Pierluigi Niro

A bstract: We investigate the symmetry structure of five-dimensional Yang-Mills theories with 𝔰𝔲( N ) gauge algebra. These theories feature intertwined 0-, 1-, and 2-form symmetries, depending on the global variant one is considering. In the SU( N ) theory, there is a mixed ’t Hooft anomaly between the instantonic 0-form symmetry and the electric 1-form symmetry. We show that in the PSU( N ) theory this translates into a ℤ _N extension of the instantonic symmetry, generated by an invertible condensation defect of the magnetic 2-form symmetry. We identify the charged configurations as linked ’t Hooft surfaces, while pointlike instanton operators remain insensitive to the extension. We generalize our analysis to the SU( N )/ℤ _k global form and show that similar results hold, embedded now in a 3-group structure for generic k . We then apply our findings to SO(3) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. We determine the global form of the enhanced instantonic symmetry of its superconformal UV completion, showing that it arises through a similar symmetry extension mechanism from the parent E ₁ theory, which is the UV completion of SU(2) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. Finally, we recast our results in the language of the symmetry topological field theory. As a warm-up, we also analyze Maxwell theory, highlighting analogous features involving continuous symmetries and composite currents.

We consider codimension-one defects in the theory of d compact scalars on a two-dimensional worldsheet, acting linearly by mixing the scalars and their duals. By requiring that the defects are topological, we find that they correspond to a non-Abelian zero-form symmetry acting on the fields as elements of O(d; ℝ) × O(d; ℝ), and on momentum and winding charges as elements of O(d, d; ℝ). When the latter action is rational, we prove that it can be realized by combining gauging of non-anomalous discrete subgroups of the momentum and winding U(1) symmetries, and elements of the O(d, d; ℤ) duality group, such that the couplings of the theory are left invariant. Generically, these defects map local operators into non-genuine operators attached to lines, thus corresponding to a non-invertible symmetry. We confirm our results within a Lagrangian description of the non-invertible topological defects associated to the O(d, d; ℚ) action on charges, giving a natural explanation of the rationality conditions. Finally, we apply our findings to toroidal compactifications of bosonic string theory. In the simplest non-trivial case, we discuss the selection rules of these non-invertible symmetries, verifying explicitly that they are satisfied on a worldsheet of higher genus.

Three-dimensional Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons theory has the peculiar property that its one-form symmetry defects have nontrivial braiding, namely they are charged under the same symmetry they generate, which is then anomalous. This poses a few puzzles in describing the corresponding Symmetry TFT in a four-dimensional bulk. First, the braiding between lines at the boundary seems to be ill-defined when such lines are pulled into the bulk. Second, the Symmetry TFT appears to be too trivial to allow for topological boundary conditions encoding all the different global variants. We show that both of these puzzles can be solved by including endable (tubular) surfaces in the class of bulk topological operators one has to consider. In this way, we are able to reproduce all global variants of the theory, with their symmetries and their anomalies. We check the validity of our proposal also against a top-down holographic realization of the same class of theories.

We construct unitary, stable, and interacting conformal boundary conditions for a free massless scalar in four dimensions by coupling it to edge modes living on a boundary. The boundary theories we consider are bosonic and fermionic QED _3 3 with N_f N f flavors and a Chern-Simons term at level k k , in the large- N_f N f limit with fixed k/N_f k / N f . We find that interacting boundary conditions only exist when k≠ 0 k ≠ 0 . To obtain this result we compute the \beta β functions of the classically marginal couplings at the first non-vanishing order in the large- N_f N f expansion, and to all orders in k/N_f k / N f and in the couplings. To check vacuum stability we also compute the large- N_f N f effective potential. We compare our results with the the known conformal bootstrap bounds.

Symmetries corresponding to local transformations of the fundamental fields that leave the action invariant give rise to (invertible) topological defects, which obey group-like fusion rules. One can construct more general (codimension-one) topological defects by specifying a map between gauge-invariant operators from one side of the defect and such operators on the other side. In this work, we apply such construction to Maxwell theory in four dimensions and to the free compact scalar theory in two dimensions. In the case of Maxwell theory, we show that a topological defect that mixes the field strength F and its Hodge dual ⋆F can be at most an SO(2) rotation. For rational values of the bulk coupling and the θ-angle we find an explicit defect Lagrangian that realizes values of the SO(2) angle φ such that cos φ is also rational. We further determine the action of such defects on Wilson and ’t Hooft lines and show that they are in general non-invertible. We repeat the analysis for the free compact scalar ϕ in two dimensions. In this case we find only four discrete maps: the trivial one, a ℤ₂ map dϕ → −dϕ, a 𝒯-duality-like map dϕ → i ⋆ dϕ, and the product of the last two.

We consider a 4d scalar field coupled to large N N free or critical O(N) O ( N ) vector models, either bosonic or fermionic, on a 3d boundary. We compute the \beta β function of the classically marginal bulk/boundary interaction at the first non-trivial order in the large N N expansion and exactly in the coupling. Starting with the free (critical) vector model at weak coupling, we find a fixed point at infinite coupling in which the boundary theory is the critical (free) vector model and the bulk decouples. We show that a strong/weak duality relates one description of the renormalization group flow to another one in which the free and the critical vector models are exchanged. We then consider the theory with an additional Maxwell field in the bulk, which also gives decoupling limits with gauged vector models on the boundary.

We study the vacuum structure of three-dimensional SU(N ) gauge theory coupled to a Chern-Simons term at level k and to F fundamental Dirac fermions. We use a large N holographic description based on a D3/D7 system in type IIB string theory compactified on a supersymmetry breaking circle. The multiple vacua of the theory and the transitions between them are nicely captured by the dual holographic background. The resulting phase diagram, which we derive both at leading and first subleading orders in the 1/N expansion, shows a rich structure where topological field theories, non-linear sigma models and first-order phase transitions appear.