An embedding formalism for CFTs in general backgrounds and states (talk by Enrico Parisini; University of Southampton)

Tuesday 13 Dec 2022, 14:15 → 15:15 Europe/Berlin

Abbeanum/Ground floor-HS 2 - Hörsaal 2 (TPI, FSU Jena)

Abstract: Conformal field theories exhibit a high level of control provided by conformal symmetry. However, in many relevant situations conformal symmetry is broken by either the state or the background of the theory, and most of the mathematical control is lost. In this talk I will present a framework generalising the embedding space formalism used in CFT to compute the observables of theories in non-trivial states and on generic backgrounds. In this construction (d+2)-dimensional Minkowski is replaced by a more general Ricci-flat metric, the ambient space by Fefferman and Graham. As an example, I will apply this formalism to the case of 2-point functions in CFTs at finite temperature. I will also comment on the relations with flat holography.