We consider $λ$-deformed current algebra CFTs at level $k$, interpolating between an exact CFT in the UV and a PCM in the IR. By employing gravitational techniques, we derive the two-loop, in the large $k$ expansion, $β$-function. We find that this is covariant under a remarkable exact symmetry involving the coupling $λ$, the level $k$ and the adjoint quadratic Casimir of the group. Using this symmetry and CFT techniques, we are able to compute the Zamolodchikov metric, the anomalous dimension of the bilinear operator and the Zamolodchikov $C$-function at two-loops in the large $k$ expansion, as exact functions of the deformation parameter. Finally, we extend the above results to $λ$-deformed parafermionic algebra coset CFTs which interpolate between exact coset CFTs in the UV and a symmetric coset space in the IR.
For a general $λ$-deformation of current algebra CFTs we compute the exact Weyl anomaly coefficient and the corresponding metric in the couplings space geometry. By incorporating the exact $β$-function found in previous works we show that the Weyl anomaly is in fact the exact Zamolodchikov's $C$-function interpolating between exact CFTs occurring in the UV and in the IR. We provide explicit examples with the anisotropic $SU(2)$ case presented in detail. The anomalous dimension of the operator driving the deformation is also computed in general. Agreement is found with special cases existing al…
We study the renormalization group equations of the fully anisotropic $λ$-deformed CFTs involving the direct product of two current algebras at different levels $k_{1,2}$ for general semi-simple groups. The exact, in the deformation parameters, $β$-function is found via the effective action of the quantum fluctuations around a classical background as well as from gravitational techniques. Furthermore, agreement with known results for symmetric couplings and/or for equal levels, is demonstrated. We study in detail the two coupling case arising by splitting the group into a subgroup and the corr…
We study quantum aspects of the recently constructed doubly lambda-deformed sigma-models representing the effective action of two WZW models interacting via current bilinears. We show that although the exact beta-functions and current anomalous dimensions are identical to those of the lambda-deformed models, this is not true for the anomalous dimensions of generic primary field operators in accordance with the fact that the two models differ drastically. Our proofs involve CFT arguments, as well as effective sigma-model action and gravity calculations.
In this work, we study the holographic entanglement entropy of two dimensional $T\bar{T}$-deformed conformal field theory. We compute the correction due to the deformation up to the leading order of the deformation parameter in the framework of New massive gravity, General minimal massive gravity, and Exotic general massive gravity. We also apply Song's prescription to obtain the entanglement entropy for deformed theories. In each cases, we find agreement between the results.
The $J\bar T$ deformation, built from the components of the stress tensor and of a $U(1)$ current, is a universal irrelevant deformation of two-dimensional CFTs that preserves the left-moving conformal symmetry, while breaking locality on the right-moving side. Operators in the $J\bar T$-deformed CFT are naturally labeled by the left-moving position and right-moving momentum and transform in representations of the one-dimensional extended conformal group. We derive an all-orders formula for the spectrum of conformal dimensions and charges of the deformed CFT, which we cross-check at leading or…
We study the notion of strong integrability for classically integrable $λ$-deformed CFTs and coset CFTs. To achieve this goal we employ the Poisson brackets of the spatial Lax matrix which we prove that it assumes the Maillet $r/s$-matrix algebra. As a consequence the system in question are integrable in the strong sense. Furthermore, we show that the derived Maillet $r/s$-matrix algebras can be realized in terms of twist functions, at the poles of which we recover the underlying symmetry algebras.
In this paper, we regard the $T\bar{T}$/$J\bar{T}$-deformed CFTs as perturbation theories and calculate the first order correction of the correlation functions due to the $T\bar{T}$/$J\bar{T}$-deformation. As applications, we study the Rényi entanglement entropy of excited state in the $T\bar{T}$/$J\bar{T}$-deformed two-dimensional CFTs. We find, up to the perturbation first order of the deformation, the Rényi entanglement entropy of locally excited states will acquire a non-trivial time dependence. The excess of the Rényi entanglement entropy of locally excited state will also be dramatically…
Correlators in $T\bar{T}$ and Root-$T\bar{T}$ Deformed CFTs
Key Laboratory of Quantum Theory and Applications of MoE, Lanzhou Center for Theoretical Physics, Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics of Gansu Province, Gansu Provincial Research Center for Basic Disciplines of Quantum Physics, Lanzhou University（兰州大学）
We study $T\bar T$ deformations of 2d CFTs with periodic boundary conditions. We relate these systems to string models on $\mathbb{R}\times {S}^1\times{\cal M}$, where $\cal M$ is the target space of a 2d CFT. The string model in the light cone gauge is identified with the corresponding 2d CFT and in the static gauge it reproduces its $T\bar T$ deformed system. This relates the deformed system and the initial one by a worldsheet coordinate transformation, which becomes a time dependent canonical map in the Hamiltonian treatment. The deformed Hamiltonian defines the string energy and we express…
$J\bar T$-deformed CFTs provide an interesting example of non-local, yet UV-complete two-dimensional QFTs that are entirely solvable. They have been recently shown to possess an infinite set of symmetries, which are a continuous deformation of the Virasoro-Kac-Moody symmetries of the seed CFT. In this article, we put forth a definition of primary operators in $J\bar T$-deformed CFTs on a cylinder, which are singled out by having CFT-like momentum-space commutation relations with the symmetry generators in the decompatification limit. We show -- based on results we first derive for the case of …
We investigate generic n-point correlation functions of conformal field theories (CFTs), with $T\bar{T}$ and $J\bar{T}$ deformations, in terms of the perturbative CFT approach. We systematically obtain the first order correction to the generic correlation functions of CFTs with $T\bar{T}$ or $J\bar{T}$ deformation. We compute the out-of-time ordered correlation function (OTOC) in the Ising model with $T\bar{T}$ or $J\bar{T}$ deformation, which confirms that these deformations do not change the integrable property up to the first order level.
It has been recently shown that classical $J\bar T$ - deformed CFTs possess an infinite-dimensional Witt-Kač-Moody symmetry, generated by certain field-dependent coordinate and gauge transformations. On a cylinder, however, the equal spacing of the descendants' energies predicted by such a symmetry algebra is inconsistent with the known finite-size spectrum of $J\bar T$ - deformed CFTs. Also, the associated quantum symmetry generators do not have a proper action on the Hilbert space. In this article, we resolve this tension by finding a new set of (classical) conserved charges, whose action is…
We show that $T \bar T, J \bar T$ and $J T_a$ - deformed classical CFTs possess an infinite set of symmetries that take the form of a field-dependent generalization of two-dimensional conformal transformations. If, in addition, the seed CFTs possess an affine $U(1)$ symmetry, we show that it also survives in the deformed theories, again in a field-dependent form. These symmetries can be understood as the infinitely-extended conformal and $U(1)$ symmetries of the underlying two-dimensional CFT, seen through the prism of the "dynamical coordinates" that characterise each of these deformations. W…
Various holographic set-ups in string theory suggest the existence of non-local, UV complete two-dimensional QFTs that possess Virasoro symmetry, in spite of their non-locality. We argue that $J\bar T$-deformed CFTs are the first concrete realisation of such "non-local CFTs", through a detailed analysis of their classical and quantum symmetry algebra. Classically, the symmetries consist of an infinite set of left-moving conformal and affine $U(1)$ transformations that generate a Witt-Kac-Moody algebra, as well as a set of non-local, field-dependent generalizations of right-moving conformal and…
The Ryu-Takayanagi (RT) formula has been a key ingredient in our understanding of holography. Recent work on TT deformations has also boosted our understanding of holography away from the conformal boundary of AdS. In this short note, we aim to refine some recent work demonstrating the success of the RT formula in TT deformed theories. We emphasize general arguments that justify the use of the RT formula in general holographic theories that obey a GKPW-like dictionary. In doing so, we clarify subtleties related to holographic counterterms and discuss the implications for holography in general …
It has previously been proven that $T\bar T$ - deformed CFTs possess Virasoro $\times$ Virasoro symmetry at the full quantum level, whose generators are obtained by simply transporting the original CFT generators along the $T\bar T$ flow. In this article, we explicitly solve the corresponding flow equation in the classical limit, obtaining an infinite set of conserved charges whose action on phase space is well-defined even when the theory is on a compact space. The field-dependent coordinates that are characteristic of the $T\bar T$ deformation are shown to emerge unambiguously from the flow.…
We use the holographic methods to calculate the entanglement entropy for field theories modified by $T\bar{T}$ insertion. Based on the available holographic proposals, this calculation reduces to the holographic computations in AdS with finite cut-off. We perform a direct holographic calculation of the entanglement entropy for two dimensional deformed theory. By direct we mean the evaluation of the gravitational action in the bulk spacetime which has been reconstructed from a dual CFT$_2$ on $n$-sheeted Riemann surface as a finite cut-off boundary. We also apply Ryu-Takayanagi's prescription t…
By employing CFT techniques, we show how to compute in the context of λ-deformations of current algebras and coset CFTs the exact in the deformation parameters C-function for a wide class of integrable theories that interpolate between a UV and an IR point. We explicitly consider RG flows for integrable deformations of left-right asymmetric current algebras and coset CFTs. In all cases, the derived exact C-functions obey all the properties asserted by Zamolodchikov's c-theorem in two-dimensions.
We study families of two dimensional quantum field theories, labeled by a dimensionful parameter $μ$, that contain a holomorphic conserved $U(1)$ current $J(z)$. We assume that these theories can be consistently defined on a torus, so their partition sum, with a chemical potential for the charge that couples to $J$, is modular covariant. We further require that in these theories, the energy of a state at finite $μ$ is a function only of $μ$, and of the energy, momentum and charge of the corresponding state at $μ=0$, where the theory becomes conformal. We show that under these conditions, the t…
It has been recently shown that the deformation of an arbitrary two-dimensional conformal field theory by the composite irrelevant operator $T \bar T$, built from the components of the stress tensor, is solvable; in particular, the finite-size spectrum of the deformed theory can be obtained from that of the original CFT through a universal formula. We study a similarly universal, Lorentz-breaking deformation of two-dimensional CFTs that posess a conserved $U(1)$ current, $J$. The deformation takes the schematic form $J \bar T$ and is interesting because it preserves an $SL(2,\mathbb{R}) \times…
A holographic duality was recently established between an ${\cal N} =4$ non-geometric AdS$_4$ solution of type IIB supergravity in the so-called S-fold class, and a three-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT) defined as a limit of ${\cal N} =4$ super-Yang-Mills at an interface. Using gauged supergravity, the ${\cal N} =2$ conformal manifold (CM) of this CFT has been assessed to be two-dimensional. Here, we holographically characterise the large-$N$ operator spectrum of the marginally-deformed CFT. We do this by, firstly, providing the algebraic structure of the complete Kaluza-Klein (KK) sp…
In this paper we consider the energy and momentum transport in (1+1)-dimension conformal field theories (CFTs) that are deformed by an irrelevant operator $T\bar{T}$, using the integrability based generalized hydrodynamics, and holography. The two complementary methods allow us to study the energy and momentum transport after the in-homogeneous quench, derive the exact non-equilibrium steady states (NESS) and calculate the Drude weights and the diffusion constants. Our analysis reveals that all of these quantities satisfy universal formulae regardless of the underlying CFT, thereby generalizin…
We derive two new classes of integrable theories interpolating between exact CFT WZW or gauged WZW models and non-Abelian T-duals of principal chiral models or geometric coset models. They are naturally constructed by gauging symmetries of integrable models. Our analysis implies that non-Abelian T-duality preserves integrability and suggests a novel way to understand the global properties of the corresponding backgrounds.
We use the quantum null energy condition in strongly coupled two-dimensional field theories (QNEC2) as diagnostic tool to study a variety of phase structures, including crossover, second and first order phase transitions. We find a universal QNEC2 constraint for first order phase transitions with kinked entanglement entropy and discuss in general the relation between the QNEC2-inequality and monotonicity of the Casini-Huerta c-function. We then focus on a specific example, the holographic dual of which is modelled by three-dimensional Einstein gravity plus a massive scalar field with one free …
We discuss generalized partition function of 2d CFTs decorated by higher qKdV charges on thermal cylinder. We propose that in the large central charge limit qKdV charges factorize such that generalized partition function can be rewritten in terms of auxiliary non-interacting bosons. The explicit expression for the generalized free energy is readily available in terms of the boson spectrum, which can be deduced from the conventional thermal expectation values of qKdV charges. In other words, the picture of the auxiliary non-interacting bosons allows extending thermal one-point functions to the …
We consider the out-of-equilibrium transport in $T\bar{T}$-deformed (1+1)-dimension conformal field theories (CFTs). The theories admit two disparate approaches, integrability and holography, which we make full use of in order to compute the transport quantities, such as the the exact non-equilibrium steady state currents. We find perfect agreements between the results obtained from these two methods, which serve as the first checks of the $T\bar{T}$-deformed holographic correspondence from the dynamical standpoint. It turns out that integrability also allows us to compute the momentum diffusi…
We explicitly construct families of integrable $σ$-model actions smoothly interpolating between exact CFTs. In the ultraviolet the theory is the direct product of two current algebras at levels $k_1$ and $k_2$. In the infrared and for the case of two deformation matrices the CFT involves a coset CFT, whereas for a single matrix deformation it is given by the ultraviolet direct product theories but at levels $k_1$ and $k_2-k_1$. For isotropic deformations we demonstrate integrability. In this case we also compute the exact beta-function for the deformation parameters using gravitational methods…
Recently, a non-local yet possibly UV-complete quantum field theory has been constructed by deforming a two-dimensional CFT by the composite operator $J \bar T$, where $J$ is a chiral $U(1)$ current and $\bar T$ is a component of the stress tensor. Assuming the original CFT was a holographic CFT, we work out the holographic dual of its $J \bar T$ deformation. We find that the dual spacetime is still AdS$_3$, but with modified boundary conditions that mix the metric and the Chern-Simons gauge field dual to the $U(1)$ current. We show that when the coefficient of the chiral anomaly for $J$ vanis…
In this work, motivated by the sine-square deformation (SSD) for (1+1)-dimensional quantum critical systems, we study the non-equilibrium quantum dynamics of a conformal field theory (CFT) with SSD, which was recently proposed to have continuous energy spectrum and continuous Virasoro algebra. In particular, we study the time evolution of entanglement entropy after a quantum quench from a uniform CFT, which is defined on a finite space of length $L$, to a sine-square deformed CFT. We find there is a crossover time $t^{\ast}$ that divides the entanglement evolution into two interesting regions.…
We compute the all-loop anomalous dimensions of current and primary field operators in deformed current algebra theories based on a general semi-simple group, but with different (large) levels for the left and right sectors. These theories, unlike their equal level counterparts, possess a new non-trivial fixed point in the IR. By computing the exact in $λ$ two- and three-point functions for these operators we deduce their OPEs and their equal-time commutators. Using these we argue on the nature of the CFT at the IR fixed point. The associated to the currents Poisson brackets are a two-paramete…
Symmetries, operators and correlators in $J\bar{T}$ deformed CFTs
Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, Tsinghua University（清华大学丘成桐数学科学中心）；Department of Mathematical Sciences, Tsinghua University（清华大学数学科学系）；Center for the Fundamental Laws of Nature, Harvard University（哈佛大学自然基本定律中心）
I study the entanglement entropy (EE) across a deformed sphere in conformal field theories (CFTs). I show that the sphere (locally) minimizes the universal term in EE among all shapes. In arXiv:1407.7249 it was derived that the sphere is a local extremum, by showing that the contribution linear in the deformation parameter is absent. In this paper I demonstrate that the quadratic contribution is positive and is controlled by the coefficient of the stress tensor two point function, $C_T$. Such a minimization result contextualizes the fruitful relation between the EE of a sphere and the number o…
We show that the CFT with symmetry group $G_{k_1}\times G_{k_2}\times \cdots \times G_{k_n}$ consisting of WZW models based on the same group $G$, but at arbitrary integer levels, admits an integrable deformation depending on $2(n-1)$ continuous parameters. We derive the all-loop effective action of the deformed theory and prove integrability. We also calculate the exact in the deformation parameters RG flow equations which can be put in a particularly simple compact form. This allows a full determination and classification of the fixed points of the RG flow, in particular those that are IR st…
Kerr-Schild perturbations in General Relativity provide a fruitful way of constructing new exact solutions starting from known ones, elucidating also the structure of the spacetimes. We initiate such a study in the context of string theory and supergravity. Specifically, we explicitly construct Kerr-Schild perturbations of coset CFTs based on low dimensionality orthogonal groups. We show that these give rise to scale, but not Weyl, invariant integrable $σ$-models. We explicitly demonstrate that these models can also be derived from a particular limiting procedure of $λ$-deformed coset CFTs bas…
We use the path integral optimization approach of Caputa, kundu, Miyaji, Takayanagi and Watanabe to find the time slice of geometries dual to vacuum, primary and thermal states in the $T\bar{T}$ deformed two dimensional CFTs. The obtained optimized geometries actually capture the entire bulk which fits well with the integrability and expected UV-completeness of $T\bar{T}$-deformed CFTs. When deformation parameter is positive, these optimized solutions can be reinterpreted as geometries at finite bulk radius, in agreement with a previous proposal by McGough, Mezei and Verlinde. We also calculat…
In this paper, we investigate the correlation functions of the conformal field theory (CFT) with the $T\bar{T}$ deformation on torus in terms of perturbative CFT approach, which is the extension of the previous investigations on correlation functions defined on a plane. We systematically obtain the first order correction to the correlation functions of the CFTs with $T\bar{T}$ deformation in both operator formalism and path integral language. As a consistency check, we compute the deformed partition function, namely the zero-point correlation function, up to the first order, which is consisten…
We construct a generalization of the cyclic $λ$-deformed models of \cite{Georgiou:2017oly} by relaxing the requirement that all the WZW models should have the same level $k$. Our theories are integrable and flow from a single UV point to different IR fixed points depending on the different orderings of the WZW levels $k_i$. First we calculate the Zamolodchikov's C-function for these models as exact functions of the deformation parameters. Subsequently, we fully characterize each of the IR conformal field theories. Although the corresponding left and right sectors have different symmetries, rea…
We study the free energy of four-dimensional CFTs on deformed spheres. For generic nonsupersymmetric CFTs only the coefficient of the logarithmic divergence in the free energy is physical, which is an extremum for the round sphere. We then specialize to $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs where one can preserve some supersymmetry on a compact manifold by turning on appropriate background fields. For deformations of the round sphere the $c$ anomaly receives corrections proportional to the supersymmetric completion of the (Weyl)$^2$ term, which we determine up to one constant by analyzing the scale dependence…
