CFT Zoo

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list_of_cfts [2021/04/17 14:21]
Scott Lawrence [Four dimensions]
list_of_cfts [2026/03/05 16:00] (current)
Ludo Fraser-Taliente [One dimension]
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 ====== List of CFTs ====== ====== List of CFTs ======
  
-Here is a list of CFTs. They are organized by dimension. Note that some CFTs, like the gaussian theories and [[percolation|percolation]], can be defined in any number of dimensions.+Here is a list of CFTs. They are organized by dimension. Note that some CFTs, like the [[gaussian|gaussian theories]] and [[percolation|percolation]], can be defined in any number of dimensions. This allows their conformal data to be analytically continued between dimensions, connecting otherwise apparently different CFTs.
  
 Some special classes of CFTs: Some special classes of CFTs:
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 ===== One dimension ===== ===== One dimension =====
  
-In 1d, the conformal Ward identity $T_\mu{}^\mu = 0$ implies $T_{00} = H = 0$. Therefore quantum systems which truly respect conformal invariance are non-local (see [[https://arxiv.org/pdf/1105.1772.pdf|here]] for another argument). Nonetheless, there are a number of interesting models exhibiting conformal symmetry or near conformal symmetry in one dimension.+In 1d, the conformal Ward identity $T_\mu{}^\mu = 0$ implies $T_{00} = H = 0$. Therefore quantum systems which truly respect conformal invariance are [[list_of_cfts#nonlocal_cfts|nonlocal]] (see [[https://arxiv.org/pdf/1105.1772.pdf|here]] for another argument). Nonetheless, there are a number of interesting models exhibiting conformal symmetry or near conformal symmetry in one dimension.
  
 {{topic>1d}} {{topic>1d}}
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 ===== Two dimensions ===== ===== Two dimensions =====
  
-[[2d CFTs]] are the best understood class of CFTs, due to their larger [[Virasoro symmetries]]+[[2d CFTs]] are the best understood class of CFTs, due to their larger [[Virasoro symmetries]]. 2d CFTs differ based on their central charge; those with $c<1$ comprise considerably simpler class of [[minimal models]]. 
  
-[[Minimal Models]]+{{topic>minimal models}}
  
-  * [[2d Ising]] +Those with $c>1$ are more complicated and in general are not fully classified yet. 
-  * All the others +
- +
-[[Narain Theories]]+
  
 {{topic>2d}} {{topic>2d}}
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 {{topic>3d}} {{topic>3d}}
 ===== Four dimensions ===== ===== Four dimensions =====
 +
 +[[https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.31.851]]
  
 [[https://journals.aps.org/prl/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.211601]] [[https://journals.aps.org/prl/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.211601]]
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-===== Fractional dimensions =====+===== Fractional/continuous dimension =====
  
-These apparently exist, even nonperturbatively. What's the conformal symmetry group? +Non-chiral CFTs can often be defined in continuous dimension $d$, though they are usually explicilty non-unitary for noninteger $d$ due to evanescent operators that have negative norm [[https://arxiv.org/abs/1512.00013 | 1]]. In the limit as $d$ approaches an integer, these evanescent operators decouple from the CFT. 
 + 
 +These CFTs apparently exist, even nonperturbatively. What's the conformal symmetry group? Possibly relevant: [[http://mr.crossref.org/iPage?doi=10.1070%2FRM1988v043n02ABEH001720]]
  
 Here's an example of the Ising model on the Sierpinski carpet: [[https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/9802018]]. Here's an example of the Ising model on the Sierpinski carpet: [[https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/9802018]].
  
-Here's some bootstrap work: [[https://arxiv.org/abs/1309.5089]].+Here's some bootstrap work: [[https://arxiv.org/abs/1309.5089]] [[https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.07751 | 2]] [[https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.10118 | 3]] [[https://arxiv.org/pdf/2210.03051 | 4]]. 
 + 
 +There is a possible connection to non-conformal D$p$-brane holography [[http://arxiv.org/abs/2503.18770]]. 
 + 
 +===== Nonlocal CFTs ===== 
 + 
 +It is possible to define quantum field theories with full SO$(d+1,1)$ symmetry that do not have a local action (i.e. $S= \int d^d x O(x)$ for some local operator $x$). These are called nonlocal CFTs, long-range CFTs, or just Conformal Theories (CTs). 
 + 
 +The simplest example of these are the [[gaussian|generalized free fields]] (GFFs, also called mean field theory), which are Gaussian: we declare one field to have a conformal two-point function, and then determine all other correlators by the usual Wick contractions. 
 + 
 +By perturbing one of these GFFs $\phi$ of arbitrary scaling dimension $\Delta$ by $\phi^4$ and tuning to the critical point, we can construct the the long-range Ising CFT in arbitrary dimension $d$. 
 +The long-range Ising CFT becomes the standard Ising CFT (+ a decoupled free field) in the limit $\Delta \to \Delta_{\phi, \text{Ising}}$ (i.e. $1/8$ in $d=2$, $0.518$ in $d=3$) [[https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.05325 | 1]].  
 + 
 +From the perspective of conformal data, the signal that these theories are nonlocal is that they do not possess a local stress tensor. That is, in the OPE of these theories there is no conserved spin-2 operator. This is reasonable because the stress tensor is an operator measuring the response of the theory to a change of the geometry. If the theory is nonlocal, then the response will not be local, so $T^{\mu\nu}$ cannot be a local operator.