Prof. Yifan Wang (New York University)

"Topological Interfaces and Gauging Generalized Symmetries"

Abstract: We'll describe gauging generalized symmetries in two-dimensional quantum field theory in terms of topological interfaces. We will see that familiar properties one encounters in gauging conventional invertible symmetries generalize naturally to non-invertible symmetries in this physical perspective. We will discuss a bootstrap approach to classify such topological interfaces, and correspondingly the different ways of gauging. We illustrate this general procedure for concrete generalized symmetries realized by concrete 2d CFTs and explain the physical consequences.

Bio: Yifan Wang obtained his PhD from MIT in 2016 and did postdoc research at Princeton and Harvard. He joined the New York University as an assistant professor in 2021.