Three-dimensional \cN=4 gauge theories in omega background

Abstract

We review the description of three-dimensional gauge theories with N = 4 supersymmetry in the presence of an omega background as an N = 4 supersymmetric quantum mechanics. We will focus throughout on a simple abelian example. The Hilbert space of supersymmetric ground states is populated by generalized vortex congurations, while half-BPS monopole operators act on the Hilbert space by creating and annihilating vortices, furnishing it with the structure of a Verma module for the quantized Coulomb branch chiral ring. Furthermore, by introducing two-dimensional N = (2; 2) boundary conditions, we nd a nite version of the AGT correspondence between vortex partition functions and overlaps of Whittaker vectors for quantized Coulomb branch chiral rings.