3d and 5d gauge theory partition functions as deformed CFT correlators

by Fabrizio Nieri (Surrey (U.K.))

Tuesday 11 Feb 2014, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Rome

248 (Building C, First Floor)

In recent years, due to the method of supersymmetric localization, many exact results have been achieved in the study of supersymmetric gauge theories on compact spaces of various dimension and topology, leading to the discovery of surprising structures. An important example is provided by the correspondence introduced by Alday, Gaiotto and Tachikawa, relating the partition functions of a large class of supersymmetric gauge theories on S4 and S2 to correlators in Liouville CFT. In this talk, I will explain how this picture can be lifted to higher dimensional gauge theories via the correspondence of partition functions on S5, S4xS1, S3 and S2xS1 to correlators in theories whose underlying symmetry is given by a quantum deformation of the Virasoro algebra. In particular, I will discuss how 3-point functions can be derived by the bootstrap approach and used to define this novel class of deformed CFTs. I will also discuss some aspects related to integrable structures in these models, such as reflection coefficients, as well as possible generalization to other 3d and 5d geometries.