LAUSR

A bstractWe derive constraints on two-dimensional conformal field theories with higher spin symmetry due to unitarity, modular invariance, and causality. We focus on CFTs with WN$$ {\mathcal{W}}_N $$ symmetry in the “irrational” regime, where c > N − 1 and the theories have an infinite number of higher-spin primaries. The most powerful constraints come from positivity of the Kac matrix, which (unlike the Virasoro case) is non-trivial even when c > N − 1. This places a lower bound on the dimension of any non-vacuum higher-spin primary state, which is linear in the central charge. At large c, this implies that the dual holographic theories of gravity in AdS3, if they exist, have no local, perturbative degrees of freedom in the semi-classical limit.