Symmetry operators and gravity, by Ibrahima Bah, Patrick Jefferson, Konstantinos Roumpedakis, Thomas Waddleton

SciPost Physics Home Authoring Refereeing Submit a manuscript About Symmetry operators and gravity Ibrahima Bah, Patrick Jefferson, Konstantinos Roumpedakis, Thomas Waddleton SciPost Phys. 19, 116 (2025) · published 29 October 2025 doi: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.19.4.116 pdf BiBTeX RIS Submissions/Reports Abstract We argue that topological operators for continuous symmetries written in terms of currents need regularization, which effectively gives them a small but finite width. The regulated operator is a finite tension object which fluctuates. In the zero-width limit these fluctuations freeze, recovering the properties of a topological operator. When gravity is turned on, the zero-width limit becomes ill-defined, thereby prohibiting the existence of topological operators. × TY - JOURPB - SciPost FoundationDO - 10.21468/SciPostPhys.19.4.116TI - Symmetry operators and gravityPY - 2025/10/29UR - https://scipost.org/SciPostPhys.19.4.116JF - SciPost PhysicsJA - SciPost Phys.VL - 19IS - 4SP - 116A1 - Bah, IbrahimaAU - Jefferson, PatrickAU - Roumpedakis, KonstantinosAU - Waddleton, ThomasAB - We argue that topological operators for continuous symmetries written in terms of currents need regularization, which effectively gives them a small but finite width. The regulated operator is a finite tension object which fluctuates. In the zero-width limit these fluctuations freeze, recovering the properties of a topological operator. When gravity is turned on, the zero-width limit becomes ill-defined, thereby prohibiting the existence of topological operators.ER - × @Article{10.21468/SciPostPhys.19.4.116, title={{Symmetry operators and gravity}}, author={Ibrahima Bah and Patrick Jefferson and Konstantinos Roumpedakis and Thomas Waddleton}, journal={SciPost Phys.}, volume={19}, pages={116}, year={2025}, publisher={SciPost}, doi={10.21468/SciPostPhys.19.4.116}, url={https://scipost.org/10.21468/SciPostPhys.19.4.116},} Ontology / Topics See full Ontology or Topics database. Abelian symmetries Global symmetries Gravity Quantum gravity Authors / Affiliation: mappings to Contributors and Organizations See all Organizations. 1 Ibrahima Bah, 1 Patrick Jefferson, 1 Konstantinos Roumpedakis, 1 Thomas Waddleton 1 Johns Hopkins University [JHU] Funders for the research work leading to this publication Johns Hopkins University [JHU] National Science Foundation [NSF] Simons Foundation