This thesis aims to explore the structure of CFTs with global internal symmetries and beyond via the Large-Charge Expansion (LCE), a semi-classical expansion applicable for states with large global quantum numbers. In the first part of this thesis we study CFT and SSB. We discuss the symmetry-constraints imposed by conformal invariance, introduce the concept of CFT data and the OPE. Concerning SSB, we discuss the existence of NG modes, the general counting rule for the number of NG modes under the spontaneous breaking of global internal symmetries and a generalization of the Goldstone theorem at finite density. In the second part of this thesis we discuss the current state-of-the-art understanding of the LCE and systematically study CFTs with a global O(2) symmetry in the context of the LCE. We discuss the emergence of effective condensed-matter descriptions, in particular superfluids, in correlators involving states with large global quantum numbers. We then use the superfluid EFT description to systematically study two-, three- and four-point functions for CFTs with a global O(2) symmetry. In the last part of this thesis we study CFTs in the double-scaling limit of large charge and large N . We discuss the D = 3 WF fixed point at large N and derive the leading order asymptotics at large charge Q in the double scaling limit Q/N fixed. Next, we use a fixed-charge approach to gain access to the leading order effective potential for the quartic theory, which we then study for spacetime dimensions 2 < D < 6. In D = 3, we reproduce and extend old results originally found by re-summing Feynman diagrams. Finally, we discuss the interacting fixed points of three-dimensional fermionic CFTs in the double-scaling limit. While the GN model exhibits a Fermi-sphere description at large charge, whose fate at finite N is yet to be determined, for the NJL-type models we find a BEC.
This thesis explores the application of semiclassical methods in the study of states with large quantum numbers for theories invariant under internal symmetries. In the first part of the thesis, we study zero-temperature superfluids. These provide a general description of many systems at finite charge density. In particular, we derive a universal effective field theory description for non-Abelian superfluids. Such construction illustrates the role of gapped Goldstones, Goldstone modes whose gap is fixed by the symmetry, and may be as large as the strong coupling scale of the system. The second and third part of the thesis are devoted to the study of operators with large internal charge in strongly coupled conformal field theories. Using effective field theory techniques, we derive universal results for the spectrum of scaling dimensions and the OPE coefficients in a large charge expansion, both for theories invariant under Abelian and non-Abelian symmetry groups. We also extend these results to operators with large spin as well as large internal charge. The last part of this thesis studies operators with large internal charge within the ε-expansion. We show how, using a semiclassical approach, one can overcome the breakdown of diagrammatic perturbation theory for the multi-legged amplitudes associated with these operators. These results provide a concrete illustration of the systematic large charge expansion discussed in the previous parts.
This thesis studies the asymptotic spectrum of three-dimensional conformal field theories with a global U(1) symmetry. Using a thermal effective action on S1 x S2, with sources for rotation and charge, we derive the coarse-grained density of states at large scaling dimension, spin, and charge. Conformal characters are used to distinguish fixed angular momentum component along a fixed direction from fixed total spin and to remove descendants, yielding an explicit asymptotic density of primary operators. At leading order, the result depends on the thermal free-energy coefficient and the charge susceptibility; charge produces a Gaussian suppression whose form is determined by an inverse Laplace–Fourier transform. We establish the regime in which the high-temperature, small-holonomy, and saddle-point approximations are controlled. A formal continuation towards the spectral edge reproduces the expected large-charge scaling Delta ~ q^3/2 and a small-spin correction J^2/q^3/2, but cannot determine their coefficients reliably because the relevant holonomy is of order one. The framework is tested in free scalar and fermion theories and against Kerr–Newman–AdS thermodynamics through the AdS/CFT correspondence.
A bstract We consider correlators for the flux of energy and charge in the background of operators with large global U(1) charge in conformal field theory (CFT). It has recently been shown that the corresponding Euclidean correlators generically admit a semiclassical description in terms of the effective field theory (EFT) for a conformal superfluid. We adapt the semiclassical description to Lorentzian observables and compute the leading large charge behavior of the flux correlators in general U(1) symmetric CFTs. We discuss the regime of validity of the large charge EFT for these Lorentzian observables and the subtleties in extending the EFT approach to subleading corrections. We also consider the Wilson-Fisher fixed point in d = 4 − ϵ dimensions, which offers a specific weakly coupled realization of the general setup, where the subleading corrections can be systematically computed without relying on an EFT.
The large-charge master field which generates all n -point correlation functions with an insertion of large charge Q in nonrelativistic conformal field theory is obtained. This field is used to compute Schrödinger-invariant n -point correlation functions of large-charge operators via a direct evaluation of the path integral. Conformal dimensions are found to agree with calculations based on the state-operator correspondence. The master field solution exhibits an emergent harmonic trap whose frequency is a function of the Euclidean time. The large-charge effective action with operator insertions describes a droplet of superfluid matter whose spatial size scales with the time separation of sources. The solution is used to compute Schrödinger symmetry breaking corrections in the large-charge effective field theory (EFT) due to a finite scattering length in the fundamental theory of fermions near unitarity. The scaling of these effects in the large-charge power counting scheme is established, and the size of the effects is quantified using input from quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the near-unitary gas, as well as from the large- N expansion at large charge. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
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.
We study Schrödinger invariant field theories (nonrelativistic conformal field theories) in the large charge (particle number) sector. We do so by constructing the effective field theory (EFT) for a Goldstone boson of the associated U(1) symmetry in a harmonic potential. This EFT can be studied semi-classically in a large charge expansion. We calculate the dimensions of the lowest lying operators, as well as correlation functions of charged operators. We find universal behavior of three point function in large charge sector. We comment on potential applications to fermions at unitarity and critical anyon systems.