Quantum 't Hooft loops of SYM N=4 as instantons of YM_2 in dual groups SU(N) and SU(N)/Z_N

Abstract

A relation between circular 1/2 BPS 't Hooft operators in 4d N=4 SYM and instantonic solutions in 2d Yang-Mills theory (YM_2) has recently been conjectured. Localization indeed predicts that those 't Hooft operators in a theory with gauge group G are captured by instanton contributions to the partition function of YM_2, belonging to representations of the dual group ^LG. This conjecture has been tested in the case G=U(N)=^LG and for fundamental representations. In this paper we examine this conjecture in the case of the groups G=SU(N) and ^LG=SU(N)/Z_N and loops in different representations. Peculiarities when groups are not self-dual and representations not "minimal" are pointed out.