We introduce a new approach to the study of the crossing equation for CFTs in the presence of a boundary. We argue that there is a basis for this equation related to the generalized free field solution. The dual basis is a set of linear functionals which act on the crossing equation to give a set of sum rules on the boundary CFT data: the functional bootstrap equations. We show these equations are essentially equivalent to a Polyakov-type approach to the bootstrap of BCFTs, and show how to fix the so-called contact term ambiguity in that context. Finally, the functional bootstrap equations diagonalize perturbation theory around generalized free fields, which we use to recover the Wilson-Fisher BCFT data in the $ε$-expansion to order $ε^2$.
We propose a method to analytically solve the bootstrap equation for two point functions in boundary CFT. We consider the analytic structure of the correlator in Lorentzian signature and in particular the discontinuity of bulk and boundary conformal blocks to extract CFT data. As an application, the correlator $\langle ϕϕ\rangle$ in $ϕ^4$ theory at the Wilson-Fisher fixed point is computed to order $ε^2$ in the $ε$ expansion.
We show that the scaling dimensions of lowest operators in conformal field theories (CFTs) can be isolated in small and closed regions from single correlator bootstrap. We find the conserved currents play crucial roles in bootstrapping the crossing equation. By imposing a mild gap between the scaling dimensions of the conserved current and its next operator, the scaling dimensions of lowest operators are forced to lie in small isolated regions, i.e., these CFTs can be almost fixed by few lowest operators in certain channels. For CFTs with extended supersymmetry, the single correlator crossing …
The Schwinger-Dyson equations for Green functions and 3-vertexes in planar approximation used 50 years ago in the earlier theory of conformal bootstrap are written in frames of the AdS/CFT correspondence. The technique of "Wightman-Witten" diagrams is used in calculations of the bubble bulk diagrams that permitted to obtain the values of conformal dimensions of primary operators in two models of the interacting bulk scalar fields which conformal dimensions obey "extremal" relation. Simple expressions for the four-point tree "Wightman-Witten" correlators of these primary operators are obtained …
We begin by explicating a recent proof of the cluster decomposition principle in AdS_{d+1} from the CFT_d bootstrap in d > 2. The CFT argument also computes the leading interactions between distant objects in AdS, and we confirm the universal agreement between the CFT bootstrap and AdS gravity in the semi-classical limit. We proceed to study the generalization to 2d CFTs, which requires knowledge of the Virasoro conformal blocks in a lightcone OPE limit. We compute these blocks in a semiclassical, large central charge approximation, and use them to prove a suitably modified theorem. In particu…
In this letter we study how the exact non-perturbative integrability methods in 4D N=4 Super-Yang-Mills can work efficiently together with the numerical conformal bootstrap techniques to go beyond the spectral observables and access previously unreachable quantities such as correlation functions at finite coupling. In the setup of 1D defect CFT living on a Maldacena-Wilson line, we managed to compute with good precision a non-supersymmetric structure constant for a wide range of the `t Hooft coupling. Our result is particularly precise at strong coupling and matches well with the recent analyt…
Under the assumption that degenerate fields exist, diagonal CFTs such as Liouville theory can be solved analytically using the conformal bootstrap method. Here we generalize this approach to non-diagonal CFTs, i.e. CFTs whose primary fields have nonzero conformal spins. Assuming generic values of the central charge, we find that the non-diagonal sector of the spectrum must be parametrized by two integer numbers. We then derive and solve the equations that determine how three- and four-point structure constants depend on these numbers. In order to test these results, we numerically check crossi…
We provide a framework for generic 4D conformal bootstrap computations. It is based on the unification of two independent approaches, the covariant (embedding) formalism and the non-covariant (conformal frame) formalism. We construct their main ingredients (tensor structures and differential operators) and establish a precise connection between them. We supplement the discussion by additional details like classification of tensor structures of n-point functions, normalization of 2-point functions and seed conformal blocks, Casimir differential operators and treatment of conserved operators and…
Modular invariance imposes rigid constrains on the partition functions of two-dimensional conformal field theories. Many fundamental results follow strictly from modular invariance, giving rise to the numerical modular bootstrap program. Here we report a way to assign to a particular family of quantum error correcting codes a family of "code CFTs" CFTs", which forms a subset of the space of Narain CFTs. This correspondence reduces modular invariance of the 2d CFT partition function to a few simple algebraic relations obeyed by a multivariate polynomial characterizing the corresponding code. Us…
We explore the space of extremal functionals in the conformal bootstrap. By recasting the bootstrap problem as a set of non-linear equations parameterized by the CFT data, we find an efficient algorithm for converging to the extremal solution corresponding to the boundary of allowed regions in the parameter space of CFTs. Furthermore, by deforming these solutions, we demonstrate that certain solutions corresponding to known theories are continuously connected. Employing these methods, we will explore the space of non-unitary CFTs in the context of modular as well as correlation function bootst…
We study two-dimensional (4,4) superconformal field theories of central charge c=6, corresponding to nonlinear sigma models on K3 surfaces, using the superconformal bootstrap. This is made possible through a surprising relation between the BPS N=4 superconformal blocks with c=6 and bosonic Virasoro conformal blocks with c=28, and an exact result on the moduli dependence of a certain integrated BPS 4-point function. Nontrivial bounds on the non-BPS spectrum in the K3 CFT are obtained as functions of the CFT moduli, that interpolate between the free orbifold points and singular CFT points. We ob…
We study the constraints of crossing symmetry and unitarity for conformal field theories in the presence of a boundary, with a focus on the Ising model in various dimensions. We show that an analytic approach to the bootstrap is feasible for free-field theory and at one loop in the epsilon expansion, but more generally one has to resort to numerical methods. Using the recently developed linear programming techniques we find several interesting bounds for operator dimensions and OPE coefficients and comment on their physical relevance. We also show that the "boundary bootstrap" can be easily ap…
We use large spin perturbation theory and the Lorentzian inversion formula to compute order-$\varepsilon$ corrections to mixed correlators in the $O(n)$ Wilson-Fisher CFT in $4 - \varepsilon$ dimensions. In particular, we find the scaling dimensions and averaged OPE coefficients appearing in all correlators involving $φ$ and $φ^2$, for $φ^2$ in both the singlet and symmetric traceless representations of $O(n)$. We extend some computations to the next order, and find order-$\varepsilon^2$ data for a number of quantities for the Ising case at $n = 1$. Along the way, we discuss several interestin…
We introduce analytic functionals which act on the crossing equation for CFTs in arbitrary spacetime dimension. The functionals fully probe the constraints of crossing symmetry on the first sheet, and are in particular sensitive to the OPE, (double) lightcone and Regge limits. Compatibility with the crossing equation imposes constraints on the functional kernels which we study in detail. We then introduce two simple classes of functionals. The first class has a simple action on generalized free fields and their deformations and can be used to bootstrap AdS contact interactions in general dimen…
Crossing symmetry (CS) is the main tool in the bootstrap program applied to CFT models. 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, since this condition lead to the unitary bound and reality of the OPE coefficients. In this paper we show that RP can still reveal more information, showing 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 w…
National Taiwan University（台湾大学）；National Center for Theoretical Sciences（国家理论科学中心）；Max Planck-IAS-NTU Center for Particle Physics, Cosmology and Geometry（马克斯·普朗克IAS-台大粒子物理、宇宙学与几何中心）；Institute for Mathematics, Academia Sinica（中央研究院数学研究所）
We introduce the use of reinforcement-learning (RL) techniques to the conformal-bootstrap programme. We demonstrate that suitable soft Actor-Critic RL algorithms can perform efficient, relatively cheap high-dimensional searches in the space of scaling dimensions and OPE-squared coefficients that produce sensible results for tens of CFT data from a single crossing equation. In this paper we test this approach in well-known 2D CFTs, with particular focus on the Ising and tri-critical Ising models and the free compactified boson CFT. We present results of as high as 36-dimensional searches, whose…
We study local operator insertions on 1/2-BPS line defects in ABJM theory. Specifically, we consider a class of four-point correlators in the CFT$_1$ with SU$(1, 1|3)$ superconformal symmetry defined on the 1/2-BPS Wilson line. The relevant insertions belong to the short supermultiplet containing the displacement operator and correspond to fluctuations of the dual fundamental string in AdS$_4 \times \mathbb{C}\textrm{P}^3$ ending on the line at the boundary. We use superspace techniques to represent the displacement supermultiplet and we show that superconformal symmetry determines the four-po…
The study of conformal boundary conditions for two-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) has a long history, ranging from the description of impurities in one-dimensional quantum chains to the formulation of D-branes in string theory. Nevertheless, the landscape of conformal boundaries is largely unknown, including in rational CFTs, where the local operator data is completely determined. We initiate a systematic bootstrap study of conformal boundaries in 2d CFTs by investigating the bootstrap equation that arises from the open-closed consistency condition of the annulus partition functio…
We take an analytic approach to the CFT bootstrap, studying the 4-pt correlators of d > 2 dimensional CFTs in an Eikonal-type limit, where the conformal cross ratios satisfy |u| << |v| < 1. We prove that every CFT with a scalar operator ϕmust contain infinite sequences of operators O_{τ,l} with twist approaching τ-> 2Δ_ϕ+ 2n for each integer n as l -> infinity. We show how the rate of approach is controlled by the twist and OPE coefficient of the leading twist operator in the ϕx ϕOPE, and we discuss SCFTs and the 3d Ising Model as examples. Additionally, we show that the OPE coefficients of ot…
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 study logarithmic conformal field theory (LogCFT) in four dimensions using conformal bootstrap techniques in the large spin limit. We focus on the constraints imposed by conformal symmetry on the four point function of certain logarithmic scalar operators and compute the leading correction to the anomalous dimension of double trace operators in the large spin limit. There exist certain holographic duals to such LogCFTs, which involve higher derivative equations of motion. The anomalous dimension is related to the binding energy of a state where two scalars rotate around each other with a la…
Bootstrap equations for conformal correlators that mimic the early theory of conformal bootstrap are written down in frames of the AdS/CFT approach. The simplified version of these equations, that may be justified if Schwinger-Keldysh formalism is used in AdS/CFT instead of conventional Feynman-Witten diagrams technique, permits to calculate values of conformal dimensions in the $O(N)$ symmetric model with conformal or composite Hubbard-Stratonovich field.
We study half-BPS line defects in $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal theories using the bootstrap approach. We concentrate on local excitations constrained to the defect, which means the system is a $1d$ defect CFT with $\mathfrak{osp}(4^*|2)$ symmetry. In order to study correlation functions we construct a suitable superspace, and then use the Casimir approach to calculate a collection of new superconformal blocks. Special emphasis is given to the displacement operator, which controls deformations orthogonal to the defect and is always present in a defect CFT. After setting up the crossing equati…
We combine the large-$c$ ST modular bootstrap equations with the Cardy formula for the asymptotic growth of the density of states to prove that any $2d$ unitary, compact, conformal field theory (CFT) with no higher spin conserved currents leads to conflicting inequalities whenever the entire spectrum of non-trivial primaries lies above the BTZ threshold. As a consequence, the holographic dual of $3d$ pure gravity, if it exists, cannot be a $2d$ CFT. Consistent solutions of ST bootstrap equations require additional primaries lying below the BTZ threshold. The lowest non-trivial primary necessar…
We use analytic bootstrap techniques for a CFT with an interface or a boundary. Exploiting the analytic structure of the bulk and boundary conformal blocks we extract the CFT data. We further constrain the CFT data by applying the equation of motion to the boundary operator expansion. The method presented in this paper is general, and it is illustrated in the context of perturbative Wilson-Fisher theories. In particular, we find constraints on the OPE coefficients for the conformal interface CFT in $4 - ε$ dimensions (upto order $\mathcal{O}(ε^2)$) with $ϕ^4$-interactions in the bulk. We also …
We investigate the connection between spacetime wormholes and ensemble averaging in the context of higher spin AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$. Using techniques from modular bootstrap combined with some holographic inputs, we evaluate the partition function of a Euclidean wormhole in AdS$_3$ higher spin gravity. The fixed spin sectors of the dual CFT$_2$ exhibit features that starkly go beyond conventional random matrix ensembles: power-law ramps in the spectral form factor and potentials with a double-well/crest underlying the level statistics.
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 Virasoro conformal block decomposition of the genus two partition function of a two-dimensional CFT by expanding around a Z3-invariant Riemann surface that is a three-fold cover of the Riemann sphere branched at four points, and explore constraints from genus two modular invariance and unitarity. In particular, we find 'critical surfaces' that constrain the structure constants of a CFT beyond what is accessible via the crossing equation on the sphere.
We consider graviton scattering in maximal supergravity on Anti-de Sitter space (AdS) in $d+1$ dimensions for $d=3,4,\text{and $6$}$ with no extra compact spacetime factor. Holography suggests that this theory is dual to an exotic maximally supersymmetric conformal field theory (CFT) in $d$ dimensions whose only light single trace operator is the stress tensor. This contrasts with more standard cases like Type IIB string theory on $AdS_5\times S^5$ dual to $\mathcal{N}=4$ Super-Yang-Mills, where the CFT has light single trace operators for each Kaluza-Klein mode on $S^5$. We compute the 1-loop…
We show that the correspondence among $AdS_{3}/CFT_{2}$, the 1D Schwarzian Model, Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model and 2+1D Topological Quantum Gravity can be extended to the case of $dS_{3}/CFT_{2}$. The $R$-matrix, related to the gravitational scattering amplitude near the horizon of $dS_{3}$ black hole, corresponds (on the side of the holographic projection) to a crossing kernel in the Schwarzian Model. The $R$-matrix is related to the 6j-symbol of SU$(1,1)$. We also find that in the Euclidean $dS_{3}$ a new Kac-Moody symmetry of instantons emerges out. We dub these new solutions {\it Kac-Moodions}.…
We study families of one-dimensional CFTs relevant for describing gapped QFTs in AdS$_2$. Using the Polyakov bootstrap as our main tool, we explain how S-matrices emerge from the flat space limit of CFT correlators. In this limit we prove that the CFT OPE density matches that of a generalized free field, and that this implies unitarity of the S-matrix. We establish a CFT dispersion formula for the S-matrix, proving its analyticity except for singularities on the real axis which we characterize in terms of the CFT data. In particular positivity of the OPE establishes that any such S-matrix must…
We study a general class of functionals providing an analytic handle on the conformal bootstrap equations in one dimension. We explicitly identify the extremal functionals, corresponding to theories saturating conformal bootstrap bounds, in two regimes. The first corresponds to functionals that annihilate the generalized free fermion spectrum. In this case, we analytically find both OPE and gap maximization functionals proving the extremality of the generalized free fermion solution to crossing. Secondly, we consider a scaling limit where all conformal dimensions become large, equivalent to th…
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…
Dipartimento di Fisica “E. Fermi”, Università di Pisa and INFN, sezione di Pisa（比萨大学费米物理系和意大利国家核物理研究所比萨分部）；Université Paris–Saclay, CEA, Institut de Physique Théorique（巴黎-萨克雷大学法国原子能和替代能源委员会理论物理研究所）；Theoretical Physics Department, CERN（欧洲核子研究中心理论物理部）
In physics, it is believed that the consistency of two dimensional conformal field theory follows from the bootstrap equation. In this paper, we introduce the notion of a full vertex algebra by analyzing the bootstrap equation, which is a "real analytic" generalization of a $\mathbb{Z}$-graded vertex algebra. We also give a mathematical formulation of the consistency of four point correlation functions in two dimensional conformal field theory and prove it for a full vertex algebra with additional assumptions on the conformal symmetry. In particular, we show that the bootstrap equation togethe…
A two-dimensional CFT dual to a semiclassical theory of gravity in three dimensions must have a large central charge $c$ and a sparse low energy spectrum. This constrains the OPE coefficients and density of states of the CFT via the conformal bootstrap. We define an ensemble of CFT data by averaging over OPE coefficients subject to these bootstrap constraints, and show that calculations in this ensemble reproduce semiclassical 3D gravity. We analyze a wide variety of gravitational solutions, both in pure Einstein gravity and gravity coupled to massive point particles, including Euclidean wormh…
We derive Cardy-like formulas for the growth of operators in different sectors of unitary $2$ dimensional CFT in the presence of topological defect lines by putting an upper and lower bound on the number of states with scaling dimension in the interval $[Δ-δ,Δ+δ]$ for large $Δ$ at fixed $δ$. Consequently we prove that given any unitary modular invariant $2$D CFT symmetric under finite global symmetry $G$ (acting faithfully), all the irreducible representations of $G$ appear in the spectra of the untwisted sector; the growth of states is Cardy like and proportional to the ''square'' of the dime…
We develop an approach to construct local bulk operators in a CFT to order $1/N^2$. Since 4-point functions are not fixed by conformal invariance we use the OPE to categorize possible forms for a bulk operator. Using previous results on 3-point functions we construct a local bulk operator in each OPE channel. We then impose the condition that the bulk operators constructed in different channels agree, and hence give rise to a well-defined bulk operator. We refer to this condition as the "bulk bootstrap." We argue and explicitly show in some examples that the bulk bootstrap leads to some of the…
We compute numerically the dimensions and OPE coefficients of several operators in the 3d Ising CFT, and then try to reverse-engineer the solution to crossing symmetry analytically. Our key tool is a set of new techniques for computing infinite sums of SL(2,R) conformal blocks. Using these techniques, we solve the lightcone bootstrap to all orders in an asymptotic expansion in large spin, and suggest a strategy for going beyond the large spin limit. We carry out the first steps of this strategy for the 3d Ising CFT, deriving analytic approximations for the dimensions and OPE coefficients of se…
We study analytically the constraints of the conformal bootstrap on the low-lying spectrum of operators in field theories with global conformal symmetry in one and two spacetime dimensions. We introduce a new class of linear functionals acting on the conformal bootstrap equation. In 1D, we use the new basis to construct extremal functionals leading to the optimal upper bound on the gap above identity in the OPE of two identical primary operators of integer or half-integer scaling dimension. We also prove an upper bound on the twist gap in 2D theories with global conformal symmetry. When the ex…
The axiomatic Wightman formulation for nonderivative conformal field theory is adopted to derive conformal bootstrap equation for the four point function. The equivalence between PCT theorem and {\it weak local commutativity}, due to Jost, play a very crucial role in axiomatic field theory. The theorem is suitably adopted for conformal field theory to derive the desired equations in CFT. We demonstrate that the two Wightman functions are analytic continuation of each other.
Finding a method to combine the numerical bootstrap with the analytic lightcone bootstrap is an important goal to advance the conformal bootstrap program. We propose a hybrid bootstrap method to do just that. The numerical and analytic bootstrap approaches are sensitive to different regions of the spectrum and complement each other. When they are effectively combined, the hybrid bootstrap enjoys the best of both worlds and the prediction for the actual CFT can be significantly improved. In this work, we discuss the general strategy to perform such a hybrid bootstrap, and we make a partial impl…
We investigate two aspects of conformal field theories. In the first part, we study the general 4-point correlator of identical scalars around the fully crossing symmetric point $u=v=1$, where $u,v$ are conformally invariant cross ratios. Since this point is fully crossing invariant, we can deduce some general properties of the 4-point correlators from crossing symmetry. In the second part, we discuss the conformal bootstrap with OPE truncations. As a generalization of Gliozzi's method, we propose to extract the low-lying CFT data by minimizing the "error" induced by an OPE truncation. The err…
We analytically study the lightcone limit of the conformal bootstrap equations for 4-point functions containing global symmetry currents and the stress tensor in 3d CFTs. We show that the contribution of the stress tensor to the anomalous dimensions of large spin double-twist states is negative if and only if the conformal collider physics bounds are satisfied. In the context of AdS/CFT these results indicate a relation between the attractiveness of AdS gravity and positivity of the CFT energy flux. We also study the contribution of non-Abelian conserved currents to the anomalous dimensions of…
School of Physics and Shing-Tung Yau Center, Southeast University（东南大学物理学院及施一公中心）；Laboratoire de Physique de l’École normale supérieure, ENS, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité（巴黎高等师范学院物理实验室、ENS、PSL大学、CNRS、索邦大学、巴黎西岱大学）
