Chern–Simons theory

E240804

Chern–Simons theory is a topological quantum field theory in three dimensions that plays a central role in modern geometry, topology, and theoretical physics, particularly in the study of knot invariants and gauge fields.

All labels observed (14)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf gauge theory
quantum field theory
topological quantum field theory
actionFunctionalDependsOn Chern–Simons 3-form
gauge connection
appliedIn 3-manifold topology
M-theory
fractional quantum Hall effect
linked to: quantum Hall effect

knot theory
string theory
boundaryTheory Wess–Zumino–Witten conformal field theory
classicalActionGivenBy integral of Tr(A∧dA + (2/3)A∧A∧A)
definedOn three-dimensional manifolds
describes anyonic excitations in 2+1 dimensions
equationsOfMotionImply flat gauge connection
gaugeInvarianceRequires level quantization
hasMathematicalOriginIn Chern–Simons forms
secondary characteristic classes
hasParameter level k
hasSpacetimeDimension 3
hasVariant Abelian Chern–Simons theory
Chern–Simons–matter theory
non-Abelian Chern–Simons theory
supersymmetric Chern–Simons theory
influenced Witten’s work on quantum invariants of 3-manifolds
introducedBy James Harris Simons
Shiing-Shen Chern
isMetricIndependent true
isTopological true
levelQuantizationCondition k ∈ ℤ for compact simple gauge groups
namedAfter James Harris Simons
Shiing-Shen Chern
pathIntegralLocalizesOn flat connections
produces knot invariants
link invariants
topological invariants of 3-manifolds
quantizationLeadsTo Wess–Zumino–Witten model
relatedTo Atiyah–Segal axioms for TQFT
HOMFLY polynomial
Jones polynomial
Reshetikhin–Turaev invariants
quantum groups at roots of unity
specialCase SU(2) Chern–Simons theory
SU(N) Chern–Simons theory
U(1) Chern–Simons theory
usedIn topological quantum computation
usedToConstruct 3-dimensional topological invariants via path integrals
usesGaugeGroup compact Lie group
yearIntroduced 1974

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (19)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Shiing-Shen Chern knownFor Chern–Simons theory
Edward Witten notableWork Chern–Simons–Witten theory
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
topological quantum field theory example Chern–Simons theory
Green–Schwarz mechanism relatedTo Chern–Simons forms
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Chern–Weil theory relatedTo Chern–Simons theory
Jones polynomial connectedTo Chern–Simons topological quantum field theory
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
HOMFLY-PT polynomial relatedTo Chern–Simons theory
Shiing-Shen Chern knownFor Chern–Simons forms
subject linked to: Shiing-Shen
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Chern–Simons theory actionFunctionalDependsOn Chern–Simons 3-form
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Chern–Simons theory specialCase SU(2) Chern–Simons theory
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Chern–Simons theory specialCase SU(N) Chern–Simons theory
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Chern–Simons theory specialCase U(1) Chern–Simons theory
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Chern–Simons theory hasVariant Abelian Chern–Simons theory
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Chern–Simons theory hasVariant non-Abelian Chern–Simons theory
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Chern–Simons theory hasVariant supersymmetric Chern–Simons theory
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Chern–Simons theory hasVariant Chern–Simons–matter theory
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Edward Witten knownFor Chern–Simons–Witten theory
subject linked to: Witten
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Composite fermion associatedWith Chern–Simons gauge field
linked to: Chern–Simons theory
Composite fermion hasTheoreticalTool Mean-field Chern–Simons theory
linked to: Chern–Simons theory