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arXiv:1710.08415 · SciPost Physics

An integrable Lorentz-breaking deformation of two-dimensional CFTs

Monica Guica

Published Nov 12, 2018• 202 citations
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Abstract

It has been recently shown that the deformation of an arbitrary two-dimensional conformal field theory by the composite irrelevant operator T \bar T T T ‾ , built from the components of the stress tensor, is solvable; in particular, the finite-size spectrum of the deformed theory can be obtained from that of the original CFT through a universal formula. We study a similarly universal, Lorentz-breaking deformation of two-dimensional CFTs that possess a conserved U(1) U ( 1 ) current, J J . The deformation takes the schematic form J \bar T J T ‾ and is interesting because it preserves an SL(2,\mathbb{R}) \times U(1) S L ( 2 , ℝ ) × U ( 1 ) subgroup of the original global conformal symmetries. For the case of a purely (anti)chiral current, we find the finite-size spectrum of the deformed theory and study its thermodynamic properties. We test our predictions in a simple example involving deformed free fermions.

DOI
10.21468/scipostphys.5.5.048

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It has been recently shown that the deformation of an arbitrary two-dimensional conformal field theory by the composite irrelevant operator T \bar T T T ‾ , built from the components of the stress tensor, is solvable; in particular, the finite-size spectrum of the deformed theory can be obtained from that of the original CFT through a universal formula. We study a similarly universal, Lorentz-breaking deformation of two-dimensional CFTs that possess a conserved U(1) U ( 1 ) current, J J . The deformation takes the schematic form J \bar T J T ‾ and is interesting because it preserves an SL(2,\mathbb{R}) \times U(1) S L ( 2 , ℝ ) × U ( 1 ) subgroup of the original global conformal symmetries. For the case of a purely (anti)chiral current, we find the finite-size spectrum of the deformed theory and study its thermodynamic properties. We test our predictions in a simple example involving deformed free fermions.
Abstract The deformation, built from the components of the stress tensor and of a current, is a universal irrelevant deformation of two-dimensional CFTs that preserves the left-moving conformal symmetry, while breaking locality on the right-moving side. Operators in the -deformed CFT are naturally labeled by the left-moving position and right-moving momentum and transform in representations of the one-dimensional extended conformal group. We derive an all-orders formula for the spectrum of conformal dimensions and charges of the deformed CFT, which we cross-check at leading order using conformal perturbation theory. We also compute the linear corrections to the one-dimensional OPE coefficients and comment on the extent to which the correlation functions in -deformed CFTs can be obtained from field-dependent coordinate transformations.
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A general definition of JTaJT_aJTa​ -- deformed QFTs
We propose a general path-integral definition of two-dimensional quantum field theories deformed by an integrable, irrelevant vector operator constructed from the components of the stress tensor and those of a U(1) current. The deformed theory is obtained by coupling the original QFT to a flat dynamical gauge field and ``half'' a flat dynamical vielbein. The resulting partition function is shown to satisfy a geometric flow equation, which perfectly reproduces the flow equations for the deformed energy levels that were previously derived in the literature. The S-matrix of the deformed QFT differs from the original S-matrix only by an overall phase factor that depends on the charges and momenta of the external particles, thus supporting the conjecture that such QFTs are UV complete, although intrinsically non-local. For the special case of an integrable QFT, we check that this phase factor precisely reproduces the change in the finite-size spectrum via the Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz equations.
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In this paper, we study the entanglement entropy of a single interval on a cylinder in two-dimensional TT‾T\overline{T}TT-deformed conformal field theory (CFT). For such case, the (R\'enyi) entanglement entropy takes a universal form in a CFT. We compute the correction due to the deformation up to the leading order of the deformation parameter in the framework of the conformal perturbation theory. We find that the correction to the entanglement entropy is nonvanishing in the finite temperature case, while it is vanishing in the finite size case. For the deformed holographic large ccc CFT, which is proposed to be dual to a AdS3{\mathrm{AdS}}_{3}AdS3​ gravity in a finite region, we find the agreement with the holographic entanglement entropy via the Ryu-Takayanagi formula. Moreover, we compute the leading order correction to the R\'enyi entropy, and discuss its holographic picture as well.
On the flow of states under TT‾T\overline{T}TT
We study the TT‾T\overline{T}TT deformation of two dimensional quantum field theories from a Hamiltonian point of view, focusing on aspects of the theory in Lorentzian signature. Our starting point is a simple rewriting of the spatial integral of the TT‾T\overline{T}TT operator, which directly implies the deformed energy spectrum of the theory. Using this rewriting, we then derive flow equations for various quantities in the deformed theory, such as energy eigenstates, operators, and correlation functions. On the plane, we find that the deformation merely has the effect of implementing successive canonical/Bogoliubov transformations along the flow. This leads us to define a class of non-local, 'dressed' operators (including a dressed stress tensor) which satisfy the same commutation relations as in the undeformed theory. This further implies that on the plane, the deformed theory retains its symmetry algebra, including conformal symmetry, if the original theory is a CFT. On the cylinder the TT‾T\overline{T}TT deformation is much more non-trivial, but even so, correlation functions of certain dressed operators are integral transforms of the original ones. Finally, we propose a tensor network interpretation of our results in the context of AdS/CFT.