We study 3d <math altimg='si53.svg'><mrow><mi mathvariant='script'>N</mi><mo linebreak='goodbreak'>=</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow></math> Chern&#8211;Simons matter theories describing the R-twisted <italic>S</italic> 1-reduction of Argyres&#8211;Douglas theories of <math altimg='si1.svg'><mrow><mo>(</mo><msub><mi>A</mi><mrow><mi>M</mi><mo>&#8722;</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msub><mo>,</mo><msub><mi>A</mi><mrow><mi>N</mi><mo>&#8722;</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msub><mo>)</mo></mrow></math> type with <math altimg='si54.svg'><mrow><mtext>gcd</mtext><mo>(</mo><mi>M</mi><mo>,</mo><mi>N</mi><mo>)</mo><mo>=</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></math>, via a recently-proposed 4d/3d correspondence. In particular, for the <math altimg='si6.svg'><mrow><mo>(</mo><msub><mi>A</mi><mn>2</mn></msub><mo>,</mo><msub><mi>A</mi><mrow><mi>N</mi><mo>&#8722;</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msub><mo>)</mo></mrow></math> and <math altimg='si7.svg'><mrow><mo>(</mo><msub><mi>A</mi><mn>3</mn></msub><mo>,</mo><msub><mi>A</mi><mrow><mi>N</mi><mo>&#8722;</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msub><mo>)</mo></mrow></math> theories, we identify a series of Chern&#8211;Simons matter theories with monopole superpotentials consistent with an <math altimg='si55.svg'><mrow><mi mathvariant='script'>N</mi><mo linebreak='goodbreak'>=</mo><mn>4</mn></mrow></math> supersymmetry enhancement in the infrared. As a by-product, we also find a novel Nahm sum formula for the vacuum character of (3,8) <italic>W</italic> <inf>3</inf> minimal model, from which we find another Chern&#8211;Simons matter theory describing the R-twisted <italic>S</italic> 1-reduction of the ( <italic>A</italic> <inf>2</inf>, <italic>A</italic> <inf>4</inf>) theory.

Japan

Takahiro Nishinaka

Yutaka Yoshida

3D Chern–Simons matter theories from generalized Argyres–Douglas theories

Chaotic motion near black holes has recently been examined through the lens of the Maldacena-Shenker-Stanford (MSS) chaos bound, but reported violations remain contradictory. A significant source of ambiguity stems from treating the particle angular momentum as an independently adjustable parameter instead of as a quantity fixed by the circular-orbit conditions. We develop a constrained framework in which the angular momentum is determined self-consistently from the geometry. Applied to the charged Kiselev black hole, this framework shows that certain previously reported violations of the chaos bound can be attributed to inconsistent parameter choices rather than to intrinsic curvature effects. By extending the analysis to geometries containing higher-order curvature terms, we find genuine chaos-bound violations at large charge-to-mass ratios, originating from curvature corrections rather than orbital parameters. Our approach, therefore, provides a systematic means to distinguish between parameter-induced (apparent) and curvature-induced (physical) violations in Einstein gravity and its extensions.

Nigeria

Terkaa Victor Targema

Kazuharu Bamba

Pakistan

Riasat Ali

Usman Zafar

Physical constraints on the Maldacena-Shenker-Stanford chaos bound in black hole spacetimes

We explore 3d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 4 theories arising from twisted compactification of 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 ($\textit{G}$, $\textit{G}$ ) Argyres-Douglas superconformal field theories (SCFTs), together with the 2d vertex operator algebras (VOAs) supported on the holomorphic boundary of their topologically twisted sector. Starting from the Coulomb branch BPS spectra of the ($\textit{G}$, $\textit{G}$ ) Argyres-Douglas theories, we develop a systematic and efficient method to obtain the ellipsoid partition functions of associated 3d theories using quiver mutations and wall-crossing invariants. This allows us to extract the modular data of the boundary VOAs, which are related to the Schur sectors of the 4d theories through the 4d SCFT/2d VOA correspondence. Our results provide a useful computational bridge between 4d SCFTs and 2d VOAs through interpolating 3d topological field theories.

South Korea

Minsung Kim

Sungjoon Kim

3D TFTs and boundary VOAs from BPS spectra of ($\textit{G}$, $\textit{G}$ ′) Argyres-Douglas theories

We discuss a novel UV completion of a class of Argyres-Douglas (AD) theories in the Ω-background by its embedding into the renormalisation group flow from five dimensional $$ \mathcal{N}=1 $$ superconformal field theories (SCFT) on $\textit{S}$ . This is obtained via analysing these theories in the light of ($\textit{q}$-)Painlevé/gauge theory correspondence, which allows to compute the five dimensional BPS partition functions as an expansion in the Wilson loop vev with integer $\textit{q}$-polynomials coefficients. These are derived formulating the gauge theory on a blown-up geometry and using a five-dimensional lift of (topological) operator/state correspondence. We discuss in detail the phase diagram of the four dimensional limits, pinpointing the special AD loci. Explicit computations are reported for $$ {\overset{\sim }{E}}_1 $$ SCFT and its limit to H = ($\textit{A}$ $\textit{, A}$ ) AD theory.

Italy

Giulio Bonelli

Pavlo Gavrylenko

Ideal Majtara

Alessandro Tanzini

On a 5D UV completion of Argyres-Douglas theories

The one-loop gravitational path integral around Euclidean de Sitter space $\textit{S}$ has a complex phase that casts doubt on a state counting interpretation. Recently, it was proposed to cancel this phase by including an observer. We explore this proposal in the case where the observer is a charged black hole in equilibrium with the de Sitter horizon. We compute the phase of the one-loop determinant within a two-dimensional dilaton gravity reduction, using both numerical and analytical methods. Our results interpolate between previous studies of a probe geodesic observer and the Nariai solution. We also revisit the prescription for going from the Euclidean path integral to the state-counting partition function, finding a positive sign in the final density of states.

United States

Yiming Chen

Douglas Stanford

Haifeng Tang

China

Zhenbin Yang

On the phase of the de Sitter density of states

We propose an $$ \mathcal{N}=2 $$ preserving deformation that leads to the confining phase of the 3d reduction of the $\textit{D}$ [SU($\textit{N}$)] Argyres-Douglas theories, referred to as 𝔻 [SU($\textit{N}$)]. This deformation incorporates monopole superpotential terms, which have recently played interesting roles in exploring possible RG fixed points of 3d supersymmetric gauge theories. Employing this confining phenomenon in 3d 𝔻 [SU($\textit{N}$)] theories, we also propose a deconfined version of the Kim-Park duality, an IR duality for 3d $$ \mathcal{N}=2 $$ adjoint SQCDs, where an adjoint matter field is replaced by a linear quiver tail of 𝔻 [SU($\textit{N}$)]. Surprisingly, both the confinement of deformed 𝔻 [SU($\textit{N}$)] and the deconfined Kim-Park duality can be proven only assuming some basic 3d $$ \mathcal{N}=2 $$ IR dualities. Finally, we propose a variant of the Kim-Park duality deformed by a single monopole superpotential term, which can also be derived using the same method.

Chiung Hwang

S-confinement of 3d Argyres-Douglas theories and the Seiberg-like duality with an adjoint matter

We study the bosonic VOA associated with the 3D $$ \mathcal{N}=4 $$ abelian linear quiver gauge theories arising from compactifying 4D $$ \mathcal{N}=2 $$ Argyres-Douglas theories of ($\textit{A}$ $\textit{, A}$ ) and ($\textit{A}$ $\textit{, D}$ ) types. These VOAs are obtained by canceling the gauge anomaly of the H-twisted 3D theory on the half-space by Heisenberg algebras on the boundary. We particularly conjecture a complete set of strong generators of these bosonic VOAs, which contains more than the Virasoro stress tensor and those arising from Higgs branch operators. We also find that these bosonic VOAs contain copies of the $\textit{W}$ vertex algebra at $\textit{c}$ = −2 as sub vertex algebras.

Hikaru Sasaki

On bosonic vertex algebras associated with 3D reductions of Argyres-Douglas theories

A well-established organisational principle for Argyres-Douglas-type 𝒩 = 2 superconformal field theories in four dimensions is to characterise such theories by the data defining a(n irregular) Hitchin system on ℂℙ . The dictionary between Hitchin system data and various features of the corresponding SCFT has been studied extensively, but the overall structure of the resulting space of SCFTs still appears quite complicated. In this work, we systematically delineate a variety of simplifications that arise within this class of constructions due to several large classes of isomorphisms between SCFTs associated with inequivalent Hitchin system data (and their exactly marginal gaugings). We restrict to the most studied class of theories, namely the type $\textit{A}$ theories without outer automorphism twists.

United Kingdom

Christopher Beem

Mario Martone

Matteo Sacchi

Palash Singh

Jake Stedman

Simplifying the type $\textit{A}$ Argyres-Douglas landscape

We propose that Argyres-Douglas theories of type $\textit{D}$ (SU($\textit{N}$)) and ($\textit{A}$ $\textit{, A}$ ) — both realizable as Type A class $$\mathcal{S}$$ theories with irregular punctures — can be obtained via a sequence of mass deformations from a common ancestor: a class $$\mathcal{S}$$ theory with only regular punctures. Building on our previous work, this result establishes that these theories ultimately originate from 6d $$\mathcal{N}=(1, 0)$$ orbi-instanton theories compactified on a torus. The requisite 4d mass deformations are realized as tractable Fayet-Iliopoulos deformations on the 3d mirror quiver. The core of our method is a constructive procedure that utilizes the Euclidean algorithm to define a chain of deformations connecting different $\textit{D}$ (SU($\textit{N}$)) theories. By reversing this chain, we recursively build a “parent” star-shaped quiver for any given ($\textit{N, p}$). This quiver is the 3d mirror theory of the required class $$\mathcal{S}$$ ancestor. We substantiate our general claims with several detailed examples that explicitly illustrate the deformation procedure.

Simone Giacomelli

William Harding

Thailand

Noppadol Mekareeya

Alessandro Mininno

From regular to irregular: a unified origin for Argyres-Douglas theories

Vertex operator algebras (VOAs) arise in protected subsectors of supersymmetric quantum field theories, notably in 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 superconformal field theories (SCFT) via the Schur sector and in twisted 3d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 4 theories via boundary algebras. These constructions are connected through twisted circle compactifications, which can be best understood from the dynamics of BPS particles in the Coulomb branch of the 4d SCFT. This data is encoded in an operator $$ \hat{\Phi} $$ acting on the Hilbert space of an auxiliary quantum mechanics of BPS particles, whose trace yields the partition functions of a 3d topological field theory (TFT) bounding the VOA. We generalize this trace formula by considering higher powers of $$ \hat{\Phi} $$ , leading to a finite family of VOAs associated with a given 4d SCFT. Applying this framework to Argyres-Douglas theories labeled by ($\textit{A}$ , $\textit{G}$), where $\textit{G}$ is an ADE-type group of rank up to 8, we extract the modular data of the family of boundary VOAs via TFT partition function calculations on Seifert manifolds. Our results suggest that the modular data obtained from different powers of $$ \hat{\Phi} $$ are related by Galois transformations.

Byeonggi Go

Qiang Jia

Heeyeon Kim

From BPS spectra of Argyres-Douglas theories to families of 3d TFTs