On O(N_c) d=3 N=2 supersymmetric QCD Theories

TL;DR

This paper investigates three-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric QCD theories with O(N_c) gauge groups, establishing conditions for vacua, moduli spaces, and superconformal fixed points, and proposing dualities connecting different theories and Chern-Simons levels.

Contribution

It introduces a duality framework for O(N_c) gauge theories with N_f flavors, extending known dualities and analyzing the effects of real mass deformations and Chern-Simons levels.

Findings

Existence of a runaway potential for N_f < N_c-2.

Presence of a quantum moduli space for N_f >= N_c-2.

Identification of superconformal fixed points for N_f >= N_c-1.

Abstract

We study three dimensional N=2 supersymmetric QCD theories with O(N_c) gauge groups and with N_f chiral multiplets in the vector representation. We argue that for N_f < N_c-2 there is a runaway potential on the moduli space and no vacuum. For N_f >= N_c-2 there is a moduli space also in the quantum theory, and for N_f >= N_c-1 there is a superconformal fixed point at the origin of this moduli space that has a dual description as the low-energy fixed point of an O(N_f-N_c+2) gauge theory. We test this duality in various ways; in some cases the duality for an O(2) gauge theory may be related to the known duality for U(1) gauge theories. We also discuss real mass deformations, which allow to connect theories with a different Chern-Simons level. This allows us to connect our duality with the known duality in O(N_c) theories with a Chern-Simons term of level k, where the dual gauge group is given by O(N_f+|k|-N_c+2).