Comments on global symmetries, anomalies, and duality in (2 + 1)d

Abstract

We analyze in detail the global symmetries of various (2 + 1)d quantum field theories and couple them to classical background gauge fields. A proper identification of the global symmetries allows us to consider all non-trivial bundles of those background fields, thus finding more subtle observables. The global symmetries exhibit interesting ’t Hooft anomalies. These allow us to constrain the IR behavior of the theories and provide powerful constraints on conjectured dualities.