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Refined half-integer condition on RG flows

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-02-20 v3 Strongly Correlated Electrons Mathematical Physics Category Theory math.MP Quantum Algebra

Abstract

Renormalization group flows are constrained by symmetries. Traditionally, we have made the most of 't Hooft anomalies associated to the symmetries. The anomaly is mathematically part of the data for the monoidal structure on symmetry categories. The symmetry categories sometimes admit additional structures such as braiding. It was found that the additional structures give further constraints on renormalization group flows. One of these constraints is the half-integer condition. The condition claims the following. Braidings are characterized by conformal dimensions. A symmetry object cc in a braided symmetry category surviving all along the flow thus has two conformal dimensions, one in ultraviolet hcUVh_c^\text{UV} and the other in infrared hcIRh_c^\text{IR}. In a renormalization group flow with a renormalization group defect, they add up to a half-integer hcUV+hcIR12Zh_c^\text{UV}+h_c^\text{IR}\in\frac12\mathbb Z. We find a necessary condition for the sum to be half-integer. We solve some flows with the refined half-integer condition.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.12085,
  title  = {Refined half-integer condition on RG flows},
  author = {Ken Kikuchi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.12085},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

23 pages; v2: fixed typos and added a footnote; v3: updated affiliation and acknowledgment

R2 v1 2026-07-01T10:33:55.357Z