arXiv subjects

Per Sundell

Publications and source records attributed to Per Sundell.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Unfolding the Exotic Supergravity Multiplet

We provide an unfolded formulation of linearised 6D exotic supergravity with manifest superconformal symmetry including conformal duality transformations. The construction is based on a superoscillator realisation of the metaplectic supergroup $MOSp(16|16)$ containing the Howe dual pair $MOSp(8^\ast|8)\times SU(2)$. Exotic graviton potentials arise in conformally dual pairs of two-forms in direct products of $SU(2)$-triplets and supertraceless graded-symmetric rank-two supertensors of $OSp(8^\ast|8)$ generated from a hypercharge by the supercharges, providing an analogue of the adjoint representation of $\mathfrak{psu}(2,2|4)$. The potentials are sourced via relative Chevalley-Eilenberg cocycles by a conformally dual pair of chiral and anti-chiral Weyl zero-forms valued in $SO(1,1)\times Spin(1,5)\times USp(8)$-covariant monomorphic restrictions of an extended supersingleton, i.e., an infinite-dimensional $SU(2)$-invariant Hermitian left-module of $MOSp(8^\ast|8)$ containing various irreps associated with different boundary conditions, including the unitarizable exotic supergravity multiplet. Two natural quadratic observables are i) an on-shell closed zero-form built from the chiral Weyl zero-form and its dual, akin to the on-shell value of the second Chern class on the internal twistor $Z$-space of 4D Vasiliev systems; and ii) an off-shell topological six-form built from the conformally dual pair of two-form potentials, reducing on-shell to a generating function for chiral two-point functions in super-Poincar\'e backgrounds.

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arXiv2026

A-type Sigma Models from Differential Poisson Geometry

We study the differential Poisson sigma model (DPSM) in the symplectic case and show that its classical reduction defines a distinguished class of A-type models on symplectic targets, not necessarily K\"ahler. The DPSM is a covariant first-order sigma model whose graded target is the parity-shifted tangent bundle $T[1]M$ of a Poisson manifold $M$. Its graded Poisson tensor encodes a differential Poisson bracket on $C(T[1]M)\cong\Omega^\bullet(M)$, written covariantly in terms of a connection $\Gamma$ and its transpose $\widetilde\Gamma$. In the nondegenerate case, the Jacobi identities force $\Gamma$ to be flat, while the quartic coupling of the reduced action is given by the curvature of $\widetilde\Gamma$, induced by the torsion of $\Gamma$. Thus, the DPSM selects a symplectic class in which the A-model curvature coupling acquires a first-order Poisson origin. We describe this class through examples and obstructions; $\mathbb{CP}^n$ and K3 surfaces are excluded, while affine symplectic targets, symplectic tori, and the Kodaira--Thurston manifold furnish explicit examples. The graded parent geometry on $T[1]M$ equips $\Omega^\bullet(M)$ with a differential graded Poisson algebra structure; in particular, the underlying differential graded Lie algebra defines a strict $L_\infty$-algebra on the observable complex. This chain-level structure is not manifest in the usual K\"ahler formulation of the A-model.

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arXiv2025

Higher Spins, Holography and Exotic Matter

We review a new perspective on higher-spin holography, whereby Vasiliev's 4D higher-spin gravity emerges together with a 3D counterpart, consisting of coloured conformal matter fields coupled to topological conformal higher-spin and colour gauge fields, as two distinct reductions, characterised by dual structure groups, of a common parent model. The latter is given by a non-commutative AKSZ sigma model consisting on-shell of a flat superconnection valued in a fractional-spin extension of Fradkin-Vasiliev's higher-spin algebra. In particular, we highlight an intermediate 4D reduction, referred to fractional-spin gravity, consisting of exotic matter, in the form of coloured singletons, coupled to higher-spin and colour gauge fields.

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arXiv2025

Unfolding the Six-Dimensional Tensor Multiplet

We derive a manifestly superconformally covariant unfolded formulation of the free (2,0) tensor multiplet in six spacetime dimensions. The unfolded system consists of an abelian two-form and an infinite-dimensional chiral zero-form containing the system's curvature, matter fields, and their derivatives on-shell, realized using superoscillators. The construction of the cocycle gluing these forms on a general superconformal background goes one step beyond previous results in super-Poincar\'e backgrounds.

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arXiv2024

Fractional Spins, Unfolding, and Holography: I. Parent field equations for dual higher-spin gravity reductions

In this work and in the companion paper arXiv:2403.02301, we initiate an approach to holography based on the AKSZ formalism. As the first step, we refine Vasiliev's holography proposal in arXiv:1203.5554 by obtaining 4D higher-spin gravity (HSG) and 3D coloured conformal higher-spin gravity (CCHSG) -- i.e., coloured conformal matter fields coupled to conformal higher-spin gauge fields and colour gauge fields -- as two distinct and classically consistent reductions of a single parent theory. The latter consists, on-shell, of a flat superconnection valued in a fractional-spin extension of Vasiliev's higher-spin algebra. The HSG and CCHSG reductions are characterized by dual structure groups and two-form cohomology elements, and their embedding in a common parent model provides a rationale for deriving holographic relations from multi-dimensional AKSZ partition functions on cylinders with dual boundary conditions, to appear separately. In this work we i) construct the underlying non-commutative geometry as a metaplectic operator algebra represented in a Hermitian module of a pair of conformal particles; ii) identify a discrete modular group, arising from twisted boundary conditions of the first-quantized system, and connecting different boundary conditions of the second-quantized system; and iii) identify the holonomies, structure groups and two-form cohomology elements that characterize the HSG and CCHSG reductions, and equate the dual second Chern classes.

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arXiv2024

Fractional Spins, Unfolding, and Holography: II. 4D Higher Spin Gravity and 3D Conformal Dual

This paper completes the analysis initiated in the companion work arXiv:2403.02283 -- referred to as Paper I -- by showing how Vasiliev's 4D higher-spin gravity (HSG) and 3D coloured conformal matter fields coupled to conformal higher-spin gauge fields and colour gauge fields (coloured conformal HSG, or CCHSG) emerge as consistent reductions of a common parent model. The latter is a Frobenius-Chern-Simons model with superconnection valued in a fractional-spin extension of Vasiliev's higher-spin algebra, and was defined and studied in Paper I. Here, we i) realize HSG as a subcase of a more general 4D reduction, describing HSG coupled to coloured, fractional-spin matter, which we refer to as 4D fractional-spin gravity; ii) study the CCHSG model, in particular exhibiting the crucial role played by novel colour gauge fields in coupling conformal matter to conformal HSG, thereby completing the models due to Vasiliev and Nilsson; iii) extract conformal currents and composite coloured sources in an expansion of the CCHSG model around 3D Minkowskian leaves; and iv) compare our results with Vasiliev's holography proposal of arXiv:1203.5554. The common origin of HSG and CCHSG, besides relating the two models directly, is the starting point for establishing the holographic correspondence between the two models via overlap conditions, to be presented separately.

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arXiv2022

Logarithmic Corrections, Entanglement Entropy, and UV Cutoffs in de Sitter Spacetime

It has been argued that the entropy of de Sitter space corresponds to the entanglement between disconnected regions computable by switching on a replica parameter $q$ modeled by the quotient dS$/\mathbb{Z}_q$. Within this framework, we show that the centrally-extended asymptotic symmetry algebra near the cosmic horizon is a single copy of the Virasoro algebra. The resulting density of states matches the semi-classical result of Gibbons and Hawking up to an undetermined constant that is chosen to reproduce the entanglement entropy previously found in the literature. It follows that the logarithmic quantum corrections to the Cardy entropy reproduces the known one-loop result computed in the bulk in the presence of a cutoff. The resulting entanglement entropy follows the divergent area law, where the UV cutoff is now a function of the replica parameter. Thus, as the near-horizon CFT fixes the cutoff in units of the Planck scale, the model can be viewed as a probe into whether the defect Hilbert space has a finite dimension; indeed, the limit $q\to 0$, reproduces Banks' formula. We also study the quantum corrections of the effective description of the horizon entropy by means of Liouville field theory, where the large $q$ limit corresponds to a realization of dS$_3$/CFT$_2$ correspondence matching the logarithmic corrections to three-dimensional de Sitter space obtained by computing the one-loop contribution to the quantum gravity partition function in the round three-sphere.

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arXiv2022

Unfolding, higher spins, metaplectic groups and resolution of classical singularities

We review and extend some recent results concerning the analysis of spacetime singularities in four-dimensional higher spin gravity, summarizing how the coupling of the gravitational field to massless higher spins may provide resolution mechanisms. We elucidate such mechanisms at the level of curvature singularities and degenerate metrics in exact as well as linearized solutions to Vasiliev's equations. As a preamble, we review the underlying higher-spin algebra and its metaplectic group extensions, after which we detail various gauge functions encoding the $AdS_4$ vacuum and the non-rotating Banados--Gomberoff--Martinez (BGM) metric, the four-dimensional lift of the spinless BTZ black hole, in different coordinate patches related by transition functions. We then revisit how, within the unfolded formalism, it is natural extend the BGM black hole through its causal singularity. Finally, we compare the metric-like and unfolded descriptions of scalar fluctuations over the (extended) BGM background, showing how the latter description maps singularities to well-defined metaplectic group elements providing regular values for the Weyl zero-form master field, which thus admits continuation over the full extended BGM spacetime.

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arXiv2021

Metaplectic representation and ordering (in)dependence in Vasiliev's higher spin gravity

We investigate the formulation of Vasiliev's four-dimensional higher-spin gravity in operator form, without making reference to one specific ordering. More precisely, we make use of the one-to-one mapping between operators and symbols thereof for a family of ordering prescriptions that interpolate between and go beyond Weyl and normal orderings. This correspondence allows us to perturbatively integrate the Vasiliev system in operator form and in a variety of gauges. Expanding the master fields in inhomogenous symplectic group elements, and letting products be controlled only by the group, we specify a family of factorized gauges in which we are able to integrate the system to all orders, producing exact solutions, including but not restricted to ones presented previously in the literature; and then connect, at first order, to a family of rotated Vasiliev gauges in which the solutions can be represented in terms of Fronsdal fields. The gauge function responsible for the latter transformation is explicitly constructed at first order. The analysis of the system in various orderings is facilitated by an analytic continuation of Gaussian symbols, by means of which one can distinguish and connect the two branches of the metaplectic double cover and give a rationale to the properties of the inner Klein operators as Gaussian delta sequences defining analytic delta densities. As an application of some of the techniques here developed, we evaluate twistor space Wilson line observables on our exact solutions and show their independence from auxiliary constructs up to the few first subleading orders in perturbation theory.

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arXiv2021

All-Order Quartic Couplings in Highly Symmetric D-brane-Anti-D-brane Systems

We compute six-point string amplitudes for the scattering of one closed string Ramond-Ramond state, two tachyons, and two gauge fields in the worldvolume of D-brane-anti-D-brane systems in the Type II superstring theories. From the resulting S-matrix elements, we read off the precise form of the couplings, including their exact numerical coefficients, of two tachyons and two gauge fields in the corresponding highly symmetric effective field theory (EFT) Lagrangian in the worldvolume of D-brane-Anti-D-brane to all orders in $\alpha'$, which modify and complete previous proposals. We verify that the EFT reproduces the infinite collection of stringy gauge field singularities in dual channels. Inspired by interesting similarities between the all-order highly symmetric EFTs and holographic duals of Vasiliev's higher spin gravities \`a l\`a Nilsson and Vasiliev, we make a proposal for tensionless limits of D-brane-anti-D-brane systems.

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arXiv2019

Liouville description of conical defects in dS$_4$, Gibbons-Hawking entropy as modular entropy, and dS$_3$ holography

We model the back-reaction of a static observer in four-dimensional de Sitter spacetime by means of a singular $\mathbb Z_q$ quotient. The set of fixed points of the $\mathbb Z_q$ action consists of a pair of codimension two minimal surfaces given by 2-spheres in the Euclidean geometry. The introduction of an orbifold parameter $q>1$ permits the construction of an effective action for the bulk gravity theory with support on each of these minimal surfaces. The effective action corresponds to that of Liouville field theory on a 2-sphere with a finite vacuum expectation value of the Liouville field. The intrinsic Liouville theory description yields a thermal Cardy entropy that we reintrepret as a modular free energy at temperature $T=q^{-1}$, whereupon the Gibbons--Hawking entropy arises as the corresponding modular entropy. We further observe that in the limit $q\to\infty$ the four-dimensional geometry reduces to that of global dS$_3$ spacetime, where the two original minimal surfaces can be mapped to the future and past infinities of dS$_3$ by means of a double Wick rotation. In this limit, the Liouville theories on the minimal surfaces become boundary theories at zero temperature whose total central charge equals that computed using the dS$_3$/CFT$_2$ correspondence.

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arXiv2019

Fronsdal fields from gauge functions in Vasiliev's higher-spin gravity

In this paper, we revisit a number of issues in Vasiliev's theory related to gauge functions, ordering schemes, and the embedding of Fronsdal fields into master fields. First, we parametrize a broad equivalence class of linearized solutions using gauge functions and integration constants, and show explicitly how Fronsdal fields and their Weyl tensors arise from these data in accordance with Vasiliev's central on mass shell theorem. We then gauge transform the linearized piece of exact solutions, obtained in a convenient gauge in Weyl order, to the aforementioned class, where we land in normal order. We spell out this map for massless particle and higher spin black hole modes. Our results show that Vasiliev's equations admit the correct free-field limit for master field configurations that relax the original regularity and gauge conditions in twistor space. Moreover, they support the off-shell Frobenius--Chern--Simons formulation of higher spin gravity for which Weyl order plays a crucial role. Finally, we propose a Fefferman-Graham-like scheme for computing asymptotically anti-de Sitter master field configurations, based on the assumption that gauge function and integration constant can be adjusted perturbatively so that the full master fields approach free master fields asymptotically.

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arXiv2019

Higher spin fluctuations on spinless 4D BTZ black hole

We construct linearized solutions to Vasiliev's four-dimensional higher spin gravity on warped $AdS_3 \times_\xi S^1$ which is an $Sp(2)\times U(1)$ invariant non-rotating BTZ-like black hole with $\mathbb{R}^2\times T^2$ topology. The background can be obtained from $AdS_4$ by means of identifications along a Killing boost $K$ in the region where $\xi^2\equiv K^2\geqslant 0$, or, equivalently, by gluing together two Ba\~nados--Gomberoff--Martinez eternal black holes along their past and future space-like singularities (where $\xi$ vanishes) as to create a periodic (non-Killing) time. The fluctuations are constructed from gauge functions and initial data obtained by quantizing inverted harmonic oscillators providing an oscillator realization of $K$ and of a commuting Killing boost $\widetilde K$. The resulting solution space has two main branches in which $K$ star commutes and anti-commutes, respectively, to Vasiliev's twisted-central closed two-form $J$. Each branch decomposes further into two subsectors generated from ground states with zero momentum on $S^1$. We examine the subsector in which $K$ anti-commutes to $J$ and the ground state is $U(1)_K\times U(1)_{\widetilde K}$-invariant of which $U(1)_K$ is broken by momenta on $S^1$ and $U(1)_{\widetilde K}$ by quasi-normal modes. We show that a set of $U(1)_{\widetilde K}$-invariant modes (with $n$ units of $S^1$ momenta) are singularity-free as master fields living on a total bundle space, although the individual Fronsdal fields have membrane-like singularities at $\widetilde K^2=1$. We interpret our findings as an example where Vasiliev's theory completes singular classical Lorentzian geometries into smooth higher spin geometries.

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arXiv2019

De Sitter Space and Entanglement

We argue that the notion of entanglement in de Sitter space arises naturally from the non-trivial Lorentzian geometry of the spacetime manifold, which consists of two disconnected boundaries and a causally disconnected interior. In four bulk dimensions, we propose an holographic description of an inertial observer in terms of a thermofield double state in the tensor product of the two boundaries Hilbert spaces, whereby the Gibbons--Hawking formula arises as the holographic entanglement entropy between the past and future conformal infinities. When considering the bulk entanglement between the two causally disconnected Rindler wedges, we show that the corresponding entanglement entropy is given by one quarter of the area of the pair of codimension two minimal surfaces that define the set of fixed points of the dS$_4/\mathbb Z_q$ orbifold.

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arXiv2017

Bosonic Higher Spin Gravity in any Dimension with Dynamical Two-Form

We first propose an alternative to Vasiliev's bosonic higher spin gravities in any dimension by factoring out a modified sp(2) gauge algebra. We evidence perturbative equivalence of the two models, which have the same spectrum of Fronsdal fields at the linearized level. We then embed the new model into a flat Quillen superconnection containing two extra master fields in form degrees one and two; more generally, the superconnection contains additional degrees of freedom associated to various deformations of the underlying non-commutative geometry. Finally, we propose that by introducing first-quantized sp(2) ghosts and duality extending the field content, the Quillen flatness condition can be unified with the sp(2) gauge conditions into a single flatness condition that is variational with a Frobenius-Chern-Simons action functional.

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arXiv2017

On Exact Solutions and Perturbative Schemes in Higher Spin Theory

We review various methods for finding exact solutions of higher spin theory in four dimensions, and survey the known exact solutions of (non)minimal Vasiliev's equations. These include instanton-like and black hole-like solutions in (A)dS and Kleinian spacetimes. A perturbative construction of solutions with the symmetries of a domain wall is described as well. Furthermore, we review two proposed perturbative schemes: one based on perturbative treatment of the twistor space field equations followed by inverting Fronsdal kinetic terms using standard Green's functions; and an alternative scheme based on solving the twistor space field equations exactly followed by introducing the spacetime dependence using perturbatively defined gauge functions. Motivated by the need to provide a higher spin invariant characterization of the exact solutions, aspects of a proposal for a geometric description of Vasiliev's equation involving an infinite dimensional generalization of anti de Sitter space is revisited and improved.

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arXiv2017

4D Higher Spin Black Holes with Nonlinear Scalar Fluctuations

We construct an infinite-dimensional space of solutions to Vasiliev's equations in four dimensions that are asymptotic to AdS spacetime and superpose massless scalar particle modes over static higher spin black holes. Each solution is obtained by a large gauge transformation of an all-order perturbatively defined particular solution given in a simple gauge, in which the spacetime connection vanishes, the twistor space connection is holomorphic, and all local degrees of freedom are encoded into the residual twistor space dependence of the spacetime zero-forms. The latter are expanded over two dual spaces of Fock space operators, corresponding to scalar particle and static black hole modes, equipped with positive definite sesquilinear and bilinear forms, respectively. Switching on an AdS vacuum gauge function, the twistor space connection becomes analytic at generic spacetime points, which makes it possible to reach Vasiliev's gauge, in which Fronsdal fields arise asymptotically, by another large transformation given here at first order. The particle and black hole modes are related by a twistor space Fourier transform, resulting in a black hole backreaction already at the second order of classical perturbation theory. We speculate on the existence of a fine-tuned branch of moduli space that is free from black hole modes and directly related to the quasi-local deformed Fronsdal theory. Finally, we comment on a possible interpretation of the higher spin black hole solutions as black-hole microstates.

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arXiv2017

Noncommutative Wilson lines in higher-spin theory and correlation functions of conserved currents for free conformal fields

We first prove that, in Vasiliev's theory, the zero-form charges studied in 1103.2360 and 1208.3880 are twisted open Wilson lines in the noncommutative $Z$ space. This is shown by mapping Vasiliev's higher-spin model on noncommutative Yang--Mills theory. We then prove that, prior to Bose-symmetrising, the cyclically-symmetric higher-spin invariants given by the leading order of these $n$-point zero-form charges are equal to corresponding cyclically-invariant building blocks of $n$-point correlation functions of bilinear operators in free conformal field theories (CFT) in three dimensions. On the higher spin gravity side, our computation reproduces the results of 1210.7963 using an alternative method amenable to the computation of subleading corrections obtained by perturbation theory in normal order. On the free CFT side, our proof involves the explicit computation of the separate cyclic building blocks of the correlation functions of $n$ conserved currents in arbitrary dimension $d>2$, using polarization vectors, which is an original result. It is shown to agree, for $d=3$, with the results obtained in 1301.3123 in various dimensions and where polarization spinors were used.

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