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At least 397 records · Page 22

Modular flow in JT gravity and entanglement wedge reconstruction

It has been shown in recent works that JT gravity with matter with two boundaries has a type II ∞ algebra on each side. As the bulk spacetime between the two boundaries fluctuates in quantum nature, we can only define the entanglement wedge for each side in a pure algebraic sense. As we take the semiclassical limit, we will have a fixed long wormhole spacetime for a generic partially entangled thermal state (PETS), which is prepared by inserting heavy operators on the Euclidean path integral. Under this limit, with appropriate assumptions of the matter theory, geometric notions of the causal wedge and entanglement wedge emerge in this background. In particular, the causal wedge is manifestly nested in the entanglement wedge. Different PETS are orthogonal to each other, and thus the Hilbert space has a direct sum structure over sub-Hilbert spaces labeled by different Euclidean geometries. The full algebra for both sides is decomposed accordingly. From the algebra viewpoint, the causal wedge is dual to an emergent type III 1 subalgebra, which is generated by boundary light operators. To reconstruct the entanglement wedge, we consider the modular flow in a generic PETS for each boundary. We show that the modular flow acts locally and is the boost transformation around the global RT surface in the semiclassical limit. It follows that we can extend the causal wedge algebra to a larger type III 1 algebra corresponding to the entanglement wedge. Within each sub-Hilbert space, the original type II ∞ reduces to type III 1 .

2D Gravity↗

High-temperature expansion of supersymmetric partition functions

Di Pietro and Komargodski have recently demonstrated a four-dimensional counterpart of Cardy’s formula, which gives the leading high-temperature (β → 0) behavior of supersymmetric partition functions Z SUSY (β). By focusing on superconformal theories, we elaborate on the subleading contributions to their formula when applied to free chiral and U(1) vector multiplets. In particular, we see that the high-temperature expansion of ln Z SUSY (β) terminates at order β 0 . We also demonstrate how their formula must be modified when applied to SU(N) toric quiver gauge theories in the planar (N → ∞) limit. Our method for regularizing the one-loop determinants of chiral and vector multiplets helps to clarify the relation between the 4d N=1 superconformal index and its corresponding supersymmetric partition function obtained by path-integration.

1/N Expansion↗

High-temperature asymptotics of supersymmetric partition functions

We study the supersymmetric partition function of 4d supersymmetric gauge theories with a U(1) R-symmetry on Euclidean S 3 × S β 1 , with S 3 the unit-radius squashed three-sphere, and β the circumference of the circle. For superconformal theories, this partition function coincides (up to a Casimir energy factor) with the 4d superconformal index. The partition function can be computed exactly using the supersymmetric localization of the gauge theory path-integral. It takes the form of an elliptic hypergeometric integral, which may be viewed as a matrix-integral over the moduli space of the holonomies of the gauge fields around S β 1 . At high temperatures (β → 0, corresponding to the hyperbolic limit of the elliptic hypergeometric integral) we obtain from the matrix-integral a quantum effective potential for the holonomies. The effective potential is proportional to the temperature. Therefore the high-temperature limit further localizes the matrix-integral to the locus of the minima of the potential. If the effective potential is positive semi-definite, the leading high-temperature asymptotics of the partition function is given by the formula of Di Pietro and Komargodski, and the subleading asymptotics is connected to the Coulomb branch dynamics on R 3 × S 1 . In theories where the effective potential is not positive semi-definite, the Di Pietro-Komargodski formula needs to be modified. In particular, this modification occurs in the SU(2) theory of Intriligator-Seiberg-Shenker, and the SO(N) theory of Brodie-Cho-Intriligator, both believed to exhibit “misleading” anomaly matchings, and both believed to yield interacting superconformal field theories with c < a. Lastly, two new simple tests for dualities between 4d supersymmetric gauge theories emerge as byproducts of our analysis.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

BPS Wilson loop in $\mathcal{N}$ = 2 superconformal SU(N) “orientifold” gauge theory and weak-strong coupling interpolation

We consider the expectation value \( \left\langle \mathcal{W}\right\rangle \) of the circular BPS Wilson loop in \( \mathcal{N} \) = 2 superconformal SU( N ) gauge theory containing a vector multiplet coupled to two hypermultiplets in rank-2 symmetric and antisymmetric representations. This theory admits a regular large N expansion, is planar-equivalent to \( \mathcal{N} \) = 4 SYM theory and is expected to be dual to a certain orbifold/orientifold projection of AdS 5 × S 5 superstring theory. On the string theory side \( \left\langle \mathcal{W}\right\rangle \) is represented by the path integral expanded near the same AdS 2 minimal surface as in the maximally supersymmetric case. Following the string theory argument in [5], we suggest that as in the \( \mathcal{N} \) = 4 SYM case and in the \( \mathcal{N} \) = 2 SU( N ) × SU( N ) superconformal quiver theory discussed in [19], the coefficient of the leading non-planar 1/ N 2 correction in \( \left\langle \mathcal{W}\right\rangle \) should have the universal λ 3/2 scaling at large ’t Hooft coupling. We confirm this prediction by starting with the localization matrix model representation for \( \left\langle \mathcal{W}\right\rangle \) . We complement the analytic derivation of the λ 3/2 scaling by a numerical high-precision resummation and extrapolation of the weak-coupling expansion using conformal mapping improved Padé analysis.

1/N Expansion↗

Quantum error correction in the black hole interior

We study the quantum error correction properties of the black hole interior in a toy model for an evaporating black hole: Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity entangled with a non-gravitational bath. After the Page time, the black hole interior degrees of freedom in this system are encoded in the bath Hilbert space. We use the gravitational path integral to show that the interior density matrix is correctable against the action of quantum operations on the bath which (i) do not have prior access to details of the black hole microstates, and (ii) do not have a large, negative coherent information with respect to the maximally mixed state on the bath, with the lower bound controlled by the black hole entropy and code subspace dimension. Thus, the encoding of the black hole interior in the radiation is robust against generic, low-rank quantum operations. For erasure errors, gravity comes within an O (1) distance of saturating the Singleton bound on the tolerance of error correcting codes. For typical errors in the bath to corrupt the interior, they must have a rank that is a large multiple of the bath Hilbert space dimension, with the precise coefficient set by the black hole entropy and code subspace dimension.

2D gravity↗

BPS and near-BPS black holes in AdS 5 and their spectrum in $\mathcal{N}$ = 4 SYM

We study quantum corrections in the gravitational path integral around nearly 1/16-BPS black holes in asymptotically AdS 5 × S 5 space, dual to heavy states in 4D N = 4 super Yang-Mills. The analysis provides a gravitational explanation of why 1/16-BPS black holes exhibit an exact degeneracy at large N and why all such states have the same charges, confirming the belief that the superconformal index precisely counts the entropy of extremal black holes. We show the presence of a gap of order N −2 between the 1/16-BPS black holes and the lightest near-BPS black holes within the same charge sector. This is the first example of such a gap for black hole states within the context of AdS 5 holography. We also derive the spectrum of near-BPS states that lie above this gap. Our computation relies on finding the correct version of the N = 2 super-Schwarzian theory which captures the breaking of the SU(1, 1|1) symmetry when the black hole has finite temperature and non-zero chemical potential. Finally, we comment on possible stringy and non-perturbative corrections that can affect the black hole spectrum.

AdS-CFT Correspondence↗

Complexity functionals and complexity growth limits in continuous MERA circuits

Using the path integral associated to a cMERA tensor network, we provide an operational definition for the complexity of a cMERA circuit/state which is relevant to investigate the complexity of states in quantum field theory. In this framework, it is possible to explicitly establish the correspondence (Minimal) Complexity = (Least) Action. Remarkably, it is also shown how the cMERA complexity action functional can be seen as the action of a Liouville field theory, thus establishing a connection with two dimensional quantum gravity. Concretely, the Liouville mode is identified with the variational parameter defining the cMERA circuit. The rate of complexity growth along the cMERA renormalization group flow is obtained and shown to saturate limits which are in close resemblance to the fundamental bounds to the speed of evolution in unitary quantum dynamics, known as quantum speed limits. We also show that the complexity of a cMERA circuit measured through these complexity functionals, can be cast in terms of the variationally-optimized amount of left-right entanglement created along the cMERA renormalization flow. Our results suggest that the patterns of entanglement in states of a QFT could determine their dual gravitational descriptions through a principle of least complexity.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A note on entanglement edge modes in Chern Simons theory

We elaborate on the extended Hilbert space factorization of Chern Simons theory and show how this arises naturally from a proper regularization of the entangling surface in the Euclidean path integral. The regularization amounts to stretching the entangling surface into a co-dimension one surface which hosts edge modes of the Chern Simons theory when quantized on a spatial subregion. The factorized state is a regularized Ishibashi state and reproduces the well known topological entanglement entropies. We illustrate how the same factorization arises from the gluing of two spatial subregions via the entangling product defined by Donnelly and Freidel.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

The disk partition function in string theory

We investigate the disk partition function for the open string. This is a subtle problem because of the presence of a residual gauge group PSL(2, R) on the worldsheet even after fixing the conformal gauge. It naively has infinite volume and leads to a vanishing answer. We use different methods that all demonstrate that PSL(2, R) effectively behaves like a group with finite negative volume in the path integral, which leads to a simple prescription for the computation of the disk partition function. We apply our findings to give a simple rederivation of the D-brane tensions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Orientation reversal and the Chern-Simons natural boundary

We show that the fundamental property of preservation of relations, underlying resurgent analysis, provides a new perspective on crossing a natural boundary, an important general problem in theoretical and mathematical physics. This reveals a deeper rigidity aspect of resurgence in a quantum field theory path integral. The physical context here is the non-perturbative completion of complex Chern-Simons theory that associates to a 3-manifold a collection of q-series invariants labeled by Spinc structures, for which crossing the natural boundary corresponds to orientation reversal of the 3-manifold. Our new resurgent perspective leads to a practical numerical algorithm that generates q-series which are dual to unary q-series composed of false theta functions. Until recently, these duals were only known in a limited number of cases, essentially based on Ramanujan’s mock theta functions, and the common belief was that the duals might not even exist in the general case. Resurgence analysis identifies as primary objects Mordell integrals: up to changes of variables, they are Laplace transforms of resurgent functions. Their unique Borel summed transseries decomposition on either side of the Stokes line is simply the unique decomposition into real and imaginary parts. In turn, the latter are combinations of unary q-series in terms of q and its modular counterpart $\overset{\sim }{q}$ , and are resurgent by construction. The Mordell integral is analytic across the natural boundary of the q and $\overset{\sim }{q}$ series, and uniqueness of a similar decomposition which preserves algebraic relations on the other side of the boundary defines the unique boundary crossing of the q series. We demonstrate that this continuation can be efficiently implemented numerically. In the cases where unique mock modular identities are known, they are found by this numerical procedure, but the procedure can go well beyond the known list of identities. A particularly interesting feature of the resurgent approach is that it reveals new aspects, and is very different from other known approaches based on indefinite theta series, Appell-Lerch sums, and representation theory of logarithmic vertex operator algebras.

Chern-Simons theories↗

Interface contributions to topological entanglement in abelian Chern-Simons theory

Here, we study the entanglement entropy between (possibly distinct) topological phases across an interface using an Abelian Chern-Simons description with topological boundary conditions (TBCs) at the interface. From a microscopic point of view, these TBCs correspond to turning on particular gapping interactions between the edge modes across the interface. However, in studying entanglement in the continuum Chern-Simons description, we must confront the problem of non-factorization of the Hilbert space, which is a standard property of gauge theories. We carefully define the entanglement entropy by using an extended Hilbert space construction directly in the continuum theory. We show how a given TBC isolates a corresponding gauge invariant state in the extended Hilbert space, and hence compute the resulting entanglement entropy. We find that the sub-leading correction to the area law remains universal, but depends on the choice of topological boundary conditions. This agrees with the microscopic calculation of [1]. Additionally, we provide a replica path integral calculation for the entropy. In the case when the topological phases across the interface are taken to be identical, our construction gives a novel explanation of the equivalence between the left-right entanglement of (1+1)d Ishibashi states and the spatial entanglement of (2+1)d topological phases.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Effective field theory of dissipative fluids

We develop an effctive fi eld theory for dissipative fluids which governs the dynamics of long-lived gapless modes associated with conserved quantities. The resulting theory gives a path integral formulation of fluctuating hydrodynamics which systematically incorporates nonlinear interactions of noises. The dynamical variables are mappings between a "fluid spacetime" and the physical spacetime and an essential aspect of our formulation is to identify the appropriate symmetries in the fluid spacetime. The theory applies to nonlinear disturbances around a general density matrix. For a thermal density matrix, we require an additional Z2 symmetry, to which we refer as the local KMS condition. This leads to the standard constraints of hydrodynamics, as well as a nonlinear generalization of the Onsager relations. It also leads to an emergent supersymmetry in the classical statistical regime, and a higher derivative deformation of supersymmetry in the full quantum regime.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Towards quasi-transverse momentum dependent PDFs computable on the lattice

Transverse momentum dependent parton distributions (TMDPDFs) which appear in factorized cross sections involve infinite Wilson lines with edges on or close to the light-cone. Since these TMDPDFs are not directly calculable with a Euclidean path integral in lattice QCD, we study the construction of quasi-TMDPDFs with finite-length spacelike Wilson lines that are amenable to such calculations. We define an infrared consistency test to determine which quasi-TMDPDF definitions are related to the TMDPDF, by carrying out a one-loop study of infrared logarithms of transverse position b T ~Λ QCD -1 , which must agree between them. This agreement is a necessary condition for the two quantities to be related by perturbative matching. TMDPDFs necessarily involve combining a hadron matrix element, which nominally depends on a single light-cone direction, with soft matrix elements that necessarily depend on two light-cone directions. We show at one loop that the simplest definitions of the quasi hadron matrix element, the quasi soft matrix element, and the resulting quasi-TMDPDF all fail the infrared consistency test. Ratios of impact parameter quasi-TMDPDFs still provide nontrivial information about the TMD-PDFs, and are more robust since the soft matrix elements cancel. We show at one loop that such quasi ratios can be matched to ratios of the corresponding TMDPDFs. We also introduce a modified “bent” quasi soft matrix element which yields a quasi-TMDPDF that passes the consistency test with the TMDPDF at one loop, and discuss potential issues at higher orders.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Celestial IR divergences and the effective action of supertranslation modes

Infrared divergences in perturbative gravitational scattering amplitudes have been recently argued to be governed by the two-point function of the supertranslation Goldstone mode on the celestial sphere. We show that the form of this celestial two-point function simply derives from an effective action that also controls infrared divergences in the symplectic structure of General Relativity with asymptotically flat boundary conditions. This effective action finds its natural place in a path integral formulation of a celestial conformal field theory, as we illustrate by re-deriving the infrared soft factors in terms of celestial correlators. Our analysis relies on a well-posed action principle close to spatial infinity introduced by Compère and Dehouck.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Gravitational index of the heterotic string

The fundamental heterotic string has a tower of BPS states whose supersymmetric index has an exponential growth in the charges. We construct the saddle-point of the gravitational path integral corresponding to this index. The saddle-point configuration is a supersymmetric rotating non-extremal Euclidean black hole. This configuration is singular in the two-derivative theory. We show that the addition of higher-derivative terms in four-dimensional N = 2 supergravity resolves the singularity. In doing so, we extend the recently-developed “new attractor mechanism” to include the effect of higher-derivative terms. Remarkably, the one-loop, four-derivative F-term contribution to the prepotential leads to a precise match of the gravitational and microscopic index. We also comment, using the effective theory near the horizon, on the possibility of a string-size near-extremal black hole. Our results clarify the meaning of different descriptions of this system in the literature. The thermal state transitions to a winding condensate and a gas of strings without ever reaching a small black hole, while the index is captured by the rotating Euclidean black hole solution and is constant and thus smoothly connected to the microscopic ensemble.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Fermionic localization of the schwarzian theory

The SYK model is a quantum mechanical model that has been proposed to be holographically dual to a 1 + 1-dimensional model of a quantum black hole. An emergent “gravitational” mode of this model is governed by an unusual action that has been called the Schwarzian action. It governs a reparametrization of a circle. We show that the path integral of the Schwarzian theory is one-loop exact. Here, the argument uses a method of fermionic localization, even though the model itself is purely bosonic.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

One-loop holography with strings in AdS 4 × $\mathbb{CP}$ 3

We compute the one-loop effective action of string configurations embedded in AdS 4 × CP 3 which are dual to 1/6-BPS latitude Wilson Loops in the ABJM theory. To avoid ambiguities in the string path integral we subtract the 1/2-BPS case. The one-loop determinants are computed by Fourier-decomposing the two dimensional operators and then using the Gel’fand-Yaglom method. We comment on various aspects related to the regularization procedure, showing the cancellation of a hierarchy of divergences. After taking into account an IR anomaly from a change in topology, we find a precise agreement with the field theory result known from supersymmetric localization.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Effective entropy of quantum fields coupled with gravity

Entanglement entropy, or von Neumann entropy, quantifies the amount of uncertainty of a quantum state. For quantum fields in curved space, entanglement entropy of the quantum field theory degrees of freedom is well-defined for a fixed background geometry. In this paper, we propose a generalization of the quantum field theory entanglement entropy by including dynamical gravity. The generalized quantity named effective entropy, and its Renyi entropy generalizations, are defined by analytic continuation of a replica calculation. The replicated theory is defined as a gravitational path integral with multiple copies of the original boundary conditions, with a co-dimension-2 brane at the boundary of region we are studying. We discuss different approaches to define the region in a gauge invariant way, and show that the effective entropy satisfies the quantum extremal surface formula. When the quantum fields carry a significant amount of entanglement, the quantum extremal surface can have a topology transition, after which an entanglement island region appears. Our result generalizes the Hubeny-Rangamani-Takayanagi formula of holographic entropy (with quantum corrections) to general geometries without asymptotic AdS boundary, and provides a more solid framework for addressing problems such as the Page curve of evaporating black holes in asymptotic flat spacetime. We apply the formula to two example systems, a closed two-dimensional universe and a four-dimensional maximally extended Schwarzchild black hole. We discuss the analog of the effective entropy in random tensor network models, which provides more concrete understanding of quantum information properties in general dynamical geometries. We show that, in absence of a large boundary like in AdS space case, it is essential to introduce ancilla that couples to the original system, in order for correctly characterizing quantum states and correlation functions in the random tensor network. Using the superdensity operator formalism, we study the system with ancilla and show how quantum information in the entanglement island can be reconstructed in a state-dependent and observer-dependent map. We study the closed universe (without spatial boundary) case and discuss how it is related to open universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗