Finite Gauss-Sum Modular Kernels: Scalar Gap and a Pure AdS$_3$ Gravity No-Go Theorem
Abstract
We obtain closed-form expressions for the modular kernels of non-rational Virasoro CFTs and use them to construct fully analytic modular-bootstrap functionals. At rational width , the Mordell integrals in these kernels reduce to finite quadratic Gauss sums of profiles with explicit Weil phases, furnishing a canonical finite-dimensional real basis for spectral kernels. From this basis we build finite-support "window" functionals with and on a prescribed low-momentum interval. Applied to the scalar channel of the kernel, these functionals yield a rigorous analytic bound on the spinless gap. As a second application we prove an analytic no-go theorem for pure AdS gravity: no compact, unitary, Virasoro-only CFT can have a primary gap above , because a strictly positive "Mordell surplus" in the odd-spin kernel forces an odd-spin primary below .
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.00361,
title = {Finite Gauss-Sum Modular Kernels: Scalar Gap and a Pure AdS$_3$ Gravity No-Go Theorem},
author = {Miguel Tierz},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.00361},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
31 pages