Mathematical Physics Journal Club

Negative-form symmetries arise when one extends the usual p-form dictionary below ordinary zero-form symmetries. Conceptually, however, they are different: the action of (-n)-form symmetries on a QFT modifies the parameters or background data that defines the QFT, as opposed to acting on the extended operators of the theory. For example, (-1)-form symmetries are implemented by spacetime-filling topological operators that act on a theory by shifting its theta-angle. I will review recent work arxiv:2606.05543 that has begun to develop the machinery of (-2)-form symmetries, which act of a QFT by modifying the anomaly inflow data – equivalently the SymTFT action – thereby relating QFTs whose ordinary global symmetries differ by anomaly data.