Anomaly constraint on chiral central charge of (2+1)d topological order


Abstract in English

In this short paper, we argue that the chiral central charge $c_-$ of a (2+1)d topological ordered state is sometimes strongly constrained by t Hooft anomaly of anti-unitary global symmetry. For example, if a (2+1)d fermionic TQFT has a time reversal anomaly with $T^2=(-1)^F$ labeled as $ uinmathbb{Z}_{16}$, the TQFT must have $c_-=1/4$ mod $1/2$ for odd $ u$, while $c_-=0$ mod $1/2$ for even $ u$. This generalizes the fact that the bosonic TQFT with $T$ anomaly in a particular class must carry $c_-=4$ mod $8$ to fermionic cases. We also study such a constraint for fermionic TQFT with $U(1)times CT$ symmetry, which is regarded as a gapped surface of the topological superconductor in class AIII.

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