$J\bar T$-deformed CFTs as non-local CFTs

Abstract

Various holographic set-ups in string theory suggest the existence of non-local, UV complete two-dimensional QFTs that possess Virasoro symmetry, in spite of their non-locality. We argue that $J\bar T$-deformed CFTs are the first concrete realisation of such "non-local CFTs", through a detailed analysis of their classical and quantum symmetry algebra. Classically, the symmetries consist of an infinite set of left-moving conformal and affine $U(1)$ transformations that generate a Witt-Kac-Moody algebra, as well as a set of non-local, field-dependent generalizations of right-moving conformal and affine $U(1)$ transformations, whose algebra depends on the chosen basis. Notably, there exists a basis, denoted as the "flowed" representation, in which the right-moving charge algebra is simply Witt-Kac-Moody. At the quantum level, we provide a concrete prescription for constructing the symmetry generators via a combination of the flow equations they satisfy and the Sugawara construction, and use this to explicitly resolve the ordering ambiguities and the quantum corrections to the generators up to second order in the $J\bar T$ coupling parameter. This construction naturally produces the "flowed" generators, whose algebra is Virasoro-Kac-Moody to all orders in the coupling, with the same central extension as that of the undeformed CFT. We use this input to work out the quantum modifications to the "unflowed" generator algebra. A peculiarity of the Virasoro generators we study is that their zero mode does not equal the Hamiltonian, but is a quadratic function of it; this helps reconcile the Virasoro symmetry with the non-locality of the model. We argue that also $T\bar T$-deformed CFTs posses Virasoro symmetry, and discuss the existence of such a symmetry in more general non-local QFTs.