A roadmap for bootstrapping critical gauge theories: decoupling operators of conformal field theories in $d>2$ dimensions

We propose a roadmap for bootstrapping conformal field theories (CFTs) described by gauge theories in dimensions d>2d>2. In particular, we provide a simple and workable answer to the question of how to detect the gauge group in the bootstrap calculation. Our recipe is based on the notion of decoupling operator, which has a simple (gauge) group theoretical origin, and is reminiscent of the null operator of 2d2d Wess-Zumino-Witten CFTs in higher dimensions. Using the decoupling operator we can efficiently detect the rank (i.e. color number) of gauge groups, e.g., by imposing gap conditions in the CFT spectrum. We also discuss the physics of the equation of motion, which has interesting consequences in the CFT spectrum as well. As an application of our recipes, we study a prototypical critical gauge theory, namely the scalar QED which has a U(1)U(1) gauge field interacting with critical bosons. We show that the scalar QED can be solved by conformal bootstrap, namely we have obtained its kinks and islands in both d=3d=3 and d=2+\epsilond=2+ϵ dimensions.

1-form symmetry, isolated $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 SCFTs, and Calabi-Yau threefolds

We systematically study 4D $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 superconformal field theories (SCFTs) that can be constructed via type IIB string theory on isolated hypersurface singularities (IHSs) embedded in ℂ4. We show that if a theory in this class has no $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2-preserving exactly marginal deformation (i.e., the theory is isolated as an $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 SCFT), then it has no 1-form symmetry. This situation is somewhat reminiscent of 1-form symmetry and decomposition in 2D quantum field theory. Moreover, our result suggests that, for theories arising from IHSs, 1-form symmetries originate from gauge groups (with vanishing beta functions). One corollary of our discussion is that there is no 1-form symmetry in IHS theories that have all Coulomb branch chiral ring generators of scaling dimension less than two. In terms of the a and c central charges, this condition implies that IHS theories satisfying $$ a<\frac{1}{24}\left(15r+2f\right) $$ a < 1 24 15 r + 2 f and $$ c<\frac{1}{6}\left(3r+f\right) $$ c < 1 6 3 r + f (where r is the complex dimension of the Coulomb branch, and f is the rank of the continuous 0-form flavor symmetry) have no 1-form symmetry. After reviewing the 1-form symmetries of other classes of theories, we are motivated to conjecture that general interacting 4D $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 SCFTs with all Coulomb branch chiral ring generators of dimension less than two have no 1-form symmetry.

Tensor renormalization group and the volume independence in 2D U(N) and SU(N) gauge theories

The tensor renormalization group method is a promising approach to lattice field theories, which is free from the sign problem unlike standard Monte Carlo methods. One of the remaining issues is the application to gauge theories, which is so far limited to U(1) and SU(2) gauge groups. In the case of higher rank, it becomes highly nontrivial to restrict the number of representations in the character expansion to be used in constructing the fundamental tensor. We propose a practical strategy to accomplish this and demonstrate it in 2D U(N) and SU(N) gauge theories, which are exactly solvable. Using this strategy, we obtain the singular-value spectrum of the fundamental tensor, which turns out to have a definite profile in the large-N limit. For the U(N) case, in particular, we show that the large-N behavior of the singular-value spectrum changes qualitatively at the critical coupling of the Gross-Witten-Wadia phase transition. As an interesting consequence, we find a new type of volume independence in the large-N limit of the 2D U(N) gauge theory with the θ term in the strong coupling phase, which goes beyond the Eguchi-Kawai reduction.

Folding orthosymplectic quivers

Folding identical legs of a simply-laced quiver creates a quiver with a non-simply laced edge. So far, this has been explored for quivers containing unitary gauge groups. In this paper, orthosymplectic quivers are folded, giving rise to a new family of quivers. This is realised by intersecting orientifolds in the brane system. The monopole formula for these non-simply laced orthosymplectic quivers is introduced. Some of the folded quivers have Coulomb branches that are closures of minimal nilpotent orbits of exceptional algebras, thus providing a new construction of these fundamental moduli spaces. Moreover, a general family of folded orthosymplectic quivers is shown to be a new magnetic quiver realisation of Higgs branches of 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 theories. The Hasse (phase) diagrams of certain families are derived via quiver subtraction as well as Kraft-Procesi transitions in the brane system.

Quantum error correction and large $N$

In recent years quantum error correction (QEC) has become an important part of AdS/CFT. Unfortunately, there are no field-theoretic arguments about why QEC holds in known holographic systems. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by studying the error correcting properties of the fermionic sector of various large NN theories. Specifically we examine SU(N)SU(N) matrix quantum mechanics and 3-rank tensor O(N)^3O(N)3 theories. Both of these theories contain large gauge groups. We argue that gauge singlet states indeed form a quantum error correcting code. Our considerations are based purely on large NN analysis and do not appeal to a particular form of Hamiltonian or holography.

Gauge groups and bialgebroids

We study the Ehresmann–Schauenburg bialgebroid of a noncommutative principal bundle as a quantization of the gauge groupoid of a classical principal bundle. We show that the gauge group of the noncommutative bundle is isomorphic to the group of bisections of the bialgebroid, and we give a crossed module structure for the bisections and the automorphisms of the bialgebroid. Examples include: Galois objects of Taft algebras, a monopole bundle over a quantum sphere and a not faithfully flat Hopf–Galois extension of commutative algebras. For each of the latter two examples, there is in fact a suitable invertible antipode for the bialgebroid making it a Hopf algebroid.

Non-abelian anyons and some cousins of the Arad-Herzog conjecture

Long ago, Arad and Herzog (AH) conjectured that, in finite simple groups, the product of two conjugacy classes of length greater than one is never a single conjugacy class. We discuss implications of this conjecture for non-abelian anyons in 2 + 1-dimensional discrete gauge theories. Thinking in this way also suggests closely related statements about finite simple groups and their associated discrete gauge theories. We prove these statements and provide some physical intuition for their validity. Finally, we explain that the lack of certain dualities in theories with non-abelian finite simple gauge groups provides a non-trivial check of the AH conjecture.

Non-perturbative heterotic duals of M-theory on G2 orbifolds

By fibering the duality between the E8 × E8 heterotic string on T3 and M-theory on K3, we study heterotic duals of M-theory compactified on G2 orbifolds of the form T7/$$ {\mathbb{Z}}_2^3 $$ ℤ 2 3 . While the heterotic compactification space is straightforward, the description of the gauge bundle is subtle, involving the physics of point-like instantons on orbifold singularities. By comparing the gauge groups of the dual theories, we deduce behavior of a “half-G2” limit, which is the M-theory analog of the stable degeneration limit of F-theory. The heterotic backgrounds exhibit point-like instantons that are localized on pairs of orbifold loci, similar to the “gauge-locking” phenomenon seen in Hořava-Witten compactifications. In this way, the geometry of the G2 orbifold is translated to bundle data in the heterotic background. While the instanton configuration looks surprising from the perspective of the E8 × E8 heterotic string, it may be understood as T-dual Spin(32)/ℤ2 instantons along with winding shifts originating in a dual Type I compactification.

Higgs branches of 5d rank-zero theories from geometry

We study the Higgs branches of five-dimensional $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 1 rank-zero theories obtained from M-theory on two classes non-toric non-compact Calabi-Yau threefolds: Reid’s pagodas, and Laufer’s examples. Our approach consists in reducing to IIA with D6-branes and O6-planes, and computing the open-string spectra giving rise to hypermultiplets. Starting with the seven-dimensional worldvolume theories, we switch on T-brane backgrounds to give rise to bound states with angles. We observe that the resulting partially Higgsed 5d theories have discrete gauge groups, from which we readily deduce the geometry of the Higgs branches as orbifolds of quaternionic varieties.

Topological entanglement and hyperbolic volume

The entanglement entropy of many quantum systems is difficult to compute in general. They are obtained as a limiting case of the Rényi entropy of index m, which captures the higher moments of the reduced density matrix. In this work, we study pure bipartite states associated with S3 complements of a two-component link which is a connected sum of a knot $$ \mathcal{K} $$ K and the Hopf link. For this class of links, the Chern-Simons theory provides the necessary setting to visualise the m-moment of the reduced density matrix as a three-manifold invariant Z($$ {M}_{{\mathcal{K}}_m} $$ M K m ), which is the partition function of $$ {M}_{{\mathcal{K}}_m} $$ M K m . Here $$ {M}_{{\mathcal{K}}_m} $$ M K m is a closed 3-manifold associated with the knot $$ \mathcal{K} $$ K m, where $$ \mathcal{K} $$ K m is a connected sum of m-copies of $$ \mathcal{K} $$ K (i.e., $$ \mathcal{K} $$ K #$$ \mathcal{K} $$ K . . . #$$ \mathcal{K} $$ K ) which mimics the well-known replica method. We analayse the partition functions Z($$ {M}_{{\mathcal{K}}_m} $$ M K m ) for SU(2) and SO(3) gauge groups, in the limit of the large Chern-Simons coupling k. For SU(2) group, we show that Z($$ {M}_{{\mathcal{K}}_m} $$ M K m ) can grow at most polynomially in k. On the contrary, we conjecture that Z($$ {M}_{{\mathcal{K}}_m} $$ M K m ) for SO(3) group shows an exponential growth in k, where the leading term of ln Z($$ {M}_{{\mathcal{K}}_m} $$ M K m ) is the hyperbolic volume of the knot complement S3\$$ \mathcal{K} $$ K m. We further propose that the Rényi entropies associated with SO(3) group converge to a finite value in the large k limit. We present some examples to validate our conjecture and proposal.