Line operator indices of S-fold theories

Abstract

We study superconformal indices in the presence of line operators in S-fold theories. We consider two types of lines, realized by fundamental strings and fivebranes, respectively, in AdS$_5 \times S^5/\mathbb{Z}_k$. For fundamental lines, we analyze the corresponding indices including finite-$N$ corrections arising from giant graviton configurations. For $k=2$, we compare the holographic results with line operator indices in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theories with orthogonal gauge groups. For $k=3,4$ and $6$, we focus on the rank $2$ case, in which the supersymmetry is enhanced to ${\cal N}=4$, and compare them with the corresponding Wilson-'t Hooft line operator indices. In both cases, we find improved agreement once giant graviton contributions are included. For line operators realized by fivebranes, after confirming agreement for $k=2$, we construct BPS configurations for $k\geq 3$ explicitly using fivebrane junctions and derive the indices in the large $N$ limit by the mode analysis on the fivebrane junctions.