5d quivers and their AdS(6) duals

TL;DR

This work identifies an infinite family of 5d fixed-point theories realized by D4-branes at Type I' orbifold singularities and proposes their holographic duals as warped AdS$_6\times S^4/\mathbb{Z}_n$ backgrounds in massive Type IIA supergravity. By analyzing both the USp(2N) parent theory and its orbifolded quivers, the authors match global symmetries, mesonic and baryonic operators, and the spectrum of charged states with corresponding bulk fields, wrapped branes, and fluxes. They further explore instantons, cosmic strings, domain walls, and the quark-antiquark potential within the holographic setup, identifying precise correspondences across multiple sectors. The results extend AdS/CFT to a broad class of 5d fixed points, offering a framework to study KK spectra, Higgs branches, and potential RG flows through brane and flux deformations. Overall, the paper provides a concrete holographic realization of 5d quiver fixed points and lays out clear directions for deeper field-theoretic and gravitational investigations.

Abstract

We consider an infinite class of 5d supersymmetric gauge theories involving products of symplectic and unitary groups that arise from D4-branes at orbifold singularities in Type I' string theory. The theories are argued to be dual to warped AdS(6)x S4/Zn backgrounds in massive Type IIA supergravity. In particular, this demonstrates the existence of supersymmetric 5d fixed points of quiver type. We analyze the spectrum of gauge fields and charged states in the supergravity dual, and find a precise agreement with the symmetries and charged operators in the quiver theories. We also comment on other brane objects in the supergravity dual and their interpretation in the field theories.

Figures (9)

• Figure 1: Type IIB brane configuration for the 5d $USp(2N)$ theory with flavors. The crossed circles represent O7-planes and the squares are D7-branes.
• Figure 2: Pure $SU(2)$ web: (a) cutoff theory, (b) fixed point theory
• Figure 3: The $USp(2\,N)$ web.
• Figure 4: Type IIB configuration and quiver for even orbifolds with vector structure.
• Figure 5: Web for $SU(2)\times SU(2)$: (a) A generic point in the Coulomb branch, (b) the singularity in the Coulomb branch, (c) the S-dual web with $SU(3)$ and $N_f=2$. Since the latter can be collapsed, we expect the corresponding field theory to be a CFT.