Related papers: Note on Discrete Gauge Anomalies
Gauge symmetries are often highlighted as a fundamental cornerstone of modern physics. But at the same time, it is commonly emphasized that gauge symmetries are not a fundamental feature of nature but merely redundancies in our description.…
A world-sheet sigma model approach is applied to string theories dual to four-dimensional gauge theories, and semi-classical soliton solutions representing highly excited string states are identified which correspond to gauge theory…
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…
We argue that \CP is a gauge symmetry in string theory. As a consequence, \CP cannot be explicitly broken either perturbatively or non-pertubatively; there can be no non-perturbative \CP-violating parameters. String theory is thus an…
A recently published report has called into question the validity of the equivalence theorem in dynamically broken gauge theories in which the fermions making up the symmetry breaking condensate lie in an anomalous representation of the…
The study of string models including both unoriented closed strings and open strings presents a number of new features when compared to the standard case of models of oriented closed strings only. We review some basic features of the…
Instantons play a crucial role in understanding non-perturbative dynamics in quantum field theories, including those with spontaneously broken gauge symmetries. In the broken phase, finite-size instanton-like configurations are no longer…
Krauss and Wilczek have shown that an unbroken discrete gauge symmetry is respected by gravitationally mediated processes. This has led to a search for such a symmetry compatible with the standard model or MSSM that would protect protons…
We study two well-known $SU(N)$ chiral gauge theories with fermions in the symmetric, anti-symmetric and fundamental representations. We give a detailed description of the global symmetry, including various discrete quotients. Recent work…
We carry out a gauge invariant analysis of certain perturbations of $D-2$-branes solutions of low energy string theories. We get generically a system of second order coupled differential equations, and show that only in very particular…
We examine discrete gauge symmetries in axionic extensions of the SSM which provide a solution of the $\mu$-problem. Automatic-PQ symmetry and proton stability are shown to be guaranteed by certain discrete symmetries. Focusing on the…
One cannot yet point to any firm string prediction. While many approximate string ground states are known with interesting properties, we do not have any argument that one or another describes what we observe around us, and for reasons…
With our current level of understanding, the problem of making string theory predictions is not one of "solving" the theory, but rather of trying to determine whether there are any generic expectations. Within this context, we discuss what…
The concepts of symmetry, symmetry breaking and gauge symmetries are discussed, their operational meaning being displayed by the observables {\em and} the (physical) states. For infinitely extended systems the states fall into physically…
Two new effects of interaction of the gauge string with a homogeneous density of fermions are considered in a gauge model with an anomalous coupling of vector fields with fermions. First, the presence of an induced nonzero magnetic-like…
In this note we show that the cosmological domain wall and the de Sitter quantum breaking problems complement each other in theories with discrete symmetries that are spontaneously broken at low energies. Either the symmetry is exact and…
An outline of a proof of the decomposition of linear metric perturbations into gauge-invariant and gauge-variant parts on an arbitrary background spacetime which admits ADM decomposition is briefly discussed. We explicitly construct the…
Various string theory realizations of three-dimensional gauge theories relate them to gravitational instantons, Nahm equations and monopoles. We use this correspondence to model self-dual gravitational instantons of $D_k$-type as moduli…
A long-standing puzzle about the heterotic string has been what happens when an instanton shrinks to zero size. It is argued here that the answer at the quantum level is that an extra $SU(2)$ gauge symmetry appears that is supported in the…
In this thesis we discuss non-perturbative phenomena emerging in gauge and in string/supergravity theories. We compute the partition function of 5D minimal supersymmetric U(1) gauge theory with extra adjoint matter in general…