Linear Dilaton Research Articles

Hagedorn behavior of the superstring propating in a cosmological time dependent background

In this work the Liouville-von Neumann (LvN) quantization of the type IIB superstring is carried on in a time dependent plane wave background with a constant self-dual Ramond-Ramond 5-form and a linear dilaton in the lightlike direction. Such an endeavor allows us to define an invariant density matrix and study important issues in real time string thermodynamics. In particular, a transcendental equation that determines the Hagedorn temperature as a function of the thermalization time is derived. It is shown that the Hagedorn temperature increases as the string approaches the singularity. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Spacetime dilaton in AdS3 × X holography

Abstract We study the spectrum generating operators (DDF operators) for bosonic strings and superstrings in AdS3 × X with pure, generic NSNS flux. The dual CFT is conjectured to be a deformed symmetric orbifold of $$ {\mathbb{R}}_{\overset{\sim }{Q}}\times X $$ ℝ Q ~ × X , where $$ {\mathbb{R}}_{\overset{\sim }{Q}} $$ ℝ Q ~ denotes a linear dilaton theory with slope $$ \overset{\sim }{Q} $$ Q ~ . In this paper, we construct DDF operators corresponding to the spacetime linear dilaton field in the limit where the worldsheet theory becomes free. The DDF operator gives another evidence supporting the proposed dual CFT. Furthermore, the DDF operator is constructed purely from the AdS3 fields and thus, strongly implies the existence of $$ {\mathbb{R}}_{\overset{\sim }{Q}} $$ ℝ Q ~ for generic X that defines a consistent background.

Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity as a noncritical string

Jackiw Teitelboim (JT) gravity has proven to be an excellent tool for investigating aspects of quantum gravity and black hole physics. In recent years, the study of JT gravity and its deformations has helped us learn about the different contributions of geometries in the gravitational path integral, the quantum gravity Hilbert space, the space-time factorization problem, the role of averaging in holography, the black hole information paradox, and the matrix models. All this motivates the exploration of the JT gravity in different setups, with and without matter. Here, we consider JT gravity conformally coupled to Liouville field theory and matter fields. This model admits to be interpreted as a noncritical string theory on a linear dilaton background with a tachyonic Liouville potential along a null direction. The constant curvature constraint of JT gravity results in a neutralization of the Liouville mode, which makes it possible to compute the four-point correlation function of the theory analytically. Here we give the explicit derivation of the four-point function and briefly comment on its properties, such as monodromy invariance, crossing symmetry, factorization, and limits. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Holographic fluids from 5D dilaton gravity

We study a solvable class of five-dimensional dilaton gravity models that continuously interpolate between anti-de Sitter (AdS5), linear dilaton (LD5) and positively curved spacetimes as a function of a continuous parameter ν. The dilaton vacuum expectation value is set by a potential localized on a flat brane. We chart the elementary properties of these backgrounds for any admissible ν, and determine stability conditions of the brane-dilaton system. We find that the spectrum of metric fluctuations can be either continuous or discrete. It features a massless graviton mode confined between the brane and the curvature singularity, and a massive radion mode tied to brane-dilaton stability. We show that, in the presence of a bulk black hole, the holographic theory living on the brane features a perfect fluid. The equation of state of the holographic fluid interpolates between radiation, pressureless matter and vacuum energy as a function of ν. This extends earlier findings on holographic fluids. Our results suggest that the thermodynamics of the fluid mirrors precisely the thermodynamics of the bulk black hole.

Open-closed string duality, branes, and topological recursion

We consider matrix models exhibiting open-closed string duality in two-dimensional string theories with various amounts of supersymmetry. In particular, a relationship between matrix models in the β = 2 Wigner-Dyson class and models in the (1 + 2Γ, 2) Altland-Zirnbauer class relates the perturbative solutions of the two systems’ string equations. Point-like operator insertions in the closed string theory are mapped to the topological expansion of the free energy in the open string theory. We compute correlation functions of macroscopic loop operators and FZZT branes in a general topological gravity background. The relationship between the topological recursion of moduli space volumes and branes is discussed by analyzing the Virasoro conditions in the matrix models.

Negative single-trace TT¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ T\\overline{T} $$\\end{document} holography holography versus de Sitter

In single-trace TT¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ T\\overline{T} $$\\end{document} holography, for the negative sign of the deformation, the geometries dual to high energy states consist of a singular UV wall that separates black strings in the IR from an asymptotically linear dilaton spacetime. In the hologram, the black strings amount to states in a symmetric product of TT¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ T\\overline{T} $$\\end{document} deformed CFT2, whose energy and momentum are split equally among the different blocks. The properties of this holographic duality have intriguing similarities with the proposed principles of de Sitter holography. In this note, the analogy between the two is presented. In particular, as the horizon location approaches the UV wall, one obtains a state of maximum finite entropy and infinite temperature. On the other hand, the bulk temperature of the geometry obtained in the limit is small. These properties are identical to those proposed in empty de Sitter holography.

Holography of linear dilaton spacetimes from the bottom up

The linear dilaton (LD) background is the keystone of a string-derived holographic correspondence beyond AdSd+1/CFTd. This motivates an exploration of the (d+1)-dimensional linear dilaton spacetime (LDd+1) and its holographic properties from the low-energy viewpoint. We first notice that the LDd+1 space has simple conformal symmetries, that we use to shape an effective field theory (EFT) on the LD background. We then place a brane in the background to study holography at the level of quantum fields and gravity. We find that the holographic correlators from the EFT feature a pattern of singularities at certain kinematic thresholds. We argue that such singularities can be used to bootstrap the putative d-dimensional dual theory using techniques analogous to those of the cosmological bootstrap program. Turning on finite temperature, we study the holographic fluid emerging on the brane in the presence of a bulk black hole. We find that the holographic fluid is pressureless for any d due to a cancellation between Weyl curvature and dilaton stress tensor, and verify consistency with the time evolution of the theory. From the fluid thermodynamics, we find a universal temperature and Hagedorn behavior for any d. This matches the properties of a CFT2 with large TT¯ deformation, and of little string theory for d=6. We also find that the holographic fluid entropy exactly matches the bulk black hole Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. Both the fluid equation of state and the spectrum of quantum fluctuations suggest that the d-dimensional dual theory arising from LDd+1 is generically gapped. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Instantons in sine-Liouville theory

We compute instanton corrections to the partition function of sine-Liouville (SL) theory, which provides a worldsheet description of two-dimensional string theory in a non-trivial tachyon background. We derive these corrections using a matrix model formulation based on a chiral representation of matrix quantum mechanics and using string theory methods. In both cases we restrict to the leading and subleading orders in the string coupling expansion. Then the CFT technique is used to compute two orders of the expansion in the SL perturbation parameter λ, while the matrix model gives results which are non-perturbative in λ. The matrix model results perfectly match those of string theory in the small λ expansion. We also generalize our findings to the case of perturbation by several tachyon vertex operators carrying different momenta, and obtain interesting analytic predictions for the disk two-point and annulus one-point functions with ZZ boundary condition.

Infinite $\mathrm{T\bar T}$-like symmetries of compactified LST

We show that the three-dimensional asymptotically linear dilaton background that arises in the near-horizon decoupling region of NS5-branes compactified on T^4T4 admits boundary conditions that lead to an infinite set of symmetries. The associated conserved charges, which implement field-dependent coordinate transformations, are found to be identical to the corresponding generators in a symmetric product orbifold of T\bar TTT‾ - deformed CFTs. Their algebra is a non-linear modification of the Virasoro × Virasoro algebra, which precisely coincides with the algebra of the “unrescaled” symmetry generators in T\bar TTT‾-deformed CFTs. This further strengthens a previously proposed link between the single-trace T\bar TTT‾ deformation and compactified little string theory.

Momentum in single-trace [formula omitted] holography

We continue our exploration of the holographic duality between string theory in backgrounds that interpolate between asymptotically linear dilaton spacetime in the UV and AdS3 in the IR, and the corresponding boundary theories. In previous papers, [1,2], we showed that states in the bulk theory that are described by non-trivial asymptotically linear dilaton geometries, such as black holes and deformed global AdS3, can be described in the boundary theory by a single-trace TT¯ deformation of a symmetric product theory. In those papers, we restricted to states with vanishing (angular) momentum; in this paper, we extend the analysis to states with arbitrary momentum, and show that the picture presented in the earlier papers generalizes to this case.

A 4d non-BPS NS-NS microstate

We construct a two-parameter four-dimensional non-BPS NS-NS smooth microstate solution that asymptotes to flat spacetime with a linear dilaton in type II superstring theory. From the microscopic point of view, the background is made out of a certain number of decoupled (i.e. gs → 0) NS5 branes wrapping T3 × S1 × S1 with fundamental strings wrapping non-contractable cycles of S1 × S1 with integer momentum modes along them. We show that perturbative worldsheet theory in this background is given by a null-gauged WZW model. We also show that the consistency of the worldsheet theory imposes non-trivial constraints on the supergravity background.

GUP-reinforced Hawking radiation in rotating linear dilaton black hole spacetime

This article investigates the influence of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) on the emission of Hawking quanta in a rotating linear dilaton black hole spacetime. The study proposes a GUP-reinforced black hole thermal emission model that takes into account the quantum tunneling process with GUP effects. The result obtained for the corrected temperature suggests that temperature of the GUP-reinforced Hawking radiation decreases with the increasing GUP parameter and gets higher values with the increasing mass of the black hole. The study also discusses the implications of these findings on the corrected entropy and hence the information loss paradox, and the potential for experimental verification of GUP effects in astrophysical observations. Overall, this work highlights the significant role of GUP in the thermal emission of non-asymptotically flat stationary black holes and can shed light on the intricate interplay between quantum gravity and astrophysics.

On incorporation of heavy-quark mass into soft-wall holographic models

In this paper, we consider the soft-wall holographic model with the linear dilaton background. The model leads to a Hydrogen-like meson spectrum which can be interpreted as the static limit with very large quark masses when the Coulomb interaction dominates. The mass scale introduced by the linear dilaton is matched to the quark mass. The resulting model is analyzed for the scalar, vector and tensor cases. The electromagnetic coupling constants predicted by the model are decreasing with the radial number in contrast to the soft-wall model with quadratic dilaton where these couplings represent a universal constant. The given prediction is qualitatively consistent with the corresponding experimental data in vector quarkonia. The proposed model can thus be used as a constituent part of more elaborated holographic models for heavy quarkonia. A particular example of such a model is put forward.

Affine characters at negative level and elliptic genera of non-critical strings

We study the elliptic genera of the non-critical strings of six dimensional superconformal field theories from the point of view of the strings’ worldsheet theory. We formulate a general ansatz for these in terms of characters of the affine Lie algebra associated to the 6d gauge group at negative level, and provide ample evidence for the validity of this ansatz for 6d theories obtained via F-theory compactification on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds over a Hirzebruch base. We obtain novel closed form results for many elliptic genera in terms of our ansatz, and show that our results specialize consistently when moving along Higgsing trees.

Ensemble averaging in JT gravity from entanglement in Matrix Quantum Mechanics

We consider the generalization of a matrix integral with arbitrary spectral curve ρ0(E) to a 0+1D theory of matrix quantum mechanics (MQM). Using recent techniques for 1D quantum systems at large-N, we formulate a hydrodynamical effective theory for the eigenvalues. The result is a simple 2D free boson BCFT on a curved background, describing the quantum fluctuations of the eigenvalues around ρ0(E), which is now the large-N limit of the quantum expectation value of the eigenvalue density operator hat{rho}(E) .The average over the ensemble of random matrices becomes a quantum expectation value. Equal-time density correlations reproduce the results (including non-perturbative corrections) of random matrix theory. This suggests an interpretation of JT gravity as dual to a one-time-point reduction of MQM.As an application, we compute the Rényi entropy associated to a bipartition of the eigenvalues. We match a previous result by Hartnoll and Mazenc for the c = 1 matrix model dual to two-dimensional string theory and extend it to arbitrary ρ0(E). The hydrodynamical theory provides a clear picture of the emergence of spacetime in two dimensional string theory. The entropy is naturally finite and displays a large amount of short range entanglement, proportional to the microcanonical entropy. We also compute the reduced density matrix for a subset of n < N eigenvalues.

Is action complexity better for de Sitter space in Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity?

Volume complexity in dS2 remains O(1) up to a critical time, after which it suddenly diverges. On the other hand, for the dS2 solution in JT gravity, there is a linear dilaton which smoothly grows towards the future infinity. From the dimensional reduction viewpoint, the growth of the dilaton is due to the expansion of the orthogonal sphere in higher-dimensional dSd (d ≥ 3). Since in higher dimensions complexity becomes very large even before the critical time, by properly taking into account the dilaton, the same behavior is expected for complexity in dS2 JT gravity. We show that this expectation is met by the complexity = action (CA) conjecture. For this purpose, we obtain an appropriate action for dS2 in JT gravity, by dimensional reduction from dS3. In addition, we discuss complexity = “refined volume” where we choose an appropriate Weyl field-redefinition such that refined volume avoids the discontinuous jump in time evolution.

Self-similar gravitational dynamics, singularities and criticality in 2D

We initiate a systematic study of continuously self-similar (CSS) gravitational dynamics in two dimensions, motivated by critical phenomena observed in higher dimensional gravitational theories. We consider CSS spacetimes admitting a homothetic Killing vector (HKV) field. For a general two-dimensional gravitational theory coupled to a dilaton field and Maxwell field, we find that the assumption of continuous self-similarity determines the form of the dilaton coupling to the curvature. Certain limits produce two important classes of models, one of which is closely related to two-dimensional target space string theory and the other being Liouville gravity. The gauge field is shown to produce a shift in the dilaton potential strength. We consider static black hole solutions and find spacetimes with uncommon asymptotic behaviour. We show the vacuum self-similar spacetimes to be special limits of the static solutions. We add matter fields consistent with self-similarity (including a certain model of semi-classical gravity) and write down the autonomous ordinary differential equations governing the gravitational dynamics. Based on the phenomenon of finite-time blow-up in ODEs, we argue that spacetime singularities are generic in our models. We present qualitatively diverse results from analytical and numerical investigations regarding matter field collapse and singularities. We find interesting hints of a Choptuik-like scaling law.

A two-dimensional string cosmology

We study two-dimensional string theory on a time-dependent background, whose worldsheet description consists of Liouville theory at central charge c = 1 and Liouville theory at central charge c = 25, together with the conformal ghosts. We compute the tree-level three-point and four-point components of the cosmological wavefunction in string perturbation theory. The latter is evaluated numerically by decomposing the Liouville four-point correlation functions into Virasoro conformal blocks and three-point function coefficients and integrating over the moduli space of the four-punctured sphere string diagram. This computation numerically confirms a surprisingly simple conjectural result for the four-point wavefunction component whose physical interpretation remains to be clarified.

Cosmological dark matter from a bulk black hole

We study the cosmology of a three-brane in a specific five-dimensional scalar-gravity (i.e. soft-wall) background, known as the linear dilaton background. We discover that the Friedmann equation of the brane-world automatically contains a term mimicking pressureless matter. We propose to identify this term as dark matter. This dark matter arises as a projection of the bulk black hole on the brane, which contributes to the brane Friedmann equation via both the Weyl tensor and the scalar stress tensor. The nontrivial matter-like behavior is due to an exact cancellation between the Weyl and scalar pressures. We show that the Newtonian potential only receives a mild short-distance correction going as inverse distance squared, ensuring compatibility of the linear dilaton brane-world with observed 4D gravity. Our setup can be viewed as a consistent cosmological description of the holographic theories arising in the linear dilaton background. We also present more general scalar-gravity models where the brane cosmology features an effective energy density whose behavior smoothly interpolates between dark radiation, dark matter and dark energy depending on a model parameter.

Comments on single-trace Toverline{T} holography

We explore the holographic duality between string theory in backgrounds that interpolate between asymptotically linear dilaton spacetime in the UV and AdS3 in the IR, and single-trace Toverline{T} deformed CFT. In particular, we explain how the deformation of states in the boundary theory is reflected in the bulk geometry, and show that the coupling above which the deformed energy of the SL(2, ℝ) invariant ground state of the IR CFT becomes complex is a maximal coupling.