Related papers: Topological Constraints on Defect Dynamics
We investigate perturbatively tractable deformations of topological defects in two-dimensional conformal field theories. We perturbatively compute the change in the $g$-factor, the reflectivity, and the entanglement entropy of the conformal…
In this paper we study the constraints imposed by conformal invariance on extended objects a.k.a defects in a conformal field theory. We identify a particularly nice class of defects that is closed under conformal transformations.…
Interpreting RG flows as dynamical systems in the space of couplings we produce a variety of constraints, global (topological) as well as local. These constraints, in turn, rule out some of the proposed RG flows and also predict new phases…
A salient feature of topological phases are surface states and many of the widely studied physical properties are directly tied to their existence. Although less explored, a variety of topological phases can however similarly be…
Boundary conditions and defects of any codimension are natural parts of any quantum field theory. Surface defects in three-dimensional topological field theories of Turaev-Reshetikhin type have applications to two-dimensional conformal…
We study various aspects of codimension one defects in free scalar field theory, with particular emphasis on line defects in two-dimensions. These defects are generically non-conformal, but include conformal and topological defects as…
We consider the topological defect lines commuting with the spectral flow and the $\mathcal{N}=(4,4)$ superconformal symmetry in two dimensional non-linear sigma models on K3. By studying their fusion with boundary states, we derive a…
Anomalies of global symmetries are important tools for understanding the dynamics of quantum systems. We investigate anomalies of non-invertible symmetries in 3+1d using 4+1d bulk topological quantum field theories given by Abelian two-form…
When conformal field theories (CFTs) are perturbed by marginally relevant deformations, renormalization group (RG) flows ensue that can be studied with perturbative methods, at least as long as they remain close to the original CFT. In this…
It is considered, in the framework of constrained systems, the quantum dynamics of non-relativistic particles moving on a d-dimensional Riemannian manifold M isometrically embedded in $R^{d+n}$. This generalizes recent investigations where…
We use a mix of field theoretic and holographic techniques to elucidate various properties of quantum entanglement entropy. In (3+1)-dimensional conformal field theory we study the divergent terms in the entropy when the entangling surface…
The language and methods of algebraic topology, particularly homotopy theory, have been extensively used in the study of the identification, the classification and the evolution of defects. Topological methods provide the means for the…
We analyse how simple local constraints in two dimensions lead a defect to exhibit robust, non-transient, and tunable, subdiffusion. We uncover a rich dynamical phenomenology realised in ice- and dimer-type models. On the microscopic scale…
This is a survey article for the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, 2nd Edition. Topological defects are described in the context of the 2-dimensional Ising model on the lattice, in 2-dimensional quantum field theory, in topological…
The modern way to understand symmetries of a quantum field theory is via its topological defects in various dimensions. In this contribution to the proceedings we focus on line defects in 2d QFT and we point out that topological defects…
Standard statistical mechanical or condensed matter arguments tell us that bulk properties of a physical system do not depend too much on boundary conditions. Random tilings of large regions provide counterexamples to such intuition, as…
In this paper we rigorously investigate the emergence of defects on Nematic Shells with genus different from one. This phenomenon is related to a non trivial interplay between the topology of the shell and the alignment of the director…
We consider a composite defect system where a lower-dimensional defect (sub-defect) is embedded to a higher-dimensional one, and examine renormalization group (RG) flows localized on the defect. A composite defect is constructed in the…
For QFTs in AdS the boundary correlation functions remain conformal even if the bulk theory has a scale. This allows one to constrain RG flows with numerical conformal bootstrap methods. We apply this idea to flows between two-dimensional…
Topological defects are singularities in material fields that play a vital role across a range of systems: from cosmic microwave background polarization to superconductors, and biological materials. Although topological defects and their…