arXiv subjects

Dominik Rist

Publications and source records attributed to Dominik Rist.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Adjusting Higher Chern-Simons Theory

A fundamental problem in formulating higher Chern-Simons theories is the construction of a consistent higher gauge theory that circumvents the fake-flatness constraint. Here, we propose a solution to this problem using adjusted higher connections. Concretely, we shall demonstrate that there is an obstruction to the direct construction of such action functionals since, generically, adjusted higher gauge algebras do not admit an inner product. To overcome this obstruction, we introduce half-adjusted higher Chern-Simons theories. These theories have both well-defined underlying kinematic data as well as the expected properties of a higher generalisation of Chern-Simons theory. We develop the general construction of these theories in arbitrary dimensions and provide explicit details for the four-dimensional case. We also present the complete differential cohomological framework for principal 2-bundles with half-adjusted connections. Finally, we discuss an alternative approach introducing additional trivial symmetries.

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arXiv2024

Higher Gauge Theory

This is an invited survey article on higher gauge theory for the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, 2nd edition. In particular, we provide a lightning introduction to higher structures and to the construction of the kinematical data of higher gauge theories, i.e. connections on higher principal bundles. We also summarise the most important applications and dynamical principles that have appeared in the literature, and we close with comments on related areas.

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arXiv2022

Explicit Non-Abelian Gerbes with Connections

We define the notion of adjustment for strict Lie 2-groups and provide the complete cocycle description for non-Abelian gerbes with connections whose structure 2-group is an adjusted 2-group. Most importantly, we depart from the common fake-flat connections and employ adjusted connections. This is an important generalisation that is needed for physical applications especially in the context of supergravity. We give a number of explicit examples; in particular, we lift the spin structure on $S^4$, corresponding to an instanton-anti-instanton pair, to a string structure, a 2-group bundle with connection. We also outline how categorified forms of Bogomolny monopoles known as self-dual strings can be obtained via a Penrose-Ward transform of string bundles over twistor space.

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arXiv2021

Towards an M5-Brane Model III: Self-Duality from Additional Trivial Fields

We present a six-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ supersymmetric higher gauge theory in which self-duality is consistently implemented by physically trivial additional fields. The action contains both $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ tensor and vector multiplets and is non-trivially interacting. The tensor multiplet part is loosely related to a recently proposed action by Sen that leads to on-shell self-duality in an elegant way. As we also show, Sen's action finds a very natural and direct interpretation from a homotopy algebraic perspective.

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