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Bo Sundborg

Publications and source records attributed to Bo Sundborg.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

(Anti-)De Sitter null strings and Carroll-Weyl symmetry

We construct a $dS_d$ null string in a novel way by lifting the standard tensionless string to $R^{1,d}$. Gauging worldsheet scale symmetry introduces terms in the action breaking translation invariance, but preserving the $dS_d$ symmetry $SO(1,d)$. Choosing a De Sitter symmetric gauge fixing of the scale symmetry yields a $d$ dimensional theory which we show has all the expected properties of $dS_d$ tensionless strings. The action happens to be the intriguing Carrol-Weyl symmetric string action in $R^{1,d}$, now with a clear target space interpretation in $d$ dimensions. That it does not, as recently claimed, represent a ($d+1$)-dimensional string in flat ($d+1$)-dimensional Minkowski space settles an apparent issue with the Carrol-Weyl string model. Furthermore, while there are clear obstacles for similar formulations of tensile strings in (A)dS backgrounds, our new insights are easily modified to the formulation of Anti-De Sitter tensionless strings. That our construction generates a curved geometry purely algebraically may have even wider applications.

hep-th

Baryons in $SO(N)$ vector models and their duals in higher spin theory

Black shells, a kind of black hole mimickers, are identified thermodynamically as bulk duals of baryon operators in vector models, indicating that such objects are essential for the consistency of higher spin gravity theories. Thermal baryons, with a spectrum of a 2+1-dimensional relativistic Fermi gas, are found to be precursors of the deconfinement phase transition in vector models, condensing at a slightly lower temperature. The early condensation means that baryons are statistically important already in the phase with weakly interacting higher spin fields. Furthermore, the mysterious scale of the deconfinement transition in vector models is naturally interpreted as the Fermi energy scale in the gas.

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Classifying large N limits of multiscalar theories by algebra

We develop a new approach to RG flows and show that one-loop flows in multiscalar theories can be described by commutative but non-associative algebras. As an example related to $D$-brane field theories and tensor models, we study the algebra of a theory with $M$ $SU(N)$ adjoint scalars and its large $N$ limits. The algebraic concepts of idempotents and Peirce numbers/Kowalevski exponents are used to characterise the RG flows. We classify and describe all large $N$ limits of algebras of multiadjoint scalar models: the standard `t Hooft matrix theory limit, a `multi-matrix' limit, each with one free parameter, and an intermediate case with extra symmetry and no free parameter of the algebra, but an emergent free parameter from a line of one-loop fixed points. The algebra identifies these limits without diagrammatic or combinatorial analysis.

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One-loop algebras and fixed flow trajectories in adjoint multi-scalar gauge theory

We study the one loop renormalisation of 4d $SU(N)$ Yang-Mills theory with $M$ adjoint representation scalar multiplets related by $O(M)$ symmetry. General $M$ are of field theoretic interest, and the 4d one loop beta function of the gauge coupling $g^2$ vanishes for the case $M=22$, which is intriguing for string theory. This case is related to D3 branes of critical bosonic string theory in $D=22+4=26$. An RG fixed point could have provided a definition for a purely bosonic AdS/CFT, but we show that scalar self-couplings $\lambda$ ruin one-loop conformal invariance in the large $N$ limit. There are real fixed flows (fixed points of $\lambda/g^2$) only for $M\ge 406$, rendering one-loop fixed points of the gauge coupling and scalar couplings incompatible. We develop and check an algebraic approach to the one-loop renormalisation group which we find to be characterised by a non-associative algebra of marginal couplings. In the large $N$ limit, the resulting RG flows typically suffer from strong coupling in both the ultraviolet and the infrared. Only for $M\ge 406$ fine-tuned solutions exist which are weakly coupled in the infrared.

hep-th

One-loop fixed points of adjoint multi-scalar gauge theory in four dimensions

We determine complete one-loop beta functions of the multi-scalar four-point couplings in four-dimensional $SU(N)$ gauge theories with $M$ adjoint scalar multiplets. For adjoints scalars, the sign of the one loop gauge coupling beta function depends solely on $M$, vanishing and changing sign precisely at $M=22$. For the multi-scalar potential at fixed gauge coupling we find several fixed points with different stability properties at large $N$. The analysis crucially involves the full set of four $SU(N)$ and $O(M)$ invariant single trace and double trace couplings. Taking the gauge coupling into account, there are asymptotically free RG flows for $M<22$ and non-trivial fixed points for $M=22$ at one loop, while $M>22$ appears to ruin the UV properties of the theory. Surprisingly, uniquely between $M=22$ and $M=21$ the number of fixed flows drops from eight to four in the large $N$ limit. There seems to be something very special about $M=22$. More speculatively, the $M=22$ one-loop conformal fixed point theory with $M$ adjoint scalars in $d=4$ suggests the possibility of an isolated non-supersymmetric, purely bosonic AdS$_{4+1} \times$S$^{22-1}$/CFT$_4$ correspondence. Our example suggests that extending the potential to the complete set of terms allowed by symmetries may lead to real fixed points also in non-supersymmetric theories descending from $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills theory.

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Tidal excitation as mixing in thermal CFT

We use mixed correlators in thermal CFT as clean probes of the strong gravity effects in their holographic duals. The dual interpretation of mixing is an inelastic conversion of one field to another field, induced by gravity: tidal excitation. We find an enhanced mixing at high temperatures, corresponding to large AdS black holes, concentrated to small boundary momenta, dual to the deep bulk, where strong gravitational fields are expected. We also find large $\mathcal{O}(1/G_{N})$ tidal conversion in the low temperature phase of the $U(N)$ vector model, strengthening suspicions that the bulk dual of this phase also houses extremely compact objects.

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Operator thermalisation in $d>2$: Huygens or resurgence

Correlation functions of most composite operators decay exponentially with time at non-zero temperature, even in free field theories. This insight was recently codified in an OTH (operator thermalisation hypothesis). We reconsider an early example, with large $N$ free fields subjected to a singlet constraint. This study in dimensions $d>2$ motivates technical modifications of the original OTH to allow for generalised free fields. Furthermore, Huygens' principle, valid for wave equations only in even dimensions, leads to differences in thermalisation. It works straightforwardly when Huygens' principle applies, but thermalisation is more elusive if it does not apply. Instead, in odd dimensions we find a link to resurgence theory by noting that exponential relaxation is analogous to non-perturbative corrections to an asymptotic perturbation expansion. Without applying the power of resurgence technology we still find support for thermalisation in odd dimensions, although these arguments are incomplete.

hep-th

Quenched coupling, entangled equilibria, and correlated composite operators: a tale of two O(N) models

A macroscopic version of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entanglement is obtained by quenching a quadratic coupling between two O(N) vector models. A quench of the mixed vacuum produces an excited entangled state, reminiscent of purified thermal equilibrium, whose properties can be studied analytically in the free limit of the individual field theories. The decoupling of different wavelength modes in free field theory prevents true thermalisation but a more subtle difference is that the density operator obtained by a partial trace does not commute with the post-quench Hamiltonian. Generalized thermal behaviour is obtained at late times, in the limit of weak initial mixing or a smooth but rapid quench. More surprisingly, late-time correlation functions of composite operators in the post-quench free field theory share interesting properties with correlators in strongly coupled systems. We propose a holographic interpretation of our result.

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Black holes from large N singlet models

The emergent nature of spacetime geometry and black holes can be directly probed in simple holographic duals of higher spin gravity and tensionless string theory. To this end, we study time dependent thermal correlation functions of gauge invariant observables in suitably chosen free large N gauge theories. At low temperature and on short time scales the correlation functions encode propagation through an approximate AdS spacetime while interesting departures emerge at high temperature and on longer time scales. This includes the existence of evanescent modes and the exponential decay of time dependent boundary correlations, both of which are well known indicators of bulk black holes in AdS/CFT. In addition, a new time scale emerges after which the correlation functions return to a bulk thermal AdS form up to an overall temperature dependent normalization. A corresponding length scale was seen in equal time correlation functions in the same models in our earlier work.

hep-th

Probing emergent geometry through phase transitions in free vector and matrix models

Boundary correlation functions provide insight into the emergence of an effective geometry in higher spin gravity duals of O(N) or U(N) symmetric field theories. On a compact manifold, the singlet constraint leads to nontrivial dynamics at finite temperature and large N phase transitions even at vanishing 't Hooft coupling. At low temperature, the leading behavior of boundary two-point functions is consistent with propagation through a bulk thermal anti de Sitter space. Above the phase transition, the two-point function shows significant departure from thermal AdS space and the emergence of localized black hole like objects in the bulk. In adjoint models, these objects appear at length scales of order of the AdS radius, consistent with a Hawking-Page transition, but in vector models they are parametrically larger than the AdS scale. In low dimensions, we find another crossover at large distances beyond which the correlation function again takes a thermal AdS form, albeit with a temperature dependent normalization factor.

hep-th

The sky is the limit: free boundary conditions in AdS$_3$ Chern-Simons theory

We test the effects of new diffeomorphism invariant boundary terms in SL(2,R)$\times$SL(2,R) Chern-Simons theory. The gravitational interpretation corresponds to free AdS$_3$ boundary conditions, without restrictions on the boundary geometry. The boundary theory is the theory of a string in a target AdS$_3$. Its Virasoro conditions can eliminate ghosts. Generalisations to SL(N,R)$\times$SL(N,R) higher spin theories and many other questions are still unexplored.

hep-th

Strings from 3D gravity: asymptotic dynamics of AdS$_3$ gravity with free boundary conditions

Pure three-dimensional gravity in anti-de Sitter space can be formulated as an SL(2,R) $\times $ SL(2,R) Chern-Simons theory, and the latter can be reduced to a WZW theory at the boundary. In this paper we show that AdS$_3$ gravity with free boundary conditions is described by a string at the boundary whose target spacetime is also AdS$_3$. While boundary conditions in the standard construction of Coussaert, Henneaux, and van Driel are enforced through constraints on the WZW currents, we find that free boundary conditions are partially enforced through the string Virasoro constraints.

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High-Energy Gravitational Scattering and Bose-Einstein Condensates of Gravitons

Quantum black holes are difficult to describe. We consider two seemingly divergent approaches, high-energy scattering and the proposal to regard black holes as Bose-Einstein condensates of gravitons, and establish a connection between them. High-energy scattering is studied in the eikonal approximation, which is processed further by a saddle-point approximation. The dominant contribution to the scattering amplitude comes from a ladder diagram with the exchange of N gravitons, and the number of gravitons follows a Poisson distribution. This approximation supports the picture of a graviton Bose-Einstein condensate with an extent equal the Schwarzschild radius, which grows with N in a way determined by the saddle point. The approach permits calculations of 1 / N corrections from the fluctuations around the saddle points and we comment on these. Scattering methods might be useful probes of quantum black holes, especially when interpreted in terms of condensates.

hep-th

Decay of Graviton Condensates and their Generalizations in Arbitrary Dimensions

Classicalons are self-bound classical field configurations, which include black holes in General Relativity. In quantum theory, they are described by condensates of many soft quanta. In this work, their decay properties are studied in arbitrary dimensions. It is found that generically the decays of other classicalons are enhanced compared to pure graviton condensates, ie. black holes. The evaporation of higher dimensional graviton condensates turns out to match Hawking radiation solely due to non-linearites captured by the classicalon picture. Although less stable than black holes, all self-bound condensates are shown to be stable in the limit of large mass. Like for black holes, the effective coupling always scales as the inverse of the number of constituents, indicating that these systems are at critical points of quantum phase transitions. Consequences for cosmology, astro- and collider physics are briefly discussed.

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Modified Bose-Einstein Condensate Black Holes in d Dimensions

[Remark: Much more natural and important models are studied in arXiv:1405.2083. Furthermore, the physical picture given there is much more complete.] The quantum N-portrait -- black holes pictured as Bose-Einstein condensates -- is studied for a special class of models in arbitrary dimensions. In the presence of extra dimensions, the depletion rate is shown to be significantly enhanced in these models as compared to standard semi-classical results. Consequences for large as well as micro condensates are discussed. Speculations are made on a possible connection of higher-dimensional graviton condensates, strings and branes.

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Mapping pure gravity to strings in three-dimensional anti-de Sitter geometry

Strings propagating in three-dimensional anti-de Sitter space with a background antisymmetric tensor field are well understood, even at the quantum level. Pure three-dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant is potentially important because of the existence of black hole solutions and an asymptotic conformal symmetry, but it is mysterious and surprisingly resistant to analysis. In this letter, the two theories are related by a map on the classical level. The map is obtained by gauge fixing the string completely, like in a light cone gauge, and comparing the resulting constrained theory with the boundary theory obtained from gravity by imposing the appropriate asymptotic boundary conditions. The two theories are formally related as different gauge fixings of the same gauge theory.

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Multi-Black Hole Sectors of AdS_3 Gravity

We construct and discuss solutions of SO(1,2) x SO(1,2) Chern-Simons theory which correspond to multiple BTZ black holes. These solutions typically have additional singularities, the simplest cases being special conical singularities with a 2 pi surplus angle. There are solutions with singularities inside a common outer horizon, and other solutions with naked conical singularities. Previously such singularities have been ruled out on physical grounds, because they do not obey the geodesic equation. We find however that the Chern-Simons gauge symmetry may be used to locate all such singularities to the horizons, where they necessarily follow geodesics. We are therefore led to conclude that these singular solutions correspond to physically sensible geometries. Boundary charges at infinity are only sensitive to the total mass and spin of the black holes, and not to the distribution among the black holes. We therefore argue that a holographic description in terms of a boundary conformal field theory should represent both single and multiple BTZ solutions with the same asymptotic charges. Then sectors with multiple black holes would contribute to the black hole entropy calculated from a boundary CFT.

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Stringy gravity, interacting tensionless strings and massless higher spins

Consequences of a strong version of the AdS/CFT correspondence for extremely stringy physics are examined. In particular, properties of N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory are used to extract results about interacting tensionless strings and massless higher spin fields in an AdS_5 x S^5 background. Furthermore, the thermodynamics of this model signals the presence of a Hawking-Page phase transition between AdS_5 space and a "black hole"-like high temperature configuration even in the extreme string limit.

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