In this work we develop the path integral optimization in a class of inhomogeneous 2d CFTs constructed by putting an ordinary CFT on a space with a position dependent metric. After setting up and solving the general optimization problem, we study specific examples, including the Möbius, SSD and Rainbow deformed CFTs, and analyze path integral geometries and complexity for universal classes of states in these models. We find that metrics for optimal path integrals coincide with particular slices of $AdS_3$ geometries, on which Einstein's equations are equivalent to the condition for minimal path integral complexity. We also find that while leading divergences of path integral complexity remain unchanged, constant contributions are modified in a universal, position dependent manner. Moreover, we analyze entanglement entropies in inhomogeneous CFTs and show that they satisfy Hill's equations, which can be used to extract the energy density consistent with the first law of entanglement. Our findings not only support comparisons between slices of bulk spacetimes and circuits of path integrations, but also demonstrate that path integral geometries and complexity serve as a powerful tool for understanding the interesting physics of inhomogeneous systems.
We propose a contour integral representation for the one-point correlators at genus one of the primaries of a family of rational logarithmic conformal field theories.
We study one and two point functions of conformal field theories on spaces of maximal symmetry with and without boundaries and investigate their spectral representations. Integral transforms are found, relating the spectral decomposition to renormalized position space correlators. Several applications are presented, including the holographic boundary CFTs as well as spacelike boundary CFTs, which provide realizations of the pseudo-conformal universe.
This paper investigates d-dimensional CFTs in the presence of a codimension-one boundary and CFTs defined on real projective space RP^d. Our analysis expands on the alpha space method recently proposed for one-dimensional CFTs in arXiv:1702.08471. In this work we establish integral representations for scalar two-point functions in boundary and crosscap CFTs using plane-wave-normalizable eigenfunctions of different conformal Casimir operators. CFT consistency conditions imply integral equations for the spectral densities appearing in these decompositions, and we study the relevant integral kern…
In this work, we formulate a path-integral optimization for two dimensional conformal field theories perturbed by relevant operators. We present several evidences how this optimization mechanism works, based on calculations in free field theories as well as general arguments of RG flows in field theories. Our optimization is performed by minimizing the path-integral complexity functional that depends on the metric and also on the relevant couplings. Then, we compute the optimal metric perturbatively and find that it agrees with the time slice of the hyperbolic metric perturbed by a scalar fiel…
Motivated by recent studies by Dorey, Pocklington and Tateo for unitary minimal models perturbed by phi_{1,2}, we examine the thermodynamics of one dimensional quantum systems, whose counterparts in the 2D classical model are the dilute A_L models in regime 2. The functional relations for arbitrary values of L are established. Guided by numerical evidences, we obtain a set of coupled integral equations from the established relations, which yields the evaluation of the free energy at arbitrary temperature. In the scaling limit, the integral equations coincide with the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz…
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 present robust evidence that general finite temperature quantum field theory (QFT) path integrals are invariant under reflecting temperatures to negative values (T-reflection), up to a possible anomaly phase. Our main focus is on two-dimensional conformal field theories (2d CFTs) on the two-torus. Modular invariance for 2d CFT path integrals follows from demanding invariance under redundant encodings of the two-torus shape in the path integral. We emphasize that identical logic implies 2d CFTs are invariant under T-reflection, up to phases. We compute T-reflection anomaly pha…
We consider states of the D1-D5 CFT where only the left-moving sector is excited. As we deform away from the orbifold point, some of these states will remain BPS while others can `lift'. The lifting can be computed by a path integral containing two twist deformations; however, the relevant 4-point amplitude cannot be computed explicitly in many cases. We analyze an older proposal by Gava and Narain where the lift can be computed in terms of a finite number of 3-point functions. A direct Hamiltonian decomposition of the path integral involves an infinite number of 3-point functions, as well the…
We propose an optimization procedure for Euclidean path-integrals that evaluate CFT wave functionals in arbitrary dimensions. The optimization is performed by minimizing certain functional, which can be interpreted as a measure of computational complexity, with respect to background metrics for the path-integrals. In two dimensional CFTs, this functional is given by the Liouville action. We also formulate the optimization for higher dimensional CFTs and, in various examples, find that the optimized hyperbolic metrics coincide with the time slices of expected gravity duals. Moreover, if we opti…
We introduce a new optimization procedure for Euclidean path integrals which compute wave functionals in conformal field theories (CFTs). We optimize the background metric in the space on which the path integration is performed. Equivalently this is interpreted as a position-dependent UV cutoff. For two-dimensional CFT vacua, we find the optimized metric is given by that of a hyperbolic space and we interpret this as a continuous limit of the conjectured relation between tensor networks and Anti--de Sitter (AdS)/conformal field theory (CFT) correspondence. We confirm our procedure for excited …
By linearizing the inhomogeneous Burgers equation through the Hopf-Cole transformation, we formulate the solution of the initial value problem of the corresponding linear heat type equation using the Feynman-Kac path integral formalism. For illustration, we present the exact solution for the forcing term of the form: $F(x,t)=ω^2x+f(t).$ We also present the initial value problem solution for the case with a constant forcing term to compare with the known result.
In recent work we computed the path integral of three-dimensional gravity with negative cosmological constant on spaces which are topologically a torus times an interval. Here we employ a modular bootstrap to show that the amplitude is completely fixed by consistency conditions and a few basic inputs from gravity. This bootstrap is notably for an ensemble of CFTs, rather than for a single instance. We also compare the 3d gravity result with the Narain ensemble. The former is well-approximated at low temperature by a random matrix theory ansatz, and we conjecture that this behavior is generic f…
In this work we elaborate on holographic description of the path-integral optimization in conformal field theories (CFT) using Hartle-Hawking wave functions in Anti-de Sitter spacetimes. We argue that the maximization of the Hartle-Hawking wave function is equivalent to the path-integral optimization procedure in CFT. In particular, we show that metrics that maximize gravity wave functions computed in particular holographic geometries, precisely match those derived in the path-integral optimization procedure for their dual CFT states. The present work is a detailed version of \cite{Boruch:2020…
Using differential and integral calculi on the quantum plane which are invariant with respect to quantum inhomogeneous Euclidean group E(2)q , we construct path integral representation for the quantum mechanical evolution operator kernel of q-oscillator.
In this paper, we discuss tensor network descriptions of AdS/CFT from two different viewpoints. First, we start with an Euclidean path-integral computation of ground state wave functions with a UV cut off. We consider its efficient optimization by making its UV cut off position dependent and define a quantum state at each length scale. We conjecture that this path-integral corresponds to a time slice of AdS. Next, we derive a flow of quantum states by rewriting the action of Killing vectors of AdS3 in terms of the dual 2d CFT. Both approaches support a correspondence between the hyperbolic tim…
We formulate path integrals on any Riemannian manifold which admits the action of a compact Lie group by isometric transformations. We consider a path integral on a Riemannian manifold M on which a Lie group G acts isometrically. Then we show that the path integral on M is reduced to a family of path integrals on a quotient space Q=M/G and that the reduced path integrals are completely classified by irreducible unitary representations of G. It is not necessary to assume that the action of G on M is either free or transitive. Hence our formulation is applicable to a wide class of manifolds, whi…
We continue the study of real-time replica wormholes initiated in arXiv:2012.00828. Previously, we had discussed the general principles and had outlined a variational principle for obtaining stationary points of the real-time gravitational path integral. In the current work we present several explicit examples in low-dimensional gravitational theories where the dynamics is amenable to analytic computation. We demonstrate the computation of Rényi entropies in the cases of JT gravity and for holographic two-dimensional CFTs (using the dual gravitational dynamics). In particular, we explain how t…
The microscopic spectrum of half-BPS excitations in toroidally compactified heterotic string theory has been computed exactly through the use of results from analytic number theory. Recently, similar quantities have been understood macroscopically by evaluating the gravitational path integral on the M-theory lift of the AdS2 near-horizon geometry of the corresponding black hole. In this paper, we generalize these results to a subset of the CHL models, which include the standard compactification of IIA on $K3\times T^2$ as a special case. We begin by developing a Rademacher-like expansion for t…
