PIRSA:26050055

Video URL

https://pirsa.org/26050055

Backfiring Bosonisation in Diverse Dimensions

Boyle Smith, P. (2026). Backfiring Bosonisation in Diverse Dimensions. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. https://pirsa.org/26050055

Boyle Smith, Philip. Backfiring Bosonisation in Diverse Dimensions. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, May. 15, 2026, https://pirsa.org/26050055 

          @misc{ scivideos_PIRSA:26050055,
            doi = {10.48660/26050055},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/26050055},
            author = {Boyle Smith, Philip},
            keywords = {Mathematical physics},
            language = {en},
            title = {Backfiring Bosonisation in Diverse Dimensions},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics},
            year = {2026},
            month = {may},
            note = {PIRSA:26050055 see, \url{https://scivideos.org/pirsa/26050055}}
          }

Philip Boyle Smith

Talk numberPIRSA:26050055
DOI10.48660/26050055
Source RepositoryPIRSA
Collection
Talk Type Scientific Series
Subject

Abstract

Various operations on two-dimensional quantum field theories such as the GSO projection and various dualities involve a sum over spin structures. This talk will discuss a subtle mod-16 anomaly in the spin structure, extending the usual mod-8 anomaly of fermion parity, which can obstruct this sum. As such one must account for this anomaly to define these operations properly or face surprising consequences. We will see how this phenomenon is captured cleanly by homotopy theory, specifically the non-vanishing cohomology of a sequence of cobordism groups. From there, we will discuss applications in diverse dimensions and with additional symmetries, and the corresponding SymTFT.