Global 4-group symmetry and 't Hooft anomalies in topological axion electrodynamics

Abstract

We study higher-form global symmetries and a higher-group structure of a low-energy limit of $(3+1)$-dimensional axion electrodynamics in a gapped phase described by a topological action. We argue that the higher-form symmetries should have a semi-strict 4-group (3-crossed module) structure by consistency conditions of couplings of the topological action to background gauge fields for the higher-form symmetries. We find possible 't Hooft anomalies for the 4-group global symmetry, and discuss physical consequences.

arXiv comment51 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (62)

• Topological Insulators
• Topological Field Theory of Time-Reversal Invariant Insulators
• Axion Cosmology
• String Axiverse
• Generalized Global Symmetries
• Axions In String Theory
• Magnetoelectric polarizability and axion electrodynamics in crystalline insulators
• Symmetries and Strings in Field Theory and Gravity
• Topological Defects and Gapless Modes in Insulators and Superconductors
• Natural Inflation: Particle Physics Models, Power Law Spectra for Large Scale Structure, and Constraints from COBE
• Coupling a QFT to a TQFT and Duality
• Dynamical Axion Field in Topological Magnetic Insulators
• The Strong CP Problem and Axions
• Exploring 2-Group Global Symmetries
• Superconductors are topologically ordered
• Axions : Theory and Cosmological Role
• A symmetry principle for Topological Quantum Order
• On gauging finite subgroups
• Unified Description of Nambu-Goldstone Bosons without Lorentz Invariance
• Chiral anomaly, Charge Density Waves, and Axion Strings from Weyl Semimetals
• Anomalies in the Space of Coupling Constants and Their Dynamical Applications II
• Anomalies in the Space of Coupling Constants and Their Dynamical Applications I
• Fermionic SPT phases in higher dimensions and bosonization
• Symmetry and Topological Order
• Autocorrelations and Thermal Fragility of Anyonic Loops in Topologically Quantum Ordered Systems
• Notes on generalized global symmetries in QFT
• On a Light Spinless Particle Coupled to Photons
• Counting rule for Nambu-Goldstone modes in nonrelativistic systems
• On the number of Nambu-Goldstone bosons and its relation to charge densities
• GLSM's for gerbes (and other toric stacks)
• Generalized Elitzur's Theorem and Dimensional Reduction
• Emergent (anomalous) higher symmetries from topological orders and from dynamical electromagnetic field in condensed matter systems
• Generalized Global Symmetries of $T[M]$ Theories. I
• The Global Form of Flavor Symmetries and 2-Group Symmetries in 5d SCFTs
• String compactifications on Calabi-Yau stacks
• 2-Group Global Symmetries and Anomalies in Six-Dimensional Quantum Field Theories
• Axion topological field theory of topological superconductors
• Anomaly matching for phase diagram of massless ${\mathbb{Z}}_N$-QCD
• Higher Gauge Theory: 2-Connections on 2-Bundles
• Chern-Weil Global Symmetries and How Quantum Gravity Avoids Them
• Higher Yang-Mills Theory
• Higher-form symmetries and 3-group in axion electrodynamics
• 2-Group Symmetries in Class S
• Notes on gauging noneffective group actions
• Three-Form Gauging of axion Symmetries and Gravity
• Generalized symmetries and 2-groups via electromagnetic duality in AdS/CFT
• Topological axion electrodynamics and 4-group symmetry
• Quark-hadron continuity beyond Ginzburg-Landau paradigm
• Axionic Defect Anomalies and their Cancellation
• Six-Dimensional Superconformal Field Theories from Principal 3-Bundles over Twistor Space
• Quantization of Fayet-Iliopoulos Parameters in Supergravity
• Topological order in a color-flavor locked phase of $(3+1)$-dimensional $U(N)$ gauge-Higgs system
• Dissipationless Hall Current in Dense Quark Matter in a Magnetic Field
• Novel Topological Effects in Dense QCD in a Magnetic Field
• TQFT, Symmetry Breaking, and Finite Gauge Theory in 3+1D
• Axion electrodynamics and nonrelativistic photons in nuclear and quark matter
• The Local Structure of Anomaly Inflow
• Emergent discrete 3-form symmetry and domain walls
• Effective action and electromagnetic response of topological superconductors and Majorana-mass Weyl fermions
• Effective description of axion defects
• Topological Order from a Cohomological and Higher Gauge Theory perspective
• Global anomaly matching in higher-dimensional ${\mathbb{CP}}^{N-1}$ model

Cited by in corpus (18)

• Relative Defects in Relative Theories: Trapped Higher-Form Symmetries and Irregular Punctures in Class S
• Higher-group symmetry in finite gauge theory and stabilizer codes
• Cosmic strings from pure Yang-Mills theory
• Quantization of Axion-Gauge Couplings and Non-Invertible Higher Symmetries
• Anomalies of Generalized Symmetries from Solitonic Defects
• Relations among topological solitons
• Remarks on Geometric Engineering, Symmetry TFTs and Anomalies
• Disconnected 0-Form and 2-Group Symmetries
• Fractionally Charged Particles at the Energy Frontier: The SM Gauge Group and One-Form Global Symmetry
• Higher-group structure in $2n$-dimensional axion-electrodynamics
• Higher-group structure in lattice Abelian gauge theory under instanton-sum modification
• Non-Invertible Peccei-Quinn Symmetry, Natural 2HDM Alignment, and the Visible Axion
• Higher-Matter and Landau-Ginzburg Theory of Higher-Group Symmetries
• Henneaux-Teitelboim gauge symmetry and its applications to higher gauge theories
• B-brane transport in anomalous (2,2) models and localization
• Symmetry breaking mechanisms of the 3BF action for the Standard Model coupled to gravity
• Correspondence between 3BF and Einstein-Cartan formulations of quantum gravity
• Universal Deformations