Cancelling mod-2 anomalies by Green-Schwarz mechanism with $B_{\mu\nu}$

We study if and when mod-2 anomalies can be canceled by the Green-Schwarz mechanism with the introduction of an antisymmetric tensor field $B_{\mu\nu}$. As explicit examples, we examine $SU(2)$ and more general $Sp(n)$ gauge theories in four and eight dimensions. We find that the mod-2 anomalies of...

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Main Author: Shota Saito, Yuji Tachikawa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SciPost 2025-07-01
Series:SciPost Physics
Online Access:https://scipost.org/SciPostPhys.19.1.017
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author Shota Saito, Yuji Tachikawa
author_facet Shota Saito, Yuji Tachikawa
author_sort Shota Saito, Yuji Tachikawa
collection DOAJ
description We study if and when mod-2 anomalies can be canceled by the Green-Schwarz mechanism with the introduction of an antisymmetric tensor field $B_{\mu\nu}$. As explicit examples, we examine $SU(2)$ and more general $Sp(n)$ gauge theories in four and eight dimensions. We find that the mod-2 anomalies of 8d $\mathcal{N}=1$ $Sp(n)$ gauge theory can be canceled, as expected from it having a string theory realization, while the mod-2 Witten anomaly of 4d $SU(2)$ and $Sp(n)$ gauge theory cannot be canceled in this manner.
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spelling doaj-art-6e3e46a8edaa4311aefb192d896d31a12025-08-20T02:40:30ZengSciPostSciPost Physics2542-46532025-07-0119101710.21468/SciPostPhys.19.1.017Cancelling mod-2 anomalies by Green-Schwarz mechanism with $B_{\mu\nu}$Shota Saito, Yuji TachikawaWe study if and when mod-2 anomalies can be canceled by the Green-Schwarz mechanism with the introduction of an antisymmetric tensor field $B_{\mu\nu}$. As explicit examples, we examine $SU(2)$ and more general $Sp(n)$ gauge theories in four and eight dimensions. We find that the mod-2 anomalies of 8d $\mathcal{N}=1$ $Sp(n)$ gauge theory can be canceled, as expected from it having a string theory realization, while the mod-2 Witten anomaly of 4d $SU(2)$ and $Sp(n)$ gauge theory cannot be canceled in this manner.https://scipost.org/SciPostPhys.19.1.017
spellingShingle Shota Saito, Yuji Tachikawa
Cancelling mod-2 anomalies by Green-Schwarz mechanism with $B_{\mu\nu}$
SciPost Physics
title Cancelling mod-2 anomalies by Green-Schwarz mechanism with $B_{\mu\nu}$
title_full Cancelling mod-2 anomalies by Green-Schwarz mechanism with $B_{\mu\nu}$
title_fullStr Cancelling mod-2 anomalies by Green-Schwarz mechanism with $B_{\mu\nu}$
title_full_unstemmed Cancelling mod-2 anomalies by Green-Schwarz mechanism with $B_{\mu\nu}$
title_short Cancelling mod-2 anomalies by Green-Schwarz mechanism with $B_{\mu\nu}$
title_sort cancelling mod 2 anomalies by green schwarz mechanism with b mu nu
url https://scipost.org/SciPostPhys.19.1.017
work_keys_str_mv AT shotasaitoyujitachikawa cancellingmod2anomaliesbygreenschwarzmechanismwithbmunu