B 246 (1990) 417 [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  66. M. Camperi, F. Levstein and G. Zemba, The Large-N limit of Chern-Simons gauge theory, Phys. Lett. B 247 (1990) 549 [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  67. E. Mlawer, S.G. Naculich, H. Riggs and H. Schnitzer, Group level duality of WZW fusion coefficients and Chern-Simons link observables, Nucl. Phys. B 352 (1991) 863 [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  68. T. Nakanishi and A. Tsuchiya, Level rank duality of WZW models in conformal field theory, Commun. Math. Phys. 144 (1992) 351 [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  69. S.G. Naculich and H.J. Schnitzer, Level-rank duality of the U(N ) WZW model, Chern-Simons theory and 2 − D qYM theory, JHEP 06 (2007) 023 [hep-th/0703089] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  70. C. Closset, T.T. Dumitrescu, G. Festuccia, Z. Komargodski and N. Seiberg, Comments on Chern-Simons Contact Terms in Three Dimensions, JHEP 09 (2012) 091 [arXiv:1206.5218] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  71. A. Kapustin, Three-dimensional Avatars of Seiberg Duality, talk given at Simons Summer Workshop in Mathematics and Physics 2011, http://media.scgp.stonybrook.edu/video/video.php?f=20110810 1 qtp.mp4.

  72. J. Kinney, J.M. Maldacena, S. Minwalla and S. Raju, An Index for 4 dimensional super conformal theories, Commun. Math. Phys. 275 (2007) 209 [hep-th/0510251] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  73. A. Kapustin, B. Willett and I. Yaakov, Exact Results for Wilson Loops in Superconformal Chern-Simons Theories with Matter, JHEP 03 (2010) 089 [arXiv:0909.4559] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  74. Y. Imamura and D. Yokoyama, N=2 supersymmetric theories on squashed three-sphere, Phys. Rev. D 85 (2012) 025015 [arXiv:1109.4734] [INSPIRE].

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  75. N. Seiberg, Modifying the Sum Over Topological Sectors and Constraints on Supergravity, JHEP 07 (2010) 070 [arXiv:1005.0002] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  76. T. Banks and N. Seiberg, Symmetries and Strings in Field Theory and Gravity, Phys. Rev. D 83 (2011) 084019 [arXiv:1011.5120] [INSPIRE].

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  77. N. Hama, K. Hosomichi and S. Lee, SUSY Gauge Theories on Squashed Three-Spheres, JHEP 05 (2011) 014 [arXiv:1102.4716] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  78. C. Closset, T.T. Dumitrescu, G. Festuccia and Z. Komargodski, Supersymmetric Field Theories on Three-Manifolds, JHEP 05 (2013) 017 [arXiv:1212.3388] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  79. F. van de Bult, Hyperbolic Hypergeometric Functions, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Amsterdam (2007) [http://www.its.caltech.edu/˜vdbult/Thesis.pdf].

  80. G. Felder and A. Varchenko, The elliptic gamma function and SL(3, \( \mathbb{Z} \)) × Z 3, Adv. Math. 156 (2000) 44 [math/9907061].

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  81. V. Spiridonov and G. Vartanov, Elliptic hypergeometric integrals andt Hooft anomaly matching conditions, JHEP 06 (2012) 016 [arXiv:1203.5677] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  82. S.S. Razamat, On a modular property of N = 2 superconformal theories in four dimensions, JHEP 10 (2012) 191 [arXiv:1208.5056] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  83. M. Cvetič, T.W. Grimm and D. Klevers, Anomaly Cancellation And Abelian Gauge Symmetries In F-theory, JHEP 02 (2013) 101 [arXiv:1210.6034] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  84. B. Willett and I. Yaakov, N=2 Dualities and Z Extremization in Three Dimensions, arXiv:1104.0487 [INSPIRE].

  85. A. Kapustin and B. Willett, Generalized Superconformal Index for Three Dimensional Field Theories, arXiv:1106.2484 [INSPIRE].

  86. J. Bhattacharya, S. Bhattacharyya, S. Minwalla and S. Raju, Indices for Superconformal Field Theories in 3,5 and 6 Dimensions, JHEP 02 (2008) 064 [arXiv:0801.1435] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  87. S. Kim, The Complete superconformal index for N = 6 Chern-Simons theory, Nucl. Phys. B 821 (2009) 241 [Erratum ibid. B 864 (2012) 884] [arXiv:0903.4172] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  88. Y. Imamura and S. Yokoyama, Index for three dimensional superconformal field theories with general R-charge assignments, JHEP 04 (2011) 007 [arXiv:1101.0557] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  89. T. Dimofte, D. Gaiotto and S. Gukov, 3-Manifolds and 3d Indices, arXiv:1112.5179 [INSPIRE].

  90. C. Beem, T. Dimofte and S. Pasquetti, Holomorphic Blocks in Three Dimensions, arXiv:1211.1986 [INSPIRE].

  91. C. Hwang, H.-C. Kim and J. Park, Factorization of the 3d superconformal index, arXiv:1211.6023 [INSPIRE].

  92. C. Krattenthaler, V. Spiridonov and G. Vartanov, Superconformal indices of three-dimensional theories related by mirror symmetry, JHEP 06 (2011) 008 [arXiv:1103.4075] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  93. Y. Imamura and D. Yokoyama, S 3 /Z n partition function and dualities, JHEP 11 (2012) 122 [arXiv:1208.1404] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  94. C. Hwang, H. Kim, K.-J. Park and J. Park, Index computation for 3d Chern-Simons matter theory: test of Seiberg-like duality, JHEP 09 (2011) 037 [arXiv:1107.4942] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  95. H.-C. Kim and S. Kim, M5-branes from gauge theories on the 5-sphere, JHEP 05 (2013) 144 [arXiv:1206.6339] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ofer Aharony.

Additional information

ArXiv ePrint: 1305.3924

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Aharony, O., Razamat, S.S., Seiberg, N. et al. 3d dualities from 4d dualities. J. High Energ. Phys. 2013, 149 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2013)149

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2013)149

Keywords

Navigation