Conformal invariance, the central charge, and universal finite-size amplitudes at criticality

H. W. J. Blöte; John L. Cardy; M. P. Nightingale

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.56.742

Conformal invariance, the central charge, and universal finite-size amplitudes at criticality

H. W. J. Blöte, John L. Cardy, and M. P. Nightingale

Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 742 – Published 17 February 1986

Abstract

We show that for conformally invariant two-dimensional systems, the amplitude of the finite-size corrections to the free energy of an infinitely long strip of width L at criticality is linearly related to the conformal anomaly number c, for various boundary conditions. The result is confirmed by renormalization-group arguments and numerical calculations. It is also related to the magnitude of the Casimir effect in an interacting one-dimensional field theory, and to the low-temperature specific heat in quantum chains.