arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Maulik K. Parikh.
We show that bouncing open or flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmologies are inconsistent with worldsheet string theory to first approximation. Specifically, the Virasoro constraint translates to the null energy condition in spacetime at leading order in the alpha-prime expansion. Thus one must go beyond minimally-coupled Einstein gravity in order to find bounce solutions.
In the AdS/CFT correspondence, CFTs are identified by asymptotic boundary surfaces and the boundary conditions imposed on those surfaces. However, AdS can be foliated in various ways to give different boundaries. We show that the CFTs obtained using certain distinct foliations are different. This difference arises because the asymptotic region of a foliation overlaps with the deep interior region of another. In particular we focus on the CFTs defined on surfaces of large constant radius in global coordinates, Rindler-AdS coordinates, and Poincaré coordinates for AdS$_3$. We refer to these as global-CFT, Rindler-CFT and Poincaré-CFT respectively. We demonstrate that the correlators for these CFTs are different and argue that the bulk duals to these should agree up to very close to the respective horizons but then start differing. Since the BTZ black hole is obtained as a quotient of AdS$_3$, we discuss the implications of our results for bulk duals of periodically-identified Poincaré and Rindler-CFTs. Our results are consistent with some recent proposals suggesting a modification of the semi-classical BTZ geometry close to the horizons.
CMB measurements reveal an unnaturally smooth early universe. We propose a mechanism to make this smoothness natural by weakening the strength of gravity at early times, and therefore altering which initial conditions have low entropy.
We show that the addition of a topological Gauss-Bonnet term to the gravitational action can greatly increase the instability of four-dimensional de Sitter space, by favoring the nucleation of black holes. The pair-production rate given by the Euclidean action for the instanton takes the form exp(Delta S) where S is the entropy in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory. The coefficient of the Gauss-Bonnet term in the action sets a stability bound on the curvature of empty de Sitter space. For that coefficient in the low-energy effective action of heterotic string theory, the maximal curvature of de Sitter space is in general much lower than the Planck scale.
We show that the classical equations of gravity follow from a thermodynamic relation, dQ = T dS, where S is taken to be the Wald entropy, applied to a local Rindler horizon at any point in spacetime. Our approach works for all diffeomorphism-invariant theories of gravity. This suggests that classical gravity may be thermodynamic in origin.
We formulate the information paradox in de Sitter space in terms of the no-cloning principle of quantum mechanics. We show that energy conservation puts an upper bound on the maximum entropy available to any de Sitter observer. Combined with a general result on the average information in a quantum subsystem, this guarantees that an observer in de Sitter space cannot obtain even a single bit of information from the de Sitter horizon, thereby preventing any observable violations of the quantum no-cloning principle, in support of observer complementarity.
We propose a definition of volume for stationary spacetimes. The proposed volume is independent of the choice of stationary time-slicing, and applies even though the Killing vector may not be globally timelike. Moreover, it is constant in time, as well as simple: the volume of a spherical black hole in four dimensions turns out to be just ${4 \over 3} πr_+^3$. We then consider whether it is possible to construct spacetimes that have finite horizon area but infinite volume, by sending the radius to infinity while making discrete identifications to preserve the horizon area. We show that, in three or four dimensions, no such solutions exist that are not inconsistent in some way. We discuss the implications for the interpretation of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy.
We investigate the possibility that, in a combined theory of quantum mechanics and gravity, de Sitter space is described by finitely many states. The notion of observer complementarity, which states that each observer has complete but complementary information, implies that, for a single observer, the complete Hilbert space describes one side of the horizon. Observer complementarity is implemented by identifying antipodal states with outgoing states. The de Sitter group acts on S-matrix elements. Despite the fact that the de Sitter group has no nontrivial finite-dimensional unitary representations, we show that it is possible to construct an S-matrix that is finite-dimensional, unitary, and de Sitter-invariant. We present a class of examples that realize this idea holographically in terms of spinor fields on the boundary sphere. The finite dimensionality is due to Fermi statistics and an `exclusion principle' that truncates the orthonormal basis in which the spinor fields can be expanded.
The conservation of energy implies that an isolated radiating black hole cannot have an emission spectrum that is precisely thermal. Moreover, the no-hair theorem is only approximately applicable. We consider the implications for the black hole information puzzle.
Hawking radiation is often intuitively visualized as particles that have tunneled across the horizon. Yet, at first sight, it is not apparent where the barrier is. Here I show that the barrier depends on the tunneling particle itself. The key is to implement energy conservation, so that the black hole contracts during the process of radiation. A direct consequence is that the radiation spectrum cannot be strictly thermal. The correction to the thermal spectrum is of precisely the form that one would expect from an underlying unitary quantum theory. This may have profound implications for the black hole information puzzle.
We show that the amount of particle production in an arbitrary cosmological background can be determined using only the late-time positive-frequency modes. We don't refer to modes at early times, so there is no need for a Bogolubov transformation. We also show that particle production can be extracted from the Feynman propagator in an auxiliary spacetime. This provides a first-quantized formalism for computing particle production which, unlike conventional Bogolubov transformations, may be amenable to a string-theoretic generalization.
The finite entropy of de Sitter space suggests that in a theory of quantum gravity there are only finitely many states. It has been argued that in this case there is no action of the de Sitter group consistent with unitarity. In this note we propose a way out of this if we give up the requirement of having a hermitian Hamiltonian. We argue that some of the generators of the de Sitter group act in a novel way, namely by mixing in- and out-states. In this way it is possible to have a unitary S-matrix that is finite-dimensional and, moreover, de Sitter-invariant. Using Dirac spinors, we construct a simple toy model that exhibits these features.
We introduce a simple coordinate system covering half of de Sitter space. The new coordinates have several attractive properties: the time direction is a Killing vector, the metric is smooth at the horizon, and constant-time slices are just flat Euclidean space. We demonstrate the usefulness of the coordinates by calculating the rate at which particles tunnel across the horizon. When self-gravitation is taken into account, the resulting tunneling rate is only approximately thermal. The effective temperature decreases through the emission of radiation.
We propose that for every event in de Sitter space, there is a CPT-conjugate event at its antipode. Such an ``elliptic'' $Z_2$-identification of de Sitter space provides a concrete realization of observer complementarity: every observer has complete information. It is possible to define the analog of an S-matrix for quantum gravity in elliptic de Sitter space that is measurable by all observers. In a holographic description, S-matrix elements may be represented by correlation functions of a dual (conformal field) theory that lives on the single boundary sphere. S-matrix elements are de Sitter-invariant, but have different interpretations for different observers. We argue that Hilbert states do not necessarily form representations of the full de Sitter group, but just of the subgroup of rotations. As a result, the Hilbert space can be finite-dimensional and still have positive norm. We also discuss the elliptic interpretation of de Sitter space in the context of type IIB* string theory.
We present a short and direct derivation of Hawking radiation as a tunneling process, based on particles in a dynamical geometry. The imaginary part of the action for the classically forbidden process is related to the Boltzmann factor for emission at the Hawking temperature. Because the derivation respects conservation laws, the exact spectrum is not precisely thermal. We compare and contrast the problem of spontaneous emission of charged particles from a charged conductor.
We find explicitly the induced graviton propagator on de Sitter branes embedded in various five-dimensional spacetimes; de Sitter branes in AdS and Minkowski space are particular cases. By studying the structure of the momentum-space propagator, we are able to extract interesting physics, much of which is qualitatively different from that of flat branes. We find that 1) there can be a set of graviton-like particles which mediate brane gravity at different scales; 2) localized gravity can exist even on de Sitter branes in Minkowski space; 3) Kaluza-Klein modes also contribute to conventional 4-D gravity for de Sitter branes in AdS; and 4) Newton's constant can vary considerably with scale. We comment on the implications for the effective cosmological constant.
We review the thermodynamics of the confined and unconfined phases of superconformal Yang-Mills at large N on a three-sphere, focussing especially on the confinement-deconfinement transition. We determine an N-dependent phase boundary and point out some directions for future work.
We study the thermodynamics of the confined and unconfined phases of superconformal Yang-Mills in finite volume and at large N using the AdS/CFT correspondence. We discuss the necessary conditions for a smooth phase crossover and obtain an N-dependent curve for the phase boundary.