Higher-form symmetries, anomalous magnetohydrodynamics, and holography

Abstract

In $U(1)$ Abelian gauge theory coupled to fermions, the non-conservation of the axial current due to the chiral anomaly is given by a dynamical operator $F_{\mu \nu }{\tilde{F}}^{\mu \nu }$ constructed from the field-strength tensor. We attempt to describe this physics in a universal manner by casting this operator in terms of the 2-form current for the 1-form symmetry associated with magnetic flux conservation. We construct a holographic dual with this symmetry breaking pattern and study some aspects of finite temperature anomalous magnetohydrodynamics. We explicitly calculate the charge susceptibility and the axial charge relaxation rate as a function of temperature and magnetic field and compare to recent lattice results. At small magnetic fields we find agreement with elementary hydrodynamics weakly coupled to an electrodynamic sector, but we find deviations at larger fields.

41 pages, 3 figures and 2 tables. v2: some minor clarifications, main results unchanged, references added. v3: minor typos fixed, main results unchanged, references added, matches published version

References in corpus (14)

• The Chiral Magnetic Effect
• Generalized Global Symmetries
• Universality of the hydrodynamic limit in AdS/CFT and the membrane paradigm
• Chiral Magnetic Wave
• Generalized Symmetries in Condensed Matter
• Relativistic Hydrodynamics with General Anomalous Charges
• Holographic Anomalous Conductivities and the Chiral Magnetic Effect
• Baryogenesis from Decaying Magnetic Helicity
• Evolution of the Baryon Asymmetry through the Electroweak Crossover in the Presence of a Helical Magnetic Field
• Higher-form symmetries and 3-group in axion electrodynamics
• Anomalous Magneto Response and the Stückelberg Axion in Holography
• Generalized symmetries and 2-groups via electromagnetic duality in AdS/CFT
• (Non)renormalization of Anomalous Conductivities and Holography
• Anomalous Transport in Holographic Chiral Superfluids via Kubo Formulae

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Real-time dynamics of axial charge and chiral magnetic current in a non-Abelian expanding plasma
• Chiral Anomalous Magnetohydrodynamics in action: effective field theory and holography
• Higher-form symmetry and chiral transport in real-time Abelian lattice gauge theory
• Hydrodynamic fluctuations and topological susceptibility in chiral magnetohydrodynamics