Conformal perturbation theory beyond the leading order

Higher-order conformal perturbation theory is studied for theories with and without boundaries. We identify systematically the universal quantities in the beta function equations, and we give explicit formulae for the universal coefficients at next-to-leading order in terms of integrated correlation functions. As an example, we analyse the radius dependence of the conformal dimension of some boundary operators for the case of a single Neumann brane on a circle, and for an intersecting brane configuration on a torus, reproducing in both cases the expected geometrical answer. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.