Supersymmetric Wilson loops with general contours in ABJM theory

TL;DR

This paper constructs and analyzes supersymmetric Wilson loops with arbitrary contours in ABJM theory, demonstrating their supersymmetry preservation, perturbative protection, and dual string configurations.

Contribution

It explicitly constructs 1/6-BPS Wilson loops with general contours in ABJM theory and verifies their supersymmetry and expectation value protection.

Findings

Wilson loops are unbroken supersymmetric and protected at two loops

Explicit supermatrix formulation for general contours

Dual string configurations preserve supersymmetry

Abstract

We consider general supersymmetric Wilson loops in ABJM model, i.e. Chern-Simons-matter theory in 2+1 dimensions with N=6 supersymmetry. They are so-called Zarembo-type: the Wilson loops of our interest have generic contours in spacetime, but the scalar field coupling is arranged accordingly so that there are unbroken supersymmetries. Based on the supermatrix formulation of Wilson loops by Drukker and Trancanelli, we construct explicitly 1/6-BPS Wilson loops and check that their expectation value is protected using perturbation up to two loops. We also study the dual string configuration in AdS4 x CP3 background and check the supersymmetry.