Generalized Global Symmetries and Quantum Gravity

 

Dr Miguel Montero
Utrecht University
 

17 Jan 2017 (Tuesday)
2:00 pm
IAS2042, 2/F, Lo Ka Chung Building, Lee Shau Kee Campus, HKUST

Generalized global symmetries are global symmetries whose parameter is a p-form, rather than a scalar. Just like ordinary global symmetries, they must be gauged or broken when coupled to quantum gravity. In this talk, the speaker will introduce generalized global symmetries, along with some examples, and illustrate how they are usually (but not always) broken by charged objects in many examples. Whenever these objects are not present, researchers are forced to break the symmetries otherwise. The speaker conjectures in this case that the breaking requires the presence of specific Chern-Simons terms in the action. This conjecture is verified in several stringy examples, and puts several seemingly consistent theories, such as four-dimensional Maxwell+gravity+WGC particles, or (modulo some caveats) pure gravity in AdS3, in the Swampland.