Abstract:

Top down (i.e., stringy) constructions of quantum field theories provide a general template for constructing and studying a wide variety of different strongly coupled systems which are otherwise difficult to study using “textbook” methods based on perturbation theory of a Lagrangian field theory. In this talk we use the geometry of extra dimensions in string theory to study generalized symmetries of such systems, including their action on local operators, extended operators, and the interplay between these structures. Using this perspective, we also extract the corresponding topological operators associated with these symmetry generators. This provides a method to read off further properties such as non-trivial fusion rules for various categorical symmetries.