Non-relativistic Conformal Symmetry Research Articles

Nonrelativistic Conformal Invariance in Mesoscopic Two-Dimensional Fermi Gases.

Two-dimensional Fermi gases with universal short-range interactions are known to exhibit a quantum anomaly, where a classical scale and conformal invariance is broken by quantum effects at strong coupling. We argue that in a quasi two-dimensional geometry, a conformal window remains at weak interactions. Using degenerate perturbation theory, we verify the conformal symmetry by computing the energy spectrum of mesoscopic particle ensembles in a harmonic trap, which separates into conformal towers formed by so-called primary states and their center-of-mass and breathing-mode excitations, the latter having excitation energies at precisely twice the harmonic oscillator energy. In addition, using Metropolis importance sampling, we compute the hyperradial distribution function of the many-body wave functions, which are predicted by the conformal symmetry in closed analytical form. The weakly interacting Fermi gas constitutes a system where the nonrelativistic conformal symmetry can be revealed using elementary methods, and our results are testable in current experiments on mesoscopic Fermi gases.

Galilean gauge theories from null reductions

The procedure of null reduction provides a concrete way of constructing field theories with Galilean invariance. We use this to examine Galilean gauge theories, viz. Galilean electrodynamics and Yang-Mills theories in spacetime dimensions 3 and 4. Different non-relativistic conformal symmetries arise in these contexts: Schrödinger symmetry in d = 3 and Galilean conformal symmetry in d = 4. A canonical analysis further reveals that the symmetries enhance to their infinite dimensional versions in phase space and pick up central extensions. In addition, for the Abelian theory, we discuss non-relativistic electro- magnetic duality in d = 3 and its difference with the d = 4 version. We also mention some quantum aspects for both Abelian and non-Abelian theories.

Dynamics of Strongly Interacting Fermi Gases with Time-Dependent Interactions: Consequence of Conformal Symmetry.

In this Letter, we investigate the effects of a time-dependent, short-ranged interaction on the long-time expansion dynamics of Fermi gases. We show that the effects of the interaction on the dynamics is dictated by how it changes under a conformal transformation, and derive an explicit criterion for the relevancy of time-dependent interactions near both the strongly and noninteracting scale invariant limits. In addition, we show that it is possible to engineer interactions that give rise to nonexponential thermalization dynamics in trapped Fermi gases. To supplement the symmetry analysis, we perform hydrodynamic simulations to show that the moment of inertia of the trapped gas indeed follows a universal time dependence that is determined jointly by the conformal symmetry and time-dependent scattering length a(t). Our results should also be relevant to the dynamics of other systems that are nearly scale invariant and that are governed by a nonrelativistic conformal symmetry.

Interpretation of Neutral Charm Mesons near Threshold as Unparticles.

The existence of the X(3872) resonance extremely close to the D^{*0}D[over ¯]^{0} threshold implies that neutral charm mesons have an approximate nonrelativistic conformal symmetry. Systems consisting of these mesons with small kinetic energies produced in a short-distance reaction are unparticles in the sense that they can be created by operators with definite scaling dimensions in a nonrelativistic conformal field theory. There is a scaling region in which their energy distribution has power-law behavior with an exponent determined by the scaling dimension of the operator. The unparticle associated with two neutral charm mesons produces a peak in the recoil momentum spectrum of K^{±} in inclusive decays of B^{±} that has been observed. The scaling dimensions of the unparticles associated with three neutral charm mesons are calculated. They can be determined experimentally by measuring the invariant mass distributions for XD^{0} or XD^{*0} in inclusive prompt production at the Large Hadron Collider.

Renormalization of Galilean electrodynamics

We study the quantum properties of a Galilean-invariant abelian gauge theory coupled to a Schrödinger scalar in 2+1 dimensions. At the classical level, the theory with minimal coupling is obtained from a null-reduction of relativistic Maxwell theory coupled to a complex scalar field in 3+1 dimensions and is closely related to the Galilean electromagnetism of Le-Bellac and Lévy-Leblond. Due to the presence of a dimensionless, gauge-invariant scalar field in the Galilean multiplet of the gauge-field, we find that at the quantum level an infinite number of couplings is generated. We explain how to handle the quantum corrections systematically using the background field method. Due to a non-renormalization theorem, the beta function of the gauge coupling is found to vanish to all orders in perturbation theory, leading to a continuous family of fixed points where the non-relativistic conformal symmetry is preserved.

Strings with non-relativistic conformal symmetry and limits of the AdS/CFT correspondence

We find a Polyakov-type action for strings moving in a torsional Newton-Cartan geometry. This is obtained by starting with the relativistic Polyakov action and fixing the momentum of the string along a non-compact null isometry. For a flat target space, we show that the world-sheet theory becomes the Gomis-Ooguri action. From a target space perspective these strings are non-relativistic but their world-sheet theories are still relativistic. We show that one can take a scaling limit in which also the world-sheet theory becomes non-relativistic with an infinite-dimensional symmetry algebra given by the Galilean conformal algebra. This scaling limit can be taken in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence and we show that it is realized by the ‘Spin Matrix Theory’ limits of strings on AdS5 × S5. Spin Matrix theory arises as non-relativistic limits of the AdS/CFT correspondence close to BPS bounds. The duality between non-relativistic strings and Spin Matrix theory provides a holographic duality of its own and points towards a framework for more tractable holographic dualities whereby non-relativistic strings are dual to near BPS limits of the dual field theory.

Towards a gravity dual for the large scale structure of the universe

The dynamics of the large-scale structure of the universe enjoys at all scales, even in the highly non-linear regime, a Lifshitz symmetry during the matter-dominated period. In this paper we propose a general class of six-dimensional spacetimes which could be a gravity dual to the four-dimensional large-scale structure of the universe. In this set-up, the Lifshitz symmetry manifests itself as an isometry in the bulk and our universe is a four-dimensional brane moving in such six-dimensional bulk. After finding the correspondence between the bulk and the brane dynamical Lifshitz exponents, we find the intriguing result that the preferred value of the dynamical Lifshitz exponent of our observed universe, at both linear and non-linear scales, corresponds to a fixed point of the RGE flow of the dynamical Lifshitz exponent in the dual system where the symmetry is enhanced to the Schrodinger group containing a non-relativistic conformal symmetry. We also investigate the RGE flow between fixed points of the Lifshitz dynamical exponent in the bulk and observe that this flow is reflected in a growth rate of the large-scale structure, which seems to be in qualitative agreement with what is observed in current data. Our set-up might provide an interesting new arena for testing the ideas of holography and gravitational duals.

Higher symmetries of the Schrödinger operator in Newton–Cartan geometry

Abstract We establish several relationships between the non-relativistic conformal symmetries of Newton–Cartan geometry and the Schrodinger equation. In particular we discuss the algebra s c h ( d ) of vector fields conformally-preserving a flat Newton–Cartan spacetime, and we prove that its curved generalisation generates the symmetry group of the covariant Schrodinger equation coupled to a Newtonian potential and generalised Coriolis force. We provide intrinsic Newton–Cartan definitions of Killing tensors and conformal Schrodinger–Killing tensors, and we discuss their respective links to conserved quantities and to the higher symmetries of the Schrodinger equation. Finally we consider the role of conformal symmetries in Newtonian twistor theory, where the infinite-dimensional algebra of holomorphic vector fields on twistor space corresponds to the symmetry algebra c n c ( 3 ) on the Newton–Cartan spacetime.

Nonlocal dynamics and infinite nonrelativistic conformal symmetries

We study the symmetry of the class of nonlocal models which includes the nonlocal extension of the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator. As a consequence, we obtain an infinite-dimensional symmetry algebra, containing the Virasoro algebra, which can be considered as a generalization of the nonrelativistic conformal symmetries to the infinite order. Moreover, this nonlocal extension resembles to some extent the string model, and on the quantum level, it leads to the centrally extended Virasoro algebra.

Galilean conformal electrodynamics

Maxwell's Electrodynamics admits two distinct Galilean limits called the Electric and Magnetic limits. We show that the equations of motion in both these limits are invariant under the Galilean Conformal Algebra in D=4, thereby exhibiting non-relativistic conformal symmetries. Remarkably, the symmetries are infinite dimensional and thus Galilean Electrodynamics give us the first example of an infinitely extended Galilean Conformal Field Theory in D>2. We examine details of the theory by looking at purely non-relativistic conformal methods and also use input from the limit of the relativistic theory.

Correspondence between Asymptotically Flat Spacetimes and Nonrelativistic Conformal Field Theories

We find a surprising connection between asymptotically flat spacetimes and nonrelativistic conformal systems in one lower dimension. The Bondi-Metzner-Sachs (BMS) group is the group of asymptotic isometries of flat Minkowski space at null infinity. This is known to be infinite dimensional in three and four dimensions. We show that the BMS algebra in 3 dimensions is the same as the 2D Galilean conformal algebra (GCA) which is of relevance to nonrelativistic conformal symmetries. We further justify our proposal by looking at a Penrose limit on a radially infalling null ray inspired by nonrelativistic scaling and obtain a flat metric. The BMS4 algebra is also discussed and found to be the same as another class of GCA, called semi-GCA, in three dimensions. We propose a general BMS-GCA correspondence. Some consequences are discussed.

Consistent massive truncations of type-IIB supergravity on Sasaki-Einstein manifolds

Recent work on holographic superconductivity and gravitational duals of systems with non-relativistic conformal symmetry have made use of consistent truncations of D=10 and D=11 supergravity retaining some massive modes in the Kaluza-Klein tower. In this paper we focus on reductions of IIB supergravity to five dimensions on a Sasaki-Einstein manifold, and extend these previous truncations to encompass the entire bosonic sector of gauged D=5, N=2 supergravity coupled to massive multiplets up to the second Kaluza-Klein level. We conjecture that a necessary condition for the consistency of massive truncations is to only retain the lowest modes in the massive trajectories of the Kaluza-Klein mode decomposition of the original fields. This is an extension of the well-known result that consistent truncations may be obtained by restricting to the singlet sector of the internal symmetry group.

Functional renormalization group and conformal invariance in cold atoms

We present an application of a field-theoretic functional renormalization group technique to fewbody (vacuum) physics of nonrelativistic atoms near a Feshbach resonance. We consider and compare a onecomponent bosonic system with a two-component fermionic system, focusing on the scale-free unitarity limit of an infinite scattering length. While the two-body problem is consistent with nonrelativistic conformal symmetry for the two considered systems, a conformal anomaly, manifested through a renormalization group limit cycle with the Efimov parameter s0 ≈ 1.006, is found for bosons in the three-body problem.

Non-relativistic conformal symmetries in fluid mechanics

The symmetries of a free incompressible fluid span the Galilei group, augmented with independent dilations of space and time. When the fluid is compressible, the symmetry is enlarged to the expanded Schrödinger group, which also involves, in addition, Schrödinger expansions. While incompressible fluid dynamics can be derived as an appropriate non-relativistic limit of a conformally invariant relativistic theory, the recently discussed conformal Galilei group, obtained by contraction from the relativistic conformal group, is not a symmetry. This is explained by the subtleties of the non-relativistic limit.

Non-relativistic conformal symmetries and Newton–Cartan structures

This paper provides us with a unifying classification of the conformal infinitesimal symmetries of non-relativistic Newton–Cartan spacetime. The Lie algebras of non-relativistic conformal transformations are introduced via the Galilei structure. They form a family of infinite-dimensional Lie algebras labeled by a rational ‘dynamical exponent’, z. The Schrödinger–Virasoro algebra of Henkel et al corresponds to z = 2. Viewed as projective Newton–Cartan symmetries, they yield, for timelike geodesics, the usual Schrödinger Lie algebra, for which z = 2. For lightlike geodesics, they yield, in turn, the Conformal Galilean Algebra (CGA) of Lukierski, Stichel and Zakrzewski (alias ‘’ of Henkel), with z = 1. Physical systems realizing these symmetries include, e.g. classical systems of massive and massless non-relativistic particles, and also hydrodynamics, as well as Galilean electromagnetism.

Ideal gas matching for thermal Galilean holography

We exhibit a nonrelativistic ideal gas with a Kaluza-Klein tower of species, featuring a singular behavior of thermodynamic functions at zero chemical potential. In this way, we provide a qualitative match to the thermodynamics of recently found black holes in backgrounds with asymptotic nonrelativistic conformal symmetry.

Galilean conformal algebras and AdS/CFT

Non-relativistic versions of the AdS/CFT conjecture have recently been investigated in some detail. These have primarily been in the context of the Schrodinger symmetry group. Here we initiate a study based on a {\it different} non-relativistic conformal symmetry: one obtained by a parametric contraction of the relativistic conformal group. The resulting Galilean conformal symmetry has the same number of generators as the relativistic symmetry group and thus is different from the Schrodinger group (which has fewer). One of the interesting features of the Galilean Conformal Algebra is that it admits an extension to an {\it infinite} dimensional symmetry algebra (which can potentially be dynamically realised). The latter contains a Virasoro-Kac-Moody subalgebra. We comment on realisations of this extended symmetry in a boundary field theory. We also propose a somewhat unusual geometric structure for the bulk gravity dual to any realisation of this symmetry. This involves taking a Newton-Cartan like limit of Einstein's equations in anti de Sitter space which singles out an $AdS_2$ comprising of the time and radial direction. The infinite dimensional Virasoro extension is identified with the asymptotic isometries of this $AdS_2$.

Consistent supersymmetric Kaluza-Klein truncations with massive modes

We construct consistent Kaluza-Klein reductions of D = 11 supergravity to four dimensions using an arbitrary seven-dimensional Sasaki-Einstein manifold. At the level of bosonic fields, we extend the known reduction, which leads to minimal N = 2 gauged supergravity, to also include a multiplet of massive fields, containing the breathing mode of the Sasaki-Einstein space, and still consistent with N = 2 supersymmetry. In the context of flux compactifications, the Sasaki-Einstein reductions are generalizations of type IIA SU(3)-structure reductions which include both metric and form-field flux and lead to a massive universal tensor multiplet. We carry out a similar analysis for an arbitrary weak G2 manifold leading to an N = 1 supergravity with massive fields. The straightforward extension of our results to the case of the seven-sphere would imply that there is a four-dimensional Lagrangian with N = 8 supersymmetry containing both massless and massive spin two fields. We use our results to construct solutions of M-theory with non-relativistic conformal symmetry.

Comments on string theory backgrounds with non-relativistic conformal symmetry

We consider non-relativistic conformal quantum mechanical theories that arise by doing discrete light cone quantization of field theories. If the field theory has a gravity dual, then the conformal quantum mechanical theory can have a gravity dual description in a suitable finite temperature and finite density regime. Using this we compute the thermodynamic properties of the system. We give an explicit example where we display both the conformal quantum mechanical theory as well as the gravity dual. We also discuss the string theory embedding of certain backgrounds with non-relativistic conformal symmetry that were recently discussed. Using this, we construct finite temperature and finite density solutions, with asymptotic non-relativistic conformal symmetry. In addition, we derive consistent Kaluza-Klein truncations of type IIB supergravity to a five dimensional theory with massive vector fields.

Conformal symmetry of an extended Schrödinger equation and its relativistic origin

In this paper two things are done. We first prove that an arbitrary power p of the Schrödinger Lagrangian in arbitrary dimension always enjoys the non-relativistic conformal symmetry. The implementation of this symmetry on the dynamical field involves a phase term as well as a conformal factor that depends on the dimension and on the exponent. This non-relativistic conformal symmetry is shown to have its origin on the conformal isometry of the power p of the Klein–Gordon Lagrangian in one higher dimension which is related to the phase of the complex scalar field.