
Studying 3D CFTs with the Fuzzy Sphere: Chern-Simons-Matter Theories and Fermionic CFTs
Zheng Zhou, speaking in the IAS High Energy Theory Seminar, presents the fuzzy sphere as a numerical tool for studying three dimensional conformal field theories that bridge condensed matter and high energy physics. He focuses on Chern Simons matter theories, which describe phase transitions involving topological order and are proposed to be realizable in Moire materials. The core result is the confinement transition of the nu equals one half bosonic Laughlin state, described by a scalar field coupled to a U(1) level 2 gauge field, which Zhou shows is continuous with emergent conformal symmetry. He also reports the first realizations of free and interacting fermionic CFTs, the free Majorana fermion and the super Ising theory, built from a boson fermion mixture on the fuzzy sphere setup. The talk closes with a roadmap toward QED with Chern Simons terms, broader Lagrangian quantum field theories, and superconformal field theories. Runs 89 minutes at Perimeter Institute's Bloomberg Lecture Hall.