arXiv subjects

Aninda Sinha

Publications and source records attributed to Aninda Sinha.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Analytic bootstrap at large spin

We use analytic conformal bootstrap methods to determine the anomalous dimensions and OPE coefficients for large spin operators in general conformal field theories in four dimensions containing a scalar operator of conformal dimension $Δ_ϕ$. It is known that such theories will contain an infinite sequence of large spin operators with twists approaching $2Δ_ϕ+2n$ for each integer $n$. By considering the case where such operators are separated by a twist gap from other operators at large spin, we analytically determine the $n$, $Δ_ϕ$ dependence of the anomalous dimensions. We find that for all $n$, the anomalous dimensions are negative for $Δ_ϕ$ satisfying the unitarity bound. We further compute the first subleading correction at large spin and show that it becomes universal for large twist. In the limit when $n$ is large, we find exact agreement with the AdS/CFT prediction corresponding to the Eikonal limit of a 2-2 scattering with dominant graviton exchange.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Universal anomalous dimensions at large spin and large twist

In this paper we consider anomalous dimensions of double trace operators at large spin ($\ell$) and large twist ($τ$) in CFTs in arbitrary dimensions ($d\geq 3$). Using analytic conformal bootstrap methods, we show that the anomalous dimensions are universal in the limit $\ell\gg τ\gg 1$. In the course of the derivation, we extract an approximate closed form expression for the conformal blocks arising in the four point function of identical scalars in any dimension. We compare our results with two different calculations in holography and find perfect agreement.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Improvements to the Froissart bound from AdS/CFT

In this paper we consider the issue of the Froissart bound on the high energy behaviour of total cross sections. This bound, originally derived using principles of analyticity of scattering amplitudes, is seen to be satisfied by all the available experimental data on total hadronic cross sections. At strong coupling, gauge/gravity duality has been used to provide some insights into this behaviour. In this work, we find the subleading terms to the so-derived Froissart bound from AdS/CFT. We find that a $(\ln \frac{s}{s_0})$ term is obtained, with a negative coefficient. We see that the fits to the currently available data confirm improvement in the fits due to the inclusion of such a term, with the appropriate sign.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

On the superposition principle in interference experiments

The superposition principle is usually incorrectly applied in interference experiments. This has recently been investigated through numerics based on Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) methods as well as the Feynman path integral formalism. In the current work, we have derived an analytic formula for the Sorkin parameter which can be used to determine the deviation from the application of the principle. We have found excellent agreement between the analytic distribution and those that have been earlier estimated by numerical integration as well as resource intensive FDTD simulations. The analytic handle would be useful for comparing theory with future experiments. It is applicable both to physics based on classical wave equations as well as the non-relativistic Schrodinger equation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Nonlinear constraints on gravity from entanglement

Using the positivity of relative entropy arising from the Ryu-Takayanagi formula for spherical entangling surfaces, we obtain constraints at the nonlinear level for the gravitational dual. We calculate the Green's function necessary to compute the first order correction to the entangling surface and use this to find the relative entropy for non-constant stress tensors in a derivative expansion. We show that the Einstein value satisfies the positivity condition while the multi-dimensional parameter space away from it gets constrained.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

A Strongly Coupled Anisotropic Fluid From Dilaton Driven Holography

We consider a system consisting of $5$ dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant coupled to a massless scalar, the dilaton. We construct a black brane solution which arises when the dilaton satisfies linearly varying boundary conditions in the asymptotically $AdS_5$ region. The geometry of this black brane breaks rotational symmetry while preserving translational invariance and corresponds to an anisotropic phase of the system. Close to extremality, where the anisotropy is big compared to the temperature, some components of the viscosity tensor become parametrically small compared to the entropy density. We study the quasi normal modes in considerable detail and find no instability close to extremality. We also obtain the equations for fluid mechanics for an anisotropic driven system in general, working upto first order in the derivative expansion for the stress tensor, and identify additional transport coefficients which appear in the constitutive relation. For the fluid of interest we find that the parametrically small viscosity can result in a very small force of friction, when the fluid is enclosed between appropriately oriented parallel plates moving with a relative velocity.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Holographic stress tensor at finite coupling

We calculate one, two and three point functions of the holographic stress tensor for any bulk Lagrangian of the form ${\mathcal{L}}(g^{ab}, R_{abcd}, \nabla_e R_{abcd})$. Using the first law of entanglement, a simple method has recently been proposed to compute the holographic stress tensor arising from a higher derivative gravity dual. The stress tensor is proportional to a dimension dependent factor which depends on the higher derivative couplings. In this paper, we identify this proportionality constant with a B-type trace anomaly in even dimensions for any bulk Lagrangian of the above form. This in turn relates to ${\mathcal{C}}_T$, the coefficient appearing in the two point function of stress tensors. We use a background field method to compute the two and three point function of stress tensors for any bulk Lagrangian of the above form in arbitrary dimensions. As an application we consider general situations where $η/s$ for holographic plasmas is less than the KSS bound.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Non-classical paths in interference experiments

In a double slit interference experiment, the wave function at the screen with both slits open is not exactly equal to the sum of the wave functions with the slits individually open one at a time. The three scenarios represent three different boundary conditions and as such, the superposition principle should not be applicable. However, most well known text books in quantum mechanics implicitly and/or explicitly use this assumption which is only approximately true. In our present study, we have used the Feynman path integral formalism to quantify contributions from non-classical paths in quantum interference experiments which provide a measurable deviation from a naive application of the superposition principle. A direct experimental demonstration for the existence of these non-classical paths is hard. We find that contributions from such paths can be significant and we propose simple three-slit interference experiments to directly confirm their existence.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Constraining gravity using entanglement in AdS/CFT

We investigate constraints imposed by entanglement on gravity in the context of holography. First, by demanding that relative entropy is positive and using the Ryu-Takayanagi entropy functional, we find certain constraints at a nonlinear level for the dual gravity. Second, by considering Gauss-Bonnet gravity, we show that for a class of small perturbations around the vacuum state, the positivity of the two point function of the field theory stress tensor guarantees the positivity of the relative entropy. Further, if we impose that the entangling surface closes off smoothly in the bulk interior, we find restrictions on the coupling constant in Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We also give an example of an anisotropic excited state in an unstable phase with broken conformal invariance which leads to a negative relative entropy.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

On generalized gravitational entropy, squashed cones and holography

We consider generalized gravitational entropy in various higher derivative theories of gravity dual to four dimensional CFTs using the recently proposed regularization of squashed cones. We derive the universal terms in the entanglement entropy for spherical and cylindrical surfaces. This is achieved by constructing the Fefferman-Graham expansion for the leading order metrics for the bulk geometry and evaluating the generalized gravitational entropy. We further show that the Wald entropy evaluated in the bulk geometry constructed for the regularized squashed cones leads to the correct universal parts of the entanglement entropy for both spherical and cylindrical entangling surfaces. We comment on the relation with the Iyer-Wald formula for dynamical horizons relating entropy to a Noether charge. Finally we show how to derive the entangling surface equation in Gauss-Bonnet holography.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

The effect of environmental coupling on tunneling of quasiparticles in Josephson junctions

We study quasiparticle tunneling in Josephson tunnel junctions embedded in an electromagnetic environment. We identify tunneling processes that transfer electrical charge and couple to the environment in a way similar to that of normal electrons, and processes that mix electrons and holes and are thus creating charge superpositions. The latter are sensitive to the phase difference between the superconductor and are thus limited by phase diffusion even at zero temperature. We show that the environmental coupling is suppressed in many environments, thus leading to lower quasiparticle decay rates and thus better superconductor qubit coherence than previously expected. Our approach is nonperturbative in the environmental coupling strength.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Entanglement entropy from the holographic stress tensor

We consider entanglement entropy in the context of gauge/gravity duality for conformal field theories in even dimensions. The holographic prescription due to Ryu and Takayanagi (RT) leads to an equation describing how the entangling surface extends into the bulk geometry. We show that setting to zero the time-time component of the Brown-York stress tensor evaluated on the co-dimension one entangling surface, leads to the same equation. By considering a spherical entangling surface as an example, we observe that Euclidean action methods in AdS/CFT will lead to the RT area functional arising as a counterterm needed to regularize the stress tensor. We present arguments leading to a justification for the minimal area prescription.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Entanglement entropy from surface terms in general relativity

Entanglement entropy in local quantum field theories is typically ultraviolet divergent due to short distance effects in the neighbourhood of the entangling region. In the context of gauge/gravity duality, we show that surface terms in general relativity are able to capture this entanglement entropy. In particular, we demonstrate that for 1+1 dimensional CFTs at finite temperature whose gravity dual is the BTZ black hole, the Gibbons-Hawking-York term precisely reproduces the entanglement entropy which can be computed independently in the field theory.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2013

Entanglement entropy in higher derivative holography

We consider holographic entanglement entropy in higher derivative gravity theories. Recently Lewkowycz and Maldacena arXiv:1304.4926 have provided a method to derive the equations for the entangling surface from first principles. We use this method to compute the entangling surface in four derivative gravity. Certain interesting differences compared to the two derivative case are pointed out. For Gauss-Bonnet gravity, we show that in the regime where this method is applicable, the resulting equations coincide with proposals in the literature as well as with what follows from considerations of the stress tensor on the entangling surface. Finally we demonstrate that the area functional in Gauss-Bonnet holography arises as a counterterm needed to make the Euclidean action free of power law divergences.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

On c-theorems in arbitrary dimensions

The dilaton action in 3+1 dimensions plays a crucial role in the proof of the a-theorem. This action arises using Wess-Zumino consistency conditions and crucially relies on the existence of the trace anomaly. Since there are no anomalies in odd dimensions, it is interesting to ask how such an action could arise otherwise. Motivated by this we use the AdS/CFT correspondence to examine both even and odd dimensional CFTs. We find that in even dimensions, by promoting the cut-off to a field, one can get an action for this field which coincides with the WZ action in flat space. In three dimensions, we observe that by finding an exact Hamilton-Jacobi counterterm, one can find a non-polynomial action which is invariant under global Weyl rescalings. We comment on how this finding is tied up with the F-theorem conjectures.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Counterterms, critical gravity and holography

We consider counterterms for odd dimensional holographic CFTs. These counterterms are derived by demanding cut-off independence of the CFT partition function on $S^d$ and $S^1 \times S^{d-1}$. The same choice of counterterms leads to a cut-off independent Schwarzschild black hole entropy. When treated as independent actions, these counterterm actions resemble critical theories of gravity, i.e., higher curvature gravity theories where the additional massive spin-2 modes become massless. Equivalently, in the context of AdS/CFT, these are theories where at least one of the central charges associated with the trace anomaly vanishes. Connections between these theories and logarithmic CFTs are discussed. For a specific choice of parameters, the theories arising from counterterms are non-dynamical and resemble a DBI generalization of gravity. For even dimensional CFTs, analogous counterterms cancel log-independent cut-off dependence.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Quantum corrections to screening at strong coupling

We compute a certain class of corrections to (specific) screening lengths in strongly coupled nonabelian plasmas using the AdS/CFT correspondence. In this holographic framework, these corrections arise from various higher curvature interactions modifying the leading Einstein gravity action. The changes in the screening lengths are perturbative in inverse powers of the 't Hooft coupling or of the number of colours, as can be made precise in the context where the dual gauge theory is superconformal. We also compare the results of these holographic calculations to lattice results for the analogous screening lengths in QCD. In particular, we apply these results within the program of making quantitative comparisons between the strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma and holographic descriptions of conformal field theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Implications of a viscosity bound on black hole accretion

Motivated by the viscosity bound in gauge/gravity duality, we consider the ratio of shear viscosity (eta) to entropy density (s) in black hole accretion flows. We use both an ideal gas equation of state and the QCD equation of state obtained from lattice for the fluid accreting onto a Kerr black hole. The QCD equation of state is considered since the temperature of accreting matter is expected to approach 10^{12}K in certain hot flows. We find that in both the cases eta/s is small only for primordial black holes and several orders of magnitude larger than any known fluid for stellar and supermassive black holes. We show that a lower bound on the mass of primordial black holes leads to a lower bound on eta/s and vice versa. Finally we speculate that the Shakura-Sunyaev viscosity parameter should decrease with increasing density and/or temperatures.

astro-ph.HE↗