English

Half-Spacetime Gauging of 2-Group Symmetry in 3d

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-05-26 v2

Abstract

We construct a class of non-invertible duality defects, in (2+1)d quantum field theories, arising from half-spacetime gauging of a 2-group symmetry. Starting from a parent theory with two discrete and Abelian 0-form symmetries and a prescribed mixed anomaly, we show that gauging one factor produces a theory with a 2-group symmetry, while gauging the other yields a theory with a non-invertible 0-form symmetry, whose fusion rules we derive explicitly. When the parent theory possesses three such symmetries with a cyclic anomaly structure, gauging different factors can produce mutually dual theories and the half-spacetime gauging of the 2-group is implemented by a non-invertible duality defect, whose fusion rules we obtain. We illustrate the construction with explicit examples, including a U(1)×U(1)×U(1)U(1)\times U(1)\times U(1) gauge theory and a general class of product theories. We also include a self-contained pedagogical introduction to the cohomological tools employed throughout the article.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.06287,
  title  = {Half-Spacetime Gauging of 2-Group Symmetry in 3d},
  author = {Davide Bason and Wei Cui and Lorenzo Ruggeri},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.06287},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

38 pages, 3 figures. References added and typos fixed