This thesis addresses the problem of extending the Form Factor Bootstrap Program (FFBP), the main tool for computing correlation functions in integrable quantum field theories (IQFTs), to the case of irrelevant deformations, with particular focus on generalised TT-deformations. Such models pose new challenges, including the emergence of a minimal length scale and the loss of strict locality. Relying solely on the exact S-matrix, we construct the minimal form factors of TT-deformed theories and analyze their properties in detail. This resolves longstanding ambiguities in previous constructions and leads to a deeper understanding of both deformed and standard IQFTs.
This thesis addresses the problem of extending the Form Factor Bootstrap Program (FFBP), the main tool for computing correlation functions in integrable quantum field theories (IQFTs), to the case of irrelevant deformations, with particular focus on generalised TT-deformations. Such models pose new challenges, including the emergence of a minimal length scale and the loss of strict locality. Relying solely on the exact S-matrix, we construct the minimal form factors of TT-deformed theories and analyze their properties in detail. This resolves longstanding ambiguities in previous constructions and leads to a deeper understanding of both deformed and standard IQFTs.
Completing the Bootstrap Program for TTˉ-Deformed Massive Integrable Quantum Field Theories
In recent years a considerable amount of attention has been devoted to the investigation of 2D quantum field theories perturbed by certain types of irrelevant operators. These are the composite field TTˉ - constructed out of the components of the stress-energy tensor - and its generalisations - built from higher-spin conserved currents. The effect of such perturbations on the infrared and ultraviolet properties of the theory has been extensively investigated. In the context of integrable quantum field theories, a fruitful perspective is that of factorised scattering theory. In fact, the above perturbations were shown to preserve integrability. The resulting deformed scattering matrices - extensively analysed with the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz - provide the first step in the development of a complete bootstrap program. In this letter we present a systematic approach to computing matrix elements of operators in generalised TTˉ-perturbed models, based on employing the standard form factor program. Our approach is very general and can be applied to all theories with diagonal scattering. We show that the deformed form factors, just as happens for the S-matrix, factorise into the product of the undeformed ones and of a perturbation- and theory-dependent term. From these solutions, correlation functions can be obtained and their asymptotic properties studied. Our results set the foundations of a new research program for massive integrable quantum field theory perturbed by irrelevant operators.
Abstract In recent years a considerable amount of attention has been devoted to the investigation of 2D quantum field theories perturbed by certain types of irrelevant operators. These are the composite field T T ― —constructed out of the components of the stress-energy tensor—and its generalisations—built from higher-spin conserved currents. The effect of such perturbations on the infrared and ultraviolet properties of the theory has been extensively investigated. In the context of integrable quantum field theories, a fruitful perspective is that of factorised scattering theory. In fact, the above perturbations were shown to preserve integrability. The resulting deformed scattering matrices—extensively analysed with the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz—provide the first step in the development of a bootstrap program. In this paper we present a systematic approach to computing matrix elements of operators in generalised T T ― -perturbed models, based on employing the standard form factor program. We show that for theories with diagonal scattering and certain types of fields the deformed form factors, factorise into the product of the undeformed ones and of a perturbation- and theory-dependent term. From these solutions, correlation functions can be obtained and their asymptotic properties studied.
In this paper, we present a method to compute the minimal form factors (MFFs) of diagonal integrable field theories perturbed by generalized TTbar perturbations. Building on existing results by the same authors, these MFFs are constructed in such a way as not to allow for any free parameters, an issue that plagued previous solutions. The MFFs are derived from a generalization of the standard integral representation which has been used for UV-complete theories since the birth of the form factor bootstrap program. By UV-complete we mean theories whose short-distance/high-energy limit is a local conformal field theory. Their asymptotics is characterized by exponential decay at large rapidities. By computing higher particle form factors, we find that any natural higher-particle solutions involve the cancellation of parts of the newly found MFF. We conclude that the assumption that the form factor equations, particularly the kinematic residue equation, remain unchanged in the presence of TTbar perturbations, is too strong. There is a trade-off between having MFFs satisfying desirable analyticity and asymptotic properties and finding analytic solutions to the form factor equations, which is likely solved by nontrivial changes to the form factor equations, especially those where locality or semilocality of fields are essential assumptions.
In this paper, we present a method to compute the minimal form factors (MFFs) of diagonal integrable field theories perturbed by generalized T T ¯ perturbations. Building on existing results by the same authors, these MFFs are constructed in such a way as not to allow for any free parameters, an issue that plagued previous solutions. The MFFs are derived from a generalization of the standard integral representation which has been used for UV-complete theories since the birth of the form factor bootstrap program. By UV-complete we mean theories whose short-distance/high-energy limit is a local conformal field theory. Their asymptotics is characterized by exponential decay at large rapidities. By computing higher particle form factors, we find that any natural higher-particle solutions involve the cancellation of parts of the newly found MFF. We conclude that the assumption that the form factor equations, particularly the kinematic residue equation, remain unchanged in the presence of T T ¯ perturbations, is too strong. There is a trade-off between having MFFs satisfying desirable analyticity and asymptotic properties and finding analytic solutions to the form factor equations, which is likely solved by nontrivial changes to the form factor equations, especially those where locality or semilocality of fields are essential assumptions.
Form Factors and Correlation Functions of TT-Deformed Integrable Quantum Field Theories
The study of TT-perturbed quantum field theories is an active area of research with deep connections to fundamental aspects of the scattering theory of integrable quantum field theories, generalised Gibbs ensembles, and string theory. Many features of these theories, such as the peculiar behaviour of their ground state energy and the form of their scattering matrices, have been studied in the literature. However, so far, very few studies have approached these theories from the viewpoint of the form factor program. From the perspective of scattering theory, the effects of a TT perturbation (and higher spin versions thereof) is encoded in a universal deformation of the two-body scattering matrix by a CDD factor. It is then natural to ask how these perturbations influence the form factor equations and, more generally, the form factor program. In this paper, we address this question for free theories, although some of our results extend more generally. We show that the form factor equations admit general solutions and how these can help us study the distinct behaviour of correlation functions at short distances in theories perturbed by irrelevant operators.
Entanglement Entropy from Form Factors in TTˉ-Deformed Integrable Quantum Field Theories
In two recent papers we have proposed a program of study which allows us to compute the correlation functions of local and semi-local fields in generalised TTˉ-deformed integrable quantum field theories. This new program, based on the construction of form factors, opens many avenues for future study, one of which we address in this paper: computing entanglement measures employing branch point twist fields. Indeed, over the past 15 years, this has become one the leading methods for the computation of entanglement measures, both in conformal field theory and integrable quantum field theory. Thus the generalisation of this program to TTˉ-perturbed theories offers a promising new tool for the study of entanglement measures in the presence of irrelevant perturbations. In this paper, we show that the natural two-particle form factor solution for branch point twist fields in replica theories with diagonal scattering admits a simple generalisation to a solution for TTˉ-perturbed theories. Starting with this solution, some of the known properties of entanglement measures in massive integrable quantum field theories can be generalised to the perturbed models. We show this by focusing on the Ising field theory. During the completion of this paper, we became aware of a recent publication where the same problem has been addressed.