Related papers: A Chern-Simons Pandemic
We perform a systematic analysis of the D-brane charges associated with string theory realizations of d=3 gauge theories, focusing on the examples of the N=4 supersymmetric U(N)xU(N+M) Yang-Mills theory and the N=3 supersymmetric…
We relate the existence of Noether global conserved currents associated with locally variational field equations to existence of global solutions for a local variational problem generating global equations. Both can be characterized as the…
It is observed that three-dimensional G\"odel black holes can be promoted to exact string theory backgrounds through an orbifold of an hyperbolic asymmetric marginal deformation of the SL(2,R) WZW model. Tachyons are found in the spectrum…
We study six dimensional supergravity theories with superconformal sectors (SCFTs). Instances of such theories can be engineered using type IIB strings, or more generally F-Theory, which translates field theoretic constraints to geometry.…
We prove some theorems characterizing the global properties of static, spherically symmetric configurations of a self-gravitating real scalar field in general relativity (GR) in various dimensions, with an arbitrary potential $V$, not…
It has been proposed that cobordism and K-theory groups, which can be mathematically related in certain cases, are physically associated to generalised higher-form symmetries. As a consequence, they should be broken or gauged in any…
We discuss a topological reason why global symmetries are not conserved in quantum gravity, at least when the symmetry comes from compactification of a higher form symmetry. The mechanism is purely topological and does not require any…
Dynamical Chern-Simons gravity is an extension of General Relativity in which the gravitational field is coupled to a scalar field through a parity-violating Chern-Simons term. In this framework, we study perturbations of spherically…
Sati and Schreiber [arXiv:2402.18473, arXiv:2512.12431] have proposed that charge quantisation in quantum field theory and string theory is governed by a homotopy type $\mathcal A$. We provide a refinement of this postulate, incorporating…
In this semi-technical review we discuss string theory (and all that goes by that name) as a framework for a quantum theory of gravity. This is a new paradigm in theoretical physics that goes beyond relativistic quantum field theory. We…
We examine six-dimensional quantum field theories through the lens of higher-form global symmetries. Every Yang-Mills gauge theory in six dimensions, with field strength $f^{(2)}$, naturally gives rise to a continuous 1-form global symmetry…
We argue that the infinitely many gauge symmetries of string theory provide an infinite set of conserved (gauge) quantum numbers (W-hair) which characterise black hole states and maintain quantum coherence, even during exotic processes like…
We couple Chern-Simons gauge theory to 3-dimensional topological gravity with the aim of investigating its quantum topological invariance. We derive the relevant BRST rules and Batalin-Vilkovisky action. Standard BRST transformations of the…
We consider a class of 4D supersymmetric black hole solutions, arising from string theory compactifications, which classically have vanishing horizon area and singular space-time geometry. String theory motivates the inclusion of higher…
A $q$-form global symmetry is a global symmetry for which the charged operators are of space-time dimension $q$; e.g. Wilson lines, surface defects, etc., and the charged excitations have $q$ spatial dimensions; e.g. strings, membranes,…
A direct relation between two types of topological field theories, Chern-Simons theory and BF theory, is presented by using ``Generalized Differential Calculus'', which extends an ordinary p-form to an ordered pair of p and (p+1)-form. We…
In this paper, we discuss how gauging one-form symmetries in Chern-Simons theories is implemented in an A-twisted topological open string theory. For example, the contribution from a fixed H/Z bundle on a three-manifold M, arising in a BZ…
Motivated by the apparent dependence of string $\sigma$--models on the sum of spacetime metric and antisymmetric tensor fields, we reconsider gravity theories constructed from a nonsymmetric metric. We first show that all such "geometrical"…
We study a subclass of Horndeski gravity which has both global conformal and shift symmetries. Global symmetries are characterised by the presence of a conserved current which has been shown to be of particular importance for the…
Recent work on the loop representation of quantum gravity has revealed previously unsuspected connections between knot theory and quantum gravity, or more generally, 3-dimensional topology and 4-dimensional generally covariant physics. We…