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It has recently been understood that the complete global symmetry of finite group topological gauge theories contains the structure of a higher-group. Here we study the higher-group structure in (3+1)D\mathbb{Z}_2 ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$gauge theory with an emergent fermion, and point out that pumping chiralp+ip $p+ip$topological states gives rise to a\mathbb{Z}_{8} ${\mathbb{Z}}_8$0-form symmetry with mixed gravitational anomaly. This ordinary symmetry mixes with the other higher symmetries to form a 3-group structure, which we examine in detail. We then show that in the context of stabilizer quantum codes, one can obtain logical CCZ and CS gates by placing the code on a discretization ofT^3 $T^3$(3-torus) andT^2 \rtimes_{C_2} S^1 $T^2{⋊}_{C_2}{S}^1$(2-torus bundle over the circle) respectively, and pumpingp+ip $p+ip$states. Our considerations also imply the possibility of a logicalT $T$gate by placing the code on\mathbb{RP}^3 ${ℝ\mathbb{P}}^3$and pumping ap+ip $p+ip$topological state. 

(3+1)D topological phases of matter can host a broad class of non-trivial topological defects of codimension-1, 2, and 3, of which the well-known point charges and flux loops are special cases. The complete algebraic structure of these defects defines a higher category, and can be viewed as an emergent higher symmetry. This plays a crucial role both in the classification of phases of matter and the possible fault-tolerant logical operations in topological quantum error-correcting codes. In this paper, we study several examples of such higher codimension defects from distinct perspectives. We mainly study a class of invertible codimension-2 topological defects, which we refer to as twist strings. We provide a number of general constructions for twist strings, in terms of gauging lower dimensional invertible phases, layer constructions, and condensation defects. We study some special examples in the context of \mathbb{Z}_2 ℤ 2 gauge theory with fermionic charges, in \mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2 ℤ 2 × ℤ 2 gauge theory with bosonic charges, and also in non-Abelian discrete gauge theories based on dihedral ( D_n D n ) and alternating ( A_6 A 6 ) groups. The intersection between twist strings and Abelian flux loops sources Abelian point charges, which defines an H^4 H 4 cohomology class that characterizes part of an underlying 3-group symmetry of the topological order. The equations involving background gauge fields for the 3-group symmetry have been explicitly written down for various cases. We also study examples of twist strings interacting with non-Abelian flux loops (defining part of a non-invertible higher symmetry), examples of non-invertible codimension-2 defects, and examples of the interplay of codimension-2 defects with codimension-1 defects. We also find an example of geometric, not fully topological, twist strings in (3+1)D A_6 A 6 gauge theory.