March 22, 1999
We study toric singularities of the form of $\C^4/\Ga$ for finite abelian groups $\Ga \subset SU(4)$. In particular, we consider the simplest case $\Ga=\Z_2 \times \Z_2 \times \Z_2$ and find explicitly charge matrices for partial resolutions of this orbifold by extending the method by Morrison and Plesser. We obtain three kinds of algebraic equations, $z_1 z_2 z_3 z_4=z_5^2, z_1 z_2 z_3=z_4^2 z_5 $ and $z_1 z_2 z_5 = z_3 z_4$ where $z_i$'s parametrize $\C^5$. When we put $N$ ...
September 22, 2016
We introduce Orbifold Reduction, a new method for generating $2d$ $(0,2)$ gauge theories associated to D1-branes probing singular toric Calabi-Yau 4-folds starting from $4d$ $\mathcal{N}=1$ gauge theories on D3-branes probing toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds. The new procedure generalizes dimensional reduction and orbifolding. In terms of T-dual configurations, it generates brane brick models starting from brane tilings. Orbifold reduction provides an agile approach for generating $2...
April 6, 1997
We study brane configurations which correspond to field theories in four dimension with N=2 and N=1 supersymmetry. In particular we discuss brane motions that translate to Seiberg's duality in N=1 models recently studied by Elitzur, Giveon and Kutasov. We investigate, using the brane picture, the moduli spaces of the dual theories. Deformations of these models like mass terms and vacuum expectation values of scalar fields can be identified with positions of branes. The map of...
October 29, 2012
We report on a broad new class of N=1 gauge theory dualities which relate the worldvolume gauge theories of D3 branes probing different orientifolds of the same Calabi-Yau singularity. In this paper, we focus on the simplest example of these new dualities, arising from the orbifold singularity C^3/Z_3. We present extensive checks of the duality, including anomaly matching, partial moduli space matching, matching of discrete symmetries, and matching of the superconformal indic...
July 2, 2002
A popular way to study N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories is to realize them geometrically in string theory, as suspended brane constructions, D-branes wrapping cycles in Calabi-Yau manifolds, orbifolds, and otherwise. Among the applications of this idea are simple derivations and generalizations of Seiberg duality for the theories which can be so realized. We abstract from these arguments the idea that Seiberg duality arises because a configuration of gauge theory can be re...
January 12, 2012
Reflexive polygons have attracted great interest both in mathematics and in physics. This paper discusses a new aspect of the existing study in the context of quiver gauge theories. These theories are 4d supersymmetric worldvolume theories of D3 branes with toric Calabi-Yau moduli spaces that are conveniently described with brane tilings. We find all 30 theories corresponding to the 16 reflexive polygons, some of the theories being toric (Seiberg) dual to each other. The meso...
January 28, 2014
It is known that a 4d N = 1 SCFT lives on D3-branes probing a local del Pezzo Calabi-Yau singularity. The Seiberg (or toric) duality of this SCFT arises from the Picard-Lefshetz transformation of the affine E_N 7-brane background that is associated with the Calabi-Yau threefold. In this paper we study the duality of the affine E_N background itself and a 5-brane probing it. We then find that many different Type IIB 5-brane webs describe the same SCFT in 5d. We check this dual...
July 5, 2013
We present a string theoretical description, given in terms of branes and orientifolds wrapping vanishing cycles, of the dual pairs of gauge theories analyzed in 1210.7799. Based on the resulting construction we argue that the duality that we observe in field theory is inherited from S-duality of type IIB string theory. We analyze in detail the complex cone over the zeroth del Pezzo surface and discuss an infinite family of orbifolds of flat space. For the del Pezzo case we d...
March 8, 1999
Duality between N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories(Seiberg's duality) is geometrized, in the framework of AdS/CFT correspodences. It is shown that Seiberg's duality corresponds to monodromy of wrapped D5 branes on the homology cycles of a generalized conifold where D3 branes are located. The celebrated \tilde{N}_c=N_f-N_c, \tilde{N}_f=N_f rule is reproduced and a braid group structure in a sequence of dualities, is found.
March 23, 2005
We construct a new infinite family of N=1 quiver gauge theories which can be Higgsed to the Y^{p,q} quiver gauge theories. The dual geometries are toric Calabi-Yau cones for which we give the toric data. We also discuss the action of Seiberg duality on these quivers, and explore the different Seiberg dual theories. We describe the relationship of these theories to five dimensional gauge theories on (p,q) 5-branes. Using the toric data, we specify some of the properties of the...