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PreprintarXiv licencearXiv

Direct Experimental Test of Conformal Invariance via Grazing Scattering: A Proposal for X-ray and Neutron Experiments

  • Alessandro Podo
  • Slava Rychkov
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Abstract

We propose a test of conformal invariance in critical phenomena based on the study of a two-point correlation function in the presence of a boundary. This two-point function can be studied using X-ray or neutron scattering in the conditions of total reflection (so-called grazing scattering). The conformal Ward identity in momentum space is here expressed as a differential constraint on the scattering cross-section, as a function of the momentum transfer and the scattering angle. Experimental verification using X-rays and binary alloys appears well within the existing techniques, while feasibility for neutron scattering requires further study. This would be the first direct experimental test of conformal invariance in critical phenomena, a symmetry widely assumed but never directly verified.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{podo2026direct,
  title = {{Direct Experimental Test of Conformal Invariance via Grazing Scattering: A Proposal for X-ray and Neutron Experiments}},
  author = {Alessandro Podo and Slava Rychkov},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2605.06773},
  eprint = {2605.06773},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.06773},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Direct Experimental Test of Conformal Invariance via Grazing Scattering: A Proposal for X-ray and Neutron Experiments
AU  - Alessandro Podo
AU  - Slava Rychkov
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/24
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2605.06773
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.06773
AB  - We propose a test of conformal invariance in critical phenomena based on the study of a two-point correlation function in the presence of a boundary. This two-point function can be studied using X-ray or neutron scattering in the conditions of total reflection (so-called grazing scattering). The conformal Ward identity in momentum space is here expressed as a differential constraint on the scattering cross-section, as a function of the momentum transfer and the scattering angle. Experimental verification using X-rays and binary alloys appears well within the existing techniques, while feasibility for neutron scattering requires further study. This would be the first direct experimental test of conformal invariance in critical phenomena, a symmetry widely assumed but never directly verified.
ER  -