Hwang-Oguiso invariants and frozen singularities in special geometry

Abstract

In Special Geometry there are two inequivalent notions of “Kodaira type” for a singular fiber: one associated with its local monodromy and one with its Hwang-Oguiso characteristic cycle. When the two Kodaira types are not equal the geometry is subtler and its deformation space gets smaller (“partially frozen” singularities). The paper analyzes the physical interpretation of the Hwang-Oguiso invariant in the context of 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 QFT and describes the surprising phenomena which appear when it does not coincide with the monodromy type. The Hwang-Oguiso multiple fibers are in one-to-one correspondence with the partially frozen singularities in M-theory compactified on a local elliptic K3: a chain of string dualities relates the two geometric set-ups. Paying attention to a few subtleties, this correspondence explains in purely geometric terms how the “same” Kodaira elliptic fiber may have different deformations spaces. The geometric computation of the number of deformations agrees with the physical expectations. At the end we briefly outline the implications of the Hwang-Oguiso invariants for the classification program of 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 SCFTs.