arXiv subjects

Daniel Kabat

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel Kabat.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Klein Bottle Cosmology

We explore a higher-dimensional universe that is a product of Minkowski space and the nonorientable Klein bottle. The topology explicitly breaks important symmetries, such as translational invariance and (5+1)-dimensional CP invariance. Somewhat surprisingly, the (3+1)-dimensional cp of the Minkowski space can also be broken by the Klein bottle, both explicitly and in the presence of a brane. The topology enforces a background of fermion correlations that amounts to a condensate wall localized in the Klein bottle. The wall acts as an order parameter for the broken symmetries. If a brane passes through the wall, brane fermions that couple to the condensate are produced as quantified by the Bogoliubov coefficients for a time-dependent mass. The scenario meets the conditions, including cp violation, to potentially generate the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Compactification Without Orientation, or a Topological Scenario for $CP$ Violation

In higher dimensional theories, we often assume that the extra dimensions form an orientable space, perhaps with singularities. However, many physical theories are well-defined on non-orientable spaces, and many spaces are not orientable, so it is reasonable to explore what happens if the assumption of orientability is relaxed. Here we consider the simplest example of free 6D theories compactified on a flat Klein bottle. We focus on a Dirac fermion in 6D, with boundary conditions that define ${\rm pin}^+$ and ${\rm pin}^-$ structures. Translation invariance is broken by the boundary conditions, which leads to sharp features localized near the parity walls (fixed points of the reflection used to construct the Klein bottle). For a scalar field, there is a position-dependent energy density, peaked near the parity walls. A Dirac fermion can lead to breaking of parity, charge conjugation and $CP$ in 3+1 dimensions. Order parameters for this breaking are provided by the vevs of certain fermion bilinears, again peaked near the parity walls. As one potential application, these results suggest mechanisms for $CP$ violation and baryogenesis, enabled by compactification on a Klein bottle.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Modular Hamiltonians for future-perturbed states

We develop a perturbative understanding of the modular Hamiltonian for a 2D CFT, divided into left and right half-spaces, with a weak local perturbation inserted in the future wedge. A formal perturbation series for the modular Hamiltonian is available, but must be properly interpreted in quantum field theory. We work inside correlation functions with spectator operators, and introduce a prescription for defining complex modular flow via analytic continuation to properly resolve singularities. From the correlators, we extract an operator expression for the modular Hamiltonian. It takes the form of a local operator in the future wedge plus contact terms with an unconventional singularity structure. Thanks to this structure the KMS conditions are satisfied, which independently establishes the validity of the results. Similar techniques apply to perturbations inserted in the past wedge. We mention various future directions, including an all-orders speculation for the excited state modular Hamiltonian.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Entanglement groups for mixed states

We extend an operational characterization of entanglement in terms of stabilizer groups from pure states to mixed states. For a density matrix $\rho_{AB}$, a stabilizer is a factorized unitary matrix $u_A \otimes u_B$ that, under conjugation, leaves $\rho_{AB}$ invariant. The entanglement group is a quotient of the stabilizer group, in which one-party stabilizers are considered trivial. This definition relates the entanglement of a density matrix to the entanglement of its purification. We give general properties of entanglement groups for mixed states, then discuss special properties for separable states. For a separable state, the entanglement group may be non-trivial. However it can only arise from multi-party entanglement with the purifying system.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Dissipation in the $1/D$ expansion for planar matrix models

We consider the thermal behavior of a large number of matrix degrees of freedom in the planar limit. We work in $0+1$ dimensions, with $D$ matrices, and use $1/D$ as an expansion parameter. This can be thought of as a non-commutative large-$D$ vector model, with two independent quartic couplings for the two different orderings of the matrices. We compute a thermal two-point correlator to ${\cal O}(1/D)$ and find that the degeneracy present at large $D$ is lifted, with energy levels split by an amount $\sim 1/\sqrt{D}$. This implies a timescale for thermal dissipation $\sim \sqrt{D}$. At high temperatures dissipation is predominantly due to one of the two quartic couplings.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Induced Lorentz Violation on a Moving Braneworld

We consider a braneworld scenario in which a flat 4-D brane, embedded in $M^{3,1} \times S^1$, is moving on or spiraling around the $S^1$. Although the induced metric on the brane is 4-D Minkowski, the would-be Lorentz symmetry of the brane is broken globally by the compactification. As recently pointed out this means causal bulk signals can propagate superluminally and even backwards in time according to brane observers. Here we consider the effective action on the brane induced by loops of bulk fields. We consider a variety of self-energy and vertex corrections due to bulk scalars and gravitons and show that bulk loops with non-zero winding generate UV-finite Lorentz-violating terms in the 4-D effective action. The results can be accommodated by the Standard Model Extension, a general framework for Lorentz-violating effective field theory.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Entanglement groups

We propose to define entanglement in terms of local unitary transformations acting on some parts of a system that can be undone by local unitary transformations acting on other parts. This leads to a characterization of entanglement in terms of groups. We refer to these as entanglement groups, and we refer to this notion as $g$-entanglement. We discuss the physical meaning of entanglement groups and contrast $g$-entanglement with other, more conventional definitions of entanglement. For pure states, entanglement groups are constructed as certain quotients of the stabilizer group and its subgroups. For mixed states, entanglement groups can be constructed from stabilizers of the purification. We analyze the structure of entanglement groups, show that they have properties which correspond to monogamy of entanglement, and explore the restrictions placed by separability. We show that $g$-entanglement underlies several well-known quantum tasks.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Back to the Future: Causality on a Moving Braneworld

Brane observers executing appropriate motion through a partially compactified Lorentz invariant bulk spacetime, such as $M_4 \times S^1$, can send signals along the brane that are instantaneous or even travel backward in time. Nevertheless, causality in the braneworld remains intact. We establish these results, which follow from superluminal signal propagation reported in arXiv:2206.13590, through classical analysis and then extend our reasoning by examining quantum mechanical microcausality. One implication is the capacity for real time communication across arbitrarily large distances.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Superluminal Propagation on a Moving Braneworld

We consider a braneworld scenario in the simplest setting, $M_4 \times S^1$, with a 4D Minkowski metric induced on the brane, and establish the possibility of superluminal propagation. If the brane is at rest, the 4D Lorentz symmetry of the brane is exact, but if the brane is in motion, it is broken globally by the compactification. By measuring bulk fields, an observer on the brane sees a slice through a higher-dimensional field profile, which carries an imprint of the extra dimensions even when the brane is at rest. If the brane is in motion we find that bulk fields can propagate outside the brane lightcone by a parametrically large amount set by the brane velocity. We mention observational tests and possible applications to cosmology.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Extractable entanglement from a Euclidean hourglass

We previously proposed that entanglement across a planar surface can be obtained from the partition function on a Euclidean hourglass geometry. Here we extend the prescription to spherical entangling surfaces in conformal field theory. We use the prescription to evaluate log terms in the entropy of a CFT in two dimensions, a conformally-coupled scalar in four dimensions, and a Maxwell field in four dimensions. For Maxwell we reproduce the extractable entropy obtained by Soni and Trivedi. We take this as evidence that the hourglass prescription provides a Euclidean technique for evaluating extractable entropy in quantum field theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Defining entanglement without tensor factoring: a Euclidean hourglass prescription

We consider entanglement across a planar boundary in flat space. Entanglement entropy is usually thought of as the von Neumann entropy of a reduced density matrix, but it can also be thought of as half the von Neumann entropy of a product of reduced density matrices on the left and right. The latter form allows a natural regulator in which two cones are smoothed into a Euclidean hourglass geometry. Since there is no need to tensor-factor the Hilbert space, the regulated entropy is manifestly gauge-invariant and has a manifest state-counting interpretation. We explore this prescription for scalar fields, where the entropy is insensitive to a non-minimal coupling, and for Maxwell fields, which have the same entropy as $d-2$ scalars.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Light-ray moments as endpoint contributions to modular Hamiltonians

We consider excited states in a CFT, obtained by applying a weak unitary perturbation to the vacuum. The perturbation is generated by the integral of a local operator $J^{(n)}$ of modular weight $n$ over a spacelike surface passing through $x = 0$. For $\vert n \vert \geq 2$ the modular Hamiltonian associated with a division of space at $x = 0$ picks up an endpoint contribution, sensitive to the details of the perturbation (including the shape of the spacelike surface) at $x = 0$. The endpoint contribution is a sum of light-ray moments of the perturbing operator $J^{(n)}$ and its descendants. For perturbations on null planes only moments of $J^{(n)}$ itself contribute.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Dressing bulk fields in AdS${}_3$

We study a set of CFT operators suitable for reconstructing a charged bulk scalar field $ϕ$ in AdS${}_3$ (dual to an operator ${\cal O}$ of dimension $Δ$ in the CFT) in the presence of a conserved spin-$n$ current in the CFT. One has to sum a tower of smeared non-primary scalars $\partial_{+}^{m} J^{(m)}$, where $J^{(m)}$ are primaries with twist $Δ$ and spin $m$ built from ${\cal O}$ and the current. The coefficients of these operators can be fixed by demanding that bulk correlators are well-defined: with a simple ansatz this requirement allows us to calculate bulk correlators directly from the CFT. They are built from specific polynomials of the kinematic invariants up to a freedom to make field redefinitions. To order $1/N$ this procedure captures the dressing of the bulk scalar field by a radial generalized Wilson line.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Endpoint contributions to excited-state modular Hamiltonians

We compute modular Hamiltonians for excited states obtained by perturbing the vacuum with a unitary operator. We use operator methods and work to first order in the strength of the perturbation. For the most part we divide space in half and focus on perturbations generated by integrating a local operator $J$ over a null plane. Local operators with weight $n \geq 2$ under vacuum modular flow produce an additional endpoint contribution to the modular Hamiltonian. Intuitively this is because operators with weight $n \geq 2$ can move degrees of freedom from a region to its complement. The endpoint contribution is an integral of $J$ over a null plane. We show this in detail for stress tensor perturbations in two dimensions, where the result can be verified by a conformal transformation, and for scalar perturbations in a CFT. This lets us conjecture a general form for the endpoint contribution that applies to any field theory divided into half-spaces.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Anomalies and Bose symmetry

We point out a feature of the triangle diagram for three chiral currents which is perhaps not widely appreciated: Bose symmetry is not manifest and suffers from a momentum-routing ambiguity. Imposing Bose symmetry fixes the ambiguity and leads to the famous Adler - Bell - Jackiw anomaly.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Bulk reconstruction for spinor fields in AdS/CFT

We develop the representation of free spinor fields in the bulk of Lorentzian anti-de Sitter space in terms of smeared operators in the dual conformal field theory. To do this we expand the bulk field in a complete set of normalizable modes, work out the extrapolate dictionary for spinor fields, and show that the bulk field can be reconstructed from its near-boundary behavior. In some cases chirality and reality conditions can be imposed in the bulk. We study the action of the CFT modular Hamiltonian on bulk fermions to show that they transform with the expected spinor Lie derivative, and we calculate bulk--boundary two-point functions starting from CFT correlators.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Quasinormal modes, echoes and the causal structure of the Green's function

Quasinormal modes describe the return to equilibrium of a perturbed system, in particular the ringdown phase of a black hole merger. But as globally-defined quantities, the quasinormal spectrum can be highly sensitive to global structure, including distant small perturbations to the potential. In what sense are quasinormal modes a property of the resulting black hole? We explore this question for the linearized perturbation equation with two potentials having disjoint bounded support. We give a composition law for the Wronskian that determines the quasinormal frequencies of the combined system. We show that over short time scales the evolution is governed by the quasinormal frequencies of the individual potentials, while the sensitivity to global structure can be understood in terms of echoes. We introduce an echo expansion of the Green's function and show that, as expected on general grounds, at any finite time causality limits the number of echoes that can contribute. We illustrate our results with the soluble example of a pair of $δ$-function potentials. We explicate the causal structure of the Green's function, demonstrating under what conditions two very different quasinormal spectra give rise to very similar ringdown waveforms.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Black Hole Hair from Scalar Dark Matter

We show that a black hole surrounded by scalar dark matter develops scalar hair. This is the generalization of a phenomenon pointed out by Jacobson, that a minimally coupled scalar with a non-trivial time dependence far away from the black hole would endow the black hole with hair. In our case, the time dependence arises from the oscillation of a scalar field with a non-zero mass. We systematically explore the scalar profile around the black hole for different scalar masses. In the small mass limit, the scalar field has a $1/r$ component at large radius $r$, consistent with Jacobson's result. In the large mass limit (with the Compton wavelength of order of the horizon or smaller), the scalar field has a $1/r^{3/4}$ profile yielding a pile-up close to the horizon, while distinctive nodes occur for intermediate masses. Thus, the dark matter profile around a black hole, while challenging to measure, contains information about the dark matter particle mass. As an application, we consider the case of the supermassive black hole at the center of M87, recently imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope. Its horizon size is roughly the Compton wavelength of a scalar particle of mass $10^{-20}$ eV. We consider the implications of the expected scalar pile-up close to the horizon, for fuzzy dark matter at a mass of $10^{-20}$ eV or below.

gr-qc↗