Conformal manifolds for the conifold and other toric field theories

Abstract

In the space of couplings of the 4D N ≤ 1 gauge theory associated to D3 branes probing Calabi-Yau singularities, there is a manifold over which superconformal invariance is preserved. The AdS/CFT correspondence is valid precisely for this ''conformal manifold". We identify the conformal manifold for all the Y p,q toric singularities, paying special attention to the case of the conifold, Y1,0 . For a general Y p,q the conformal manifold is three dimensional, while for the conifold it is five dimensional. There is always an exactly marginal deformation, analogous to the β-deformation of N ≤ 4 SYM, which involves fluxes in the dual gravity description. This β-deformation exists for any toric Calabi-Yau singularity. © SISSA 2005.