pith. sign in

Quantum Regge Trajectories and the Virasoro Analytic Bootstrap

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

2 Pith papers citing it
abstract

Every conformal field theory (CFT) above two dimensions contains an infinite set of Regge trajectories of local operators which, at large spin, asymptote to "double-twist" composites with vanishing anomalous dimension. In two dimensions, due to the existence of local conformal symmetry, this and other central results of the conformal bootstrap do not apply. We incorporate exact stress tensor dynamics into the CFT$_2$ analytic bootstrap, and extract several implications for AdS$_3$ quantum gravity. Our main tool is the Virasoro fusion kernel, which we newly analyze and interpret in the bootstrap context. The contribution to double-twist data from the Virasoro vacuum module defines a "Virasoro Mean Field Theory" (VMFT), its spectrum includes a finite number of discrete Regge trajectories, whose dimensions obey a simple formula exact in the central charge $c$ and external operator dimensions. We then show that VMFT provides a baseline for large spin universality in two dimensions: in every unitary compact CFT$_2$ with $c > 1$ and a twist gap above the vacuum, the double-twist data approaches that of VMFT at large spin $\ell$. Corrections to the large spin spectrum from individual non-vacuum primaries are exponentially small in $\sqrt{\ell}$ for fixed $c$. We analyze our results in various large $c$ limits. Further applications include a derivation of the late-time behavior of Virasoro blocks at generic $c$, a refined understanding and new derivation of heavy-light blocks, and the determination of the cross-channel limit of generic Virasoro blocks. We deduce non-perturbative results about the bound state spectrum and dynamics of quantum gravity in AdS$_3$.

fields

hep-th 2

years

2026 1 2025 1

verdicts

UNVERDICTED 2

representative citing papers

Taxonomy of coupled minimal models from finite groups

hep-th · 2025-12-29 · unverdicted · novelty 7.0

Classification and discovery of new fixed points for coupled minimal models with reduced symmetries from subgroups of S_N, including rigorous proofs for even N and examples with PSL_2(N) and Mathieu groups.

Ryu-Takayanagi area from Virasoro modular data

hep-th · 2026-06-29 · unverdicted · novelty 6.0

Entanglement entropies in 2d holographic CFTs are rewritten via crossing symmetry as algebraic Virasoro entropies whose O(c) piece is identified with the RT area through saddle-dominated Cardy density after coarse-graining heavy primaries into Liouville-momentum bins.

citing papers explorer

Showing 2 of 2 citing papers.

  • Taxonomy of coupled minimal models from finite groups hep-th · 2025-12-29 · unverdicted · none · ref 53 · internal anchor

    Classification and discovery of new fixed points for coupled minimal models with reduced symmetries from subgroups of S_N, including rigorous proofs for even N and examples with PSL_2(N) and Mathieu groups.

  • Ryu-Takayanagi area from Virasoro modular data hep-th · 2026-06-29 · unverdicted · none · ref 21 · internal anchor

    Entanglement entropies in 2d holographic CFTs are rewritten via crossing symmetry as algebraic Virasoro entropies whose O(c) piece is identified with the RT area through saddle-dominated Cardy density after coarse-graining heavy primaries into Liouville-momentum bins.