Koszul duality in quantum field theory

Abstract

In this article, we introduce basic aspects of the algebraic notion of Koszul duality for a physics audience. We then review its appearance in the physical problem of coupling QFTs to topological line defects, and illustrate the concept with some examples drawn from twists of various simple supersymmetric theories. Though much of the content of this article is well-known to experts, the presentation and examples have not, to our knowledge, appeared in the literature before. Our aim is to provide an elementary introduction for those interested in the appearance of Koszul duality in supersymmetric gauge theories with line defects and, ultimately, its generalizations to higher-dimensional defects and twisted holography.