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arXiv:2205.11190 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Boundary conditions and anomalies of conformal field theories in 1 + 1 dimensions

Linhao Li, Chang-Tse Hsieh, Yuan Yao, Masaki Oshikawa

Published Jul 11, 2024• 9 citations
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Abstract

We study a relationship between conformally invariant boundary conditions and anomalies of conformal field theories (CFTs) in $1+1$ dimensions. For a given CFT with a global symmetry, we consider symmetric ``gapping potentials'', which are relevant perturbations to the CFT. If a gapping potential is introduced only in a subregion of the system, it provides a certain boundary condition to the CFT. From this equivalence, if there exists a Cardy boundary state, which is invariant under a symmetry, then the CFT can be gapped with a unique ground state by adding the corresponding gapping potential. This means that the symmetry of the CFT is anomaly free. Using this approach, we systematically deduce the anomaly-free conditions for various types of CFTs with several different symmetries. They include the free compact boson theory, Wess-Zumino-Witten models, and unitary minimal models. When the symmetry of the CFT is anomalous, it implies a Lieb-Schultz-Mattis type ingappability of the system. Our results are consistent with, where available, known results in the literature. Moreover, we extend the discussion to other symmetries including spin groups and generalized time-reversal symmetries.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.110.045118

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We study a relationship between conformally invariant boundary conditions and anomalies of conformal field theories (CFTs) in 1+11+11+1 dimensions. For a given CFT with a global symmetry, we consider symmetric ``gapping potentials'', which are relevant perturbations to the CFT. If a gapping potential is introduced only in a subregion of the system, it provides a certain boundary condition to the CFT. From this equivalence, if there exists a Cardy boundary state, which is invariant under a symmetry, then the CFT can be gapped with a unique ground state by adding the corresponding gapping potential. This means that the symmetry of the CFT is anomaly free. Using this approach, we systematically deduce the anomaly-free conditions for various types of CFTs with several different symmetries. They include the free compact boson theory, Wess-Zumino-Witten models, and unitary minimal models. When the symmetry of the CFT is anomalous, it implies a Lieb-Schultz-Mattis type ingappability of the system. Our results are consistent with, where available, known results in the literature. Moreover, we extend the discussion to other symmetries including spin groups and generalized time-reversal symmetries.
We propose a diagnostic tool for detecting nontrivial symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases protected by a symmetry group GGG in 2+12+12+1 dimensions. Our method is based on directly studying the 1+11+11+1-dimensional anomalous edge conformal field theory (CFT) of SPT phases. We claim that if the CFT is the edge theory of an SPT phase, then there must be an obstruction to cutting it open. This obstruction manifests as the in-existence of boundary states in the CFT that preserves both the conformal symmetry and the global symmetry GGG. We discuss the relation between edgeability, i.e., the ability to find a consistent boundary state, and gappability, i.e., the ability to gap out a CFT, in the presence of GGG. We study several cases including time-reversal symmetric topological insulators, ZN{\mathbb{Z}}_{N}ZN​ symmetric bosonic SPT phases, and ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ symmetric topological superconductors.
Anomalies are renormalization group invariants that constrain the dynamics of quantum field theories. We show that certain anomalies for discrete global symmetries imply that the underlying theory either spontaneously breaks its generalized global symmetry or is gapless. We identify an obstruction, formulated in terms of the anomaly inflow action, that must vanish if a symmetry preserving gapped phase, i.e. a unitary topological quantum field theory, exits with the given anomaly. Our result is similar to the 2d2d2d Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorem but applies more broadly to continuum theories in general spacetime dimension with various types of discrete symmetries including higher-form global symmetries. As a particular application, we use our result to prove that certain 4d4d4d non-abelian gauge theories at θ=πθ=πθ=π cannot flow at long distances to a phase which simultaneously, preserves time-reversal symmetry, is confining, and is gapped. We also apply our obstruction to 4d4d4d adjoint QCD and constrain its dynamics.
We incorporate the microscopic assumptions that lead to a certain generalization of the Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) theorem for one-dimensional spin chains into the conformal bootstrap. Our approach accounts for the ``LSM anomaly'' possessed by these spin chains through a combination of modular bootstrap and correlator bootstrap of symmetry defect operators. Specifically, we obtain universal bounds on the local operator content of (1+1)d(1+1)d(1+1)d conformal field theories (CFTs) that could describe translationally invariant lattice Hamiltonians with a ${\mathbb{Z}}_{N}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{Z}}_{N}$ symmetry realized projectively at each site. We assume, for such models, that in the CFT the lattice translation symmetry is realized as an emanant internal ZN{\mathbb{Z}}_{N}ZN​ symmetry. We present bounds on local operators both with and without refinement by their global symmetry representations. Interestingly, we can obtain nontrivial bounds on charged operators when NNN is odd, which turns out to be impossible with modular bootstrap alone. Our bounds exhibit distinctive kinks, some of which are approximately saturated by known theories and others that are unexplained. We discuss additional scenarios with the properties necessary for our bounds to apply, including certain multicritical points between (1+1)d(1+1)d(1+1)d symmetry protected topological phases, where we argue that the anomaly studied in our bootstrap calculations should emerge.
Abstract Quantum phase transitions out of a symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase in (1 + 1) dimensions into an adjacent, topologically distinct SPT phase protected by the same symmetry or a trivial gapped phase, are typically described by a conformal field theory (CFT). At the same time, the low-lying entanglement spectrum of a gapped phase close to such a quantum critical point is known (Cho et al arXiv:1603.04016), very generally, to be universal and described by (gapless) boundary conformal field theory. Using this connection we show that symmetry properties of the boundary conditions in boundary CFT can be used to characterize the symmetry-protected degeneracies of the entanglement spectrum, a hallmark of non-trivial symmetry-protected topological phases. Specifically, we show that the relevant boundary CFT is the orbifold of the quantum critical point with respect to the symmetry group defining the SPT, and that the boundary states of this orbifold carry a quantum anomaly that determines the topological class of the SPT. We illustrate this connection using various characteristic examples such as the time-reversal breaking ‘Kitaev chain’ superconductor (symmetry class D), the Haldane phase, and the Z 8 classification of interacting topological superconductors in symmetry class BDI in (1 + 1) dimensions.
We study (1+1)-dimensional SU(N) spin systems in the presence of global SU(N) rotation and lattice translation symmetries. Knowing the mixed anomaly of the two symmetries at low energy, we identify, by the anomaly matching argument, a topological index for the spin model-the total number of Young-tableau boxes of spins per unit cell modulo N-characterizing the "ingappability" of the system. A nontrivial index implies either a ground-state degeneracy in a gapped phase, which can be thought of as a field-theory version of the Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorem, or a restriction of the possible universality classes in a critical phase, regarded as the symmetry-protected critical phases. As an example of the latter case, we show that only a class of SU(N) Wess-Zumino-Witten theories can be realized in the low-energy limit of the given lattice model in the presence of the symmetries. Similar constraints also apply when a higher global symmetry emerges in the model with a lower symmetry. Our results agree with several examples known in previous studies of SU(N) models, and predict a general constraint on the structure factor which is measurable in experiments.
Non-trivial 't Hooft anomaly obstructs the existence of a simple symmetric conformal boundary condition in a CFT. Conversely, there is a common piece of lore that trivial 't Hooft anomaly promises the existence of a simple symmetry conformal boundary condition in a given CFT. Recently, counter examples to this lore was realized in tetracritical Ising CFT [1] and compact boson [2] -- the simple conformal boundary conditions preserving certain anomaly-free subsymmetry are absent in these CFTs. In this work, we uncover the underlying reason for the absence of these boundary conditions in counter examples, and propose a criterion diagnosing when the lore fails for any given 2d CFT. The Symmetry TFT description for boundary conditions plays a crucial role.