't Hooft Monopole Operators and 3d N=4 Supersymmetric Gauge Theories

Abstract

In this talk, the speaker will recall the notion of the ‘t Hooft monopole operator as a modification of the boundary condition in the path integral and apply it in the context of 3d N=4 supersymmetric gauge theories.

There are two branches to the moduli space of vacuum configurations, traditionally called Higgs branch and Coulomb branch. Both are singular (hyper Kahler) when masses and FI terms are set to 0, but behave in a very different way. While the classical Higgs branch receives no quantum corrections, the Coulomb branch is significantly changed in the quantum theory. The crucial point is that monopole operators are sufficient to account for all quantum corrections and the Coulomb branch becomes what we term: "The space of dressed monopole operators". The speaker will discuss these points and present simple examples.

About the program

For more information, please refer to the program website http://iasprogram.ust.hk/particle_theory for details.