Yueke Jia | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Bulkcone Singularities and Complex Geodesics

Thermal correlators in holographic CFTs on a sphere exhibit bulk-cone singularities at points connected by null geodesics in the bulk. The operator product expansion analysis of the stress-tensor sector of the correlator shows that there are analogous singularities at spacelike separation for thermal CFTs on a plane. We show that these are associated with complex null geodesics. There is a phase transition between the real and complex spacelike geodesics underpinning this picture. We also provide a phase-shift calculation of the position of these generalised bulk-cone singularities.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Bulk Phase Shift and Singularity

High-energy scattering of a light particle off a black hole at fixed impact parameter is described by an eikonal phase, which encodes the resulting time delay and angular deflection. This bulk phase shift admits a holographic interpretation as of the thermal momentum-space two-point function of a scalar operator in the CFT in the Regge limit. At small impact parameter, the phase shift acquires an imaginary part signaling inelastic scattering, obscuring the interpretation of time delay and deflection which become complex-valued. However, in a holographic CFT these quantities can also be extracted from the so called bulk-cone singularities of the position space thermal correlator. Extending this analysis to small impact parameters, we find that the position-space correlator develops a singularity precisely when a null geodesic reflects off the black hole singularity and reaches the opposite boundary. This provides a more robust identification of bulk time delay and angular deflection through singularities of position-space correlators.

hep-th↗