arXiv subjects

Nissan Itzhaki

Publications and source records attributed to Nissan Itzhaki.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Wavefunction Collapse in String Theory

One of the most intriguing proposals for wavefunction collapse is the Diosi Penrose model, in which collapse is driven by stochastic fluctuations of the Newtonian potential. We argue that a closely related effective structure can emerge in string theory if, as recently suggested, the present cosmic acceleration is sourced by instant folded strings and their decay products. A key difference, however, is that in this stringy setting the noise is naturally colored in time rather than white. As a result, the scenario is significantly less constrained by existing experiments than the standard Diosi Penrose model.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Instant Folded Strings, Dark Energy and a Cyclic Bouncing Universe

We present a wholly self-consistent, complete cyclic bouncing cosmology based on components drawn from string theory and constructed in a way that is under perturbative control throughout (e.g., with temperature much less than the string scale and string coupling $g_s \ll 1$ at all times). The cyclic evolution is governed by standard dilaton-gravity in $(3+1)$-dimensions with a perturbatively generated potential and a coupling between the dilaton and a second field that becomes massless at $ϕ= ϕ_{ESP}$, resulting in an enhanced symmetry point (ESP) that prevents the dilaton from running all the way to zero coupling. A central role is played by instant folded strings (IFSs) - fundamental strings with the unusual property of being much lighter than the string mass while extending far beyond the string length, and violating the Null Energy Condition (NEC). IFSs are produced classically when the string coupling grows with time, which occurs at two critical points in each cycle. In turn, they fulfill a dual function: enabling cosmological bounces and initiating transient epochs of dark-energy domination that naturally transition into slow contraction. The resulting cosmology eliminates the cosmic singularity and multiverse problems of big bang inflationary models and robustly predicts time-varying IFS-induced dark energy and the absence of primordial B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Instant Cosmology

Instant Folded Strings (IFSs) are unconventional light strings that emerge when the string coupling increases with time. A particularly intriguing property of IFSs, especially relevant to cosmology, is that they violate the Null Energy Condition (NEC). In this paper, we begin to explore their cosmological effects. We find that NEC violation by IFSs is significantly suppressed in an expanding universe, leading to a universe that resembles our own, comprising matter, radiation, and dark energy. Upon closer examination, these components exhibit subtle, nonstandard traits that could be experimentally tested in the future. Notably, the origin of dark energy stems not only from the potential, as is usually the case, but also from the derivative of the potential with respect to the dilaton. This paves the way for a new approach to realizing inflation within string theory, addressing the Dine-Seiberg problem associated with dilaton stabilization, and perhaps even hinting at a novel mechanism to tackle the cosmological constant problem. Conversely, in a contracting universe, the effects of IFSs are amplified, making bouncing cosmologies a natural and prevalent outcome.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Is the horizon of an eternal black hole really smooth?

We point out that in many eternal black holes, including a Schwarzschild eternal black hole and an eternal black hole in $AdS_5$, instant folded strings are created in the past wedge and render the region just outside the horizon singular. We also make a conjecture regarding instant folded D-branes and discuss their possible implications for eternal black holes. In particular, we argue that the bulk modes responsible for Poincare recurrence, when it occurs in the dual quantum field theory, are either instant folded strings or instant folded D-branes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

A Worldsheet Description of Instant Folded Strings

Time-like linear dilaton backgrounds admit a classical solution that describes a closed folded string that is created at an instant. We refer to such strings as Instant Folded Strings (IFS). We study an exact worldsheet CFT description of an IFS that involves two vertex operators which describe two open string modes that propagate on a time-like FZZT-brane, which plays the role of a regulator to the IFS. We take advantage of this description to calculate the most basic quantity associated with IFSs - their production rate. Some implications of this calculation to stringy cosmology and black hole interior are briefly discussed.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

A Puncture in the Euclidean Black Hole

We consider the backreaction of the winding condensate on the cigar background. We focus on the case of the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})_k/U(1)$ cigar associated with, e.g., the near-horizon limit of $k$ NS5 black-branes. We solve the equations of motion numerically in the large $k$ limit as a function of the amplitude, $A$, of the winding mode at infinity. We find that there is a critical amplitude, $A_c=\exp(-γ/2)$, that admits a critical solution. In string theory, the exact $SL(2,\mathbb{R})_k/U(1)$ cigar CFT fixes completely the winding amplitude, $A_s$, at infinity. We find that in the large $k$ limit there is an exact agreement, $A_c=A_s$. The critical solution is a cigar with a puncture at its tip; consequently, the black-hole entropy is carried entirely by the winding condensate. We argue that, in the Lorentzian case, the information escapes the black hole through this puncture.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

String Theory and The Arrow of Time

Time-like linear dilaton triggers, at the classical level, the creation of closed folded strings at an instant. We show that in cosmology these instant folded strings induce negative pressure at no energy cost. Hence they seem to allow an era in which the energy density increases (decreases) while the universe is expanding (contracting). This and other aspects of instant folded strings suggest that they might shed new light on the origin of the arrow of time.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

$T\bar T$ and LST

It was recently shown that the theory obtained by deforming a general two dimensional conformal theory by the irrelevant operator $T\bar T$ is solvable. In the context of holography, a large class of such theories can be obtained by studying string theory on $AdS_3$. We show that a certain $T\bar T$ deformation of the boundary $CFT_2$ gives rise in the bulk to string theory in a background that interpolates between $AdS_3$ in the IR and a linear dilaton spacetime in the UV, i.e. to a two dimensional vacuum of Little String Theory. This construction provides holographic duals for a large class of vacua of string theory in asymptotically linear dilaton spacetimes, and sheds light on the UV behavior of $T\bar T$ deformed $CFT_2$. It may provide a step towards holography in flat spacetime.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Entanglement Beyond $\rm AdS$

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Instant Folded Strings and Black Fivebranes

We study the recent claim that black NS5-branes are filled with folded strings. We calculate, in the near-extremal case, the number of folded strings at the black fivebranes interior, using different approaches, and get the exact same answer. The backreaction of the folded strings leads us to argue that the interior of the black fivebrane is AdS_2 (times a compact manifold) and that infalling matter cannot reach the interior, due to a shock wave at the horizon. These considerations also suggest a novel insight into the black fivebranes entropy.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Stringy Information and Black Holes

We show that in string theory, due to non-perturbative effects, there are cases in which two states that semi-classically are completely different, are in fact the same. One state cannot be excited without exciting the other; they are two components of the same state in the exact theory. As a result, in some situations that include black holes, the nature of information in string theory is dramatically different than in field theory. In particular, each general-relativity state, that lives in the atmosphere of black fivebranes, is accompanied with an excitation that lives on folded strings, which fill the black-hole interior. This is likely related to the way that information is extracted from black holes in string theory, and we refer to it as stringy information.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Stringy Black Hole Interiors

It is well known that non-perturbative $α'$ corrections to the $SL(2,\IR)/U(1)$ cigar geometry are described via a condensation of a Sine-Liouville operator that schematically can be written as $W^{+}+W^{-}$, where $W^{\pm}$ describe a string with winding number $\pm 1$. This condensation leads to interesting effects in the cigar geometry that take place already at the classical level in string theory. Condensation of the analytically continued Sine-Liouville operator in the Lorentzian $SL(2,\IR)/U(1)$ black hole is problematic. Here, we propose that in the black hole case, the non-perturbative $α'$ corrections are described in terms of an operator that can be viewed as the analytic continuation of the fusion of $W^+$ and $W^-$. We show that this operator does not suffer from the same problem as the analytically continued Sine-Liouville operator and argue that it describes folded strings that fill the entire black hole and, in a sense, replace the black hole interior. We estimate the folded strings radiation, and show that they radiate at the Hawking temperature.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

The Averaged Null Energy Condition and the Black Hole Interior in String Theory

Recently it was shown that folded strings are spontaneously created behind the horizon of the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})_k/U(1)$ black hole. Here we show that these folded strings violate the averaged null energy condition {\it macroscopically}. We discuss possible consequences of this observation on black hole physics in general, and on the information puzzle in particular.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Stringy instability inside the black hole

We show that negative $(\nabla Φ)^2$, where $Φ$ is the dilaton, leads to a rapid creation of folded strings. Consequently it appears that the interior of the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})_k/U(1)$ black hole is not empty, but is filled with folded strings.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

High Energy Reflection Coefficients of Black Holes and Branes

We study the reflection coefficient associated with a wave that scatters off various black holes in general relativity. We show that for large energies, compared to the scale set by the curvature, the reflection coefficient is suppressed exponentially with the energy. We find that the exponent is fixed by the singularity of the black hole to be $\frac12(β+β_{in})$ where $β$ is the inverse Hawking temperature and $β_{in}$ is the inverse temperature associated with the inner horizon. We also study the reflection coefficient associated with extremal D3-branes in string theory. In that case, the exponent is determined by a fictitious singularity located in the complexified space-time. Generalizations to M2-branes and M5-branes are also discussed. We argue that $\frac12 β$ is a general bound on the exponent.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

A stringy glimpse into the black hole horizon

We elaborate on the recent claim [arXiv:1702.03583] that non-perturbative effects in $α'$, which are at the core of the FZZ duality, render the region just behind the horizon of the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})_k/U(1)$ black hole singular already at the classical level ($g_s=0$). We argue that the 2D classical $SL(2,\mathbb{R})_k/U(1)$ black hole could shed some light on quantum black holes in higher dimensions including large black holes in $AdS_5\times S^5$.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Holography Beyond AdS

We continue our study of string theory in a background that interpolates between $AdS_3$ in the infrared and a linear dilaton spacetime $R^{1,1}\times R_ϕ$ in the UV. This background corresponds via holography to a $CFT_2$ deformed by a certain irrelevant operator of dimension $(2,2)$. We show that for two point functions of local operators in the infrared CFT, conformal perturbation theory in this irrelevant operator has a finite radius of convergence in momentum space, and one can use it to flow up the renormalization group. The spectral density develops an imaginary part above a certain critical value of the spectral parameter; this appears to be related to the non-locality of the theory. In position space, conformal perturbation theory has a vanishing radius of convergence; the leading non-perturbative effect is an imaginary part of the two point function.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

A Solvable Irrelevant Deformation of $AdS_3/CFT_2$

Recently we proposed a universal solvable irrelevant deformation of $AdS_3/CFT_2$ duality, which leads in the ultraviolet to a theory with a Hagedorn entropy [1]. In this note we provide a worldsheet description of this theory as a coset CFT, and compare its spectrum to the field theory predictions of [2,3].

hep-th↗