We study interacting theories of N left-moving and N ¯ right-moving Floreanini-Jackiw bosons in two dimensions. A parametrized family of such theories is shown to enjoy (nonmanifest) Lorentz invariance if and only if its Lagrangian obeys a flow equation driven by a function of the energy-momentum tensor. We discuss the canonical quantization of such theories along classical stress tensor flows, focusing on the case of the root- T T ¯ deformation, where we obtain perturbative results for the deformed spectrum in a certain large-momentum limit. In the special case N = N ¯ , we consider the quantum effective action for the root- T T ¯ -deformed theory by expanding around a general classical background, and we find that the one-loop contribution vanishes for backgrounds with constant scalar gradients. Our analysis can also be interpreted via dual U ( 1 ) Chern-Simons theories in three dimensions, which might be used to describe deformations of charged AdS 3 black holes or quantum Hall systems. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
We study interacting theories of N left-moving and N ¯ right-moving Floreanini-Jackiw bosons in two dimensions. A parametrized family of such theories is shown to enjoy (nonmanifest) Lorentz invariance if and only if its Lagrangian obeys a flow equation driven by a function of the energy-momentum tensor. We discuss the canonical quantization of such theories along classical stress tensor flows, focusing on the case of the root- T T ¯ deformation, where we obtain perturbative results for the deformed spectrum in a certain large-momentum limit. In the special case N = N ¯ , we consider the quantum effective action for the root- T T ¯ -deformed theory by expanding around a general classical background, and we find that the one-loop contribution vanishes for backgrounds with constant scalar gradients. Our analysis can also be interpreted via dual U ( 1 ) Chern-Simons theories in three dimensions, which might be used to describe deformations of charged AdS 3 black holes or quantum Hall systems. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
On the flow of states under TT
We study the 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 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 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.
On the flow of states under TT
We study the 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 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 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.
Smirnov and Zamolodchikov recently introduced a new class of two-dimensional quantum field theories, defined through a differential change of any existing theory by the determinant of the energy-momentum tensor. From this TT flow equation one can find a simple expression for both the energy spectrum and the S-matrix of the TT deformed theories. Our goal is to find the renormalized Lagrangian of the TT deformed theories. In the context of the TT deformation of an integrable theory, the deformed theory is also integrable and, correspondingly, the S-matrix factorizes into two-to-two S-matrices. One may thus hope to be able to extract the renormalized Lagrangian from the S-matrix. We do this explicitly for the TT deformation of a free massive scalar, to second order in the deformation parameter. Once one has the renormalized Lagrangian one can, in principle, compute all other observables, such as correlation functions. We briefly discuss this, as well as the relation between the renormalized Lagrangian, the TT flow equation, and the S-matrix. We also mention a more general class of integrability-preserving deformations of a free scalar field theory.
Abstract We study TT T T ¯ deformations of chiral bosons using the formalism due to Sen. For arbitrary numbers of left- and right-chiral bosons, we find that the TT T T ¯ -deformed Lagrangian can be computed in closed form, giving rise to a novel non-local action in Sen’s formalism. We establish that at the limit of infinite TT T T ¯ coupling, the equations of motion of deformed theory exhibits chiral decoupling. We then turn to a discussion of TT T T ¯ -deformed chiral fermions, and point out that the stress tensor of the TT T T ¯ -deformed free fermion coincides with the undeformed seed theory. We explain this behaviour of the stress tensor by noting that the deformation term in the action is purely topological in nature and closely resembles the fermionic Wess-Zumino term in the Green-Schwarz formalism. In turn, this observation also explains a puzzle in the literature, viz. why the TT T T ¯ deformation of multiple free fermions truncate at linear order. We conclude by discussing the possibility of an interplay between TT T T ¯ deformations and bosonisation.
T T ¯ TT -deformed 2D quantum field theories
It was noticed many years ago, in the framework of massless RG flows, that the irrelevant composite operator TT , built with the components of the energy-momentum tensor, enjoys very special properties in 2D quantum field theories, and can be regarded as a peculiar kind of integrable perturbation. Novel interesting features of this operator have recently emerged from the study of effective string theory models. In this paper we study further properties of this distinguished perturbation. We discuss how it affects the energy levels and one-point functions of a general 2D QFT in finite volume through a surprising relation with a simple hydrodynamic equation. In the case of the perturbation of CFTs, adapting a result by Lüscher and Weisz we give a compact expression for the partition function on a finite-length cylinder and make a connection with the exact g-function method. We argue that, at the classical level, the deformation naturally maps the action of N massless free bosons into the Nambu-Goto action in static gauge, in N + 2 target space dimensions, and we briefly discuss a possible interpretation of this result in the context of effective string models.
TTˉ Deformations of Quantum Field theory
Recent work by Zamolodchikov and others has uncovered a kind of "solvable" irrelevant deformation of two dimensional QFT generated by the composite operator T T .The irrelevant composite operator T T is built with the components of the energy-momentum tensor.The T T deformation can be regarded as a peculiar kind of integrable perturbation of integrable quantum field theories (IQFT).In the holographic dual, this deformation represents a geometric cutoff of the asymptotic region of AdS.The QFT is placed on a Dirichlet boundary at finite radial distance in the bulk.In this thesis we consider the problem of exact integration of the T T deformation of two dimensional quantum field theories, as well as some higher dimensional extensions in the form of T T deformations.When the action can be shown to only depend algebraically on the background metric the solution of the deformation equation on the Lagrangian can be given in closed form in terms of solutions of the (extended) Burgers' equation.We present such examples in two and higher dimensions.