Related papers: Higher-form symmetries as higher automorphism bund…
We present a framework to systematically investigate higher categorical symmetries in two-dimensional spin systems. Though exotic, such generalised symmetries have been shown to naturally arise as dual symmetries upon gauging invertible…
We analyze higher gauge theories in various dimensions using a supergeometric method based on a differential graded symplectic manifold, called a QP-manifold, which is closely related to the BRST-BV formalism in gauge theories. Extensions…
Starting with minimal requirements from the physical experience with higher gauge theories, i.e. gauge theories for a tower of differential forms of different form degrees, we discover that all the structural identities governing such…
In this note we construct rigidly supersymmetric gauged sigma models and gauge theories on certain Einstein four-manifolds, and discuss constraints on these theories. In work elsewhere, it was recently shown that on some nontrivial Einstein…
We discuss some consequences of the fact that symmetry groups appearing in compactified (super-)gravity may be non-simply connected. The possibility to add fermions to a theory results in a simple criterion to decide whether a 3-dimensional…
All supersymmetric gauge theories based on simple groups which have an affine quantum moduli space, i.e. one generated by gauge invariants with no relations, W=0, and anomaly matching at the origin, are classified. It is shown that the only…
It is well-known that if we gauge a $\mathbb{Z}_n$ symmetry in two dimensions, a dual $\mathbb{Z}_n$ symmetry appears, such that re-gauging this dual $\mathbb{Z}_n$ symmetry leads back to the original theory. We describe how this can be…
Graded bundles are a class of graded manifolds which represent a natural generalisation of vector bundles and include the higher order tangent bundles as canonical examples. We present and study the concept of the linearisation of graded…
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…
We extend to larger unification groups an earlier study exploring the possibility of unification of gauge symmetries in theories with dynamical symmetry breaking. Based on our results, we comment on the outlook for models that seek to…
We show that in the context of two-dimensional sigma models minimal coupling of an ordinary rigid symmetry Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$ leads naturally to the appearance of the "generalized tangent bundle" $\mathbb{T}M \equiv TM \oplus T^*M$…
We revisit the gauging of rigid symmetries in two-dimensional bosonic sigma models with a Wess-Zumino term in the action. Such a term is related to a background closed 3-form H on the target space. More exactly, the sigma-model Feynman…
Let $Y$ be a pointed space and let $\mathcal E(Y^r)$ be the group of based self-equivalences of $Y^r$, $r\geq 2$. For $Y$ a homotopy commutative $H$-group we construct a subgroup $\mathcal E_{\mathrm{Mat}}(Y^r)$ of $\mathcal E(Y^r)$ which…
We discuss aspects of global and gauged symmetries in quantum field theory and quantum gravity, focusing on discrete gauge symmetries. An effective Lagrangian description of $\Z_p$ gauge theories shows that they are associated with an…
A pedagogical but concise overview of fiber bundles and their connections is provided, in the context of gauge theories in physics. The emphasis is on defining and visualizing concepts and relationships between them, as well as listing…
We study various cases of dualities between $\cal{N}$$=1$ 5d supersymmetric gauge theories. We motivate the dualities using brane webs, and provide evidence for them by comparing the superconformal index. In many cases we find that the…
In this paper we use the AdS/CFT correspondence to refine and then establish a set of old conjectures about symmetries in quantum gravity. We first show that any global symmetry, discrete or continuous, in a bulk quantum gravity theory with…
A new approach extending the concept of geometric phases to adiabatic open quantum systems described by density matrices (mixed states) is proposed. This new approach is based on an analogy between open quantum systems and dissipative…
It is well-known that principal bundles and associated bundles underlie the geometric structure of classical gauge field theories. In this paper, we explore the reformulation of gauge theories in terms of Lie algebroids and their associated…
In this paper, we present a purely algebraic formulation of higher gauge theory and gauged sigma models based on the abstract theory of graded commutative algebras and their morphisms. The formulation incorporates naturally BRST symmetry…