Gravity as a gapless phase and biform symmetries

From MaRDI portal
Publication:6045678

DOI10.1007/JHEP02(2023)151arXiv2205.12272OpenAlexW4321089620MaRDI QIDQ6045678

Author name not available (Why is that?)

Publication date: 12 May 2023

Published in: (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We study effective field theories (EFTs) enjoying (maximal) biform symmetries. These are defined by the presence of a conserved (electric) current that has the symmetries of a Young tableau with two columns of equal length. When these theories also have a topological (magnetic) biform current, its conservation law is anomalous. We go on to show that this mixed anomaly uniquely fixes the two-point function between the electric and magnetic currents. We then perform a K"all'en-Lehmann spectral decomposition of the current-current correlator, proving that there is a massless mode in the spectrum, whose masslessness is protected by the anomaly. Furthermore, the anomaly gives rise to a universal form of the EFT whose most relevant term, which resembles the linear Einstein action, dominates the infrared physics. As applications of this general formalism, we study the theories of a Galileon superfluid and linearized gravity. Thus, one can view the masslessness of the graviton as being protected by the anomalous biform symmetries. The associated EFT provides an organizing principle for gravity at low energies in terms of physical symmetries, and allows interactions consistent with linearized diffeomorphism invariance. These theories are not ultraviolet-complete, the relevant symmetries can be viewed as emergent, nor do they include the nonlinearities necessary to make them fully diffeomorphism invariant, so there is no contradiction with the expectation that quantum gravity cannot have any global symmetries.


Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.12272



No records found.


No records found.








This page was built for publication: Gravity as a gapless phase and biform symmetries

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q6045678)