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Bartomeu Fiol

Publications and source records attributed to Bartomeu Fiol.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Schwinger-Dyson approximants

We revisit the solution to the Schwinger-Dyson equations in the simple case of the 0-dimensional $\frac{1}{2}m^2 ϕ^2 +\fracλ{4} ϕ^4$ theory with $m^2>0$ and $λ\geq 0$. We argue that the truncated Schwinger-Dyson equations are solved by rational approximants to all n-point functions $\langle ϕ^{2k} \rangle$, and provide strikingly simple recursive relations for them. These rational approximants are constructed without any reference to ordinary perturbative expansions. They turn out to be Padé approximants for $\langle ϕ^2 \rangle$ and for half of the truncations in the case of $\langle ϕ^4 \rangle$, but they are not Padé approximants for higher n-point functions. This difference is related to the fact that $\langle ϕ^2 \rangle$ and $\langle ϕ^4 \rangle$ are Stieltjes functions, while higher n-point functions are not. We prove that as the size of the truncation tends to infinity, these rational approximants converge to the full non-perturbative n-point functions for all positive values of the coupling $λ$. Thus, in the example studied in this work, these new rational approximants are much easier to derive than the usual Padé approximants, and when different, they are better suited to approximate the full non-perturbative n-point functions.

hep-th

Conformal line defects at finite temperature

We study conformal field theories at finite temperature in the presence of a temporal conformal line defect, wrapping the thermal circle, akin to a Polyakov loop in gauge theories. Although several symmetries of the conformal group are broken, the model can still be highly constrained from its features at zero-temperature. In this work we show that the defect and bulk one and two-point correlators can be written as functions of zero-temperature data and thermal one-point functions (defect and bulk). The defect one-point functions are new data and they are induced by thermal effects of the bulk. For this new set of data we derive novel sum rules and establish a bootstrap problem for the thermal defect one-point functions from the KMS condition. We also comment on the behaviour of operators with large scaling dimensions. Additionally, we relate the free energy and entropy density to the OPE data through the one-point function of the stress-energy tensor. Our formalism is validated through analytical computations in generalized free scalar field theory, and we present new predictions for the O(N) model with a magnetic impurity in the $\varepsilon$-expansion and the large N limit.

hep-th

The planar limit of $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal field theories

We obtain the perturbative expansion of the free energy on $S^4$ for four dimensional Lagrangian ${\cal N}=2$ superconformal field theories, to all orders in the 't Hooft coupling, in the planar limit. We do so by using supersymmetric localization, after rewriting the 1-loop factor as an effective action involving an infinite number of single and double trace terms. The answer we obtain is purely combinatorial, and involves a sum over tree graphs. We also apply these methods to the perturbative expansion of the free energy at finite $N$, and to the computation of the vacuum expectation value of the 1/2 BPS circular Wilson loop, which in the planar limit involves a sum over rooted tree graphs.

hep-th

A novel approach to cosmological particle production

In this work we present a novel approach to the study of cosmological particle production in asymptotically Minkowski spacetimes. We emphasize that it is possible to determine the amount of particle production by focusing on the mathematical properties of the mode function equations,i.e. their singularities and monodromies, sidestepping the need to solve those equations. We consider in detail creation of scalar and spin 1/2 particles in four dimensional asymptotically Minkowski flat FLRW spacetimes. We explain that when the mode function equation for scalar fields has only regular singular points, the corresponding scale factors are asymptotically Minkowski. For Dirac spin 1/2 fields, the requirement of mode function equations with only regular points is more restrictive, and picks up a subset of the aforementioned scale factors. For the scalar case, we argue that there are two different regimes of particle production; while most of the literature has focused on only one of these regimes, the other regime presents enhanced particle production. On the other hand, for Dirac fermions we find a single regime of particle production. Finally, we very briefly comment on the possibility of studying particle production in spacetimes that don't asymptote to Minkowski, by considering mode function equations with irregular singular points.

hep-th

The planar limit of integrated 4-point functions

We compute the planar limit, as all-order power series in the 't Hooft coupling, of various integrated 4-point functions of chiral primary operators of ${\cal N}=4$ SU(N) super Yang-Mills, and of moment map operators of ${\cal N}=2$ SU(N) SQCD. We do so by computing the planar free energy on $S^4$ of the respective massive deformations of these theories, and then taking advantage of the exact relation between these free energies and the integrated 4-point functions.

hep-th

A derivation of the planar limit of ${\cal N}=2$ chiral correlators

We derive analytically the terms of maximal transcendality of the planar 2- and 3-point functions of single-trace chiral primary operators of ${\cal N}=2$ SQCD on $\bR^4$, to all orders in the 't Hooft coupling. These results prove two conjectures we formulated in previous work. Furthermore, we also provide an explicit expression for the terms in the planar 2-point functions of these operators that contain products of two values of the $ζ$ function.

hep-th

On the planar free energy of matrix models

In this work we obtain the planar free energy for the Hermitian one-matrix model with various choices of the potential. We accomplish this by applying an approach that bypasses the usual diagonalization of the matrices and the introduction of the eigenvalue density, to directly zero in the evaluation of the planar free energy. In the first part of the paper, we focus on potentials with finitely many terms. For various choices of potentials, we manage to find closed expressions for the planar free energy, and in some cases determine or bound their radius of convergence as a series in the 't Hooft coupling. In the second part of the paper we consider specific examples of potentials with infinitely many terms, that arise in the study of ${\cal N}=2$ super Yang-Mills theories on $S^4$, via supersymmetric localization. In particular, we manage to write the planar free energy of two non-conformal examples: SU(N) with $N_f<2N$, and ${\cal N}=2^*$.

hep-th

The planar limit of ${\cal N}=2$ chiral correlators

We derive the planar limit of 2- and 3-point functions of single-trace chiral primary operators of ${\cal N}=2$ SQCD on $S^4$, to all orders in the 't Hooft coupling. In order to do so, we first obtain a combinatorial expression for the planar free energy of a hermitian matrix model with an infinite number of arbitrary single and double trace terms in the potential; this solution might have applications in many other contexts. We then use these results to evaluate the analogous planar correlation functions on ${\mathbb R}^4$. Specifically, we compute all the terms with a single value of the $ζ$ function for a few planar 2- and 3-point functions, and conjecture general formulas for these terms for all 2- and 3-point functions on ${\mathbb R}^4$.

hep-th

The planar limit of $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal quiver theories

We compute the planar limit of both the free energy and the expectation value of the $1/2$ BPS Wilson loop for four dimensional ${\cal N}=2$ superconformal quiver theories, with a product of SU($N$)s as gauge group and bi-fundamental matter. Supersymmetric localization reduces the problem to a multi-matrix model, that we rewrite in the zero-instanton sector as an effective action involving an infinite number of double-trace terms, determined by the relevant extended Cartan matrix. We find that the results, as in the case of $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs with a simple gauge group, can be written as sums over tree graphs. For the $\widehat{A_1}$ case, we find that the contribution of each tree can be interpreted as the partition function of a generalized Ising model defined on the tree; we conjecture that the partition functions of these models defined on trees satisfy the Lee-Yang property, i.e. all their zeros lie on the unit circle.

hep-th

On scalar radiation

We discuss radiation in theories with scalar fields. Our key observation is that even in flat spacetime, the radiative fields depend qualitatively on the coupling of the scalar field to the Ricci scalar: for non-minimally coupled scalars, the radiative energy density is not positive definite, the radiated power is not Lorentz invariant and it depends on the derivative of the acceleration. We explore implications of this observation for radiation in conformal field theories. First, we find a relation between two coefficients that characterize radiation, that holds in all the conformal field theories we consider. Furthermore, we find evidence that for a $1/2$-BPS probe coupled to ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills, and following an arbitrary trajectory, the spacetime dependence of the one-point function of the energy-momentum tensor is independent of the Yang-Mills coupling.

hep-th

Wilson loops in terms of color invariants

We derive an expression for the vacuum expectation value (vev) of the 1/2 BPS circular Wilson loop of ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang Mills in terms of color invariants, valid for any representation R of any gauge group G. This expression allows us to discuss various exact relations among vevs in different representations. We also display the reduction of these color invariants to simpler ones, up to seventh order in perturbation theory, and verify that the resulting expression is considerably simpler for the logarithm of $\left _R$ than for $\left _R$ itself. We find that in the particular case of the symmetric and antisymmetric representations of SU(N), the logarithm of $\left _R$ satisfies a quadratic Casimir factorization up to seventh order, and argue that this property holds to all orders. Finally, we derive the large N expansion of $\left _R$ for an arbitrary, but fixed, representation of SU(N), up to order $1/\text{N}^2$.

hep-th

Probing N=2 superconformal field theories with localization

We use supersymmetric localization to study probes of four dimensional Lagrangian N=2 superconformal field theories. We first derive a unique equation for the eigenvalue density of these theories. We observe that these theories have a Wigner eigenvalue density precisely when they satisfy a necessary condition for having a holographic dual with a sensible higher-derivative expansion. We then compute in the saddle-point approximation the vacuum expectation value of 1/2-BPS circular Wilson loops, and the two-point functions of these Wilson loops with the Lagrangian density and with the stress-energy tensor. This last computation also provides the corresponding Bremsstrahlung functions and entanglement entropies. As expected, whenever a finite fraction of the matter is in the fundamental representation, the results are drastically different from those of N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory.

hep-th

The Exact Bremsstrahlung Function in N=2 Superconformal Field Theories

We propose an exact formula for the energy radiated by an accelerating quark in N=2 superconformal theories in four dimensions. This formula reproduces the known Bremsstrahlung function for N=4 theories and provides a prediction for all the perturbative and instanton corrections in N=2 theories. We perform a perturbative check of our proposal up to three loops.

hep-th

Branes from Light: Embeddings and Energetics for Symmetric $k$-Quarks in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM

We construct the D3-brane dual to a $k$-quark of $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills theory in the totally symmetric representation of $SU(N)$, undergoing arbitrary motion. Our method of construction generalizes previous work by Mikhailov, and proceeds by shooting light rays inward from the anti-de Sitter boundary, to trace out the brane embedding. We expect this method to have wider relevance, and provide evidence for this by showing that it correctly reproduces the known D5-brane embeddings dual to totally antisymmetric $k$-quarks. As an application of our solutions, we compute the energy of the D3-brane and extract from it the $k$-quark's intrinsic energy and rate of radiation. The result matches expectations based on previous calculations, and makes contact with the exact Bremsstrahlung function for the fundamental representation.

hep-th

Exact probes of orientifolds

We compute the exact vacuum expectation value of circular Wilson loops for Euclidean ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills with $G=SO(N),Sp(N)$, in the fundamental and spinor representations. These field theories are dual to type IIB string theory compactified on $AdS_5\times {\mathbb R} {\mathbb P}^5$ plus certain choices of discrete torsion, and we use our results to probe this holographic duality. We first revisit the LLM-type geometries having $AdS_5\times {\mathbb R} {\mathbb P}^5$ as ground state. Our results clarify and refine the identification of these LLM-type geometries as bubbling geometries arising from fermions on a half harmonic oscillator. We furthermore identify the presence of discrete torsion with the one-fermion Wigner distribution becoming negative at the origin of phase space. We then turn to the string world-sheet interpretation of our results and argue that for the quantities considered they imply two features: first, the contribution coming from world-sheets with a single crosscap is closely related to the contribution coming from orientable world-sheets, and second, world-sheets with two crosscaps don't contribute to these quantities.

hep-th

Exact results for Wilson loops in arbitrary representations

We compute the exact vacuum expectation value of 1/2 BPS circular Wilson loops of ${\cal N}$=4 U(N) super Yang-Mills in arbitrary irreducible representations. By localization arguments, the computation reduces to evaluating certain integrals in a Gaussian matrix model, which we do using the method of orthogonal polynomials. Our results are particularly simple for Wilson loops in antisymmetric representations; in this case, we observe that the final answers admit an expansion where the coefficients are positive integers, and can be written in terms of sums over skew Young diagrams. As an application of our results, we use them to discuss the exact Bremsstrahlung functions associated to the corresponding heavy probes.

hep-th

Exact momentum fluctuations of an accelerated quark in N=4 super Yang-Mills

In this work we consider a heavy quark moving with constant proper acceleration in the vacuum of any four dimensional conformal field theory. We argue that the two-point function of its momentum fluctuations is exactly captured by the Bremsstrahlung function that gives the total radiated power. For the particular case of N=4 SU(N) SYM this function is exactly known, so in this case we obtain an explicit expression for the momentum diffusion coefficient, and check that various limits of this result are reproduced by probe computations in AdS_5. Finally, we evaluate this transport coefficient for a heavy quark accelerated in the vacuum of N=4 SU(3) SYM, and comment on possible lessons of our results for the study of heavy quarks traversing the super Yang-Mills plasma.

hep-th

Gluonic fields of a static particle to all orders in 1/N

We determine the expectation value of the gauge invariant operator Tr [F^2+... ] for N=4 SU(N) SYM, in the presence of an infinitely heavy static particle in the symmetric representation of SU(N). We carry out the computation in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence, by considering the perturbation of the dilaton field caused by the presence of a D3 brane dual to such an external probe. We find that the effective chromo-electric charge of the probe has exactly the same expression as the one recently found in the computation of energy loss by radiation.

hep-th