Paper detail

Carving out OPE space and precise $O(2)$ model critical exponents

We develop new tools for isolating CFTs using the numerical bootstrap. A "cutting surface" algorithm for scanning OPE coefficients makes it possible to find islands in high-dimensional spaces. Together with recent progress in large-scale semidefinite programming, this enables bootstrap studies of much larger systems of correlation functions than was previously practical. We apply these methods to correlation functions of charge-0, 1, and 2 scalars in the 3d $O(2)$ model, computing new precise values for scaling dimensions and OPE coefficients in this theory. Our new determinations of scaling dimensions are consistent with and improve upon existing Monte Carlo simulations, sharpening the existing decades-old $8σ$ discrepancy between theory and experiment.