arXiv subjects

Sabine Harribey

Publications and source records attributed to Sabine Harribey.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Note on surface defects in multiscalar critical models

This paper studies generic surface defects for multiscalar critical models using a perturbative $ε$ expansion in $4-ε$ dimensions. The beta functions of the defect couplings for a generic multiscalar bulk with quartic interactions are computed at first non-trivial order in $ε$. Specific bulks of interest are then considered: $O(N)$, hypercubic, hypertetrahdral, and biconical $O(m)\times O(n)$. In each case, we compute fixed points for the defect couplings and determine the remaining bulk symmetry. Expanding beyond the $O(N)$ model, we find a greater variety of patterns of symmetry breaking.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Novel Defect Universality Classes from Interacting RG Interfaces

We search for new defect universality classes by considering localised interactions placed on an RG interface separating two interacting multiscalar CFTs in $4-\varepsilon$ dimensions. Studying interactions spread throughout the entire interface as well as defects restricted to lines and surfaces within the interface, we find that this setup leads to a great number of additional physical fixed points in the space of conformal defects. At one loop it is possible to interpret these fixed points as coming from defects placed within a single bulk whose interaction is an average of the two sides. This averaging means that it is possible to identify conformal defects with considerably less global symmetry than was possible beforehand. We finally compute conformal data for this setup, and find the free energy associated with these RG interfaces.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Addendum: Long-range multi-scalar models at three loops

We correct the computation of one Feynman diagram in the three-loop beta functions for the long-range quartic multi-scalar model, originally presented in (2020 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 53 445008) [arXiv:2007.04603]. The correction requires the use of a different method than in the original paper, and we give here full details about the method. We then report the updated numerics for critical exponents of the Ising model, vector model, cubic model and bifundamental model. Mathematica files for the numerical evaluation of the corrected diagram are provided in ancillary.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Multiscalar Critical Models with Localised Cubic Interactions

Interface localised interactions are studied for multiscalar universality classes accessible with the perturbative $\varepsilon$ expansion in $4-\varepsilon$ dimensions. The associated beta functions at one loop and partially at two loops are derived, and a wide variety of interface conformal field theories (CFTs) is found, even in cases where the bulk universality class is free or as simple as the Wilson-Fisher description of the $O(N)$ model. For up to three scalar fields in the bulk, interface fixed points are classified for all bulk universality classes encountered in this case. Numerical results are obtained for interface CFTs that exist for larger numbers of multiscalar fields. Our analytic and numerical results indicate the existence of a vast space of interface CFTs, much larger than the space of defect CFTs found for line and surface defect deformations of multiscalar models in $4-\varepsilon$ dimensions. In this vast space, stable interfaces found for free and $O(N)$ bulks belong to the $F_4$ family, with global symmetries $SO(3), SU(3), Sp(6)$ and $F_4$, realised with $N=5,8,16,24$ scalar fields, respectively.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Long-range multi-scalar models at three loops

We compute the three-loop beta functions of long-range multi-scalar models with general quartic interactions. The long-range nature of the models is encoded in a kinetic term with a Laplacian to the power $0<ζ<1$, rendering the computation of Feynman diagrams much harder than in the usual short-range case ($ζ=1$). As a consequence, previous results stopped at two loops, while six-loop results are available for short-range models. We push the renormalization group analysis to three loops, in an $ε=4ζ-d$ expansion at fixed dimension $d<4$, extensively using the Mellin-Barnes representation of Feynman amplitudes in the Schwinger parametrization. We then specialize the beta functions to various models with different symmetry groups: $O(N)$, $(\mathbb{Z}_2)^N \rtimes S_N$, and $O(N)\times O(M)$. For such models, we compute the fixed points and critical exponents.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Finite-size versus finite-temperature effects in the critical long-range $O(N)$ model

In this paper we consider classical and quantum versions of the critical long-range $O(N)$ model, for which we study finite-size and finite-temperature effects, respectively, at large $N$. First, we consider the classical (isotropic) model, which is conformally invariant at criticality, and we introduce one compact spatial direction. We show that the finite size dynamically induces an effective mass and we compute the one-point functions for bilinear primary operators with arbitrary spin and twist. Second, we study the quantum model, mapped to a Euclidean anisotropic field theory, local in Euclidean time and long-range in space, which we dub \emph{fractional Lifshitz field theory}. We show that this model admits a fixed point at zero temperature, where it displays anisotropic Lifshitz scaling, and show that at finite temperature a thermal mass is induced. We then compute the one-point functions for an infinite family of bilinear scaling operators. In both the classical and quantum model, we find that, as previously noted for the short-range $O(N)$ model in [arXiv:1802.10266], the large-$N$ two-point function contains information about the one-point functions, not only of the bilinear operators, but also of operators that appear in the operator product expansion of two fundamental fields only at subleading order in $1/N$, namely powers of the Hubbard-Stratonovich intermediate field.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Boundaries and Interfaces with Localized Cubic Interactions in the $O(N)$ Model

We explore a new approach to boundaries and interfaces in the $O(N)$ model where we add certain localized cubic interactions. These operators are nearly marginal when the bulk dimension is $4-ε$, and they explicitly break the $O(N)$ symmetry of the bulk theory down to $O(N-1)$. We show that the one-loop beta functions of the cubic couplings are affected by the quartic bulk interactions. For the interfaces, we find real fixed points up to the critical value $N_{\rm crit}\approx 7$, while for $N> 4$ there are IR stable fixed points with purely imaginary values of the cubic couplings. For the boundaries, there are real fixed points for all $N$, but we don't find any purely imaginary fixed points. We also consider the theories of $M$ pairs of symplectic fermions and one real scalar, which have quartic $OSp(1|2M)$ invariant interactions in the bulk. We then add the $Sp(2M)$ invariant localized cubic interactions. The beta functions for these theories are related to those in the $O(N)$ model via the replacement of $N$ by $1- 2M$. In the special case $M=1$, there are boundary or interface fixed points that preserve the $OSp(1|2)$ symmetry, as well as other fixed points that break it.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Sextic tensor model in rank $3$ at next-to-leading order

We compute the four-loop beta functions of short and long-range multi scalar models with general sextic interactions and complex fields. We then specialize the beta functions to a $U(N)^3$ symmetry and study the renormalization group at next-to-leading order in $N$ and small $ε$. In the short-range case, $ε$ is the deviation from the critical dimension while it is the deviation from the critical scaling of the free propagator in the long-range case. This allows us to find the $1/N$ corrections to the rank-3 sextic tensor model of arXiv:1912.06641. In the short-range case, we still find a non-trivial real IR stable fixed point, with a diagonalizable stability matrix. All couplings, except for the so-called wheel coupling, have terms of order $ε^0$ at leading and next-to-leading order, which makes this fixed point different from the other melonic fixed points found in quartic models. In the long-range case, the corrections to the fixed point are instead not perturbative in $ε$ and hence unreliable; we thus find no precursor of the large-$N$ fixed point.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Renormalization in tensor field theory and the melonic fixed point

This thesis focuses on renormalization of tensor field theories. Its first part considers a quartic tensor model with $O(N)^3$ symmetry and long-range propagator. The existence of a non-perturbative fixed point in any $d$ at large $N$ is established. We found four lines of fixed points parametrized by the so-called tetrahedral coupling. One of them is infrared attractive, strongly interacting and gives rise to a new kind of CFT, called melonic CFTs which are then studied in more details. We first compute dimensions of bilinears and OPE coefficients at the fixed point which are consistent with a unitary CFT at large $N$. We then compute $1/N$ corrections. At next-to-leading order, the line of fixed points collapses to one fixed point. However, the corrections are complex and unitarity is broken at NLO. Finally, we show that this model respects the $F$-theorem. The next part of the thesis investigates sextic tensor field theories in rank $3$ and $5$. In rank $3$, we found two IR stable real fixed points in short range and a line of IR stable real fixed points in long range. Surprisingly, the only fixed point in rank $5$ is the Gaussian one. For the rank $3$ model, in the short-range case, we still find two IR stable fixed points at NLO. However, in the long-range case, the corrections to the fixed points are non-perturbative and hence unreliable: we found no precursor of the large $N$ fixed point. The last part of the thesis investigates the class of model exhibiting a melonic large $N$ limit. We prove that models with tensors in an irreducible representation of $O(N)$ or $Sp(N)$ in rank $5$ indeed admit a large $N$ limit. This generalization relies on recursive bounds derived from a detailed combinatorial analysis of Feynman graphs involved in the perturbative expansion of our model.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

The F-theorem in the melonic limit

The $F$-theorem states that in three dimensions the sphere free energy of a field theory must decrease between ultraviolet and infrared fixed points of the renormalization group flow, and it has been proven for unitary conformal field theories (CFTs). We consider here the long-range bosonic $O(N)^3$ model on a spherical background, at next-to-next-to-leading order of the $1/N$ expansion. The model displays four large-$N$ fixed points and we test and confirm the $F$-theorem holds in this case. This is non-trivial as one of the couplings is imaginary, and therefore the model is non-unitary at finite $N$. Despite this, several tests indicating that the large-$N$ CFTs are in fact unitary have been performed: for instance all the OPE coefficients computed so far in the large-$N$ limit are real, and the spectrum of bilinear operators is real and above unitarity bounds. Our result, namely that the F theorem holds at large $N$, can be viewed as further indication that such theories are unitary. As an added bonus, we show how conformal partial waves expansions in conformal field theory can be used to resum infinite classes of vacuum diagrams. Non-perturbatively, the jump in the value of the free energy has the interpretation of the inclusion at the ultraviolet fixed point of an extra non-normalizable contribution in the conformal partial wave expansion. This can be seen in perturbation theory as the reversal of the sign of an infinite class of diagrams due to the flow of a coupling constant.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Melonic large $N$ limit of $5$-index irreducible random tensors

We demonstrate that random tensors transforming under rank-$5$ irreducible representations of $\mathrm{O}(N)$ can support melonic large $N$ expansions. Our construction is based on models with sextic ($5$-simplex) interaction, which generalize previously studied rank-$3$ models with quartic (tetrahedral) interaction (arXiv:1712.00249 and arXiv:1803.02496). Beyond the irreducible character of the representations, our proof relies on recursive bounds derived from a detailed combinatorial analysis of the Feynman graphs. Our results provide further evidence that the melonic limit is a universal feature of irreducible tensor models in arbitrary rank.

math-ph↗

arXiv2021

Sextic tensor field theories in rank $3$ and $5$

We study bosonic tensor field theories with sextic interactions in $d<3$ dimensions. We consider two models, with rank-3 and rank-5 tensors, and $U(N)^3$ and $O(N)^5$ symmetry, respectively. For both of them we consider two variations: one with standard short-range free propagator, and one with critical long-range propagator, such that the sextic interactions are marginal in any $d<3$. We derive the set of beta functions at large $N$, compute them explicitly at four loops, and identify the respective fixed points. We find that only the rank-3 models admit a melonic interacting fixed points, with real couplings and critical exponents: for the short-range model, we have a Wilson-Fisher fixed point with couplings of order $\sqrtε$, in $d=3-ε$; for the long-range model, instead we have for any $d<3$ a line of fixed points, parametrized by a real coupling $g_1$ (associated to the so-called wheel interaction). By standard conformal field theory methods, we then study the spectrum of bilinear operators associated to such interacting fixed points, and we find a real spectrum for small $ε$ or small $g_1$.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

The tri-fundamental quartic model

We consider a multi-scalar field theory with either short-range or long-range free action and with quartic interactions that are invariant under $O(N_1)\times O(N_2) \times O(N_3)$ transformations, of which the scalar fields form a tri-fundamental representation. We study the renormalization group fixed points at two loops at finite $N$ and in various large-$N$ scaling limits for small $ε$, the latter being either the deviation from the critical dimension or from the critical scaling of the free propagator. In particular, for the homogeneous case $N_i = N$ for $i=1,2,3$, we study the subleading corrections to previously known fixed points. In the short-range model, for $εN^2\gg 1$, we find complex fixed points with non-zero tetrahedral coupling, that at leading order reproduce the results of arXiv:1707.03866 ; the main novelty at next-to-leading order is that the critical exponents acquire a real part, thus allowing a correct identification of some fixed points as IR stable. In the long-range model, for $εN \ll 1 $, we find again complex fixed points with non-zero tetrahedral coupling, that at leading order reproduce the line of stable fixed points of arXiv:1903.03578; at next-to-leading order, this is reduced to a discrete set of stable fixed points. One difference between the short-range and long-range cases is that, in the former the critical exponents are purely imaginary at leading-order and gain a real part at next-to-leading order, while for the latter the situation is reversed.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Hints of unitarity at large $N$ in the $O(N)^3$ tensor field theory

We compute the OPE coefficients of the bosonic tensor model of \cite{Benedetti:2019eyl} for three point functions with two fields and a bilinear with zero and non-zero spin. We find that all the OPE coefficients are real in the case of an imaginary tetrahedral coupling constant, while one of them is not real in the case of a real coupling. We also discuss the operator spectrum of the free theory based on the character decomposition of the partition function.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

One-loop bosonic string and De Sitter space

We calculate the bosonic string one-loop three- and four-point amplitudes to quadradic order in momentum, and we read off the one-loop low-energy two-derivative effective action for the massless fields, $S_{eff}$. Treating the renormalized one-loop vacuum energy as a tunable parameter and extrapolating to a supercritical dimension $D > 26$, one can reach a regime where the one-loop couplings in Seff are of the same order as the tree-level ones while all higher-loop corrections are negligible. Moreover the effective spacetime curvature is small in string units. We show that the effective action thus obtained admits weakly-curved de Sitter solutions with constant dilaton at small string coupling.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Line of fixed points in a bosonic tensor model

We consider the $O(N)^3$ tensor model of Klebanov and Tarnopolsky \cite{Klebanov:2016xxf} in $d<4$ with a free covariance modified to fit the infrared conformal scaling. We study the renormalization group flow of the model using a Wilsonian approach valid in any $d$ (notably we do not require $d=4-ε$ with small $ε$). At large $N$, the tetrahedral coupling has a finite flow, hence it becomes a free parameter. The remaining flow can be parameterized by two couplings which do not mix. We show that, at leading order in $1/N$ but non perturbatively in the couplings, the beta functions stop at quadratic order in the pillow and double-trace couplings. We find four fixed points which depend parametrically on the tetrahedral coupling. For purely imaginary values of the latter we identify a real and \emph{infrared attractive} fixed point. We remark that an imaginary tetrahedral coupling is in fact natural from the onset as the tetrahedral invariant does not have any positivity property, and moreover in the large-$N$ limit beta functions depend on the square of the tetrahedral coupling, thus they remain real, as long as the other couplings stay real.

hep-th↗