SymTFTs for Continuous non-Abelian Symmetries

Abstract: Topological defects and operators give a far-reaching generalization of symmetries of quantum fields. An auxiliary topological field theory in one dimension higher than the QFT of interest, known as the SymTFT, provides a natural way for capturing such operators. This gives a new perspective on several applications of symmetries, but fails to capture continuous non-Abelian symmetries. The main aim of this work is to fill this gap. Guided by geometric engineering and holography, we recover various known features of representation theory of the non-Abelian symmetry from a SymTFT viewpoint. Central to our approach is a duality between (flat) free Yang-Mills and non-Abelian BF theories. Our results extend naturally to models without supersymmetry.