No Arabic abstract
We adopt a combination of analytical and numerical methods to study the renormalization group flow of the most general field theory with quartic interaction in $d=4-epsilon$ with $N=3$ and $N=4$ scalars. For $N=3$, we find that it admits only three nondecomposable critical points: the Wilson-Fisher with $O(3)$ symmetry, the cubic with $H_3=(mathbb{Z}_2)^3rtimes S_3$ symmetry, and the biconical with $O(2)times mathbb{Z}_2$. For $N=4$, our analysis reveals the existence of new nontrivial solutions with discrete symmetries and with up to three distinct field anomalous dimensions.
Fixed points of scalar field theories with quartic interactions in $d=4-varepsilon$ dimensions are considered in full generality. For such theories it is known that there exists a scalar function $A$ of the couplings through which the leading-order beta-function can be expressed as a gradient. It is here proved that the fixed-point value of $A$ is bounded from below by a simple expression linear in the dimension of the vector order parameter, $N$. Saturation of the bound requires a marginal deformation, and is shown to arise when fixed points with the same global symmetry coincide in coupling space. Several general results about scalar CFTs are discussed, and a review of known fixed points is given.
A non-perturbative Renormalization Group approach is used to calculate scaling functions for an O(4) model in d=3 dimensions in the presence of an external symmetry-breaking field. These scaling functions are important for the analysis of critical behavior in the O(4) universality class. For example, the finite-temperature phase transition in QCD with two flavors is expected to fall into this class. Critical exponents are calculated in local potential approximation. Parameterizations of the scaling functions for the order parameter and for the longitudinal susceptibility are given. Relations from universal scaling arguments between these scaling functions are investigated and confirmed. The expected asymptotic behavior of the scaling functions predicted by Griffiths is observed. Corrections to the scaling behavior at large values of the external field are studied qualitatively. These scaling corrections can become large, which might have implications for the scaling analysis of lattice QCD results.
Boundaries in three-dimensional $mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal theories may preserve one half of the original bulk supersymmetry. There are two possibilities which are characterized by the chirality of the leftover supercharges. Depending on the choice, the remaining $2d$ boundary algebra exhibits $mathcal{N}=(0,2)$ or $mathcal{N}=(1,1)$ supersymmetry. In this work we focus on correlation functions of chiral fields for both types of supersymmetric boundaries. We study a host of correlators using superspace techniques and calculate superconformal blocks for two- and three-point functions. For $mathcal{N}=(1,1)$ supersymmetry, some of our results can be analytically continued in the spacetime dimension while keeping the codimension fixed. This opens the door for a bootstrap analysis of the $epsilon$-expansion in supersymmetric BCFTs. Armed with our analytically-continued superblocks, we prove that in the free theory limit two-point functions of chiral (and antichiral) fields are unique. The first order correction, which already describes interactions, is universal up to two free parameters. As a check of our analysis, we study the Wess-Zumino model with a supersymmetric boundary using Feynman diagrams, and find perfect agreement between the perturbative and bootstrap results.
We compute, using the method of large spin perturbation theory, the anomalous dimensions and OPE coefficients of all leading twist operators in the critical $ O(N) $ model, to fourth order in the $ epsilon $-expansion. This is done fully within a bootstrap framework, and generalizes a recent result for the CFT-data of the Wilson-Fisher model. The anomalous dimensions we obtain for the $ O(N) $ singlet operators agree with the literature values, obtained by diagrammatic techniques, while the anomalous dimensions for operators in other representations, as well as all OPE coefficients, are new. From the results for the OPE coefficients, we derive the $ epsilon^4 $ corrections to the central charges $ C_T $ and $ C_J $, which are found to be compatible with the known large $ N $ expansions. Predictions for the central charge in the strongly coupled 3d model, including the 3d Ising model, are made for various values of $ N $, which compare favourably with numerical results and previous predictions.
We study the Ising model in $d=2+epsilon$ dimensions using the conformal bootstrap. As a minimal-model Conformal Field Theory (CFT), the critical Ising model is exactly solvable at $d=2$. The deformation to $d=2+epsilon$ with $epsilonll 1$ furnishes a relatively simple system at strong coupling outside of even dimensions. At $d=2+epsilon$, the scaling dimensions and correlation function coefficients receive $epsilon$-dependent corrections. Using numerical and analytical conformal bootstrap methods in Lorentzian signature, we rule out the possibility that the leading corrections are of order $epsilon^{1}$. The essential conflict comes from the $d$-dependence of conformal symmetry, which implies the presence of new states. A resolution is that there exist corrections of order $epsilon^{1/k}$ where $k>1$ is an integer. The linear independence of conformal blocks plays a central role in our analyses. Since our results are not derived from positivity constraints, this bootstrap approach can be extended to the rigorous studies of non-positive systems, such as non-unitary, defect/boundary and thermal CFTs.