{
  "abstract": "We conjecture that every unitary three-dimensional conformal field theory obeys $c_S/C_T\\leq16πζ(3)$, where $s=c_ST^2$ is the thermal entropy density and $C_T$ the stress-tensor two-point coefficient, with equality for free scalars. We embed this in a stronger conjecture: on $S^1\\times H^2$, the $C_T$-normalized hyperbolic heat capacity is bounded above by that of the free scalar for all $T\\geq(2πR)^{-1}$. Near the conformal temperature, for theories smooth from the high-temperature side and without boundary terms in the modular Hamiltonian, the heat-capacity bound follows from conformal-collider positivity. We test the conjectures in free, interacting large-$N$, and holographic theories. Monte Carlo data for the three-dimensional Ising and $O(N)$ models also obey the flat-space bound.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.33179",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Christopher P. Herzog"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andreas Stergiou"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7zxkp5n3mdyrk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.33179",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "7zxkp5n3mdyrk",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.33179",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-th"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3106|Black Holes and Theoretical Physics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223981711",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.33179",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-23",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7zxkp5n3mdyrk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:35:35Z",
      "native_id": "2610.33179",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.33179"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-th",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The Free Scalar as a Thermal Envelope for Three-Dimensional CFTs",
  "title_text": "The Free Scalar as a Thermal Envelope for Three-Dimensional CFTs",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:35:35Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7zxkp5n3mdyrk",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}