arXiv subjects

Ioannis Papadimitriou

Publications and source records attributed to Ioannis Papadimitriou.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Anomaly effective actions for 4d $\mathcal{N}=1$ superconformal field theories

We present a comprehensive analysis of the Wess-Zumino anomaly effective action of four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ superconformal field theories in components. After reviewing the coset construction of the Wess-Zumino action in the presence of an unbroken subgroup, the gauging of the conformal algebra and the Wess-Zumino effective action for non-supersymmetric conformal field theories with a U(1) symmetry in two and four dimensions, we revisit the superconformal anomalies of $\mathcal{N}=1$ conformal supergravity. Solving the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions we determine both the bosonic and fermionic superconformal anomalies in a two-parameter family of schemes, to quadratic order in the gravitino. Turning on a chiral compensator multiplet and identifying a local super-Poincaré subalgebra of the conformal supergravity algebra without gauge-fixing the coset symmetries, we employ the coset construction and the superconformal anomalies in order to evaluate the Wess-Zumino action for generic $\mathcal{N}=1$ superconformal field theories coupled to conformal supergravity. By construction, this action reproduces the Weyl, R-symmetry, and S-supersymmetry coset anomalies, but its transformation under the unbroken Poincaré supersymmetry differs from the corresponding anomaly of the conformal supergravity functional. We show that there exists a local functional of the coset-invariant old-minimal fields that, when added to the Wess-Zumino action, results in a generalized Wess-Zumino action that reproduces all anomalies of the conformal supergravity functional. The same local functional enables us to determine the super-Weyl anomalies and the Wess-Zumino action of old-minimal supergravity, providing a component version of the known superspace Wess-Zumino action.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Interpolating between 4d $\mathcal{N}= 1$ SCFT supercurrent multiplet anomalies

A renormalized SCFT can be coupled to a number of background off-shell supergravity multiplets, defining different current multiplets and superconformal anomalies. We focus on the relation between the conformal and Ferrara-Zumino multiplets of generic $\mathcal{N}= 1$ SCFTs in four dimensions, defined respectively by $\mathcal{N}= 1$ conformal and old-minimal supergravity. We show that the conformal super-gravity partition function, when lifted to a functional of the old-minimal background fields through a suitable Wess-Zumino action, is related to the old-minimal partition function by a local counterterm that we determine explicitly in components. This counterterm interpolates between two different old-minimal supergravity schemes with different superconformal anomalies. Part of the counterterm depends on the old-minimal auxiliary scalar and provides the explicit component form of the super-space counterterm constructed in [1]. However, the full counterterm that interpolates between the two multiplets contains additional terms, independent of the old-minimal auxiliary scalar, which are not present in this superspace counterterm. These additional terms play a key role in the comparison of physical observables between the two multiplets.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Near-extremal dynamics away from the horizon

Near-extremal black holes are usually studied by zooming into the throat that describes their near-horizon geometry. Within this throat, one can argue that two-dimensional JT gravity is the appropriate effective theory that dominates at low temperature. Here, we discuss how to capture this effective description by standing far away from the horizon. Our strategy is to construct a phase space within gravitational theories in AdS$_{d+1}$ that fixes the radial dependence while keeping the transverse dependence arbitrary. This allows us to implement a decoupling limit directly on the phase space while keeping the coordinates fixed. With this, we can relate the effective description in JT gravity to the CFT$_d$ description at the boundary of AdS$_{d+1}$, which we do explicitly in AdS$_3$ and non-rotating configurations in AdS$_4$. From the perspective of the dual CFT, our decoupling limit should be understood as a flow between a CFT$_{d}$ and a near-CFT$_1$. Our analysis shows that local counterterms can be constructed in the near-CFT$_1$, which arise from the anomalies (or absence of them) in the CFT$_{d}$. We show that one of these counterterms is the Schwarzian effective action, making this sector a scheme-dependent choice. This illustrates the delicate interplay between a far and a near analysis of near-extremal black holes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Entanglement Entropy of a Scalar Field in Anti-de Sitter Space

We study the entanglement entropy of a free massive scalar field at its ground state in (3+1)-dimensional AdS space in global coordinates. We consider spherical entangling surfaces centered at the origin of AdS. We determine the structure of the UV-divergent terms in the entanglement entropy and compute the numerical values of the respective coefficients. We confirm the connection between the coefficient of the logarithmic term and the conformal anomaly.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

RAG Playground: A Framework for Systematic Evaluation of Retrieval Strategies and Prompt Engineering in RAG Systems

We present RAG Playground, an open-source framework for systematic evaluation of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems. The framework implements and compares three retrieval approaches: naive vector search, reranking, and hybrid vector-keyword search, combined with ReAct agents using different prompting strategies. We introduce a comprehensive evaluation framework with novel metrics and provide empirical results comparing different language models (Llama 3.1 and Qwen 2.5) across various retrieval configurations. Our experiments demonstrate significant performance improvements through hybrid search methods and structured self-evaluation prompting, achieving up to 72.7% pass rate on our multi-metric evaluation framework. The results also highlight the importance of prompt engineering in RAG systems, with our custom-prompted agents showing consistent improvements in retrieval accuracy and response quality.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2024

Supersymmetric Casimir energy on $\mathcal{N}=1$ conformal supergravity backgrounds

We provide a first principles derivation of the supersymmetric Casimir energy of $\mathcal{N}=1$ SCFTs in four dimensions using the supercharge algebra on general conformal supergravity backgrounds that admit Killing spinors. The superconformal Ward identities imply that there exists a continuous family of conserved R-currents on supersymmetric backgrounds, as well as a continuous family of conserved currents for each conformal Killing vector. These continuous families interpolate between the consistent and covariant R-current and energy-momentum tensor. The resulting Casimir energy, therefore, depends on two continuous parameters corresponding to the choice of conserved currents used to define the energy and R-charge. This ambiguity is in addition to any possible scheme dependence due to local terms in the effective action. As an application, we evaluate the general expression for the supersymmetric Casimir energy we obtain on a family of backgrounds with the cylinder topology $\mathbb{R}\times S^3$ and admitting a single Majorana supercharge. Our result is a direct consequence of the supersymmetry algebra, yet it resembles more known expressions for the non-supersymmetric Casimir energy on such backgrounds and differs from the supersymmetric Casimir energy obtained from the zero temperature limit of supersymmetric partition functions. We defer a thorough analysis of the relation between these results to future work.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Black hole superpotential as a unifying entropy function and BPS thermodynamics

We develop an effective superpotential formalism for the SU(2)$\times$U(1) invariant sector of $\mathcal{N}=2$ gauged supergravity in five dimensions with a U(1)$^3$ Fayet-Iliopoulos gauging, and determine the exact superpotential that describes all 1/4 BPS solutions in this sector. This includes the Gutowski-Reall black holes, but also a much broader class of solutions with a squashed $S^3$, magnetic flux and vector multiplet sources, as well as complex Euclidean BPS saddles. Some of these solutions are known only numerically, but the exact superpotential allows us to analytically evaluate the on-shell action, holographic one-point functions and conserved charges of all BPS solutions and to study their thermodynamics. In particular, by examining the supersymmetry Ward identities we show that solutions with supersymmetric vector multiplet sources break supersymmetry spontaneously. We also demonstrate the first law for black holes in the SU(2)$\times$U(1) invariant sector and show that the conserved charges of supersymmetric solutions satisfy the generalized BPS relation derived in arXiv:1703.04299, which includes the supersymmetric Casimir energy as a consequence of the anomalous supersymmetry transformation of the $\mathcal{N}=1$ supercurrent at the boundary. Finally, we show that the effective superpotential provides a unifying entropy extremization principle, reproducing Sen's entropy function for near extremal black holes and the Hosseini-Hristov-Zaffaroni functional for complex Euclidean BPS saddles.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Anomalies and Supersymmetry

We revisit quantum field theory anomalies, emphasizing the interplay with diffeomorphisms and supersymmetry. The Ward identities of the latter induce Noether currents of all continuous symmetries, and we point out how these consistent currents are replaced by their covariant form through the appearance of the Bardeen-Zumino currents, which play a central role in our study. For supersymmetry Ward identities, two systematic methods for solving the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions are discussed: anomaly inflow and anomaly descent. The simplest inflows are from supersymmetric Chern-Simons actions in one dimension higher, which are used to supersymmetrize flavor anomalies in $d=4$ and, for $d=2$ $\mathcal{N}=(p,q)$, flavor anomalies with $p,q\leq 3$ and Lorentz-Weyl anomalies with $p,q\leq 6$. Finally, we extend the BRST algebra and the subsequent descent, a necessity for the diffeomorphism anomaly in retrospect. The same modification computes the supersymmetrized anomalies, and determines the above Chern-Simons actions when these exist.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

AdS$_3$ gravity and the complex SYK models

We provide a non conformal generalization of the Compère-Song-Strominger (CSS) boundary conditions for AdS$_3$ gravity that breaks the $\widehat u(1)$ Kac-Moody-Virasoro symmetry to two $u(1)$s. The holographic dual specified by the new boundary conditions can be understood as an irrelevant deformation of a warped conformal field theory (WCFT). Upon consistent reduction to two dimensions, AdS$_3$ gravity results in a deformed Jackiw-Teitelboim dilaton gravity model coupled to a Maxwell field. We show that near extremality the boundary conditions inherited from generalized CSS boundary conditions in three dimensions give rise to an effective action exhibiting the same symmetry breaking pattern as the complex Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev models. Besides the Schwarzian term reflecting the breaking of conformal symmetry, the effective action contains an additional term that captures the breaking of the $\widehat u(1)$ Kac-Moody symmetry.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Supersymmetry anomaly in the superconformal Wess-Zumino model

We present a comprehensive analysis of supersymmetry anomalies in the free and massless Wess-Zumino (WZ) model in perturbation theory. At the classical level the model possesses ${\mathcal N}=1$ superconformal symmetry, which is partially broken by quantum anomalies. The form of the anomalies and the part of the symmetry they break depend on the multiplet of conserved currents used. It was previously shown that the R-symmetry anomaly of the conformal current multiplet induces an anomaly in Q-supersymmetry, which appears first in 4-point functions. Here we confirm this result by an explicit 1-loop computation using a supersymmetric Pauli-Villars regulator. The conformal current multiplet does not exist in the regulated theory because the regulator breaks conformal invariance, R-symmetry and S-supersymmetry explicitly. The minimal massive multiplet is the Ferrara-Zumino (FZ) one and the supersymmetry preserved by the regulator is a specific field dependent combination of Q- and S- supersymmetry of the conformal multiplet. While this supersymmetry is non anomalous, conformal invariance, R-symmetry and the original Q- and S-supersymmetries are explicitly broken by finite contact terms, both in the regulated and renormalized theories. A conformal current multiplet does exist for the renormalized theory and may be obtained from the FZ multiplet by a set of finite local counterterms that eliminate the explicit symmetry breaking, thus restoring superconformal invariance up to anomalies. However, this necessarily renders both Q- and S-supersymmetries anomalous, as is manifest starting at 4-point functions of conformal multiplet currents. The paper contains a detailed discussion of a number of issues and subtleties related to Ward identities that may be useful in a wider context.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Counterterms, Kounterterms, and the variational problem in AdS gravity

We show that the Kounterterms for pure AdS gravity in arbitrary even dimensions coincide with the boundary counterterms obtained through holographic renormalization if and only if the boundary Weyl tensor vanishes. In particular, the Kounterterms lead to a well posed variational problem for generic asymptotically locally AdS manifolds only in four dimensions. We determine the exact form of the counterterms for conformally flat boundaries and demonstrate that, in even dimensions, the Kounterterms take exactly the same form. This agreement can be understood as a consequence of Anderson's theorem for the renormalized volume of conformally compact Einstein 4-manifolds and its higher dimensional generalizations by Albin and Chang, Qing and Yang. For odd dimensional asymptotically locally AdS manifolds with a conformally flat boundary, the Kounterterms coincide with the boundary counterterms except for the logarithmic divergence associated with the holographic conformal anomaly, and finite local terms.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Basal dislocation/precipitate interactions in Mg-Al alloys: an atomistic investigation

The interaction between edge basal dislocations and $β$-Mg$_{17}$Al$_{12}$ precipitates was studied using atomistic simulations. A strategy was developed to insert a lozenge-shaped Mg$_{17}$Al$_{12}$ precipitate with Burgers orientation relationship within the Mg matrix in an atomistic model ensuring that the matrix/precipitate interfaces were close to minimum energy configurations. It was found that the dislocation bypassed the precipitate by the formation of an Orowan loop, that entered the precipitate. Within the precipitate, the dislocation was not able to progress further until more dislocations overcome the precipitate and push the initial loop to shear the precipitate along the (110) plane, parallel to the basal plane of Mg. This process was eventually repeated as more dislocations overcome the precipitate and this mechanism of dislocation/precipitate interaction was in agreement with experimental observations. Moreover, the initial resolved shear stress to bypass the precipitate was in agreement with the predictions of the Bacon-Kocks-Scattergood model.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

5D Rotating Black Holes and the nAdS$_2$/nCFT$_1$ Correspondence

We study rotating black holes in five dimensions using the nAdS$_2$/nCFT$_1$ correspondence. A consistent truncation of pure Einstein gravity (with a cosmological constant) in five dimensions to two dimensions gives a generalization of the Jackiw-Teitelboim theory that has two scalar fields: a dilaton and a squashing parameter that breaks spherical symmetry. The interplay between these two scalar fields is non trivial and leads to interesting new features. We study the holographic description of this theory and apply the results to the thermodynamics of the rotating black hole from a two dimensional point of view. This setup challenges notions of universality that have been advanced based on simpler models: we find that the mass gap of Kerr-AdS$_5$ corresponds to an undetermined effective coupling in the nAdS$_2$/nCFT$_1$ theory which depends on ultraviolet data.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Anomalous Supersymmetry

We show that supersymmetry is anomalous in ${\cal N}=1$ superconformal quantum field theories (SCFTs) with an anomalous R-symmetry. This anomaly was originally found in holographic SCFTs at strong coupling. Here we show that this anomaly is present in general and demonstrate it for the massless superconformal Wess-Zumino model via a one loop computation. The anomaly appears first in four-point functions of two supercurrents with either two R-currents or with an R-current and an energy momentum tensor. In fact, the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions together with the standard R-symmetry anomaly imply the existence of the anomaly. We outline the implications of this anomaly.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Supersymmetry anomalies in $\mathcal{N}=1$ conformal supergravity

We solve the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions of $\mathcal{N}=1$ off-shell conformal supergravity in four dimensions and determine the general form of the superconformal anomalies for arbitrary $a$ and $c$ anomaly coefficients to leading non trivial order in the gravitino. Besides the well known Weyl and $R$-symmetry anomalies, we compute explicitly the fermionic $\mathcal{Q}$- and $\mathcal{S}$-supersymmetry anomalies. In particular, we show that $\mathcal{Q}$-supersymmetry is anomalous if and only if $R$-symmetry is anomalous. The $\mathcal{Q}$- and $\mathcal{S}$-supersymmetry anomalies give rise to an anomalous supersymmetry transformation for the supercurrent on curved backgrounds admitting Killing spinors, resulting in a deformed rigid supersymmetry algebra. Our results may have implications for supersymmetric localization and supersymmetry phenomenology. Analogous results are expected to hold in dimensions two and six and for other supergravity theories. The present analysis of the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions reproduces the holographic result of arxiv:1703.04299 and generalizes it to arbitrary $a$ and $c$ anomaly coefficients.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Supersymmetry anomalies in new minimal supergravity

We determine the general structure of quantum anomalies for the $R$-multiplet of four dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric quantum field theories in the presence of background fields for an arbitrary number of Abelian flavor multiplets. By solving the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions for off-shell new minimal supergravity in four dimensions with an arbitrary number of Abelian vector multiplets, we compute the anomaly in the conservation of the supercurrent to leading non trivial order in the gravitino and vector multiplet fermions. We find that both $R$-symmetry and flavor anomalies necessarily lead to a supersymmetry anomaly, thus generalizing our earlier results to non superconformal theories with Abelian flavor symmetries. The anomaly in the conservation of the supercurrent leads to an anomalous transformation for the supercurrent under rigid supersymmetry on bosonic backgrounds that admit new minimal Killing spinors. The resulting deformation of the supersymmetry algebra has implications for supersymmetric localization computations on such backgrounds.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Entropy functional and the holographic attractor mechanism

We provide a field theory interpretation of the attractor mechanism for asymptotically AdS$_4$ dyonic BPS black holes whose entropy is captured by the supersymmetric index of the twisted ABJM theory at Chern-Simons level one. We holographically compute the renormalized off-shell quantum effective action in the twisted ABJM theory as a function of the supersymmetric fermion masses and the arbitrary vacuum expectation values of the dimension one scalar bilinear operators and show that extremizing the effective action with respect to the vacuum expectation values of the dimension one scalar bilinears is equivalent to the attractor mechanism in the bulk. In fact, we show that the holographic quantum effective action coincides with the entropy functional and, therefore, its value at the extremum reproduces the black hole entropy.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Thermoelectric DC conductivities in hyperscaling violating Lifshitz theories

We analytically compute the thermoelectric conductivities at zero frequency (DC) in the holographic dual of a four dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-Axion-Dilaton theory that admits a class of asymptotically hyperscaling violating Lifshitz backgrounds with a dynamical exponent $z$ and hyperscaling violating parameter $θ$. We show that the heat current in the dual Lifshitz theory involves the energy flux, which is an irrelevant operator for $z>1$. The linearized fluctuations relevant for computing the thermoelectric conductivities turn on a source for this irrelevant operator, leading to several novel and non-trivial aspects in the holographic renormalization procedure and the identification of the physical observables in the dual theory. Moreover, imposing Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions on the spatial components of one of the two Maxwell fields present leads to different thermoelectric conductivities. Dirichlet boundary conditions reproduce the thermoelectric DC conductivities obtained from the near horizon analysis of Donos and Gauntlett, while Neumann boundary conditions result in a new set of DC conductivities. We make preliminary analytical estimates for the temperature behavior of the thermoelectric matrix in appropriate regions of parameter space. In particular, at large temperatures we find that the only case which could lead to a linear resistivity $ρ\sim T$ corresponds to $z=4/3$.

hep-th↗