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Towards a $C$-theorem in defect CFT

4 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.

4 Pith papers citing it
abstract

We explore a $C$-theorem in defect conformal field theories (DCFTs) that unify all the known conjectures and theorems until now. We examine as a candidate $C$-function the additional contributions from conformal defects to the sphere free energy and the entanglement entropy across a sphere in a number of examples including holographic models. We find the two quantities are equivalent, when suitably regularized, for codimension-one defects (or boundaries), but differ by a universal constant term otherwise. Moreover, we find in a few field theoretic examples that the sphere free energy decreases but the entanglement entropy increases along a certain renormalization group (RG) flow triggered by a defect localized perturbation which is assumed to have a trivial IR fixed point without defects. We hence propose a $C$-theorem in DCFTs stating that the increment of the regularized sphere free energy due to the defect does not increase under any defect RG flow. We also provide a proof of our proposal in several holographic models of defect RG flows.

citation-role summary

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citation-polarity summary

fields

hep-th 4

years

2026 3 2025 1

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UNVERDICTED 4

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background 1

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background 1

representative citing papers

Crosscap Defects

hep-th · 2026-04-21 · unverdicted · novelty 7.0 · 2 refs

Crosscap defects are introduced in CFTs via Z2 quotients, with crossing equations derived and CFT data computed in the O(N) model at Gaussian and Wilson-Fisher points showing absent displacement and tilt operators for generic p.

Matching $A$ with $F$ in long-range QFTs

hep-th · 2026-05-20 · unverdicted · novelty 5.0 · 3 refs

Long-range φ⁴ theories have RG beta functions that satisfy a gradient flow with A matching the sphere free energy F̃ at leading nontrivial order.

citing papers explorer

Showing 4 of 4 citing papers.

  • Crosscap Defects hep-th · 2026-04-21 · unverdicted · none · ref 73 · 2 links · internal anchor

    Crosscap defects are introduced in CFTs via Z2 quotients, with crossing equations derived and CFT data computed in the O(N) model at Gaussian and Wilson-Fisher points showing absent displacement and tilt operators for generic p.

  • Boundary criticality in the Gross-Neveu-Yukawa model at higher orders hep-th · 2026-06-05 · unverdicted · none · ref 35 · internal anchor

    Higher-order large-N and epsilon-expansion calculations of boundary free energies, fermion dimensions, and central charge in the Gross-Neveu-Yukawa universality class, with consistency checks between methods.

  • Matching $A$ with $F$ in long-range QFTs hep-th · 2026-05-20 · unverdicted · none · ref 15 · 3 links · internal anchor

    Long-range φ⁴ theories have RG beta functions that satisfy a gradient flow with A matching the sphere free energy F̃ at leading nontrivial order.

  • From Weyl Anomaly to Defect Supersymmetric R\'enyi Entropy and Casimir Energy hep-th · 2025-01-16 · unverdicted · none · ref 13 · internal anchor

    In 6D (2,0) theories, defect supersymmetric Rényi entropy contribution is linear in 1/n and equals a constant times (2b - d2); Casimir energy contribution equals -d2 (up to constant) in the chiral algebra limit.