In theoretical physics, a quiver diagram is a graph representing the matter content of a gauge theory that describes D-branes on orbifolds. Quiver diagrams may also be used to described l{N}=2
supersymmetric gauge theories in four dimensions.
Each node of the graph corresponds to a factor U(N) of the gauge group, and each link represents a field in the bifundamental representation
(M,\bar{N})
The relevance of quiver diagrams for string theory was pointed out and studied by Michael Douglas and Greg Moore.[1]
While string theorists use the words quiver diagram, many of their colleagues in particle physics call these diagrams mooses.
For convenience, consider the supersymmetric
l{N}=1
The quiver gauge theory is given by the following data:
Q
v\in\operatorname{V}(Q)
Gv
U(N)
SU(N)
SO(N)
USp(N)
style\prodv\in(Q)}Gv
e\colonu\tov
{\bar{N}}u ⊗ Nv
\Phie
This representation is called a bifundamental representation. For example, if
u
v
SU(2)
SU(3)
{\bar{2}}\operatorname(2)} ⊗ {3}\operatorname(3)}
In this case, the quiver gauge theory is a four-dimensional
l{N}=1
The quiver is particularly convenient for representing conformal gauge theory. The structure of the quiver makes it easy to check whether the theory preserves conformal symmetry.