Global anomalies & bordism of non-supersymmetric strings

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Basile, Ivano, Debray, Arun, Delgado, Matilda, Montero, Miguel
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Basile, Ivano
Debray, Arun
Delgado, Matilda
Montero, Miguel
author_facet Basile, Ivano
Debray, Arun
Delgado, Matilda
Montero, Miguel
contents The three tachyon-free non-supersymmetric string theories in ten dimensions provide a handle on quantum gravity away from the supersymmetric lamppost. However, they have not been shown to be fully consistent; although local anomalies cancel due to versions of the Green-Schwarz mechanism, there could be global anomalies, not cancelled by the Green-Schwarz mechanism, that could become fatal pathologies. We compute the twisted string bordism groups that control these anomalies via the Adams spectral sequence, showing that they vanish completely in two out of three cases (Sugimoto and $SO(16)^2$) and showing a partial vanishing also in the third (Sagnotti 0'B model). We also compute lower-dimensional bordism groups of the non-supersymmetric string theories, which are of interest to the classification of branes in these theories via the Cobordism Conjecture. We propose a worldvolume content based on anomaly inflow for the $SO(16)^2$ NS5-brane, and discuss subtleties related to the torsion part of the Bianchi identity. As a byproduct of our techniques and analysis, we also reprove that the outer $\mathbb{Z}_2$ automorphism swapping the two $E_8$ factors in the supersymmetric heterotic string is also non-anomalous.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_06895
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
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spellingShingle Global anomalies & bordism of non-supersymmetric strings
Basile, Ivano
Debray, Arun
Delgado, Matilda
Montero, Miguel
High Energy Physics - Theory
Algebraic Topology
The three tachyon-free non-supersymmetric string theories in ten dimensions provide a handle on quantum gravity away from the supersymmetric lamppost. However, they have not been shown to be fully consistent; although local anomalies cancel due to versions of the Green-Schwarz mechanism, there could be global anomalies, not cancelled by the Green-Schwarz mechanism, that could become fatal pathologies. We compute the twisted string bordism groups that control these anomalies via the Adams spectral sequence, showing that they vanish completely in two out of three cases (Sugimoto and $SO(16)^2$) and showing a partial vanishing also in the third (Sagnotti 0'B model). We also compute lower-dimensional bordism groups of the non-supersymmetric string theories, which are of interest to the classification of branes in these theories via the Cobordism Conjecture. We propose a worldvolume content based on anomaly inflow for the $SO(16)^2$ NS5-brane, and discuss subtleties related to the torsion part of the Bianchi identity. As a byproduct of our techniques and analysis, we also reprove that the outer $\mathbb{Z}_2$ automorphism swapping the two $E_8$ factors in the supersymmetric heterotic string is also non-anomalous.
title Global anomalies & bordism of non-supersymmetric strings
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
Algebraic Topology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.06895