arXiv subjects

Subham Dutta Chowdhury

Publications and source records attributed to Subham Dutta Chowdhury.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantum Critical Solids

We study the fate of quantum solids with a vanishing velocity of transverse phonons. Such ``floppy'' solids exhibit a cubic elastic nonlinearity that is relevant in spatial dimensions $d<4$ and drives the system to a strongly-coupled Lifshitz quantum critical point in $d=3$, that we analyze in an $ε= 4-d$ expansion. The associated phase transition is generically first-order, preempting the system's full access to the strongly-coupled fixed point. Nevertheless, the critical data of this quantum critical point is accessible within a Ginzburg region in the vicinity of the transition. This cubic nonlinearity vanishes exactly in $d=2$, where the leading interactions are instead quartic and are marginal, leading to weak logarithmic singularities. We discuss possible realizations of this ``crystal Lifshitz criticality'' in quantum materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

Nonrelativistic Conformal Collider Physics of Multiparticle Point Production

We define detector operators in the nonrelativistic conformal field theory describing fermions at unitarity. We reduce the problem of computing the momentum distribution and correlation between final particles produced by a local source ("point-produced") to the computation of correlation functions involving the detector operators. The general formalism is applied to the point production of three unitary fermions, where we find the momentum and angular distribution of final particles. We discuss a nonrelativistic version of celestial holography, which maps the asymptotic out-state to a quantum wave function in the so-called "oscillator frame."

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Bootstrapping transport in the Drude-Kadanoff-Martin model

The Drude-Kadanoff-Martin model is a simple low energy and long wavelength description of charge transport, parameterised by the current relaxation timescale $τ$, charge diffusivity $D$ and charge compressibility $χ$. We obtain sharp constraints on these parameters in terms of the microscopic energy and length scales of any underlying lattice model with local and bounded interactions. Our primary tools are upper bounds on the retarded Green's function for the charge density in such a setting. We first note that the Drude-Kadanoff-Martin model cannot pertain at microscopic energy scales because it is inconsistent with the exponential suppression of spectral weight at the highest frequencies in a lattice model. Secondly, under the assumption that the low energy dynamics is captured by the model, we obtain a lower bound on the collective mean free path $\ell \equiv \sqrt{τD}$. This bound is shown to imply a version of the Mott-Ioffe-Regel bound: systems with $\ell$ much shorter than the lattice length scale cannot have conventional Drude peaks.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Lieb-Robinson causality and non-Fermi liquids

Quantum mechanical lattice models with local, bounded interactions obey Lieb-Robinson causality. We show that this implies a domain of analyticity of the retarded Green's function $G^R(ω,{\bf k})$ of local lattice operators as a function of complex frequency $ω$ and momentum ${\bf k}$, similar to the lightcone analyticity property of relativistic field theories. Low-energy effective descriptions of the dynamics must be consistent with this microscopic analyticity constraint. We consider two canonical low-energy fermionic Green's functions describing non-Fermi liquids, the marginal Fermi liquid and the `Hertz liquid'. The pole in these Green's functions must be outside of the Lieb-Robinson domain of analyticity for all complex momenta captured by the low-energy theory. We show that this constraint upper bounds the magnitude of the dimensionless non-Fermi liquid coupling in certain Hertz liquids. We furthermore obtain, from causality, an upper bound on the magnitude $|G^R(ω,{\bf k})|$ within the analytic domain. We use this bound to constrain the quasiparticle residue of the non-Fermi liquids.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Symmetry and causality constraints on Fermi liquids

We investigate symmetry and causality constraints on interacting Fermi liquids. Whereas Galilean or Lorentz boost symmetry leads to a well-known constraint on the first Landau parameter $F_1$, we show that scale invariance similarly constrains $F_0$. In the case of conformal Fermi liquids, we show that causality constraints on the particle-hole continuum and on zero sound strongly restrict the available parameter space for interacting Fermi liquids. We also consider nonlinear response, which we show is sensitive to additional ``generalized Landau parameters'' even at lowest orders in the long wavelength limit. We impose Galilean, Lorentz and scale symmetry on these generalized Landau parameters, obtaining further nonlinear constraints. We test our constraints in several microscopic models that enter a Fermi liquid phase.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Regge constraints on local four-point scattering amplitudes of massive particles with spin

In this work, we classify all the possible local four-point couplings relevant for tree-level flat space $2 \rightarrow 2$ scattering of external massive particles of spin one and spin two which do not grow faster than $s^2$ at large $s$ and fixed t. This kinematic constraint on local growth of tree-level S-matrices is known as Classical Regge Growth criteria or CRG. We first construct the spin one and spin two tree-level contact S-matrices as modules of polarisation tensors and momenta over the ring of polynomials generated by Mandelstam invariants. We then consider a general scattering process where the external scattering particles are of different masses but of same spin and constrain this space to obtain a finite number of CRG allowed local Lagrangians. Our concrete results are primarily for $D\geq 8$ but the process outlined is easily generalised to lower dimensions to include low dimensional parity violating structures. The space of CRG allowed structures reduces when we specialise to identical scattering and restrict to parity even couplings in $D=4$. We show that tree-level scattering amplitudes involving exchange diagrams and contact terms in de Rham-Gabadadze-Tolley massive gravity (dRGT) violate CRG unless the parameters of the theory take special values. The CRG allowed S-matrices, in the context of large $N$ conformal field theories (CFTs), can also be interpreted as bulk $AdS$ counterterms consistent with Chaos bound. Our classified structures therefore can be thought of as ambiguities arising in the context of conformal field theory inversion formula for four point functions of unconserved spin one and spin two operators in large $N$ CFTs.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Applied nonrelativistic conformal field theory: scattering-length and effective-range corrections to unnuclear physics

Due to an accidentally large $s$-wave scattering length, in a relatively wide range of energy, neutrons are approximately described by the nonrelativistic conformal field theory of unitarity fermions, perturbed by one relevant and an infinite number of irrelevant operators. We develop a formalism which provides a nonperturbative definition of local operators in that nonrelativistic conformal field theory. We compute the scattering-length and effective-range corrections to the two-point functions of primary charge-three operators using the technique of conformal perturbation theory. These calculations allow us to find the first corrections to the scale-invariant behavior of the rate of nuclear reactions with three neutrons in the final state in the regime when the neutrons have small relative momenta.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Counting parity-violating local S-matrices

Four point tree-level local S-matrices form a module over ring of polynomials of mandelstam invariants s, t and u. The module of local analytic S-matrices can be encoded in terms of a partition function which is enumerated using plethystic techniques. In this paper, we enumerate the plethystic contribution to local four point photon, graviton and gluon multi-particle partition functions that encode parity violating $2 \rightarrow 2$ scattering. We generalise the counting problem solved in \cite{ Chowdhury:2019kaq, Chowdhury:2020ddc} to project out parity violating sectors, a subtle task in even dimensions \cite{Henning:2017fpj}. We explicitly enumerate the parity odd contributions to the multi-letter partition function for gauge fields, gravitons and gluons and evaluate the resulting parity violating partition functions in $D=4,6$. We also perform a large $D$ analysis to show that parity violating local interactions do not contribute to four particle scattering in higher dimensions ($D\geq 8$). Our computations and observations for photons, gravitons and gluons agree with the transformation properties of these S-matrices previously conjectured in \cite{Chowdhury:2019kaq, Chowdhury:2020ddc}

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Crossing Symmetric Spinning S-matrix Bootstrap: EFT bounds

We develop crossing symmetric dispersion relations for describing 2-2 scattering of identical external particles carrying spin. This enables us to import techniques from Geometric Function Theory and study two sided bounds on low energy Wilson coefficients. We consider scattering of photons, gravitons in weakly coupled effective field theories. We provide general expressions for the locality/null constraints. Consideration of the positivity of the absorptive part leads to an interesting connection with the recently conjectured weak low spin dominance. We also construct the crossing symmetric amplitudes and locality constraints for the massive neutral Majorana fermions and parity violating photon and graviton theories. The techniques developed in this paper will be useful for considering numerical S-matrix bootstrap in the future.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Bulk locality for scalars and fermions with global symmetry

We count the number of independent solutions to crossing constraints of four point functions involving charged scalars and charged fermions in a CFT with large gap in the spectrum. To find the CFT data we employ recently developed analytical functionals to charged fields. We compute the corresponding higher dimensional flat space S matrices in an independent group theoretic manner and obtain agreement with our CFT counting of ambiguities. We also write down the local lagrangians explicitly. Our work lends further evidence to \cite{Heemskerk:2009pn} that any CFT with a large charge expansion and a gap in the spectrum has an AdS bulk dual.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Bounds on Regge growth of flat space scattering from bounds on chaos

We study four-point functions of scalars, conserved currents, and stress tensors in a conformal field theory, generated by a local contact term in the bulk dual description, in two different causal configurations. The first of these is the standard Regge configuration in which the chaos bound applies. The second is the `causally scattering configuration' in which the correlator develops a bulk point singularity. We find an expression for the coefficient of the bulk point singularity in terms of the bulk S matrix of the bulk dual metric, gauge fields and scalars, and use it to determine the Regge scaling of the correlator on the causally scattering sheet in terms of the Regge growth of this S matrix. We then demonstrate that the Regge scaling on this sheet is governed by the same power as in the standard Regge configuration, and so is constrained by the chaos bound, which turns out to be violated unless the bulk flat space S matrix grows no faster than $s^2$ in the Regge limit. It follows that in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence, the chaos bound applied to the boundary field theory implies that the S matrices of the dual bulk scalars, gauge fields, and gravitons obey the Classical Regge Growth (CRG) conjecture.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Regge amplitudes in Generalized Fishnet and Chiral Fishnet Theories

We extend the analysis of \cite{Chowdhury:2019hns} to study the Regge trajectories of the Mellin amplitudes of the $0-$ and $1-$ magnon correlators of the generalized Fishnet theory in $d$ dimensions and one type of correlators of chiral fishnet theory in $4$ dimensions. We develop a systematic procedure to perturbatively study the Regge trajectories and subsequently perform the spectral integral. Our perturbative method is very generic and in principle can be applied to correlators whose perturbative Regge trajectories obey some structural conditions which we list down. Our $d$ dimensional results reduce to previously known results in $d=4$ for 0-magnon and 1- magnon. As a non trivial check, we show that the results for 1-magnon correlator in $d=8$, when evaluated using the exact techniques in \cite{Chowdhury:2019hns, Korchemsky:2018hnb} are in perfect agreement with our $d$ dimensional perturbative results. We also perturbatively compute the Regge trajectories and Regge-Mellin amplitudes of the chiral fishnet correlator $\langle{\rm Tr}[ϕ_1(x_1)ϕ_1(x_2)]{\rm Tr}[ϕ_1^\dagger(x_3)ϕ_1^\dagger(x_4)]\rangle$ using the techniques developed in this paper. Since this correlator has two couplings $κ$ and $ω$, we have obtained closed-form results in the limit $κ\to 0, ω\to 0$ with $κ/ω$ held constant. We verify this computation with an independent method of computing the same and obtain perfect agreement.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Classification of four-point local gluon S-matrices

In this paper, we classify four-point local gluon S-matrices in arbitrary dimensions. This is along the same lines as \cite{Chowdhury:2019kaq} where four-point local photon S-matrices and graviton S-matrices were classified. We do the classification explicitly for gauge groups $SO(N)$ and $SU(N)$ for all $N$ but our method is easily generalizable to other Lie groups. The construction involves combining not-necessarily-permutation-symmetric four-point S-matrices of photons and those of adjoint scalars into permutation symmetric four-point gluon S-matrix. We explicitly list both the components of the construction, i.e permutation symmetric as well as non-symmetric four point S-matrices, for both the photons as well as the adjoint scalars for arbitrary dimensions and for gauge groups $SO(N)$ and $SU(N)$ for all $N$. In this paper, we explicitly list the local Lagrangians that generate the local gluon S-matrices for $D\geq 9$ and present the relevant counting for lower dimensions. Local Lagrangians for gluon S-matrices in lower dimensions can be written down following the same method. We also express the Yang-Mills four gluon S-matrix with gluon exchange in terms of our basis structures.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Classification of all 3 particle S-matrices quadratic in photons or gravitons

We explicitly construct every kinematically allowed three particle graviton-graviton-$P$ and photon-photon-$P$ S-matrix in every dimension and for every choice of the little group representation of the massive particle $P$. We also explicitly construct the spacetime Lagrangian that generates each of these couplings. In the case of gravitons we demonstrate that this Lagrangian always involves (derivatives of) two factors of the Riemann tensor, and so is always of fourth or higher order in derivatives. This result verifies one of the assumptions made in the recent preprint \cite{Chowdhury:2019kaq} while attempting to establish the rigidity of the Einstein tree level S-matrix within the space of local classical theories coupled to a collection of particles of bounded spin.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Classifying and constraining local four photon and four graviton S-matrices

We study the space of all kinematically allowed four photon and four graviton S-matrices, polynomial in scattering momenta. We demonstrate that this space is the permutation invariant sector of a module over the ring of polynomials of the Mandelstam invariants $s$, $t$ and $u$. We construct these modules for every value of the spacetime dimension $D$, and so explicitly count and parameterize the most general four photon and four graviton S-matrix at any given derivative order. We also explicitly list the local Lagrangians that give rise to these S-matrices. We then conjecture that the Regge growth of S-matrices in all physically acceptable classical theories is bounded by $s^2$ at fixed $t$. A four parameter subset of the polynomial photon S-matrices constructed above satisfies this Regge criterion. For gravitons, on the other hand, no polynomial addition to the Einstein S-matrix obeys this bound for $D \leq 6$. For $D \geq 7$ there is a single six derivative polynomial Lagrangian consistent with our conjectured Regge growth bound. Our conjecture thus implies that the Einstein four graviton S-matrix does not admit any physically acceptable polynomial modifications for $D\leq 6$. A preliminary analysis also suggests that every finite sum of pole exchange contributions to four graviton scattering also such violates our conjectured Regge growth bound, at least when $D\leq 6$, even when the exchanged particles have low spin.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

On the Regge limit of Fishnet correlators

We study the Regge trajectories of the Mellin amplitudes of the $0-,1-$ and $2-$ magnon correlators of the Fishnet theory. Since fishnet theory is both integrable and conformal, the correlation functions are known exactly. We find that while for $0$ and $1$ magnon correlators, the Regge poles can be exactly determined as a function of coupling, $2$-magnon correlators can only be dealt with perturbatively. We evaluate the resulting Mellin amplitudes at weak coupling, while for strong coupling we do an order of magnitude calculation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Bootstrap and collider physics of parity violating conformal field theories in $d=3$

We study the crossing equations in $d=3$ for the four point function of two $U(1)$ currents and two scalars including the presence of a parity violating term for the $s$-channel stress tensor exchange. We show the existence of a new tower of double trace operators in the $t$-channel whose presence is necessary for the crossing equation to be satisfied and determine the corresponding large spin parity violating OPE coefficients. Contrary to the parity even situation, we find that the parity odd $s$-channel light cone stress tensor block do not have logarithmic singularities. This implies that the parity odd term does not contribute to anomalous dimensions in the crossed channel at this order in light cone expansion. We then study the constraints imposed by reflection positivity and crossing symmetry on such a four point function. We reproduce the previously known parity odd collider bounds through this analysis. The contribution of the parity violating term in the collider bound results from a square root branch cut present in the light cone block as opposed to a logarithmic cut in the parity even case, together with the application of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Shear sum rule in higher derivative gravity theories

We study holographic shear sum rules in Einstein gravity with curvature squared corrections. Sum rules relate weighted integral over spectral densities of retarded correlators in the shear channel to the one point functions of the CFTs. The proportionality constant can be written in terms of the data of three point functions of the stress tenors of the CFT ($t_2$ and $t_4$). For CFTs dual to two derivative Einstein gravity, this proportionality constant is just $\frac{d}{2(d+1)}$. This has been verified by a direct holographic computation of the retarded correlator for Einstein gravity in $AdS_{d+1}$ black hole background. We compute corrections to the holographic shear sum rule in presence of higher derivative corrections to the Einstein-Hilbert action. We find agreement between the sum rule obtained from a general CFT analysis and holographic computation for Gauss Bonnet theories in $AdS_5$ black hole background. We then generalize the sum rule for arbitrary curvature squared corrections to Einstein-Hilbert action in $d\geq 4$. Evaluating the parameters $t_2$ and $t_4$ for the possible dual CFT in presence of such curvature corrections, we find an agreement with the general field theory derivation to leading order in coupling constants of the higher derivative terms.

hep-th↗