Codimension-Two Defects and SYM on Orbifolds

Authors: Roman Mauch, Lorenzo Ruggeri

Pre-print: UUITP-08/25

Abstract: We study U(N) SYM theories on spaces with orbifold singularities via an equivalent description in terms of gauge theories on smooth manifolds with insertions of Gukov-Witten and twist defects. The combined effect of the defects is to render the fields multivalued with respect to rotations around the support of the defects. This motivates an equivalence with theories on branched covers, for which the multivaluedness has a geometric interpretation. We compute the partition function of the theory with defects on a patch and use it as a building block to compute partition functions on several closed spaces with conical singularities.