Chern-Weil global symmetries and how quantum gravity avoids them

Abstract We draw attention to a class of generalized global symmetries, which we call “Chern-Weil global symmetries,” that arise ubiquitously in gauge theories. The Noether currents of these Chern-Weil global symmetries are given by wedge products of gauge field strengths, such as F 2 ∧ H 3 and tr(...

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Autores principales:	Ben Heidenreich, Jacob McNamara, Miguel Montero, Matthew Reece, Tom Rudelius, Irene Valenzuela
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	SpringerOpen 2021
Materias:	Gauge Symmetry Global Symmetries Superstrings and Heterotic Strings Brane Dynamics in Gauge Theories Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity QC770-798
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/175c60efb2b74b4c9d9844b33ab413a8
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:175c60efb2b74b4c9d9844b33ab413a82021-11-14T12:40:27ZChern-Weil global symmetries and how quantum gravity avoids them10.1007/JHEP11(2021)0531029-8479https://doaj.org/article/175c60efb2b74b4c9d9844b33ab413a82021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP11(2021)053https://doaj.org/toc/1029-8479Abstract We draw attention to a class of generalized global symmetries, which we call “Chern-Weil global symmetries,” that arise ubiquitously in gauge theories. The Noether currents of these Chern-Weil global symmetries are given by wedge products of gauge field strengths, such as F 2 ∧ H 3 and tr( F 2 2 $$ {F}_2^2 $$ ), and their conservation follows from Bianchi identities. As a result, they are not easy to break. However, it is widely believed that exact global symmetries are not allowed in a consistent theory of quantum gravity. As a result, any Chern-Weil global symmetry in a low-energy effective field theory must be either broken or gauged when the theory is coupled to gravity. In this paper, we explore the processes by which Chern-Weil symmetries may be broken or gauged in effective field theory and string theory. We will see that many familiar phenomena in string theory, such as axions, Chern-Simons terms, worldvolume degrees of freedom, and branes ending on or dissolving in other branes, can be interpreted as consequences of the absence of Chern-Weil symmetries in quantum gravity, suggesting that they might be general features of quantum gravity. We further discuss implications of breaking and gauging Chern-Weil symmetries for particle phenomenology and for boundary CFTs of AdS bulk theories. Chern-Weil global symmetries thus offer a unified framework for understanding many familiar aspects of quantum field theory and quantum gravity.Ben HeidenreichJacob McNamaraMiguel MonteroMatthew ReeceTom RudeliusIrene ValenzuelaSpringerOpenarticleGauge SymmetryGlobal SymmetriesSuperstrings and Heterotic StringsBrane Dynamics in Gauge TheoriesNuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. RadioactivityQC770-798ENJournal of High Energy Physics, Vol 2021, Iss 11, Pp 1-76 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Gauge Symmetry Global Symmetries Superstrings and Heterotic Strings Brane Dynamics in Gauge Theories Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity QC770-798
spellingShingle	Gauge Symmetry Global Symmetries Superstrings and Heterotic Strings Brane Dynamics in Gauge Theories Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity QC770-798 Ben Heidenreich Jacob McNamara Miguel Montero Matthew Reece Tom Rudelius Irene Valenzuela Chern-Weil global symmetries and how quantum gravity avoids them
description	Abstract We draw attention to a class of generalized global symmetries, which we call “Chern-Weil global symmetries,” that arise ubiquitously in gauge theories. The Noether currents of these Chern-Weil global symmetries are given by wedge products of gauge field strengths, such as F 2 ∧ H 3 and tr( F 2 2 $$ {F}_2^2 $$ ), and their conservation follows from Bianchi identities. As a result, they are not easy to break. However, it is widely believed that exact global symmetries are not allowed in a consistent theory of quantum gravity. As a result, any Chern-Weil global symmetry in a low-energy effective field theory must be either broken or gauged when the theory is coupled to gravity. In this paper, we explore the processes by which Chern-Weil symmetries may be broken or gauged in effective field theory and string theory. We will see that many familiar phenomena in string theory, such as axions, Chern-Simons terms, worldvolume degrees of freedom, and branes ending on or dissolving in other branes, can be interpreted as consequences of the absence of Chern-Weil symmetries in quantum gravity, suggesting that they might be general features of quantum gravity. We further discuss implications of breaking and gauging Chern-Weil symmetries for particle phenomenology and for boundary CFTs of AdS bulk theories. Chern-Weil global symmetries thus offer a unified framework for understanding many familiar aspects of quantum field theory and quantum gravity.
format	article
author	Ben Heidenreich Jacob McNamara Miguel Montero Matthew Reece Tom Rudelius Irene Valenzuela
author_facet	Ben Heidenreich Jacob McNamara Miguel Montero Matthew Reece Tom Rudelius Irene Valenzuela
author_sort	Ben Heidenreich
title	Chern-Weil global symmetries and how quantum gravity avoids them
title_short	Chern-Weil global symmetries and how quantum gravity avoids them
title_full	Chern-Weil global symmetries and how quantum gravity avoids them
title_fullStr	Chern-Weil global symmetries and how quantum gravity avoids them
title_full_unstemmed	Chern-Weil global symmetries and how quantum gravity avoids them
title_sort	chern-weil global symmetries and how quantum gravity avoids them
publisher	SpringerOpen
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/175c60efb2b74b4c9d9844b33ab413a8
work_keys_str_mv	AT benheidenreich chernweilglobalsymmetriesandhowquantumgravityavoidsthem AT jacobmcnamara chernweilglobalsymmetriesandhowquantumgravityavoidsthem AT miguelmontero chernweilglobalsymmetriesandhowquantumgravityavoidsthem AT matthewreece chernweilglobalsymmetriesandhowquantumgravityavoidsthem AT tomrudelius chernweilglobalsymmetriesandhowquantumgravityavoidsthem AT irenevalenzuela chernweilglobalsymmetriesandhowquantumgravityavoidsthem
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Chern-Weil global symmetries and how quantum gravity avoids them

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