BootSTOP

Release of Conformal Bootstrap with Reinforcement Learning

Authors: G. Kantor, V. Niarchos, C. Papageorgakis

Paper available on the arXiv at 2108.09330. Included as reference [1]

Abstract

We introduce the use of reinforcement-learning (RL) techniques to the conformal-bootstrap program. We demonstrate that suitable soft Actor-Critic RL algorithms can perform efficient, relatively cheap high-dimensional searches in the space of scaling dimensions and OPE-squared coefficients that produce sensible results for tens of CFT data from a single crossing equation. In this paper we test this approach in well-known 2D CFTs, with particular focus on the Ising and tricritical Ising models and the free compactified boson CFT. We present results of as high as 36-dimensional searches, whose sole input is the expected number of operators per spin in a truncation of the conformal-block decomposition of the crossing equations. Our study of 2D CFTs uses only the global \(so(2,2)\) part of the conformal algebra, and our methods are equally applicable to higher-dimensional CFTs. When combined with other, already available, numerical and analytical methods, we expect our approach to yield an exciting new window into the nonperturbative structure of arbitrary (unitary or nonunitary) CFTs.

References