In these notes, we provide an introduction to the hemisphere partition function of 2d (2, 2) supersymmetric gauge theories, and discuss its relation to the “D-brane central charge” which were studied in superstring theory, in 2d supersymmetric quantum field theory, and in topological string theory. We also discuss relation to “macroscopic loop” in matrix models. They are mostly reviews of the work by the authors, but contains some new results such as the partition function for a rotated supersymmetry as well as the differential equations.

We study BPS spectra of D-branes on local Calabi-Yau threefolds O(−p)⊕O(p−2)→P^1 with p=0,1, corresponding to C^3/Z_2 and the resolved conifold. Nonabelianization for exponential networks is applied to compute directly unframed BPS indices counting states with D2 and D0 brane charges. Known results on these BPS spectra are correctly reproduced by computing new types of BPS invariants of 3d-5d BPS states, encoded by nonabelianization, through their wall-crossing. We also develop the notion of exponential BPS graphs for the simplest toric examples, and show that they encode both the quiver and the potential associated to the Calabi-Yau via geometric engineering.

We study B-branes in two-dimensional N=(2,2) anomalous models, and their behaviour as we vary bulk parameters in the quantum Kähler moduli space. We focus on the case of (2,2) theories defined by abelian gauged linear sigma models (GLSM). We use the hemisphere partition function as a guide to find how B-branes split in the IR into components supported on Higgs, mixed and Coulomb branches: this generalizes the band restriction rule of Herbst-Hori-Page to anomalous models. As a central example, we work out in detail the case of GLSMs for Hirzebruch-Jung resolutions of cyclic surface singularities. In these non-compact models we explain how to compute and regularize the hemisphere partition function for a brane with compact support, and check that its Higgs branch component explicitly matches with the geometric central charge of an object in the derived category.

We develop geometric techniques for counting BPS states in five-dimensional gauge theories engineered by M theory on a toric Calabi–Yau threefold. The problem is approached by studying framed 3d–5d wall-crossing in the presence of a single M5 brane wrapping a special Lagrangian submanifold L. The spectrum of 3d–5d BPS states is encoded by the geometry of the manifold of vacua of the 3d–5d system, which further coincides with the mirror curve describing moduli of the Lagrangian brane. The information about the BPS spectrum is extracted from the geometry of the mirror curve by construction of a nonabelianization map for the exponential networks. For the simplest Calabi–Yau, C^3 we reproduce the count of 5d BPS states and match predictions of 3d tt∗ geometry for the count of 3d–5d BPS states. We comment on applications of our construction to the study of enumerative invariants of toric Calabi–Yau threefolds.

In this note, we discuss the notion of symmetric self-duality of shaded planar algebras, which allows us to lift shadings on subfactor planar algebras to obtain Z/2Z-graded unitary fusion categories. This finishes the proof that there are unitary fusion categories with fusion graphs 4442 and 3333.