A fresh view on string orbifolds
arXiv:2210.10034 · doi:10.1007/JHEP01(2023)173
Abstract
In quantum field theory, an orbifold is a way to obtain a new theory from an old one by gauging a finite global symmetry. This definition of orbifold does not make sense for quantum gravity theories, that admit (conjecturally) no global symmetries. In string theory, the orbifold procedure involves the gauging of a global symmetry on the world-sheet theory describing the fundamental string. Alternatively, it is a way to obtain a new string background from an old one by quotienting some isometry. We propose a new formulation of string orbifolds in terms of the group of gauge symmetries of a given string model. In such a formulation, the `parent' and the `child' theories correspond to different ways of breaking or gauging all potential global symmetries of their common subsector. Through a couple of simple examples, we describe how the higher group structure of the gauge group in the parent theory plays a crucial role in determining the gauge group and the twisted sector of the orbifold theory. We also discuss the dependence of this orbifold procedure on the duality frame.
arXiv comment57 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor changes, references added; v3: revised abstract and introduction, typos corrected, references added, version accepted for publication
References in corpus (47)
- Generalized Global Symmetries
- Symmetries and Strings in Field Theory and Gravity
- Coupling a QFT to a TQFT and Duality
- Reading between the lines of four-dimensional gauge theories
- TFT construction of RCFT correlators I: Partition functions
- Duality and defects in rational conformal field theory
- Exploring 2-Group Global Symmetries
- Constraints on Low-Dimensional String Compactifications
- Wilson-'t Hooft operators in four-dimensional gauge theories and S-duality
- On finite symmetries and their gauging in two dimensions
- On gauging finite subgroups
- Kramers-Wannier-like duality defects in (3+1)d gauge theories
- Orbifold groupoids
- On 2-Group Global Symmetries and Their Anomalies
- Monopoles, Duality, and String Theory
- Constraints on symmetry from holography
- Exceptional Field Theory III: E
- Non-Invertible Global Symmetries and Completeness of the Spectrum
- Exceptional Field Theory II: E
- Non-invertible Condensation, Duality, and Triality Defects in 3+1 Dimensions
- Notes on generalized global symmetries in QFT
- On the Defect Group of a 6D SCFT
- Defect lines, dualities, and generalised orbifolds
- Topological defects for the free boson CFT
- Vertex operator algebras, the Verlinde conjecture and modular tensor categories
- GLSM's for gerbes (and other toric stacks)
- Dual String Pairs With N=1 And N=2 Supersymmetry In Four Dimensions
- Orbifold completion of defect bicategories
- String compactifications on Calabi-Yau stacks
- Branes and Non-Invertible Symmetries
- Dual Pairs of Type II String Compactification
- Higher Form Symmetries and M-theory
- Topological Operators and Completeness of Spectrum in Discrete Gauge Theories
- Duality and Orbifolds
- Higher-form symmetries of 6d and 5d theories
- Chern-Weil Global Symmetries and How Quantum Gravity Avoids Them
- Higher-form symmetries and 3-group in axion electrodynamics
- Global 3-group symmetry and 't Hooft anomalies in axion electrodynamics
- 2-Group Symmetries and M-Theory
- The Geometry, Branes and Applications of Exceptional Field Theory
- Higher Form Symmetries TFT in 6d
- Duality Defects in
- Lorentzian Dynamics and Factorization Beyond Rationality
- Orbifolds and topological defects
- The Moonshine Anomaly
- The Non-Perturbative SO(32) Heterotic String
- O-folds: Orientifolds and Orbifolds in Exceptional Field Theory
Cited by in corpus (5)
- Comments on Non-invertible Symmetries in Argyres-Douglas Theories
- Remarks on Geometric Engineering, Symmetry TFTs and Anomalies
- When the moduli space is an orbifold: Spontaneous breaking of continuous non-invertible symmetries
- B-brane transport in anomalous (2,2) models and localization
- Flat F-theory and friends