Flat deformations of type IIB S-folds

Type IIB S-folds of the form AdS4× S1× S5 have been shown to contain axion-like deformations parameterising flat directions in the 4D scalar potential and corresponding to marginal deformations of the dual S-fold CFT’s. In this note we present a group-theoretical characterisation of such flat deformations and provide a 5D interpretation thereof in terms of $$ \mathfrak{s}(6) $$ s 6 -valued duality twists inducing a class of Cremmer-Scherk-Schwarz flat gaugings in a reduction from 5D to 4D. In this manner we establish the existence of two flat deformations for the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 and SO(4) symmetric S-fold causing a symmetry breaking down to its U(1)2 Cartan subgroup. The result is a new two-parameter family of non-supersymmetric S-folds which are perturbatively stable at the lower-dimensional supergravity level, thus providing the first examples of such type IIB backgrounds.

Marginal deformations and RG flows for type IIB S-folds

We construct a continuous one parameter family of AdS4× S1× S5 S-fold solutions of type IIB string theory which have nontrivial SL(2, ℤ) monodromy in the S1 direction. The solutions span a subset of a conformal manifold that contains the known $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 S-fold SCFT in d = 3, and generically preserve $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 supersymmetry. We also construct RG flows across dimensions, from AdS5× S5, dual to $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4, d = 4 SYM compactified with a twisted spatial circle, to various AdS4×S1×S5 S-fold solutions, dual to d = 3 SCFTs. We construct additional flows between the AdS5 dual of the Leigh-Strassler SCFT and an $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 S-fold as well as RG flows between various S-folds.

Marginal deformations from type IIA supergravity

We study marginal deformations of a class of three-dimensional N=2 SCFTs that admit a holographic dual description in massive type IIA supergravity. We compute the dimension of the conformal manifold in these SCFTs and identify a special submanifold with enhanced flavor symmetry. We show how to apply the TsT transformation of Lunin-Maldacena to construct explicit supersymmetric AdS_44 solutions of massive type IIA supergravity with non-trivial internal fluxes that are the holographic dual of these marginal deformations. Finally, we also briefly comment on a class of RG flows between some of these SCFTs that also admit a holographic realization.

Marginal deformations of a class of AdS3 $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 4) holographic backgrounds

We discuss marginal deformations of warped AdS3×S2 solutions preserving small $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = (0, 4) supersymmetry in massive IIA and eleven-dimensional supergravity and obtain a whole family of new solutions. We characterise these new backgrounds by studying some observables like the quantised charges, associated Hannany-Witten brane set-ups and the holographic central charge, the latter is shown to be invariant under the deformation. The study of the preservation of supersymmetry shows that the new backgrounds support a dynamical SU(2) structure on the internal five-dimensional space.

An $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1 Lagrangian for an $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 3 SCFT

We propose that a certain 4d$$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 1 SU(2) × SU(2) gauge theory flows in the IR to an $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 3 SCFT plus a single free chiral field. The specific $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 3 SCFT has rank 1 and a dimension three Coulomb branch operator. The flow is generically expected to land at the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 3 SCFT deformed by the marginal deformation associated with said Coulomb branch operator. We also present a discussion about the properties expected of various RG invariant quantities from $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 3 superconformal symmetry, and use these to test our proposal. Finally, we discuss a generalization to another $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 1 model that we propose is related to a certain rank 3 $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 3 SCFT through the turning of certain marginal deformations.

Marginal operators and supersymmetry enhancement in 3d S-fold SCFTs

The study of exactly marginal deformations of superconformal field theories is a topic that has received considerable attention due to their rich properties. We investigate the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 preserving exactly marginal operators of 3d S-fold SCFTs. Two families of such theories are considered: one is constructed by gauging the diagonal flavour symmetry of the T(U(2)) and T(U(3)) theories, and the other by gauging the diagonal flavour symmetry of the $$ {T}_{\left[2,{1}^2\right]}^{\left[2,{1}^2\right]}\left( SU(4)\right) $$ T 2 1 2 2 1 2 SU 4 theory. In both families, it is possible to turn on a Chern-Simons level for each gauge group and to couple to each theory various numbers of hypermultiplets. The detailed analysis of the exactly marginal operators, along with the superconformal indices, allows us to determine whether supersymmetry gets enhanced in the infrared and to deduce the amount of supersymmetry of the corresponding SCFT.