TQFT, Symmetry Breaking, and Finite Gauge Theory in 3+1D


الملخص بالإنكليزية

We derive a canonical form for 2-group gauge theory in 3+1D which shows they are either equivalent to Dijkgraaf-Witten theory or to the so-called EF1 topological order of Lan-Wen. According to that classification, recently argued from a different point of view by Johnson-Freyd, this amounts to a very large class of all 3+1D TQFTs. We use this canonical form to compute all possible anomalies of 2-group gauge theory which may occur without spontaneous symmetry breaking, providing a converse of the recent symmetry-enforced-gaplessness constraints of Cordova-Ohmori and also uncovering some possible new examples. On the other hand, in cases where the anomaly is matched by a TQFT, we try to provide the simplest possible such TQFT. For example, with anomalies involving time reversal, $mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory almost always works.

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