Line Defects in Three Dimensional Mirror Symmetry beyond Linear Quivers

TL;DR

This paper develops a quantum field theory approach to study line defects and their mirror maps in 3d $ abla$=4 quiver gauge theories beyond linear quivers, focusing on D-type and affine D-type examples without relying on string theory realizations.

Contribution

It introduces a string theory independent framework for analyzing line defects and mirror symmetry in general 3d $ abla$=4 quivers, extending previous work beyond linear quivers.

Findings

Mirror maps for D-type quivers match Type IIB predictions.

Constructed line defects in affine D-type theories with non-string theory methods.

Validated mirror symmetry for defects with Hanany-Witten descriptions.

Abstract

The map of half-BPS line defects under mirror symmetry has previously been worked out for 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ linear quivers with unitary gauge groups, where these defects have a clear realization in terms of a brane picture in Type IIB String Theory. In this work, we initiate the study of line defects and the associated mirror maps for more general 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ quiver gauge theories from a QFT approach, using the $S$-type operations introduced in \cite{Dey:2020hfe}. In particular, our construction does not rely on any String Theory realization of the quiver gauge theories and the defects. After discussing the general framework for the construction of these line defects and their mirror maps, we focus on quiver gauge theories of the $D$-type and the affine $D$-type with unitary gauge groups, as a concrete set of examples. Some of the line defects we study admit a Hanany-Witten description and we show that the associated mirror maps predicted by the Type IIB construction in these cases agree with the QFT computation. In addition, we study an example involving defects in an affine $D$-type theory, for which the dual theory is not directly realized by the Type IIB description. In a companion paper, we will discuss defects in infinite families of non-ADE quivers using the general construction developed in this paper.