The SU(3)-invariant sector of new maximal supergravity

We investigate the SU(3)-invariant sector of the one-parameter family of SO(8) gauged maximal supergravities that has been recently discovered. To this end, we construct the N=2 truncation of this theory and analyse its full vacuum structure. The number of critical point is doubled and includes new N=0 and N=1 branches. We numerically exhibit the parameter dependence of the location and cosmological constant of all extrema. Moreover, we provide their analytic expressions for cases of special interest. Finally, while the mass spectra are found to be parameter independent in most cases, we show that the novel non-supersymmetric branch with SU(3) invariance provides the first counterexample to this.

The M-theory origin of global properties of gauge theories

We show that global properties of gauge groups can be understood as geometric properties in M-theory. Different wrappings of a system of N M5-branes on a torus reduce to four-dimensional theories with AN−1 gauge algebra and different unitary groups. The classical properties of the wrappings determine the global properties of the gauge theories without the need to impose any quantum conditions. We count the inequivalent wrappings as they fall into orbits of the modular group of the torus, which correspond to the S-duality orbits of the gauge theories.

Finite volume effects in chiral perturbation theory with twisted boundary conditions

We study the effects of a finite cubic volume with twisted boundary conditions on pseudoscalar mesons. We apply Chiral Perturbation Theory in the p-regime and introduce the twist by means of a constant vector field. The corrections of masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants and form factors are calculated at next-to-leading order. We detail the derivations and compare with results available in the literature. In some case there is disagreement due to a different treatment of new extra terms generated from the breaking of the cubic invariance. We advocate to treat such terms as renormalization terms of the twisting angles and reabsorb them in the on-shell conditions. We confirm that the corrections of masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants are related by means of chiral Ward identities. Furthermore, we show that the matrix elements of the scalar (resp. vector) form factor satisfies the Feynman–Hellman Theorem (resp. the Ward–Takahashi identity). To show the Ward–Takahashi identity we construct an effective field theory for charged pions which is invariant under electromagnetic gauge transformations and which reproduces the results obtained with Chiral Perturbation Theory at a vanishing momentum transfer. This generalizes considerations previously published for periodic boundary conditions to twisted boundary conditions. Another method to estimate the corrections in finite volume are asymptotic formulae. Asymptotic formulae were introduced by Lüscher and relate the corrections of a given physical quantity to an integral of a specific amplitude, evaluated in infinite volume. Here, we revise the original derivation of Lüscher and generalize it to finite volume with twisted boundary conditions. In some cases, the derivation involves complications due to extra terms generated from the breaking of the cubic invariance. We isolate such terms and treat them as renormalization terms just as done before. In that way, we derive asymptotic formulae for masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants and scalar form factors. At the same time, we derive also asymptotic formulae for renormalization terms. We apply all these formulae in combination with Chiral Perturbation Theory and estimate the corrections beyond next-to-leading order. We show that asymptotic formulae for masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants are related by means of chiral Ward identities. A similar relation connects in an independent way asymptotic formulae for renormalization terms. We check these relations for charged pions through a direct calculation. To conclude, a numerical analysis quantifies the importance of finite volume corrections at next-to-leading order and beyond. We perform a generic Analysis and illustrate two possible applications to real simulations.