Related papers: Higher Gauge Theory

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…

M2-branes couple to a 3-form potential, which suggests that their description involves a non-abelian 2-gerbe or, equivalently, a principal 3-bundle. We show that current M2-brane models fit this expectation: they can be reformulated as…

This PhD thesis investigates several aspects of nonabelian higher gauge theories, which appear in many areas of physics, notably string theory and gauged supergravity. We show that nonabelian higher gauge theory admits a consistent…

We prove a Lie 2-group torsor version of the well-known one-one correspondence between fibered categories and pseudofunctors. Consequently, we obtain a weak version of the principal Lie group bundle over a Lie groupoid. The correspondence…

This is an invited survey article on higher gauge theory for the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, 2nd edition. In particular, we provide a lightning introduction to higher structures and to the construction of the kinematical data of…

We study bundle gerbes on manifolds $M$ that carry an action of a connected Lie group $G$. We show that these data give rise to a smooth 2-group extension of $G$ by the smooth 2-group of hermitean line bundles on $M$. This 2-group extension…

The notion of a higher bundle gerbe is introduced to give a geometric realization of the higher degree integral cohomology of certain manifolds. We consider examples using the infinite dimensional spaces arising in gauge theories.

I summarize and discuss some recent results on formulating actions of six-dimensional superconformal field theories using the language of higher gauge theory. The latter guarantees mathematical consistency of our constructions and we review…

Higher gauge theory for non-abelian structure 2-groups faces significant challenges when extending beyond the fake-flat sector, which suffers from limited applicability in physical models. A promising resolution involves equipping 2-groups…

We study a generalization of higher gauge theory which makes use of generalized geometry and seems to be closely related to double field theory. The local kinematical data of this theory is captured by morphisms of graded manifolds between…

We develop semistrict higher gauge theory from first principles. In particular, we describe the differential Deligne cohomology underlying semistrict principal 2-bundles with connective structures. Principal 2-bundles are obtained in terms…

In this technical paper, we present a new formulation of higher parallel transport in strict higher gauge theory required for the rigorous construction of Wilson lines and surfaces. Our approach is based on an original notion of Lie crossed…

Higher bundles are homotopy coherent generalisations of classical fibre bundles. They appear in numerous contexts in geometry, topology and physics. In particular, higher principal bundles provide the geometric framework for higher-group…

We introduce an axiomatic framework for the parallel transport of connections on gerbes. It incorporates parallel transport along curves and along surfaces, and is formulated in terms of gluing axioms and smoothness conditions. The…

The geometry of the total space of a principal bundle with regard to the action of the bundle's structure group is elegantly described by the bundle's operation, a collection of derivations consisting of the de Rham differential and the…

While higher bundles are of clear relevance to higher gauge theory, examples other than abelian bundle gerbes are hard to come across. One would in particular like to see 2-bundles where the structure 2-group is the String 2-group…

We introduce the concept of a higher algebroid, generalizing the notions of an algebroid and a higher tangent bundle. Our ideas are based on a description of (Lie) algebroids as vector bundle comorphisms - differential relations of a…

We argue that the relevant higher gauge group for the non-abelian generalization of the self-dual string equation is the string 2-group. We then derive the corresponding equations of motion and discuss their properties. The underlying…

The linear transports along paths in vector bundles introduced in Ref. [1] are applied to the special case of tensor bundles over a given differentiable manifold. Links with the transports along paths generated by derivations of tensor…

We develop a generalised gauge theory in which the role of gauge group is played by a coalgebra and the role of principal bundle by an algebra. The theory provides a unifying point of view which includes quantum group gauge theory,…