Related papers: On 2-Group Global Symmetries and Their Anomalies
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…
Generalized global symmetries, in particular non-invertible and categorical symmetries, have become a focal point in the recent study of quantum field theory (QFT). In this paper, we investigate aspects of symmetry topological field…
We present a class of three-dimensional quantum field theories whose ordinary global symmetries mix with higher-form symmetries to form a continuous 2-group. All these models can be obtained by performing a gauging procedure in a parent…
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 analyze in detail the global symmetries of various (2+1)d quantum field theories and couple them to classical background gauge fields. A proper identification of the global symmetries allows us to consider all non-trivial bundles of…
These are a set of lecture notes on generalized global symmetries in quantum field theory. The focus is on invertible symmetries with a few comments regarding non-invertible symmetries. The main topics covered are the basics of higher-form…
Quantum field theories can exhibit various generalized symmetry structures, among which higher-group symmetries and non-invertible symmetry defects are particularly prominent. In this work, we explore a new general scenario in which these…
Dynamical quantum field theories (QFTs), such as those in which spacetimes are equipped with a metric and/or a field in the form of a smooth map to a target manifold, can be formulated axiomatically using the language of…
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,…
We study various aspects of global symmetries in five-dimensional superconformal field theories. Whenever a supersymmetry-preserving relevant deformation is available, the infrared gauge theory description might exhibit a finite order mixed…
We show that certain global anomalies can be detected in an elementary fashion by analyzing the way the symmetry algebra is realized on the torus Hilbert space of the anomalous theory. Distinct anomalous behaviours imprinted in the Hilbert…
We study generalized symmetries in a simplified arena in which the usual quantum field theories of physics are replaced with topological field theories and the smooth structure with which the symmetry groups of physics are usually endowed…
Quantum field theories can have both continuous and finite 0-form symmetries. We study global symmetry structures that arise when both kinds of 0-form symmetries are present. The global structure associated to continuous 0-form symmetries…
A large class of symmetries of topological quantum field theories is naturally described by functors into higher categories of topological defects. Here we study 2-group symmetries of 3-dimensional TQFTs. We explain that these symmetries…
We explore the connection between the global symmetry quantum numbers of line defects and 't Hooft anomalies. Relative to local (point) operators, line defects may transform projectively under both internal and spacetime symmetries. This…
A global symmetry of a quantum field theory is said to have an 't Hooft anomaly if it cannot be promoted to a local symmetry of a gauged theory. In this paper, we show that the anomaly is also an obstruction to defining symmetric boundary…
Given any symmetry acting on a $d$-dimensional quantum field theory, there is an associated $(d+1)$-dimensional topological field theory known as the Symmetry TFT (SymTFT). The SymTFT is useful for decoupling the universal quantities of…
Generalized symmetries (also known as categorical symmetries) is a newly developing technique for studying quantum field theories. It has given us new insights into the structure of QFT and many new powerful tools that can be applied to the…
We discuss the geometric origin of discrete higher form symmetries of quantum field theories in terms of defect groups from geometric engineering in M-theory. The flux non-commutativity in M-theory gives rise to (mixed) 't Hooft anomalies…
Quantum field theory has various projective characteristics which are captured by what are called anomalies. This paper explores this idea in the context of fully-extended three-dimensional topological quantum field theories (TQFTs). Given…