arXiv subjects

Constantinos Papageorgakis

Publications and source records attributed to Constantinos Papageorgakis.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Neural Networks, Dispersion Relations and the Thermal Bootstrap

We review a framework for the conformal bootstrap that does not rely on positivity and treats the infinite tower of high-dimension OPE contributions to conformal correlators through dispersion relations and neural networks. We apply it to scalar thermal two-point functions on $S^1\times \mathbb R^{d-1}$. We discuss the stability properties of the relevant non-convex optimisation scheme and potential relations to recent discussions of smoothness properties in CFT correlators. We illustrate the numerical application of the method to Generalized Free Fields and 4d holographic CFTs. This is a proceedings contribution to the ``Athens Workshop in Theoretical Physics: 10th Anniversary", held at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens on December 17-19 2025.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

When Does Critique Improve AI-Assisted Theoretical Physics? SCALAR: Structured Critic--Actor Loop for Agentic Reasoning

As large language models (LLMs) show increasing promise on research-level physics reasoning tasks and agentic AI becomes more common, a practical question emerges: How does the interaction between researchers and agents affect the results? We study this using SCALAR (Structured Critic--Actor Loop for Agentic Reasoning), an Actor--Critic--Judge pipeline applied to quantum field theory and string theory problems. The Actor proposes solutions, the Critic provides iterative feedback, and an independent Judge evaluates the transcript against reference solutions. We vary the Actor persona, the Critic feedback strategy, and the Actor model family and scale. Multi-turn dialogue improves over single-shot attempts throughout, but both the mechanism of improvement and the value of different prompting choices depend strongly on the Actor--Critic pairing. Increasing the scale within one model family (e.g. from the 8B-parameter DeepSeek-R1 variant to DeepSeek-R1 70B) improves some easier-problem behavior, but does not remove the hardest bottleneck we observe. Critic feedback strategy matters most clearly in the asymmetric Actor--Critic setting (e.g, a lightweight Haiku Actor guided by a stronger Sonnet Critic), where constructive feedback improves mean-score outcomes. In same-family Actor--Critic settings, strategy effects are weaker: lenient feedback is sometimes favored, while strict and adversarial feedback are not beneficial. Taken together, SCALAR provides a controlled testbed for evaluating which interaction structures help or hinder AI-assisted reasoning on known-answer scientific problems.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2026

Efficient Conformal Block Evaluation with GoBlocks

Conformal blocks in odd spacetime dimensions are not known in closed analytic form. To facilitate efficient computations in the conformal bootstrap, we introduce $\texttt{GoBlocks}$: a novel conformal-block generator implemented in the Go programming language, designed for rapid, on-the-fly, parallel evaluation using recursive relations. The package supports both multi-point and derivative-based bootstrap approaches and allows flexible control over accuracy and performance. We benchmark $\texttt{GoBlocks}$ against the $\texttt{scalar_blocks}$ package, finding significant speed improvements in applications where computational speed and moderate accuracy are critical, but ultra-high precision is not essential. As an illustration, we apply $\texttt{GoBlocks}$ to the mixed-correlator bootstrap of the three-dimensional Ising model, formulated as a non-convex optimisation problem in a suitable truncation scheme. We simultaneously optimise over external scaling dimensions and OPE CFT data. In addition, we discuss how the approach scales as we increase the number of mixed correlators in more general $O(N)$ vector models.

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arXiv2025

FeynTune: Large Language Models for High-Energy Theory

We present specialized Large Language Models for theoretical High-Energy Physics, obtained as 20 fine-tuned variants of the 8-billion parameter Llama-3.1 model. Each variant was trained on arXiv abstracts (through August 2024) from different combinations of hep-th, hep-ph and gr-qc. For a comparative study, we also trained models on datasets that contained abstracts from disparate fields such as the q-bio and cs categories. All models were fine-tuned using two distinct Low-Rank Adaptation fine-tuning approaches and varying dataset sizes, and outperformed the base model on hep-th abstract completion tasks. We compare performance against leading commercial LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek) and derive insights for further developing specialized language models for High-Energy Theoretical Physics.

cs.CL↗

arXiv2025

(Mis-)Matching Type-B Anomalies on the Higgs Branch

Building on arXiv:1911.05827, we uncover new properties of type-B conformal anomalies for Coulomb-branch operators in continuous families of 4D $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs. We study a large class of such anomalies on the Higgs branch, where conformal symmetry is spontaneously broken, and compare them with their counterpart in the CFT phase. In Lagrangian theories, the non-perturbative matching of the anomalies can be determined with a weak coupling Feynman diagram computation involving massive multi-loop banana integrals. We extract the part corresponding to the anomalies of interest. Our calculations support the general conjecture that the Coulomb-branch type-B conformal anomalies always match on the Higgs branch. On the other hand, we argue that the potential mismatch of anomalies implies the existence of a second covariantly constant metric on the conformal manifold (other than the Zamolodchikov metric), which would impose restrictions on its holonomy group.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Type-B Anomaly Matching and the 6D (2,0) Theory

We study type-B conformal anomalies associated with $\frac{1}{2}$-BPS Coulomb-branch operators in 4D $\mathcal N=2$ superconformal field theories. When the vacuum preserves the conformal symmetry these anomalies coincide with the two-point function coefficients in the Coulomb-branch chiral ring. They are non-trivial functions of exactly-marginal couplings that can be determined from the $S^4$ partition function. In this paper, we examine the fate of these anomalies in vacua of the Higgs-branch moduli space, where conformal symmetry is spontaneously broken. We argue non-perturbatively that these anomalies are covariantly constant on conformal manifolds. In some cases, this can be used to show that they match in the broken and unbroken phases. Thus, we uncover a new class of data on the Higgs branch of 4D $\mathcal N=2$ conformal field theories that are exactly computable. An interesting application of this matching occurs in $\mathcal N=2$ circular quivers that deconstruct the 6D (2,0) theory on a torus. In that context, we argue that 4D supersymmetric localisation can be used to calculate non-trivial data involving $\frac{1}{2}$-BPS operators of the 6D theory as exact functions of the complex structure of the torus.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Covariantly Constant Anomalies on Conformal Manifolds

Operators with integer scaling dimensions in even-dimensional conformal field theories exhibit well-known type-B Weyl anomalies. In general, these anomalies depend non-trivially on exactly marginal couplings. We study the corresponding fully covariantised anomaly functional on conformal manifolds in several examples. We show that a natural consequence of the Wess-Zumino consistency condition is that the anomalies are covariantly constant with respect to the exactly marginal couplings. The argument is general and applies even when the conformal symmetry is spontaneously broken on moduli spaces of vacua.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

6D (2,0) Bootstrap with soft-Actor-Critic

We study numerically the 6D (2,0) superconformal bootstrap using the soft-Actor-Critic (SAC) algorithm as a stochastic optimizer. We focus on the four-point functions of scalar superconformal primaries in the energy-momentum multiplet. Starting from the supergravity limit, we perform searches for adiabatically varied central charges and derive two curves for a collection of 80 CFT data (70 of these data correspond to unprotected long multiplets and 10 to protected short multiplets). We conjecture that the two curves capture the A- and D-series (2,0) theories. Our results are competitive when compared to the existing bounds coming from standard numerical bootstrap methods, and data obtained using the OPE inversion formula. With this paper we are also releasing our Python implementation of the SAC algorithm, BootSTOP. The paper discusses the main functionality features of this package.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

A Path Integral for the Chiral-Form Partition Function

Starting from the recent action proposed by Sen [1,2], we evaluate the partition function of the compact chiral boson on a two-dimensional torus using a path-integral formulation. Crucially, we use a Wick-rotation procedure obtained from a complex deformation of the physical spacetime metric. This directly reproduces the expected result including general characteristics for the theta functions. We also present results for the chiral 2-form potential in six dimensions which can be readily extended to 4k+2 dimensions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Conformal Bootstrap with Reinforcement Learning

We introduce the use of reinforcement-learning (RL) techniques to the conformal-bootstrap programme. We demonstrate that suitable soft Actor-Critic RL algorithms can perform efficient, relatively cheap high-dimensional searches in the space of scaling dimensions and OPE-squared coefficients that produce sensible results for tens of CFT data from a single crossing equation. In this paper we test this approach in well-known 2D CFTs, with particular focus on the Ising and tri-critical Ising models and the free compactified boson CFT. We present results of as high as 36-dimensional searches, whose sole input is the expected number of operators per spin in a truncation of the conformal-block decomposition of the crossing equations. Our study of 2D CFTs uses only the global $so(2,2)$ part of the conformal algebra, and our methods are equally applicable to higher-dimensional CFTs. When combined with other, already available, numerical and analytical methods, we expect our approach to yield an exciting new window into the non-perturbative structure of arbitrary (unitary or non-unitary) CFTs.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Macdonald Indices for Four-dimensional $\mathcal N=3$ Theories

We brute-force evaluate the vacuum character for $\mathcal N=2$ vertex operator algebras labelled by crystallographic complex reflection groups $G(k,1,1)=\mathbb Z_k$, $k=3,4,6$, and $G(3,1,2)$. For $\mathbb Z_{3,4}$ and $G(3,1,2)$ these vacuum characters have been conjectured to respectively reproduce the Macdonald limit of the superconformal index for rank one and rank two S-fold $\mathcal N=3$ theories in four dimensions. For the $\mathbb Z_3$ case, and in the limit where the Macdonald index reduces to the Schur index, we find agreement with predictions from the literature.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Solving Conformal Field Theories with Artificial Intelligence

In this paper we deploy for the first time Reinforcement-Learning algorithms in the context of the conformal-bootstrap programme to obtain numerical solutions of conformal field theories (CFTs). As an illustration, we use a soft Actor-Critic algorithm and find approximate solutions to the truncated crossing equations of two-dimensional CFTs, successfully identifying well-known theories like the 2D Ising model and the 2D CFT of a compactified scalar. Our methods can perform efficient high-dimensional searches that can be used to study arbitrary (unitary or non-unitary) CFTs in any spacetime dimension.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

The Forced Soliton Equation and Semiclassical Soliton Form Factors

We show that the leading semiclassical behavior of soliton form factors at arbitrary momentum transfer is controlled by solutions to a new wave-like integro-differential equation that describes solitons undergoing acceleration. We work in the context of two-dimensional linear sigma models with kink solitons for concreteness, but our methods are purely semiclassical and generalizable.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Revisiting Soliton Contributions to Perturbative Amplitudes

It is often said that soliton contributions to perturbative processes in QFT are exponentially suppressed by a form factor. We provide a new derivation of this form factor for a class of scalar theories with generic soliton moduli. The derivation treats the soliton momenta relativistically and is valid at leading order in momentum transfer. The computation reduces to a matrix element in the quantum mechanics on the soliton moduli space. We investigate the conditions under which the latter leads to suppression. Extending this framework to instanton-solitons in five-dimensional Yang-Mills theory leaves open the possibility that such contributions will not be suppressed.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Accelerating Solitons

We present the saddle-point approximation for the effective Hamiltonian of the quantum kink in two-dimensional linear sigma models to all orders in the time-derivative expansion. We show how the effective Hamiltonian can be used to obtain semiclassical soliton form factors, valid at momentum transfers of order the soliton mass. Explicit results, however, hinge on finding an explicit solution to a new wave-like partial differential equation, with a time-dependent velocity and a forcing term that depend on the solution. In the limit of small momentum transfer, the effective Hamiltonian reduces to the expected form, namely H = (P^2 + M^2)^(1/2), where M is the one-loop corrected soliton mass, and soliton form factors are given in terms of Fourier transforms of the corresponding classical profiles.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

AdS$_7$ Black-Hole Entropy and 5D $\mathcal{N}=2$ Yang-Mills

We generalise the work of 1810.11442 for the case of AdS$_7$/CFT$_6$. Starting from the 2-equivalent charge, 3-equivalent rotation non-extremal black-hole solution in 7D gauged supergravity, we consider the supersymmetric and then the extremal limit and evaluate the associated thermodynamic quantities. Away from extremality, the black-hole solution becomes complex. The entropy is then given by the Legendre transform of the on-shell action with respect to two complex chemical potentials subject to a constraint. At the conformal boundary we derive the dual background and evaluate the corresponding partition function for the $A_{N-1}$ 6D (2,0) theory at large $N$ in a Cardy-like limit. This is carried out via a 5D $\mathcal N=2$ super Yang-Mills calculation on $S^5$. The gravitational on-shell action is found to be exactly reproduced by the boundary partition function at large $N$. We argue that this agreement puts strong constraints on the form of possible higher-derivative corrections to the 5D gauge theory that is used in the $S^5$ evaluation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Deconstructing Defects

We use the exact-deconstruction prescription to lift various squashed-$S^3$ partition functions with supersymmetric-defect insertions to four-dimensional superconformal indices. Starting from three-dimensional circular-quiver theories with vortex-loop-operator insertions, we recover the index of four-dimensional theories in the presence of codimension-two surface defects with (2,2) supersymmetry. The case of deconstruction with Wilson-loop insertions is discussed separately. We provide evidence that a certain prescription leads to the index of four-dimensional theories in the presence of surface defects with (4,0) supersymmetry. In addition, we deconstruct the index of four-dimensional gauge theories with codimension-one 1/2-BPS defects, starting from three-dimensional circular-quiver theories containing localised matter/gauge-field insertions at specific nodes. We also clarify certain calculational and conceptual points related to exact deconstruction.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Deconstructing Little Strings with $\mathcal{N}=1$ Gauge Theories on Ellipsoids

A formula was recently proposed for the perturbative partition function of certain $\mathcal N=1$ gauge theories on the round four-sphere, using an analytic-continuation argument in the number of dimensions. These partition functions are not currently accessible via the usual supersymmetric-localisation technique. We provide a natural refinement of this result to the case of the ellipsoid. We then use it to write down the perturbative partition function of an $\mathcal N=1$ toroidal-quiver theory (a double orbifold of $\mathcal N=4$ super Yang-Mills) and show that, in the deconstruction limit, it reproduces the zero-winding contributions to the BPS partition function of (1,1) Little String Theory wrapping an emergent torus. We therefore successfully test both the expressions for the $\mathcal N=1$ partition functions, as well as the relationship between the toroidal-quiver theory and Little String Theory through dimensional deconstruction.

hep-th↗