arXiv subjects

Eva Silverstein

Publications and source records attributed to Eva Silverstein.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

The Inside Story: Quasilocal Tachyons and Black Holes

We analyze the fate of excitations in regions of closed string tachyon condensate, a question crucial for understanding unitarity in a class of black holes in string theory. First we introduce a simple new example of {\it quasilocal} tachyon condensation in a globally stable AdS/CFT background, and review tachyons' appearance in black hole physics. Then we calculate forces on particles and fields in a tachyon phase using a field theoretic model with spatially localized exponentially growing time dependent masses. This model reveals two features, both supporting unitary evolution in the bulk of spacetime. First, the growing energy of fields sourced by sets of (real and virtual) particles in the tachyon phase yields outward forces on them, leaving behind only combinations which do not source any fields. Secondly, requiring the consistency of perturbative string theory imposes cancellation of a BRST anomaly, which also yields a restricted set of states. Each of these effects supports the notion of a black hole final state arising from string-theoretic dynamics replacing the black hole singularity.

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arXiv2005

The Tachyon at the End of the Universe

We show that a tachyon condensate phase replaces the spacelike singularity in certain cosmological and black hole spacetimes in string theory. We analyze explicitly a set of examples with flat spatial slices in various dimensions which have a winding tachyon condensate, using worldsheet path integral methods from Liouville theory. In a vacuum with no excitations above the tachyon background in the would-be singular region, we analyze the production of closed strings in the resulting state in the bulk of spacetime. We find a thermal result reminiscent of the Hartle-Hawking state, with tunably small energy density. The amplitudes exhibit a self-consistent truncation of support to the weakly-coupled small-tachyon region of spacetime. We argue that the background is accordingly robust against back reaction, and that the resulting string theory amplitudes are perturbatively finite, indicating a resolution of the singularity and a mechanism to start or end time in string theory. Finally, we discuss the generalization of these methods to examples with positively curved spatial slices.

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arXiv2005

Hologravity

The dS/dS correspondence provides a holographic description of quantum gravity in d dimensional de Sitter space near the horizon of a causal region in a well defined approximation scheme; it is equivalent to the low energy limit of conformal field theory on de Sitter space in d-1 dimensions coupled to d-1 dimensional gravity. In this work, we extend the duality to higher energy scales by performing calculations of various basic physical quantities sensitive to the UV region of the geometry near the center of the causal patch. In the regime of energies below the d dimensional Planck scale but above the curvature scale of the geometry, these calculations encode the physics of the d-1 dimensional matter plus gravity system above the crossover scale where gravitational effects become strong. They exhibit phenomena familiar from studies of two dimensional gravity coupled to conformal field theory, including the cancellation of the total Weyl anomaly in d-1 dimensions. We also outline how the correspondence can be used to address the issue of observables in de Sitter space, and generalize the correspondence to other space times, such as black holes, inflationary universes, and landscape bubble decays. In the cases with changing cosmological constant, we obtain a dual description in terms of renormalization group flow.

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arXiv2004

A New Handle on de Sitter Compactifications

We construct a large new class of de Sitter (and anti de Sitter) vacua of critical string theory from flux compactifications on products of Riemann surfaces. In the construction, the leading effects stabilizing the moduli are perturbative. We show that these effects self-consistently dominate over standard estimates for further $α^\prime$ and quantum corrections, via tuning available from large flux and brane quantum numbers.

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arXiv2004

The Scaling of the No Scale Potential and de Sitter Model Building

We propose a variant of the KKLT (A)dS flux vacuum construction which does not require an antibrane to source the volume modulus. The strategy is to find nonzero local minima of the no-scale potential in the complex structure and dilaton directions in moduli space. The corresponding no-scale potential expanded about this point sources the volume modulus in the same way as does the antibrane of the KKLT construction. We exhibit explicit examples of such nonzero local minima of the no-scale potential in a simple toroidal orientifold model.

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arXiv2004

Counter-intuition and Scalar Masses

The Bousso-Polchinski mechanism for discretely fine-tuning the cosmological constant favors a large bare negative cosmological constant. I argue (using generalizations of results of Klebanov and Tseytlin) that a similar mechanism for fine-tuning the scalar masses to small values favors a large bare negative (i.e. tachyonic) scalar mass. I comment briefly on the related issue of the role of low energy supersymmetry in string theory.

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arXiv2004

Scalar Speed Limits and Cosmology: Acceleration from D-cceleration

Causality on the gravity side of the AdS/CFT correspondence restricts motion on the moduli space of the N=4 super Yang Mills theory by imposing a speed limit on how fast the scalar field may roll. This effect can be traced to higher derivative operators arising from integrating out light degrees of freedom near the origin. In the strong coupling limit of the theory, the dynamics is well approximated by the Dirac-Born-Infeld Lagrangian for a probe D3-brane moving toward the horizon of the AdS Poincare patch, combined with an estimate of the (ultimately suppressed) rate of particle and string production in the system. We analyze the motion of a rolling scalar field explicitly in the strong coupling regime of the field theory, and extend the analysis to cosmological systems obtained by coupling this type of field theory to four dimensional gravity. This leads to a mechanism for slow roll inflation for a massive scalar at subPlanckian VEV without need for a flat potential (realizing a version of k-inflation in a microphysical framework). It also leads to a variety of novel FRW cosmologies, some of which are related to those obtained with tachyon matter.

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arXiv2004

The dS/dS Correspondence

We present a holographic duality for the de Sitter static patch which consolidates basic features of its geometry and the behavior of gravity and brane probes, valid on timescales short compared to the decay or Poincare recurrence times. Namely de Sitter spacetime $dS_d(R)$ in $d$ dimensions with curvature radius $R$ is holographically dual to two conformal field theories on $dS_{d-1}(R)$, cut off at an energy scale 1/R where they couple to each other and to $d-1$ dimensional gravity. As part of our analysis, we study brane probes in de Sitter and thermal Anti de Sitter spaces, and interpret the terms in the corresponding DBI action via strongly coupled thermal field theory. This provides a dual field theoretic interpretation of the fact that probes take forever to reach a horizon in general relativity.

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arXiv2004

TASI/PiTP/ISS Lectures on Moduli and Microphysics

I review basic forces on moduli that lead to their stabilization, for example in the supercritical and KKLT models of de Sitter space in string theory, as well as an $AdS_4\times S^3\times S^3$ model I include which is not published elsewhere. These forces come from the classical dilaton tadpole in generic dimensionality, internal curvature, fluxes, and branes and orientifolds as well as non-perturbative effects. The resulting (A)dS solutions of string theory make detailed predictions for microphysical entropy, whose leading behavior we exhibit on the Coulomb branch of the system. Finally, I briefly review recent developments concerning the role of velocity-dependent effects in the dynamics of moduli. These lecture notes are based on material presented at various stages in the 1999 TASI, 2002 PiTP, 2003 TASI, and 2003 ISS schools.

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arXiv2004

Beauty is Attractive: Moduli Trapping at Enhanced Symmetry Points

We study quantum effects on moduli dynamics arising from the production of particles which are light at special points in moduli space. The resulting forces trap the moduli at these points, which often exhibit enhanced symmetry. Moduli trapping occurs in time-dependent quantum field theory, as well as in systems of moving D-branes, where it leads the branes to combine into stacks. Trapping also occurs in an expanding universe, though the range over which the moduli can roll is limited by Hubble friction. We observe that a scalar field trapped on a steep potential can induce a stage of acceleration of the universe, which we call trapped inflation. Moduli trapping ameliorates the cosmological moduli problem and may affect vacuum selection. In particular, rolling moduli are most powerfully attracted to the points with the largest number of light particles, which are often the points of greatest symmetry. Given suitable assumptions about the dynamics of the very early universe, this effect might help to explain why among the plethora of possible vacuum states of string theory, we appear to live in one with a large number of light particles and (spontaneously broken) symmetries. In other words, some of the surprising properties of our world might arise not through pure chance or miraculous cancellations, but through a natural selection mechanism during dynamical evolution.

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arXiv2003

AdS and dS Entropy from String Junctions

Flux compactifications of string theory exhibiting the possibility of discretely tuning the cosmological constant to small values have been constructed. The highly tuned vacua in this discretuum have curvature radii which scale as large powers of the flux quantum numbers, exponential in the number of cycles in the compactification. By the arguments of Susskind/Witten (in the AdS case) and Gibbons/Hawking (in the dS case), we expect correspondingly large entropies associated with these vacua. If they are to provide a dual description of these vacua on their Coulomb branch, branes traded for the flux need to account for this entropy at the appropriate energy scale. In this note, we argue that simple string junctions and webs ending on the branes can account for this large entropy, obtaining a rough estimate for junction entropy that agrees with the existing rough estimates for the spacing of the discretuum. In particular, the brane entropy can account for the (A)dS entropy far away from string scale correspondence limits.

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arXiv2003

D-Sitter Space: Causal Structure, Thermodynamics, and Entropy

We study the entropy of concrete de Sitter flux compactifications and deformations of them containing D-brane domain walls. We determine the relevant causal and thermodynamic properties of these "D-Sitter" deformations of de Sitter spacetimes. We find a string scale correspondence point at which the entropy localized on the D-branes (and measured by probes sent from an observer in the middle of the bubble) scales the same with large flux quantum numbers as the entropy of the original de Sitter space, and at which Bousso's bound is saturated by the D-brane degrees of freedom (up to order one coefficients) for an infinite range of times. From the geometry of a static patch of D-Sitter space and from basic relations in flux compactifications, we find support for the possibility of a low energy open string description of the static patch of de Sitter space.

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arXiv2002

Decapitating Tadpoles

We propose that perturbative quantum field theory and string theory can be consistently modified in the infrared to eliminate, in a radiatively stable manner, tadpole instabilities that arise after supersymmetry breaking. This is achieved by deforming the propagators of classically massless scalar fields and the graviton so as to cancel the contribution of their zero modes. In string theory, this modification of propagators is accomplished by perturbatively deforming the world-sheet action with bi-local operators similar to those that arise in double-trace deformations of AdS/CFT. This results in a perturbatively finite and unitary S-matrix (in the case of string theory, this claim depends on standard assumptions about unitarity in covariant string diagrammatics). The S-matrix is parameterized by arbitrary scalar VEVs, which exacerbates the vacuum degeneracy problem. However, for generic values of these parameters, quantum effects produce masses for the nonzero modes of the scalars, lifting the fluctuating components of the moduli. Warning: in the case of string theory, the simple prescription discussed in this paper fails to decouple BRST trivial modes from the physical S-matrix. A procedure aimed at correcting this is under investigation.

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arXiv2002

de Sitter Space in Non-Critical String Theory

Supercritical string theories in D>10 dimensions with no moduli are described, generalizing the asymmetric orientifold construction of one of the authors. By taking the number of dimensions to be large and turning on fluxes, dilaton potentials are generated with nontrivial minima at arbitrarily small cosmological constant and D-dimensional string coupling, separated by a barrier from a flat-space linear dilaton region, but possibly suffering from strong coupling problems. The general issue of the decay of a de Sitter vacuum to flat space is discussed. For relatively small barriers, such decays are described by gravitational instantons. It is shown that for a sufficiently large potential barrier, the bubble wall crosses the horizon. At the same time the instanton decay time exceeds the Poincare recurrence time. It is argued that the inclusion of such instantons is neither physically meaningful nor consistent with basic principles such as causality. This raises the possibility that such de Sitter vacua are effectively stable. In the case of the supercritical flux models, decays to the linear dilaton region can be forbidden by such large barriers, but decays to lower flux vacua including AdS minima nevertheless proceed consistently with this criterion. These models provide concrete examples in which cosmological constant reduction by flux relaxation can be explored.

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arXiv2001

Non-local string theories on AdS_3 times S^3 and stable non-supersymmetric backgrounds

We exhibit a simple class of exactly marginal "double-trace" deformations of two dimensional CFTs which have AdS_3 duals, in which the deformation is given by a product of left and right-moving U(1) currents. In this special case the deformation on AdS_3 is generated by a local boundary term in three dimensions, which changes the physics also in the bulk via bulk-boundary propagators. However, the deformation is non-local in six dimensions and on the string worldsheet, like generic non-local string theories (NLSTs). Due to the simplicity of the deformation we can explicitly make computations in the non-local string theory and compare them to CFT computations, and we obtain precise agreement. We discuss the effect of the deformation on closed strings and on D-branes. The examples we analyze include a supersymmetry-breaking but exactly marginal "double-trace" deformation, which is dual to a string theory in which no destabilizing tadpoles are generated for moduli nonperturbatively in all couplings, despite the absence of supersymmetry. We explain how this cancellation works on the gravity side in string perturbation theory, and also non-perturbatively at leading order in the deformation parameter. We also discuss possible flat space limits of our construction.

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arXiv2001

Multiple-Trace Operators and Non-Local String Theories

We propose that a novel deformation of string perturbation theory, involving non-local interactions between strings, is required to describe the gravity duals of field theories deformed by multiple-trace operators. The new perturbative expansion involves a new parameter, which is neither the string coupling nor the coefficient of a vertex operator on the worldsheet. We explore some of the properties of this deformation, focusing on a special case where the deformation in the field theory is exactly marginal.

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arXiv2001

(A)dS Backgrounds from Asymmetric Orientifolds

I present asymmetric orientifold models which, with the addition of RR fluxes, fix all the NS NS moduli including the dilaton. In critical string theory, this gives new AdS backgrounds with (discretely tunably) weak string coupling. Extrapolating to super-critical string theory, this construction leads to a promising candidate for a metastable de Sitter background with string coupling of order 1/10 and dS radius of order 100 times the string scale. Extrapolating further to larger and larger super-critical dimension suggests the possibility of finding de Sitter backgrounds with weaker and weaker string coupling. This note is an updated version of the last part of my Strings 2001 talk.

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arXiv2001

Closed String Tachyons, AdS/CFT, and Large N QCD

We find that tachyonic orbifold examples of AdS/CFT have corresponding instabilities at small radius, and can decay to more generic gauge theories. We do this by computing a destabilizing Coleman-Weinberg effective potential for twisted operators of the corresponding quiver gauge theories, generalizing calculations of Tseytlin and Zarembo and interpreting them in terms of the large-N behavior of twisted-sector modes. The dynamically generated potential involves double-trace operators, which affect large-N correlators involving twisted fields but not those involving only untwisted fields, in line with large-N inheritance arguments. We point out a simple reason that no such small radius instability exists in gauge theories arising from freely acting orbifolds, which are tachyon-free at large radius. When an instability is present, twisted gauge theory operators with the quantum numbers of the large-radius tachyons aquire VEVs, leaving a gauge theory with fewer degrees of freedom in the infrared, analogous to but less extreme than ``decays to nothing'' studied in other systems with broken supersymmetry. In some cases one is left with pure glue QCD plus decoupled matter and U(1) factors in the IR, which we thus conjecture is described by the corresponding (possibly strongly coupled) endpoint of tachyon condensation in the M/String-theory dual.

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