arXiv subjects

Jelle Hartong

Publications and source records attributed to Jelle Hartong.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Carroll symmetry, dark energy and inflation

Carroll symmetry arises from Poincaré symmetry upon taking the limit of vanishing speed of light. We determine the constraints on the energy-momentum tensor implied by Carroll symmetry and show that for energy-momentum tensors of perfect fluid form, these imply an equation of state ${\cal E}+P=0$ for energy density plus pressure. Therefore Carroll symmetry might be relevant for dark energy and inflation. In the Carroll limit, the Hubble radius goes to zero and outside it recessional velocities are naturally large compared to the speed of light. The de Sitter group of isometries, after the limit, becomes the conformal group in Euclidean flat space. We also study the Carroll limit of chaotic inflation, and show that the scalar field is naturally driven to have an equation of state with $w=-1$. Finally we show that the freeze-out of scalar perturbations in the two point function at horizon crossing is a consequence of Carroll symmetry. To make the paper self-contained, we include a brief pedagogical review of Carroll symmetry, Carroll particles and Carroll field theories that contains some new material as well. In particular we show, using an expansion around speed of light going to zero, that for scalar and Maxwell type theories one can take two different Carroll limits at the level of the action. In the Maxwell case these correspond to the electric and magnetic limit. For point particles we show that there are two types of Carroll particles: those that cannot move in space and particles that cannot stand still.

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arXiv2021

Galilean first-order formulation for the non-relativistic expansion of general relativity

We reformulate the Palatini action for general relativity (GR) in terms of moving frames that exhibit local Galilean covariance in a large speed of light expansion. For this, we express the action in terms of variables that are adapted to a Galilean subgroup of the $GL(n,\mathbb{R})$ structure group of a general frame bundle. This leads to a novel Palatini-type formulation of GR that provides a natural starting point for a first-order non-relativistic expansion. In doing so, we show how a comparison of Lorentzian and Newton-Cartan metric-compatibility explains the appearance of torsion in the non-relativistic expansion.

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arXiv2021

Torsional string Newton-Cartan geometry for non-relativistic strings

We revisit the formulation of non-relativistic (NR) string theory and its target space geometry. We obtain a new formulation in which the geometry contains a two-form field that couples to the tension current and that transforms under string Galilei boosts. This parallels the Newton-Cartan one-form that couples to the mass current of a non-relativistic point particle. We show how this formulation of the NR string arises both from an infinite speed of light limit and a null reduction of the relativistic closed bosonic string. In both cases, the two-form originates from a combination of metric quantities and the Kalb-Ramond field. The target space geometry of the NR string is seen to arise from the gauging of a new algebra that is obtained by an Inonu-Wigner contraction of the Poincaré algebra extended by the symmetries of the Kalb-Ramond field. In this new formulation, there are no superfluous target space fields that can be removed by fixing a Stückelberg symmetry. Classically, there are no foliation/torsion constraints imposed on the target space geometry.

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arXiv2020

Spin Matrix Theory String Backgrounds and Penrose Limits of AdS/CFT

Spin Matrix theory (SMT) limits provide a way to capture the dynamics of the AdS/CFT correspondence near BPS bounds. On the string theory side, these limits result in non-relativistic sigma models that can be interpreted as novel non-relativistic strings. This SMT string theory couples to non-relativistic $U(1)$-Galilean background geometries. In this paper, we explore the relation between pp-wave backgrounds obtained from Penrose limits of AdS${}_5 \times S^5$, and a new type of $U(1)$-Galilean backgrounds that we call flat-fluxed (FF) backgrounds. These FF backgrounds are the simplest possible SMT string backgrounds and correspond to free magnons from the spin chain perspective. We provide a catalogue of the $U(1)$-Galilean backgrounds one obtains from SMT limits of string theory on AdS${}_5 \times S^5$ and subsequently study large charge limits of these geometries from which the FF backgrounds emerge. We show that these limits are analogous to Penrose limits of AdS${}_5 \times S^5$ and demonstrate that the large charge/Penrose limits commute with the SMT limits. Finally, we point out that $U(1)$-Galilean backgrounds prescribe a symplectic manifold for the transverse SMT string embedding fields. This is illustrated with a Hamiltonian derivation for the SMT limit of a particle.

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arXiv2020

Non-Boost Invariant Fluid Dynamics

We consider uncharged fluids without any boost symmetry on an arbitrary curved background and classify all allowed transport coefficients up to first order in derivatives. We assume rotational symmetry and we use the entropy current formalism. The curved background geometry in the absence of boost symmetry is called absolute or Aristotelian spacetime. We present a closed-form expression for the energy-momentum tensor in Landau frame which splits into three parts: a dissipative (10), a hydrostatic non-dissipative (2) and a non-hydrostatic non-dissipative part (4), where in parenthesis we have indicated the number of allowed transport coefficients. The non-hydrostatic non-dissipative transport coefficients can be thought of as the generalization of coefficients that would vanish if we were to restrict to linearized perturbations and impose the Onsager relations. For the two hydrostatic and the four non-hydrostatic non-dissipative transport coefficients we present a Lagrangian description. Finally when we impose scale invariance, thus restricting to Lifshitz fluids, we find 7 dissipative, 1 hydrostatic and 2 non-hydrostatic non-dissipative transport coefficients.

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arXiv2020

Newton-Cartan Submanifolds and Fluid Membranes

We develop the geometric description of submanifolds in Newton--Cartan spacetime. This provides the necessary starting point for a covariant spacetime formulation of Galilean-invariant hydrodynamics on curved surfaces. We argue that this is the natural geometrical framework to study fluid membranes in thermal equilibrium and their dynamics out of equilibrium. A simple model of fluid membranes that only depends on the surface tension is presented and, extracting the resulting stresses, we show that perturbations away from equilibrium yield the standard result for the dispersion of elastic waves. We also find a generalisation of the Canham--Helfrich bending energy for lipid vesicles that takes into account the requirements of thermal equilibrium.

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arXiv2020

Non-Relativistic Gravity and its Coupling to Matter

We study the non-relativistic expansion of general relativity coupled to matter. This is done by expanding the metric and matter fields analytically in powers of $1/c^2$ where $c$ is the speed of light. In order to perform this expansion it is shown to be very convenient to rewrite general relativity in terms of a timelike vielbein and a spatial metric. This expansion can be performed covariantly and off shell. We study the expansion of the Einstein-Hilbert action up to next-to-next-to-leading order. We couple this to different forms of matter: point particles, perfect fluids, scalar fields (including an off-shell derivation of the Schrödinger-Newton equation) and electrodynamics (both its electric and magnetic limits). We find that the role of matter is crucial in order to understand the properties of the Newton-Cartan geometry that emerges from the expansion of the metric. It turns out to be the matter that decides what type of clock form is allowed, i.e. whether we have absolute time or a global foliation of constant time hypersurfaces. We end by studying a variety of solutions of non-relativistic gravity coupled to perfect fluids. This includes the Schwarzschild geometry, the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff solution for a fluid star, the FLRW cosmological solutions and anti-de Sitter spacetimes.

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arXiv2020

Non-relativistic expansion of the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian

We present a systematic technique to expand the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian in inverse powers of the speed of light squared. The corresponding result for the non-relativistic gravity Lagrangian is given up to next-to-next-to-leading order. The techniques are universal and can be used to expand any Lagrangian theory whose fields are a function of a given parameter.

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arXiv2020

Action Principle for Newtonian Gravity

We derive an action whose equations of motion contain the Poisson equation of Newtonian gravity. The construction requires a new notion of Newton--Cartan geometry based on an underlying symmetry algebra that differs from the usual Bargmann algebra. This geometry naturally arises in a covariant $1/c$ expansion of general relativity with $c$ the speed of light. By truncating this expansion at subleading order we obtain the field content and transformation rules of the fields that appear in the action of Newtonian gravity. The equations of motion generalize Newtonian gravity by allowing for the effect of gravitational time dilation due to strong gravitational fields.

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arXiv2020

Gravity between Newton and Einstein

Statements about relativistic effects are often subtle. In this essay we will demonstrate that the three classical tests of general relativity, namely perihelion precession, deflection of light and gravitational redshift, are passed perfectly by an extension of Newtonian gravity that includes gravitational time dilation effects while retaining a non-relativistic causal structure. This non-relativistic gravity theory arises from a covariant large speed of light expansion of Einstein's theory of gravity that does not assume weak fields and which admits an action principle.

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arXiv2019

Relating non-relativistic string theories

Non-relativistic string theories promise to provide simpler theories of quantum gravity as well as tractable limits of the AdS/CFT correspondence. However, several apparently distinct non-relativistic string theories have been constructed. In particular, one approach is to reduce a relativistic string along a null isometry in target space. Another method is to perform an appropriate large speed of light expansion of a relativistic string. Both of the resulting non-relativistic string theories only have a well-defined spectrum if they have nonzero winding along a longitudinal spatial direction. In the presence of a Kalb--Ramond field, we show that these theories are equivalent provided the latter direction is an isometry. Finally, we consider a further limit of non-relativistic string theory that has proven useful in the context of AdS/CFT (related to Spin Matrix Theory). In that case, the worldsheet theory itself becomes non-relativistic and the dilaton coupling vanishes.

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arXiv2019

Strings with Non-Relativistic Conformal Symmetry and Limits of the AdS/CFT Correspondence

We find a Polyakov-type action for strings moving in a torsional Newton-Cartan geometry. This is obtained by starting with the relativistic Polyakov action and fixing the momentum of the string along a non-compact null isometry. For a flat target space, we show that the world-sheet theory becomes the Gomis-Ooguri action. From a target space perspective these strings are non-relativistic but their world-sheet theories are still relativistic. We show that one can take a scaling limit in which also the world-sheet theory becomes non-relativistic with an infinite-dimensional symmetry algebra given by the Galilean conformal algebra. This scaling limit can be taken in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence and we show that it is realized by the `Spin Matrix Theory' limits of strings on AdS$_5$ $\times$ $S^5$. Spin Matrix theory arises as non-relativistic limits of the AdS/CFT correspondence close to BPS bounds. The duality between non-relativistic strings and Spin Matrix theory provides a holographic duality of its own and points towards a framework for more tractable holographic dualities whereby non-relativistic strings are dual to near BPS limits of the dual field theory.

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arXiv2018

Homogeneous Nonrelativistic Geometries as Coset Spaces

We generalize the coset procedure of homogeneous spacetimes in (pseudo-)Riemannian geometry to non-Lorentzian geometries. These are manifolds endowed with nowhere vanishing invertible vielbeins that transform under local non-Lorentzian tangent space transformations. In particular, we focus on nonrelativistic symmetry algebras that give rise to (torsional) Newton-Cartan geometries, for which we demonstrate how the Newton-Cartan metric complex is determined by degenerate co- and contravariant symmetric bilinear forms on the coset. In specific cases, we also show the connection of the resulting nonrelativistic coset spacetimes to pseudo-Riemannian cosets via Inönü-Wigner contraction of relativistic algebras as well as null reduction. Our construction is of use for example when considering limits of the AdS/CFT correspondence in which nonrelativistic spacetimes appear as gravitational backgrounds for nonrelativistic string or gravity theories.

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arXiv2018

Zooming in on AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$ near a BPS Bound

Any $(d+1)$-dimensional CFT with a $U(1)$ flavor symmetry, a BPS bound and an exactly marginal coupling admits a decoupling limit in which one zooms in on the spectrum close to the bound. This limit is an Inönü-Wigner contraction of $so(2,d+1)\oplus u(1)$ that leads to a relativistic algebra with a scaling generator but no conformal generators. In 2D CFTs, Lorentz boosts are abelian and by adding a second $u(1)$ we find a contraction of two copies of $sl(2,\mathbb{R})\oplus u(1)$ to two copies of $P_2^c$, the 2-dimensional centrally extended Poincaré algebra. We show that the bulk is described by a novel non-Lorentzian geometry that we refer to as pseudo-Newton-Cartan geometry. Both the Chern-Simons action on $sl(2,\mathbb{R})\oplus u(1)$ and the entire phase space of asymptotically AdS$_3$ spacetimes are well-behaved in the corresponding limit if we fix the radial component for the $u(1)$ connection. With this choice, the resulting Newton-Cartan foliation structure is now associated not with time, but with the emerging holographic direction. Since the leaves of this foliation do not mix, the emergence of the holographic direction is much simpler than in AdS$_3$ holography. Furthermore, we show that the asymptotic symmetry algebra of the limit theory consists of a left- and a right-moving warped Virasoro algebra.

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arXiv2018

Perfect Fluids

We develop a new theory of perfect fluids with translation and rotation symmetry, which is also applicable in the absence of any type of boost symmetry. It involves introducing a new fluid variable, the kinetic mass density, which is needed to define the most general energy-momentum tensor for perfect fluids. Our theory leads to corrections to the Euler equations for perfect fluids that might be observable in hydrodynamic fluid experiments. We also derive new expressions for the speed of sound in perfect fluids. Our theory reduces to the known perfect fluid models when boost symmetry is present. It can also be adapted to (non-relativistic) scale invariant fluids with critical exponent $z$. We show that perfect fluids cannot have Schrödinger symmetry unless $z=2$. For generic values of $z$ there can be fluids with Lifshitz symmetry, and as a concrete example, we work out in detail the thermodynamics and fluid description of an ideal gas of Lifshitz particles and compute the speed of sound for the classical and quantum Lifshitz gasses.

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arXiv2018

Hydrodynamic Modes of Homogeneous and Isotropic Fluids

Relativistic fluids are Lorentz invariant, and a non-relativistic limit of such fluids leads to the well-known Navier-Stokes equation. However, for fluids moving with respect to a reference system, or in critical systems with generic dynamical exponent z, the assumption of Lorentz invariance (or its non-relativistic version) does not hold. We are thus led to consider the most general fluid assuming only homogeneity and isotropy and study its hydrodynamics and transport behaviour. Remarkably, such systems have not been treated in full generality in the literature so far. Here we study these equations at the linearized level. We find new expressions for the speed of sound, corrections to the Navier-Stokes equation and determine all dissipative and non-dissipative first order transport coefficients. Dispersion relations for the sound, shear and diffusion modes are determined to second order in momenta. In the presence of a scaling symmetry with dynamical exponent z, we show that the sound attenuation constant depends on both shear viscosity and thermal conductivity.

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arXiv2018

Symmetry breaking in holographic theories with Lifshitz scaling

We study holographically Lifshitz-scaling theories with broken symmetries. In order to do this, we set up a bulk action with a complex scalar and a massless vector on a background which consists in a Lifshitz metric and a massive vector. We first study separately the complex scalar and the massless vector, finding a similar pattern in the two-point functions that we can compute analytically. By coupling the probe complex scalar to the background massive vector we can construct probe actions that are more general than the usual Klein--Gordon action. Some of these actions have Galilean boost symmetry. Finally, in the presence of a symmetry breaking scalar profile in the bulk, we reproduce the expected Ward identities of a Lifshitz-scaling theory with a broken global continuous symmetry. In the spontaneous case, the latter imply the presence of a gapless mode, the Goldstone boson, which will have dispersion relations dictated by the Lifshitz scaling.

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arXiv2017

Non-Relativistic Strings and Limits of the AdS/CFT Correspondence

Using target space null reduction of the Polyakov action we find a novel covariant action for strings moving in a torsional Newton-Cartan geometry. Sending the string tension to zero while rescaling the Newton-Cartan clock 1-form, so as to keep the string action finite, we obtain a non-relativistic string moving in a new type of non-Lorentzian geometry that we call $U(1)$-Galilean geometry. We apply this to strings on $AdS_5 \times S^5$ for which we show that the zero tension limit is realized by the Spin Matrix theory limits of the AdS/CFT correspondence. This is closely related to limits of spin chains studied in connection to integrability in AdS/CFT. The simplest example gives a covariant version of the Landau-Lifshitz sigma-model.

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