arXiv subjects

Changha Choi

Publications and source records attributed to Changha Choi.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Worldline Localization

We show that two elementary worldline path integrals-the thermal partition function of the harmonic oscillator and the one-loop effective action of scalar QED in a constant field strength-exhibit a natural form of supersymmetric localization. The mechanism relies on hidden fermionic symmetries of the worldline BRST formulation, rather than on standard BRST structure or physical supersymmetry. These symmetries localize the target-space trajectory. For the harmonic oscillator this yields an alternative localization derivation of the Jacobi-Poisson formula. Moreover, after the trajectory is localized, the remaining proper-time integral exhibits an emergent zero-dimensional supersymmetry generated by modular invariance, allowing the modulus T itself to be localized. For scalar QED the same structure provides a controlled computation of both the real and imaginary parts of the Euler-Heisenberg effective action. In particular, the imaginary part arises from a moduli space of circular worldline instantons, offering a localization perspective on the semiclassical exactness of the Schwinger pair-production result observed by Affleck-Alvarez-Manton.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Global Anomalies in Sigma Models with Majorana--Weyl Fermions

We investigate a global sigma model anomaly in two-dimensional sigma models with Majorana--Weyl fermions coupled to a sigma model field with target space~$G$. The anomaly originates from the nontrivial topology of the space of maps and manifests as a phase in the fermion path integral. Using the global anomaly formula expressed in terms of the reduced~$\eta$-invariant, we demonstrate that this anomaly modifies the standard quantization condition of the Wess--Zumino term on~$G$, in close analogy with the three-dimensional parity anomaly. However, our situation is more refined and highlights a qualitatively new phenomenon in two dimensions: whereas in three dimensions the anomalous quantization restricts the level to lie in a half-integer lattice, here it can force the level to take \emph{arbitrary real values}. Furthermore, our results support the consistency of the low-energy description proposed by Gaiotto, Johnson-Freyd, and Witten for three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric Yang--Mills theory on an interval, by highlighting a subtle and qualitatively distinct nature of the sigma-model anomalies.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Supersymmetry and trace formulas III. Frenkel trace formula

By applying the new supersymmetric localization principle introduced in \cite{Choi:2021yuz,Choi:2023pjn}, we present two complementary approaches for the path integral derivation of the `non-chiral' trace formula for a semisimple compact Lie group $G$, which generalizes the so-called Frenkel trace formula. Corresponding physical systems for each picture are the quantum mechanical sigma model on $G$ and the gauged sigma model on $G\times G$, and the approaches closely follow the spirit of the Eskin trace formula \cite{Choi:2021yuz} and the Selberg trace formula \cite{Choi:2023pjn} respectively. These methods provide a natural conceptual bridge between two seemingly independent derivations in \cite{Choi:2021yuz} and \cite{Choi:2023pjn}.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Surface Operators and Exact Holography

Surface operators are nonlocal probes of gauge theories capable of distinguishing phases that are not discernible by the classic Wilson-'t Hooft criterion. We prove that the correlation function of a surface operator with a chiral primary operator in ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills is a finite polynomial in the Yang-Mills coupling constant. Surprisingly, in spite of these observables receiving nontrivial quantum corrections, we find that these correlation functions are exactly captured in the 't Hooft limit by supergravity in asymptotically $AdS_5\times S^5$ [1]! We also calculate exactly the surface operator vacuum expectation value and the correlator of a surface operator with 1/8-BPS Wilson loops using supersymmetric localization. We demonstrate that these correlation functions in ${\cal N}=4$ SYM realize in a nontrivial fashion the conjectured action of $S$-duality. Finally, we perturbatively quantize ${\cal N}=4$ SYM around the surface operator singularity and identify the Feynman diagrams that when summed over reproduce the exact result obtained by localization.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Supersymmetry and trace formulas II. Selberg trace formula

By extending the new supersymmetric localization principle introduced in \cite{Choi:2021yuz}, we present a path integral derivation of the Selberg trace formula on arbitrary compact Riemann surfaces, including the case of vector-valued automorphic forms of arbitrary half-integer weight corresponding to Maass Laplacian. We also generalize the method to formulate the Selberg trace formula on generic compact locally symmetric space.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Effective description of sub-maximal chaos: stringy effects for SYK scrambling

It has been proposed that the exponential decay and subsequent power law saturation of out-of-time-order correlation functions can be universally described by collective 'scramblon' modes. We develop this idea from a path integral perspective in several examples, thereby establishing a general formalism. After reformulating previous work on the Schwarzian theory and identity conformal blocks in two-dimensional CFTs relevant for systems in the infinite coupling limit with maximal quantum Lyapunov exponent, we focus on theories with sub-maximal chaos: we study the large-q limit of the SYK quantum dot and chain, both of which are amenable to analytical treatment at finite coupling. In both cases we identify the relevant scramblon modes, derive their effective action, and find bilocal vertex functions, thus constructing an effective description of chaos. The final results can be matched in detail to stringy corrections to the gravitational eikonal S-matrix in holographic CFTs, including a stringy Regge trajectory, bulk to boundary propagators, and multi-string effects that are unexplored holographically.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Supersymmetry and trace formulas I. Compact Lie groups

In the context of supersymmetric quantum mechanics we formulate new supersymmetric localization principle, with application to trace formulas for a full thermal partition function. Unlike the standard localization principle, this new principle allows to compute the supertrace of non-supersymmetric observables, and is based on the existence of fermionic zero modes. We describe corresponding new invariant supersymmetric deformations of the path integral; they differ from the standard deformations arising from the circle action and require higher derivatives terms. Consequently, we prove that the path integral localizes to periodic orbits and not not only on constant ones. We illustrate the principle by deriving bosonic trace formulas on compact Lie groups, including classical Jacobi inversion formula.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Thermal order in large N conformal gauge theories

In this work we explore the possibility of spontaneous breaking of global symmetries at all nonzero temperatures for conformal field theories (CFTs) in $D = 4$ space-time dimensions. We show that such a symmetry-breaking indeed occurs in certain families of non-supersymmetric large $N$ gauge theories at a planar limit. We also show that this phenomenon is accompanied by the system remaining in a persistent Brout-Englert-Higgs (BEH) phase at any temperature. These analyses are motivated by the work done in arXiv:2005.03676 where symmetry-breaking was observed in all thermal states for certain CFTs in fractional dimensions. In our case, the theories demonstrating the above features have gauge groups which are specific products of $SO(N)$ in one family and $SU(N)$ in the other. Working in a perturbative regime at the $N\rightarrow\infty$ limit, we show that the beta functions in these theories yield circles of fixed points in the space of couplings. We explicitly check this structure up to two loops and then present a proof of its survival under all loop corrections. We show that under certain conditions, an interval on this circle of fixed points demonstrates both the spontaneous breaking of a global symmetry as well as a persistent BEH phase at all nonzero temperatures. The broken global symmetry is $\mathbb{Z}_2$ in one family of theories and $U(1)$ in the other. The corresponding order parameters are expectation values of the determinants of bifundamental scalar fields in these theories. We characterize these symmetries as baryon-like symmetries in the respective models.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Pole skipping away from maximal chaos

Pole skipping is a recently discovered subtle effect in the thermal energy density retarded two point function at a special point in the complex $(ω,p)$ planes. We propose that pole skipping is determined by the stress tensor contribution to many-body chaos, and the special point is at $(ω,p)_\text{p.s.}= i λ^{(T)}(1,1/u_B^{(T)})$, where $λ^{(T)}=2π/β$ and $u_B^{(T)}$ are the stress tensor contributions to the Lyapunov exponent and the butterfly velocity respectively. While this proposal is consistent with previous studies conducted for maximally chaotic theories, where the stress tensor dominates chaos, it clarifies that one cannot use pole skipping to extract the Lyapunov exponent of a theory, which obeys $λ\leq λ^{(T)}$. On the other hand, in a large class of strongly coupled but non-maximally chaotic theories $u_B^{(T)}$ is the true butterfly velocity and we conjecture that $u_B\leq u_B^{(T)}$ is a universal bound. While it remains a challenge to explain pole skipping in a general framework, we provide a stringent test of our proposal in the large-$q$ limit of the SYK chain, where we determine $λ,\, u_B,$ and the energy density two point function in closed form for all values of the coupling, interpolating between the free and maximally chaotic limits. Since such an explicit expression for a thermal correlator is one of a kind, we take the opportunity to analyze many of its properties: the coupling dependence of the diffusion constant, the dispersion relations of poles, and the convergence properties of all order hydrodynamics.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Thermal Order in Conformal Theories

It is widely expected that at sufficiently high temperatures order is always lost, e.g. magnets loose their ferromagnetic properties. We pose the question of whether this is always the case in the context of quantum field theory in $d$ space dimensions. More concretely, one can ask whether there exist critical points (CFTs) which break some global symmetry at arbitrary finite temperature. The most familiar CFTs do not exhibit symmetry breaking at finite temperature, and moreover, in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence, critical points at finite temperature are described by an uncharged black brane which obeys a no-hair theorem. Yet, we show that there exist CFTs which have some of their internal symmetries broken at arbitrary finite temperature. Our main example is a vector model which we study both in the epsilon expansion and arbitrary rank as well as the large rank limit (and arbitrary dimension). The large rank limit of the vector model displays a conformal manifold, a moduli space of vacua, and a deformed moduli space of vacua at finite temperature. The appropriate Nambu-Goldstone bosons including the dilaton-like particle are identified. Using these tools we establish symmetry breaking at finite temperature for finite small $ε$. We also prove that a large class of other fixed points, which describe some of the most common quantum magnets, indeed behave as expected and do not break any global symmetry at finite temperature. We discuss some of the consequences of finite temperature symmetry breaking for the spectrum of local operators. Finally, we propose a class of fixed points which appear to be possible candidates for finite temperature symmetry breaking in $d=2$.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Exact four point function for large $q$ SYK from Regge theory

Motivated by the goal of understanding quantum systems away from maximal chaos, in this note we derive a simple closed form expression for the fermion four point function of the large $q$ SYK model valid at arbitrary temperatures and to leading order in $1/N$. The result captures both the large temperature, weakly coupled regime, and the low temperature, nearly conformal, maximally chaotic regime of the model. The derivation proceeds by the Sommerfeld-Watson resummation of an infinite series that recasts the four point function as a sum of three Regge poles. The location of these poles determines the Lyapunov exponent that interpolates between zero and the maximal value as the temperature is decreased. Our results are in complete agreement with the ones by Streicher arxiv:1911.10171 obtained using a different method.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Phases of Two Adjoints QCD$_{3}$ And a Duality Chain

We analyze the 2+1 dimensional gauge theory with two fermions in the real adjoint representation with non-zero Chern-Simons level. We propose a new fermion-fermion dualities between strongly-coupled theories and determine the quantum phase using the structure of a `Duality Chain'. We argue that when Chern-Simons level is sufficiently small, the theory in general develops a strongly coupled quantum phase described by an emergent topological field theory. For special cases, our proposal predicts an interesting dynamical scenario with spontaneous breaking of partial 1-form or 0-form global symmetry. It turns out that $SL(2,\mathbb Z)$ transformation and the generalized level/rank duality are crucial for the unitary group case. We further unveil the dynamics of the 2+1 dimensional gauge theory with any pair of adjoint/rank-two fermions or two bifundamental fermions using similar `Duality Chain'.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

New and Old Fermionic Dualities from 3d Bosonization

We construct novel fermion-fermion dualities in $2+1$-dimensions using 3d bosonization dualities. This is achieved by relating two-node quiver theories using both the flavor-bounded and flavor-violated 3d bosonization dualities. Such quivers can be viewed as a generalization of the fermionic particle-vortex duality. A special case of these quivers exhibits a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry under interchange of the two nodes. Using orbifold techniques, we show that such dualities provide a novel way of deriving known 3d bosonization dualities with adjoint matter, thus unifying the non-Abelian bosonization dualities in an even larger duality web. We then use this construction to derive new dualities involving adjoint matter.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Generalization of QCD$_3$ Symmetry-Breaking and Flavored Quiver Dualities

We extend the recently proposed symmetry breaking scenario of QCD$_3$ to the so-called "master" $(2+1)$d bosonization duality, which has bosonic and fermionic matter on both ends. Using anomaly arguments, a phase diagram emerges with several novel regions. We then construct $2+1$ dimensional dualities for flavored quivers using node-by-node dualization. Such dualities are applicable to theories which live on domain walls in QCD$_4$-like theories with dynamical quarks. We also derive dualities for quivers based on orthogonal and symplectic gauge groups. Lastly, we support the conjectured dualities using holographic constructions, even though several aspects of this holographic construction remain mostly qualitative.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Dynamics of QCD$_{3}$ with Rank-Two Quarks And Duality

Three-dimensional gauge theories coupled to fermions can develop interesting nonperturbative dynamics. Here we study in detail the dynamics of $SU(N)$ gauge theories coupled to a Dirac fermion in the rank-two symmetric and antisymmetric representation. We argue that when the Chern-Simons level is sufficiently small the theory develops a quantum phase with an emergent topological field theory. When the Chern-Simons level vanishes, we further argue that a baryon condenses and hence baryon symmetry is spontaneously broken. The infrared theory then consists of a Nambu-Goldstone boson coupled to a topological field theory. Our proposals also lead to new fermion-fermion dualities involving fermions in two-index representations. We make contact between our proposals and some recently discussed aspects of four-dimensional gauge theories. This leads us to a proposal for the domain wall theories of non-supersymmetric gauge theories with fermions in two-index representations. Finally, we discuss some aspects of the time-reversal anomaly in theories with a one-form symmetry.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Dualities and Phases of 3D N=1 SQCD

We study gauge theories with N=1 supersymmetry in 2+1 dimensions. We start by calculating the 1-loop effective superpotential for matter in an arbitrary representation. We then restrict ourselves to gauge theories with fundamental matter. Using the 1-loop superpotential, we find a universal form for the phase diagrams of many such gauge theories, which is proven to persist to all orders in perturbation theory using a symmetry argument. This allows us to conjecture new dualities for N=1 gauge theories with fundamental matter. We also show that these dualities are related to results in N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories, which provides further evidence for them.

hep-th↗