The Conformal Bootstrap
01 Jan 2017-pp 1-74
About: The article was published on 2017-01-01. It has received 330 citations till now.
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TL;DR: The conformal bootstrap was proposed in the 1970s as a strategy for calculating the properties of second-order phase transitions in higher dimensions as discussed by the authors, but little progress was made on higher dimensions until a recent renaissance beginning in 2008.
Abstract: The conformal bootstrap was proposed in the 1970s as a strategy for calculating the properties of second-order phase transitions. After spectacular success elucidating two-dimensional systems, little progress was made on systems in higher dimensions until a recent renaissance beginning in 2008. We report on some of the main results and ideas from this renaissance, focusing on new determinations of critical exponents and correlation functions in the three-dimensional Ising and O(N) models.
310 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the Mellin-Barnes representation of correlators in Fourier space was used for boundary correlation functions in both the anti-de Sitter and de Sitter spaces.
Abstract: We develop a Mellin space approach to boundary correlation functions in anti-de Sitter (AdS) and de Sitter (dS) spaces. Using the Mellin-Barnes representation of correlators in Fourier space, we show that the analytic continuation between AdSd+1 and dSd+1 is encoded in a collection of simple relative phases. This allows us to determine the late-time tree-level three-point correlators of spinning fields in dSd+1 from known results for Witten diagrams in AdSd+1 by multiplication with a simple trigonometric factor. At four point level, we show that Conformal symmetry fixes exchange four-point functions both in AdSd+1 and dSd+1 in terms of the dual Conformal Partial Wave (which in Fourier space is a product of boundary three-point correlators) up to a factor which is determined by the boundary conditions. In this work we focus on late-time four-point correlators with external scalars and an exchanged field of integer spin-l. The Mellin-Barnes representation makes manifest the analytic structure of boundary correlation functions, providing an analytic expression for the exchange four-point function which is valid for general d and generic scaling dimensions, in particular massive, light and (partially-)massless fields. It moreover naturally identifies boundary correlation functions for generic fields with multi-variable Meijer-G functions. When d = 3 we reproduce existing explicit results available in the literature for external conformally coupled and massless scalars. From these results, assuming the weak breaking of the de Sitter isometries, we extract the corresponding correction to the inflationary three-point function of general external scalars induced by a general spin- l field at leading order in slow roll. These results provide a step towards a more systematic understanding of de Sitter observables at tree level and beyond using Mellin space methods.
179 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a cutting surface algorithm for scanning OPE coefficients makes it possible to find islands in high-dimensional spaces, which enables bootstrap studies of much larger systems of correlation functions than was previously practical.
Abstract: We develop new tools for isolating CFTs using the numerical bootstrap. A “cutting surface” algorithm for scanning OPE coefficients makes it possible to find islands in high-dimensional spaces. Together with recent progress in large-scale semidefinite programming, this enables bootstrap studies of much larger systems of correlation functions than was previously practical. We apply these methods to correlation functions of charge-0, 1, and 2 scalars in the 3d O(2) model, computing new precise values for scaling dimensions and OPE coefficients in this theory. Our new determinations of scaling dimensions are consistent with and improve upon existing Monte Carlo simulations, sharpening the existing decades-old 8σ discrepancy between theory and experiment.
117 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the conformal bootstrap was studied using Sturm-Liouville theory, specializing to four-point functions in one-dimensional CFTs, by decomposing conformal correlators using a basis of eigenfunctions of the Casimir which are labeled by a complex number α.
Abstract: We initiate the study of the conformal bootstrap using Sturm-Liouville theory, specializing to four-point functions in one-dimensional CFTs. We do so by decomposing conformal correlators using a basis of eigenfunctions of the Casimir which are labeled by a complex number α. This leads to a systematic method for computing conformal block decompositions. Analyzing bootstrap equations in alpha space turns crossing symmetry into an eigenvalue problem for an integral operator K. The operator K is closely related to the Wilson transform, and some of its eigenfunctions can be found in closed form.
113 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a systematic and highly streamlined derivation of all correlators of slow-roll inflation and massless external fields using tools of conformal field theory.
Abstract: A key insight of the bootstrap approach to cosmological correlations is the fact that all correlators of slow-roll inflation can be reduced to a unique building block — the four-point function of conformally coupled scalars, arising from the exchange of a massive scalar. Correlators corresponding to the exchange of particles with spin are then obtained by applying a spin-raising operator to the scalar-exchange solution. Similarly, the correlators of massless external fields can be derived by acting with a suitable weight-raising operator. In this paper, we present a systematic and highly streamlined derivation of these operators (and their generalizations) using tools of conformal field theory. Our results greatly simplify the theoretical foundations of the cosmological bootstrap program.
112 citations