Searching for surface defect CFTs within AdS$_3$

TL;DR

This paper constructs and analyzes new AdS3 solutions in M-theory and Type IIA, revealing their dual surface defect conformal field theories within higher-dimensional CFTs, and provides explicit 2d quiver CFT descriptions.

Contribution

It introduces novel AdS3 solutions with surface defect duals in 6d and 5d CFTs, including explicit quiver CFTs, expanding the holographic understanding of surface defects.

Findings

Explicit AdS3 solutions in M-theory and Type IIA with (0,4) supersymmetry.

Construction of 2d quiver CFTs dual to these solutions.

Identification of defect interpretations in massive IIA solutions.

Abstract

We study $\mathrm{AdS}_3\times S^3/\mathbb{Z}_k\times {\tilde S}^3/\mathbb{Z}_{k'}$ solutions to M-theory preserving $\mathcal{N}=(0,4)$ supersymmetries, arising as near-horizon limits of M2-M5 brane intersections ending on M5'-branes, with both types of five-branes placed on A-type singularities. Solutions in this class asymptote locally to $\mathrm{AdS}_7/\mathbb{Z}_k\times {\tilde S}^3/\mathbb{Z}_{k'}$, and can thus be interpreted as holographic duals to surface defect CFTs within the $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ 6d CFT dual to this solution. Upon reduction to Type IIA, we obtain a new class of solutions of the form $\mathrm{AdS}_3\times S^3/\mathbb{Z}_k\times S^2 \times \Sigma_2$ preserving (0,4) supersymmetries. We construct explicit 2d quiver CFTs dual to these solutions, describing D2-D4 surface defects embedded within the 6d (1,0) quiver CFT dual to the $\mathrm{AdS}_7/\mathbb{Z}_k$ solution to massless IIA. Finally, in the massive case, we show that the recently constructed $\mathrm{AdS}_3\times S^2\times \mathrm{CY}_2$ solutions with $\mathcal{N}=(0,4)$ supersymmetries gain a defect interpretation when $\mathrm{CY}_2=T^4$ as surface CFTs originating from D2-NS5-D6 defects embedded within the 5d CFT dual to the Brandhuber-Oz $\mathrm{AdS}_6$ background.