Higher Dimensional Field Theories Research Articles

Boundary Liouville conformal field theory in four dimensions

Higher dimensional Euclidean Liouville conformal field theories (LCFTs) consist of a log-correlated real scalar field with a background charge and an exponential potential. We analyse the LCFT on a four-dimensional manifold with a boundary. We extend to the boundary, the conformally covariant GJMS operator and the Q\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{Q} $$\\end{document}-curvature term in the LCFT action and classify the conformal boundary conditions. Working on a flat space with plate boundary, we calculate the dimensions of the boundary conformal primary operators, the two- and three-point functions of the displacement operator and the boundary conformal anomaly coefficients.

Non-invertible symmetry webs

Non-invertible symmetries have by now seen numerous constructions in higher dimensional Quantum Field Theories (QFT). In this paper we provide an in depth study of gauging 0-form symmetries in the presence of non-invertible symmetries. The starting point of our analysis is a theory with GG 0-form symmetry, and we propose a description of sequential partial gaugings of sub-symmetries. The gauging implements the theta-symmetry defects of the companion paper [SciPost Phys. 15, 122 (2023)]. The resulting network of symmetry structures related by this gauging will be called a non-invertible symmetry web. Our formulation makes direct contact with fusion 2-categories, and we uncover numerous interesting structures such as symmetry fractionalization in this categorical setting. The complete symmetry web is derived for several groups GG, and we propose extensions to higher dimensions. The highlight of this analysis is the complete categorical symmetry web, including non-invertible symmetries, for 3d pure gauge theories with orthogonal gauge groups and its extension to arbitrary dimensions.

Non-Abelian fusion, shrinking, and quantum dimensions of Abelian gauge fluxes

Braiding and fusion rules of topological excitations are indispensable topological invariants in topological quantum computation and topological orders. While excitations in 2D are always particle-like anyons, those in 3D incorporate not only particles but also loops -- spatially nonlocal objects -- making it novel and challenging to study topological invariants in higher dimensions. While 2D fusion rules have been well understood from bulk Chern-Simons field theory and edge conformal field theory, it is yet to be thoroughly explored for 3D fusion rules from higher dimensional bulk topological field theory. Here, we perform a field-theoretical study on (i) how loops that carry Abelian gauge fluxes fuse and (ii) how loops are shrunk into particles in the path integral, which generates fusion rules, loop-shrinking rules, and descendent invariants, e.g., quantum dimensions. We first assign a gauge-invariant Wilson operator to each excitation and determine the number of distinct excitations through equivalence classes of Wilson operators. Then, we adiabatically shift two Wilson operators together to observe how they fuse and are split in the path integral; despite the Abelian nature of the gauge fluxes carried by loops, their fusions may be of non-Abelian nature. Meanwhile, we adiabatically deform world-sheets of unknotted loops into world-lines and examine the shrinking outcomes; we find that the resulting loop-shrinking rules are algebraically consistent to fusion rules. Interestingly, fusing a pair of loop and anti-loop may generate multiple vacua, but fusing a pair of anyon and anti-anyon in 2D has one vacuum only. By establishing a field-theoretical ground for fusion and shrinking in 3D, this work leaves intriguing directions, e.g., symmetry enrichment, quantum gates, and physics of braided monoidal 2-category of 2-group.

Universal spinning Casimir equations and their solutions

Conformal blocks are a central analytic tool for higher dimensional conformal field theory. We employ Harish-Chandra’s radial component map to construct universal Casimir differential equations for spinning conformal blocks in any dimension d of Euclidean space. Furthermore, we also build a set of differential “shifting” operators that allow to construct solutions of the Casimir equations from certain seeds. In the context of spinning four-point blocks of bulk conformal field theory, our formulas provide an elegant and far reaching generalisation of existing expressions to arbitrary tensor fields and arbitrary dimension d. The power of our new universal approach to spinning blocks is further illustrated through applications to defect conformal field theory. In the case of defects of co-dimension q = 2 we are able to construct conformal blocks for two-point functions of symmetric traceless bulk tensor fields in both the defect and the bulk channel. This opens an interesting avenue for applications to the defect bootstrap. Finally, we also derive the Casimir equations for bulk-bulk-defect three-point functions in the bulk channel.

Long range, large charge, large N

We study operators with large charge j in the d-dimensional O(N) model with long range interactions that decrease with the distance as 1/rd+s, where s is a continuous parameter. We consider the double scaling limit of large N, large j with j/N=hat{j} fixed, and identify the semiclassical saddle point that captures the two-point function of the large charge operators in this limit. The solution is given in terms of certain ladder conformal integrals that have recently appeared in the literature on fishnet models. We find that the scaling dimensions for general s interpolate between {Delta }_jsim frac{left(d-sright)}{2}j at small hat{j} and {Delta }_jsim frac{left(d+sright)}{2}j at large hat{j} , which is a qualitatively different behavior from the one found in the short range version of the O(N) model. We also derive results for the structure constants and 4-point functions with two large charge and one or two finite charge operators. Using a description of the long range models as defects in a higher dimensional local free field theory, we also obtain the scaling dimensions in a complementary way, by mapping the problem to a cylinder in the presence of a chemical potential for the conserved charge.

Energy correlators of hadronically decaying electroweak bosons

Energy correlators are field-theoretically clean and phenomenologically valuable probes of QCD dynamics. We explore the possibility of using the information encoded in the energy correlators of a hadronically decaying electroweak vector boson in order to extract its full decay density matrix. The kinematics of the one- and two-point energy correlators can indeed discriminate between longitudinal and transverse modes and reveal the interference pattern between different vector polarizations. Such observables improve the sensitivity to microscopic new physics affecting the production rate of the different helicities. We assess the impact on higher-dimensional effective field theory operators in simple scenarios.

Bloch’s formula for 0-cycles with modulus and higher-dimensional class field theory

We prove Bloch’s formula for the Chow group of 0-cycles with modulus on a smooth quasi-projective surface over a field. We use this formula to give a simple proof of the rank one case of a conjecture of Deligne and Drinfeld on lisse Q ¯ ℓ \overline {\mathbb {Q}}_{\ell } -sheaves. This was originally solved by Kerz and Saito in characteristic ≠ 2 \neq 2 .

Higher symmetries of 5D orbifold SCFTs

Most higher-dimensional superconformal field theories (SCFTs) are intrinsically strongly coupled and lack a Lagrangian description. Generally, these theories are defined as singular compactifications of string and M-theory, and the information about the SCFTs, e.g. higher-form symmetries, is encoded in the structure of the singularities. The authors manage to extract the higher form symmetries from generic, not necessarily isolated orbifold singularities for five-dimensional SCFTs and demonstrate their method in a number of explicit examples.

Quaternionic quantum mechanics for N\u2009=\u20091, 2, 4 supersymmetry

BackgroundQuaternions have emerged as powerful tools in higher-dimensional quantum mechanics as they provide homogeneous four-dimensional structure in quantum field theories, offer compact representations, and incorporate spin naturally. Quantum field theories then lead to the unification of fundamental interactions so the use of quaternion becomes necessary when we are dealing with higher-dimensional theories. On the other hand, supersymmetry is the theory of bosons and fermions and is an essential constituent of grand unified theories. The use of quaternion in supersymmetric field theories provides an excellent framework for higher-dimensional unification theories.ResultA complete theory for supersymmetric quaternionic quantum mechanics has been constructed for N = 1, 2, 4 supersymmetry in terms of one, two, and four supercharges and Hamiltonians, respectively. It has been shown that N = 4 SUSY is the quaternionic extension of the N = 2 complex SUSY and N = 1 real SUSY; also spin is the natural outcome of using quaternion units. Pauli and Dirac Hamiltonian and their relationship have also been obtained in quaternion space. It has been shown that quaternionic quantum mechanics are superior to ordinary and complex quantum mechanics because in the quaternion framework we do not need three different theories for N = 1,2,4 SQM but a single theory only.ConclusionsIt has been concluded that N = 1 real SUSY is equal to N = 2 complex SUSY which in turn is equal to N = 4 quaternion SUSY so one can arrive at higher-dimensional quantum field theories starting from lower-dimensional quantum theories. Higher-dimensional quaternion field theories are suitable for nonphotonic light cone particles which are not allowed in complex QFT, also noncommutative nature of quaternion gives an extra degree of freedom and may provide the possibility of some new particle, dark matter, or new phenomenon. Though quaternions provide an excellent framework in higher-dimensional field theories, there are certain challenges due to their noncommutativity as calculations become tedious where large terms are involved. Keeping in view the noble features of quaternion, we expect some development to get a better understanding of N = 8 supergravity, maximal supergravity (D = 11 − n), and maximal supersymmetry theories (N = 10) in terms of quaternion operators.

Lessons from [formula omitted] models in one dimension

Various topics related to the O(N) model in one spacetime dimension (i.e. ordinary quantum mechanics) are considered. The focus is on a pedagogical presentation of quantum field theory methods in a simpler context where many exact results are available, but certain subtleties are discussed which may be of interest to active researchers in higher dimensional field theories as well.Large N methods are introduced in the context of the zero-dimensional path integral and the connection to Stirling’s series is shown. The entire spectrum of the O(N) model, which includes the familiar l(l+1) eigenvalues of the quantum rotor as a special case, is found both diagrammatically through large N methods and by using Ward identities. The large N methods are already exact at ON−1 and the ON−2 corrections are explicitly shown to vanish. Peculiarities of gauge theories in d=1 are discussed in the context of the CPN−1 sigma model, and the spectrum of a more general squashed sphere sigma model is found. The precise connection between the O(N) model and the linear sigma model with a ϕ4 interaction is discussed. A valid form of the self-consistent screening approximation (SCSA) applicable to O(N) models with a hard constraint is presented. The point is made that at least in d=1 the SCSA may do worse than simply truncating the large N expansion to ON−1 even for small N. In both the supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric versions of the O(N) model, naive equations of motion relating vacuum expectation values are shown to be corrected by regularization-dependent finite corrections arising from contact terms associated to the equation of constraint.

Progress in Higher-Dimensional Field Theories

Progress in Higher-Dimensional Field Theories

Constrained systems, generalized Hamilton-Jacobi actions, and quantization

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>Mechanical systems (i.e., one-dimensional field theories) with constraints are the focus of this paper. In the classical theory, systems with infinite-dimensional targets are considered as well (this then encompasses also higher-dimensional field theories in the hamiltonian formalism). The properties of the Hamilton–Jacobi (HJ) action are described in details and several examples are explicitly computed (including nonabelian Chern–Simons theory, where the HJ action turns out to be the gauged Wess–Zumino–Witten action). Perturbative quantization, limited in this note to finite-dimensional targets, is performed in the framework of the Batalin–Vilkovisky (BV) formalism in the bulk and of the Batalin–Fradkin–Vilkovisky (BFV) formalism at the endpoints. As a sanity check of the method, it is proved that the semiclassical contribution of the physical part of the evolution operator is still given by the HJ action. Several examples are computed explicitly. In particular, it is shown that the toy model for nonabelian Chern–Simons theory and the toy model for 7D Chern–Simons theory with nonlinear Hitchin polarization do not have quantum corrections in the physical part (the extension of these results to the actual cases is discussed in the companion paper [<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b21">21</xref>]). Background material for both the classical part (symplectic geometry, generalized generating functions, HJ actions, and the extension of these concepts to infinite-dimensional manifolds) and the quantum part (BV-BFV formalism) is provided.</p>

Gaudin models and multipoint conformal blocks. Part II. Comb channel vertices in 3D and 4D

It was recently shown that multi-point conformal blocks in higher dimensional conformal field theory can be considered as joint eigenfunctions for a system of commuting differential operators. The latter arise as Hamiltonians of a Gaudin integrable system. In this work we address the reduced fourth order differential operators that measure the choice of 3-point tensor structures for all vertices of 3- and 4-dimensional comb channel conformal blocks. These vertices come associated with a single cross ratio. Remarkably, we identify the vertex operators as Hamiltonians of a crystallographic elliptic Calogero-Moser-Sutherland model that was discovered originally by Etingof, Felder, Ma and Veselov. Our construction is based on a further development of the embedding space formalism for mixed-symmetry tensor fields. The results thereby also apply to comb channel vertices of 5- and 6-point functions in arbitrary dimension.

Gaudin models and multipoint conformal blocks: general theory

The construction of conformal blocks for the analysis of multipoint correlation functions with N > 4 local field insertions is an important open problem in higher dimensional conformal field theory. This is the first in a series of papers in which we address this challenge, following and extending our short announcement in [1]. According to Dolan and Osborn, conformal blocks can be determined from the set of differential eigenvalue equations that they satisfy. We construct a complete set of commuting differential operators that characterize multipoint conformal blocks for any number N of points in any dimension and for any choice of OPE channel through the relation with Gaudin integrable models we uncovered in [1]. For 5-point conformal blocks, there exist five such operators which are worked out smoothly in the dimension d.

Late time physics of holographic quantum chaos

Quantum chaotic systems are often defined via the assertion that their spectral statistics coincides with, or is well approximated by, random matrix theory. In this paper we explain how the universal content of random matrix theory emerges as the consequence of a simple symmetry-breaking principle and its associated Goldstone modes. This allows us to write down an effective-field theory (EFT) description of quantum chaotic systems, which is able to control the level statistics up to an accuracy {O} \left(e^{-S} \right)O(e−S) with SS the entropy. We explain how the EFT description emerges from explicit ensembles, using the example of a matrix model with arbitrary invariant potential, but also when and how it applies to individual quantum systems, without reference to an ensemble. Within AdS/CFT this gives a general framework to express correlations between ``different universes’’ and we explicitly demonstrate the bulk realization of the EFT in minimal string theory where the Goldstone modes are bound states of strings stretching between bulk spectral branes. We discuss the construction of the EFT of quantum chaos also in higher dimensional field theories, as applicable for example for higher-dimensional AdS/CFT dual pairs.

Complete set of dimension-eight operators in the standard model effective field theory

We present a complete list of the dimension 8 operator basis in the standard model effective field theory using group theoretic techniques in a systematic and automated way. We adopt a new form of operators in terms of the irreducible representations of the Lorentz group, and identify the Lorentz structures as states in a $SU(N)$ group. In this way, redundancy from equations of motion is absent and that from integration-by-part is treated using the fact that the independent Lorentz basis forms an invariant subspace of the $SU(N)$ group. We also decompose operators into the ones with definite permutation symmetries among flavor indices to deal with subtlety from repeated fields. For the first time, we provide the explicit form of independent flavor-specified operators in a systematic way. Our algorithm can be easily applied to higher dimensional standard model effective field theory and other effective field theories, making these studies more approachable.

Anomalies from correlation functions in defect conformal field theory

In previous work, we showed that an anomaly in the one point function of marginal operators is related by the Wess-Zumino condition to the Euler density anomaly on a two dimensional defect or boundary. Here we analyze in detail the two point functions of marginal operators with the stress tensor and with the displacement operator in three dimensions. We show how to get the boundary anomaly from these bulk two point functions and find perfect agreement with our anomaly effective action. For a higher dimensional conformal field theory with a four dimensional defect, we describe for the first time the anomaly effective action that relates the Euler density term to the one point function anomaly, generalizing our result for two dimensional defects.

Implications of SU(2)L gauge invariance for constraints on Lorentz violation

Lorentz invariance may only be broken far above the electroweak scale, since violations are experimentally stringently constrained. Therefore, the Standard-Model Extension parameterizing Lorentz violation (LV) via (higher-dimensional) field theory operators is manifestly SU(2)L gauge-invariant. As a consequence, LV in neutrinos implies LV in charged leptons and vice versa. This allows us to obtain estimated sensitivities for flavour-changing operators in the charged-lepton sector from neutrino oscillations as well as sensitivities for flavour-diagonal neutrino effects from high-precision electron experiments. We also apply this method to an analysis of time-of-flight data for neutrinos (detected by IceCube) and photons from gamma ray bursts where discrepancies have been observed. Our conclusion is that an explanation of the arrival time difference between neutrino and photon events by dim-5 operators in the neutrino sector would lead to unacceptably large LV effects in the charged-lepton sector.

Area law of connected correlation function in higher dimensional conformal field theory

We present a new area law which is associated with the correlator of OPE blocks in higher dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs). The area law shows similar behaviour as black hole entropy or geometric entanglement entropy. It includes a leading term which is proportional to the area of the entanglement surface, and a logarithmic subleading term with degree q. We extract the UV cutoff independent coefficients and discuss various properties of the coefficients.

Iterated Laurent series over rings and the Contou-Carrère symbol

This article contains a survey of a new algebro-geometric approach for working with iterated algebraic loop groups associated with iterated Laurent series over arbitrary commutative rings and its applications to the study of the higher-dimensional Contou-Carrère symbol. In addition to the survey, the article also contains new results related to this symbol. The higher-dimensional Contou-Carrère symbol arises naturally when one considers deformation of a flag of algebraic subvarieties of an algebraic variety. The non-triviality of the problem is due to the fact that, in the case , for the group of invertible elements of the algebra of -iterated Laurent series over a ring, no representation is known in the form of an ind-flat scheme over this ring. Therefore, essentially new algebro-geometric constructions, notions, and methods are required. As an application of the new methods used, a description of continuous homomorphisms between algebras of iterated Laurent series over a ring is given, and an invertibility criterion for such endomorphisms is found. It is shown that the higher- dimensional Contou-Carrère symbol, restricted to algebras over the field of rational numbers, is given by a natural explicit formula, and this symbol extends uniquely to all rings. An explicit formula is also given for the higher-dimensional Contou-Carrère symbol in the case of all rings. The connection with higher-dimensional class field theory is described. As a new result, it is shown that the higher-dimensional Contou-Carrère symbol has a universal property. Namely, if one fixes a torsion-free ring and considers a flat group scheme over this ring such that any two points of the scheme are contained in an affine open subset, then after restricting to algebras over the fixed ring, all morphisms from the -iterated algebraic loop group of the Milnor -group of degree to the above group scheme factor through the higher-dimensional Contou-Carrère symbol. Bibliography: 67 titles.