arXiv subjects

Alexandre Belin

Publications and source records attributed to Alexandre Belin.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

The boundary dual of the bulk symplectic form

In this paper, we study the overlaps of wavefunctionals prepared by turning on sources in the Euclidean path integral. For nearby states, these overlaps give rise to a Kahler structure on the space of sources, which is naturally induced by the Fubini-Study metric. The Kahler form obtained this way can also be thought of as a Berry curvature and, for holographic field theories, we show that it is identical to the gravitational symplectic form in the bulk. We discuss some possible applications of this observation, in particular a boundary prescription to calculate the variation of the volume of a maximal slice.

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arXiv2018

Comments on a state-operator correspondence for the torus

We investigate the existence of a state-operator correspondence on the torus. This correspondence would relate states of the CFT Hilbert space living on a spatial torus to the path integral over compact Euclidean manifolds with operator insertions. Unlike the states on the sphere that are associated to local operators, we argue that those on the torus would more naturally be associated to line operators. We find evidence that such a correspondence cannot exist and in particular, we argue that no compact Euclidean path integral can produce the vacuum on the torus. Our arguments come solely from field theory and formulate a CFT version of the Horowitz-Myers conjecture for the AdS soliton.

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arXiv2018

Bulk entanglement entropy in perturbative excited states

We compute the bulk entanglement entropy across the Ryu-Takayanagi surface for a one-particle state in a scalar field theory in AdS$_3$. We work directly within the bulk Hilbert space and include the spatial spread of the scalar wavefunction. We give closed form expressions in the limit of small interval sizes and compare the result to a CFT computation of entanglement entropy in an excited primary state at large $c$. Including the contribution from the backreacted minimal area, we find agreement between the CFT result and the FLM and JLMS formulas for quantum corrections to holographic entanglement entropy. This provides a non-trivial check in a state where the answer is not dictated by symmetry. Along the way, we provide closed-form expressions for the scalar field Bogoliubov coefficients that relate the global and Rindler slicings of AdS$_3$.

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arXiv2017

Permutation Orbifolds and Chaos

We study out-of-time-ordered correlation functions in permutation orbifolds at large central charge. We show that they do not decay at late times for arbitrary choices of low-dimension operators, indicating that permutation orbifolds are non-chaotic theories. This is in agreement with the fact they are free discrete gauge theories and should be integrable rather than chaotic. We comment on the early-time behaviour of the correlators as well as the deformation to strong coupling.

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arXiv2017

Genus Two Partition Functions and Renyi Entropies of Large c CFTs

We compute genus two partition functions in two dimensional conformal field theories at large central charge, focusing on surfaces that give the third Renyi entropy of two intervals. We compute this for generalized free theories and for symmetric orbifolds, and compare it to the result in pure gravity. We find a new phase transition if the theory contains a light operator of dimension $Δ\leq0.19$. This means in particular that unlike the second Renyi entropy, the third one is no longer universal.

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arXiv2017

Siegel Modular Forms and Black Hole Entropy

We discuss the application of Siegel Modular Forms to Black Hole entropy counting. The role of the Igusa cusp form $χ_{10}$ in the D1D5P system is well-known, and its transformation properties are what allows precision microstate counting in this case. We apply a similar method to extract the Fourier coefficients of other Siegel modular and paramodular forms, and we show that they could serve as candidates for other types of black holes. We investigate the growth of their coefficients, identifying the dominant contributions and the leading logarithmic corrections in various regimes. We also discuss similarities and differences to the behavior of $χ_{10}$, and possible physical interpretations of such forms both from a microscopic and gravitational point of view.

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arXiv2017

Universality of Sparse $d>2$ Conformal Field Theory at Large $N$

We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for large $N$ conformal field theories to have a universal free energy and an extended range of validity of the higher-dimensional Cardy formula. These constraints are much tighter than in two dimensions and must be satisfied by any conformal field theory dual to Einstein gravity. We construct and analyze symmetric product orbifold theories on $\mathbb{T}^d$ and show that they only realize the necessary phase structure and extended range of validity if the seed theory is assumed to have a universal vacuum energy.

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arXiv2016

Sub-AdS Scale Locality in AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$

We investigate sub-AdS scale locality in a weakly coupled toy model of the AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$ correspondence. We find that this simple model has the correct density of states at low and high energies to be dual to Einstein gravity coupled to matter in AdS$_3$. Bulk correlation functions also have the correct behavior at leading order in the large $N$ expansion, but non-local effects emerge at order $1/N$. Our analysis leads to the conjecture that any large $N$ CFT$_2$ that is modular invariant and has the right low-energy density of states is dual to a gravitational theory with sub-AdS scale locality.

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arXiv2016

A New Instability of the Topological black hole

We investigate the stability of massless topological black holes in AdS_d when minimally coupled to a scalar field of negative mass-squared. In many cases such black holes are unstable even though the field is above the BF bound and the geometry is locally AdS. The instability depends on the choice of boundary conditions for the scalars: scalars with non-standard (Neumann) boundary conditions tend to be more unstable, though scalars with standard (Dirichlet) boundary conditions can be unstable as well. This leads to an apparent mismatch between boundary and bulk results in the Vasiliev/Vector-like matter duality.

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arXiv2015

Permutation Orbifolds in the large N Limit

The space of permutation orbifolds is a simple landscape of two dimensional CFTs, generalizing the well-known symmetric orbifolds. We consider constraints which a permutation orbifold with large central charge must obey in order to be holographically dual to a weakly coupled (but possibly stringy) theory of gravity in AdS. We then construct explicit examples of permutation orbifolds which obey these constraints. In our constructions the spectrum remains finite at large N, but differs qualitatively from that of symmetric orbifolds. We also discuss under what conditions the correlation functions factorize at large N and thus reduce to those of a generalized free field in AdS. We show that this happens not just for symmetric orbifolds, but also for permutation groups which act "democratically" in a sense which we define.

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arXiv2015

Fake gaps in AdS_3/CFT_2

We discuss properties of interpolating geometries in three dimensional gravity in the presence of a chiral anomaly. This anomaly, which introduces an unbalance between left and right central charges, is protected under RG flows. For this simple reason it is impossible to gap a system with such an anomaly. Our goal is to discuss how holography captures this basic and robust feature. We demonstrate the absence of a mass gap by analysing the linearized spectrum and holographic entanglement entropy of these backgrounds in the context of AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$.

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arXiv2015

Holographic Phases of Renyi Entropies

We consider Renyi entropies of conformal field theories in flat space, with the entangling surface being a sphere. The AdS/CFT correspondence relates this Renyi entropy to that of a black hole with hyperbolic horizon; as the Renyi parameter $n$ increases the temperature of the black hole decreases. If the CFT possesses a sufficiently low dimension scalar operator the black hole will be unstable to the development of hair. Thus, as $n$ is varied, the Renyi entropies will exhibit a phase transition at a critical value of $n$. The location of the phase transition, along with the spectrum of the reduced density matrix $ρ$, depends on the dimension of the lowest dimension non-trivial scalar operator in the theory.

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arXiv2015

Holographic Charged Renyi Entropies

We construct a new class of entanglement measures by extending the usual definition of Renyi entropy to include a chemical potential. These charged Renyi entropies measure the degree of entanglement in different charge sectors of the theory and are given by Euclidean path integrals with the insertion of a Wilson line encircling the entangling surface. We compute these entropies for a spherical entangling surface in CFT's with holographic duals, where they are related to entropies of charged black holes with hyperbolic horizons. We also compute charged Renyi entropies in free field theories.

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arXiv2014

String Universality for Permutation Orbifolds

The hypothesis that every theory of quantum gravity in AdS_3 is a dimensional reduction of string/M-theory leads to a natural conjecture for the density of states of two dimensional CFTs with a large central charge limit. We prove this conjecture for 2D CFTs which are orbifolds by permutation groups. In particular, we characterize those permutation groups which give CFTs with well-defined large N limits and can thus serve as holographic duals to bulk gravity theories in AdS_3. We then show that the holographic dual of a permutation orbifold will have a Hagedorn spectrum in the large N limit. This is evidence that, within this landscape, every theory of quantum gravity with a semi-classical limit is a string theory.

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arXiv2014

Charged Renyi entropies and holographic superconductors

Charged Renyi entropies were recently introduced as a measure of entanglement between different charge sectors of a theory. We investigate the phase structure of charged Renyi entropies for CFTs with a light, charged scalar operator. The charged Renyi entropies are calculated holographically via areas of charged hyperbolic black holes. These black holes can become unstable to the formation of scalar hair at sufficiently low temperature; this is the holographic superconducting instability in hyperbolic space. This implies that the Renyi entropies can be non-analytic in the Renyi parameter n. We find the onset of this instability as a function of the charge and dimension of the scalar operator. We also comment on the relation between the phase structure of these entropies and the phase structure of a holographic superconductor in flat space.

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arXiv2013

Topology of Future Infinity in dS/CFT

The dS/CFT proposal of Anninos, Hartman, and Strominger relates quantum Vasiliev gravity in dS_4 to a large N vector theory in three dimensions. We use this proposal to compute the Wheeler-de Witt wave function of a universe having a particular topology at future infinity. This amplitude is found to grow rapidly with the topological complexity of the spatial slice; this is due to the plethora of states of the Chern-Simons theory that is needed to impose the singlet constraint. Various mechanisms are considered which might ameliorate this growth, but none seems completely satisfactory. We also study the topology dependence in Einstein gravity by computing the action of complex instantons; the wave function then depends on a choice of contour through the space of metrics. The most natural contour prescription leads to a growth with genus similar to the one found in Vasiliev theory, albeit with a different power of Newton's constant.

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