Free Boson Conformal Field Theory Research Articles

Wormholes and surface defects in rational ensemble holography

We study wormhole contributions to the bulk path integral in holographic models which are dual to ensembles of rational free boson conformal field theories. We focus on the path integral on a geometry connecting two toroidal boundaries, which should capture the variance of the ensemble distribution. We show that this requirement leads to a nontrivial set of constraints which generically picks out the uniform, maximum entropy, ensemble distribution. Furthermore, we show that the two-boundary path integral should receive contributions from ‘exotic’ wormholes, which arise from the inclusion of topological surface defects.

Exact Dirac-Bogoliubov-de Gennes Dynamics for Inhomogeneous Quantum Liquids.

We study inhomogeneous 1+1-dimensional quantum many-body systems described by Tomonaga-Luttinger-liquid theory with general propagation velocity and Luttinger parameter varying smoothly in space, equivalent to an inhomogeneous compactification radius for free boson conformal field theory. This model appears prominently in low-energy descriptions, including for trapped ultracold atoms, while here we present an application to quantum Hall edges with inhomogeneous interactions. The dynamics is shown to be governed by a pair of coupled continuity equations identical to inhomogeneous Dirac-Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations with a local gap and solved by analytical means. We obtain their exact Green's functions and scattering matrix using a Magnus expansion, which generalize previous results for conformal interfaces and quantum wires coupled to leads. Our results explicitly describe the late-time evolution following quantum quenches, including inhomogeneous interaction quenches, and Andreev reflections between coupled quantum Hall edges, revealing remarkably universal dependence on details at stationarity or at late times out of equilibrium.

Marginal quenches and drives in Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids

We study Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids thrown out of equilibrium by marginal deformations in the form of interaction modulations. This is modeled by quenching or periodically driving the Luttinger parameter or, equivalently, the compactification radius of the free boson conformal field theory between two different values. We obtain exact analytical results for the evolution of the Loschmidt echo and observables such as the particle and energy densities. Starting from generic initial states, the quench dynamics are shown to exhibit revivals and temporal orthogonalities. For the periodic drive, we show stability or instability of time-evolved physical quantities dependent on the drive parameters. We also compare the corresponding marginally deformed thermal density matrices by non-perturbatively evaluating their Rényi divergence as a Euclidean quench. All the dynamics are shown to be crucially dependent on the ratio of the Luttinger parameters, which corresponds to the Zamolodchikov distance in the space of marginal deformations. Our setup is equivalently interpreted as the dynamics of the bosonic string upon instantaneous changes of the target-space radius.

Wormholes and spectral statistics in the Narain ensemble

We study the spectral statistics of primary operators in the recently formulated ensemble average of Narain’s family of free boson conformal field theories, which provides an explicit (though exotic) example of an averaged holographic duality. In particular we study moments of the partition function by explicit computation of higher-degree Eisenstein series. This describes the analog of wormhole contributions coming from a sum of over geometries in the dual theory of “U(1) gravity” in AdS3. We give an exact formula for the two-point correlation function of the density of primary states. We compute the spectral form factor and show that the wormhole sum reproduces precisely the late time plateau behaviour related to the discreteness of the spectrum. The spectral form factor does not exhibit a linear ramp.

Continuous gaussian measurements of the free boson CFT: A model for exactly solvable and detectable measurement-induced dynamics

Hybrid evolution protocols, composed of unitary dynamics and repeated, weak or projective measurements, give rise to new, intriguing quantum phenomena, including entanglement phase transitions and unconventional conformal invariance. Defying the complications imposed by the non-linear and stochastic nature of the measurement process, we introduce a scenario of measurement-induced many body evolution, which possesses an exact analytical solution: bosonic Gaussian measurements. The evolution features a competition between the continuous observation of linear boson operators and a free Hamiltonian, and it is characterized by a unique and exactly solvable covariance matrix. Within this framework, we then consider an elementary model for quantum criticality, the free boson conformal field theory, and investigate in which way criticality is modified under measurements. Depending on the measurement protocol, we distinguish three fundamental scenarios (a) enriched quantum criticality, characterized by a logarithmic entanglement growth with a floating prefactor, or the loss of criticality, indicated by an entanglement growth with either (b) an area-law or (c) a volume-law. For each scenario, we discuss the impact of imperfect measurements, which reduce the purity of the wavefunction and are equivalent to Markovian decoherence, and present a set of observables, e.g., real-space correlations, the relaxation time, and the entanglement structure, to classify the measurement-induced dynamics for both pure and mixed states. Finally, we present an experimental tomography scheme, which grants access to the density operator of the system by using the continuous measurement record only.

Signature of quantum chaos in operator entanglement in 2d CFTs

We study operator entanglement measures of the unitary evolution operators of (1 + 1)-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs), aiming to uncover their scrambling and chaotic behaviors. In particular, we compute the bi-partite and tri-partite mutual information for various configurations of input and output subsystems, and as a function of time. We contrast three different CFTs: the free fermion theory, compactified free boson theory at various radii, and CFTs with holographic dual. We find that the bi-partite mutual information exhibits distinct behaviors for these different CFTs, reflecting the different information scrambling capabilities of these unitary operators; while a quasi-particle picture can describe the case of the free fermion and free boson CFTs well, it completely fails for the case of holographic CFTs. Similarly, the tri-partite mutual information also distinguishes the unitary evolution operators of different CFTs. In particular, its late-time behaviors, when the output subsystems are semi-infinite, are quite distinct for these theories. We speculate that for holographic theories the late-time saturation value of the tri-partite mutual information takes the largest possible negative value and saturates the lower bound among quantum field theories.

Tensor network state approach to quantum topological phase transitions and their criticalities of Z2 topologically ordered states

We construct a general wave function with the topological order by introducing the $\mathbb{Z}_{2}$ gauge degrees of freedom, characterizing both the toric code state and double semion state. Via calculating the correlation length defined from the one-dimensional quantum transfer operator of the wave function norm, we can map out the complete phase diagram in terms of the parameter $\lambda $ and identify three different quantum critical points (QCPs) at $\lambda =0$, $\pm 1.73$. The first one separates the toric code phase and double semion phase, while later two describe the topological phase transitions from the toric code phase or double semion phase to the symmetry breaking phase, respectively. When mapping to the exactly solved statistical models, the norm of the tensor network wave function is transformed into the partition function of the eight-vertex model. Actually such a quantum-classical mapping can not reveal the rich structures of low-energy excitations at these three QCPs. So we further demonstrate that the full eigenvalue spectra of the transfer operators with/without the flux insertions can describe the complete quantum criticalities, which are characterized by the two-dimensional compactified free boson conformal field theories (CFTs) with the compactified radii $R=\sqrt{6}$ for the QCPs at $\lambda =\pm\sqrt{3}$ and $R=\sqrt{8/3}$ for the QCP at $\lambda =0$. For the QCP at $\lambda =0$, there are no anyon condensation, and the emerged matrix product operator symmetries result in a rich structure of the low-energy excitations, distinct from those of both toric code and double semion phases. Finally, we discuss the possible relation between our conformal quantum criticalities and the general (2+1) spatial-time dimensional CFTs for quantum topological phase transitions.

Numerical calculations on the relative entanglement entropy in critical spin chains

We study the relative entanglement entropy (EE) among various primary excited states in two critical spin chains: the XXZ chain and the transverse field Ising chain at criticality. For the XXZ chain, which corresponds to free boson conformal field theory (CFT), we numerically calculate the relative EE by exact diagonalization and find a perfect agreement with the predictions by the CFT. For the transverse field Ising chain at criticality, which corresponds to the Ising CFT, we analytically relate its relative EE to that of the XXZ chain and confirm the relation numerically. We also calculate the ‘sandwiched’ Rényi relative EE and again the numerical results agree well with the analytical predictions. Our results are the first direct confirmation of the CFT predictions on the relative EE of the primary excited states in critical spin chains.

Spacetime Symmetries and Conformal Data in the Continuous Multiscale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz.

The generalization of the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) to continuous systems, or cMERA [Haegeman etal., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 100402 (2013)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.110.100402], is expected to become a powerful variational ansatz for the ground state of strongly interacting quantum field theories. In this Letter, we investigate, in the simpler context of Gaussian cMERA for free theories, the extent to which the cMERA state |Ψ^{Λ}⟩ with finite UV cutoff Λ can capture the spacetime symmetries of the ground state |Ψ⟩. For a free boson conformal field theory (CFT) in 1+1 dimensions, as a concrete example, we build a quasilocal unitary transformation V that maps |Ψ⟩ into |Ψ^{Λ}⟩ and show two main results. (i)Any spacetime symmetry of the ground state |Ψ⟩ is also mapped by V into a spacetime symmetry of the cMERA |Ψ^{Λ}⟩. However, while in the CFT, the stress-energy tensor T_{μν}(x) (in terms of which all the spacetime symmetry generators are expressed) is local, and the corresponding cMERA stress-energy tensor T_{μν}^{Λ}(x)=VT_{μν}(x)V^{†} is quasilocal. (ii)From the cMERA, we can extract quasilocal scaling operators O_{α}^{Λ}(x) characterized by the exact same scaling dimensions Δ_{α}, conformal spins s_{α}, operator product expansion coefficients C_{αβγ}, and central charge c as the original CFT. Finally, we argue that these results should also apply to interacting theories.

Finite-Size Effects in Non-neutral Two-Dimensional Coulomb Fluids

Thermodynamic potential of a neutral two-dimensional (2D) Cou\-lomb fluid, confined to a large domain with a smooth boundary, exhibits at any (inverse) temperature $\beta$ a logarithmic finite-size correction term whose universal prefactor depends only on the Euler number of the domain and the conformal anomaly number $c=-1$. A minimal free boson conformal field theory, which is equivalent to the 2D symmetric two-component plasma of elementary $\pm e$ charges at coupling constant $\Gamma=\beta e^2$, was studied in the past. It was shown that creating a non-neutrality by spreading out a charge $Q e$ at infinity modifies the anomaly number to $c(Q,\Gamma) = - 1 + 3\Gamma Q^2$. Here, we study the effect of non-neutrality on the finite-size expansion of the free energy for another Coulomb fluid, namely the 2D one-component plasma (jellium) composed of identical pointlike $e$-charges in a homogeneous background surface charge density. For the disk geometry of the confining domain we find that the non-neutrality induces the same change of the anomaly number in the finite-size expansion. We derive this result first at the free-fermion coupling $\Gamma\equiv\beta e^2=2$ and then, by using a mapping of the 2D one-component plasma onto an anticommuting field theory formulated on a chain, for an arbitrary coupling constant.

Non-AbelianSU(N−1)-singlet fractional quantum Hall states from coupled wires

The construction of fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states from the two-dimensional array of quantum wires provides a useful way to control strong interactions in microscopic models and has been successfully applied to the Laughlin, Moore-Read, and Read-Rezayi states. We extend this construction to the Abelian and non-Abelian $SU(N-1)$-singlet FQH states at filling fraction $\nu=k(N-1)/[N+k(N-1)m]$ labeled by integers $k$ and $m$, which are potentially realized in multi-component quantum Hall systems or $SU(N)$ spin systems. Utilizing the bosonization approach and conformal field theory (CFT), we show that their bulk quasiparticles and gapless edge excitations are both described by an $(N-1)$-component free-boson CFT and the $SU(N)_k/[U(1)]^{N-1}$ CFT known as the Gepner parafermion. Their generalization to different filling fractions is also proposed. In addition, we argue possible applications of these results to two kinds of lattice systems: bosons interacting via occupation-dependent correlated hoppings and an $SU(N)$ Heisenberg model.

Conserved currents in the six-vertex and trigonometric solid-on-solid models

We construct quasi-local conserved currents in the six-vertex model with anisotropy parameter η by making use of the quantum-group approach of Bernard and Felder. From these currents, we construct parafermionic operators with spin that obey a discrete-integral condition around lattice plaquettes embedded into the complex plane. These operators are identified with primary fields in a c = 1 compactified free Boson conformal field theory. We then consider a vertex-face correspondence that takes the six-vertex model to a trigonometric SOS model, and construct SOS operators that are the image of the six-vertex currents under this correspondence. We define corresponding SOS parafermionic operators with spins s = 1 and that obey discrete integral conditions around SOS plaquettes embedded into the complex plane. We consider in detail the cyclic-SOS case corresponding to the choice , with coprime. We identify our SOS parafermionic operators in terms of the screening operators and primary fields of the associated conformal field theory.

Cornering Gapless Quantum States via Their Torus Entanglement.

The entanglement entropy (EE) has emerged as an important window into the structure of complex quantum states of matter. We analyze the universal part of the EE for gapless systems on tori in 2D and 3D, denoted by χ. Focusing on scale-invariant systems, we derive general nonperturbative properties for the shape dependence of χ and reveal surprising relations to the EE associated with corners in the entangling surface. We obtain closed-form expressions for χ in 2D and 3D within a model that arises in the study of conformal field theories (CFTs), and we use them to obtain Ansätze without fitting parameters for the 2D and 3D free boson CFTs. Our numerical lattice calculations show that the Ansätze are highly accurate. Finally, we discuss how the torus EE can act as a fingerprint of exotic states such as gapless quantum spin liquids, e.g., Kitaev's honeycomb model.

Parent Hamiltonians for lattice Halperin states from free-boson conformal field theories

We introduce a family of many-body quantum states that describe interacting spin one-half hard-core particles with bosonic or fermionic statistics on arbitrary one- and two-dimensional lattices. The wave functions at lattice filling fraction ν=2/(2m+1) are derived from deformations of the Wess–Zumino–Witten model su(3)1 and are related to the (m+1,m+1,m) Halperin fractional quantum Hall states. We derive long-range SU(2) invariant parent Hamiltonians for these states which in two dimensions are chiral t–J–V models with additional three-body interaction terms. In one dimension we obtain a generalisation to open chains of a periodic inverse-square t–J–V model proposed in [25]. We observe that the gapless low-energy spectrum of this model and its open-boundary generalisation can be described by rapidity sets with the same generalised Pauli exclusion principle. A two-component compactified free boson conformal field theory is identified as the low-energy effective theory for the periodic inverse-square t–J–V model.

Microscopic approach to a class of 1D quantum critical models

Starting from the finite volume form factors of local operators, we show how and under which hypothesis the c = 1 free boson conformal field theory in two-dimensions emerges as an effective theory governing the large-distance regime of multi-point correlation functions for a large class of one-dimensional massless quantum Hamiltonians. In our approach, in the large-distance critical regime, the local operators of the initial model are represented by well suited vertex operators associated to the free boson model. This provides an effective field theoretic description of the large distance behaviour of correlation functions in 1D quantum critical models. We develop this description starting from the first principles and directly at the microscopic level, namely in terms of the properties of the finite volume matrix elements of local operators.

AGT, N-Burge partitions and W N $$ {\mathcal{W}}_N $$ minimal models

Let ${\mathcal B}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}, \, {\mathcal H}}_{N, n}$ be a conformal block, with $n$ consecutive channels $\chi_{\i}$, $\i = 1, \cdots, n$, in the conformal field theory $\mathcal{M}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}}_N \! \times \! \mathcal{M}^{\mathcal{H}}$, where $\mathcal{M}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}}_N$ is a $\mathcal{W}_N$ minimal model, generated by chiral fields of spin $1, \cdots, N$, and labeled by two co-prime integers $p$ and $p^{\prime}$, $1 < p < p^{\prime}$, while $\mathcal{M}^{\mathcal{H}}$ is a free boson conformal field theory. $\mathcal{B}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}, \mathcal{H}}_{N, n}$ is the expectation value of vertex operators between an initial and a final state. Each vertex operator is labelled by a charge vector that lives in the weight lattice of the Lie algebra $A_{N-1}$, spanned by weight vectors $\omega_1, \cdots, \omega_{N-1}$. We restrict our attention to conformal blocks with vertex operators whose charge vectors point along $\omega_1$. The charge vectors that label the initial and final states can point in any direction. Following the $\mathcal{W}_N$ AGT correspondence, and using Nekrasov's instanton partition functions without modification, to compute $\mathcal{B}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}, \mathcal{H}}_{N, n}$, leads to ill-defined expressions. We show that restricting the states that flow in the channels $\chi_{\i}$, $\i = 1, \cdots, n$, to states labeled by $N$ partitions that satisfy conditions that we call $N$-Burge partitions, leads to well-defined expressions that we identify with $\mathcal{B}^{\, p, \, p^{\prime}, \, \mathcal{H}}_{N, n}$. We check our identification by showing that a specific non-trivial conformal block that we compute, using the $N$-Burge conditions satisfies the expected differential equation.

Topological defects for the free boson CFT

Two different conformal field theories can be joined together along a defect line. We study such defects for the case where the conformal field theories on either side are single free bosons compactified on a circle. We concentrate on topological defects for which the left- and right-moving Virasoro algebras are separately preserved, but not necessarily any additional symmetries. For the case where both radii are rational multiples of the self-dual radius we classify these topological defects. We also show that the isomorphism between two T-dual free boson conformal field theories can be described by the action of a topological defect, and hence that T-duality can be understood as a special type of order–disorder duality.