We show that any nonextreme black hole can be described by a state with $L_0=E_R$ in a $D=2$ chiral conformal field theory with central charge $c=12E_R$ where $E_R$ is the dimensionless Rindler energy of the black hole. The theory lives in the very near horizon region, i.e. around the origin of Rindler space. Black hole hair is the momentum along the Euclidean dimensionless Rindler time direction. As evidence, we show that $D$--dimensional Schwarzschild black holes and $D=2$ dilatonic ones that are obtained from them by spherical reduction are described by the same conformal field theory states.
Conformal theories in a d dimensional spacetime may be expressed as manifestly conformal theories in a d+2 dimensional conformal space as first proposed by Dirac. The reduction to d dimensions goes via the d+1 dimensional hypercone in the conformal space. Here we give a rather extensive expose of such theories. We review and extend the theory of spinning conformal particles. We give a precise and geometrical formulation of manifestly conformal fields for which we give a consistent action principle. The requirement of invariance under special gauge transformations off the hypercone plays a fund…
We discuss the generalization of Abelian Chern-Simons theories when $θ$-angles and magnetic monopoles are included. We map sectors of two dimensional Conformal Field Theories into these three dimensional theories.
Implications are explored of promoting non-conformal scale-invariant theories to conformal theories by nonlinearly realizing the missing symmetry. Properties of the associated Nambu-Goldstone mode imply that conformal invariance cannot be spontaneously broken to scale invariance in unitary theories and that, as well known, scale invariant unitary theories in two dimensions are also conformal. The promoted theories have only conformal primaries and no descendants. The (non-)decoupling of the Nambu-Goldstone mode is explicitly shown in examples of scale invariant theories that are actually (not)…
We show that the very near horizon region of nonextreme black holes, which can be described by horizon CFTs, are related to $AdS_2$ Rindler spaces. The latter are $AdS_2$ black holes with specific masses and can be described by states of either $D=1$ or $D=2$ CFTs. The central charges of these CFTs and the conformal weights of their states that correspond to the nonextreme black holes exactly match those predicted by the horizon CFTs, providing supporting evidence for this description.
We propose a relation between correlation functions in the 2d A_{N-1} conformal Toda theories and the Nekrasov instanton partition functions in certain conformal N=2 SU(N) 4d quiver gauge theories. Our proposal generalises the recently uncovered relation between the Liouville theory and SU(2) quivers. New features appear in the analysis that have no counterparts in the Liouville case.
It is well known that rational 2D conformal field theories are connected with Chern-Simons theories defined on 3D real manifolds. We consider holomorphic analogues of Chern-Simons theories defined on 3D complex manifolds (six real dimensions) and describe 4D conformal field theories connected with them. All these models are integrable. We describe analogues of the Virasoro and affine Lie algebras, the local action of which on fields of holomorphic analogues of Chern-Simons theories becomes nonlocal after pushing down to the action on fields of integrable 4D conformal field theories. Quantizati…
We show that the entropy of extremal $D=4$ Reissner--Nordstrom black holes can be computed from horizon CFTs with central charges and conformal weights fixed by the dimensionless Rindler energy. This is possible in the simultaneous extremal and near horizon limit of the black hole which takes the geometry to an $AdS_2$ Rindler space with finite temperature. The CFT description of dilatonic $AdS_2$ black holes, obtained from extremal ones by dimensional reduction, lead to exactly the same CFT states.
We derive a formula for the curvature tensor of the natural Riemannian metric on the space of two-dimensional conformal field theories and also a formula for the curvature tensor of the space of boundary conformal field theories.
We calculate conformal anomalies in noncommutative gauge theories by using the path integral method (Fujikawa's method). Along with the axial anomalies and chiral gauge anomalies, conformal anomalies take the form of the straightforward Moyal deformation in the corresponding conformal anomalies in ordinary gauge theories. However, the Moyal star product leads to the difference in the coefficient of the conformal anomalies between noncommutative gauge theories and ordinary gauge theories. The $β$ (Callan-Symanzik) functions which are evaluated from the coefficient of the conformal anomalies coi…
A surprising connection between N=2 gauge theory instanton partition functions and conformal blocks has been recently proposed. We illustrate through simple examples the generalization to asymptotically free N=2 gauge theories
Recently Alday and Tachikawa proposed a relation between conformal blocks in a two-dimensional theory with affine sl(2) symmetry and instanton partition functions in four-dimensional conformal N=2 SU(2) quiver gauge theories in the presence of a certain surface operator. In this paper we extend this proposal to a relation between conformal blocks in theories with affine sl(N) symmetry and instanton partition functions in conformal N=2 SU(N) quiver gauge theories in the presence of a surface operator. We also discuss the extension to non-conformal N=2 SU(N) theories.
We perform a detailed analysis of Galilean field theories, starting with free theories and then interacting theories. We consider non-relativistic versions of massless scalar and Dirac field theories before we go on to review our previous construction of Galilean Electrodynamics and Galilean Yang-Mills theory. We show that in all these cases, the field theories exhibit non-relativistic conformal structure (in appropriate dimensions). The surprising aspect of the analysis is that the non-relativistic conformal structure exhibited by these theories, unlike relativistic conformal invariance, beco…
We show that microscopic black hole entropy formula based on Virasoro algebra can be derived from usual properties of stationary Killing horizons alone and absence of singularities of curvature invariants on them. In such a way some usual additional assumptions are shown to be fulfilled. In addition, for all quantities power expansion near horizon and thus explicit insight of the limiting procedure is given. More important the near horizon conformal symmetry proposed by Carlip together with its consequences on microscopic entropy is given a clear geometric origin.
Toward the Kerr/CFT correspondence for generic non-extremal Kerr black hole, the analysis of scattering amplitudes by near extremal Kerr provides a clue. This pursuit reveals a hidden conformal symmetry in the law frequency wave equation for a scalar field in a certain spacetime region referred to as the near region. For extremal case, the near region is expected to be the near horizon region in which the correspondence via the asymptotic symmetry is studied. We investigate the hidden conformal symmetry in the near horizon limit and consider the relation between the hidden conformal symmetry a…
Some time ago, conformal data with affine fusion rules were found. Our purpose here is to realize some of these conformal data, using systems of free bosons and parafermions. The so constructed theories have an extended $W$ algebras which are close analogues of affine algebras. Exact character formulae is given, and the realizations are shown to be full fledged unitary conformal field theories.
In this paper we study classical limit of conformal field theories realized by large N gauge theories using the generalized coherent states. For generic large N gauge theories with conformal symmetry, we show that the classical limit of them is described by the classical Einstein gravity. This may be regarded as a kind of derivation of the AdS/CFT correspondence.
Using Verlinde formula and the symmetry of the modular matrix we describe an algorithm to find all conformal field theories with low number of primary fields. We employ the algorithm on up to eight primary fields. Four new conformal field theories are found which do not appear to come from current algebras. This supports evidence to the fact that rational conformal field theories are far richer than suspected before.
Various exact two-dimensional conformal field theories with AdS_{2d+1} target space are constructed. These models can be solved using bosonization techniques. Some examples are presented that can be used in building perturbative superstring theories with AdS backgrounds, including AdS_5.
We construct a set of non-rational conformal field theories that consist of deformations of Toda field theory for sl(n). Besides conformal invariance, the theories still enjoy a remnant infinite-dimensional affine symmetry. The case n=3 is used to illustrate this phenomenon, together with further deformations that yield enhanced Kac-Moody symmetry algebras. For generic n we compute N-point correlation functions on the Riemann sphere and show that these can be expressed in terms of sl(n) Toda field theory correlation functions.
As regular conformal blocks describe the N=2 superconformal gauge theories in four dimensions, irregular conformal blocks are expected to reproduce the instanton partition functions of the Argyres-Douglas theories. In this paper, we construct matrix models which reproduce the irregular conformal conformal blocks of the Liouville theory on sphere, by taking a colliding limit of the Penner-type matrix models. The resulting matrix models have not only logarithmic terms but also rational terms in the potential. We also discuss their relation to the Argyres-Douglas type theories.
We study the logarithmic conformal field theories in which conformal weights are continuous subset of real numbers. A general relation between the correlators consisting of logarithmic fields and those consisting of ordinary conformal fields is investigated. As an example the correlators of the Coulomb-gas model are explicitly studied.
We study the relation between the large Nc limit of four dimensional N=2,1,0 conformal field theories and supergravity on orbifolds of AdS_5xS^5. We analyze the Kaluza-Klein states of the supergravity theory and relate them to the spectrum of (chiral) primary operators of the (super) conformal field theories.
We solve the Kac-Moody branching equation to obtain explicit formulae for the characters of coset conformal field theories and then apply these to specific examples to determine the integer shift of the conformal weights of primary fields. We also present an example of coset conformal field theory which cannot be described by the identification current method.
We construct Euclidean Liouville conformal field theories in odd number of dimensions. The theories are nonlocal and non-unitary with a log-correlated Liouville field, a ${\cal Q}$-curvature background, and an exponential Liouville-type potential. We study the classical and quantum properties of these theories including the finite entanglement entropy part of the sphere partition function $F$, the boundary conformal anomaly and vertex operators' correlation functions. We derive the analogue of the even-dimensional DOZZ formula and its semi-classical approximation.
Conformal moduli spaces of four-dimensional superconformal theories obtained by deformations of a superpotential are considered. These spaces possess a natural metric (a Zamolodchikov metric). This metric is shown to be Kahler. The proof is based on superconformal Ward identities.
We argue that conformal invariance is a common thread linking several scalar effective field theories that appear in the double copy and scattering equations. For a derivatively coupled scalar with a quartic ${\cal O}(p^4)$ vertex, classical conformal invariance dictates an infinite tower of additional interactions that coincide exactly with Dirac-Born-Infeld theory analytically continued to spacetime dimension $D=0$. For the case of a quartic ${\cal O}(p^6)$ vertex, classical conformal invariance constrains the theory to be the special Galileon in $D=-2$ dimensions. We also verify the conform…
We review briefly a stream of ideas concerning the role of quantum groups as hidden symmetries in conformal field theories, paying particular attention to the field theoretical representations of quantum groups based on Coulomb gas methods. An extensive bibliography is also included.
We use the Virasoro master equation to study the space of Lie h-invariant conformal field theories, which includes the standard rational conformal field theories as a small subspace. In a detailed example, we apply the general theory to characterize and study the Lie h-invariant graphs, which classify the Lie h-invariant conformal field theories of the diagonal ansatz on SO(n). The Lie characterization of these graphs is another aspect of the recently observed Lie group-theoretic structure of graph theory.
Supersymmetric theories with the same bosonic content but different fermions, aka \emph{twins}, were thought to exist only for supergravity. Here we show that pairs of super conformal field theories, for example exotic $\mathcal{N}=3$ and $\mathcal{N}=1$ theories in $D=4$ spacetime dimensions, can also be twin. We provide evidence from three different perspectives: (i) a twin S-fold construction, (ii) a double-copy argument and (iii) by identifying candidate twin holographically dual gauged supergravity theories. Furthermore, twin W-supergravity theories then follow by applying the double-copy…
We construct five-dimensional non-Lorentzian Lagrangian gauge field theories with an SU(1,3) conformal symmetry and 12 (conformal) supersymmetries. Such theories are interesting in their own right but can arise from six-dimensional (1,0) superconformal field theories on a conformally compactified Minkowski spacetime. In the limit that the conformal compactification is removed the Lagrangians we find give field theory formulations of DLCQ constructions of six-dimensional (1,0) conformal field theories.
We use the conformal group to study non-local operators in conformal field theories. A plane or a sphere (of any dimension) is mapped to itself by some subgroup of the conformal group, hence operators confined to that submanifold may be classified in representations of this subgroup. For local operators this gives the usual definition of conformal dimension and spin, but some conformal field theories contain interesting nonlocal operators, like Wilson or 't Hooft loops. We apply those ideas to Wilson loops in four-dimensional CFTs and show how they can be chosen to be in fixed representations …
We construct chiral N=1 gauge theories in 4D by compactifying the 6D Blum-Intriligator (1,0) theories of 5-branes at $A_k$ singularities on $T^2$ with a nontrivial bundle of the global U(1) symmetry of these theories.
The ADE classification scheme is encountered in many areas of mathematics, most notably in the study of Lie algebras. Here such a scheme is shown to describe families of two-dimensional conformal field theories.
We consider logarithmic conformal field theories near a boundary and derive the general form of one and two point functions. We obtain results for arbitrary and two dimensions. Application to two dimensional magnetohydrodynamics is discussed.
In a short review of recent work, we discuss the general problem of constructing the actions of new conformal field theories from old conformal field theories. Such a construction follows when the old conformal field theory admits new conformal stress tensors in its chiral algebra, and it turns out that the new conformal field theory is generically a new spin-two gauge theory. As an example we discuss the new spin-two gauged sigma models which arise in this fashion from the general conformal non-linear sigma model.
Using a uniformization map we determine the holographic entanglement entropy for states of a Warped Conformal Field Theory dual to a generic vacuum metric in AdS$_3$ gravity with Compère--Song--Strominger boundary conditions. We point out how that expression could lead to inequalities that can be interpreted as quantum energy conditions for Warped Conformal Field Theories.
In boundary conformal field theories, global symmetries can be broken by boundary conditions, generating a homogeneous conformal manifold. We investigate these geometries, showing they have a coset structure, and give fully worked out examples in the case of free fields of spin zero and one-half. These results give a simple illustration of the salient features of conformal manifolds while generalising to interacting and more intricate setups. Our work was inspired by [2203.17157]
It is shown that self-dual theories generalize to four dimensions both the conformal and analytic aspects of two-dimensional conformal field theories. In the harmonic space language there appear several ways to extend complex analyticity (natural in two dimensions) to quaternionic analyticity (natural in four dimensions). To be analytic, conformal transformations should be realized on $CP^3$, which appears as the coset of the complexified conformal group modulo its maximal parabolic subgroup. In this language one visualizes the twistor correspondence of Penrose and Ward and consistently formul…
A general two-dimensional fractional supersymmetric conformal field theory is investigated. The structure of the symmetries of the theory is studied. Applying the generators of the closed subalgebra generated by $(L_{-1},L_{0},G_{-1/(F+1)})$ and $(\bar{L}_{-1},\bar{L}_{0},\bar{G}_{-1/(F+1)})$, the two point functions of the component-fields of supermultiplets are calculated. Then the logarithmic superconformal field theories are investigated and the chiral and full two-point functions are obtained.
We present coset conformal field theories whose spectrum is not determined by the identification current method. In these ``maverick'' cosets there is a larger symmetry identifying primary fields than under the identification current. We find an A-D-E classification of these mavericks. }
A new method is developed for solving the conformally invariant integrals that arise in conformal field theories with a boundary. The presence of a boundary makes previous techniques for theories without a boundary less suitable. The method makes essential use of an invertible integral transform, related to the radon transform, involving integration over planes parallel to the boundary. For successful application of this method several nontrivial hypergeometric function relations are also derived.
The main result of this paper is the construction of a conformally covariant operator in two dimensions acting on scalar fields and containing fourth order derivatives. In this way it is possible to derive a class of Lagrangians invariant under conformal transformations. They define conformal field theories satisfying equations of the biharmonic type. Two kinds of these biharmonic field theories are distinguished, characterized by the possibility or not of the scalar fields to transform non-trivially under Weyl transformations. Both cases are relevant for string theory and two dimensional grav…
We use fractional and wrapped branes to describe perturbative and nonperturbative properties of the gauge theories living on their worldvolume. (Talk given at the 35th International Symposium Ahrenshoop on the Theory of Elementary Particles, Wernsdorf, August 26-30, 2002.)
We obtain the entanglement negativity for various bipartite zero and finite temperature pure and mixed state configurations in a class of $(1+1)$-dimensional Galilean conformal field theories. In this context we establish a construction for computing the entanglement negativity for such bipartite states involving a suitable replica technique. Our construction exactly reproduces certain universal features observed for entanglement negativity of corresponding states in relativistic $(1+1)$-dimensional conformal field theories.
In these notes I briefly outline SL(2) degenerate conformal field theories and their application to some related models, namely 2d gravity and N=2 discrete superconformal series.
For a four dimensional, unitary, diffeomorphism- and scale invariant quantum field theory without higher derivatives and a well defined scale current we argue that scale invariance implies conformal invariance. The proof relies on the Wess-Zumino consistency condition for the Weyl anomaly.
The conformal crossing equation puts very stringent constraints on the conformal data. We formulate it in way that makes the conformal symmetry more transparent. This allows for generalization of the crossing equation to arbitrary Lie group G. Using the crossing equation for SU(2) as a toy model, we find infinitely many solutions to the G-crossing equation. In particular, when G is specialized to the conformal group SO(d+1,1), we get infinitely many solutions to the conformal crossing equation.
The appearance of quantum groups in conformal field theories is traced back to the Poisson-Lie symmetries of the classical chiral theory. A geometric quantization of the classical theory deforms the Poisson-Lie symmetries to the quantum group ones. This elucidates the fundamental role of chiral symmetries that quantum groups play in conformal models. As a byproduct, one obtains a more geometric approach to the representation theory of quantum groups.
We investigate a possibility of scale invariant but non-conformal supersymmetric field theories from a perturbative approach. The explicit existence of monotonically decreasing a-function that generates beta-functions as a gradient flow provides a strong obstruction for such a possibility at two-loop order. We comment on the "discovery" of scale invariant but non-conformal renormalization group trajectories via a "change of scheme" in (4-ε) dimension proposed in literatures.
The aim of this lecture is to present the concept of C-algebra and to illustrate its applications in two contexts: the study of reflection groups and their folding on the one hand, the structure of rational conformal field theories on the other. For simplicity the discussion is restricted to finite Coxeter groups and conformal theories with a $\hat{sl}(2)$ current algebra, but it may be extended to a larger class of groups and theories associated with $\hat{sl}(N)$. (Proceedings of the RIMS Symposium, Kyoto, 16-19 December 1996.)
In this paper, we give a general axiomatization of anomalies in closed and open conformal field theories. In particular, we generalize Segal's notion of modular functor to a setting where the ``set of labels'' is a 2-vector space. In the case of open conformal field theory, the ``set of $D$-branes'' is a 3-vector space. We also define a ``topological group completion'' of the symmetric bimonoidal category of finite-dimensional vector spaces, and propose it as a candidate for labelling conformal field theories whose modular functors are super-vector spaces.
Null vectors are generalized to the case of indecomposable representations which are one of the main features of logarithmic conformal field theories. This is done by developing a compact formalism with the particular advantage that the stress energy tensor acting on Jordan cells of primary fields and their logarithmic partners can still be represented in form of linear differential operators. Since the existence of singular vectors is subject to much stronger constraints than in regular conformal field theory, they also provide a powerful tool for the classification of logarithmic conformal f…
Trace anomaly for dilaton coupled conformal theories on curved background with non-zero dilaton is found from supergravity side as an IR effect using AdS/CFT correspondence. For $d=2$ it coincides with the conformal anomaly for dilaton coupled scalar (up to total derivative term which is known to be ambiguous). In four-dimensional case we get conformal anomaly for ${\cal N}=4$ super YM theory interacting with conformal supergravity. In the same way the calculation of dilaton dependent conformal anomaly in higher dimensions seems to be much easier than using standard QFT methods.
We propose a new rule for boundary renormalization group flows in fixed-point free coset models. Our proposal generalizes the 'absorption of boundary spin'-principle formulated by Affleck and Ludwig to a large class of perturbations in boundary conformal field theories. We illustrate the rule in the case of unitary minimal models.
In this thesis we study two-dimensional conformal field theories with Virasoro algebra symmetry, following the conformal bootstrap approach. Under the assumption that degenerate fields exist, we provide an extension of the analytic conformal bootstrap method to theories with non-diagonal spectrums. We write the equations that determine structure constants, and find explicit solutions in terms of special functions. We validate this results by numerically computing four-point functions in diagonal and non-diagonal minimal models, and verifying that crossing symmetry is satisfied. In addition, we…
We give two results concerning the construction of modular invariant partition functions for conformal field theories constructed by tensoring together other conformal field theories. First we show how the possible modular invariants for the tensor product theory are constrained if the allowed modular invariants of the individual conformal field theory factors have been classified. We illustrate the use of these constraints for theories of the type $SU(2)_{K_A}\otimes SU(2)_{K_B}$, finding all consistent theories for $K_A,K_B$ odd. Second we show how known diagonal modular invariants can be us…
