New punctures for six-dimensional compactifications

TL;DR

This paper classifies BPS punctures in 4d theories derived from 6d SCFTs compactified on Riemann surfaces, extending known results for class S to new $ abla(1,0)$ models and predicting novel 4d SCFTs.

Contribution

It identifies all possible BPS punctures in $ abla(1,0)$ models and characterizes them through defect Weyl anomalies, generalizing class S results and predicting new 4d SCFTs.

Findings

Reproduces known class S puncture results in the appropriate limit

Identifies all BPS punctures in $ abla(1,0)$ models

Predicts new 4d SCFTs and computes their anomaly coefficients

Abstract

Six-dimensional superconformal field theories (SCFTs) give rise to four-dimensional (4d) ones when compactified on Riemann surfaces. In the $\mathcal{N}=(2,0)$ case, this yields the famous class S family. For $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ theories that arise from linear unitary quivers, the holographic duals of the 4d theories are known in massive IIA supergravity, but only without punctures. Working in the probe approximation, we identify all possible BPS punctures in these models and characterize them by computing their defect Weyl anomalies. For class S, our results reproduce the known expressions in the appropriate limit. In the more general $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ case, they predict new 4d SCFTs and their large-$N$ anomaly coefficients.