Related papers: The F-Theorem and F-Maximization
The $F$-theorem states that in three dimensions the sphere free energy of a field theory must decrease between ultraviolet and infrared fixed points of the renormalization group flow, and it has been proven for unitary conformal field…
We consider three-dimensional N=2 superconformal field theories on a three-sphere and analyze their free energy F as a function of background gauge and supergravity fields. A crucial role is played by certain local terms in these background…
For 3-dimensional field theories with {\cal N}=2 supersymmetry the Euclidean path integrals on the three-sphere can be calculated using the method of localization; they reduce to certain matrix integrals that depend on the R-charges of the…
The conjectured F-theorem for three-dimensional field theories states that the finite part of the free energy on S^3 decreases along RG trajectories and is stationary at the fixed points. In previous work various successful tests of this…
The three dimensional exact R symmetry of N=2 SCFTs extremizes the partition function localized on a three sphere. Here we verify this statement at weak coupling. We give a detailed analysis for two classes of models. The first one is an…
The F theorem states that, for a unitary three dimensional quantum field theory, the F quantity defined in terms of the partition function on a three sphere is positive, stationary at fixed point and decreases monotonically along a…
We discuss a variant of the F-theorem and F-maximization principles which applies to (super)conformal boundary conditions of 4d (S)CFTs.
In {\cal N} = 2 superconformal three-dimensional field theory the R-symmetry is determined by locally maximizing the free energy F on the three-sphere. Using F-maximization, we study the {\cal N} = 2 supersymmetric U(N_c) gauge theory…
We show that the conformal data of a range of large-$N$ CFTs, the melonic CFTs, are specified by constrained extremization of the universal part of the sphere free energy $F=-\log Z_{S^d}$, called $\tilde{F}$. This family includes the…
The three sphere partition function, Z, of three dimensional theories with four supercharges and an R-symmetry is computed using localization, resulting in a matrix integral over the Cartan of the gauge group. There is a family of couplings…
Some known constraints on Renormalization Group flow take the form of inequalities: in even dimensions they refer to the coefficient $a$ of the Weyl anomaly, while in odd dimensions to the sphere free energy $F$. In recent work…
We calculate the large-$N$ expansion of the sphere free energy $F=-\log Z_{S^d}$ of the O(N) $\phi^4$ and the Gross-Neveu $(\bar{\psi} \psi)^2$ CFTs to order $1/N$. Analytic regularization of these theories requires consistently shifting…
We investigate the effect on cosmological evolution of a strongly coupled quantum field that undergoes renormalization group flow from a UV CFT to an IR CFT. The field theory is defined by perturbation of a holographic CFT by a relevant…
We study lower bounds on the minimal distance in theory space between four-dimensional superconformal field theories (SCFTs) connected via broad classes of renormalization group (RG) flows preserving various amounts of supersymmetry (SUSY).…
We investigate the emergence of locality in infrared (IR) physics, which indicates an asymmetric renormalization group (RG) flow from a $d$-dimensional ultraviolet (UV) conformal field theory (CFT) to a lower-dimensional IR effective…
We study the free energy of four-dimensional CFTs on deformed spheres. For generic nonsupersymmetric CFTs only the coefficient of the logarithmic divergence in the free energy is physical, which is an extremum for the round sphere. We then…
In this note we investigate a new type of non-commutative field theory based on a constant skew-symmetric three-form parameter. In 3+1 dimensions such a three-form parameter can be viewed as a short-distance regulator which nevertheless…
In earlier work, we (KI and BW) gave a two line "almost proof" (for supersymmetric RG flows) of the weakest form of the conjectured 4d a-theorem, that a_{IR}<a_{UV}, using our result that the exact superconformal R-symmetry of 4d SCFTs…
The IR/UV mixing in the non-commutative (NC) field theory is investigated in Carlson-Carone-Zobin (CCZ) formalism of Lorentz-invariant NC field theory provided that the fields are `independent' of the `internal' coordinates…
Conformal field theory (CFT) is an extremely powerful tool for explicitly computing critical exponents and correlation functions of statistical mechanics systems at a second order phase transition, or of condensed matter systems at a…