Anomaly of the Electromagnetic Duality of Maxwell Theory
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Journal Volume
123
Journal Issue
16
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
DOI
PRLTA
Abstract
We consider the (3+1)-dimensional Maxwell theory in the situation where going around nontrivial paths in the spacetime involves the action of the duality transformation exchanging the electric field and the magnetic field, as well as its SL(2,Z) generalizations. We find that the anomaly of this system in a particular formulation is 56 times that of a Weyl fermion. This result is derived in two independent ways: one is by using the bulk symmetry protected topological phase in (4+1) dimensions characterizing the anomaly, and the other is by considering the properties of a (5+1)-dimensional superconformal field theory known as the E-string theory. This anomaly of the Maxwell theory plays an important role in the consistency of string theory. © 2019 authors.
Subjects
Electric fields; Duality transformation; Field theory; Maxwell theory; Spacetime; Topological phase; String theory; article; fermion
SDGs
Publisher
American Physical Society
Type
journal article