Conformal Defects and Goldstone Bosons in Anti-de Sitter Space.

Authors

Lorenzo Bianchi, Elia de Sabbata, Marco Meineri

Published in

Physical review letters. Volume 137. Issue 11. Pages 111601. Sep 11, 2026.

Abstract

We study local quantum field theories in anti-de Sitter (AdS) space, with boundary conditions that break some of the bulk isometries. Specifically, we focus on conformal defects and we prove that their spectrum supports a displacement operator of protected dimension, despite the nonlocal nature of the conformal theory living at the boundary of AdS. If the defect breaks a global symmetry, a tilt operator is also present. The existence of a displacement was conjectured in Gabai et al. [J. High Energy Phys. 06 (2026) 029JHEPFG1029-847910.1007/JHEP06(2026)029] for Wilson loops in Yang-Mills theories in AdS. Our proof is valid in general and applies, in particular, to defects in long-range models, as we discuss in various examples. In the bulk, the modes sourced by the protected operators have Compton wavelength of order of the AdS radius: they constitute the AdS analogue of the Goldstone bosons for the spontaneous breaking of the corresponding symmetries.

PMID:
42789885
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 26 Sep 2026.

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