AdS$_2$ duals to ADHM quivers with Wilson lines
Yolanda Lozano, Carlos Nunez, Anayeli Ramirez, Stefano Speziali
TL;DR
This work constructs AdS$_2$ solutions in massive Type IIA that realize a holographic dual to a 1d superconformal quantum mechanics living on a 1/8-BPS D0-D4-D4'-D8-F1 brane system. The authors formulate explicit quiver quantum mechanics representing instanton-Wilson line interactions in 5d $\,\mathcal{N}=1$ theories, with D0 and D4 as color branes and D4'/D8 as flavor branes, where Wilson lines are implemented via F1 strings in antisymmetric representations. They derive a holographic central charge c$_{\text{hol}}$ from RR Maxwell flux data, and show it matches a field-theoretic vacuum-state count in various limits, also presenting a geometric extremisation principle to obtain c$_{\text{hol}}$ from a Maxwell-flux functional. The results extend AdS$_2$/CFT$_1$ dictionary by connecting central charges to RR fluxes and by embedding the construction in a broader brane web picture that includes potential O8 planes. Overall, the paper provides concrete holographic duals for defect quantum mechanics in 5d SCFTs and a robust framework for computing central charges via flux-based extremisation.
Abstract
We discuss AdS$_2\times S^3\times{\text{CY}}_2\times I_ρ$ solutions to massive Type IIA supergravity with 4 Poincaré supersymmetries. We propose explicit dual quiver quantum mechanics built out of D0 and D4 colour branes coupled to D4' and D8 flavour branes. We propose that these quivers describe the interactions of instantons and Wilson lines in 5d gauge theories with 8 Poincaré supersymmetries. Using the RR Maxwell fluxes of the solutions, conveniently put off-shell, we construct a functional from which the holographic central charge can be derived through a geometrical extremisation principle