# Framed defects in ABJ(M)

## TL;DR

This paper explores how framing influences Wilson loops in ABJ(M) theory, revealing connections between scale invariance, superconformal symmetry, and anomalies, with implications for holography at strong coupling.

## Contribution

It provides a detailed perturbative analysis of framing effects on Wilson loops and correlators, establishing a link between anomalies, scale invariance, and superconformal symmetry, and proposes a holographic interpretation.

## Key findings

- Framing affects expectation values and correlators of Wilson loops.
- A non-trivial identity links defect stress tensor and Q-exact correlator.
- Holographic interpretation relates framing to background B-field.

## Abstract

We investigate the role of framing in a family of 1/24 BPS Wilson loops in ABJ(M) theory, which define flows between 1/6 BPS and the 1/2 BPS superconformal fixed points. We analyze in perturbation theory how framing affects both the expectation values of these operators and the correlation functions of local insertions on the defect, as well as its interplay with RG flow and the g-theorem. We obtain a non-trivial identity between the one-point function of the defect stress tensor and a Q-exact correlator, which establishes a direct link between scale invariance, superconformal invariance and framing, and clarifies the deep connection between scale and cohomological anomalies. Finally, we propose a holographic interpretation of framing at strong coupling, identifying it with a coupling to the background B-field in the dual string theory.