Defects via Factorization Algebras
arXiv:2208.01730 · doi:10.1007/s11005-023-01670-2
Abstract
We provide a mathematical formulation of the idea of a defect for a field theory, in terms of the factorization algebra of observables and using the BV formalism. Our approach follows a well-known ansatz identifying a defect as a boundary condition along the boundary of a blow-up, but it uses recent work of Butson-Yoo and Rabinovich on boundary conditions and their associated factorization algebras to implement the ansatz. We describe how a range of natural examples of defects fits into our framework.
19 pages. Comments welcome!