D-dimensional Conformal Field Theories Research Articles

Spontaneous symmetry breaking on surface defects

Coleman’s theorem states that continuous internal symmetries cannot be spontaneously broken in two-dimensional quantum field theories (QFTs). In this work we consider surface (i.e. two-dimensional) defects in d-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) invariant under a continuous internal symmetry group G. We study under which conditions it is possible for a surface defect to break spontaneously a continuous internal symmetry. We find that spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) is impossible under reasonable assumptions on the defect Renormalization Group (RG) flow. Counterexamples are possible only for exotic RG flows, that do not terminate at a fixed-point. We discuss an example of this kind. We also illustrate our no-go result with an effective field theory analysis of generic defect RG flows. We find a generic weakly coupled defect universality class (with no SSB), where correlation functions decay logarithmically. Our analysis generalizes the recent discovery by Metlitski of the extraordinary-log boundary universality class in the O(N) model.

RG flows on two-dimensional spherical defects

We study two-dimensional spherical defects in d-dimensional Conformal Field Theories. We argue that the Renormalization Group (RG) flows on such defects admit the existence of a decreasing entropy function. At the fixed points of the flow, the entropy function equals the anomaly coefficient which multiplies the Euler density in the defect’s Weyl anomaly. Our construction demonstrates an alternative derivation of the irreversibility of RG flows on two-dimensional defects. Moreover, in the case of perturbative RG flows induced by weakly relevant deformations, the entropy function decreases monotonically and plays the role of a C-function. We provide a simple example to explicitly work out the RG flow details in the proposed construction.

The five-point bootstrap

We study five-point correlation functions of scalar operators in d-dimensional conformal field theories. We develop a new approach to computing the five-point conformal blocks for exchanged primary operators of arbitrary spin by introducing a generalization of radial coordinates, using an appropriate ansatz, and perturbatively solving two quadratic Casimir differential equations. We then study five-point correlators 〈σσϵσσ〉 in the critical 3d Ising model. We truncate the operator product expansions (OPEs) in the correlator by including a finite number of primary operators with conformal dimension below a cutoff ∆ ⩽ ∆cutoff. We then compute several OPE coefficients involving ϵ and two spinning operators by demanding that the truncated correlator approximately satisfies the crossing relation.

Defect localized entropy: Renormalization group and holography

We consider p-dimensional defects in D-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) and construct defect localized entropy by performing Casini-Huerta-Myers transformation for the system with defect. The defect localized entropy is a measure of entanglement between the degrees of freedom localized on the defect. We show that at the fixed point of defect renormalization group (RG) flow, defect localized entropy is equal to minus defect free energy for universal part. We construct defect C-functions from the defect localized entropy for surface defects and volume defects, and show that they monotonically decrease in both cases following the entropic method by Casini and Huerta. We also study the holographic dual of defect localized entropy and find that it is given by the minimal surface located at string or brane worldvolume embedded in the holographic bulk.

Irreversibility, QNEC, and defects

We first present an analysis of infinitesimal null deformations for the entanglement entropy, which leads to a major simplification of the proof of the C, F and A-theorems in quantum field theory. Next, we study the quantum null energy condition (QNEC) on the light-cone for a CFT. Finally, we combine these tools in order to establish the irreversibility of renormalization group flows on planar d-dimensional defects, embedded in D-dimensional conformal field theories. This proof completes and unifies all known defect irreversibility theorems for defect dimensions d ≤ 4. The F-theorem on defects (d = 3) is a new result using information-theoretic methods. For d ≥ 4 we also establish the monotonicity of the relative entropy coefficient proportional to Rd−4. The geometric construction connects the proof of irreversibility with and without defects through the QNEC inequality in the bulk, and makes contact with the proof of strong subadditivity of holographic entropy taking into account quantum corrections.

Ladder and zig-zag Feynman diagrams, operator formalism and conformal triangles

We develop an operator approach to the evaluation of multiple integrals for multiloop Feynman massless diagrams. A commutative family of graph building operators Hα for ladder diagrams is constructed and investigated. The complete set of eigenfunctions and the corresponding eigenvalues for the operators Hα are found. This enables us to explicitly express a wide class of four-point ladder diagrams and a general two-loop propagator-type master diagram (with arbitrary indices on the lines) as Mellin-Barnes-type integrals. Special cases of these integrals are explicitly evaluated. A certain class of zig-zag four-point and two-point planar Feynman diagrams (relevant to the bi-scalar D-dimensional “fishnet” field theory and to the calculation of the β-function in ϕ4-theory) is considered. The graph building operators and convenient integral representations for these Feynman diagrams are obtained. The explicit form of the eigenfunctions for the graph building operators of the zig-zag diagrams is fixed by conformal symmetry and these eigenfunctions coincide with the 3-point correlation functions in D-dimensional conformal field theories. By means of this approach, we exactly evaluate the diagrams of the zig-zag series in special cases. In particular, we find a fairly simple derivation of the values for the zig-zag multi-loop two-point diagrams for D = 4. The role of conformal symmetry in this approach, especially a connection of the considered graph building operators with conformal invariant solutions of the Yang-Baxter equation is investigated in detail.

The loom for general fishnet CFTs

We propose a broad class of d-dimensional conformal field theories of SU(N) adjoint scalar fields generalising the 4d Fishnet CFT (FCFT) discovered by Ö. Gürdogan and one of the authors as a special limit of γ-deformed mathcal{N} = 4 SYM theory. In the planar N → ∞ limit the FCFTs are dominated by the “fishnet” planar Feynman graphs. These graphs are explicitly integrable, as was shown long ago by A. Zamolodchikov. The Zamolodchikov’s construction, based on the dual Baxter lattice (straight lines on the plane intersecting at arbitrary slopes) and the star-triangle identities, can serve as a “loom” for “weaving” the Feynman graphs of these FCFTs, with certain types of propagators, at any d. The Baxter lattice with M different slopes and any number of lines parallel to those, generates an FCFT consisting of M (M – 1) fields and a certain number of chiral vertices of different valences with distinguished couplings. These non-unitary, logarithmic CFTs enjoy certain reality properties for their spectrum due to a symmetry similar to the PT-invariance of non-hermitian hamiltonians proposed by C. Bender and S. Boettcher. We discuss in more detail the theories generated by a loom with M = 2, 3, 4, and the generalisation of the loom FCFTs for spinning fields in 4d.

Aspects of N-partite information in conformal field theories

We present several new results for the N-partite information, IN, of spatial regions in the ground state of d-dimensional conformal field theories. First, we show that IN can be written in terms of a single N-point function of twist operators. Using this, we argue that in the limit in which all mutual separations are much greater than the regions sizes, the N-partite information scales as IN ~ r−2N∆, where r is the typical distance between pairs of regions and ∆ is the lowest primary scaling dimension. In the case of spherical entangling surfaces, we obtain a completely explicit formula for the I4 in terms of 2-, 3- and 4-point functions of the lowest-dimensional primary. Then, we consider a three- dimensional scalar field in the lattice. We verify the predicted long-distance scaling and provide strong evidence that IN is always positive for general regions and arbitrary N for that theory. For the I4, we find excellent numerical agreement between our general formula and the lattice result for disk regions. We also perform lattice calculations of the mutual information for more general regions and general separations both for a free scalar and a free fermion, and conjecture that, normalized by the corresponding disk entanglement entropy coefficients, the scalar result is always greater than the fermion one. Finally, we verify explicitly the equality between the N-partite information of bulk and boundary fields in holographic theories for spherical entangling surfaces in general dimensions.

Renormalization Group Flows on Line Defects.

We consider line defects in d-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs). The ambient CFT places nontrivial constraints on renormalization group (RG) flows on such line defects. We show that the flow on line defects is consequently irreversible and furthermore a canonical decreasing entropy function exists. This construction generalizes the g theorem to line defects in arbitrary dimensions. We demonstrate our results in a flow between Wilson loops in four dimensions.

A note on commutation relation in conformal field theory

In this note, we explicitly compute the vacuum expectation value of the commutator of scalar fields in a d-dimensional conformal field theory on the cylinder. We find from explicit calculations that we need smearing not only in space but also in time to have finite commutators except for those of free scalar operators. Thus the equal time commutators of the scalar fields are not well-defined for a non-free conformal field theory, even if which is defined from the Lagrangian. We also have the commutator for a conformal field theory on Minkowski space, instead of the cylinder, by taking the small distance limit. For the conformal field theory on Minkowski space, the above statements are also applied.

Ruppeiner curvature along a renormalization group flow

We report on an investigation of Ruppeiner curvature RU for (d+1)-dimensional hyperbolic black holes in anti-de Sitter spacetimes and its connection with Renormalization Group (RG) flows in the dual d-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) in Minkowski spacetimes. A repulsive type interaction among microstructures is found, which is weaker for positive mass black holes and grows stronger for negative mass black holes at low temperatures. In particular, we show that RU evaluated along a zero mass curve is a universal constant, depending only on the dimension of space-time. The extremal black holes are pointed out to have a positive Ruppeiner curvature irrespective of their horizon topology.

Instability of complex CFTs with operators in the principal series

We prove the instability of d-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) having in the operator-product expansion of two fundamental fields a primary operator of scaling dimension h = frac{d}{2} + i r, with non-vanishing r ∈ ℝ. From an AdS/CFT point of view, this corresponds to a well-known tachyonic instability, associated to a violation of the Breitenlohner-Freedman bound in AdSd+1; we derive it here directly for generic d-dimensional CFTs that can be obtained as limits of multiscalar quantum field theories, by applying the harmonic analysis for the Euclidean conformal group to perturbations of the conformal solution in the two-particle irreducible (2PI) effective action. Some explicit examples are discussed, such as melonic tensor models and the biscalar fishnet model.

Two point functions in defect CFTs

This paper is designed to be a practical tool for constructing and investigating two-point correlation functions in defect conformal field theory, directly in physical space, between any two bulk primaries or between a bulk primary and a defect primary, with arbitrary spin. Although geometrically elegant and ultimately a more powerful approach, the embedding space formalism gets rather cumbersome when dealing with mixed symmetry tensors, especially in the projection to physical space. The results in this paper provide an alternative method for studying two-point correlation functions for a generic d-dimensional conformal field theory with a flat p-dimensional defect and d − p = q co-dimensions. We tabulate some examples of correlation functions involving a conserved current, an energy momentum tensor and a Maxwell field strength, while analysing the constraints arising from conservation and the equations of motion. A method for obtaining bulk-to-defect correlators is also explained. Some explicit examples are considered: free scalar theory on ℝp× (ℝq/ℤ2) and a free four dimensional Maxwell theory on a wedge.

Pole-skipping of scalar and vector fields in hyperbolic space: conformal blocks and holography

Motivated by the recent connection between pole-skipping phenomena of two point functions and four point out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs), we study the pole structure of thermal two-point functions in d-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) in hyperbolic space. We derive the pole-skipping points of two-point functions of scalar and vector fields by three methods (one field theoretic and two holographic methods) and confirm that they agree. We show that the leading pole-skipping point of two point functions is related with the late time behavior of conformal blocks and shadow conformal blocks in four-point OTOCs.

Scrambling in hyperbolic black holes: shock waves and pole-skipping

We study the scrambling properties of (d + 1)-dimensional hyperbolic black holes. Using the eikonal approximation, we calculate out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs) for a Rindler-AdS geometry with AdS radius ℓ, which is dual to a d-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT) in hyperbolic space with temperature T = 1/(2π ℓ). We find agreement between our results for OTOCs and previously reported CFT calculations. For more generic hyperbolic black holes, we compute the butterfly velocity in two different ways, namely: from shock waves and from a pole-skipping analysis, finding perfect agreement between the two methods. The butterfly velocity vB (T) nicely interpolates between the Rindler-AdS result {v}_Bleft(T=frac{1}{2pi ell}right)=frac{1}{d-1} and the planar result {v}_Bleft(Tgg frac{1}{ell}right)=sqrt{frac{d}{2left(d-1right)}} .

Holographic entanglement negativity for conformal field theories with a conserved charge

We study the application of our recent holographic entanglement negativity conjecture for mixed states of adjacent subsystems in conformal field theories with a conserved charge. In this context we obtain the holographic entanglement negativity for zero and finite temperature mixed state configurations in d-dimensional conformal field theories dual to bulk extremal and non extremal charged AdS_{d+1} black holes. Our results conform to quantum information theory expectations and constitute significant consistency checks for our conjecture.

De Sitter-invariant states from holography

A class of invariant states under de Sitter isometries is constructed in d-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) from the universal sector of AdS/CFT dualities. These states extend the Mottola–Allen α-vacua to theories containing scalar primary operators of arbitrary scaling dimensions, and are proven to explicitly break conformal symmetry. Two-point correlators in these states are shown to satisfy a generalized spectral decomposition in terms of free massive propagators. It is also pointed out that the spectral decomposition of generic Euclidean correlators is known in the mathematics literature as Olevsky index transform, of which computational use can be made.

Entanglement negativity, holography and black holes

We investigate the application of our recent holographic entanglement negativity conjecture for higher dimensional conformal field theories to specific examples which serve as crucial consistency checks. In this context we compute the holographic entanglement negativity for bipartite pure and finite temperature mixed state configurations in d-dimensional conformal field theories dual to bulk pure AdS_{d+1} geometry and AdS_{d+1}-Schwarzschild black holes respectively. It is observed that the holographic entanglement negativity characterizes the distillable entanglement for the finite temperature mixed states through the elimination of the thermal contributions. Significantly our examples correctly reproduce universal features of the entanglement negativity for corresponding two dimensional conformal field theories, in higher dimensions.

Gravity from entanglement and RG flow in a top-down approach

The duality between a d-dimensional conformal field theory with relevant deformation and a gravity theory on an asymptotically AdSd+1 geometry, has become a suitable tool in the investigation of the emergence of gravity from quantum entanglement in field theory. Recently, we have tested the duality between the mass-deformed ABJM theory and asymptotically AdS4 gravity theory, which is obtained from the KK reduction of the 11-dimensional supergravity on the LLM geometry. In this paper, we extend the KK reduction procedure beyond the linear order and establish non-trivial KK maps between 4-dimensional fields and 11-dimensional fluctuations. We rely on this gauge/gravity duality to calculate the entanglement entropy by using the Ryu-Takayanagi holographic formula and the path integral method developed by Faulkner. We show that the entanglement entropies obtained using these two methods agree when the asymptotically AdS4 metric satisfies the linearized Einstein equation with nonvanishing energy-momentum tensor for two scalar fields. These scalar fields encode the information of the relevant deformation of the ABJM theory. This confirms that the asymptotic limit of LLM geometry is the emergent gravity of the quantum entanglement in the mass-deformed ABJM theory with a small mass parameter. We also comment on the issue of the relative entropy and the Fisher information in our setup.

Double-soft behavior of the dilaton of spontaneously broken conformal invariance

The Ward identities involving the currents associated to the spontaneously broken scale and special conformal transformations are derived and used to determine, through linear order in the two soft-dilaton momenta, the double-soft behavior of scattering amplitudes involving two soft dilatons and any number of other particles. It turns out that the double-soft behavior is equivalent to performing two single-soft limits one after the other. We confirm the new double-soft theorem perturbatively at tree-level in a D-dimensional conformal field theory model, as well as nonperturbatively by using the “gravity dual” of mathcal{N}=4 super Yang-Mills on the Coulomb branch; i.e. the Dirac-Born-Infeld action on AdS5 × S5.