Conformal field theory and universality

A conformal field theory is a quantum field theory with extra symmetries (namely the conformal group). It can also be thought of as an invariant attached to a quantum field theory which captures its limiting behaviour at long distances or at short distances. Several quantum field theory can lead to the same conformal field theory at long (or short) distances, a phenomenon called "universality". Similarly, conformal field theories appear in the description of long range correlation functions of critical lattice models. In this overview talk I would like to illustrate the above ideas in the special case of two dimensions and explain the use of the extended symmetries in understanding field theories.Non UBCUnreviewedAuthor affiliation: U HamburgFacult