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Exactly solvable conformal field theories
by Sylvain Ribault
Submission summary
Authors (as registered SciPost users): | Sylvain Ribault |
Submission information | |
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Preprint Link: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.17262v2 (pdf) |
Date submitted: | June 12, 2025, 10:03 a.m. |
Submitted by: | Ribault, Sylvain |
Submitted to: | SciPost Physics Lecture Notes |
for consideration in Collection: |
Ontological classification | |
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Academic field: | Physics |
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Approach: | Theoretical |
Abstract
We review 2d CFT in the bootstrap approach, and sketch the known exactly solvable CFTs with no extended chiral symmetry: Liouville theory, (generalized) minimal models, limits thereof, and loop CFTs, including the $O(n)$, Potts and $PSU(n)$ CFTs. Exact solvability relies on local conformal symmetry, and on the existence of degenerate fields. We show how these assumptions constrain the spectrum and correlation functions. We discuss how crossing symmetry equations can be solved analytically and/or numerically, leading to analytic expressions for structure constants in terms of the double Gamma function. In the case of loop CFTs, we sketch the corresponding statistical models, and derive the relation between statistical and CFT variables. We review the resulting combinatorial description of correlation functions, and discuss what remains to be done for solving the CFTs.