arXiv subjects

Yikun Jiang

Publications and source records attributed to Yikun Jiang.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Strongly Coupled Sectors in Inflation: Gapped Theories of Unparticles

We consider a novel scenario for a strongly coupled spectator sector during inflation, that of a higher dimensional conformal field theory with large anomalous dimensions -- ``unparticles'' -- and compactify the extra dimensions. More specifically, we take generalized free fields in five dimensions, where the extra dimension is compactified to a circle. Due to the usual Kaluza-Klein mechanism, the resulting excitations carry properties of both particles and unparticles, so we dub this scenario ``gapped unparticles''. We derive a two-point function of the gapped unparticles by performing dimensional reduction. We then compute, in the collapsed limit, the four-point correlation function of conformally coupled scalars exchanging a gapped unparticle, which are used as seed functions to obtain the correlation function of primordial density perturbations. The phenomenology of the resulting correlators presents some novel features, such as oscillations with an envelope controlled by the anomalous dimension, rather than the usual value of 3/2. Depending on the value of the five-dimensional scaling dimension and effective mass of the gapped unparticles, we find a clear strategy to distinguish gapped unparticles from heavy massive scalars. If we assume the interactions are localized on a brane, gapped unparticles with different effective masses will share a universal coupling, and their exchanges produce an interesting interference pattern.

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arXiv2025

Probing the Critical Point (CritPt) of AI Reasoning: a Frontier Physics Research Benchmark

While large language models (LLMs) with reasoning capabilities are progressing rapidly on high-school math competitions and coding, can they reason effectively through complex, open-ended challenges found in frontier physics research? And crucially, what kinds of reasoning tasks do physicists want LLMs to assist with? To address these questions, we present the CritPt (Complex Research using Integrated Thinking - Physics Test, pronounced "critical point"), the first benchmark designed to test LLMs on unpublished, research-level reasoning tasks that broadly covers modern physics research areas, including condensed matter, quantum physics, atomic, molecular & optical physics, astrophysics, high energy physics, mathematical physics, statistical physics, nuclear physics, nonlinear dynamics, fluid dynamics and biophysics. CritPt consists of 71 composite research challenges designed to simulate full-scale research projects at the entry level, which are also decomposed to 190 simpler checkpoint tasks for more fine-grained insights. All problems are newly created by 50+ active physics researchers based on their own research. Every problem is hand-curated to admit a guess-resistant and machine-verifiable answer and is evaluated by an automated grading pipeline heavily customized for advanced physics-specific output formats. We find that while current state-of-the-art LLMs show early promise on isolated checkpoints, they remain far from being able to reliably solve full research-scale challenges: the best average accuracy among base models is only 5.7%, achieved by GPT-5 (high), moderately rising to around 10% when equipped with coding tools. Through the realistic yet standardized evaluation offered by CritPt, we highlight a large disconnect between current model capabilities and realistic physics research demands, offering a foundation to guide the development of scientifically grounded AI tools.

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arXiv2025

It from ETH: Multi-interval Entanglement and Replica Wormholes from Large-$c$ BCFT Ensemble

We provide a derivation of the Ryu-Takayanagi (RT) formula in 3D gravity for generic boundary subregion--including RT surface phase transitions--directly from the dual two-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT). Our approach relies on the universal statistics of the algebraic conformal data and the large-$c$ behavior of conformal blocks with Cardy boundaries involved. We observe the emergence of 3D multi-boundary black holes with Karch-Randall branes from entangled states of any number of CFT's with and without Cardy boundaries. The RT formula is obtained directly from the CFT in the high-temperature regime. Two direct applications are: $\textbf{1)}$ A simple derivation of the multi-interval entanglement entropy for the vacuum state of a single CFT; $\textbf{2)}$ A CFT-based detection of the emergence of replica wormholes in the context of entanglement islands and black hole microstate counting. Our framework yields the first holographic random tensor network that faithfully captures the entanglement structure of holographic CFTs. These results imply that bulk spacetime geometries indeed emerge from the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) in the dual field theory in the large-$c$ limi--a paradigm we refer to as $\textit{It from ETH}$.

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arXiv2025

Coarse-Grained Fixed-Point Tensor Networks and Holographic Reflected Entropy in 3D Gravity

We use the framework of $\textit{fixed-point BCFT tensor networks}$ to present a microscopic CFT derivation of the correspondence between reflected entropy (RE) and entanglement wedge cross section (EW) in AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$, for both bipartite and multipartite settings. These fixed-point tensor networks, obtained by triangulating Euclidean CFT path integrals, allow us to explicitly construct the canonical purification via cutting-and-gluing CFT path integrals. Employing modular flow in the large-$c$ limit, we demonstrate that these intrinsic CFT manipulations reproduce bulk geometric prescriptions, without assuming the AdS/CFT dictionary. The emergence of bulk geometry is traced to coarse-graining over heavy states in the large-$c$ limit. Universal coarse-grained BCFT data for compact 2D CFTs, through the relation to Liouville theory with ZZ boundary conditions, yields hyperbolic geometry on the Cauchy slice. The corresponding averaged replica partition functions reproduce all candidate EWs, arising from different averaging patterns, with the dominant one providing the correct RE and EW. In this way, many heuristic tensor-network intuitions in toy models are made precise and established directly from intrinsic CFT data.

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arXiv2025

Algebras, Entanglement Islands, and Observers

Some recent work has postulated the existence of an "observer" for a consistent definition of subregion algebras in gravitational universes. The subregion algebras consist of operators dressed to this "observer" and are typically Type II von Neumann algebras. Nevertheless, as opposed to standard physical systems, such an "observer" was postulated to have a Hamiltonian $\hat{H}_{\text{obs}}$ linear in phase space variable. This linear form suggests that the complete dynamics of such an "observer" should also be controlled by an external system or some underlying degrees of freedom within the system. In this paper, we show that this is exactly the case in the island model. In the island model, we have a gravitational asymptotically anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetime coupled with a non-gravitational bath, and the diffeomorphism symmetries in the gravitational AdS are spontaneously broken due to the bath coupling. In this setup, the "observer" is constructed using the Goldstone vector field associated with the spontaneously broken diffeomorphism symmetry, and the external system that also controls the dynamics of the "observer" is the non-gravitational bath. The basic consistency of the entanglement wedge reconstruction requires operators in the entanglement island to be dressed to this "observer". Thus, we establish the result that entanglement islands correspond to emergent Type II$_{\infty}$ von Neumann algebras from the holographic dual perspective. This result relies on assuming the geometric modular flow conjecture. Our study also raises a question for earlier constructions of Type II$_{1}$ von Neumann algebras.

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arXiv2025

Universal Structures and Emergent Geometry from Large-$c$ BCFT Ensemble

In this paper, we study the ensemble average of boundary CFT (BCFT) data consistent with the bootstrap equations. We apply the results to computing ensemble average of copies of multi-point correlation functions of boundary changing operators (BCO), and find the results in agreement with one copy of the Virasoro TQFT. Further, we consider ensemble average of CFT path-integrals expressed as tensor networks of BCO correlation functions using the formalism developed in arXiv:2210.12127, arXiv:2311.18005 and arXiv:2403.03179. We find a natural emergence of locality and a loop-sum structure reminiscent of lattice integrable models. We illustrate this universal structure through explicit examples at genus zero and genus one. Moreover, we provide strong evidence that, at leading order in large-$c$, the results match those of three-dimensional Einstein gravity. In the presence of closed CFT operator insertions, generalized free fields emerge, with their correlation functions governed by the shortest paths connecting the insertions.

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arXiv2025

Ryu-Takayanagi Formula for Multi-Boundary Black Holes from 2D Large-$c$ CFT Ensemble

We study a class of quantum states involving multiple entangled CFTs in AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$, associated with multi-boundary black hole geometries, and demonstrate that the Ryu-Takayanagi (RT) formula for entanglement entropy can be derived using only boundary CFT data. Approximating the OPE coefficients by their Gaussian moments within the 2D large-$c$ CFT ensemble, we show that both the norm of the states and the entanglement entropies associated with various bipartitions--reproducing the expected bulk dual results--can be computed purely from the CFT. All $\textit{macroscopic geometric}$ structures arising from gravitational saddles emerge entirely from the universal statistical moments of the $\textit{microscopic algebraic}$ CFT data, revealing a statistical-mechanical mechanism underlying semiclassical gravity. We establish a precise correspondence between the CFT norm, the Liouville partition function with ZZ boundary conditions, and the exact gravitational path integral over 3D multi-boundary black hole geometries. For entanglement entropy, each RT phase arises from a distinct leading-order Gaussian contraction, with phase transitions--analogous to replica wormholes--emerging naturally from varying dominant statistical patterns in the CFT ensemble. Our derivation elucidates how the general mechanism behind holographic entropy, namely a boundary replica direction that elongates and becomes contractible in the bulk dual, is encoded explicitly in the statistical structure of the CFT data.

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arXiv2024

Subregion duality, wedge classification and no global symmetries in AdS/CFT

We study various notions of `subregion duality' in the context of AdS/CFT. We highlight the differences between the `background wedge' and the `operator reconstruction wedges,' providing a resolution to the paradox raised in \cite{Bao:2019hwq}. Additionally, we elucidate the distinctions between four different `operator reconstruction wedges' and demonstrate how to enhance the proof for the absence of global symmetries in geometrical states in AdS/CFT \cite{Harlow:2018jwu, Harlow:2018tng} as an example of these distinctions.

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arXiv2024

QG from SymQRG: AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$ Correspondence as Topological Symmetry-Preserving Quantum RG Flow

By analyzing non-perturbative RG flows that explicitly preserve given topological symmetries, we show that each of their coarse-graining steps can be expressed as a quantum path integral of the SymTFT in one higher dimension. When the symmetries involved include the Virasoro defect lines, such as in the case of $T\bar{T}$ deformations, this RG kernel is the 3D quantum gravitational path integral. For 2D CFTs whose structure constants are under control, we identify the corresponding ground state of the SymTFT, from which the Wheeler-DeWitt equation emerges as the non-perturbative no-flux constraint: the gravitational path integral acts on this state as the projector that renders symmetry-preserving coarse-graining exact. These observations are summarized in the slogan: $\textbf{SymQRG = QG}$. The exact discrete formulation of Liouville theory in \cite{Chen:2024unp} allows us to identify a universal SymQRG kernel, constructed from quantum $6j$ symbols of $U_q(SL(2,\mathbb{R}))$: it provides a discrete realization of two copies of the Virasoro TQFT on $\Sigma\times I$, and manifests as an exact and analytic 3D background-independent MERA-type holographic tensor network. Many aspects of the AdS/CFT correspondence, including the factorization puzzle, admit a natural interpretation within this framework. We propose that the non-perturbative AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$ correspondence is a \textit{maximal} form of topological holography, in which the physical boundary is fixed by kinematics alone.

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arXiv2024

Microscopic Origin of the Entropy of Single-sided Black Holes

In this paper, we provide a state-counting derivation of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy formula for single-sided black holes. We firstly articulate the concept of the black hole microstates. Then we construct explicit mircostates of single-sided black holes in (2+1)-dimensional spacetimes with a negative cosmological constant. These microstates are constructed by putting a Karch-Randall brane behind the black hole horizon. Their difference is described by different interior excitations which gravitationally backreact. We show that these microstates have nonperturbatively small overlaps with each other. As a result, we use this fact to give a state-counting derivation of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy formula for single-sided black holes. At the end, we notice that there are no negative norm states in the resulting Hilbert space of the black hole microstates which in turn ensures unitarity. All calculations in this paper are analytic and can be easily generalized to higher spacetime dimensions.

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arXiv2024

Building up quantum spacetimes with BCFT Legos

Is it possible to read off the quantum gravity dual of a CFT directly from its operator algebra? In this essay, we present a step-by-step recipe synthesizing results and techniques from conformal bootstrap, topological symmetries, tensor networks, a novel symmetry-preserving real-space renormalization algorithm devised originally in lattice models, and the asymptotics of quantum $6j$ symbols, thereby providing an answer in the affirmative. Quantum 2D Liouville theory serves as a simple and explicit example, illustrating how the quantum gravitational path integral can be built up from local pieces of BCFT correlation functions, which we call the ``BCFT Legos''. The constructive map between gravity and CFT naturally and explicitly bridges local geometrical data, algebraic structures, and quantum entanglement, as envisaged by the $\it{It \, from \, Qubit}$ motto.

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arXiv2024

Hartle-Hawking state and its factorization in 3d gravity

We study 3d quantum gravity with two asymptotically anti-de Sitter regions, in particular, using its relation with coupled Alekseev-Shatashvili theories and Liouville theory. Expressions for the Hartle-Hawking state, thermal $2n$-point functions, torus wormhole correlators and Wheeler-DeWitt wavefunctions in different bases are obtained using the ZZ boundary states in Liouville theory. Exact results in 2d Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity are uplifted to 3d gravity, with two copies of Liouville theory in 3d gravity playing a similar role as Schwarzian theory in JT gravity. The connection between 3d gravity and the Liouville ZZ boundary states are manifested by viewing BTZ black holes as Maldacena-Maoz wormholes, with the two wormhole boundaries glued along the ZZ boundaries. In this work, we also study the factorization problem of the Hartle-Hawking state in 3d gravity. With the relevant defect operator that imposes the necessary topological constraint for contractibility, the trace formula in gravity is modified in computing the entanglement entropy. This trace matches with the one from von Neumann algebra considerations, further reproducing the Bekenstein-Hawking area formula from entanglement entropy. Lastly, we propose a calculation for off-shell geometrical quantities that are responsible for the ramp behavior in the late time two-point functions, which follows from the understanding of the Liouville FZZT boundary states in the context of 3d gravity, and the identification between Verlinde loop operators in Liouville theory and "baby universe" operators in 3d gravity.

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arXiv2024

Deriving the non-perturbative gravitational dual of quantum Liouville theory from BCFT operator algebra

We demonstrate that, by utilizing the boundary conformal field theory (BCFT) operator algebra of the Liouville CFT, one can express its path-integral on any Riemann surface as a three dimensional path-integral with appropriate boundary conditions, generalising the recipe for rational CFTs \cite{Hung:2019bnq, Brehm:2021wev, Chen:2022wvy, Cheng:2023kxh}. This serves as a constructive method for deriving the \textit{quantum} holographic dual of the CFT, which reduces to Einstein gravity in the large central charge limit. As a byproduct, the framework provides an explicit discrete state-sum of a 3D non-chiral topological theory constructed from quantum $6j$ symbols of $\mathcal{U}_q(sl(2,\mathbb{R}))$ with non-trivial boundary conditions, representing a long-sought non-perturbative discrete formulation of 3D pure gravity with negative cosmological constant, at least within a class of three manifolds. This constitutes the first example of an exact holographic tensor network that reproduces a known irrational CFT with a precise quantum gravitational interpretation.

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arXiv2022

Focusing bounds for CFT correlators and the S-matrix

The focusing theorem in General Relativity underlies causality, singularity theorems, entropy inequalities, and more. In AdS/CFT, we show that focusing in the bulk leads to a bound on CFT $n$-point functions that is generally stronger than causality. Causality is related to the averaged null energy condition (ANEC) on the boundary, while focusing is related to the ANEC in the bulk. The bound is derived by translating the Einstein equations into a relation between bulk and boundary light-ray operators. We also discuss the consequences of focusing for the flat space $S$-matrix, which satisfies a similar inequality, and give a new derivation of bounds on higher derivative operators in effective field theories. The string theory $S$-matrix and CFT correlators in conformal Regge theory also satisfy the focusing bound, even though in these cases it cannot be derived from the standard focusing theorem.

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arXiv2021

Averaging over moduli in deformed WZW models

WZW models live on a moduli space parameterized by current-current deformations. The moduli space defines an ensemble of conformal field theories, which generically have $N$ abelian conserved currents and central charge $c > N$. We calculate the average partition function and show that it can be interpreted as a sum over 3-manifolds. This suggests that the ensemble-averaged theory has a holographic dual, generalizing recent results on Narain CFTs. The bulk theory, at the perturbative level, is identified as $U(1)^{2N}$ Chern-Simons theory coupled to additional matter fields. From a mathematical perspective, our principal result is a Siegel-Weil formula for the characters of an affine Lie algebra.

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arXiv2020

Entanglement entropy and edge modes in topological string theory II: The dual gauge theory story

This is the second in a two-part paper devoted to studying entanglement entropy and edge modes in the A model topological string theory. This theory enjoys a gauge-string (Gopakumar-Vafa) duality which is a topological analogue of AdS/CFT. In part 1, we defined a notion of generalized entropy for the topological closed string theory on the resolved conifold. We provided a canonical interpretation of the generalized entropy in terms of the q-deformed entanglement entropy of the Hartle-Hawking state. We found string edge modes transforming under a quantum group symmetry and interpreted them as entanglement branes. In this work, we provide the dual Chern-Simons gauge theory description. Using Gopakumar-Vafa duality, we map the closed string theory Hartle-Hawking state to a Chern-Simons theory state containing a superposition of Wilson loops. These Wilson loops are dual to closed string worldsheets that determine the partition function of the resolved conifold. We show that the undeformed entanglement entropy due to cutting these Wilson loops reproduces the bulk generalized entropy and therefore captures the entanglement underlying the bulk spacetime. Finally, we show that under the Gopakumar-Vafa duality, the bulk entanglement branes are mapped to a configuration of topological D-branes, and the non-local entanglement boundary condition in the bulk is mapped to a local boundary condition in the gauge theory dual. This suggests that the geometric transition underlying the gauge-string duality may also be responsible for the emergence of entanglement branes.

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arXiv2020

Entanglement entropy and edge modes in topological string theory: I

Progress in identifying the bulk microstate interpretation of the Ryu-Takayanagi formula requires understanding how to define entanglement entropy in the bulk closed string theory. Unfortunately, entanglement and Hilbert space factorization remains poorly understood in string theory. As a toy model for AdS/CFT, we study the entanglement entropy of closed strings in the topological A-model in the context of Gopakumar-Vafa duality. We will present our results in two separate papers. In this work, we consider the bulk closed string theory on the resolved conifold and give a self-consistent factorization of the closed string Hilbert space using extended TQFT methods. We incorporate our factorization map into a Frobenius algebra describing the fusion and splitting of Calabi-Yau manifolds, and find string edge modes transforming under a $q$-deformed surface symmetry group. We define a string theory analogue of the Hartle-Hawking state and give a canonical calculation of its entanglement entropy from the reduced density matrix. Our result matches with the geometrical replica trick calculation on the resolved conifold, as well as a dual Chern-Simons theory calculation which will appear in our next paper \cite{secondpaper}. We find a realization of the Susskind-Uglum proposal identifying the entanglement entropy of closed strings with the thermal entropy of open strings ending on entanglement branes. We also comment on the BPS microstate counting of the entanglement entropy. Finally we relate the nonlocal aspects of our factorization map to analogous phenomenon recently found in JT gravity.

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arXiv2020

Islands in cosmology

A quantum extremal island suggests that a region of spacetime is encoded in the quantum state of another system, like the encoding of the black hole interior in Hawking radiation. We study conditions for islands to appear in general spacetimes, with or without black holes. They must violate Bekenstein's area bound in a precise sense, and the boundary of an island must satisfy several other information-theoretic inequalities. These conditions combine to impose very strong restrictions, which we apply to cosmological models. We find several examples of islands in crunching universes. In particular, in the four-dimensional FRW cosmology with radiation and a negative cosmological constant, there is an island near the turning point when the geometry begins to recollapse. In a two-dimensional model of JT gravity in de Sitter spacetime, there are islands inside crunches that are encoded at future infinity or inside bubbles of Minkowski spacetime. Finally, we discuss simple tensor network toy models for islands in cosmology and black holes.

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