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On the Defect Group of a 6D SCFT

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Abstract

We use the F-theory realization of 6D superconformal field theories (SCFTs) to study the corresponding spectrum of stringlike, i.e., surface defects. On the tensor branch, all of the stringlike excitations pick up a finite tension, and there is a corresponding lattice of string charges, as well as a dual lattice of charges for the surface defects. The defect group is data intrinsic to the SCFT and measures the surface defect charges which are not screened by dynamical strings. When non-trivial, it indicates that the associated theory has a partition vector rather than a partition function. We compute the defect group for all known 6D SCFTs, and find that it is just the abelianization of the discrete subgroup of U(2) which appears in the classification of 6D SCFTs realized in F-theory. We also explain how the defect group specifies defining data in the compactification of a (1, 0) SCFT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jefferson Physical Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Michele Del Zotto & Tom Rudelius

  2. Department of Physics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Jonathan J. Heckman

  3. Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Daniel S. Park

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  1. Michele Del Zotto
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  2. Jonathan J. Heckman
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  3. Daniel S. Park
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  4. Tom Rudelius
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Correspondence to Jonathan J. Heckman.

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Del Zotto, M., Heckman, J.J., Park, D.S. et al. On the Defect Group of a 6D SCFT. Lett Math Phys 106, 765–786 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11005-016-0839-5

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