TY - JOUR TI - Monopoles, BPS states, and 't Hooft defects in 4D N = 2 theories of class S DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-0g6v-1e84 PY - 2019 AB - Monopoles are a fundamental feature of non-abelian gauge theories. They are relevant to the study of confinement and general non-perturbative quantum effects. In this dissertation we study some aspects of monopoles in supersymmetric non-abelian gauge theories. In particular, we focus primarily on 't Hooft defects (magnetically charged defects) and their interaction with smooth, supersymmetric monopoles. Here we use a semiclassical approximation to study the spectrum of bound states between such monopoles and 't Hooft defects and the phase transitions where this spectrum changes discontinuously. Then, we use string theory and localization techniques to compute the expectation value of 't Hooft defects as operators in the full quantum theory. Using the computed expectation value, we are able to directly study the non-perturbative process called monopole bubbling in which smooth monopoles dissolve into an 't Hooft defect. Then, by combining the results of string theory techniques with localization techniques, we are able to derive general formulas for the full spectrum of monopole bound states in all possible phases of the theory. KW - Magnetic monopoles KW - Physics and Astronomy LA - English ER -