We study the stress tensor multiplet four-point function in the 3d maximally supersymmetric ABJ(M) theory with Chern-Simons level $k=2$, which in the large $N$ limit is holographically dual to weakly coupled M-theory on $AdS_4times S^7/mathbb{Z}_2$.
We use the Lorentzian inversion to compute the 1-loop correction to this holographic correlator coming from Witten diagrams with supergravity $R$ and the first higher derivative correction $R^4$ vertices, up to a finite number of contact terms that contribute to low spins where the inversion formula does not converge. We find a precise match with the corresponding terms in the 11d M-theory S-matrix by taking the flat space limit, which is not sensitive to these contact terms. We then conjecturally fix these contact terms by analytically continuing the inversion formula below its expected range of convergence, and verify this conjecture using supersymmetric localization. Finally, we compare some of the 1-loop CFT data to non-perturbative in $N$ bounds from the numerical conformal bootstrap, which we compute at unprecedently high accuracy, and find that the 1-loop corrections saturate the bounds in the large $N$ regime, which extends the previously observed match at tree level.
We study the critical $O(3)$ model using the numerical conformal bootstrap. In particular, we use a recently developed cutting-surface algorithm to efficiently map out the allowed space of CFT data from correlators involving the leading $O(3)$ single
t $s$, vector $phi$, and rank-2 symmetric tensor $t$. We determine their scaling dimensions to be $(Delta_{s}, Delta_{phi}, Delta_{t}) = (0.518942(51), 1.59489(59), 1.20954(23))$, and also bound various OPE coefficients. We additionally introduce a new ``tip-finding algorithm to compute an upper bound on the leading rank-4 symmetric tensor $t_4$, which we find to be relevant with $Delta_{t_4} < 2.99056$. The conformal bootstrap thus provides a numerical proof that systems described by the critical $O(3)$ model, such as classical Heisenberg ferromagnets at the Curie transition, are unstable to cubic anisotropy.
We study modular invariants arising in the four-point functions of the stress tensor multiplet operators of the ${cal N} = 4$ $SU(N)$ super-Yang-Mills theory, in the limit where $N$ is taken to be large while the complexified Yang-Mills coupling $tau
$ is held fixed. The specific four-point functions we consider are integrated correlators obtained by taking various combinations of four derivatives of the squashed sphere partition function of the ${cal N} = 2^*$ theory with respect to the squashing parameter $b$ and mass parameter $m$, evaluated at the values $b=1$ and $m=0$ that correspond to the ${cal N} = 4$ theory on a round sphere. At each order in the $1/N$ expansion, these fourth derivatives are modular invariant functions of $(tau, bar tau)$. We present evidence that at half-integer orders in $1/N$, these modular invariants are linear combinations of non-holomorphic Eisenstein series, while at integer orders in $1/N$, they are certain generalized Eisenstein series which satisfy inhomogeneous Laplace eigenvalue equations on the hyperbolic plane. These results reproduce known features of the low-energy expansion of the four-graviton amplitude in type IIB superstring theory in ten-dimensional flat space and have interesting implications for the structure of the analogous expansion in $AdS_5times S^5$.
We study the stress tensor multiplet four-point function in the 6d maximally supersymmetric $(2,0)$ $A_{N-1}$ and $D_N$ theories, which have no Lagrangian description, but in the large $N$ limit are holographically dual to weakly coupled M-theory on
$AdS_7times S^4$ and $AdS_7times S^4/mathbb{Z}_2$, respectively. We use the analytic bootstrap to compute the 1-loop correction to this holographic correlator coming from Witten diagrams with supergravity $R$ and the first higher derivative correction $R^4$ vertices, which is the first 1-loop correction computed for a non-Lagrangian theory. We then take the flat space limit and find precise agreement with the corresponding terms in the 11d M-theory S-matrix, some of which we compute for the first time using two-particle unitarity cuts.
We develop new tools for isolating CFTs using the numerical bootstrap. A cutting surface algorithm for scanning OPE coefficients makes it possible to find islands in high-dimensional spaces. Together with recent progress in large-scale semidefinite p
rogramming, this enables bootstrap studies of much larger systems of correlation functions than was previously practical. We apply these methods to correlation functions of charge-0, 1, and 2 scalars in the 3d $O(2)$ model, computing new precise values for scaling dimensions and OPE coefficients in this theory. Our new determinations of scaling dimensions are consistent with and improve upon existing Monte Carlo simulations, sharpening the existing decades-old $8sigma$ discrepancy between theory and experiment.
We study various aspects of the M-theory uplift of the $A_{N-1}$ series of $(2,0)$ CFTs in 6d, which describe the worldvolume theory of $N$ M5 branes in flat space. We show how knowledge of OPE coefficients and scaling dimensions for this CFT can be
directly translated into features of the momentum expansion of M-theory. In particular, we develop the expansion of the four-graviton S-matrix in M-theory via the flat space limit of four-point Mellin amplitudes. This includes correctly reproducing the known contribution of the $R^4$ term from 6d CFT data. Central to the calculation are the OPE coefficients for half-BPS operators not in the stress tensor multiplet, which we obtain for finite $N$ via the previously conjectured relation [arXiv:1404.1079] between the quantum ${cal W}_N$ algebra and the $A_{N-1}$ $(2,0)$ CFT. We further explain how the $1/N$ expansion of ${cal W}_N$ structure constants exhibits the structure of protected vertices in the M-theory action. Conversely, our results provide strong evidence for the chiral algebra conjecture.
