We set up the conventional conformal bootstrap equations in Mellin space and analyse the anomalous dimensions and OPE coefficients of large spin double trace operators. By decomposing the equations in terms of continuous Hahn polynomials, we derive explicit expressions as an asymptotic expansion in inverse conformal spin to any order, reproducing the contribution of any primary operator and its descendants in the crossed channel. The expressions are in terms of known mathematical functions and involve generalized Bernoulli (Norlund) polynomials and the Mack polynomials and enable us to derive certain universal properties. Comparing with the recently introduced reformulated equations in terms of crossing symmetric tree level exchange Witten diagrams, we show that to leading order in anomalous dimension but to all orders in inverse conformal spin, the equations are the same as in the conventional formulation. At the next order, the polynomial ambiguity in the Witten diagram basis is needed for the equivalence and we derive the necessary constraints for the same.
We use the recently developed framework of the Mellin bootstrap to study perturbatively free scalar CFTs in arbitrary dimensions. This approach uses the crossing-symmetric Mellin space formulation of correlation functions to generate algebraic bootstrap equations by demanding that only physical operators contribute to the OPE. We find that there are no perturbatively interacting CFTs with only fundamental scalars in $d>6$ dimensions (to at least second order in the perturbation). Our results can be seen as a modest step towards understanding the space of interacting CFTs in $d>6$ and are consi…
We apply analytic conformal bootstrap ideas in Mellin space to conformal field theories with $O(N)$ symmetry and cubic anisotropy. We write down the conditions arising from the consistency between the operator product expansion and crossing symmetry in Mellin space. We solve the constraint equations to compute the anomalous dimension and the OPE coefficients of all operators quadratic in the fields in the epsilon expansion. We reproduce known results and derive new results up to $O(ε^3)$. For the $O(N)$ case, we also study the large $N$ limit in general dimensions and reproduce known results a…
We employ a hybrid approach in determining the anomalous dimension and OPE coefficient of higher spin operators in the Wilson-Fisher theory. First we do a large spin analysis for CFT data where we use results obtained from the usual and the Mellin Bootstrap and also from Feynman diagram literature. This gives new predictions at $O(ε^4)$ and $O(ε^5)$ for anomalous dimensions and OPE coefficients, and also provides a cross-check for the results from Mellin Bootstrap. These higher orders get contributions from all higher spin operators in the crossed channel. We also use the Bootstrap in Mellin s…
We consider holographic CFTs and study their large $N$ expansion. We use Polyakov-Mellin bootstrap to extract the CFT data of all operators, including scalars, till $O(1/N^4)$. We add a contact term in Mellin space, which corresponds to an effective $ϕ^4$ theory in AdS and leads to anomalous dimensions for scalars at $O(1/N^2)$. Using this we fix $O(1/N^4)$ anomalous dimensions for double trace operators finding perfect agreement with \cite{loopal} (for $Δ_ϕ=2$). Our approach generalizes this to any dimensions and any value of conformal dimensions of external scalar field. In the second part o…
We elaborate on some general aspects of the crossing symmetric approach of Polyakov to the conformal bootstrap, as recently formulated in Mellin space. This approach uses, as building blocks, Witten diagrams in AdS. We show the necessity for having contact Witten diagrams, in addition to the exchange ones, in two different contexts: a) the large $c$ expansion of the holographic bootstrap b) in the $ε$ expansion at subleading orders to the ones studied already. In doing so, we use alternate simplified representations of the Witten diagrams in Mellin space. This enables us to also obtain compact…
We propose a new approach towards analytically solving for the dynamical content of Conformal Field Theories (CFTs) using the bootstrap philosophy. This combines the original bootstrap idea of Polyakov with the modern technology of the Mellin representation of CFT amplitudes. We employ exchange Witten diagrams with built in crossing symmetry as our basic building blocks rather than the conventional conformal blocks in a particular channel. Demanding consistency with the operator product expansion (OPE) implies an infinite set of constraints on operator dimensions and OPE coefficients. We illus…
We study conformal partial waves (CPWs) in Mellin space with totally symmetric external operators of arbitrary integer spin. The exchanged spin is arbitrary, and includes mixed symmetry and (partially)-conserved representations. In a basis of CPWs recently introduced in arXiv:1702.08619, we find a remarkable factorisation of the external spin dependence in their Mellin representation. This property allows a relatively straightforward study of inversion formulae to extract OPE data from the Mellin representation of spinning 4pt correlators and in particular, to extract closed-form expressions f…
We describe in more detail our approach to the conformal bootstrap which uses the Mellin representation of $CFT_d$ four point functions and expands them in terms of crossing symmetric combinations of $AdS_{d+1}$ Witten exchange functions. We consider arbitrary external scalar operators and set up the conditions for consistency with the operator product expansion. Namely, we demand cancellation of spurious powers (of the cross ratios, in position space) which translate into spurious poles in Mellin space. We discuss two contexts in which we can immediately apply this method by imposing the simp…
We develop a Mellin space approach to boundary correlation functions in anti-de Sitter (AdS) and de Sitter (dS) spaces. Using the Mellin-Barnes representation of correlators in Fourier space, we show that the analytic continuation between AdS$_{d+1}$ and dS$_{d+1}$ is encoded in a collection of simple relative phases. This allows us to determine the late-time tree-level three-point correlators of spinning fields in dS$_{d+1}$ from known results for Witten diagrams in AdS$_{d+1}$ by multiplication with a simple trigonometric factor. At four point level, we show that Conformal symmetry fixes exc…
We explore the Mellin representation of conformal correlation functions recently proposed by Mack. Examples in the AdS/CFT context reinforce the analogy between Mellin amplitudes and scattering amplitudes. We conjecture a simple formula relating the bulk scattering amplitudes to the asymptotic behavior of Mellin amplitudes and show that previous results on the flat space limit of AdS follow from our new formula. We find that the Mellin amplitudes are particularly useful in the case of conformal gauge theories in the planar limit. In this case, the four point Mellin amplitudes are meromorphic f…
We consider manifestly crossing symmetric dispersion relations for Mellin amplitudes of scalar four point correlators in conformal field theories (CFTs). This allows us to set up the non-perturbative Polyakov bootstrap for CFTs in Mellin space on a firm foundation, thereby fixing the contact term ambiguities in the crossing symmetric blocks. Our new approach employs certain "locality" constraints replacing the requirement of crossing symmetry in the usual fixed-$t$ dispersion relation. Using these constraints we show that the sum rules based on the two channel dispersion relations and the pres…
This review aims to offer a pedagogical introduction to the analytic conformal bootstrap program via a journey through selected topics. We review analytic methods which include the large spin perturbation theory, Mellin space methods and the Lorentzian inversion formula. These techniques are applied to a variety of topics ranging from large-N theories, to the epsilon expansion and holographic superconformal correlators, and are demonstrated in a large number of explicit examples.
Hidden simplicity in AdS spinning Mellin amplitudes via scaffolding
School of Fundamental Physics and Mathematical Sciences, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study & ICTP-AP（杭州高等研究院基础物理与数学学院及ICTP-亚太中心）；Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院理论物理研究所）；School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学物理科学学院）；Peng Huanwu Center for Fundamental Theory（彭桓武理论物理中心）
We explore the idea to bootstrap Feynman integrals using integrability. In particular, we put the recently discovered Yangian symmetry of conformal Feynman integrals to work. As a prototypical example we demonstrate that the D-dimensional box integral with generic propagator powers is completely fixed by its symmetries to be a particular linear combination of Appell hypergeometric functions. In this context the Bloch-Wigner function arises as a special Yangian invariant in 4D. The bootstrap procedure for the box integral is naturally structured in algorithmic form. We then discuss the Yangian …
In this work we present a closed form expression for Polyakov blocks in Mellin space for arbitrary spin and scaling dimensions. We provide a prescription to fix the contact term ambiguity uniquely by reducing the problem to that of fixing the contact term ambiguity at the level of cyclic exchange amplitudes -- defining cyclic Polyakov blocks -- in terms of which any fully crossing symmetric correlator can be decomposed. We also give another, equivalent, prescription which does not rely on a decomposition into cyclic amplitudes and we underline the relation between cyclic amplitudes and dispers…
We develop the technology for Polyakov-Mellin (PM) bootstrap in one-dimensional conformal field theories (CFT$_1$). By adding appropriate contact terms, we bootstrap various effective field theories in AdS$_2$ and analytically compute the CFT data to one loop. The computation can be extended to higher orders in perturbation theory, if we ignore mixing, for any external dimension. We develop PM bootstrap for $O(N)$ theories and derive the necessary contact terms for such theories (which also involves a new higher gradient contact term absent for $N=1$). We perform cross-checks which include con…
We study the stress tensor four-point function for $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM with gauge group $G=SU(N)$, $SO(2N+1)$, $SO(2N)$ or $USp(2N)$ at large $N$. When $G=SU(N)$, the theory is dual to type IIB string theory on $AdS_5\times S^5$ with complexified string coupling $τ_s$, while for the other cases it is dual to the orbifold theory on $AdS_5\times S^5/\mathbb{Z}_2$. In all cases we use the analytic bootstrap and constraints from localization to compute 1-loop and higher derivative tree level corrections to the leading supergravity approximation of the correlator. We give perturbative evidence that…
The genus zero contribution to the four-point correlator $\langle {\cal O}_{p_1}{\cal O}_{p_2}{\cal O}_{p_3}{\cal O}_{p_4}\rangle$ of half-BPS single-particle operators ${\cal O}_p$ in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills at strong coupling computes the Virasoro-Shapiro amplitude of closed superstrings on $AdS_5\times S^5$. Combining Mellin space techniques, the large $p$ limit, and data about the spectrum of two-particle operators at tree level in supergravity, we design a bootstrap algorithm which heavily constrains its $α'$ expansion. We use crossing symmetry, polynomiality in the Mellin variab…
