Abstract We study large c conformal blocks outside the known limits. This work seems to be hard, but it is possible numerically by using the Zamolodchikov recursion relation. As a result, we find new some properties of large c conformal blocks with a pair of two different dimensions for any channel and with various internal dimensions. With light intermediate states, we find a Cardy-like asymptotic formula for large c conformal blocks and also we find that the qualitative behavior of various large c blocks drastically changes when the dimensions of external primary states reach the value c/32. And we proceed to the study of blocks with heavy intermediate states h p and we find some simple dependence on heavy h p for large c blocks. The results in this paper can be applied to, for example, the calculation of OTOC or Entanglement Entropy. In the end, we comment on the application to the conformal bootstrap in large c CFTs.
Abstract In this paper, we study large c Virasoro blocks by using the Zamolodchikov monodromy method beyond its known limits. We give an analytic proof of our recent conjecture [1, 2], which implied that the asymptotics of the large c conformal blocks can be expressed in very simple forms, even if outside its known limits, namely the semiclassical limit or the heavy-light limit. In particular, we analytically discuss the fact that the asymptotic behavior of large c conformal blocks drastically changes when the dimensions of external primary states reach the value
32c c 32 , which is conjectured by our numerical studies. The results presented in this work imply that the general solutions to the Zamolodchikov recursion relation are given by Cardy-like formula, which is an important conclusion that can be numerically drawn from our recent work [1, 2]. Mathematical derivations and analytical results imply that, in the bulk, the collision behavior between two heavy particles may undergo a remarkable transition associated with their masses.
We study the time evolution of Renyi entanglement entropy for locally excited states in two dimensional large central charge CFTs. It generically shows a logarithmical growth and we compute the coefficient of log t term. Our analysis covers the entire parameter regions with respect to the replica number n and the conformal dimension h O of the primary operator which creates the excitation. We numerically analyse relevant vacuum conformal blocks by using Zamolodchikov’s recursion relation. We find that the behavior of the conformal blocks in two dimensional CFTs with a central charge c, drastically changes when the dimensions of external primary states reach the value c/32. In particular, when h O ≥ c/32 and n ≥ 2, we find a new universal formula
ΔSA(n)≃24(n−1)nc log t. Our numerical results also confirm existing analytical results using the HHLL approximation.
Abstract We explore the structures of light cone and Regge limit singularities of n-point Virasoro conformal blocks in c > 1 two-dimensional conformal field theories with no chiral primaries, using fusion matrix approach. These CFTs include not only holographic CFTs dual to classical gravity, but also their full quantum corrections, since this approach allows us to explore full 1/c corrections. As the important applications, we study time dependence of Renyi entropy after a local quench and out-of-time ordered correlator (OTOC) at late time. We first show that, the n-th (n > 2) Renyi entropy after a local quench in our CFT grows logarithmically at late time, for any c and any conformal dimensions of excited primary. In particular, we find that this behavior is independent of c, contrary to the expectation that the finite c correction fixes the late time Renyi entropy to be constant. We also show that the constant part of the late time Renyi entropy is given by a monodromy matrix. We also investigate OTOCs by using the monodromy matrix. We first rewrite the monodromy matrix in terms of fusion matrix explicitly. By this expression, we find that the OTOC decays exponentially in time, and the decay rates are divided into three patterns, depending on the dimensions of external operators. We note that our result is valid for any c > 1 and any external operator dimensions. Our monodromy matrix approach can be generalized to the Liouville theory and we show that the Liouville OTOC approaches constant in the late time regime. We emphasize that, there is a number of other applications of the fusion and the monodromy matrix approaches, such as solving the conformal bootstrap equation. Therefore, it is tempting to believe that the fusion and monodromy matrix approaches provide a key to understanding the AdS/CFT correspondence.
We consider conformal blocks of two heavy operators and an arbitrary number of light operators in a (1+1)-d CFT with large central charge. Using the monodromy method, these higher-point conformal blocks are shown to factorize into products of 4-point conformal blocks in the heavy-light limit for a class of OPE channels. This result is reproduced by considering suitable worldline configurations in the bulk conical defect geometry. We apply the CFT results to calculate the entanglement entropy of an arbitrary number of disjoint intervals for heavy states. The corresponding holographic entanglement entropy calculated via the minimal area prescription precisely matches these results from CFT. Along the way, we briefly illustrate the relation of these conformal blocks to Riemann surfaces and their associated moduli space.
We analyze the operator spectrum of Conformal Field Theories at large conformal dimensions
Delta with and without global symmetries. General constraints of crossing symmetry and unitarity allow us to extract a number of universal properties of heavy operator spectrum perturbatively in
1overDelta.\nFirst, we consider four-point correlators and solve crossing equations in the deep Euclidean regime. Large scaling dimension
Delta tails of the weighted spectral density of primary operators of given spin in one channel are matched to the Euclidean OPE data in the other channel. Subleading
1overDelta tails are systematically captured by including more operators in the Euclidean OPE in the dual channel. We use dispersion relations for conformal partial waves in the complex
Delta plane, the Lorentzian inversion formula and complex tauberian theorems to derive this result. We make predictions for the 3d Ising model.\nSecond, we apply the methods of tauberian theory to modular invariance in 2d CFTs. We derive lower and upper bounds on the number of operators within a given energy interval. At high energies we rigorously derive the Cardy formula for the microcanonical entropy together with optimal error estimates for various widths of the averaging energy shell. We identify a new universal contribution to the microcanonical entropy controlled by the central charge and the width of the shell. We derive an upper bound on the spacings between Virasoro primaries. Analogous results are obtained in holographic 2d CFTs. \nThird, we consider unitary CFTs with continuous global symmetries in
d>2. We consider a state created by the lightest operator of large charge
Qgg1 and analyze the correlator of two light charged operators in this state. Assuming the correlator admits a well-defined large
Q expansion and, relatedly, that the macroscopic (thermodynamic) limit of the correlator exists, we find that the crossing equations admit a consistent truncation, where only a finite number
N of Regge trajectories contribute at leading nontrivial order. We classify all such solutions to the crossing. For one Regge trajectory
N=1, the solution is unique and given by the effective field theory of a Goldstone mode.
This thesis investigates two aspects of Conformal Field Theories (CFTs) in D dimensions. Its first part is devoted to conformal blocks, special functions that arise in the partial wave expansion of CFT four-point functions. We prove that these conformal blocks admit an expansion in terms of polar coordinates and show that the expansion coefficients are determined by recursion relations. Conformal blocks are naturally defined on the complex plane: we study their restriction to the real line, and show that they obey a fourth-order differential equation there. This ODE can be used to efficiently compute conformal blocks and their derivatives in general D. Several applications to the conformal bootstrap program are mentioned.The second half of this thesis investigates RG flows that are defined by perturbing a CFT by a number of relevant operators. We study such flows using the Truncated Conformal Space Approach (TCSA) of Yurov and Zamolodchikov, a numerical method that allows for controlled computations in strongly coupled QFTs. Two different RG flows are considered: the free scalar field deformed by a mass term, and phi^4 theory. The former is used as a benchmark, in order to compare numerical TCSA results to exact predictions. TCSA results for phi^4 theory display spontaneous Z_2 symmetry breaking at strong coupling: we study the spectrum of this theory both in the Z_2-broken and preserved phase, and we compare the critical exponents governing the phase transition to known values. In a separate chapter, we show how truncation errors can be reduced by adding suitable counterterms to the bare TCSA action, following earlier work in two dimensions.