Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect

The parallel rôles of modular symmetry in N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills and in the quantum Hall effect are reviewed. In supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories modular symmetry emerges as a version of Dirac's electric - magnetic duality. It has significant consequences for the vacuum structure of...

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Published in:Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications
Date:2007
Main Author: Dolan, B.P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Інститут математики НАН України 2007
Online Access:https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/147800
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Journal Title:Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Cite this:Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect / B.P. Dolan // Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications. — 2007. — Т. 3. — Бібліогр.: 119 назв. — англ.

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Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
id nasplib_isofts_kiev_ua-123456789-147800
record_format dspace
spelling Dolan, B.P.
2019-02-16T08:25:44Z
2019-02-16T08:25:44Z
2007
Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect / B.P. Dolan // Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications. — 2007. — Т. 3. — Бібліогр.: 119 назв. — англ.
1815-0659
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 11F11; 81R05; 81T60; 81V70
https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/147800
The parallel rôles of modular symmetry in N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills and in the quantum Hall effect are reviewed. In supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories modular symmetry emerges as a version of Dirac's electric - magnetic duality. It has significant consequences for the vacuum structure of these theories, leading to a fractal vacuum which has an infinite hierarchy of related phases. In the case of N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills in 3+1 dimensions, scaling functions can be defined which are modular forms of a subgroup of the full modular group and which interpolate between vacua. Infra-red fixed points at strong coupling correspond to θ-vacua with θ a rational number that, in the case of pure SUSY Yang-Mills, has odd denominator. There is a mass gap for electrically charged particles which can carry fractional electric charge. A similar structure applies to the 2+1 dimensional quantum Hall effect where the hierarchy of Hall plateaux can be understood in terms of an action of the modular group and the stability of Hall plateaux is due to the fact that odd denominator Hall conductivities are attractive infra-red fixed points. There is a mass gap for electrically charged excitations which, in the case of the fractional quantum Hall effect, carry fractional electric charge.
This paper is a contribution to the Proceedings of the O’Raifeartaigh Symposium on Non-Perturbative and Symmetry Methods in Field Theory (June 22–24, 2006, Budapest, Hungary). It is a pleasure to thank my long-term collaborator Clif f Burgess for many useful discussions on the quantum Hall ef fect. This work was partly supported by Enterprise Ireland Basic Research grant SC/2003/415.
en
Інститут математики НАН України
Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications
Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect
Article
published earlier
institution Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
collection DSpace DC
title Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect
spellingShingle Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect
Dolan, B.P.
title_short Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect
title_full Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect
title_fullStr Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect
title_full_unstemmed Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect
title_sort modular symmetry and fractional charges in n = 2 supersymmetric yang-mills and the quantum hall effect
author Dolan, B.P.
author_facet Dolan, B.P.
publishDate 2007
language English
container_title Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications
publisher Інститут математики НАН України
format Article
description The parallel rôles of modular symmetry in N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills and in the quantum Hall effect are reviewed. In supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories modular symmetry emerges as a version of Dirac's electric - magnetic duality. It has significant consequences for the vacuum structure of these theories, leading to a fractal vacuum which has an infinite hierarchy of related phases. In the case of N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills in 3+1 dimensions, scaling functions can be defined which are modular forms of a subgroup of the full modular group and which interpolate between vacua. Infra-red fixed points at strong coupling correspond to θ-vacua with θ a rational number that, in the case of pure SUSY Yang-Mills, has odd denominator. There is a mass gap for electrically charged particles which can carry fractional electric charge. A similar structure applies to the 2+1 dimensional quantum Hall effect where the hierarchy of Hall plateaux can be understood in terms of an action of the modular group and the stability of Hall plateaux is due to the fact that odd denominator Hall conductivities are attractive infra-red fixed points. There is a mass gap for electrically charged excitations which, in the case of the fractional quantum Hall effect, carry fractional electric charge.
issn 1815-0659
url https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/147800
citation_txt Modular Symmetry and Fractional Charges in N = 2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills and the Quantum Hall Effect / B.P. Dolan // Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications. — 2007. — Т. 3. — Бібліогр.: 119 назв. — англ.
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first_indexed 2025-12-07T19:34:27Z
last_indexed 2025-12-07T19:34:27Z
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