arXiv subjects

Finn Gagliano

Publications and source records attributed to Finn Gagliano.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Decompactification Limits of Non-Compact Gauge Theory

The required absence of global symmetries in quantum gravity has been used to imply that all non-compact gauge theories are in the swampland. This argument stems from the idea that non-compact gauge symmetries always seem to be accompanied by global symmetries that cannot be broken with a finite number of fields. In this work, we investigate whether these symmetries can be broken by an uncountable infinity of fields. We find that the symmetries can be broken, but as soon as we add these fields the EFT breaks down and in some cases decompactifies to a higher-dimensional theory without the non-compact gauge symmetry, akin to undoing a Kaluza-Klein reduction on a non-compact space. We make various comments on the species scale, free parameters, and the Weak Gravity Conjecture along the way.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Quantifying non-invertible chiral symmetry breaking

It has recently been suggested that the chiral symmetry of the Standard Model is not explicitly broken by its ABJ anomaly, but is instead made non-invertible. In this work, I quantify the breaking of non-invertible symmetries of this type by calculating the symmetry breaking scales and effective charges $q(r)$ originally studied for continuous invertible higher-form symmetries. As an example I consider the explicit breaking of the chiral symmetry of massless QED by introducing Yukawa couplings between the electron and a massive real scalar in the UV. I briefly comment on how one might quantify the breaking of general non-invertible symmetries.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Higher Representations and Quark Confinement

The concept of a (de)confined phase in QFT is well-defined in the presence of $1$-form symmetries and their spontaneous symmetry breaking. However, in scenarios where such symmetries are absent, confinement is not a well-defined phase property. In this work, we propose that, when restricting to a specific submanifold of the parameter space -- namely at zero temperature and fixed quark mass -- the confined and adjoint Higgs phases of scalar QCD can be distinguished through the different organization of their spectra, as seen from the perspective of the baryon symmetry. The analysis is performed in terms of an appropriate higher-categorical representation theory, recently developed for generalized symmetries. Consistent with expectations, we find that the confined phase permits only particles with integer baryon charges, while the Higgs phase is characterized by the coexistence of bare quarks and center vortices, exhibiting a non-trivial Aharonov-Bohm effect between these excitations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

SymTFTs for $U(1)$ symmetries from descent

Recently, the notion of symmetry descent has been introduced in order to obtain the $(d+1)$-dimensional Symmetry TFT (SymTFT) of a $d$-dimensional QFT from the edge mode behaviour of a theory in $(d+2)$-dimensions. This method has so far been used to obtain SymTFTs for discrete higher-form symmetries of geometrically engineered QFTs. In this note, we extend the symmetry descent procedure to obtain SymTFTs for $U(1)$ higher-form symmetries of geometrically engineered QFTs. We find the resulting SymTFTs match those in the works of Antinucci-Benini and Brennan-Sun.

hep-th↗