We initiate the study of a three dimensional disordered supersymmetric field theory. Specifically, we consider a N = 2 large N Wess-Zumino like model with cubic superpotential involving couplings drawn from a Gaussian random ensemble. Taking inspiration from analyses of lower dimensional SYK like models we demonstrate that the theory flows to a strongly coupled superconformal fixed point in the infra-red. In particular, we obtain leading large N spectral data and operator product coefficients at the critical point. Moreover, the analytic control accorded by the model allows us to compare our results against those derived in the conformal bootstrap program and demonstrate consistency with general expectations.

In this paper, we study the implications of bulk locality on the celestial amplitude. In the context of the four-point amplitude, the fact that the bulk S-matrix factorizes locally in poles of Mandelstam variables is reflected in the imaginary part of the celestial amplitude. In particular, on the real axis in the complex plane of the boost weight, the imaginary part of the celestial amplitude can be given as a positive expansion on the Poincar\'e partial waves, which are nothing but the projection of flat-space spinning polynomials onto the celestial sphere. Furthermore, we derive the celestial dispersion relation, which relates the imaginary part to the residue of the celestial amplitude for negative even integer boost weight. The latter is precisely the projection of low energy EFT coefficients onto the celestial sphere. We demonstrate these properties explicitly on the open and closed string celestial amplitudes. Finally, we give an explicit expansion of the Poincar\'e partial waves in terms of 2D conformal partial waves.

We investigate the emergence of topological defect lines in the conformal Regge limit of two-dimensional conformal field theory. We explain how a local operator can be factorized into a holomorphic and an anti-holomorphic defect operator connected through a topological defect line, and discuss implications on analyticity and Lorentzian dynamics including aspects of chaos. We derive a formula relating the infinite boost limit, which holographically encodes the “opacity” of bulk scattering, to the action of topological defect lines on local operators. Leveraging the unitary bound on the opacity and the positivity of fusion coefficients, we show that the spectral radii of a large class of topological defect lines are given by their loop expectation values. Factorization also gives a formula relating the local and defect operator algebras and fusion categorical data. We then review factorization in rational conformal field theory from a defect perspective, and examine irrational theories. On the orbifold branch of the c = 1 free boson theory, we find a unified description for the topological defect lines through which the twist fields are factorized; at irrational points, the twist fields factorize through “non-compact” topological defect lines which exhibit continuous defect operator spectra. Along the way, we initiate the development of a formalism to characterize non-compact topological defect lines.

We revisit 't Hooft anomalies in (1+1)d non-spin quantum field theory, starting from the consistency and locality conditions, and find that consistent U(1) and gravitational anomalies cannot always be canceled by properly quantized (2+1)d classical Chern-Simons actions. On the one hand, we prove that certain exotic anomalies can only be realized by non-reflection-positive or non-compact theories; on the other hand, without insisting on reflection-positivity, the exotic anomalies present a caveat to the inflow paradigm. For the mixed U(1) gravitational anomaly, we propose an inflow mechanism involving a mixed U(1)×SO(2) classical Chern-Simons action with a boundary condition that matches the SO(2) gauge field with the (1+1)d spin connection. Furthermore, we show that this mixed anomaly gives rise to an isotopy anomaly of U(1) topological defect lines. The isotopy anomaly can be canceled by an extrinsic curvature improvement term, but at the cost of creating a periodicity anomaly. We survey the holomorphic bc ghost system which realizes all the exotic consistent anomalies, and end with comments on a subtlety regarding the anomalies of finite subgroups of U(1).

A Cardy formula for 6d superconformal field theories (SCFTs) conjectured by Di Pietro and Komargodski governs the universal behavior of the supersymmetric partition function on S^1_β×S^5 in the limit of small β and fixed squashing of the S^5. For a general 6d SCFT, we study its 5d effective action, which is dominated by the supersymmetric completions of perturbatively gauge-invariant Chern-Simons terms in the small β limit. Explicitly evaluating these supersymmetric completions gives the precise squashing dependence in the Cardy formula. For SCFTs with a pure Higgs branch (also known as very Higgsable SCFTs), we determine the Chern-Simons levels by explicitly going onto the Higgs branch and integrating out the Kaluza-Klein modes of the 6d fields on S^1_β. We then discuss tensor branch flows, where an apparent mismatch between the formula in Di Pietro-Komargodski and the free field answer requires an additional contribution from BPS strings. This "missing contribution" is further sharpened by the relation between the fractional part of the Chern-Simons levels and the (mixed) global gravitational anomalies of the 6d SCFT. We also comment on the Cardy formula for 4d N=2 SCFTs in relation to Higgs branch and Coulomb branch flows.