5d fixed points from brane webs and O7-planes

TL;DR

The paper extends 5d fixed-point constructions to USp(2N), SO(M), and SU(N) gauge theories with rank-two antisymmetric and symmetric matter using 5-brane webs in the presence of O7-planes. It demonstrates UV fixed points, enhanced global symmetries, and a rich web of dualities derived from S-duality and subalgebra gauging, while addressing instanton-state corrections in partition functions. The results connect to known 4d dualities upon dimensional reduction and propose a scalable framework for analyzing broader brane-web realizations of 5d SCFTs and their IR gauge theory phases. The approach hints at extending to more intricate quivers, including O5-plane realizations, and highlights two varieties of O7^- planes related by SL(2,Z) transformations as a string-theoretic nuance worth further study.

Abstract

We explore the properties of five-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories living on 5-brane webs in orientifold 7-plane backgrounds. These include $USp(2N)$ and $SO(N)$ gauge theories with fundamental matter, as well as $SU(N)$ gauge theories with symmetric and antisymmetric matter. We find a number of new 5d fixed point theories that feature enhanced global symmetries. We also exhibit a number of new 5d dualities.

Figures (25)

• Figure 1: 5-brane webs for $USp(2N)$
• Figure 2: $USp(2N)$ with $N_F=2N+4$ and $N_F=2N+5$.
• Figure 3: The orientifold 5-brane web for $USp(4)+6$ and its S-dual ($k=0$).
• Figure 4: The orientifold 5-brane web for $SU(2)+6$ and its S-dual, which also describes $SU(2)+6$ (we have taken $k=0$).
• Figure 5: The orientifold 5-brane web for $USp(2N)+2N+2$ and its S-dual ($k=0$).