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Tinkertoys for the D N series

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Abstract

We describe a procedure for classifying 4D \( \mathcal{N} \) = 2 superconformal theories of the type introduced by Davide Gaiotto. Any punctured curve, C, on which the 6D (2, 0) SCFT is compactified, may be decomposed into 3-punctured spheres, connected by cylinders. The 4D theories, which arise, can be characterized by listing the “matter” theories corresponding to 3-punctured spheres, the simple gauge group factors, corresponding to cylinders, and the rules for connecting these ingredients together. Different pants decompositions of C correspond to different S-duality frames for the same underlying family of 4D \( \mathcal{N} \) = 2 SCFTs. In a previous work [1], we developed such a classification for the A N −1 series of 6D (2, 0) theories. In the present paper, we extend this to the D N series. We outline the procedure for general D N , and construct, in detail, the classification through D 4. We discuss the implications for S-duality in Spin(8) and Spin(7) gauge theory, and recover many of the dualities conjectured by Argyres and Wittig [2].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Theory Group and Texas Cosmology Center, Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, U.S.A

    Oscar Chacaltana & Jacques Distler

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  1. Oscar Chacaltana
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  2. Jacques Distler
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Correspondence to Oscar Chacaltana.

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ArXiv ePrint: 1106.5410

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Chacaltana, O., Distler, J. Tinkertoys for the D N series. J. High Energ. Phys. 2013, 110 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2013)110

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