arXiv subjects

Nicola Dondi

Publications and source records attributed to Nicola Dondi.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

SymTh for non-finite symmetries

Symmetry topological field theory (SymTFT) is a convenient tool for studying finite generalized symmetries of a given quantum field theory (QFT). In particular, SymTFTs encode all the symmetry structures and properties, including anomalies. Recently, this tool has been applied for non-finite symmetries as well. In this paper, we take a different route, which consists of considering a free theory rather than a topological field theory in the bulk. We call it Symmetry Theory (SymTh). We study its topological operators together with the free boundary conditions. We also propose a procedure that is analogous to the sandwich construction of SymTFTs and allows us to obtain the physical QFT. We apply this to many examples, ranging from abelian $p$-form symmetries to 2-groups, and the (solvable) case of group-like symmetries in quantum mechanics. Finally, we provide a derivation of the SymTh of $\mathbb Q/ \mathbb Z$ non-invertible symmetries from the dimensional reduction of IIB supergravity on the conifold. In addition, we give an ultraviolet interpretation of the quantum Hall states dressing the non-invertible $\mathbb Q/ \mathbb Z$ topological defects, in terms of branes in the IIB supergravity background.

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arXiv2025

Symmetry TFTs for Continuous Spacetime Symmetries

We propose a Symmetry Topological Field Theory (SymTFT) for continuous spacetime symmetries. For a $d$-dimensional theory, it is given by a $(d+1)$-dimensional BF-theory for the spacetime symmetry group, and whenever $d$ is even, it can also include Chern-Simons couplings that encode conformal and gravitational anomalies. We study the boundary conditions for this SymTFT and describe the general setup to study symmetry breaking of spacetime symmetries. We then specialize to the conformal symmetry case and derive the dilaton action for conformal symmetry breaking. To further substantiate that our setup captures spacetime symmetries, we demonstrate that the topological defects of the SymTFT realize the associated spacetime symmetry transformations. Finally, we study the relation to gravity and holography. The proposal classically coincides with two-dimensional Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity for $d=1$ as well as the topological limit of four-dimensional gravity in the $d=3$ case.

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arXiv2024

On the $1/c$ expansion in $2d$ CFTs with degenerate operators

We analytically determine the large central charge asymptotic expansion of the Virasoro conformal blocks entering in four-point functions with external degenerate operators on a sphere in $2d$ CFTs, and study its resurgence properties as a function of the conformal cross-ratio $z$. We focus on the cases of four heavy $(2,1)$ degenerate operators, and two $(2,1)$ heavy degenerate ones plus two arbitrary light operators. The $1/c$ asymptotic series is Borel summable for generic values of $z$, but it jumps when a Stokes line is crossed. Starting from the $1/c$ series of the identity block, we show how a resurgent analysis allows us to completely determine the other Virasoro block and in fact to reconstruct the full correlator. We also show that forbidden singularities, known to exist in correlators with two heavy and two light operators, appear with four heavy operators as well. In both cases, they are turning points emanating Stokes lines, artefacts of the asymptotic expansion, and we show how they are non perturbatively resolved. More general correlators and implications for gravitational theories in $\text{AdS}_{3}$ are briefly discussed. Our results are based on new asymptotic expansions for large parameters $(a,b,c)$ of certain hypergeometric functions $\,_2 F_1(a,b,c;z)$ which can be useful in general.

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arXiv2023

Fermionic CFTs at large charge and large N

We study the large-charge sector of large-N fermionic CFTs in three dimensions. Depending on the model and the nature of the fixed charge, we find two types of descriptions: in terms of a superfluid or a Fermi sphere. We explicitly compute the conformal dimensions of the lowest operator of fixed charge and in the superfluid case verify the EFT predictions for the phonon spectrum.

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arXiv2022

Spinning correlators in large-charge CFTs

We systematically study correlators of a generic conformal field theory with a global O(2) symmetry in a sector of large global charge. We focus in particular on three- and four-point correlators with conserved current insertions sandwiched between spinful excited states corresponding to phonons over the large-charge vacuum. We also discuss loop corrections to the scaling dimensions and observe multiple logarithms in even dimensions.

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arXiv2021

Resurgence of the large-charge expansion

We study the O(2N) model at criticality in three dimensions in the double scaling limit of large N and large charge. We show that the large-charge expansion is an asymptotic series, and we use resurgence techniques to study the non-perturbative corrections and to extend the validity of the effective field theory to any value of the charge. We conjecture the general form of the non-perturbative behavior of the conformal dimensions for any value of N and find very good agreement with previous lattice data.

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