Constraints on Symmetry Preserving Gapped Phases from Coupling Constant Anomalies

T. Daniel Brennan

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arXiv · 2404.11660

Constraints on Symmetry Preserving Gapped Phases from Coupling Constant Anomalies

T. Daniel Brennan

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Abstract

In this note, we will characterize constraints on the possible IR phases of a given QFT by anomalies in the space of coupling constants. We will give conditions under which a coupling constant anomaly cannot be matched by a continuous family of symmetry preserving gapped phases, in which case the theory is either gapless, or exhibits spontaneous symmetry breaking or a phase transition. We additionally demonstrate examples of theories with coupling constant anomalies which can be matched by a family of symmetry preserving gapped phases without a phase transition and comment on the interpretation of our results for the spontaneous breaking of "$(-1)$-form global symmetries."

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T. Daniel Brennan. 2024-04-17. Constraints on Symmetry Preserving Gapped Phases from Coupling Constant Anomalies. https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.11660

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