2-group global symmetries, hydrodynamics and holography
Nabil Iqbal, Nick Poovuttikul
Abstract
2-group global symmetries are a particular example of how higher-form and conventional global symmetries can fuse together into a larger structure. We construct a theory of hydrodynamics describing the finite-temperature realization of a 2-group global symmetry composed out of U(1) <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>U</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo stretchy="true" form="prefix">(</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:mo stretchy="true" form="postfix">)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> zero-form and U(1) <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>U</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo stretchy="true" form="prefix">(</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:mo stretchy="true" form="postfix">)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> one-form symmetries. We study aspects of the thermodynamics from a Euclidean partition function and derive constitutive relations for ideal hydrodynamics from various points of view. Novel features of the resulting theory include an analogue of the chiral magnetic effect and a chiral sound mode propagating along magnetic field lines. We also discuss a minimalist holographic description of a theory dual to 2-group global symmetry and verify predictions from hydrodynamic descriptions. Along the way we clarify some aspects of symmetry breaking in higher-form theories at finite temperature.