Conformal defects of general dimensions at finite temperature

RESUMO

We consider defect conformal field theories (DCFTs) at finite temperature, where a $p$-dimensional conformal defect wraps the thermal circle. Extending the previous study of line defects to defects of general dimensions, we determine the general forms of the thermal one-point functions of bulk scalars, conserved currents and the stress tensor by imposing the residual symmetry and the conservation laws. The low temperature expansion of the thermal one-point functions is shown to be reproduced by the bulk-defect operator expansion, allowing us to read off the thermal one-point coefficients of defect operators. We examine the general results in four classes of examples with free bulk theories: the trivial defect, free scalar and fermion theories with a boundary, the free scalar theory with a localized $\phi$ deformation in $d=2\,p+2$ dimensions and the free $\mathrm{O}(N)$ model with a localized $\phi^2$ deformation in $d=p+2-\epsilon$ dimensions. In the last example with $\epsilon = 1$, where the defect becomes an interface, we find that the thermal one-point functions coincide with those of the free scalar theory with the Dirichlet boundary condition, in accordance with the conjectured factorization of an interface CFT into two decoupled boundary CFTs.