Generalized Symmetries of Non-Supersymmetric Orbifolds

TL;DR

This paper investigates the generalized symmetries of 4D non-supersymmetric orbifold theories derived from string theory, revealing how tachyons and branes influence symmetry structures and phase transitions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of how tachyonic instabilities and probe branes affect the generalized and higher-group symmetries in non-supersymmetric orbifold backgrounds.

Findings

Matching of symmetry results with singular homology in tachyon-sequestered cases

Partitioning of space into sectors due to unsequestered tachyons

Identification of symmetry transitions in IIA and IIB string backgrounds

Abstract

We determine generalized symmetries for 4D theories engineered via type II strings on non-supersymmetric orbifold backgrounds $\mathbb{R}^{3,1} \times \mathbb{R}^6 / \Gamma$. Probe branes detect generalized symmetries via the adjacency matrix for fermionic degrees of freedom in an associated quiver gauge theory. In situations where the tachyons are sequestered away from the boundary $S^5 / \Gamma$, this exactly matches the result extracted from singular homology. In situations with an unsequestered tachyon which stretches out to the boundary, the presence of tachyonic pulses partitions up the space into several distinct sectors, and the net contribution again matches with the answer expected via quiver methods. For IIA backgrounds, the presence of a localized closed string tachyon leads to transitions in the spectrum of states, generalized symmetries, higher-group symmetries, as well as the level matrix of the associated symmetry topological field theory (SymTFT). For IIB backgrounds with a stack of spacetime filling probe D3-branes, the onset of a radiatively generated potential leads to similar considerations involving scale dependent transitions in the symmetries of the theory, including structures such as duality defects / interfaces.