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Boundary anomalous dimensions from BCFT: O(N)-symmetric ϕ2n theories with a boundary and higher-derivative generalizations

Yongwei Guo1,2 and Wenliang Li1,*

  • *Contact author: liwliang3@mail.sysu.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 065001 – Published 3 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/pqs4-hs43

Abstract

We investigate the ϕ2n deformations of the O(N)-symmetric (generalized) free theories with a flat boundary, where n≥2 is an integer. The generalized free theories refer to the □k free scalar theories with a higher derivative kinetic term, which is related to the multicritical generalizations of the Lifshitz type. We assume that the (generalized) free theories and the deformed theories have boundary conformal symmetry and O(N) global symmetry. The leading anomalous dimensions of some boundary operators are derived from the bulk multiplet recombination and analyticity constraints. We find that the ε1/2 expansion in the ϕ6-tricritical version of the special transition extends to other multicritical cases with larger odd integer n, and most of the higher derivative cases involve a noninteger power expansion in ε. Using the analytic bootstrap, we further verify that the multiplet-recombination results are consistent with boundary crossing symmetry.

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Phys. Rev. D 112, 065001– Published 3 September, 2025
  • Received 4 July 2025
  • Accepted 30 July 2025
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