Constraints on Symmetry Preserving Gapped Phases from Coupling Constant Anomalies

In this note, we will characterize constraints on the possible IR phases of a given QFT by anomalies in the space of coupling constants. We will give conditions under which a coupling constant anomaly cannot be matched by a continuous family of symmetry preserving gapped phases, in which case the theory is either gapless, or exhibits spontaneous symmetry breaking or a phase transition. We additionally demonstrate examples of theories with coupling constant anomalies which can be matched by a family of symmetry preserving gapped phases without a phase transition and comment on the interpretation of our results for the spontaneous breaking of "$(-1)$-form global symmetries."