arXiv subjects

Giuseppe Policastro

Publications and source records attributed to Giuseppe Policastro.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Geometry of Quantum Complexity in Open Systems

We extend Nielsen's geometric approach for quantum complexity from closed to open quantum systems, whose dynamics is governed by Lindbladian evolution. In this framework, complexity is defined through an optimal-control problem on the space of mixed states, with a cost assigned to both unitary and non-unitary generators. We show that the resulting geometric structure differs fundamentally from the Riemannian geometry that emerges in the case of unitary evolution. In the open-system setting, the natural geometry is typically sub-Finslerian. Dissipation makes the geodesics non-reversible, while the admissible tangent directions are restricted by the physically allowed controls. We analyze several physically motivated examples, including a single qubit subject to depolarizing and amplitude-damping channels, as well as the damped harmonic oscillator. We show that, similarly to the unitary case, varying the penalty factors in the cost functional modifies the geometric properties through changes in the flag curvature, the Finslerian analog of sectional curvature. Our results provide a geometric framework for quantifying the abstract notion of complexity in dissipative quantum systems, with potential connections to experimentally realizable setups.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

On decoding the string from interfaces in 2d conformal field theories

General solutions of a gravitational junction between two copies of a three-dimensional Einstein manifold $\mathcal{M}$ correspond to the solutions of the non-linear Nambu-Goto equation for a string in $\mathcal{M}$. We show that, for the junctions in three-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetimes constituted by tensile strings, which are dual to interfaces between thermal states in conformal field theories, the solutions of the Nambu-Goto equation describing the junction correspond to wave-packets, which are perfectly reflected at the interface to future null infinity \textit{without shape distortion} when incident from past null infinity. These wavepackets are realized by half-sided conformal transformations and affect the expectation value of the displacement operator. We further show that the entanglement entropy of an interval straddling the interface deciphers the stringy modes of the dual junction even in the tensionless limit. We also demonstrate that the strong sub-additivity of entanglement entropy is satisfied and is saturated for symmetric intervals generally.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

The degrees of freedom of multiway junctions in three dimensional gravity

We demonstrate that $n$-way junctions in three dimensional gravity correspond to coupled $n-1$ strings each satisfying the Nambu-Goto equation in the smoothened background, and with sources consisting of Monge-Ampère like terms which couple the strings. For $n\geq 3$, these $n-1$ degrees of freedom survive the tensionless limit implying that matter-like behavior can arise out of \textit{pure} gravity. We interpret these stringy degrees of freedom of gravitational junctions holographically in terms of wavepackets which collectively undergo perfect reflection at the multi-interface in the dual conformal field theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Decoding multiway gravitational junctions in AdS in terms of holographic quantum maps

It has been shown that multiway junctions gluing $n$ copies of locally AdS$_3$ spacetimes ($n\geq 2$) can be described by $n-1$ strings obeying non-linear Nambu-Goto equations coupled by Monge-Amp\`{e}re like terms. Here we study how such junctions along with their stringy degrees of freedom can be interpreted in terms of an interface between $n$ identical holographic conformal theories each defined on a semi-infinite line (wire). We study the gravitational scattering problem at the multiway junction, and show that at the linearized order the dual interfaces correspond to quantum maps which factorize into a product of a scattering matrix determined only by the tension of the dual junction and relative automorphisms of the Virasoro algebra governed by the $n-1$ stringy modes. Both of these are universal in the sense that they are independent of linear modifications of the background state. These generalize earlier results for the 2-way junctions implying that the dual interface is a tunable energy transmitter. We comment on understanding the quantum map corresponding to the full non-linear gravitational problem, and study Ward identities and unitarity bounds.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Probing the Singularity of Scalar-Haired Black Holes with Holographic Complexity

It has been shown that the "complexity=anything" observables allow more possibilities to probe the geometry behind the horizon of AdS black holes compared to the volume complexity. For uncharged black holes, these observables access the geometry all the way to the vicinity of the singularity, while for charged black holes, they only probe up to the inner horizon. Under appropriate conditions, the near-singularity geometry takes the universal form of a Kasner spacetime, characterized by the Kasner exponents. By introducing scalar hair, it is possible to continuously vary the Kasner exponents away from their vacuum values. In this work, we study the behavior of two different observables to determine whether they remain viable holographic duals of complexity in the presence of scalar hair. We also investigate how deeply these observables can probe the Kasner regime near the singularity. To this end, we consider two scalar potentials: an exponential potential, which admits analytic solutions, and a pure mass term, which requires numerical analysis.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Energy Reflection and Transmission of Interfaces in $T\bar{T}$-deformed CFT

Conformal interfaces gluing a pair of two-dimensional conformal field theories enjoy a large degree of universality in terms of the coefficients of reflection and transmission of energy, that describe the scattering of conformal matter at the interface. In this article, we study these coefficients beyond conformality, by gluing a pair of $T\bar T$-deformed 2D CFTs across an interface, which requires the condition $c_L μ_L = c_R μ_R $ to be obeyed. We show that, at least when the interface admits a holographic description, the $T\bar T$ deformation of the CFTs can be extended to the interface. We propose a generalization of the linear matching condition in the universal sector of the undeformed ICFT to a non-linear one, which is captured by a universal antisymmetric \emph{transmission function} of the incoming fluxes. We employ the flow equations of the $T\bar T$-deformed CFTs to compute this function in two special classes of states, namely the non-equilibrium steady state (NESS) and scattering state. We show that the results can also be reproduced using holographic techniques in the bulk dual of these states.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

An effective framework for strange metallic transport

Semi-holography, originally proposed as a model for conducting lattice electrons coupled to a holographic critical sector, leads to an effective theory of non-Fermi liquids with only a few relevant interactions on the Fermi surface in the large $N$ limit. A refined version of such theories has only two effective couplings which give holographic and Fermi-liquid-like contributions to the self-energy, respectively. We show that a low co-dimension sub-manifold exists in the space of refined semi-holographic theories in which strange metallic behavior is manifested, and which can be obtained just by tuning the ratio of the two couplings. On this sub-manifold, the product of the spectral function and the temperature is approximately independent of the critical exponent, the Fermi energy, and the temperature at all frequencies and near the Fermi surface when expressed in terms of suitably scaled momentum and frequency variables. This quasi-universal behavior leads to linear-in-$T$ dc resistivity and Planckian dissipation over a large range of temperatures, and we also obtain $T^{-3}$ scaling of the Hall conductivity at higher temperatures. The quasi-universal spectral function also fits well with photoemission spectroscopic data without varying the critical exponent with the doping. Combining with the results for optical conductivity, we construct a generalized version of Drude phenomenology for strange-metallic behavior which satisfies non-trivial consistency tests. Finally, we discuss a possible dynamical mechanism for the fine-tuning of the ratio of the two couplings necessary to realize the strange metallic behavior in a typical state.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Entanglement spectra from holography

The entanglement spectrum of a bipartite quantum system is given by the distribution of eigenvalues of the modular Hamiltonian. In this work, we compute the entanglement spectrum in the vacuum state for a subregion of a $d$-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT) admitting a holographic dual. In the case of a spherical (or planar) entangling surface, we recover known results in two dimensions, including the Cardy formula in the high energy regime. In higher dimensions $d>2$, we analytically determine a generalization of the Cardy formula valid at large energies and consistent with previous studies of CFT spectra in the literature. We also investigate numerically the spectrum at energy levels far above the modular ground state energy. We extend our analysis to the supersymmetric point of Einstein-Maxwell gravity, providing exact results when $d=2,3$, and a generalization of the Cardy formula at high energies in generic dimension $d$. We consider small shape deformations of a spherical entangling surface, for both the non-supersymmetric and the supersymmetric cases. In all cases we find that the high-energy scaling of the microcanonical entropy with the modular energy is unaffected by the shape deformation. This result suggests that the high-energy regime of the entanglement spectra carries universal information, independent of the shape of the entangling surface.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

A simple model for strange metallic behavior

A refined semi-holographic non-Fermi liquid model, in which carrier electrons hybridize with operators of a holographic critical sector, has been proposed recently for strange metallic behavior. The model, consistently with effective theory approach, has two couplings whose ratio is related to the doping. We explain the origin of the linear-in-T resistivity and strange metallic behavior as a consequence of the emergence of a universal form of the spectral function which is independent of the model parameters when the ratio of the two couplings take optimal values determined only by the critical exponent. This universal form fits well with photoemission data of copper oxide samples for under/optimal/over-doping with a fixed exponent over a wide range of temperatures. We further obtain a refined Planckian dissipation scenario in which the scattering time $τ= f \cdot \hbar /(k_B T)$, with $f$ being $\mathcal{O}(1)$ at strong coupling, but $\mathcal{O}(10)$ at weak coupling.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

The Complexity of Being Entangled

Nielsen's approach to quantum state complexity relates the minimal number of quantum gates required to prepare a state to the length of geodesics computed with a certain norm on the manifold of unitary transformations. For a bipartite system, we investigate binding complexity, which corresponds to norms in which gates acting on a single subsystem are free of cost. We reduce the problem to the study of geodesics on the manifold of Schmidt coefficients, equipped with an appropriate metric. Binding complexity is closely related to other quantities such as distributed computing and quantum communication complexity, and has a proposed holographic dual in the context of AdS/CFT. For finite dimensional systems with a Riemannian norm, we find an exact relation between binding complexity and the minimal Rényi entropy. We also find analytic results for the most commonly used non-Riemannian norm (the so-called $F_1$ norm) and provide lower bounds for the associated notion of state complexity ubiquitous in quantum computation and holography. We argue that our results are valid for a large class of penalty factors assigned to generators acting across the subsystems. We demonstrate that our results can be borrowed to study the usual complexity (not-binding) for a single spin for the case of the $F_1$ norm which was previously lacking from the literature. Finally, we derive bounds for multi-partite binding complexities and the related (continuous) circuit complexity where the circuit contains at most $2$-local interactions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Nambu-Goto equation from three-dimensional gravity

We demonstrate that the solutions of three-dimensional gravity obtained by gluing two copies of a spacetime across a junction constituted of a tensile string are in one-to-one correspondence with the solutions of the Nambu-Goto equation in the same spacetime up to a finite number of rigid deformations related to worldsheet and spacetime isometries. The non-linear Nambu-Goto equation satisfied by the average of the embedding coordinates of the junction emerges directly from the junction conditions along with the rigid deformations and corrections due to the tension. Therefore, the equivalence principle generalizes non-trivially to the string. Our results are valid both in three-dimensional flat and AdS spacetimes. In the context of AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$ correspondence, our setup could be used to describe a class of interfaces in the conformal field theory featuring relative time reparametrization at the interface which encodes the solution of the Nambu-Goto equation corresponding to the bulk junction.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Energy Transport for Thick Holographic Branes

Universal properties of two-dimensional conformal interfaces are encoded by the flux of energy transmitted and reflected during a scattering process. We develop an innovative method that allows us to use results for the energy transmission in thin-brane holographic models to find the energy transmission for general smooth domain-wall solutions of three-dimensional gravity. Our method is based on treating the continuous geometry as a discrete set of branes. As an application, we compute the transmission coefficient of a Janus interface in terms of its deformation parameter.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Ensemble averaging in JT gravity from entanglement in Matrix Quantum Mechanics

We consider the generalization of a matrix integral with arbitrary spectral curve $ρ_0(E)$ to a 0+1D theory of matrix quantum mechanics (MQM). Using recent techniques for 1D quantum systems at large-$N$, we formulate a hydrodynamical effective theory for the eigenvalues. The result is a simple 2D free boson BCFT on a curved background, describing the quantum fluctuations of the eigenvalues around $ρ_0(E)$, which is now the large-$N$ limit of the quantum expectation value of the eigenvalue density operator $\hatρ(E)$. The average over the ensemble of random matrices becomes a quantum expectation value. Equal-time density correlations reproduce the results (including non-perturbative corrections) of random matrix theory. This suggests an interpretation of JT gravity as dual to a $\textit{one-time-point}$ reduction of MQM. As an application, we compute the Rényi entropy associated to a bipartition of the eigenvalues. We match a previous result by Hartnoll and Mazenc for the $c=1$ matrix model dual to two-dimensional string theory and extend it to arbitrary $ρ_0(E)$. The hydrodynamical theory provides a clear picture of the emergence of spacetime in two dimensional string theory. The entropy is naturally finite and displays a large amount of short range entanglement, proportional to the microcanonical entropy. We also compute the reduced density matrix for a subset of $n<N$ eigenvalues.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Analytic long-lived modes in charged critical plasma

Fluctuations around critical behavior of a holographic charged plasmas are investigated by studying quasi-normal modes of the corresponding black branes in 5D Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton gravity. The near horizon geometry of black branes approaches the well-known 2D charged string black hole in the critical limit, for which a world-sheet description is available, and the corresponding quasi-normal modes can be obtained analytically from the reflection amplitude of the 2D black hole geometry. We find two distinct set of modes: a purely imaginary ``decoupled'' set, directly following from the reflection amplitude, and a ``non-decoupled'' set that was already identified in the neutral holographic plasma in \cite{Betzios:2018kwn}. In the extremal limit, the former set of imaginary quasi-normal modes coalesce on a branch cut starting from the the origin, signaling breakdown of hydrodynamic approximation. We further complete the black brane geometry with a slice of AdS near the boundary, to allow for a holographic construction, and find another set of modes localized in the UV. Finally, we develop an alternative WKB method to obtain the quasi-normal modes in the critical limit and apply this method to study the spectrum of hyperscaling-violating Lifshitz black branes. The critical limit of the plasma we consider in this paper is in one-to-one correspondence with the large D limit of Einstein's gravity which allows for an alternative interesting interpretation of our findings.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Quantum Computational Complexity -- From Quantum Information to Black Holes and Back

Quantum computational complexity estimates the difficulty of constructing quantum states from elementary operations, a problem of prime importance for quantum computation. Surprisingly, this quantity can also serve to study a completely different physical problem - that of information processing inside black holes. Quantum computational complexity was suggested as a new entry in the holographic dictionary, which extends the connection between geometry and information and resolves the puzzle of why black hole interiors keep growing for a very long time. In this pedagogical review, we present the geometric approach to complexity advocated by Nielsen and show how it can be used to define complexity for generic quantum systems; in particular, we focus on Gaussian states in QFT, both pure and mixed, and on certain classes of CFT states. We then present the conjectured relation to gravitational quantities within the holographic correspondence and discuss several examples in which different versions of the conjectures have been tested. We highlight the relation between complexity, chaos and scrambling in chaotic systems. We conclude with a discussion of open problems and future directions. This article was written for the special issue of EPJ-C Frontiers in Holographic Duality.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Linear-in-$T$ resistivity from semiholographic non-Fermi liquid models

We construct a semiholographic effective theory in which the electron of a two-dimensional band hybridizes with a fermionic operator of a critical holographic sector, while also interacting with other bands that preserve quasiparticle characteristics. Besides the scaling dimension $ν$ of the fermionic operator in the holographic sector, the effective theory has two {dimensionless} couplings $α$ and $γ$ determining the holographic and Fermi-liquid-type contributions to the self-energy respectively. We find that irrespective of the choice of the holographic critical sector, there exists a ratio of the effective couplings for which we obtain linear-in-$T$ resistivity for a wide range of temperatures. This scaling persists to arbitrarily low temperatures when $ν$ approaches unity in which limit we obtain a marginal Fermi liquid with a specific temperature dependence of the self-energy.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Thermal transport in $T\bar{T}$-deformed conformal field theories: from integrability to holography

In this paper we consider the energy and momentum transport in (1+1)-dimension conformal field theories (CFTs) that are deformed by an irrelevant operator $T\bar{T}$, using the integrability based generalized hydrodynamics, and holography. The two complementary methods allow us to study the energy and momentum transport after the in-homogeneous quench, derive the exact non-equilibrium steady states (NESS) and calculate the Drude weights and the diffusion constants. Our analysis reveals that all of these quantities satisfy universal formulae regardless of the underlying CFT, thereby generalizing the universal formulae for these quantities in pure CFTs. As a sanity check, we also confirm that the exact momentum diffusion constant agrees with the conformal perturbation. These fundamental physical insights have important consequences for our understanding of the $T\bar{T}$-deformed CFTs. First of all, they provide the first check of the $T\bar{T}$-deformed $\mathrm{AdS}_3$/$\mathrm{CFT}_2$ correspondence from the dynamical standpoint. And secondly, we are able to identify a remarkable connection between the $T\bar{T}$-deformed CFTs and reversible cellular automata.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

$T\bar{T}$-deformed conformal field theories out of equilibrium

We consider the out-of-equilibrium transport in $T\bar{T}$-deformed (1+1)-dimension conformal field theories (CFTs). The theories admit two disparate approaches, integrability and holography, which we make full use of in order to compute the transport quantities, such as the the exact non-equilibrium steady state currents. We find perfect agreements between the results obtained from these two methods, which serve as the first checks of the $T\bar{T}$-deformed holographic correspondence from the dynamical standpoint. It turns out that integrability also allows us to compute the momentum diffusion, which is given by a universal formula. We also remark on an intriguing connection between the $T\bar{T}$-deformed CFTs and reversible cellular automata.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗