Heecheol Kim
Pohang University of Science and Technology · 物理学・天文学
研究室紹介
Professor Heecheol Kim's research lab specializes in the intersection of quantum field theory, string theory, and mathematical physics, with a focus on 5d superconformal field theories (SCFTs), M-theory compactifications, and topological string theory. The lab investigates the geometric engineering of quantum field theories using Calabi-Yau three-folds and explores dualities, duality walls, and the role of defects in 5d gauge theories. A central theme is the computation and physical interpretation of Nekrasov partition functions, linking supersymmetric gauge theories to integrable systems and holography.
Research Overview
Research Output Trend
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Selected Papers
15A bstract We formulate geometric conditions necessary for engineering 5d superconformal field theories (SCFTs) via M-theory compactification on a local Calabi-Yau 3-fold. Extending the classification of the rank 1 cases, which are realized geometrically as shrinking del Pezzo surfaces embedded in a 3-fold, we propose an exhaustive classification of local 3-folds engineering rank 2 SCFTs in 5d. This systematic classification confirms that all rank 2 SCFTs predicted using gauge theoretic arguments
We use the 5-sphere partition functions of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories to explore the (2, 0) superconformal theory on S 5 × S 1. The 5d theories can be regarded as Scherk-Schwarz reductions of the 6d theory along the circle. In a special limit, the perturbative partition function takes the form of the Chern-Simons partition function on S 3. With a simple non-perturbative completion, it becomes a 6d index which captures the degeneracy of a sector of BPS states as well as the index version
We study the Nekrasov partition function of the five dimensional U(N) gauge theory with maximal supersymmetry on ℝ4 × S 1 in the presence of codimension two defects. The codimension two defects can be described either as monodromy defects, or by coupling to a certain class of three dimensional quiver gauge theories on ℝ2 × S 1. We explain how these computations are connected with both classical and quantum integrable systems. We check, as an expansion in the instanton number, that the aforementi
We propose an explicit description of “duality walls” which encode at low energy the global symmetry enhancement expected in the UV completion of certain five-dimensional gauge theories. The proposal is supported by explicit localization computations and implies that the instanton partition function of these theories satisfies novel and unexpected integral equations.
We evaluate the Nekrasov partition function of 5d gauge theories engineered by webs of 5-branes, using the refined topological vertex on the dual Calabi-Yau three-folds. The theories include certain non-Lagrangian theories such as the T N theory. The refined topological vertex computation generically contains contributions from decoupled M2-branes which are not charged under the 5d gauge symmetry engineered. We argue that, after eliminating them, the refined topological string partition function
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We calculate the partition functions of supersymmetric gauge theories on S^5, which acquire non-perturbative contributions from instanton loops wrapping its Hopf fiber. The instantons on the CP^2 base equivariantly localize to 3 fixed points of SU(3) Cartans. Using our results, we study the index of the 6d (2,0) theory. We first study the partition functions of maximal SYM with AD(E) gauge groups, which agree with the gravity dual indices on AdS_7 in the large N limits. We also show that the mos
We conjecture that for superconformal field theories in even dimensions, the supersymmetric Casimir energy on a space with topology S 1 × S D−1 is equal to an equivariant integral of the anomaly polynomial. The equivariant integration is defined with respect to the Cartan subalgebra of the global symmetry algebra that commutes with a given supercharge. We test our proposal extensively by computing the supersymmetric Casimir energy for large classes of superconformal field theories, with and with
We study the superconformal index of five-dimensional SCFTs and the sphere partition function of four-dimensional gauge theories with eight supercharges in the presence of co-dimension two half-BPS defects. We derive a prescription which is valid for defects which can be given a “vortex construction”, i.e. can be defined by RG flow from vortex configurations in a larger theory. We test the prescription against known results and expected dualities. We employ our prescription to develop a general
A bstract We discuss the four dimensional models obtained by compactifying a single M5 brane probing D N singularity (minimal D-type (1 , 0) conformal matter in six dimensions) on a torus with flux for abelian subgroups of the SO(4 N ) flavor symmetry. We derive the resulting quiver field theories in four dimensions by first compactifying on a circle and relating the flux to duality domain walls in five dimensions. This leads to novel $$ \mathcal{N}=1 $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/19
The authors build an argument independent of string theory, using unitarity and other conditions, to show that consistent quantum gravities with sixteen supercharges are possible only with a limited number of gauge groups. In turn, it is known that each of these allowed gauge groups is realized in string theory. This is part of a larger program for different amounts of supersymmetry, which so far seems to confirm the string lamppost principle which states that each consistent quantum gravity is