Holomorphy, triality and non-perturbative beta function in 2d supersymmetric QCD

We present a systematic study of ${\cal N}=(2,2)$ supersymmetric non-linear sigma models on $S^2$ with the target being a K\"ahler manifold. We discuss their reformulation in terms of cohomological field theory. In the cohomological formulation we use a novel version of 2D self-duality which involves a $U(1)$ action on $S^2$. In addition to the generic model we discuss the theory with target space equivariance corresponding to a supersymmetric sigma model coupled to a non-dyn...

We give a non-perturbative proof of a gradient formula for beta functions of two-dimensional quantum field theories. The gradient formula has the form \partial_{i}c = - (g_{ij}+\Delta g_{ij} +b_{ij})\beta^{j} where \beta^{j} are the beta functions, c and g_{ij} are the Zamolodchikov c-function and metric, b_{ij} is an antisymmetric tensor introduced by H. Osborn and \Delta g_{ij} is a certain metric correction. The formula is derived under the assumption of stress-energy cons...

We study dynamics of two-dimensional N=(0,1) supersymmetric gauge theories. In particular, we propose that there is an infrared triality between certain triples of theories with orthogonal and symplectic gauge groups. The proposal is supported by matching of anomalies and elliptic genera. This triality can be viewed as a (0,1) counterpart of the (0,2) triality proposed earlier by two of the authors and A. Gadde. We also describe the relation between global anomalies in gauge ...

Renormalization group methods are used to determine the evolution of the low energy Wilson effective action for supersymmetric nonlinear sigma models in four dimensions. For the case of supersymmetric $CP^{(N-1)}$ models, the K\"ahler potential is determined exactly and is shown to exhibit a nontrivial ultraviolet fixed point in addition to a trivial infrared fixed point. The strong coupling behavior of the theory suggests the possible existence of additional relevant operato...

The holographic RG flow in AdS/CFT correspondence naturally defines a holographic scheme in which the central charge c and the beta function are related by a universal formula. We perform some checks of that formula and we compare it with quantum field theory expectations. We discuss alternative definitions of the c-function. In particular, we compare, for a particular supersymmetric flow, the holographic c-function with the central charge computed directly from the two-point...

We discuss from a geometric point of view the connection between the renormalization group flow for non--linear sigma models and the Ricci flow. This offers new perspectives in providing a geometrical landscape for 2D quantum field theories. In particular we argue that the structure of Ricci flow singularities suggests a natural way for extending, beyond the weak coupling regime, the embedding of the Ricci flow into the renormalization group flow.

It is shown that the beta functions for four dimensional N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory without matter give integral curves on the moduli space some of which are geodesics of the natural metric on the moduli space. In particular the flow lines which cross-over from from the weak coupling limit (asymptotically free theory) to the singular points, representing the strong coupling limit, are geodesics. A possible connection with irreversibility is discussed.

We determine the exact beta function and a RG flow Lyapunov function for N=2 SYM with gauge group SU(n). It turns out that the classical discriminants of the Seiberg-Witten curves determine the RG potential. The radial irreversibility of the RG flow in the SU(2) case and the non-perturbative identity relating the $u$-modulus and the superconformal anomaly, indicate the existence of a four dimensional analogue of the c-theorem for N=2 SYM which we formulate for the full SU(n) ...

We compute the exact two-sphere partition function and matrix of two-point functions of operators in the chiral ring with their complex conjugates in two-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories. For gauge theories that flow in the infrared to a Calabi-Yau nonlinear sigma model, these renormalization group invariant observables determine the exact Kahler potential and associated Zamolodchikov metric in the complex structure moduli space of the Calabi-Yau manifold.

This is a very brief review of some results from hep-th/0112154 and hep-th/0209191. In holographic renormalization, we studied the RG flow of a 2d N=(4,4) CFT perturbed by a relevant operator, flowing to a conformal fixed point in the IR. Here, the supergravity dual is displayed, and the computation of correlators is discussed. The sample stress-energy correlator given here provides an opportunity to explicitly compare Zamolodchikov's C-function to the proposal for a "hologra...