Anomaly and global inconsistency matching: θ angles, SU(3)/U(1)2 nonlinear sigma model, SU(3) chains, and generalizations

2018

We discuss the SU(3)/[U(1)×U(1)] nonlinear sigma model in 1+1D and, more broadly, its linearized counterparts. Such theories can be expressed as U(1)×U(1) gauge theories and therefore allow for two topological θ angles. These models provide a field theoretic description of the SU(3) chains. We show that, for particular values of θ angles, a global symmetry group of such systems has a 't Hooft anomaly, which manifests itself as an inability to gauge the global symmetry group. By applying anomaly matching, the ground-state properties can be severely constrained. The anomaly matching is an avatar of the Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) theorem for the spin chain from which the field theory descends, …