Abstract
We study families of two dimensional quantum field theories, labeled by a dimensionful parameter μ, that contain a holomorphic conserved U(1) current J(z). We assume that these theories can be consistently defined on a torus, so their partition sum, with a chemical potential for the charge that couples to J, is modular covariant. We further require that in these theories, the energy of a state at finite μ is a function only of μ, and of the energy, momentum and charge of the corresponding state at μ = 0, where the theory becomes conformal. We show that under these conditions, the torus partition sum of the theory at μ = 0 uniquely determines the partition sum (and thus the spectrum) of the perturbed theory, to all orders in μ, to be that of a \( \mu J\overline{T} \) deformed conformal field theory (CFT). We derive a flow equation for the \( J\overline{T} \) deformed partition sum, and use it to study non-perturbative effects. We find non-perturbative ambiguities for any non-zero value of μ, and comment on their possible relations to holography.
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Aharony, O., Datta, S., Giveon, A. et al. Modular covariance and uniqueness of \( J\overline{T} \) deformed CFTs. J. High Energ. Phys. 2019, 85 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2019)085
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2019)085