A Family of N=2 Gauge Theories with Exact S-Duality

TL;DR

This paper investigates an infinite family of N=2 Sp(2n) gauge theories derived from D3-brane probes in F-theory, demonstrating they possess an exact S-duality combining SO(8) and SL(2,Z) symmetries, supported by BPS spectrum analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a new class of N=2 gauge theories with exact S-duality, connecting geometric string theory constructions to duality symmetries in field theories.

Findings

Theories exhibit exact SO(8) x SL(2,Z) duality in the massless limit.

BPS spectrum analysis confirms consistency with S-duality.

Monopole moduli space quantization supports duality conjecture.

Abstract

We study an infinite family of N=2 $Sp(2n)$ gauge theories that naturally arise from the D3-brane probe dynamics in F-theory. The matter sector consists of four fundamental and one antisymmetric tensor hyper multiplets. We propose that, in the limit of vanishing bare masses, the theory has exact $SO(8)\sdtimes SL(2,Z)$ duality. We examine the semiclassical BPS spectrum in the Coulomb phase by quantizing various monopole moduli space dynamics, and show that it is indeed consistent with the exact S-duality.