New AdS$_2$ supergravity duals of 4d SCFTs with defects

TL;DR

This paper constructs new AdS2 supergravity solutions in Type II theories, interpreted as duals of 4d SCFTs with defects, and explores their brane configurations and quantum mechanics duals.

Contribution

It introduces novel AdS2 solutions with supersymmetry, linking them to defect branes in 4d SCFTs and extending known geometries to include D6 branes.

Findings

Solutions asymptote to AdS5 x S5/Zn in Type IIB

Type IIA solutions relate to Gaiotto-Maldacena geometries

Ground state degeneracies match holographic calculations

Abstract

We construct new families of $\text{AdS}_2 \times S^2 \times S^2$ solutions with 4 supercharges in Type II supergravities. We show that subclasses of these solutions can be interpreted in terms of defect branes embedded in 4d $\mathcal{N} = 4 $ SYM, or orbifolds thereof. This is explicitly realised by showing that the solutions asymptote locally to $\text{AdS}_5 \times S^5/\mathbb{Z}_n$, in Type IIB, or its T-dual background, in Type IIA. The latter is a Gaiotto-Maldacena geometry realised on an intersection of D4 and NS5 branes. We extend the Type IIA solutions to include D6 branes, and interpret them as describing backreacted baryon vertices within 4d $\mathcal{N} = 2$ CFTs living in D4-NS5-D6 intersections. We propose explicit quiver quantum mechanics in which the defect branes play the role of colour branes, with the D4 branes of the D4-NS5-D6 intersection becoming flavour branes. These quivers are used to compute the degeneracies of the ground states of the dual super conformal quantum mechanics, that are shown to agree with the holographic expressions.