SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Chethan Krishnan

Publications and source records attributed to Chethan Krishnan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Building a Quantum Black Hole Microstate: A Bulk Path Integral for a Heavy Virasoro Primary

Consider level-$k$ $SL(2,R) \times SL(2,R)$ Chern-Simons theory on a semi-infinite solid cylinder, with a Wilson line in the unitary principal continuous series inserted along the time direction at the center of the spatial disc. We argue that at the $\tau=0$ cut, this Euclidean path integral prepares the bulk dual of a heavy Virasoro primary above the BTZ threshold, with Drinfel'd-Sokolov (DS) reduction playing a crucial role in converting the affine module into a Virasoro module. Semi-classically, the DS constraint turns into the DS gauge, familiar from asymptotically AdS$_3$ gravity. Together with boundary gravitons, these primaries provide a bulk construction of BTZ black hole microstates at finite $k$. In the large-$k$ WKB limit, the saddle that controls an $individual$ primary is the BTZ black hole with a $singular$ horizon. We study the (grand-)canonical partition function of the microstates with density of states dictated by modular invariance. The temperature and chemical potential then fix the holonomy saddle to be the Euclidean BTZ black hole with a $smoothly$ contractible thermal cycle. A density of heavy primaries growing as $e^{2\pi\gamma QP}$ would instead lead to a defect (or excess) saddle, except at the Cardy value $\gamma=1$ fixed by modular invariance. After analytic continuation, the eternal Lorentzian black hole with a smooth horizon is therefore not just any thermal ensemble, but the ``modular ensemble" of (semi-classically singular) horizonless microstates. We compute the thermal fluctuations in this ensemble, and reproduce the fluctuations in the area of the form expected from semi-classical general relativity. Ensembles of theories do not play a direct role in any of our discussions. We also note that these microstates, unlike fuzzballs, do $not$ break the isometries of the black hole.

hep-th

Wilson Towers as Local Bulk Fields

Multi-winding Wilson loops (``Wilson spools'') in 2+1-dimensional gravity can reproduce one-loop partition functions of local free fields in the bulk. Bulk free fields have a second-quantized Fock space, and the AdS/CFT correspondence suggests that the associated multi-particle sectors are dual to multi-trace primaries in the CFT. In this note, we use standard symmetric-function methods to show that the Wilson spool in thermal AdS$_3$ can be recast as a sum over $single$-winding Wilson loops --- one for each multi-trace primary. In a companion paper to appear, we will view Wilson networks and TQFTs as the natural language of non-perturbative bulk quantum gravity. The present note illustrates how this can apply to $local$ bulk fields, and not just defects: a bulk (generalized free) field is to be viewed as a full tower of multi-trace Wilson lines. We further show that the $SL(2)$ descendants of each multi-trace primary, together with the boundary gravitons of the AdS$_3$ background, correctly reproduce the full Virasoro character of each module. In this language, the role of a light insertion on a heavy primary is played by a topological Verlinde line. This allows us to obtain a ``microscopic" description of one-loop determinants on the smooth BTZ handlebody. A spatially wound probe Wilson line on a torus with a contractible $thermal$ cycle can be traded for a Verlinde line inserted on a dense family of heavy Polyakov loops --- with the roles of the two cycles exchanged, so that the $spatial$ cycle is now contractible. The vacuum row of the modular $S$-kernel acts as the (approximate) density of the heavy primaries. This reinforces the case made in arXiv:2601.18775 that a smooth horizon is a stand-in for an ensemble of quantum states, each produced by a heavy Wilson line that appears as a singular horizon in the semi-classical limit.

hep-th

Geodesics from Quantum Field Theory: A Case Study in AdS

Localized one-particle states of a quantum field theory--whether in flat space or on a curved background--are expected to exhibit geodesic motion in an appropriate semiclassical regime. This expectation is often invoked heuristically: in this work we develop two precise implementations and test them in detail in global AdS$_3$. First, we define a covariant ''center-of-mass'' trajectory from the expectation value of the stress tensor operator and show, using only $\nabla_\mu\langle T^{\mu\nu}\rangle=0$, that it obeys the geodesic equation in the monopole (sufficiently localized) approximation in a general spacetime. This provides a QFT-in-curved-spacetime generalization of the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon framework in classical general relativity. Second, we construct position operators from the Klein--Gordon inner product and mode completeness, and compute their expectation values in generic single-particle wave packet states. We then build explicit normalizable wave packets of a free scalar field in empty AdS$_3$ with tunable energy and angular momentum, and demonstrate analytically and numerically that both prescriptions reproduce the expected radial, circular, and elliptical-like timelike and null geodesics. Our discussion also isolates a natural ultra-relativistic regime in which the wave packet trajectory exhibits a controlled crossover from timelike to null geodesic behavior. We identify precise limits where the localized geodesic interpretation of the wave packet breaks down. On the CFT side, we show that bulk localization--specifically the radial data--is captured by how the state is distributed over global descendants of the dual primary.

hep-th

Holography, Brick Wall and a Little Hierarchy Problem

We propose a heuristic for the brick wall in AdS/CFT: the location where a boundary mode's local bulk energy reaches a (Planckian) UV cut-off. This accomplishes two things: (a) the brick wall is framed as a breakdown criterion for bulk effective field theory, and (b) the definition is boundary-anchored rather than horizon-anchored, aligning it with holography. Near the horizon, spacetime effectively gets cut-off due to blueshift relative to the boundary, and leads to normal modes. By directly computing these new modes for the BTZ black hole, we show that they are qualitatively unchanged from conventional 't Hooftian brick wall normal modes in the relevant part of the spectrum -- successfully reproducing black hole thermodynamics and exterior smooth-horizon correlators, under similar approximations. However, unlike 't Hooft's (and our own previous) calculations, we also do an $exact$ numerical evaluation of the normal mode partition function. This allows us to identify a "little hierarchy" problem in the brick wall paradigm, irrespective of whether it is horizon-anchored or boundary-anchored: because the modes are not exactly degenerate in the $J$-direction, the coefficient of the area law is slightly subleading, unless the brick wall is slightly trans-Planckian. One way to evade the problem is to increase the number of active species. While this is certainly a possibility in string theory, we argue that a natural resolution is to take into account the degrees of freedom intrinsic to the (stretched) horizon, as suggested by the recent results in arXiv:2601.18775. We argue that this will lead to a dominant contribution from a quantum number associated to the radial direction, while retaining the successes of the $J$-degenerate toy model. We discuss the possible significance of these observations for (a) quantum chaos in black holes, and (b) the fuzzball program.

hep-th

Holography with an Inner Boundary: A Smooth Horizon as a Sum over Horizonless States

The (holomorphic) partition function of the Euclidean BTZ black hole with boundary modulus $\tau$, is the $S$-image of the Virasoro vacuum character, $\chi_{\rm vac}(-1/\tau)$. This object decomposes into primaries via the modular $S$-kernel: $\chi_{\rm vac}\left(-\frac{1}{\tau}\right)=\int_{0}^{\infty} dP S_{0P}(P,c)\chi_P(\tau)$. In this paper, we provide a bulk understanding of this spectral resolution using the Chern-Simons formulation of AdS$_3$ gravity with $two$ boundaries: an asymptotic torus and an excised Wilson line at the origin ("stretched horizon"). At infinity, we impose standard AdS$_3$ Drinfel'd-Sokolov (DS) gauge to obtain the Alekseev-Shatashvili (AS) boundary action for a coadjoint orbit. At the inner boundary, removing the Wilson line prepares the state at the cut as a sum over orbits of the $spatial$ cycle. Re-inserting a spatial holonomy Wilson line acts as a delta-function projector onto the corresponding primary, which together with boundary gravitons, reproduces the Virasoro character (e.g., of a conical defect). But we can also consider projectors onto the $conjugate$ basis $\tilde P$, of the dual cycle. A key observation is that this leads to $S$-kernels instead of delta functions, with the BTZ character arising when the dual cycle label is in the exceptional orbit. Our two-boundary construction provides a bulk understanding of BTZ entropy: holonomy zero modes at the horizon have an effective central charge $c_{\rm prim}=c-1$ from the kernel measure (primaries), while the universal Dedekind-$\eta$ in $\chi_P(\tau)$ contributes $c_{\rm desc}=1$ from boundary gravitons (descendants). Together, they reproduce the full Cardy entropy. While our methods are specific to AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$, they are an explicit illustration that smoothness of the (Euclidean) horizon may emerge from a $sum$ over bulk states which are manifestly unsmooth.

hep-th

Virasoro Blocks and Trouble at the Euclidean Horizon

In the semi-classical ($c \rightarrow \infty$) limit, 4-point HLLH correlators in 2D CFTs exhibit periodic Euclidean singularities. Periodic singularities in Euclidean time are a general feature of thermal correlators, even at weak coupling. Therefore, the bulk significance of this observation (in particular, the role of the horizon) is somewhat obscure. Explicit numerical computations of finite-$c$ Virasoro blocks furthermore suggest that their departure from semi-classical blocks may begin already at half the period. In this paper, we provide a bulk understanding of these facts and clarify the role of the horizon. We present a bulk geodesic Witten diagram calculation of semi-classical Virasoro blocks in coordinates that are naturally adapted to the BTZ black hole. This allows a bulk geometric interpretation for boundary time separation. In this language, half of a thermal time period is the boundary timescale at which the light operator geodesic straddles the Euclidean horizon, capturing both the role of the horizon and the associated timescale. This timescale arises in a calculation that does not involve a periodic thermal circle on the bulk or the boundary.

hep-th

An Analytic Zeta Function Ramp at the Black Hole Thouless Time

Black hole normal modes have intriguing connections to logarithmic spectra, and the spectral form factor (SFF) of $E_n = \log n$ is the mod square of the Riemann zeta function (RZF). In this paper, we first provide an analytic understanding of the dip-ramp-plateau structure of RZF and show that the ramp at $\beta \equiv \Re(s)=0$ has a slope precisely equal to 1. The $s=1$ pole of RZF can be viewed as due to a Hagedorn transition in this setting, and Riemann's analytic continuation to $\Re(s)< 1$ provides the quantum contribution to the truncated $\log n$ partition function. This perspective yields a precise definition of RZF as the ''full ramp after removal of the dip'', and allows an unambiguous determination of the Thouless time. For black hole microstates, the Thouless time is expected to be $\mathcal{O}(1)$--remarkably, the RZF also exhibits this behavior. To our knowledge, this is the first black hole-inspired toy model that has a demonstrably $\mathcal{O}(1)$ Thouless time. In contrast, it is $\mathcal{O}(\log N)$ in the SYK model and expected to be $\mathcal{O}(N^{\#})$ in supergravity fuzzballs. We trace the origins of the ramp to a certain reflection property of the functional equation satisfied by RZF, and suggest that it is a general feature of $L$-functions--we find evidence for ramps in large classes of $L$-functions. As an aside, we also provide an analytic determination of the slopes of (non-linear) ramps that arise in power law spectra using Poisson resummation techniques.

hep-th

A Central Charge for sub-AdS Holography

We synthesize and sharpen various observations about sub-AdS holography in the literature to associate a central charge to sub-AdS scales of AdS x $X$ geometries. A key ingredient in our proposal is the idea that the AdS length is the length of the long string in a stack of $N$ $backreacted$ D-branes. This allows us to make statements about sub-AdS scales by considering long strings in sub-stacks of $M < N$ branes. Our proposal applies in general dimensions, connects with and refines previous ideas about sub-matrix deconfinement & long strings, makes crucial use of the compact space, and is consistent with the expected thermodynamics of small black holes localized on $X$. Some of our arguments draw intuition from separating branes, and have natural connections to (heating up) the Coulomb branch of the gauge theory. We apply related ideas to non-conformal D-branes at zero and finite temperature, discuss the holographic bound and IR/UV duality in theories with 16 supercharges, and find broad consistency.

hep-th

A Vestige of FZZ Duality in Higher Dimensions

In 1+1 dimensions, the equations of motion of the Horowitz-Polchinski (HP) effective string have a re-writing in terms of a first order system. This is attributed to FZZ duality. In this note, we observe that a similar re-writing exists in higher dimensions, so that the degree of the dilaton-winding subsystem reduces to first order. The 1+1 first order equations emerge as a natural limit of the higher dimensional HP system in the cap region of the cigar. As a result, there is a critical value of the winding amplitude that matches with the 1+1 coset SCFT prediction. At this critical point, the cigar has a puncture at the Euclidean horizon and the $higher$ $dimensional$ black hole entropy is correctly reproduced by the winding condensate.

hep-th

Holomorphic Factorization at the Quantum Horizon

We identify a horizon-skimming limit under which wave equations around large classes of black holes allow a determination of their low-lying (quasi-)degenerate normal modes. Building on our recent work, we use these ``quantum horizon" normal modes to study the thermodynamics of the parent black holes. A key observation is that the UV inputs (the location of the UV regulator, the number of species, and the cut-off in the angular Casimir quantum number) can all be combined into the freedom in a single real parameter. Remarkably, this parameter has an interpretation as the central charge of a holomorphically factorized 2D CFT, and choosing it to be the Kerr-CFT value reproduces the black hole's detailed thermodynamics from the statistical mechanics of normal modes. This perspective provides a heuristic understanding for why the Kerr-CFT central charge is related to the angular momentum of the black hole. The black holes we consider include Kerr-Newman in 3+1 dimensions and Cvetic-Youm in 4+1 dimensions (with all six charges), and they need not be BPS or extremal. Our results show that a refined version of the 't Hooftian quantum gas can be made fully consistent with the thermodynamics of very general black holes. This ``mechanical" approach to the central charge is not directly reliant on asymptotic symmetries in the extremal limit, where the black hole is often unstable.

hep-th

A Bottom-Up Approach to Black Hole Microstates

In arXiv:2312.14108, we argued that a sliver at the black hole mass in the Hilbert space of a quantum field theory on an AdS black hole with a stretched horizon, has many desirable features of black hole microstates. A key observation is that the stretched horizon requires a finite Planck length, i.e., finite-$N$. Therefore it is best viewed as a ``quantum horizon" -- a proxy for the UV-complete bulk description, and not directly an element in the bulk EFT. It was shown in arXiv:2312.14108 that despite the manifest absence of the interior, the 2-point function in the sliver is indistinguishable from the smooth horizon correlator, up to the Page time. In this paper, instead of boundary correlators, we work directly in the bulk, and demonstrate the appearance of the bulk Hartle-Hawking correlator in the large-$N$ limit. This is instructive because it shows that the analytic continuation across the horizon is emergent. It is a $bulk$ transition to a Type III algebra and provides a structural distinction between black holes and weakly coupled thermal systems. We also identify a mechanism for universal code subspaces and interior tensor factors to appear via a quantum horizon version of thermal factorization. Our claims apply directly only within a ``Page window", so they are not in immediate tension with firewall arguments. During a Page window, typical heavy microstates probed by light single trace operators respond with effectively smooth horizons in low-point correlators. We work in 2+1 dimensions to be concrete, but expect our results to hold in all higher dimensions. We discuss some important differences between our approach and the conventional fuzzball program, and also argue that probe-notions (like infalling boundary conditions) must be distinguished from microstate-notions (like size of the Einstein-Rosen bridge) to make meaningful statements about post-Page smoothness.

hep-th

Young Black Holes Have Smooth Horizons: A Swampland Argument

It has been suggested that black hole microstates in string theory may have "no interiors". The arguments of arXiv:2312.14108 suggest that even if this were the case, conventional bulk EFT should be valid at the horizon for black holes that are not too old. Here, we explore the validity of bulk EFT for young black holes from a different perspective, by considering the gravitational collapse of scalar moduli. This builds on arXiv:2003.05488, which studied the numerical collapse of a scalar field in a Choptuik-like set up. Evidence was presented there for two observations -- (a) For every scalar profile that results in collapse, the scalar field undergoes trans-Planckian variation, (b) Every trans-Planckian scalar motion is hidden behind an apparent horizon. The results of arXiv:2003.05488 were mostly obtained in regimes close to critical collapse, where scale-separation was difficult to achieve. In this paper, we study the same system in super-critical regimes. This allows us to study the localization properties of scalar variations inside the apparent horizon by separating the horizon and singularity scales. We find strong evidence that the $\mathcal{O}(1)$ scalar variation is localized around the curvature divergence, and is hierarchically well-separated from the apparent horizon. Because $\mathcal{O}(1)$ scalar movement is associated to the breakdown of bulk EFT according to the swampland distance conjecture, this is an indication that bulk EFT is well-behaved in the interiors of young black holes. Our results suggest the perspective that cosmic censorship is a mechanism for preserving bulk EFT between the horizon and the singularity.

hep-th

A Smooth Horizon without a Smooth Horizon

Recent observations on type III algebras in AdS/CFT raise the possibility that smoothness of the black hole horizon is an emergent feature of the large-$N$ limit. In this paper, we present a $bulk$ model for the finite-$N$ mechanism underlying this transition. We quantize a free scalar field on a BTZ black hole with a Planckian stretched horizon placed as a Dirichlet boundary for the field. This is a tractable model for the stretched horizon that does not ignore the angular directions, and it defines a black hole vacuum which has similarities to (but is distinct from) the Boulware state. Using analytic approximations for the normal modes, we first improve upon 't Hooft's brick wall calculation: we are able to match $both$ the entropy and the temperature, $exactly$. Emboldened by this, we compute the boundary Wightman function of the scalar field in a typical pure state built on our stretched horizon vacuum, at an energy sliver at the mass of the black hole. A key result is that despite the manifest lack of smoothness, this single-sided pure state calculation yields precisely the Hartle-Hawking thermal correlator associated to the smooth horizon, in the small-$G_N$ limit. At finite $G_N$, there are variance corrections that are suppressed as $\mathcal{O}(e^{-S_{BH}/2})$. They become important at late times and resolve Maldacena's information paradox. Highly excited typical pure states on the stretched horizon vacuum are therefore models for black hole microstates, while the smooth horizon describes the thermal state. We note that heavy excited states on the stretched horizon are better defined than the vacuum itself. These results suggest that complementarity in the bulk EFT could arise from a UV complete bulk description in which the black hole interior is not manifest.

hep-th

Normal Modes of the Stretched Horizon: A Bulk Mechanism for Black Hole Microstate Level Spacing

In 1984, 't Hooft famously used a brickwall (aka stretched horizon) to compute black hole entropy up to a numerical pre-factor. This calculation is sometimes interpreted as due to the entanglement of the modes across the horizon, but more operationally, it is simply an indirect count of the semi-classical modes trapped between the stretched horizon and the angular momentum barrier. Because the calculation was indirect, it needed both the mass and the temperature of the black hole as inputs, to reproduce the area. A more conventional statistical mechanics calculation should be able to get the entropy, once the ensemble is specified (say via the energy, in a microcanonical setting). In this paper, we explicitly compute black hole normal modes in various examples, numerically as well as (in various regimes) analytically. The explicit knowledge of normal modes allows us to reproduce $both$ the Hawking temperature as well as the entropy, once the charges are specified, making this a conventional statistical mechanics calculation. A quasi-degeneracy in the angular quantum numbers is directly responsible for the area scaling of the entropy, and is the key distinction between the Planckian black body calculation (volume scaling) and the 't Hooftian calculation (area scaling). We discuss the (rotating) BTZ case in detail and match the thermodynamic quantities $exactly$. Schwarzschild and Kerr normal modes are discussed in less detail using near-horizon approximations. Our calculations reveal a new hierarchy in the angular quantum numbers, which we speculate is related to string theory.

hep-th

A Holographic Entanglement Entropy at Spi

Defining finite entanglement entropy for a subregion in quantum field theory requires the introduction of two logically independent scales: an IR scale that controls the size of the subregion, and a UV cut-off. In AdS/CFT, the IR scale is the AdS lengthscale, the UV cut-off is the bulk radial cut-off, and the subregion is specified by dimensionless angles. This is the data that determines Ryu-Takayanagi surfaces and their areas in AdS/CFT. We argue that in asymptotically flat space there exists the notion of a ``spi-subregion" that one can associate to spatial infinity (spi). Even though geometrically quite different from an AdS subregion, this angle data has the crucial feature that it allows an interpretation as a bi-partitioning of spi. Therefore, the area of the RT surface associated to the spi-subregion can be interpreted as the entanglement entropy of the reduced density matrix of the bulk state under this bi-partition, as in AdS/CFT. For symmetric spi-subregions, these RT surfaces are the waists of Asymptotic Causal Diamonds. In empty flat space they reduce to Rindler horizons, and are analogues of the AdS-Rindler horizons of Casini, Huerta \& Myers. We connect these results to previous work on minimal surfaces anchored to screens in empty space, but also generalize the discussion to the case where there are black holes in the bulk. The phases of black hole RT surfaces as the spi-subregion is varied, naturally connect with those of black holes (small and large) in AdS. A key observation is that the radial cut-off is associated to an IR scale in flat space -- and in fact there are no UV divergences. We argue that this is consistent with previous suggestions that in sub-AdS scales the holographic duality is an IR/IR correspondence and that the degrees of freedom are {\em not} those of a local QFT, but those of long strings. Strings are of course, famously UV finite.

hep-th

State-independent Black Hole Interiors from the Crossed Product

Opinion is divided about the nature of state dependence in the black hole interior. Some argue that it is a necessary feature, while others argue it is a bug. In this paper, we consider the extended half-sided modular translation $U(s_0)$ (with $s_0 > 0$) of Leutheusser and Liu that takes us inside the horizon. We note that we can use this operator to construct a modular Hamiltonian $H$ and a conjugation $J$ on the infalling time-evolved wedges. The original thermofield double translates to a new cyclic and separating vector in the shifted algebra. We use these objects and the Connes cocycle to repeat Witten's crossed product construction in this new setting, and to obtain a Type II$_\infty$ algebra that is independent of the various choices, in particular that of the cyclic separating vector. Our emergent times are implicitly boundary-dressed. But if one admits an ``extra'' observer in the interior, we argue that the (state-independent) algebra can be Type I or Type II$_1$ instead of Type II$_\infty$, depending on whether the observer's light cone contains an entire Cauchy slice or not. Along with these general considerations, we present some specific calculations in the setting of the Poincare BTZ black hole. We identify a generalization of modular translations in BTZ-Kruskal coordinates that is pointwise (as opposed to non-local) and is analytically tractable, exploiting a connection with the covering AdS-space. These evolutions can reach the singularity.

hep-th

What is the Simplest Linear Ramp?

We discuss conditions under which a deterministic sequence of real numbers, interpreted as the set of eigenvalues of a Hamiltonian, can exhibit features usually associated to random matrix spectra. A key diagnostic is the spectral form factor (SFF) -- a linear ramp in the SFF is often viewed as a signature of random matrix behavior. Based on various explicit examples, we observe conditions for linear and power law ramps to arise in deterministic spectra. We note that a very simple spectrum with a linear ramp is $E_n \sim \log n$. Despite the presence of ramps, these sequences do $not$ exhibit conventional level repulsion, demonstrating that the lore about their concurrence needs refinement. However, when a small noise correction is added to the spectrum, they lead to clear level repulsion as well as the (linear) ramp. We note some remarkable features of logarithmic spectra, apart from their linear ramps: they are closely related to normal modes of black hole stretched horizons, and their partition function with argument $s=\beta+it$ is the Riemann zeta function $\zeta(s)$. An immediate consequence is that the spectral form factor is simply $\sim |\zeta(it)|^2$. Our observation that log spectra have a linear ramp, is closely related to the Lindel\"of hypothesis on the growth of the zeta function. With elementary numerics, we check that the slope of a best fit line through $|\zeta(it)|^2$ on a log-log plot is indeed $1$, to the fourth decimal. We also note that truncating the Riemann zeta function sum at a finite integer $N$ causes the would-be-eternal ramp to end on a plateau.

hep-th

Towards A Realistic Dipole Cosmology: The Dipole $\Lambda$CDM Model

Dipole cosmology is the maximally Copernican generalization of the FLRW paradigm that can incorporate bulk flows in the cosmic fluid. In this paper, we first discuss how multiple fluid components with independent flows can be realized in this set up. This is the necessary step to promote ``tilted" Bianchi cosmologies to a viable framework for cosmological model building involving fluid mixtures (as in FLRW). We present a dipole $\Lambda$CDM model which has radiation and matter with independent flows, with (or without) a positive cosmological constant. A remarkable feature of models containing radiation (including dipole $\Lambda$CDM) is that the $relative$ flow between radiation and matter can increase at late times, which can contribute to eg., the CMB dipole. This can happen generically in the space of initial conditions. We discuss the significance of this observation for late time cosmic tensions.

astro-ph.CO