We investigate multi-field multicritical scalar theories using CFT constraints on two- and three-point functions combined with the Schwinger-Dyson equation. This is done in general and without assuming any symmetry for the models, which we just define to admit a Landau-Ginzburg description that includes the most general critical interactions built from monomials of the form $ϕ_{i_1} \cdots ϕ_{i_m}$. For all such models we analyze to the leading order of the $ε$-expansion the anomalous dimensions of the fields and those of the composite quadratic operators. For models with even $m$ we extend the analysis to an infinite tower of composite operators of arbitrary order. The results are supplemented by the computation of some families of structure constants. We also find the equations which constrain the nontrivial critical theories at leading order and show that they coincide with the ones obtained with functional perturbative RG methods. This is done for the case $m=3$ as well as for all the even models. We ultimately specialize to $S_q$ symmetric models, which are related to the $q$-state Potts universality class, and focus on three realizations appearing below the upper critical dimensions $6$, $4$ and $\frac{10}{3}$, which can thus be nontrivial CFTs in three dimensions.
We propose a novel approach to study conformal field theories (CFTs) in general dimensions. In the conformal bootstrap program, one usually searches for consistent CFT data that satisfy crossing symmetry. In the new approach, we reverse the logic and interpret manifestly crossing-symmetric functions as generating functions of conformal data. Physical CFTs can be obtained by scanning the space of symmetric functions. By truncating the fusion rules, we are able to concentrate on the low-lying operators and derive some approximate relations for their conformal data. It turns out that the free sca…
We propose a prescription for describing correlation functions in higher-dimensional defect conformal field theories (DCFTs) by those in ancillary conformal field theories (CFTs) without defects, which is a vast generalization of the image method in two-dimensional boundary CFTs. A correlation function of $n$ operators inserted away from a defect in a DCFT is represented by a correlation function of $2n$ operators in the ancillary CFT, each pair of which is placed symmetrically with respect to the defect. For scalar operators, we establish the correspondence by matching the constraints on corr…
We construct Cardy states, defect lines and chiral operators for rational coset conformal field theories on the lattice. The bulk theory is obtained by taking the overlap between tensor network representations of different string-nets, while the primary fields emerge from using the topological superselection sectors of the anyons in the original topological theory. This mapping provides an explicit manifestation of the equivalence between conformal field theories in two dimensions and topological field theories in three dimensions: their groundstates and elementary excitations are represented …
By taking the interacting spinor-scalar theory on the $AdS_{d+1}$ space we calculate the boundary CFT correlation functions using AdS/CFT correspondence.
We use the isomorphism between the BMS${}_3$ and the $W(2,2)$ algebras to reconsider some generic aspects of CFTs with the BMS${}_3$ algebra defined as a chiral symmetry. For unitarity theories, it is known that the extended symmetry generator acts trivially, and the resulting theory is equivalent to a CFT with a Virasoro symmetry only. For nonunitary CFTs, we define an operator depending on a nilpotent variable, and we organize the Verma module through the action of this new operator. Finally, we find the conditions imposed by the modified Ward identity.
We discuss how the variational principle can be used as a criterion for choosing, among scalar field actions implying the same equation of motion, the appropriate one for the AdS/CFT correspondence.
This is the first in a series of papers on the search for the 2D CFT description of a large class of 4D $\mathcal{N} = 1$ gauge theories. Here, we identify the 2D CFT symmetry algebra and its representations, namely the conformal blocks of the Virasoro/W-algebra, that underlie the 2D theory and reproduce the Seiberg-Witten curves of the $\mathcal{N} = 1$ gauge theories. We find that the blocks corresponding to the SU(N) $\mathcal{S}_k$ gauge theories involve fields in certain non-unitary representations of the $W_{kN}$ algebra. These conformal blocks give a prediction for the instanton partiti…
Mack has conjectured that all conformal field theories are equivalent to string theories. We explore the example of the two-dimensional minimal model CFTs and confirm that the Mellin transformed amplitudes have the desired properties of string theory in three-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime.
In this letter, we elaborate on the SL(2,Z) action on three dimensional conformal field theories with U(1) symmetry introduced by Witten, by trying to give an explicit verification of the claim regarding holographic dual of the S operation in AdS/CFT correspondence. A consistency check with the recently proposed prescription on boundary condition of bulk fields when we deform the boundary CFT in a non-standard manner is also discussed.
The special properties of scalars having a mass such that the two possible dimensions of the dual scalar respect the unitarity and the Breitenlohner-Freedman bounds and their ratio is integral (``resonant scalars'') are studied in the AdS/CFT correspondence. The role of logarithmic branches in the gravity theory is related to the existence of a trace anomaly and to a marginal deformation in the Conformal Field Theory. The existence of asymptotic charges for the conformal group in the gravity theory is interpreted in terms of the properties of the corresponding CFT.
We explain our proposal for an alternative bulk reconstruction of AdS/CFT correspondences from a scalar field by the flow method. By smearing and then normalizing a primary field in a $d$ dimensional CFT, we construct a bulk field, through which a $d+1$ dimensional AdS space emerges.
We consider the AdS/CFT correspondence for theories with a Chern-Simons term in three dimensions. We find the two-point functions of the boundary conformal field theories for the Proca-Chern-Simons theory and the Self-Dual model. We also discuss particular limits where we find the two-point function of the boundary conformal field theory for the Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory. In particular our results are consistent with the equivalence between the Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory and the Self-Dual model.
Two and three-point functions of primary fields in four dimensional CFT have a simple space-time dependences factored out from the combinatoric structure which enumerates the fields and gives their couplings. This has led to the formulation of two dimensional topological field theories with $so(4,2)$ equivariance which are conjectured to be equivalent to higher dimensional conformal field theories. We review this CFT4/TFT2 construction in the simplest possible setting of a free scalar field, which gives an algebraic construction of the correlators in terms of an infinite dimensional $so(4,2)$ …
Non-supersymmetric d=4 gauge theories which arise from superstring duality on a manifold $AdS_5 \times S_5/Z_p$ are cataloged for a range $2 \leq p \leq 41$. A number have vanishing two-loop gauge β-function, a necessary but not sufficient condition to be a conformal field theory.
Extending earlier results by Paulos, we discuss further the use of the embedding formalism and Mellin transform in the calculation of tree-level correlators of scalar and vector fields in AdS/CFT. We present an iterative procedure that builds amplitudes by sewing together lower-point off-shell diagrams. Both scalar and vector correlators are shown to be given in terms of Mellin amplitudes. We apply the procedure to the explicit calculation of three-, four- and five-point correlators.
We describe an approach to logarithmic conformal field theories as limits of sequences of ordinary conformal field theories with varying central charge c. Logarithmic behaviour arises from degeneracies in the spectrum of scaling dimensions at certain values of c. The theories we consider are all invariant under some internal symmetry group, and logarithmic behaviour occurs when the decomposition of the physical observables into irreducible operators becomes singular. Examples considered are quenched random magnets using the replica formalism, self-avoiding walks as the n->0 of the O(n) model, …
We examine new tests for (non-)extremal Reissner-Nordström/Conformal field theory correspondences (RN/CFT) in this paper. The decay rate of the charged scalar wave sourced by an orbiting star around the black hole is computed and is compared with the decay rate computed in the corresponding CFT. We find that precise matches are achieved.
We study "multitrace" deformations of large N master fields in models with a mass gap. In particular, we determine the conditions for the multitrace couplings to drive tachyonic instabilities. These tachyons represent new local instabilities of the associated nonlocal string theories. In the particular case of Dp-branes at finite temperature, we consider topology-changing phase transitions and the effect of multitrace perturbations on the corresponding phase diagrams.
We calculate the superconformal indices of a class of six-dimensional ${\cal N}=(1,0)$ superconformal field theories realized on M5-branes at $\mathbb{C}^2/\mathbb{Z}_k$ singularity by using the method developed in previous works of the authors and collaborators. We use the AdS/CFT correspondence, and finite $N$ corrections are included as the contribution of M2-branes wrapped on two-cycles in $S^4/\mathbb{Z}_k$. We confirm that the indices are consistent with the expected flavor symmetries.
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.
Following work on theories with SU(N) gauge groups, we perform a large-N saddle-point approximation of the measure for ADHM multi-instantons in N=4 supersymmetric gauge theories with symplectic or orthogonal gauge groups. For Sp(N) we find that a saddle-point only exists in the even instanton charge sector. For either Sp(N) or SO(N) the saddle-point solution parametrizes AdS_5 x RP^5, the dual supergravity geometry in the AdS/CFT correspondence for these theories. The instanton measure at large-N has the form of the partition function of ten-dimensional N=1 supersymmetric gauge theory with a u…
Relativistic integrable field theories like the sine-Gordon equation have an infinite set of conserved charges. In a light-front formalism these conserved charges are closely related to the integrable modified KdV hierarchy at the classical level. The latter hierarchy admits a family of symplectic structures which we argue can be viewed as deformations of the relativistic sine-Gordon symplectic structure. These deformed theories are integrable but no longer relativistic and the basic excitations of the theory, the solitons, have an interesting non-relativistic dispersion relation that in a cer…
We consider the quantization of the massless minimally coupled scalar field in de Sitter spacetime. The no-boundary Euclidean prescription naturally picks out the de Sitter invariant vacuum state of Kirsten and Garriga. We extend Strominger's dS/CFT correspondence to this case which allows us to interpret the massless field in terms of a Euclidean CFT. The extension is non-trivial and requires careful treatment of the zero mode. Since the graviton is massless, this work may also be considered a step towards a theory of gravity in de Sitter space.
In this paper we deploy for the first time Reinforcement-Learning algorithms in the context of the conformal-bootstrap programme to obtain numerical solutions of conformal field theories (CFTs). As an illustration, we use a soft Actor-Critic algorithm and find approximate solutions to the truncated crossing equations of two-dimensional CFTs, successfully identifying well-known theories like the 2D Ising model and the 2D CFT of a compactified scalar. Our methods can perform efficient high-dimensional searches that can be used to study arbitrary (unitary or non-unitary) CFTs in any spacetime dim…
The so-called 2d/4d correspondences connect two-dimensional conformal field theory (2d CFT), N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories and quantum integrable systems. The latter in the simplest case of the SU(2) gauge group are nothing but the quantum-mechanical systems. In the present article we summarize our recent results and list open problems concerning an application of the aforementioned dualities in the studies of spectral problems for some Schrodinger operators with Mathieu-type periodic, periodic PT-symmetric and (Heun's) elliptic potentials.
It is demonstrated that several series of conformal field theories, while satisfying braid group statistics, can still be described in the conventional setting of the DHR theory, i.e. their superselection structure can be understood in terms of a compact DHR gauge group. Besides theories with only simple sectors, these include (the untwisted part of) c=1 orbifold theories and level two so(N) WZW theories. We also analyze the relation between these models and theories of complex free fermions.
We study solutions of type IIB supergravity which are SL(2,R) x SU(2) x U(1)^2 invariant deformations of AdS_3 x S^3 x K3 and take the form of products of self-dual spacelike warped AdS_3 and a deformed three-sphere. One of these backgrounds has been recently argued to be relevant for a derivation of Kerr/CFT from string theory, whereas the remaining ones are holographic duals of two-dimensional dipole theories and their S-duals. We show that each of these backgrounds is holographically dual to a deformation of the DLCQ of the D1-D5 CFT by a specific supersymmetric (1,2) operator, which we wri…
Global geometric properties of dS space are presented explicitly in various coordinates. A Robertson-Walker like metric is deduced, which is convenient to be used in study of dynamics in dS space. Singularities of wavefunctions of massive scalar fields at boundary are demonstrated. A bulk-boundary propagator is constructed by making use of the solutions of equations of motion. The dS/CFT correspondence and the Strominger's mass bound is shown.
We construct classical theories for scalar fields in arbitrary Carroll spacetimes that are invariant under Carrollian diffeomorphisms and Weyl transformations. When the local symmetries are gauge fixed these theories become Carrollian conformal field theories. We show that generically there are at least two types of such theories: one in which only time derivatives of the fields appear and the other in which both space and time derivatives appear. A classification of such scalar field theories in three (and higher) dimensions up to two derivative order is provided. We show that only a special …
We consider the relation between affine Toda field theories (ATFT) and Landau-Ginzburg Lagrangians as alternative descriptions of deformed 2d CFT. First, we show that the two concrete implementations of the deformation are consistent once quantum corrections to the Landau-Ginzburg Lagrangian are taken into account. Second, inspired by Gepner's fusion potentials, we explore the possibility of a direct connection between both types of Lagrangians; namely, whether they can be transformed one into another by a change of variables. This direct connection exists in the one-variable case, namely, for…
We study the operator product expansion (OPE) of two identical scalar primary operators in the lightcone limit in a conformal field theory where a scalar is the operator with lowest twist. We see that in CFTs where both the stress tensor and a scalar are the lowest twist operators, the stress tensor contributes at the leading order in the lightcone OPE and the scalar contributes at the subleading order. We also see that there does not exist a scalar analogue of the average null energy condition (ANEC) for a CFT where a scalar is the lowest twist operator.
The vacuum of a large-N gauge field on a p-torus has a spatial stress tensor with tension along the direction of smallest periodicity and equal pressures (but p times smaller in magnitude) along the other directions, assuming an AdS/CFT correspondence and a refined form of the Horowitz-Myers positive-energy conjecture. For infinite N, the vacuum exhibits a phase transition when the lengths of the two shortest periodicities cross. A comparison is made with the Surya-Schleich-Witt phase transition at finite temperature. A zero-loop approximation is also given for large but finite N.
In these lecture notes we first assemble the basic ingredients of supersymmetric gauge theories (particularly N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory), supergravity, and superstring theory. Brane solutions are surveyed. The geometry and symmetries of anti-de Sitter space are discussed. The AdS/CFT correspondence of Maldacena and its application to correlation functions in the the conformal phase of N=4 SYM are explained in considerable detail. A pedagogical treatment of holographic RG flows is given including a review of the conformal anomaly in four-dimensional quantum field theory and its calculation fr…
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 construct the general 2+1 dimensional asymptotically AdS_3 solution dual to a stationary 1+1 CFT state on a black hole background. These states involve heat transport by the CFT between the 1+1 black hole and infinity (or between two 1+1 black holes), and so describe the AdS dual of CFT Hawking radiation. Although the CFT stress tensor is typically singular at the past horizon of the 1+1 black hole, the bulk 2+1-dimensional solutions are everywhere smooth, and in fact are diffeomorphic to AdS_3. In particular, we find that Unruh states of the CFT on any finite-temperature 1+1 black hole bac…
Compactification of Type IIB superstring on an $AdS_5 \times S^5/Γ$ background leads to SU(N) gauge field theories with prescribed matter representations. In the 't Hooft limit of large N such theories are conformally finite. For finite N and broken supersymmetry ($\cal N$ = 0) I derive the constraints to be two-loop conformal and examine the consequences for a wide choice of $Γ$ and its embedding $Γ\subset {\cal C}^3 (\supset S^5)$.
We consider N=2 superconformal theories defined on a 3+1 dimensional hyperplane intersection of two sets of M5 branes. These theories have (tensionless) BPS string solitons. We use a dual supergravity formulation to deduce some of their properties via the AdS/CFT correspondence.
The question of graviton cloning in the context of the bulk/boundary correspondence is considered. It is shown that multi-graviton theories can be obtained from products of large-N CFTs. No more than one interacting massless graviton is possible. There can be however, many interacting massive gravitons. This is achieved by coupling CFTs via multi-trace marginal or relevant perturbations. The geometrical structure of the gravitational duals of such theories is that of product manifolds with their boundaries identified. The calculational formalism is described and the interpretation of such theo…
I will give a brief summary of an approach to string phenomenology which is inspired by AdS/CFT correspondence and which has been pursued for the last five years. Finite-N non-SUSY theories as discussed here are not obtainable from AdS/CFT although a speculation, currently under study, is that key UV properties of infinite-N theories which may be so obtained can survive, at least in some(one?) cases for the finite-N case. Future work will study the (non-)occurrence of quadratic divergences in the resultant finite-N gauge theories.
We investigate a family of solutions of Type IIb supergravity which asymptotically approach AdS_5 X S^5 but contain a non-constant dilaton and volume scalar for the five-sphere. These solutions preserve an SO(1,3) X SO(6) symmetry. We discuss the solution in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence, and we find that as well as running coupling from the nontrivial dilaton, the corresponding field theory has no supersymmetry and displays confinement at least for a certain range of parameters.
We study a duality, recently conjectured by Klebanov and Polyakov, between higher-spin theories on AdS_4 and O(N) vector models in 3-d. These theories are free in the UV and interacting in the IR. At the UV fixed point, the O(N) model has an infinite number of higher-spin conserved currents. In the IR, these currents are no longer conserved for spin s>2. In this paper, we show that the dual interpretation of this fact is that all fields of spin s>2 in AdS_4 become massive by a Higgs mechanism, that leaves the spin-2 field massless. We identify the Higgs field and show how it relates to the RG …
The AdS/CFT correspondence relates deformations of the CFT by "multi-trace operators" to "non-local string theories". The deformed theories seem to have non-local interactions in the compact directions of space-time; in the gravity approximation the deformed theories involve modified boundary conditions on the fields which are explicitly non-local in the compact directions. In this note we exhibit a particular non-local property of the resulting space-time theory. We show that in the usual backgrounds appearing in the AdS/CFT correspondence, the commutator of two bulk scalar fields at points w…
We solve Klein-Gordon equation for massless scalars on d+1 dimensional Minkowski (Euclidean) space in terms of the Cauchy data on the hypersurface t=0. By inserting the solution into the action of massless scalars in Minkowski (Euclidean) space we obtain the action of dual theory on the boundary t=0 which is exactly the holographic dual of conformally coupled scalars on d+1 dimensional (Euclidean anti) de Sitter space obtained in (A)dS/CFT correspondence. The observed equivalence of dual theories is explained using the one-to-one map between conformally coupled scalar fields on Minkowski (Eucl…
We advance a correspondence between the topological defect operators in Liouville and Toda conformal field theories - which we construct - and loop operators and domain wall operators in four dimensional N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories on S^4. Our computation of the correlation functions in Liouville/Toda theory in the presence of topological defect operators, which are supported on curves on the Riemann surface, yields the exact answer for the partition function of four dimensional gauge theories in the presence of various walls and loop operators; results which we can quantitatively substa…
This is the write-up of a set of lectures on the comparison between Lattice Gauge Theories and AdS/CFT results for the non-perturbative behaviour of non-supersymmetric Yang Mills theories. These notes are intended for students which are assumed not to be experts in L.G.T. For this reason the first part is devoted to a pedagogical introduction to the Lattice regularization of QCD. In the second part we discuss some basic features of the AdS/CFT correspondence and compare the results obtained in the non-supersymmetric limit with those obtained on the Lattice. We discuss in particular the behavio…
Perturbation of logarithmic conformal field theories is investigated using Zamolodchikov's method. We derive conditions for the perturbing operator, such that the perturbed model be integrable. We also consider an example where integrable models arise out of perturbation of known logarithmic conformal field theories.
Conformal field theories (CFTs) in Euclidean signature satisfy well-accepted rules, such as conformal invariance and the convergent Euclidean operator product expansion (OPE). Nowadays, it is common to assume that CFT correlators exist and have various properties in the Lorentzian signature. Some of these properties may represent extra assumptions, and it is an open question if they hold for familiar statistical-physics CFTs such as the critical 3d Ising model. In this thesis, we clarify that at the level of four-point functions, the Euclidean CFT axioms imply the standard quantum field theory…
We present two examples of non-trivial field theories which are scale invariant, but not conformally invariant. This is done by placing certain field theories, which are conformally invariant in flat space, onto curved backgrounds of a specific type. We define this using the AdS/CFT correspondence, which relates the physics of gravity in asymptotically Anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes to that of a conformal field theory (CFT) in one dimension fewer. The AdS rotating (Kerr) black holes in five and seven dimensions provide us with the examples, since by the correspondence we are able to define an…
The hidden Kerr/CFT proposal implies that the massless scalar wave equation in the near-region and low-frequency limit respects a hidden SL(2,R)$\times$SL(2,R) invariance in the Kerr black hole spacetime. We may use this symmetry to determine quasinormal frequencies (QNFs) of the massless scalar wave propagating around the Kerr black hole algebraically. It is shown that QNFs obtained using the hidden conformal symmetry near the horizon correspond approximately to not only those of scalar perturbation around the near-horizon region of a nearly extremal Kerr (NEK) black hole, but also those of n…
It was recently observed that boundary correlators of the elementary scalar field of the Liouville theory on AdS$_2$ background are the same (up to a non-trivial proportionality coefficient) as the correlators of the chiral stress tensor of the Liouville CFT on the complex plane restricted to the real line. The same relation generalizes to the conformal abelian Toda theory: boundary correlators of Toda scalars on AdS$_2$ are directly related to the correlation functions of the chiral $\mathcal W$-symmetry generators in the Toda CFT and thus are essentially controlled by the underlying infinite…
We provide a new class of exactly solvable superconformal field theories that corresponds to type II compactification on manifolds with exceptional holonomies. We combine N=1 Liouville field and N=1 coset models and construct modular invariant partition functions of strings moving on these manifolds. The resulting theories preserve spacetime supersymmetry. Also we explicitly construct chiral currents in these models to realize consistent string theories.
Infrared modifications of gravity have been proposed over the years as potentially useful phenomenological models. Massive (multi)-gravity is an interesting class of such theories. The true nature and the ultimate consistency of many of these models remains, however, unclear as one is frequently faced with important problems, e.g. classical instabilities and strong coupling problems which are hard to resolve without a known UV completion of the theory. In this note, we review a recent attempt to study some of these well known problems with the use of the AdS/CFT correspondence. In this context…
We analyze aspects of extant examples of 2d extremal chiral (super)conformal field theories with $c\leq 24$. These are theories whose only operators with dimension smaller or equal to $c/24$ are the vacuum and its (super)Virasoro descendents. The prototypical example is the monster CFT, whose famous genus zero property is intimately tied to the Rademacher summability of its twined partition functions, a property which also distinguishes the functions of Mathieu and umbral moonshine. However, there are now several additional known examples of extremal CFTs, all of which have at least $\mathcal …
