Note on gauge and gravitational anomalies of discrete Z N symmetries

Abstract In this note, we discuss the consistency conditions which a discrete Z N symmetry should satisfy in order that it is not violated by gauge and gravitational instantons. As examples, we enlist all the Z N ℛ-symmetries as well as non-ℛ Z N symmetries (N=2,3,4) in the minimally supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) that are free from gauge and gravitational anomalies. We show that there exists non-anomalous discrete symmetries that forbid Baryon number violation up to dimension 6 level (in superspace). We also observe that there exists no non-anomalous Z 3 ℛ-symmetry in the MSSM. Furthermore, we point out that in a theory with one Majorana spin 3/2 gravitino, a large class of Z 4 ℛ-symmetries are violated in the presence of Eguchi-Hanson (EH) gravitational instanton. This is also in general true for higher Z N ℛ-symmetries. We also notice that in 4 dimensional N=1 $$ \mathcal{N}=1 $$ supergravity, the global U(1) ℛ-symmetry is always violated by the EH instanton irrespective of the matter content of the theory