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  • Open Access

Causal bootstrap: Bounding smeared spectral functions from nonperturbative Euclidean data

Ryan Abbott1,*, Sarah Fields1, William I. Jay2, Patrick Oare3, and Matteo Saccardi2

  • *Contact author: rwa2110@columbia.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 074510 – Published 16 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/m9kj-y6t3

Abstract

This work introduces the causal bootstrap, a framework for bounding smeared spectral observables from finite nonperturbative Euclidean data. The method optimizes over the convex set of positive spectral densities compatible with the data to compute rigorous upper and lower bounds on the target observable. Statistical uncertainties, including correlations, are incorporated through compatibility regions using the covariance matrix. The bounds are equivalent, via Lagrange duality, to certified bounds on the target smearing kernel. For polynomial, rational, and piecewise rational kernels, the resulting dual problems can be reduced to finite-dimensional semidefinite programs using techniques familiar, e.g., in the numerical conformal bootstrap. The present formulation clarifies the relation to moment problems, Nevanlinna-Pick interpolation, and linear kernel-reconstruction methods. Numerical examples demonstrate the method.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 074510– Published 16 October, 2026
  • Received 10 June 2026
  • Accepted 27 August 2026
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