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We consider the target space theory of bosonic and heterotic string theory to first order in $\alpha'$ compactified to three dimensions, using a formulation that is manifestly T-duality invariant under ${\rm O}(d,d,\mathbb{R})$ with $d=23$ and $d=7$, respectively. While the two-derivative supergravity exhibits a symmetry enhancement to the U-duality group ${\rm O}(d+1,d+1)$, the continuous group is known to be broken to ${\rm O}(d,d,\mathbb{R})$ by the first $\alpha'$ correction. We revisit this observation by computing the full effective actions in three dimensions to first order in $\alpha'$ by dualizing the vector gauge fields. We give a formally ${\rm O}(d+1,d+1)$ invariant formulation by invoking a vector compensator, and we observe a chiral pattern that allows one to reconstruct the bosonic action from the heterotic action. Furthermore, we obtain a particular massive deformation by integrating out the external $B$ field. This induces a novel Chern-Simons term based on composite connections that, remarkably, is ${\rm O}(d+1,d+1)$ invariant to leading order in the deformation parameter., Comment: 35 pages

The structure of the five-dimensional Tachyon-Chern-Simons action and its relevance to single-baryon states in the context of the V-QCD models for holographic QCD with backreacting flavor are analyzed. The most general form of the Tachyon-Chern-Simons 5-form, compatible with symmetries and flavor anomalies is determined. It is the sum of a non-trivial gauge-invariant 5-dimensional form and a non-invariant closed 5-form that reproduces the flavor anomalies. Single-baryon solutions of the gravity theory, arising from the DBI plus Tachyon-Chern-Simons actions are considered. The baryon is realised as a bulk axial instanton. The baryon ansatz and the field equations are derived and the boundary conditions are determined, which ensure that the solution has finite boundary energy and unit baryon charge. The boundary baryon number, which is computed from the universal (closed) part of the Tachyon-Chern-Simons action, is shown to coincide with the bulk axial instanton number., 42 pages + Appendix, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in JHEP

We find the most general solution to Chern-Simons AdS3 gravity in Fefferman-Graham gauge. The connections are equivalent to geometries that have a non-trivial curved boundary, characterized by a 2-dimensional vielbein and a spin connection. We define a variational principle for Dirichlet boundary conditions and find the boundary stress tensor in the Chern-Simons formalism. Using this variational principle as the departure point, we show how to treat other choices of boundary conditions in this formalism, such as, including the mixed boundary conditions corresponding to a $$ T\overline{T} $$ T T ¯ -deformation.

Among the allowed representations of extended supersymmetry in six dimensions there are exotic chiral multiplets that, instead of a graviton, contain mixed-symmetry spin-2 tensor fields. Notably, an $\mathcal{N}=(4,0)$ multiplet has a four index exotic graviton and it was conjectured that an interacting theory based on this multiplet could arise as a strong coupling limit of M theory compactified on $T^6$. We present an algebraic study of these multiplets and their possible embedding into the framework of exceptional field theory, finding in particular that the six-dimensional momenta do not correspond to a conventional spacetime section. When compactified on a circle, the six-dimensional multiplets give rise to the same degrees of freedom as five-dimensional supergravity theories with the same number of supersymmetries. However, by considering anomalies (computed using the product multiplets construction) and the generation of Chern-Simons couplings, we find reason to doubt that their dynamics will agree with the five-dimensional gravity theories. We propose an alternative picture, similar to F-theory, in which particular fixed-volume $T^3$-fibered spacetimes play a central role, suggesting that only on compactification to three-dimensions will one make contact with the dynamics of supergravity., 77 pages

We show that the phase space of three-dimensional gravity contains two layers of dualities: between diffeomorphisms and a notion of "dual diffeomorphisms" on the one hand, and between first order curvature and torsion on the other hand. This is most elegantly revealed and understood when studying the most general Lorentz-invariant first order theory in connection and triad variables, described by the so-called Mielke-Baekler Lagrangian. By analyzing the quasi-local symmetries of this theory in the covariant phase space formalism, we show that in each sector of the torsion/curvature duality there exists a well-defined notion of dual diffeomorphism, which furthermore follows uniquely from the Sugawara construction. Together with the usual diffeomorphisms, these duals form at finite distance, without any boundary conditions, and for any sign of the cosmological constant, a centreless double Virasoro algebra which in the flat case reduces to the BMS$_3$ algebra. These algebras can then be centrally-extended via the twisted Sugawara construction. This shows that the celebrated results about asymptotic symmetry algebras are actually generic features of three-dimensional gravity at any finite distance. They are however only revealed when working in first order connection and triad variables, and a priori inaccessible from Chern-Simons theory. As a bonus, we study the second order equations of motion of the Mielke-Baekler model, as well as the on-shell Lagrangian. This reveals the duality between Riemannian metric and teleparallel gravity, and a new candidate theory for three-dimensional massive gravity which we call teleparallel topologically massive gravity., 41+25 pages; v2: appendix D on Kosmann derivative and symplectic symmetries added, references added

In this paper we study the Real Gromov-Witten theory of local 3-folds over Real curves. We show that this gives rise to a 2-dimensional Klein TQFT defined on an extension of the category of unorientable surfaces. We use this structure to completely solve the theory by providing a closed formula for the local RGW invariants in terms of representation theoretic data, extending earlier results of Bryan and Pandharipande. As a consequence we obtain the local version of the real Gopakumar-Vafa formula that expresses the connected real Gromov-Witten invariants in terms of integer invariants. In the case of the resolved conifold the partition function of the RGW invariants agrees with that of the SO/Sp Chern-Simons theory., Comment: 47 pages

In the approach recently proposed by K. Costello and M. Yamazaki, which is based on a four-dimensional variant of Chern-Simons theory, we derive a simple and unifying two-dimensional form for the action of many integrable $\sigma$-models which are known to admit descriptions as affine Gaudin models. This includes both the Yang-Baxter deformation and the $\lambda$-deformation of the principal chiral model. We also give an interpretation of Poisson-Lie $T$-duality in this setting and derive the action of the $\mathsf{E}$-model., Comment: 37 pages

In this work we propose a simple and systematic framework for including edge modes in gauge theories on manifolds with boundaries. We argue that this is necessary in order to achieve the factorizability of the path integral, the Hilbert space and the phase space, and that it explains how edge modes acquire a boundary dynamics and can contribute to observables such as the entanglement entropy. Our construction starts with a boundary action containing edge modes. In the case of Maxwell theory for example this is equivalent to coupling the gauge field to boundary sources in order to be able to factorize the theory between subregions. We then introduce a new variational principle which produces a systematic boundary contribution to the symplectic structure, and thereby provides a covariant realization of the extended phase space constructions which have appeared previously in the literature. When considering the path integral for the extended bulk + boundary action, integrating out the bulk degrees of freedom with chosen boundary conditions produces a residual boundary dynamics for the edge modes, in agreement with recent observations concerning the contribution of edge modes to the entanglement entropy. We put our proposal to the test with the familiar examples of Chern-Simons and BF theory, and show that it leads to consistent results. This therefore leads us to conjecture that this mechanism is generically true for any gauge theory, which can therefore all be expected to posses a boundary dynamics. We expect to be able to eventually apply this formalism to gravitational theories., 50 pages, 1 figure, published version

The $q$-deformed loop gravity framework was introduced as a canonical formalism for the Turaev-Viro model (with $\Lambda < 0$), allowing to quantize 3D Euclidean gravity with a (negative) cosmological constant using a quantum deformation of the gauge group. We describe its application to the 2-torus, explicitly writing the $q$-deformed gauge symmetries and deriving the reduced physical phase space of Dirac observables, which leads back to the Goldman brackets for the moduli space of flat connections. Furthermore it turns out that the $q$-deformed loop gravity can be derived through a gauge fixing from the Fock-Rosly bracket, which provides an explicit link between loop quantum gravity (for $q$ real) and the combinatorial quantization of 3d gravity as a Chern-Simons theory with non-vanishing cosmological constant $\Lambda, Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures

In this work we present a BMS-like ansatz for a Chern-Simons theory based on the semi-simple enlargement of the Poincar\'e symmetry, also known as AdS-Lorentz algebra. We start by showing that this ansatz is general enough to contain all the relevant stationary solutions of this theory and provides with suitable boundary conditions for the corresponding gauge connection. We find an explicit realization of the asymptotic symmetry at null infinity, which defines a semi-simple enlargement of the $\mathfrak{bms}_3$ algebra and turns out to be isomorphic to three copies of the Virasoro algebra. The flat limit of the theory is discussed at the level of the action, field equations, solutions and asymptotic symmetry., Comment: V2, 22 pages, discussions added in section 3 and 4

Recently an exact duality between topological string and the spectral theory of operators constructed from mirror curves to toric Calabi-Yau threefolds has been proposed. At the same time an exact quantization condition for the cluster integrable systems associated to these geometries has been conjectured. The consistency between the two approaches leads to an infinite set of constraints for the refined BPS invariants of the toric Calabi-Yau threefolds. We prove these constraints for the $Y^{N,m}$ geometries using the $K$-theoretic blowup equations for $SU(N)$ SYM with generic Chern-Simons invariant $m$., Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, a few typos corrected

Chern-Simons Theories with gauge super-groups appear naturally in string theory and they possess interesting applications in mathematics, e.g. for the construction of knot and link invariants. This paper is the first in a series where we propose a new quantisation scheme for such super-group Chern-Simons theories on 3-manifolds of the form $\Sigma \times \mathbb{R}$. It is based on a simplicial decomposition of an n-punctured Riemann surface $\Sigma=\Sigma_{g,n}$ of genus g and allows to construct observables of the quantum theory for any g and n from basic building blocks, most importantly the so-called monodromy algebra. In this paper we restrict to the torus case, i.e. we assume that $\Sigma = T^2$, and to the gauge super-group G=GL(1|1). We construct the corresponding space of quantum states for the integer level k Chern-Simons theory along with an explicit representation of the modular group SL(2,Z) on these states. The latter is shown to be equivalent to the Lyubachenko-Majid action on the centre of a restricted version of the quantised universal enveloping algebra of the Lie super-algebra gl(1|1) at the primitive k-th root of unity., Comment: 46 pages

We study macroscopically two dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ supersymmetric gauge theories constructed by compactifying the quiver gauge theories with eight supercharges on a product $\mathbb{T}^{d} \times \mathbb{R}^{2}_{\epsilon}$ of a $d$-dimensional torus and a two dimensional cigar with $\Omega$-deformation. We compute the universal part of the effective twisted superpotential. In doing so we establish the correspondence between the gauge theories, quantization of the moduli spaces of instantons on $\mathbb{R}^{2-d} \times \mathbb{T}^{2+d}$ and singular monopoles on $\mathbb{R}^{2-d} \times \mathbb{T}^{1+d}$, for $d=0,1,2$, and the Yangian $\mathbf{Y}_{\epsilon}(\mathfrak{g}_{\Gamma})$, quantum affine algebra $\mathbf{U}^{\mathrm{aff}}_q(\mathfrak{g}_{\Gamma})$, or the quantum elliptic algebra $\mathbf{U}^{\mathrm{ell}}_{q,p}(\mathfrak{g}_{\Gamma})$ associated to Kac-Moody algebra $\mathfrak{g}_{\Gamma}$ for quiver $\Gamma$., Comment: 83 pages

We consider theories describing the dynamics of a four-dimensional metric, whose Lagrangian is diffeomorphism invariant and depends at most on second derivatives of the metric. Imposing degeneracy conditions we find a set of Lagrangians that, apart form the Einstein-Hilbert one, are either trivial or contain more than two degrees of freedom. Among the partially degenerate theories, we recover Chern-Simons gravity, endowed with constraints whose structure suggests the presence of instabilities. Then, we enlarge the class of parity violating theories of gravity by introducing new "chiral scalar-tensor theories". Although they all raise the same concern as Chern-Simons gravity, they can nevertheless make sense as low energy effective field theories or, by restricting them to the unitary gauge (where the scalar field is uniform), as Lorentz breaking theories with a parity violating sector., 22 pages, references added, published version

We demonstrate that in a class of the $U(1)'$ extension of the Standard Model (SM), under which all the Standard Model matter fields are uncharged and the additional neutral gauge boson $Z'$ couples to a set of heavy nonstandard fermions, dark matter (DM) production mediated by $Z'$ can proceed through the generation of generalized Chern-Simons (GCS) couplings. The origin of the GCS terms is intimately connected to the cancellation of gauge anomalies. We show that the DM production cross section triggered by GCS couplings is sufficient even for an intermediate scale $Z'$ . A large range of DM and Z masses is then allowed for reasonably high reheating temperature ($T_\rh \gtrsim 10^{10}~\text{GeV}$). This type of scenario opens up a new paradigm for unified models. We also study the UV completion of such effective field theory constructions, augmenting it by a heavy fermionic spectrum. The latter, when integrated out, generates the GCS-like terms and provides a new portal to the dark sector. The presence of a number of derivative couplings in the GCS-like operators induces a high temperature dependence to the DM production rate. The mechanism has novel consequences and leads to a new reheating dependence of the relic abundance., 10 pages, 5 figures; v2: Further clarifications added, references updated, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D

We study the phenomenological credibility of a vectorial dark matter, coupled to a $Z'$ portal through Chern-Simons interaction. We scrutinize two possibilities of connecting a $Z'$ with the Standard Model: (1) through kinetic mixing and (2) from a second Chern-Simons interaction. Both scenarios are characterized by suppressed nuclear recoil scatterings, rendering direct detection searches not promising. Indirect detection experiments, on the other hand, furnish complementary limits for TeV scale masses, specially with the CTA. Searches for mono-jet and dileptons signals at the LHC are important to partially probe the kinetic mixing setup. Finally we propose an UV completion of the Chern-Simons Dark Matter framework., 41 pages, 9 figures, matches with the published version in JCAP

We show that 3D gravity, in its pure connection formulation, admits a natural 6D interpretation. The 3D field equations for the connection are equivalent to 6D Hitchin equations for the Chern-Simons 3-form in the total space of the principal bundle over the 3-dimensional base. Turning this construction around one gets an explanation of why the pure connection formulation of 3D gravity exists. More generally, we interpret 3D gravity as the dimensional reduction of the 6D Hitchin theory. To this end, we show that any SU(2) invariant closed 3-form in the total space of the principal SU(2) bundle can be parametrised by a connection together with a 2-form field on the base. The dimensional reduction of the 6D Hitchin theory then gives rise to 3D gravity coupled to a topological 2-form field., Comment: v2: published version, minor changes, 37 pages, no figures

We study the generating functional, the adiabatic curvature and the adiabatic phase for the integer quantum Hall effect (QHE) on a compact Riemann surface. For the generating functional we derive its asymptotic expansion for the large flux of the magnetic field, i.e., for the large degree $k$ of the positive Hermitian line bundle $L^k$. The expansion consists of the anomalous and exact terms. The anomalous terms are the leading terms of the expansion. This part is responsible for the quantization of the adiabatic transport coefficients in QHE. We then identify the non-local (anomalous) part of the expansion with the Quillen metric on the determinant line bundle, and the subleading exact part with the asymptotics of the regularized spectral determinant of the Laplacian for the line bundle $L^k$, at large $k$. Finally, we show how the generating functional of the integer QHE is related to the gauge and gravitational (2+1)d Chern-Simons functionals. We observe the relation between the Bismut-Gillet-Soul\'e curvature formula for the Quillen metric and the adiabatic curvature for the electromagnetic and geometric adiabatic transport of the integer Quantum Hall state. Then we relate the adiabatic phase in QHE to the eta invariant and show that the geometric part of the adiabatic phase is given by the Chern-Simons functional., Comment: 36 pages, v4: greatly expanded version, added: references, Sec. 1.1 and Appendix A with background material, examples in Sec. 2.3 and Sec. 4, Thm. 3 and Sec. 5 expanded with more details on the relation between the adiabatic phase, eta invariant and Chern-Simons functional. To appear in Commun. Math. Phys

We present the strongest constraints to date on anisotropies of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization rotation derived from 150 GHz data taken by the BICEP2/Keck Array CMB experiments up to and including the 2014 observing season (BK14). The definition of the polarization angle in BK14 maps has gone through self-calibration in which the overall angle is adjusted to minimize the observed TB and EB power spectra. After this procedure, the QU maps lose sensitivity to a uniform polarization rotation but are still sensitive to anisotropies of polarization rotation. This analysis places constraints on the anisotropies of polarization rotation, which could be generated by CMB photons interacting with axionlike pseudoscalar fields or Faraday rotation induced by primordial magnetic fields. The sensitivity of BK14 maps ($\sim 3\mu$K-arcmin) makes it possible to reconstruct anisotropies of the polarization rotation angle and measure their angular power spectrum much more precisely than previous attempts. Our data are found to be consistent with no polarization rotation anisotropies, improving the upper bound on the amplitude of the rotation angle spectrum by roughly an order of magnitude compared to the previous best constraints. Our results lead to an order of magnitude better constraint on the coupling constant of the Chern-Simons electromagnetic term $g_{a\gamma}\leq 7.2\times 10^{-2}/H_I$ (95% confidence) than the constraint derived from the B-mode spectrum, where $H_I$ is the inflationary Hubble scale. This constraint leads to a limit on the decay constant of $10^{-6}\lesssim f_a/M_{\rm pl}$ at mass range of $10^{-33}< m_a< 10^{-28}$ eV for $r=0.01$, assuming $g_{a\gamma}\sim\alpha/(2\pi f_a)$ with $\alpha$ denoting the fine structure constant. The upper bound on the amplitude of the primordial magnetic fields is 30nG (95% confidence) from the polarization rotation anisotropies., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures

International audience; A hydrodynamic theory of transport in quantum mechanically phase-disordered superconductors is possible when supercurrent relaxation can be treated as a slow process. We obtain general results for the frequency-dependent conductivity of such a regime. With time-reversal invariance, the conductivity is characterized by a Drude-type peak, with width given by the supercurrent relaxation rate. Using the memory matrix formalism, we obtain a formula for this width (and hence also the dc resistivity) when the supercurrent is relaxed by short-range density-density interactions. This leads to an effective field theoretic and fully quantum derivation of a classic result on flux flow resistance. With strong breaking of time-reversal invariance, the optical conductivity exhibits what we call a “hydrodynamic supercyclotron” resonance. We obtain the frequency and decay rate of this resonance for the case of supercurrent relaxation due to an emergent Chern-Simons gauge field. The supercurrent decay rate in this “topologically ordered superfluid vortex liquid” is determined by the conductivities of the normal fluid component, rather than the vortex core.

A hydrodynamic theory of transport in quantum mechanically phase-disordered superconductors is possible when supercurrent relaxation can be treated as a slow process. We obtain general results for the frequency-dependent conductivity of such a regime. With time-reversal invariance, the conductivity is characterized by a Drude-like peak, with width given by the supercurrent relaxation rate. Using the memory matrix formalism, we obtain a formula for this width (and hence also the dc resistivity) when the supercurrent is relaxed by short range Coulomb interactions. This leads to a new -- effective field theoretic and fully quantum -- derivation of a classic result on flux flow resistance. With strong breaking of time-reversal invariance, the optical conductivity exhibits what we call a `hydrodynamic supercyclotron' resonance. We obtain the frequency and decay rate of this resonance for the case of supercurrent relaxation due to an emergent Chern-Simons gauge field. The supercurrent decay rate in this `topologically ordered superfluid vortex liquid' is determined by the conductivities of the normal component of the liquid. Our work gives a controlled framework for low temperature metallic phases arising from phase-disordered superconductivity., 1 + 44 pages. 2 figures. v2 discussion improved in places. v3 sign errors fixed in section 4

We establish various results on the large level limit of projective quantum representations of surface mapping class groups obtained by quantizing moduli spaces of flat SU(n)-bundle. Working with the metaplectic correction, we proved that these projective representations lift to asymptotic representations. We show that the operators in these representations are Fourier integral operators and determine explicitly their canonical relations and symbols. We deduce from these facts the Egorov property and the asymptotic unitarity, two results already proved by J.E. Andersen. Furthermore we show under a transversality assumption that the characters of these representations have an asymptotic expansion. The leading order term of this expansion agrees with the formula derived heuristically by E. Witten in "Quantum field theory and the Jones polynomial"., Comment: 34 pages, minor corrections and references modified

International audience; We propose a manifestly covariant formulation of the differential Noether charge for higher-dimensional Chern–Simons terms. With our differential Noether charge, we provide a covariant proof of the black hole entropy formula for gravitational and mixed U(1)-gravitational Chern–Simons terms. By evaluating the charge on the rotating charged AdS black hole background constructed by the fluid/gravity derivative expansion, we show that the Chern–Simons contribution to black hole entropy agrees with the anomaly-induced entropy current in the dual conformal field theory at the leading order of the derivative expansion.