T-branes through 3d mirror symmetry

Abstract

T-branes are exotic bound states of D-branes, characterized by mutually non-commuting vacuum expectation values for the worldvolume scalars. The M/F-theory geometry lifting D6/D7-brane configurations is blind to the T-brane data. In this paper, we make this data manifest, by probing the geometry with an M2-brane. We find that the effect of a T-brane is to deform the membrane worldvolume superpotential with monopole operators, which partially break the three-dimensional flavor symmetry, and reduce supersymmetry from N=4 to N=2. Our main tool is 3d mirror symmetry. Through this language, a very concrete framework is developed for understanding T-branes in M-theory. This leads us to uncover a new class of N=2 quiver gauge theories, whose Higgs branches mimic those of membranes at ADE singularities, but whose Coulomb branches differ from their N=4 counterparts.

36 pages

References in corpus (3)

• T-Branes and Monodromy
• Coulomb branch Hilbert series and Hall-Littlewood polynomials
• N = 1 SCFTs from Brane Monodromy

Cited by in corpus (31)

• Lagrangians for generalized Argyres-Douglas theories
• SUSY monopole potentials in 2+1 dimensions
• Abelianization and Sequential Confinement in $2+1$ dimensions
• Flipping the head of T[SU(N)]: mirror symmetry, spectral duality and monopoles
• 3d N=2 mirror symmetry, pq-webs and monopole superpotentials
• 4D Gauge Theories with Conformal Matter
• T-Branes at the Limits of Geometry
• Gauge Backgrounds and Zero-Mode Counting in F-Theory
• T-Branes, String Junctions, and 6D SCFTs
• General Prescription for Global U(1)'s in 6D SCFTs
• There and back again: A T-brane's tale
• SUSY enhancement from T-branes
• T-branes, monopoles and S-duality
• T-Branes and $G_2$ Backgrounds
• Mirror theories of 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ SQCD
• T-branes and ${\alpha }^{\prime }$-corrections
• Singular Geometry and Higgs Bundles in String Theory
• Genus zero Gopakumar-Vafa invariants from open strings
• Compact T-branes
• Higgs Branches of rank-0 5d theories from M-theory on $(A_j,A_l)$ and $(A_k,D_n)$ singularities
• String theory and the 4D/3D reduction of Seiberg duality. A Review
• 5d Higgs Branches from M-theory on quasi-homogeneous cDV threefold singularities
• T-branes and Matrix Models
• Geometric Unification of Higgs Bundle Vacua
• Branes, partition functions and quadratic monopole superpotentials
• The two faces of T-branes
• Nonabelian Mirror Symmetry Beyond the Chiral Ring
• Dualities for adjoint SQCD in three dimensions and emergent symmetries
• T-branes and defects
• Mirror Symmetry and Mixed Chern-Simons Levels for Abelian 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories
• SUSY Breaking in Monopole Quivers