English

Remarks on mod-2 elliptic genus

High Energy Physics - Theory 2024-11-18 v2 Algebraic Topology

Abstract

For physicists: For supersymmetric quantum mechanics, there are cases when a mod-2 Witten index can be defined, even when a more ordinary Z\mathbb{Z}-valued Witten index vanishes. Similarly, for 2d supersymmetric quantum field theories, there are cases when a mod-2 elliptic genus can be defined, even when a more ordinary elliptic genus vanishes. We study such mod-2 elliptic genera in the context of N=(0,1)\mathcal{N}=(0,1) supersymmetry, and show that they are characterized by mod-2 reductions of integral modular forms, under some assumptions. For mathematicians: We study the image of the standard homomorphism πnTMFπnKO((q))Z/2((q))\pi_n \mathrm{TMF}\to \pi_n \mathrm{KO}((q))\simeq \mathbb{Z}/2((q)) for n=8k+1n=8k+1 or 8k+28k+2, by relating them to the mod-2 reductions of integral modular forms.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2302.07548,
  title  = {Remarks on mod-2 elliptic genus},
  author = {Yuji Tachikawa and Mayuko Yamashita and Kazuya Yonekura},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2302.07548},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

31 pages; v2: accepted version with significant revision

R2 v1 2026-06-28T08:40:33.917Z