The Superconformal Index of the (2,0) Theory with Defects

TL;DR

This paper calculates the superconformal index of the 6d (2,0) theory with defects, revealing a match with algebraic characters, thus connecting supersymmetric field theories with algebraic structures.

Contribution

It introduces a method to compute the superconformal index of the (2,0) theory with defects and identifies a precise correspondence with algebraic characters.

Findings

Matching of the partition function with $W_N$ algebra characters

Identification of defect configurations with algebraic modules

Explicit computation of the index in a specific limit

Abstract

We compute the supersymmetric partition function of the six-dimensional $(2,0)$ theory of type $A_{N-1}$ on $S^1 \times S^5$ in the presence of both codimension two and codimension four defects. We concentrate on a limit of the partition function depending on a single parameter. From the allowed supersymmetric configurations of defects we find a precise match with the characters of irreducible modules of $W_N$ algebras and affine Lie algebras of type $A_{N-1}$.