Search

We initiate the analytical functional bootstrap study of conformal field theories with large N limits. In this first paper we particularly focus on the 1D O(N) vector bootstrap. We obtain a remarkably simple bootstrap equation from the O(N) vector crossing equations in the large N limit. The numerical conformal bootstrap bound is saturated by the generalized free field theories, while its extremal functional actions do not converge to any non-vanishing limit. We study the analytical extremal functionals of this crossing equation, for which the total positivity of the SL(2, ℝ) conformal block plays a critical role. We prove the SL(2, ℝ) conformal block is totally positive in the limits with large ∆ or small 1 − z and show that the total positivity is violated below a critical value ∆ TP ∗ ≈ 0.32315626. The SL(2, ℝ) conformal block forms a surprisingly sophisticated mathematical structure, which for instance can violate total positivity at the order 10−5654 for a normal value ∆ = 0.1627! We construct a series of analytical functionals {αM} which satisfy the bootstrap positive conditions up to a range ∆ ⩽ ΛM. The functionals {αM} have a trivial large M limit. However, due to total positivity, they can approach the large M limit in a way consistent with the bootstrap positive conditions for arbitrarily high ΛM. Moreover, in the region ∆ ⩽ ΛM, the analytical functional actions are consistent with the numerical bootstrap results, therefore it clarifies the positive structure in the crossing equation analytically. Our result provides a concrete example to illustrate how the analytical properties of the conformal block lead to nontrivial bootstrap bounds. We expect this work paves the way for large N analytical functional bootstrap in higher dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study non-invertible duality symmetries by gauging a diagonal subgroup of a non-anomalous U(1)×U(1) global symmetry. In particular, we employ the half-space gauging to c = 2 bosonic torus conformal field theory (CFT) in two dimensions and pure U(1)×U(1) gauge theory in four dimensions. In c = 2 bosonic torus CFT, we show that the non-invertible symmetry obtained from the diagonal gauging becomes emergent on an irrational CFT point. We also calculate the fusion rules concerning the duality defect. We find out that the fusion algebra is non-commutative. We also obtain a similar result in pure U(1)×U(1) gauge theory in four dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crossing symmetry (CS) is the main tool in the bootstrap program applied to CFT. This consists in an equality which imposes restrictions on the CFT data of a model, i.e., the OPE coefficients and the conformal dimensions. Reflection positivity (RP) has also played a role in this program, since this condition is what leads to the unitary bound and reality of the OPE coefficients. In this paper, we show that RP can still reveal more information, explaining how RP itself can capture an important part of the restrictions imposed by the full CS equality. In order to do that, we use a connection used by us in a previous work between RP and positive definiteness of a function of a single variable. This allows us to write constraints on the OPE coefficients in a concise way. These constraints are encoded in the conditions that certain functions of the cross-ratio will be positive defined and in particular completely monotonic. We will consider how the bounding of scalar conformal dimensions and OPE coefficients arise in this RP based approach. We will illustrate the conceptual and practical value of this view trough examples of general CFT models in d-dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymptotic symmetry plays an important role in determining physical observables of a theory. Recently, in the context of four dimensional asymptotically flat pure gravity and N = 1 supergravity, it has been proposed that OPEs of appropriate celestial amplitudes can be used to find their asymptotic symmetries. In this paper we find the asymptotic symmetry algebras of four dimensional Einstein-Yang-Mills and Einstein-Maxwell theories using this alternative approach, namely using the OPEs of their respective celestial amplitudes. The algebra obtained here are in agreement with the known results in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gauging is a powerful operation on symmetries in quantum field theory (QFT), as it connects distinct theories and also reveals hidden structures in a given theory. We initiate a systematic investigation of gauging discrete generalized symmetries in two-dimensional QFT. Such symmetries are described by topological defect lines (TDLs) which obey fusion rules that are non-invertible in general. Despite this seemingly exotic feature, all well-known properties in gauging invertible symmetries carry over to this general setting, which greatly enhances both the scope and the power of gauging. This is established by formulating generalized gauging in terms of topological interfaces between QFTs, which explains the physical picture for the mathematical concept of algebra objects and associated module categories over fusion categories that encapsulate the algebraic properties of generalized symmetries and their gaugings. This perspective also provides simple physical derivations of well-known mathematical theorems in category theory from basic axiomatic properties of QFT in the presence of such interfaces. We discuss a bootstrap-type analysis to classify such topological interfaces and thus the possible generalized gaugings and demonstrate the procedure in concrete examples of fusion categories. Moreover we present a number of examples to illustrate generalized gauging and its properties in concrete conformal field theories (CFTs). In particular, we identify the generalized orbifold groupoid that captures the structure of fusion between topological interfaces (equivalently sequential gaugings) as well as a plethora of new self-dualities in CFTs under generalized gaugings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We perform a comprehensive analysis of the symmetry-resolved (SR) entanglement entropy (EE) for one single interval in the ground state of a 1 + 1D conformal field theory (CFT), that is invariant under an arbitrary finite or compact Lie group, G. We utilize the boundary CFT approach to study the total EE, which enables us to find the universal leading order behavior of the SREE and its first correction, which explicitly depends on the irreducible representation under consideration and breaks the equipartition of entanglement. We present two distinct schemes to carry out these computations. The first relies on the evaluation of the charged moments of the reduced density matrix. This involves studying the action of the defect-line, that generates the symmetry, on the boundary states of the theory. This perspective also paves the way for discussing the infeasibility of studying symmetry resolution when an anomalous symmetry is present. The second scheme draws a parallel between the SREE and the partition function of an orbifold CFT. This approach allows for the direct computation of the SREE without the need to use charged moments. From this standpoint, the infeasibility of defining the symmetry-resolved EE for an anomalous symmetry arises from the obstruction to gauging. Finally, we derive the symmetry-resolved entanglement spectra for a CFT invariant under a finite symmetry group. We revisit a similar problem for CFT with compact Lie group, explicitly deriving an improved formula for U(1) resolved entanglement spectra. Using the Tauberian formalism, we can estimate the aforementioned EE spectra rigorously by proving an optimal lower and upper bound on the same. In the abelian case, we perform numerical checks on the bound and find perfect agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study instability of lowest dimension operator (i.e., the imaginary part of its operator dimension) in the rank-Q traceless symmetric representation of the O(N) Wilson-Fisher fixed point in D = 4 + ϵ. We find a new semi-classical bounce solution, which gives an imaginary part to the operator dimension of order O ϵ − 1 / 2 exp − N + 8 3 ϵ F ϵQ in the double-scaling limit where ϵQ ≤ N + 8 6 3 is fixed. The form of F(ϵQ), normalised as F(0) = 1, is also computed. This non-perturbative correction continues to give the leading effect even when Q is finite, indicating the instability of operators for any values of Q. We also observe a phase transition at ϵQ = N + 8 6 3 associated with the condensation of bounces, similar to the Gross-Witten-Wadia transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We undertake a systematic study of the 4-dimensional SU(N) 2-index chiral gauge theories and investigate their faithful global symmetries and dynamics. These are a finite set of theories with fermions in the 2-index symmetric and anti-symmetric representations, with no fundamentals, and they do not admit a large-N limit. We employ a combination of perturbative and nonperturbative methods, enabling us to constrain their infrared (IR) phases. Specifically, we leverage the 't Hooft anomalies associated with continuous and discrete groups to eliminate a few scenarios. In some cases, the anomalies rule out the possibility of fermion composites. In other cases, the interplay between the continuous and discrete anomalies leads to multiple higher-order condensates, which inevitably form to match the anomalies. Further, we pinpoint the most probable symmetry-breaking patterns by searching for condensates that match the full set of anomalies resulting in the smallest number of IR degrees of freedom. Higher-loop β-function analysis suggests that a few theories may flow to a conformal fixed point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the weak gravity conjecture, [Phys. Rev. D104 (2021) 126005] conjectured that in any CFT, the minimal operator dimension at fixed charge is a convex function of the charge. In this letter we construct a counterexample to this convexity conjecture, which is a clockwork-like model with some modifications to make it a weakly-coupled CFT. We also discuss further possible applications of this model and some modified versions of the conjecture which are not ruled out by the counterexample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We give a general construction relating Narain rational conformal field theories (RCFTs) and associated 3d Chern-Simons (CS) theories to quantum stabilizer codes. Starting from an abelian CS theory with a fusion group consisting of n even-order factors, we map a boundary RCFT to an n-qubit quantum code. When the relevant 't Hooft anomalies vanish, we can orbifold our RCFTs and describe this gauging at the level of the code. Along the way, we give CFT interpretations of the code subspace and the Hilbert space of qubits while mapping error operations to CFT defect fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Crossing symmetry (CS) is the main tool in the bootstrap program applied to CFT. This consists in an equality which imposes restrictions on the CFT data of a model, i.e., the OPE coefficients and the conformal dimensions. Reflection positivity (RP) has also played a role in this program, since this condition is what leads to the unitary bound and reality of the OPE coefficients. In this paper, we show that RP can still reveal more information, explaining how RP itself can capture an important part of the restrictions imposed by the full CS equality. In order to do that, we use a connection used by us in a previous work between RP and positive definiteness of a function of a single variable. This allows us to write constraints on the OPE coefficients in a concise way. These constraints are encoded in the conditions that certain functions of the cross-ratio will be positive defined and in particular completely monotonic. We will consider how the bounding of scalar conformal dimensions and OPE coefficients arise in this RP based approach. We will illustrate the conceptual and practical value of this view trough examples of general CFT models in d-dimensions.

Abstract Asymptotic symmetry plays an important role in determining physical observables of a theory. Recently, in the context of four dimensional asymptotically flat pure gravity and N $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1 supergravity, it has been proposed that OPEs of appropriate celestial amplitudes can be used to find their asymptotic symmetries. In this paper we find the asymptotic symmetry algebras of four dimensional Einstein-Yang-Mills and Einstein-Maxwell theories using this alternative approach, namely using the OPEs of their respective celestial amplitudes. The algebra obtained here are in agreement with the known results in the literature.

We study the multi-charged moments for two disjoint intervals in the ground state of two 1 + 1 dimensional CFTs with central charge c = 1 and global U(1) symmetry: the massless Dirac field theory and the compact boson (Luttinger liquid). For this purpose, we compute the partition function on the higher genus Riemann surface arising from the replica method in the presence of background magnetic fluxes between the sheets of the surface. We consider the general situation in which the fluxes generate different twisted boundary conditions at each branch point. The obtained multi-charged moments allow us to derive the symmetry resolution of the Rényi entanglement entropies and the mutual information for non complementary bipartitions. We check our findings against exact numerical results for the tight-binding model, which is a lattice realisation of the massless Dirac theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study symmetry-breaking line defects in the Wilson-Fisher theory with O(2N + 1) global symmetry near four dimensions and symmetry-preserving surface defects in a cubic model with O(2N) global symmetry near six dimensions. We introduce a scaling limit inspired by the large charge expansion in Conformal Field Theory. Using this, we compute the beta function for the defect coupling which allows to identify the corresponding Defect Conformal Field Theories. We also compute the correlation function of two parallel defects as well as correlation functions of certain defect operators with large charge under the surviving symmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unitary Fermi gas, by virtue of its description as a nonrelativistic conformal field theory, has proven an interesting system by which the quantum properties of CFTs can be held to experimental verification. Here, we examine the structure of conformal dimensions of charge-Q operators in nonrelativistic CFTs, in the large-Q regime, from the non-linear sigma model perspective. We discuss in detail the renormalization of edge divergences using dimensional regularization, elucidating the presence of log(Q) terms in the large-charge expansion. Finally, we use dimensional regularization to compute the universal one-loop Q0 log Q contribution to the ground-state energy in d = 3 spatial dimensions, with the result Δ Q Q 0 = 1 3 3 log Q + const. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study non-relativistic conformal field theory on a flat space in the presence of a planar boundary. We compute correlation functions of primary operators and obtain the expression for the boundary conformal block. We also discuss the non-relativistic conformal field theory on a general curved background in the presence of a boundary. As an example, we discuss the spectrum of boundary primary operator and compute scaling dimensions in a fermionic theory near one and three spatial dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this note we discuss the phase space of the O(2N) vector model in the presence of a quadratic and a quartic interaction by writing the large-N effective potential using large charge methods in dimensions 2 < D < 4 and 4 < D < 6. Based on a simple discussion of the convexity properties of the grand potential, we find very different behavior in the two regimes: while in 2 < D < 4, the theory is well-behaved, the model in 4 < D < 6 leads to a complex CFT in the UV, consistently with earlier results. We also find a new metastable massive phase in the high-energy regime for the theory on the cylinder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We systematically study 4D N = 2 superconformal field theories (SCFTs) that can be constructed via type IIB string theory on isolated hypersurface singularities (IHSs) embedded in ℂ4. We show that if a theory in this class has no N = 2-preserving exactly marginal deformation (i.e., the theory is isolated as an N = 2 SCFT), then it has no 1-form symmetry. This situation is somewhat reminiscent of 1-form symmetry and decomposition in 2D quantum field theory. Moreover, our result suggests that, for theories arising from IHSs, 1-form symmetries originate from gauge groups (with vanishing beta functions). One corollary of our discussion is that there is no 1-form symmetry in IHS theories that have all Coulomb branch chiral ring generators of scaling dimension less than two. In terms of the a and c central charges, this condition implies that IHS theories satisfying a < 1 24 15 r + 2 f and c < 1 6 3 r + f (where r is the complex dimension of the Coulomb branch, and f is the rank of the continuous 0-form flavor symmetry) have no 1-form symmetry. After reviewing the 1-form symmetries of other classes of theories, we are motivated to conjecture that general interacting 4D N = 2 SCFTs with all Coulomb branch chiral ring generators of dimension less than two have no 1-form symmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Weak Gravity Conjecture has recently been re-formulated in terms of a particle with non-negative self-binding energy. Because of the dual conformal field theory (CFT) formulation in the anti-de Sitter space, the conformal dimension ∆(Q) of the lowest-dimension operator with charge Q under some global U(1) symmetry must be a convex function of Q. This property has been conjectured to hold for any (unitary) conformal field theory and generalized to larger global symmetry groups. Here we refine and further test the convex charge conjecture via semiclassical computations for fixed charge sectors of different theories in various dimensions. We analyze the convexity properties of the leading and next-to-leading order terms stemming from the semiclassical computation, de facto, extending previous tests beyond the leading perturbative contributions and to arbitrary charges. In particular, the leading contribution is sufficient to test convexity in the semiclassical computations. We also consider intriguing cases in which the models feature a transition from real to complex conformal dimensions either as a function of the charge or number of matter fields. As a relevant example of the first kind, we investigate the O(N) model in 4 + ϵ dimensions. As an example of the second type, we consider the U(N) × U(M) model in 4 − ϵ dimensions. Both models display a rich dynamics where, by changing the number of matter fields and/or charge, one can achieve dramatically different physical regimes. We discover that whenever a complex conformal dimension appears, the real part satisfies the convexity property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a systematic approach to compute the subsystem trace distances and relative entropies for subsystem reduced density matrices associated to excited states in different symmetry sectors of a 1+1 dimensional conformal field theory having an internal U(1) symmetry. We provide analytic expressions for the charged moments corresponding to the resolution of both relative entropies and distances for general integer n. For the relative entropies, these formulas are manageable and the analytic continuation to n = 1 can be worked out in most of the cases. Conversely, for the distances the corresponding charged moments become soon untreatable as n increases. A remarkable result is that relative entropies and distances are the same for all symmetry sectors, i.e. they satisfy entanglement equipartition, like the entropies. Moreover, we exploit the OPE expansion of composite twist fields, to provide very general results when the subsystem is a single interval much smaller than the total system. We focus on the massless compact boson and our results are tested against exact numerical calculations in the XX spin chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study operators with large internal charge in boundary conformal field theories (BCFTs) with internal symmetries. Using the state-operator correspondence and the existence of a macroscopic limit, we find a non-trivial relation between the scaling dimension of the lowest dimensional CFT and BCFT charged operators to leading order in the charge. We also construct the superfluid effective field theory for theories with boundaries and use it to systematically calculate the BCFT spectrum in a systematic expansion. We verify explicitly many of the predictions from the EFT analysis in concrete examples including the classical conformal scalar field with a |ϕ|6 interaction in three dimensions and the O(2) Wilson-Fisher model near four dimensions in the presence of boundaries. In the appendices we additionally discuss a systematic background field approach towards Ward identities in general boundary and defect conformal field theories, and clarify its relation with Noether's theorem in perturbative theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the defect groups of D p b (G) theories using geometric engineering and BPS quivers. In the simple case when b = h∨(G), we use the BPS quivers of the theory to see that the defect group is compatible with a known Maruyoshi-Song flow. To extend to the case where b ≠ h∨(G), we use a similar Maruyoshi-Song flow to conjecture that the defect groups of D p b (G) theories are given by those of G(b)[k] theories. In the cases of G = An, E6, E8 we cross check our result by calculating the BPS quivers of the G(b)[k] theories and looking at the cokernel of their intersection matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the problem of the decomposition of the Rényi entanglement entropies in theories with a non-abelian symmetry by doing a thorough analysis of Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) models. We first consider SU(2)k as a case study and then generalise to an arbitrary non-abelian Lie group. We find that at leading order in the subsystem size L the entanglement is equally distributed among the different sectors labelled by the irreducible representation of the associated algebra. We also identify the leading term that breaks this equipartition: it does not depend on L but only on the dimension of the representation. Moreover, a log log L contribution to the Rényi entropies exhibits a universal prefactor equal to half the dimension of the Lie group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]