Pith. sign in

REVIEW 14 cited by

An Introduction to Higher-Form Symmetries

Not yet reviewed by Pith; the record is open.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet. Machine review is queued; the pith claim, tier, and objections will appear here once it completes.

SPECIMEN: schema-true, not a live event

T0 review · schema-true

One-sentence machine reading of the paper's core claim.

pith:XXXXXXXX · record.json · timestamp

arxiv 2303.01817 v2 pith:VSC227II submitted 2023-03-03 hep-th cond-mat.str-el

classification hep-thcond-mat.str-el
keywords symmetrieshigher-formtheorieschargeddiscussgaugeintroductionnotes
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
0 comments
abstract

These notes are intended to be a pedagogical introduction to higher-form symmetries, which are symmetries whose charged objects are extended operators supported on lines, surfaces, and etc. This subject has been one of the most popular and effervescent topics of theoretical physics in recent years. Gauge theories are central in the study of higher-form symmetries, with Wilson and 't Hooft operators corresponding to the charged objects. Along these notes, we discuss in detail some basic aspects, including Abelian Maxwell and Chern-Simons theories, and $SU(N)$ non-Abelian gauge theories. We also discuss spontaneous breaking of higher-form symmetries.

Discussion (0). Sign in to comment.

Forward citations

Cited by 14 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. On Quantum Aspects of 1-Form Symmetries II: Bordism, Invertible Phases, and Anomalies

    hep-th 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 7.0 of 10

    Bordism computation for K(Z,3) identifies a new mixed perturbative anomaly in 5D and a new Z2 discrete anomaly in 7D for U(1) 1-form symmetries.

  2. Non-invertible symmetries in the axiverse, and the imaginary wormholes

    hep-th 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    Imaginary wormholes and the IDB imply that towers of BPS EFT instantons generate infinitely many superpotential terms that break non-invertible axion shift symmetries in N=1 axiverse models.

  3. Notes on (-2)-form symmetries

    hep-th 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    Introduces (-2)-form symmetries that modify the SymTFT action to relate QFTs differing by anomaly data or non-invertible symmetry associators, illustrated in 2D-4D models, fusion categories, club-sandwich RG flows, an...

  4. Gravitational index, black hole saddle degeneracy, and one-form symmetry

    hep-th 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    The |G|-fold degeneracy of supersymmetric AdS5 black hole index saddles is fixed by the flux-quantized BF coupling of the bulk one-form symmetry and persists unmodified in the decompactified black-brane limit.

  5. Effective field theory for dissipative photons from higher-form symmetries

    hep-th 2026-01 accept novelty 6.0 of 10

    A Schwinger-Keldysh effective action built on spontaneously broken higher-form symmetry gives dissipative Maxwell equations with an entropy current for photons in insulators.

  6. Higher-form (Quasi)Hydrodynamics from Holography: Deformations and Dualities

    hep-th 2025-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    Massless and massive higher-form gauge fields in anti-de Sitter space yield a full low-energy map of diffusive, relaxing, and emergent-photon modes governed by double-trace deformations.

  7. SymTFT for Continuous Symmetries: Non-linear Realizations and Spontaneous Breaking

    hep-th 2025-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    Continuous-symmetry SymTFTs are extended to non-linear coset realizations and to spontaneous breaking using boundary and corner constructions, recovering CCWZ actions and SSB Ward identities.

  8. Non-Invertible Selection Rules on Heterotic Non-Abelian Orbifolds

    hep-th 2025-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    Non-Abelian orbifolds in heterotic string theory produce non-invertible coupling selection rules, since twisted sectors are labeled by conjugacy classes whose products contain multiple classes and yield characteristic...

  9. SymTFT actions, Condensable algebras and Categorical anomaly resolutions

    hep-th 2025-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    For Q8 and Rep(Q8), the paper computes condensable algebras, identifies intrinsically gapless SPT phases, and derives fusion-category short exact sequences that resolve categorical anomalies.

  10. Symmetry, Symmetry Topological Field Theory and von Neumann Algebra

    hep-th 2025-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    The symmetric-sector von Neumann algebra of a QFT violates additivity or Haag duality exactly when the Lagrangian algebra of its SymTFT contains operators beyond the identity, with a sharper criterion distinguishing t...

  11. M2-branes, Higher Form Symmetries and 1-Gerbes

    hep-th 2026-02 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    A torsion gerbe on the M2-brane worldvolume cancels a mixed higher-form anomaly, breaking U(1) symmetries to discrete subgroups and imposing a worldvolume flux condition.

  12. Brane Symmetries Revisited: Symmetries of Tensile and Tensionless Branes in Possibly Degenerate Metrics and their Manifestations

    hep-th 2025-12 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Tensionless p-branes and branes in degenerate-metric spacetimes admit symmetry transformations built from Killing tensors of arbitrary rank, extending string W-symmetries to all brane dimensions.

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

    hep-th 2025-09 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Constructs AKSZ sandwich SymTFTs with stacky target spaces that encode the center symmetries of Chern-Simons, Yang-Mills, and MacDowell-Mansouri gravity.

  14. Landau theory for lattice higher gauge theory and Kramers-Wannier duality

    hep-th 2025-07 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Lattice higher gauge theories are rewritten as Landau field theories on closed surfaces, yielding a unified phase description and an infrared duality between higher-form Landau theories.

Pith tools