Related papers: Gerbe-holonomy for surfaces with defect networks
In addition to superconformal symmetry, (1,1) supersymmetric two-dimensional sigma models on special holonomy manifolds have extra symmetries that are in one-to-one correspondence with the covariantly constant forms on these manifolds. The…
A new symmetry of $(1,0)$ supersymmetric non-linear $\sigma$-models in two dimensions with Fermi and mass sectors is introduced. It is a generalisation of the so-called special holonomy $W$-symmetry of Howe and Papadopoulos associated with…
We extend our analysis of the gauging of rigid symmetries in bosonic two-dimensional sigma models with Wess-Zumino terms in the action to the case of world-sheets with defects. A structure that permits a non-anomalous coupling of such sigma…
The Wess-Zumino term in two-dimensional conformal field theory is best understood as a surface holonomy of a bundle gerbe. We define additional structure for a bundle gerbe that allows to extend the notion of surface holonomy to unoriented…
We review recent developments in the context of two-dimensional conformally invariant sigma-models. These quantum field theories play a prominent role in the covariant superstring quantization in flux backgrounds and in the analysis of…
A simplicial framework for the gerbe-theoretic modelling of supercharged-loop dynamics in the presence of worldsheet defects is discussed whose equivariantisation with respect to global supersymmetries of the bulk theory and subsequent…
The aim of this talk is to explain how symmetry breaking in a quantum field theory problem leads to a study of projective bundles, Dixmier-Douady classes, and associated gerbes. A gerbe manifests itself in different equivalent ways. Besides…
This is the first of a series of papers discussing canonical aspects of the two-dimensional non-linear sigma model in the presence of conformal defects on the world-sheet in the framework of gerbe theory. In the paper, the basic tools of…
We invistigate exact solutions for the two-dimensional quantum field theories called Wess-Zumino-Novikov-Witten (WZNW) models. A WZNW model is a sigma model whose classical fields are applications from a bidimensional space-time (a Riemann…
We investigate a relationship between a particular class of two-dimensional integrable non-linear $\sigma$-models and variations of Hodge structures. Concretely, our aim is to study the classical dynamics of the $\lambda$-deformed $G/G$…
We investigate the quantum behaviour of sigma models on coset superspaces G/H defined by Z_{2n} gradings of G. We find that, whenever G has vanishing Killing form, there is a choice of WZ term which renders the model quantum conformal, at…
We explore various aspects of 2-form topological gauge theories in (3+1)d. These theories can be constructed as sigma models with target space the second classifying space $B^2G$ of the symmetry group $G$, and they are classified by…
We determine the algebra of holonomy symmetries of sigma models propagating on supersymmetric heterotic backgrounds with a non-compact holonomy group. We demonstrate that these close as a W-algebra, which in turn is specified by a Lie…
Nonlinear sigma models appear in a wide variety of physics contexts, such as the long-range order with spontaneously broken continuous global symmetries. There are also large classes of quantum criticality admit sigma model descriptions in…
We introduce an axiomatic framework for the parallel transport of connections on gerbes. It incorporates parallel transport along curves and along surfaces, and is formulated in terms of gluing axioms and smoothness conditions. The…
Holonomy invariants in strict higher gauge theory have been studied in depth, aiming to applications to higher Chern-Simons theory. For a flat 2-connection, the holonomy of surface knots of arbitrary genus has been defined and its…
We establish that the relevant geometric data for the target space description of world sheet topological defects are submanifolds - which we call bi-branes - in the product M1 x M2 of the two target spaces involved. Very much like branes,…
The Holographic Wess--Zumino (HWZ) consistency conditions are shown through a step by step mapping of renormalization group flows to Hamiltonian systems, to lead to the Holographic anomaly. These conditions codify how the energy scale, when…
It was recently argued that quantum field theories possess one-form and higher-form symmetries, labelled `generalized global symmetries.' In this paper, we describe how those higher-form symmetries can be understood mathematically as…
We provide a differential cocycle model for elliptic cohomology with complex coefficients and use analytic methods to construct a cocycle representative for the Witten class in this language. Our motivation stems from the conjectural…