English

Wilson networks in AdS and global conformal blocks

High Energy Physics - Theory 2023-11-30 v2

Abstract

We develop the relation between gravitational Wilson line networks, defined as a particular product of Wilson line operators averaged over the cap states, and conformal correlators in the context of the AdS2_2/CFT1_1 correspondence. The nn-point sl(2,R)sl(2, \mathbb{R}) comb channel global conformal block in CFT1_1 is explicitly calculated by means of the extrapolate dictionary relation from the gravitational Wilson line network with nn boundary endpoints stretched in AdS2_2. Remarkably, the Wilson line calculation directly yields the conformal block in a particularly simple form which up to the leg factor is given by the comb function of cross-ratios. It is also found that the comb channel structure constants are expressed in terms of factorials and triangle functions of conformal weights whose form determines fusion rules for a given 3-valent vertex. We obtain analytic expressions for the Wilson line matrix elements in AdS2_2 which are building blocks of the Wilson line networks. We analyze general cap states and specify those which lead to asymptotic values of the Wilson line networks interpreted as boundary correlators of CFT1_1 primary operators. The cases of (in)finite-dimensional sl(2,R)sl(2, \mathbb{R}) modules carried by Wilson lines are treated on equal footing that boils down to consideration of singular submodules and their contributions to the Wilson line matrix elements.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2307.08395,
  title  = {Wilson networks in AdS and global conformal blocks},
  author = {K. B. Alkalaev and A. O. Kanoda and V. S. Khiteev},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.08395},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

61 pages, v2: extended Abstract, Introduction and Conclusion were restructured and extended with more discussion; extended analysis of Ward identities in Section 3.1 and explicit computation of the 2-point AdS vertex function in Section 4.5; references added; typos corrected; journal version