On W-algebras and ODE/IM correspondence

Abstract

We study the ODE/IM correspondence for two-dimensional conformal field theories with Virasoro and $\mathcal{W}_N$ symmetry. Building on earlier work establishing the correspondence, we develop a systematic algorithm for calculating the eigenvalues of local integrals of motion in terms of the Bethe roots using formal WKB expansions of wave functions associated to the differential operators. The method is demonstrated explicitly for Virasoro, $\mathcal{W}_3$, and $\mathcal{W}_4$ algebras, yielding closed expressions for the eigenvalues of the first few local quantum KdV Hamiltonians. A key geometric structure emerging from our analysis is the mirror curve, a three-punctured sphere that is naturally covered by the WKB curve. We show how the algebraic properties of the $\mathcal{W}$-symmetry algebras are reflected in the geometry of these curves, and how period integrals on these curves reproduce the spectral data of the integrable system. Applications to Argyres-Douglas minimal models allow us to test the prescription both analytically and numerically and we find complete agreement between the calculations in different triality frames. Finally, we examine large rank limits of ground state eigenvalues and show that they match the genus expansion of the topological string partition function on $\mathbb{C}^3$.