The so-called BPS states in a conformal field theory with extended supersymmetry are key when assigning a geometric interpretation to the theory. Standard invariants for such theories arise from a net count of BPS, half or quarter BPS states, according to the Z2 grading into ‘bosons' and ‘fermions'. This allows for boson-fermion pairs of states to cease being BPS under deformation of the theory. The talk will give a review of this phenomenon, arguing that it is ubiquitous in theories with geometric interpretation by a K3 surface. For a particular type of deformations, we propose that the process is channelled by the action of SU(2) on an appropriate subspace of the space of states.
This is joint work with Anne Taormina.[-]