arXiv subjects

Kostas Skenderis

Publications and source records attributed to Kostas Skenderis.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Self-similar equilibration of strongly interacting systems from holography

We study the equilibration of a class of far-from-equilibrium strongly interacting systems using gauge/gravity duality. The systems we analyse are 2+1 dimensional and have a four dimensional gravitational dual. A prototype example of a system we analyse is the equilibration of a two dimensional fluid which is translational invariant in one direction and is attached to two different heat baths with different temperatures at infinity in the other direction. We realise such setup in gauge/gravity duality by joining two semi-infinite asymptotically Anti-de Sitter (AdS) black branes of different temperatures, which subsequently evolve towards equilibrium by emitting gravitational radiation towards the boundary of AdS. At sufficiently late times the solution converges to a similarity solution, which is only sensitive to the left and right equilibrium states and not to the details of the initial conditions. This attractor solution not only incorporates the growing region of equilibrated plasma but also the outwardly-propagating transition regions, and can be constructed by solving a single ordinary differential equation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Holographic Construction of Excited CFT States

We present a systematic construction of bulk solutions that are dual to CFT excited states. The bulk solution is constructed perturbatively in bulk fields. The linearised solution is universal and depends only on the conformal dimension of the primary operator that is associated with the state via the operator-state correspondence, while higher order terms depend on detailed properties of the operator, such as its OPE with itself and generally involve many bulk fields. We illustrate the discussion with the holographic construction of the universal part of the solution for states of two dimensional CFTs, either on $R \times S^1$ or on $R^{1,1}$. We compute the 1-point function both in the CFT and in the bulk, finding exact agreement. We comment on the relation with other reconstruction approaches.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Scalar 3-point functions in CFT: renormalisation, beta functions and anomalies

We present a comprehensive discussion of renormalisation of 3-point functions of scalar operators in conformal field theories in general dimension. We have previously shown that conformal symmetry uniquely determines the momentum-space 3-point functions in terms of certain integrals involving a product of three Bessel functions (triple-K integrals). The triple-K integrals diverge when the dimensions of operators satisfy certain relations and we discuss how to obtain renormalised 3-point functions in all cases. There are three different types of divergences: ultralocal, semilocal and nonlocal, and a given divergent triple-K integral may have any combination of them. Ultralocal divergences may be removed using local counterterms and this results in new conformal anomalies. Semilocal divergences may be removed by renormalising the sources, and this results in CFT correlators that satisfy Callan-Symanzik equations with beta functions. In the case of non-local divergences, it is the triple-K representation that is singular, not the 3-point function. Here, the CFT correlator is the coefficient of the leading nonlocal singularity, which satisfies all the expected conformal Ward identities. Such correlators exhibit enhanced symmetry: they are also invariant under dual conformal transformations where the momenta play the role of coordinates. When both anomalies and beta functions are present the correlators exhibit novel analytic structure containing products of logarithms of momenta. We illustrate our discussion with numerous examples, including free field realisations and AdS/CFT computations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Multi-field inflation from holography

We initiate the study of multi-field inflation using holography. Bulk light scalar fields correspond to nearly marginal operators in the boundary theory and the dual quantum field theory is a deformation of a CFT by such operators. We compute the power spectra of adiabatic and entropy perturbations in a simple model and find that the adiabatic curvature perturbation is not conserved in the presence of entropy perturbations but becomes conserved when the entropy perturbations are set to zero or the model is effectively a single scalar model, in agreement with expectations from cosmological perturbation theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Non-equilibrium dynamics and $AdS_4$ Robinson-Trautman

The Robinson-Trautman space-times provide solutions of Einstein's equations with negative cosmological constant, which settle to $AdS_4$ Schwarzschild black hole at late times. Via gauge/gravity duality they should describe a system out of equilibrium that evolves towards thermalization. We show that the area of the past apparent horizon of these space-times satisfies a generalized Penrose inequality and we formulate as well as provide evidence for a suitable generalization of Thorne's hoop conjecture. We also compute the holographic energy-momentum tensor and deduce its late time behavior. It turns out that the complete non-equilibrium process on the boundary is governed by Calabi's flow on $S^2$. Upon linearization, only special modes that arise as supersymmetric zero energy states of an associated supersymmetric quantum mechanics problem contribute to the solution. We find that each pole of radiation has an effective viscosity given by the eigenvalues of the Laplace operator on $S^2$ and there is an apparent violation of the KSS bound on $η/ s$ for the low lying harmonics of large $AdS_4$ black holes. These modes, however, do not satisfy Dirichlet boundary conditions, they are out-going and they do not appear to have a Kruskal extension across the future horizon ${\cal H}^+$.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Comments on scale and conformal invariance in four dimensions

There has been recent interest in the question of whether four dimensional scale invariant unitary quantum field theories are actually conformally invariant. In this note we present a complete analysis of possible scale anomalies in correlation functions of the trace of the stress-energy tensor in such theories. We find that 2-, 3- and 4-point functions have a non-trivial anomaly while connected higher point functions are non-anomalous. We pay special attention to semi-local contributions to correlators (terms with support on a set containing both coincident and separated points) and show that the anomalies in 3- and 4-point functions can be accounted for by such contributions. We discuss the implications of the our results for the question of scale versus conformal invariance.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

AdS/Ricci-flat correspondence

We present a comprehensive analysis of the AdS/Ricci-flat correspondence, a map between a class of asymptotically locally AdS spacetimes and a class of Ricci-flat spacetimes. We provide a detailed derivation of the map, discuss a number of extensions and apply it to a number of important examples, such as AdS on a torus, AdS black branes and fluids/gravity metrics. In particular, the correspondence links the hydrodynamic regime of asymptotically flat black $p$-branes or the Rindler fluid with that of AdS. It implies that this class of Ricci-flat spacetimes inherits from AdS a generalized conformal symmetry and has a holographic structure. We initiate the discussion of holography by analyzing how the map acts on boundary conditions and holographic 2-point functions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Lifshitz from AdS at finite temperature and top down models

We construct analytically an asymptotically Lifshitz black brane with dynamical exponent z=1+epsilon^2 in an Einstein-Proca model, where epsilon is a small parameter. In previous work we showed that the holographic dual QFT is a deformation of a CFT by the time component of a vector operator and the parameter epsilon is the corresponding deformation parameter. In the black brane background this operator additionally acquires a vacuum expectation value. We explain how the QFT Ward identity associated with Lifshitz invariance leads to a conserved mass and compute analytically the thermodynamic quantities showing that they indeed take the form implied by Lifshitz invariance. In the second part of the paper we consider top down Lifshitz models with dynamical exponent close to one and show that they can be understood in terms of vector deformations of conformal field theories. However, in all known cases, both the conformal field theory and its Lifshitz deformations have modes that violate the Breitenlohner-Freedman bound.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Lifshitz as a deformation of Anti-de Sitter

We consider holography for Lifshitz spacetimes with dynamical exponent z=1+epsilon^2, where epsilon is small. We show that the holographically dual field theory is a specific deformation of the relativistic CFT, corresponding to the z=1 theory. Treating epsilon as a small expansion parameter we set up the holographic dictionary for Einstein-Proca models up to order epsilon^2 in three and four bulk dimensions. We explain how renormalization turns the relativistic conformal invariance into non-relativistic Lifshitz invariance with dynamical exponent z=1+epsilon^2. We compute the two-point function of the conserved spin two current for the dual two-dimensional field theory and verify that it is Lifshitz invariant. Using only QFT arguments, we show that a particular class of deformations of CFTs generically leads to Lifshitz scaling invariance and we construct examples of such deformations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

AdS/Ricci-flat correspondence and the Gregory-Laflamme instability

We show that for every asymptotically AdS solution compactified on a torus there is a corresponding Ricci-flat solution obtained by replacing the torus by a sphere, performing a Weyl rescaling of the metric and appropriately analytically continuing the dimension of the torus/sphere (as in generalized dimensional reduction). In particular, it maps Minkowski spacetime to AdS on a torus, the holographic stress energy tensor of AdS to the stress energy tensor due to a brane localized in the interior of spacetime and AdS black branes to (asymptotically flat) Schwarzschild black branes. Applying it to the known solutions describing the hydrodynamic regime in AdS/CFT, we derive the hydrodynamic stress-tensor of asymptotically flat black branes to second order, which is constrained by the parent conformal symmetry. We compute the dispersion relation of the Gregory-Laflamme unstable modes through cubic order in the wavenumber, finding remarkable agreement with numerical data. In the case of no transverse sphere, AdS black branes are mapped to Rindler spacetime and the second-order transport coefficients of the fluid dual to Rindler spacetime are recovered.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Holography for inflation using conformal perturbation theory

We provide a precise and quantitative holographic description of a class of inflationary slow-roll models. The dual QFT is a deformation of a three-dimensional CFT by a nearly marginal operator, which, in the models we consider, generates an RG flow to a nearby IR fixed point. These models describe hilltop inflation, where the inflaton rolls from a local maximum of the potential in the infinite past (corresponding to the IR fixed point of the dual QFT) to reach a nearby local minimum in the infinite future (corresponding to the UV of the dual QFT). Through purely holographic means, we compute the spectra and bispectra of scalar and tensor cosmological perturbations. The QFT correlators to which these observables map holographically may be calculated using conformal perturbation theory, even when the dual QFT is strongly coupled. Both the spectra and the bispectra may be expressed this way in terms of CFT correlators that are fixed, up to a few constants, by conformal invariance. The form of slow-roll inflationary correlators is thus determined by the perturbative breaking of the de Sitter isometries away from the fixed point. Setting the constants to their values obtained by AdS/CFT at the fixed point, we find exact agreement with known expressions for the slow-roll power spectra and non-Gaussianities.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Holographic realization of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking

The general gauge mediation scenario provides a framework in which properties of a visible sector with soft supersymmetry breaking are computed from current correlation functions in the supersymmetry breaking hidden sector. In this paper we will use holography to model strongly coupled hidden sectors by weakly curved geometries and describe how the current correlators relevant for general gauge mediation are computed by holographic methods. We illustrate the general setup by a toy example which captures most of the relevant features.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

The relativistic fluid dual to vacuum Einstein gravity

We present a construction of a (d+2)-dimensional Ricci-flat metric corresponding to a (d+1)-dimensional relativistic fluid, representing holographically the hydrodynamic regime of a (putative) dual theory. We show how to obtain the metric to arbitrarily high order using a relativistic gradient expansion, and explicitly carry out the computation to second order. The fluid has zero energy density in equilibrium, which implies incompressibility at first order in gradients, and its stress tensor (both at and away from equilibrium) satisfies a quadratic constraint, which determines its energy density away from equilibrium. The entire dynamics to second order is encoded in one first order and six second order transport coefficients, which we compute. We classify entropy currents with non-negative divergence at second order in relativistic gradients. We then verify that the entropy current obtained by pulling back to the fluid surface the area form at the null horizon indeed has a non-negative divergence. We show that there are distinct near-horizon scaling limits that are equivalent either to the relativistic gradient expansion we discuss here, or to the non-relativistic expansion associated with the Navier-Stokes equations discussed in previous works. The latter expansion may be recovered from the present relativistic expansion upon taking a specific non-relativistic limit.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

The holographic fluid dual to vacuum Einstein gravity

We present an algorithm for systematically reconstructing a solution of the (d+2)-dimensional vacuum Einstein equations from a (d+1)-dimensional fluid, extending the non-relativistic hydrodynamic expansion of Bredberg et al in arXiv:1101.2451 to arbitrary order. The fluid satisfies equations of motion which are the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, corrected by specific higher derivative terms. The uniqueness and regularity of this solution is established to all orders and explicit results are given for the bulk metric and the stress tensor of the dual fluid through fifth order in the hydrodynamic expansion. We establish the validity of a relativistic hydrodynamic description for the dual fluid, which has the unusual property of having a vanishing equilibrium energy density. The gravitational results are used to identify transport coefficients of the dual fluid, which also obeys an interesting and exact constraint on its stress tensor. We propose novel Lagrangian models which realise key properties of the holographic fluid.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Holography for Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theories from generalized dimensional reduction

We show that a class of Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton (EMD) theories are related to higher dimensional AdS-Maxwell gravity via a dimensional reduction over compact Einstein spaces combined with continuation in the dimension of the compact space to non-integral values (`generalized dimensional reduction'). This relates (fairly complicated) black hole solutions of EMD theories to simple black hole/brane solutions of AdS-Maxwell gravity and explains their properties. The generalized dimensional reduction is used to infer the holographic dictionary and the hydrodynamic behavior for this class of theories from those of AdS. As a specific example, we analyze the case of a black brane carrying a wave whose universal sector is described by gravity coupled to a Maxwell field and two neutral scalars. At thermal equilibrium and finite chemical potential the two operators dual to the bulk scalar fields acquire expectation values characterizing the breaking of conformal and generalized conformal invariance. We compute holographically the first order transport coefficients (conductivity, shear and bulk viscosity) for this system.

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arXiv2011

Holographic predictions for cosmological 3-point functions

We present the holographic predictions for cosmological 3-point correlators, involving both scalar and tensor modes, for a universe which started in a non-geometric holographic phase. Holographic formulae relate the cosmological 3-point functions to stress tensor correlation functions of a holographically dual three-dimensional non-gravitational QFT. We compute these correlators at 1-loop order for a theory containing massless scalars, fermions and gauge fields, and present an extensive analysis of the constraints due to Ward identities showing that they uniquely determine the correlators up to a few constants. We define shapes for all cosmological bispectra and compare the holographic shapes to the slow-roll ones, finding that some are distinguishable while others, perhaps surprisingly, are not.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

Constraining holographic inflation with WMAP

In a class of recently proposed models, the early universe is strongly coupled and described holographically by a three-dimensional, weakly coupled, super-renormalizable quantum field theory. This scenario leads to a power spectrum of scalar perturbations that differs from the usual empirical LCDM form and the predictions of generic models of single field, slow roll inflation. This spectrum is characterized by two parameters: an amplitude, and a parameter g related to the coupling constant of the dual theory. We estimate these parameters, using WMAP and other astrophysical data. We compute Bayesian evidence for both the holographic model and standard LCDM and find that their difference is not significant, although LCDM provides a somewhat better fit to the data. However, it appears that Planck will permit a definitive test of this holographic scenario.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Holographic Non-Gaussianity

We investigate the non-Gaussianity of primordial cosmological perturbations within our recently proposed holographic description of inflationary universes. We derive a holographic formula that determines the bispectrum of cosmological curvature perturbations in terms of correlation functions of a holographically dual three-dimensional non-gravitational quantum field theory (QFT). This allows us to compute the primordial bispectrum for a universe which started in a non-geometric holographic phase, using perturbative QFT calculations. Strikingly, for a class of models specified by a three-dimensional super-renormalisable QFT, the primordial bispectrum is of exactly the factorisable equilateral form with f_nl^eq=5/36, irrespective of the details of the dual QFT. A by-product of this investigation is a holographic formula for the three-point function of the trace of the stress-energy tensor along general holographic RG flows, which should have applications outside the remit of this work.

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