Conformal boundary conditions from cutoff AdS3

We construct a particular flow in the space of 2D Euclidean QFTs on a torus, which we argue is dual to a class of solutions in 3D Euclidean gravity with conformal boundary conditions. This new flow comes from a Legendre transform of the kernel which implements the T$$ \overline{T} $$ T ¯ deformation, and is motivated by the need for boundary conditions in Euclidean gravity to be elliptic, i.e. that they have well-defined propagators for metric fluctuations. We demonstrate equivalence between our flow equation and variants of the Wheeler de-Witt equation for a torus universe in the so-called Constant Mean Curvature (CMC) slicing. We derive a kernel for the flow, and we compute the corresponding ground state energy in the low-temperature limit. Once deformation parameters are fixed, the existence of the ground state is independent of the initial data, provided the seed theory is a CFT. The high-temperature density of states has Cardy-like behavior, rather than the Hagedorn growth characteristic of T$$ \overline{T} $$ T ¯ -deformed theories.

Color confinement at the boundary of the conformally compactified AdS5

The topology of closed manifolds forces interacting charges to appear in pairs. We take advantage of this property in the setting of the conformal boundary of AdS5 spacetime, topologically equivalent to the closed manifold S1× S3, by considering the coupling of two massless opposite charges on it. Taking the interaction potential as the analog of Coulomb interaction (derived from a fundamental solution of the S3 Laplace-Beltrami operator), a conformal S1× S3 metric deformation is proposed, such that free motion on the deformed metric is equivalent to motion on the round metric in the presence of the interaction potential. We give explicit expressions for the generators of the conformal algebra in the representation induced by the metric deformation.By identifying the charge as the color degree of freedom in QCD, and the two charges system as a quark-anti-quark system, we argue that the associated conformal wave operator equation could provide a realistic quantum mechanical description of the simplest QCD system, the mesons.Finally, we discuss the possibility of employing the compactification radius, R, as an- other scale along ΛQCD, by means of which, upon reparametrizing Q2c2 as (Q2c2+ħ2c2/R2), a perturbative treatment of processes in the infrared could be approached.

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in free theories with boundary potentials

Patterns of symmetry breaking induced by potentials at the boundary of free O(N)O(N)-models in d=3- \epsilond=3−ϵ dimensions are studied. We show that the spontaneous symmetry breaking in these theories leads to a boundary RG flow ending with N - 1N−1 Neumann modes in the IR. The possibility of fluctuation-induced symmetry breaking is examined and we derive a general formula for computing one-loop effective potentials at the boundary. Using the \epsilonϵ-expansion we test these ideas in an O(N)\oplus O(N)O(N)⊕O(N)-model with boundary interactions. We determine the RG flow diagram of this theory and find that it has an IR-stable critical point satisfying conformal boundary conditions. The leading correction to the effective potential is computed and we argue the existence of a phase boundary separating the region flowing to the symmetric fixed point from the region flowing to a symmetry-broken phase with a combination of Neumann and Dirchlet boundary conditions.

Hamiltonian truncation in Anti-de Sitter spacetime

Quantum Field Theories (QFTs) in Anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetime are often strongly coupled when the radius of AdS is large, and few methods are available to study them. In this work, we develop a Hamiltonian truncation method to compute the energy spectrum of QFTs in two-dimensional AdS. The infinite volume of constant timeslices of AdS leads to divergences in the energy levels. We propose a simple prescription to obtain finite physical energies and test it with numerical diagonalization in several models: the free massive scalar field, ϕ4 theory, Lee-Yang and Ising field theory. Along the way, we discuss spontaneous symmetry breaking in AdS and derive a compact formula for perturbation theory in quantum mechanics at arbitrary order. Our results suggest that all conformal boundary conditions for a given theory are connected via bulk renormalization group flows in AdS.

On analytic bootstrap for interface and boundary CFT

We use analytic bootstrap techniques for a CFT with an interface or a boundary. Exploiting the analytic structure of the bulk and boundary conformal blocks we extract the CFT data. We further constrain the CFT data by applying the equation of motion to the boundary operator expansion. The method presented in this paper is general, and it is illustrated in the context of perturbative Wilson-Fisher theories. In particular, we find constraints on the OPE coefficients for the interface CFT in 4 − ϵ dimensions (upto order $$ \mathcal{O} $$ O (ϵ2)) with ϕ4-interactions in the bulk. We also compute the corresponding coefficients for the non-unitary ϕ3-theory in 6 − ϵ dimensions in the presence of a conformal boundary equipped with either Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions upto order $$ \mathcal{O} $$ O (ϵ), or an interface upto order $$ \mathcal{O}\left(\sqrt{\epsilon}\right) $$ O ϵ .

Properties of RG interfaces for 2D boundary flows

We consider RG interfaces for boundary RG flows in two-dimensional QFTs. Such interfaces are particular boundary condition changing operators linking the UV and IR conformal boundary conditions. We refer to them as RG operators. In this paper we study their general properties putting forward a number of conjectures. We conjecture that an RG operator is always a conformal primary such that the OPE of this operator with its conjugate must contain the perturbing UV operator when taken in one order and the leading irrelevant operator (when it exists) along which the flow enters the IR fixed point, when taken in the other order. We support our conjectures by perturbative calculations for flows between nearby fixed points, by a non-perturbative variational method inspired by the variational method proposed by J. Cardy for massive RG flows, and by numerical results obtained using boundary TCSA. The variational method has a merit of its own as it can be used as a first approximation in charting the global structure of the space of boundary RG flows. We also discuss the role of the RG operators in the transport of states and local operators. Some of our considerations can be generalised to two-dimensional bulk flows, clarifying some conceptual issues related to the RG interface put forward by D. Gaiotto for bulk 𝜙1,3 flows.

Summing over geometries in string theory

We examine the question how string theory achieves a sum over bulk geometries with fixed asymptotic boundary conditions. We discuss this problem with the help of the tensionless string on $$ {\mathrm{\mathcal{M}}}_3\times {\mathrm{S}}^3\times {\mathbbm{T}}^4 $$ ℳ 3 × S 3 × T 4 (with one unit of NS-NS flux) that was recently understood to be dual to the symmetric orbifold SymN ($$ {\mathbbm{T}}^4 $$ T 4 ). We strengthen the analysis of [1] and show that the perturbative string partition function around a fixed bulk background already includes a sum over semi-classical geometries and large stringy corrections can be interpreted as various semi-classical geometries. We argue in particular that the string partition function on a Euclidean wormhole geometry factorizes completely into factors associated to the two boundaries of spacetime. Central to this is the remarkable property of the moduli space integral of string theory to localize on covering spaces of the conformal boundary of ℳ3. We also emphasize the fact that string perturbation theory computes the grand canonical partition function of the family of theories ⊕N SymN ($$ {\mathbbm{T}}^4 $$ T 4 ). The boundary partition function is naturally expressed as a sum over winding worldsheets, each of which we interpret as a ‘stringy geometry’. We argue that the semi-classical bulk geometry can be understood as a condensate of such stringy geometries. We also briefly discuss the effect of ensemble averaging over the Narain moduli space of $$ {\mathbbm{T}}^4 $$ T 4 and of deforming away from the orbifold by the marginal deformation.

Partition functions of the tensionless string

We consider string theory on AdS3× S3× 𝕋4 in the tensionless limit, with one unit of NS-NS flux. This theory is conjectured to describe the symmetric product orbifold CFT. We consider the string on different Euclidean backgrounds such as thermal AdS3, the BTZ black hole, conical defects and wormhole geometries. In simple examples we compute the full string partition function. We find it to be independent of the precise bulk geometry, but only dependent on the geometry of the conformal boundary. For example, the string partition function on thermal AdS3 and the conical defect with a torus boundary is shown to agree, thus giving evidence for the equivalence of the tensionless string on these different background geometries. We also find that thermal AdS3 and the BTZ black hole are dual descriptions and the vacuum of the BTZ black hole is mapped to a single long string winding many times asymptotically around thermal AdS3. Thus the system yields a concrete example of the string-black hole transition. Consequently, reproducing the boundary partition function does not require a sum over bulk geometries, but rather agrees with the string partition function on any bulk geometry with the appropriate boundary. We argue that the same mechanism can lead to a resolution of the factorization problem when geometries with disconnected boundaries are considered, since the connected and disconnected geometries give the same contribution and we do not have to include them separately.