Detectors in Nonrelativistic Conformal Field Theories
Abstract
Correlations in asymptotic fluxes provide one of the primary experimental means of studying physical systems. In the context of relativistic QFT, the formalization of such experiments in terms of detector operators has led to significant progress. Motivated by these successes, in this paper we initiate a study of detector operators in nonrelativistic conformal field theories (NRCFTs). In NRCFTs, fluxes are distributed in both angle and velocity, making the natural detector operator the energy flux differential in velocity, ℰv(n̂). We provide non-perturbative definitions of these operators in NRCFTs, and study their symmetries and algebra. We calculate one-point functions of these detector observables in a variety of few and many body states of representative NRCFTs, including free fermions, as well as fermions at unitarity. In interacting three-body states, they exhibit a remarkably rich behavior reflective of the Efimov three-body wave-function, including the formation of an enhanced "jet" structure due to the presence of resonant interactions. We use these detectors to derive a nonrelativistic generalization of the Hofman-Maldacena conformal collider bounds by arguing for positivity of ℰv(n̂), and imposing this in spin 1 states. We outline a number of future directions for the study of detectors in NRCFTs, and discuss how they can be measured in a variety of experimental platforms from cold atoms to low energy neutron experiments.
Related
- Unitary quantum conformal Bondi-Metzner-Sachs field theories
- "Massive" Conformal Field Theories and application to Nambu-Goto string
- Mutual Information of Measurement in Conformal Field Theories
- Work fluctuation speed limit in boundary conformal field theories
- Background Effects on Thermal Free Energy in Conformal Field Theories
BibTeX
@misc{chang2026detectors,
title = {{Detectors in Nonrelativistic Conformal Field Theories}},
author = {Cyuan-Han Chang and Subham Dutta Chowdhury and Ian Moult and Dam Thanh Son},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.38301},
eprint = {2609.38301},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.38301},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Detectors in Nonrelativistic Conformal Field Theories
AU - Cyuan-Han Chang
AU - Subham Dutta Chowdhury
AU - Ian Moult
AU - Dam Thanh Son
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/29
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.38301
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.38301
AB - Correlations in asymptotic fluxes provide one of the primary experimental means of studying physical systems. In the context of relativistic QFT, the formalization of such experiments in terms of detector operators has led to significant progress. Motivated by these successes, in this paper we initiate a study of detector operators in nonrelativistic conformal field theories (NRCFTs). In NRCFTs, fluxes are distributed in both angle and velocity, making the natural detector operator the energy flux differential in velocity, ℰ_v(n̂). We provide non-perturbative definitions of these operators in NRCFTs, and study their symmetries and algebra. We calculate one-point functions of these detector observables in a variety of few and many body states of representative NRCFTs, including free fermions, as well as fermions at unitarity. In interacting three-body states, they exhibit a remarkably rich behavior reflective of the Efimov three-body wave-function, including the formation of an enhanced "jet" structure due to the presence of resonant interactions. We use these detectors to derive a nonrelativistic generalization of the Hofman-Maldacena conformal collider bounds by arguing for positivity of ℰ_v(n̂), and imposing this in spin 1 states. We outline a number of future directions for the study of detectors in NRCFTs, and discuss how they can be measured in a variety of experimental platforms from cold atoms to low energy neutron experiments.
ER -