Semi-universality of conformal higher-derivative and conformal higher-spin fields

A bstract In this paper, we study thermal partition functions of free exotic conformal field theories, focusing on conformal higher-derivative and conformal higher-spin fields, in the semi-universal limit | ω i | → 1. It was recently conjectured in [1] that, in this limit, the thermal partition function develops universal poles in (1 – | ω i |), while the corresponding residue functions are theory-dependent. We analyze conformal higher-derivative scalar, fermionic, and vector fields in the semi-universal limit. We then extend the study to the Weyl graviton, the Weyl gravitino, and conformal higher-spin fields (CHS) on $$ {S}_{\beta}^1\times {S}^3 $$ S β 1 × S 3 , using both spectral mode-sum and operator-counting methods. In all cases, we find the expected pole structure, with residue functions whose behavior depends on the presence or absence of negative-twist states. For four-dimensional conformal higher-spin fields, we further reproduce the same residue-pole structure from the one-loop partition function of massless higher-spin fields in thermal AdS 5 . Finally, we show that the semi-universal limit provides a useful diagnostic of negative-twist states, which indicate violations of ANEC-type bounds in these theories, whereas the traditional high-temperature expansion is insensitive to them.