Related papers: Anomalous Symmetries End at the Boundary

Quantization of field-theoretic models with gauge symmetries is often obstructed by quantum anomalies. It is commonly believed that the origin of these anomalies lies in the infinite number of degrees of freedom, which requires completing…

In the AdS/CFT correspondence one encounters theories that are not invariant under diffeomorphisms. In the boundary theory this is a gravitational anomaly, and can arise in 4k+2 dimensions. In the bulk, there can be gravitational…

't Hooft anomaly matching is powerful for constraining the low energy phases of gauge theories. In 3d one common anomaly is the parity anomaly in a $T$-symmetric theory where one cannot gauge the global symmetry group without breaking the…

We develop a general framework for the description of anomalies using extended functorial field theories extending previous work by Freed and Monnier. In this framework, anomalies are described by invertible field theories in one dimension…

In 1+1 dimensions, the Wheeler-DeWitt equation cannot be imposed owing to an anomaly in its commutator with the diffeomorphism constraint. A similar obstruction prevents also a semiclassical definition of a WKB local time. (Talk given at…

We study globally supersymmetric 3d gauge theories on curved manifolds by describing the coupling of 3d topological gauge theories, with both Yang-Mills and Chern-Simons terms in the action, to background topological gravity. In our…

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…

Commutator anomalies obstruct solving the Wheeler-DeWitt constraint equation in Dirac quantization of quantum gravity-matter theory. When the obstruction is removed, there result quantal modifications to the constraints. The same classical…

Symmetries and their anomalies are powerful tools to understand quantum matter. In this work, for quantum spin chains, we define twisted locality-preserving automorphisms and their Gross-Nesme-Vogts-Werner indices, which provide a unified…

We study discrete symmetries of Dijkgraaf-Witten theories and their gauging in the framework of (extended) functorial quantum field theory. Non-abelian group cohomology is used to describe discrete symmetries and we derive concrete…

We analyze lattice Hamiltonian systems whose global symmetries have 't Hooft anomalies. As is common in the study of anomalies, they are probed by coupling the system to classical background gauge fields. For flat fields (vanishing field…

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 develop a theory of anomalies of fermionic topological phases of matter in (2+1)D with a general fermionic symmetry group $G_f$. In general, $G_f$ can be a non-trivial central extension of the bosonic symmetry group $G_b$ by fermion…

A supersymmetry anomaly is found in the presence of non-perturbative fields. When the action is expressed in terms of the correct quantum variables, anomalous surface terms appear in its supersymmetric variation - one per each collective…

There are strong reasons to believe that global symmetries of quantum theories cannot be exact in the presence of gravity. While this has been argued at the qualitative level, establishing a quantitative statement is more challenging. In…

In this paper we generalize previous results on anomaly resolution to noninvertible symmetries. Briefly, given a global symmetry G of some theory with a 't Hooft anomaly rendering it ungaugeable, the idea of anomaly resolution is to extend…

We study quantum field theories with boundary by utilizing non-invertible symmetries. We consider three kinds of boundary conditions of the four dimensional $\mathbb{Z}_2$ lattice gauge theory at the critical point as examples. The weights…

A conservation law is one of the most fundamental properties in nature, but a certain class of conservation "laws"' could be spoiled by intrinsic quantum mechanical effects, so-called quantum anomalies. Profound properties of the anomalies…

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 consider 't Hooft anomalies of four-dimensional gauge theories whose fermion matter content admits $Spin_G(4)$ generalized spin structure, with $G$ either gauged or a global symmetry. We discuss methods to directly compute $w_2\cup w_3$…