January 12, 2022
TITLE: Topological correlators of N=2* Yang-Mills theory
ABSTRACT: N=2* Yang-Mills theory is a mass deformation of N=4 Yang-Mills, which preserves N=2 supersymmetry. I will consider the topological twist of this theory with gauge group SU(2) on a smooth, compact four-manifold X. A consistent formulation requires coupling of the theory to a Spin-c structure, which is necessarily non-trivial if X is non-spin. I will discuss the contribution from the Coulomb branch to correlation functions in terms of the low energy effective field theory coupled to a Spin-c structure, and present how these are evaluated using mock modular forms. Upon varying the mass, the correlators can be shown to reproduce correlators of Donaldson-Witten theory as well as Vafa-Witten theory. Based on joint work with Greg Moore, arXiv:2104.06492.
