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arXiv · 2208.01730

Defects via Factorization Algebras

Ivan Contreras·Chris Elliott·Owen Gwilliam
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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.

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Ivan Contreras, Chris Elliott, Owen Gwilliam. 2022-08-02. Defects via Factorization Algebras. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11005-023-01670-2

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