Residues, modularity, and the Cardy limit of the 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 4 superconformal index

Abstract

Abstract We compute the superconformal index of the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 SU(N) Yang-Mills theory through a residue calculation. The method is similar in spirit to the Bethe Ansatz formalism, except that all poles are explicitly known, and we do not require specialization of any of the chemical potentials. Our expression for the index allows us to revisit the Cardy limit using modular properties of four-dimensional supersymmetric partition functions. We find that all residues contribute at leading order in the Cardy limit. In a specific region of flavour chemical potential space, close to the two unrefined points, in fact all residues contribute universally. These universal residues precisely agree with the entropy functions of the asymptotically AdS5 black hole and its “twin saddle” respectively. Finally, we discuss how our formula is suited to study the implications of four-dimensional modularity for the index beyond the Cardy limit.