Gauge group topology of 8D Chaudhuri-Hockney-Lykken vacua

Compactifications of the Chaudhuri-Hockney-Lykken (CHL) string to eight dimensions can be characterized by embeddings of root lattices into the rank 12 momentum lattice ΛM, the so-called Mikhailov lattice. Based on these data, we devise a method to determine the global gauge group structure including all $U(1)$ factors. The key observation is that, while the physical states correspond to vectors in the momentum lattice, the gauge group topology is encoded in its dual. Interpreting a nontrivial π₁(G)≡Z for the non-Abelian gauge group G as having gauged a Z 1-form symmetry, we also prove that all CHL gauge groups are free of a certain anomaly [1] that would obstruct this gauging. We verify this by explicitly computing Z for all 8D CHL vacua with rank(G)=10. Since our method applies also to T² compactifications of heterotic strings, we further establish a map that determines any CHL gauge group topology from that of a ``parent'' heterotic model.