Speaker
Description
Any ${\cal N}=2$ $4d$ superconformal field theory (SCFT) contains a subsector isomorphic to a $2d$ chiral algebra, or vertex operator algebra (VOA). The VOA computes a rich class of observables of the SCFT. In the opposite direction, four-dimensional physics expectations lead to interesting mathematical conjectures for VOAs. Most ambitiously, one hopes to use this $4d/2d$ correspondence as on organizing principle for the whole landscape of ${\cal N}=2$ SCFTs. In this talk, I will review the basics of the correspondence and describe some recent progress in characterizing the class of VOAs that descend from $4d$ SCFTs. The new insight is the VOA is intimately related to the low energy effective field theory on the Higgs branch of the $4d$ theory.
