arXiv subjects

Dimitri Kanakaris

Publications and source records attributed to Dimitri Kanakaris.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Higher-order analogues of colour-kinematics duality in first-order Yang-Mills Feynman diagrams

Colour-kinematics duality is, even at tree level, not manifest from the standard Lagrangian of Yang-Mills theory in that the usual Feynman-diagram expansion does not follow the kinematic Jacobi identities. For a Lagrangian manifesting colour-kinematics duality, the kinematic Jacobi identities of the Feynman-diagram expansion follow from the existence of a second-order differential operator $\mathsf{b}$ acting on the algebra of colour-stripped fields that forms part of the data of a BV$^\square$-algebra. We argue that the existence of differential operators of order greater than two implies weaker but nontrivial fragments of kinematic Jacobi identities. We further show that a superspace formulation of the first-order Yang-Mills action in the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism admits a differential operator of order six in every spacetime dimension. Therefore, the Feynman-diagram expansion of tree and loop scattering amplitudes of the first-order formulation of Yang-Mills theory automatically enjoy a weak form of colour-kinematics duality.

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arXiv2026

Ersatz gravity and black-hole thermodynamics from Manin gauge theory with noncompact gauge group

We show that a three-dimensional Manin gauge theory with gauge group $\operatorname{SL}(2;\mathbb R)$ (i.e. Yang-Mills theory, the third-way theory, or the imaginary third-way theory) minimally coupled to Einstein gravity admits a dual interpretation as Einstein gravity with an exotic coupling to a Manin gauge theory, where the roles of dreibein/spin connection and field strength/gauge potential are interchanged. The dual, or ersatz, gravitational metric $\hat g_{\mu\nu}\sim\operatorname{tr}((\star F)_\mu (\star F)_\nu)$ is a classical double copy of the gauge field strength $F_{\mu\nu}$ (as opposed to the usual double copy of the gauge potential $A_\mu$). If matter exclusively couples to $\hat g$ (for example, in a gravitational decoupling limit), then one can formulate black-hole thermodynamics with regards to the ersatz metric. In particular, a black-hole solution for the ersatz metric $\hat g_{\mu\nu}$ (made of Yang-Mills fields) radiates ersatz Hawking radiation and obeys the laws of black-hole thermodynamics.

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arXiv2025

Localisation with on-shell supersymmetry algebras via the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism: Localisation as gauge fixing

The Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism provides a powerful technique to deal with gauge and global (super)symmetries that may only hold on shell. We argue that, since global (super)symmetries and gauge symmetries appear on an equal footing in the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, similarly localisation with respect to global (super)symmetries appears on an equal footing with gauge fixing of gauge symmetries; in general, when the gauge-fixing condition is not invariant under the global symmetries, localisation (with respect to a localising fermion) and gauge fixing (with respect to a gauge-fixing fermion) combine into a single operation. Furthermore, this perspective enables supersymmetric localisation using only on-shell supermultiplets, dispensing with auxiliary fields, extending an insight first discovered by Losev and Lysov arXiv:2312.13999. We provide the first examples of on-shell localisation for quantum field theories (together with a companion paper by Arvanitakis arXiv:2511.00144).

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arXiv2025

Symmetries Beget Symmetries: Ghostly Higher-Form Symmetries and the Descent Equation

Viewed through the lens of the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, we demonstrate that higher-form currents with nonzero ghost number also define higher-form symmetries, directly analogous to the standard higher-form symmetries with ghost number zero. These ghostly higher symmetries descend from and into conventional higher-form symmetries via chains of descent equations familiar from the theory of anomalies and topological field theories. We give examples of such chains of ghostly symmetries in Maxwell theory, Abelian and non-Abelian higher gauge theory, Yang-Mills theory, and beyond.

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arXiv2025

Sandwich Construction of Symmetry TFTs for the Centre Symmetries of Chern-Simons, Yang-Mills, and Einstein Gravity

We construct symmetry topological field theories (SymTFTs) using the sandwich construction of Pulmann-\v{S}evera-Valach that manifest the centre symmetries of Chern-Simons theory and Yang-Mills theory as well as general relativity in the MacDowell-Mansouri formulation. The 'filling' of the sandwich is an AKSZ sigma model whose target space is a Weil algebra, augmented with discrete degrees of freedom given by a choice of topological boundary condition.

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arXiv2025

Twisted Homotopy Algebras: Supersymmetric Twists, Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking, Anomalies and Localisation

Twisting and classical background fields are two foundational techniques in supersymmetric quantum field theory, central to developments ranging from the Higgs mechanism to topological twisting and supersymmetric localisation. While traditionally treated as distinct procedures, they appear on an equal footing in the homotopy-algebraic approach to quantum field theory. In this work, we formalise this connection by interpreting both twisting and the introduction of classical backgrounds as instances of twisting curved quantum $L_\infty$-superalgebras. Using the language of homotopy algebras and the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, we provide a unified algebraic framework that encompasses topological/holomorphic twists, spontaneous symmetry breaking, computation of anomalies, and supersymmetric localisation \`a la Festuccia--Seiberg. As a byproduct, we introduce a notion of twisting for quantum $L_\infty$-algebras and a homotopy-algebraic reformulation of the one-particle-irreducible effective action.

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arXiv2025

Duality Anomalies in Linearized Gravity

Classical linearized gravity admits a dual formulation in terms of a higher-rank tensor field. Proposing a prescription for the instanton sectors of linearized gravity and its dual, we show that they may be quantum inequivalent in even dimensions. The duality anomaly is obtained by resolving the dual graviton theories into vector-valued $p$-form electrodynamics and is controlled by the Reidemeister torsion, Ray-Singer torsion and Euler characteristic of the cotangent bundle. Under the proposed instanton prescription the duality anomaly vanishes for an odd number of spacetime dimensions as a consequence of the celebrated Cheeger-M\"uller theorem. In the presence of a gravitational $\theta$-term, the partition function is a modular form in direct analogy to Abelian S-duality for Maxwell theory.

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arXiv2025

Homotopy Manin Theories: Generalising Third-Way, Yang-Mills and Integrable Sigma Models

Manin theories are a class of non-topological deformations of Chern-Simons theories that naturally realise the third-way mechanism and furthermore admit localisation despite not being supersymmetric in the usual sense. In this paper, we extend this construction to higher dimensions, thereby producing a large class of examples of third-way-type theories. Furthermore, the construction naturally yields Yang-Baxter integrable deformations of the principal chiral model as well as gravitational models various dimensions.

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arXiv2024

Gravity from AKSZ-Manin theories in two, three, and four dimensions

We show that various dynamical gauge theories in two, three and four dimensions, obtained as Manin deformations of topological Alexandrov-Kontsevich-Schwarz-Zaboronsky (AKSZ) theories, are equivalent to gravitational theories. Since gravity is topological in two and three dimension, this equivalence requires a diffeomorphism breaking background source term. In four dimensions, however, the MacDowell-Mansouri formulation of Einstein gravity with a cosmological constant is obtained identically via the Manin deformation of a particular AKSZ theory.

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arXiv2024

Three-dimensional $\operatorname{SL}(2,\mathbb R)$ Yang-Mills theory is three-dimensional gravity with background sources

Chern-Simons theory with certain gauge groups is known to be equivalent to a first-order formulation of three-dimensional Einstein gravity with a cosmological constant, where both are purely topological. Here, we extend this correspondence to theories with dynamical degrees of freedom. We show that three-dimensional Yang-Mills theory with gauge group $\operatorname{SL}(2,\mathbb R)$ is equivalent to the first-order formulation of three-dimensional Einstein gravity with no cosmological constant coupled to a background stress-energy tensor density (which breaks the diffeomorphism symmetry). The local degree of freedom of three-dimensional Yang-Mills theory corresponds to degenerate "gravitational waves" in which the metric is degenerate and the spin connection is no longer completely determined by the metric. Turning on a cosmological constant produces the third-way (for $\Lambda<0$) or the imaginary third-way (for $\Lambda>0$) gauge theories with a background stress-energy tensor density.

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arXiv2024

Localisation without supersymmetry: towards exact results from Dirac structures in 3D $N = 0$ gauge theory

We show, by introducing purely auxiliary gluinos and scalars, that the quantum path integral for a class of 3D interacting non-supersymmetric gauge theories localises. The theories in this class all admit a `Manin gauge theory' formulation, that we introduce; it is obtained by enhancing the gauge algebra of the theory to a Dirac structure inside a Manin pair. This machinery allows us to do localisation computations for every theory in this class at once, including for 3D Yang-Mills theory, and for its Third Way deformation; the latter calculation casts the Third Way path integral into an almost 1-loop exact form.

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arXiv2023

Localisation of the Third Way Theory

The following is a master thesis centered around the concept of localisation and the Third Way Theory. This thesis discusses various aspects of supersymmetric localisation in one and three dimensions, and contains original results with regards to the Third Way Theory. It starts off with the Witten index for a one-dimensional supersymmetric system and derives various aspects through localisation. After this, the thesis moves on to the Third Way Theory. First, it offers a review of the Third Way Theory, a deformation of topologically massive Yang-Mills theory in three dimensions. Then it moves on to original results. These include a supersymmetrisation of the Third Way Theory and consequently a localisation of the Third Way Theory, which is to say, a method of deriving non-perturbative results.

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