Towards a Quintic Ginzburg-Landau Description of the $(2,7)$ Minimal Model

TL;DR

This paper explores the dimensional continuation of a non-unitary scalar field theory with an imaginary interaction term, connecting it to the minimal conformal model M(2,7) and estimating critical exponents in three dimensions.

Contribution

It proposes a novel connection between the $i\,\phi^5$ scalar field theory and the minimal conformal model M(2,7), extending the understanding of non-unitary CFTs.

Findings

Identification of the $d=2$ fixed point with the $M(2,7)$ minimal model.

Operator correspondence between field operators and Virasoro primaries.

Critical exponent estimates for $d=3$ obtained via Padé extrapolation.

Abstract

We discuss dimensional continuation of the massless scalar field theory with the $i\phi^5$ interaction term. It preserves the so-called $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry, which acts by $\phi\rightarrow -\phi$ accompanied by $i\rightarrow -i$. Below its upper critical dimension $10/3$, this theory has interacting infrared fixed points. We argue that the fixed point in $d=2$ describes the non-unitary minimal conformal model $M(2,7)$. We identify the operators $\phi$ and $\phi^2$ with the Virasoro primaries $\phi_{1,2}$ and $\phi_{1,3}$, respectively, and $i\phi^3$ with a quasi-primary operator, which is a Virasoro descendant of $\phi_{1,3}$. Our identifications appear to be consistent with the operator product expansions and with considerations based on integrability. Using constrained Pad\'e extrapolations, we provide estimates of the critical exponents in $d=3$. We also comment on possible lattice descriptions of $M(2,7)$ and discuss RG flows to and from this CFT. Finally, we conjecture that the minimal models $M(2, 2n+1)$ are described by the massless scalar field theories with the $i\phi^{2n-1}$ interaction terms.