On discrete anomalies in chiral gauge theories

Abstract

<jats:title>A<jats:sc>bstract</jats:sc> </jats:title><jats:p>We study two well-known SU(<jats:italic>N</jats:italic>) chiral gauge theories with fermions in the symmetric, anti-symmetric and fundamental representations. We give a detailed description of the global symmetry, including various discrete quotients. Recent work argues that these theories exhibit a subtle mod 2 anomaly, ruling out certain phases in which the theories confine without breaking their global symmetry, leaving a gapless composite fermion in the infra-red. We point out that no such anomaly exists. We further exhibit an explicit path to the gapless fermion phase, showing that there is no kinematic obstruction to realising these phases.</jats:p>