Symmetries beget symmetries: ghostly higher-form symmetries and the descent equation
Abstract
A bstract Viewed through the lens of the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, we demonstrate that higher-form currents with nonzero ghost number also define higher-form symmetries, directly analogous to the standard higher-form symmetries with ghost number zero. These ghostly higher symmetries descend from and into conventional higher-form symmetries via chains of descent equations familiar from the theory of anomalies and topological field theories. We give examples of such chains of ghostly symmetries in Maxwell theory, Abelian and non-Abelian higher gauge theory, Yang-Mills theory, and beyond.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Origins and Evolution of Life
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of High Energy Physics
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Volume
- 2026
- Issue
- 5
- Publication date
- 18 May 2026
- Language
- EN