Backfiring Bosonisation

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Smith, Philip Boyle, Zheng, Yunqin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866929266446303232
author Smith, Philip Boyle
Zheng, Yunqin
author_facet Smith, Philip Boyle
Zheng, Yunqin
contents For a fermionic quantum field theory in $d=1+1$ dimensions, there is a subtle difference between summing over spin structures and gauging $(-1)^F$. If the gravitational anomaly vanishes mod 16, then both operations are equivalent and yield a bosonic theory. But if the gravitational anomaly only vanishes mod 8, then only gauging $(-1)^F$ is allowed, and the result is a fermionic theory. Our goal is to understand in detail how this happens, despite the fact $(-1)^F$ is defined in terms of shifting the spin structure, which would naïvely suggest that both operations are equivalent. We do this from three perspectives: an abstract view in terms of anomalies, explicit CFT calculations, and a Symmetry TFT perspective. To conclude, we illustrate our results using the heterotic string and the famous self-triality of 8 Majorana-Weyl fermions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_03953
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Backfiring Bosonisation
Smith, Philip Boyle
Zheng, Yunqin
High Energy Physics - Theory
Strongly Correlated Electrons
For a fermionic quantum field theory in $d=1+1$ dimensions, there is a subtle difference between summing over spin structures and gauging $(-1)^F$. If the gravitational anomaly vanishes mod 16, then both operations are equivalent and yield a bosonic theory. But if the gravitational anomaly only vanishes mod 8, then only gauging $(-1)^F$ is allowed, and the result is a fermionic theory. Our goal is to understand in detail how this happens, despite the fact $(-1)^F$ is defined in terms of shifting the spin structure, which would naïvely suggest that both operations are equivalent. We do this from three perspectives: an abstract view in terms of anomalies, explicit CFT calculations, and a Symmetry TFT perspective. To conclude, we illustrate our results using the heterotic string and the famous self-triality of 8 Majorana-Weyl fermions.
title Backfiring Bosonisation
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.03953