Between symmetry and duality in supersymmetric QFT

Abstract

We study two cases of interrelations between enhancement of symmetries in the infra red (IR) and duality properties of supersymmetric quantum field theories in four dimensions. First we discuss an SU(2) N=1 model with four flavors, singlet fields, and a superpotential. We show that this model flows to a conformal field theory with E_6\times U(1) global symmetry. The enhancement of the flavor symmetry follows from Seiberg duality. The second example is concerned with an SU(4) gauge theory with matter in the fundamental and antisymmetric representations. We argue that this model has enhanced SO(12) symmetry in the IR, and then guided by this enhancement, we deduce a new IR duality.