Long Way to Ricci Flatness

TL;DR

This paper investigates the IR behavior of two-dimensional supersymmetric models related to non-Abelian strings, showing their metrics become Ricci-flat and approach the resolved conifold in the IR, resolving a conformality puzzle.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the NLSM metric flows to Ricci-flatness in the IR and approaches the resolved conifold, clarifying the IR limit of these supersymmetric models.

Findings

NLSM metric becomes Ricci-flat in IR

Model approaches the resolved conifold in IR

RG flow resolves conformality puzzle

Abstract

We study two-dimensional weighted ${\mathcal N}=2$ supersymmetric $\mathbb{CP}$ models with the goal of exploring their infrared (IR) limit. $\mathbb{WCP}(N,\widetilde{N})$ are simplified versions of world-sheet theories on non-Abelian strings in four-dimensional ${\mathcal N}=2$ QCD. In the gauged linear sigma model (GLSM) formulation, $\mathbb{WCP} (N,\widetilde{N})$ has $N$ charges +1 and $\widetilde{N}$ charges $-1$ fields. As well-known, at $\widetilde{N}=N$ this GLSM is conformal. Its target space is believed to be a non-compact Calabi-Yau manifold. We mostly focus on the $N=2$ case, then the Calabi-Yau space is a conifold. On the other hand, in the non-linear sigma model (NLSM) formulation the model has ultra-violet logarithms and does not look conformal. Moreover, its metric is not Ricci-flat. We address this puzzle by studying the renormalization group (RG) flow of the model. We show that the metric of NLSM becomes Ricci-flat in the IR. Moreover, it tends to the known metric of the resolved conifold. We also study a close relative of the $\mathbb{WCP}$ model -- the so called $zn$ model -- which in actuality represents the world sheet theory on a non-Abelian semilocal string and show that this $zn$ model has similar RG properties.