Related papers: Note on higher-group structure in 6d self-dual gau…
We investigate $2n$-dimensional axion electrodynamics for the purpose of exploring a higher-group structure underlying it. This is manifested as a Green-Schwarz transformation of the background gauge fields that couple minimally to the…
We study a higher group analog of the Weyl symmetry in four-dimensional quantum field theories. A typical example is that the modified transformation of the 2-form background gauge field replaces the operator-valued Weyl anomaly associated…
We describe general methods for determining higher-form symmetry groups of known 5d and 6d superconformal field theories (SCFTs), and 6d little string theories (LSTs). The 6d theories can be described as supersymmetric gauge theories in 6d…
We investigate a higher-group structure of massless axion electrodynamics in $(3+1)$ dimensions. By using the background gauging method, we show that the higher-form symmetries necessarily have a global semistrict 3-group (2-crossed module)…
We analyze the gauge structure of a recently proposed superconformal field theory in six dimensions. We find that this structure amounts to a weak Courant-Dorfman algebra, which, in turn, can be interpreted as a strong homotopy Lie algebra.…
We construct non-invertible symmetries in 6d $\mathcal{N}=(2,0)$ superconformal field theories that arise from Green-Schwarz (GS) automorphisms, which form abelian or non-abelian groups. Applied to $\mathbb{Z}_2$, $\mathbb{Z}_3$ and $S_3$…
Mixed anomalies, higher form symmetries, two-group symmetries and non-invertible symmetries have proved to be useful in providing non-trivial constraints on the dynamics of quantum field theories. We study mixed anomalies involving discrete…
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 study global anomalies of discrete gauge symmetries in six-dimensional supergravities and their realizations in F-theory. We explicitly construct a discrete Green-Schwarz mechanism that depends on the choice of a coupling constant and on…
Duality groups as (spontaneously broken) gauge symmetries for toroidal backgrounds, and their role in ($\infty$-dimensional) underlying string gauge algebras are reviewed. For curved backgrounds, it is shown that there is a duality in the…
Higher-form symmetries are associated with transformations that only act on extended objects, not on point particles. Typically, higher-form symmetries live alongside ordinary, point-particle (0-form), symmetries and they can be jointly…
We present and study a 4d Chern-Simons (CS) model whose gauge symmetry is encoded in a balanced Lie group crossed module. Using the derived formal set-up recently found, the model can be formulated in a way that in many respects closely…
In four-dimensional axion electrodynamics, a Chern-Simons coupling of the form $\theta F \wedge F$ leads to a higher-group global symmetry between background gauge fields. At the same time, such a Chern-Simons coupling leads to a mixing…
All known interacting 6D superconformal field theories (SCFTs) have a tensor branch which includes anti-chiral two-forms and a corresponding lattice of string charges. Automorphisms of this lattice preserve the Dirac pairing and specify…
We extend the known consistency conditions on the low-energy theory of six-dimensional N = 1 supergravity. We review some facts about the theory of two-form gauge fields and conclude that the charge lattice Gamma for such a theory has to be…
We develop a description of higher gauge theory with higher groupoids as gauge structure from first principles. This approach captures ordinary gauge theories and gauged sigma models as well as their categorifications on a very general…
The notion of global higher-form symmetries has received much attention, but leaves room for a more systematic mathematical formulation. In this article, we highlight the concept of higher automorphism bundles from the field of higher…
A large class of gapped phases of matter can be described by topological finite group gauge theories. In this paper we show how such gauge theories possess a higher-group global symmetry, which we study in detail. We derive the $d$-group…
We analyze four-dimensional quantum field theories with continuous 2-group global symmetries. At the level of their charges such symmetries are identical to a product of continuous flavor or spacetime symmetries with a 1-form global…
We derive higher Wess--Zumino--Witten (WZW) and gauged WZW (gWZW) terms within strict higher Chern--Simons (CS) gauge theory. Starting from the Cartan homotopy formula, we obtain the $(2n+2)$-dimensional higher CS forms and transgression…