A counterexample to the a-'theorem'
@article{Shapere2008ACT, title={A counterexample to the a-'theorem'}, author={Alfred Shapere and Yuji Tachikawa}, journal={Journal of High Energy Physics}, year={2008}, volume={2008}, pages={020-020} }
We exhibit a renormalization group flow for a four-dimensional gauge theory along which the conformal central charge a increases. The flow connects the maximally superconformal point of an = 2 gauge theory with gauge group SU(N+1) and Nf = 2N flavors in the ultraviolet, to a strongly-coupled superconformal point of the SU(N) gauge theory with Nf = 2N massless flavors in the infrared. Our example does not contradict the proof of the a-theorem via a-maximization, due to the presence of accidental…
31 Citations
Seeing a c-theorem with holography
- Physics, Mathematics
- 2010
Using the anti-de Sitter conformal theory correspondence, we examine holographic renormalization group flows in a framework where the bulk gravity contains higher curvature interactions. This…
Confinement and duality in supersymmetric gauge theories
- Physics
- 2013
In this thesis we review the Seiberg-Witten solution of four dimensional N=2 gauge theories, the six-dimensional construction of these models recently proposed by Gaiotto and the BPS quiver technique…
The exact superconformal R-symmetry extremizes Z
- Physics
- 2012
A bstractThe three sphere partition function, Z , of three dimensional theories with four supercharges and an R-symmetry is computed using localization, resulting in a matrix integral over the Cartan…
Comments on scaling limits of 4d $ \mathcal{N} = 2 $ theories
- Physics, Mathematics
- 2010
We revisit the study of the maximally singular point in the Coulomb branch of 4d $ \mathcal{N} = 2 $ SU(N) gauge theory with Nf = 2n flavors for Nf < 2N. When n ≥ 2, we find that the low-energy…
a-MAXIMIZATION IN ${\mathcal N}=1$ SUPERSYMMETRIC Spin(10) GAUGE THEORIES
- Physics
- 2010
A summary is reported on our previous publications about four-dimensional ${\mathcal N} = 1$ supersymmetric Spin(10) gauge theory with chiral superfields in the spinor and vector representations in…
The exact superconformal R-symmetry extremizes Z
- PhysicsJournal of High Energy Physics
- 2012
The three sphere partition function, Z , of three dimensional theories with four supercharges and an R-symmetry is computed using localization, resulting in a matrix integral over the Cartan of the…
R-charges, Chiral Rings and RG Flows in Supersymmetric Chern-Simons-Matter Theories
- Physics
- 2009
We discuss the non-perturbative behavior of the U(1)R symmetry in N = 2 superconformal Chern-Simons theories coupled to matter in the (anti)fundamental and ad- joint representations of the gauge…
Double-trace deformations, holography and the c-conjecture
- Mathematics
- 2010
A double-trace deformation is the simplest perturbation of a conformal field theory that has a gravity dual. In this paper we review the existing results for the case in which the deformation is…
N=1 Deformations and RG Flows of N=2 SCFTs
- Mathematics
- 2016
We study certain N=1 preserving deformations of four-dimensional N=2 superconformal field theories (SCFTs) with non-abelian flavor symmetry. The deformation is described by adding an N=1 chiral…
Holographic c-theorems in arbitrary dimensions
- Physics
- 2011
We re-examine holographic versions of the c-theorem and entanglement entropy in the context of higher curvature gravity and the AdS/CFT correspondence. We select the gravity theories by tuning the…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 44 REFERENCES
S-duality in N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories
- Physics
- 2007
A solution to the infinite coupling problem for N = 2 conformal supersymmetric gauge theories in four dimensions is presented. The infinitely-coupled theories are argued to be interacting…
A holographic computation of the central charges of d = 4, Script N = 2 SCFTs
- Mathematics
- 2008
We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to compute the central charges of the d = 4, = 2 superconformal field theories arising from N D3-branes at singularities in F-theory. These include the conformal…
New Results on the "$a$-theorem" in Four Dimensional Supersymmetric Field Theory
- Physics
- 2003
In four dimensional N=1 supersymmetric field theory it is often the case that the $U(1)_R$ current that becomes part of the superconformal algebra at the infrared fixed point is conserved throughout…
A Proof of the irreversibility of renormalization group flows in four-dimensions
- Physics, Mathematics
- 1998
Infinite coupling duals of N=2 gauge theories and new rank 1 superconformal field theories
- Mathematics
- 2008
We show that a proposed duality [1] between infinitely coupled gauge theories and superconformal field theories (SCFTs) with weakly gauged flavor groups predicts the existence of new rank 1 SCFTs.…