Non-normalizable Modes Research Articles

The dark bubbleography

We present the holographic construction of the dark bubble model of dark energy and highlight the pivotal role played by the non-normalizable modes. Following the route of holographic renormalization, we show that the non-normalizable modes are essential for having a vanishing mass for the induced graviton in any braneworld model. We then apply this idea in the computation of the propagator on the wall of the dark bubble introduced in [1].

One-loop partition function of gravity with leaky boundary conditions

Leaky boundary conditions in asymptotically AdS spacetimes are relevant to discuss black hole evaporation and the evolution of the Page curve via the island formula. We explore the consequences of leaky boundary conditions on the one-loop partition function of gravity. We focus on JT gravity minimally coupled to a scalar field whose normalizable and non-normalizable modes are both turned on, allowing for leakiness through the AdS boundary. Classically, this yields a flux-balance law relating the scalar news to the time derivative of the mass. Semi-classically, we argue that the usual diffeomorphism-invariant measure is ill-defined, suggesting that the area-non-preserving diffeomorphisms are broken at one loop. We calculate the associated anomaly and its implication on the gravitational Gauss law. Finally, we generalize our arguments to higher dimensions and dS.

HKLL for the non-normalizable mode

We discuss various aspects of HKLL bulk reconstruction for the free scalar field in AdSd+1. First, we consider the spacelike reconstruction kernel for the non-normalizable mode in global coordinates. We construct it as a mode sum. In even bulk dimensions, this can be reproduced using a chordal Green’s function approach that we propose. This puts the global AdS results for the non-normalizable mode on an equal footing with results in the literature for the normalizable mode. In Poincaré AdS, we present explicit mode sum results in general even and odd dimensions for both normalizable and non-normalizable kernels. For generic scaling dimension ∆, these can be re-written in a form that matches with the global AdS results via an antipodal mapping, plus a remainder. We are not aware of a general argument in the literature for dropping these remainder terms, but we note that a slight complexification of a boundary spatial coordinate (which we call an iϵ prescription) allows us to do so in cases where ∆ is (half-) integer. Since the non-normalizable mode turns on a source in the CFT, our primary motivation for considering it is as a step towards understanding linear wave equations in general spacetimes from a holographic perspective. But when the scaling dimension ∆ is in the Breitenlohner-Freedman window, we note that the construction has some interesting features within AdS/CFT.

On holographic Wilsonian renormalization group of massive scalar theory with its self-interactions in AdS

Holographic model of massive scalar field with its self-interaction $\lambda\phi^n$ in AdS space is able to give a logarithmic scale dependence to marginal multi trace deformation couplings on its dual conformal field theory, where $\lambda$ is the self-interaction coupling of the scalar field, $\phi$ and $n$ is an integral number. In arXiv:1501.06664, the authors realize this feature by looking at bulk scalar solutions near AdS boundary imposing a specific boundary condition between the coefficients of non-normalizable and normalizable modes of the scalar field excitations. We study the same holographic model to see scale dependence of marginal deformations on the dual conformal field theory by employing completely different method: {\it holographic Wilsonian renormalization group}. We solve Hamilton-Jacobi equation derived from the holographic model of massive scalar with $\lambda\phi^n$ interaction and obtain the solution of marginal multi trace deformations up to the leading order in $\lambda$. It turns out that the solution of marginal multi trace deformation also presents logarithmic behavior in energy scale near UV region.

Examining instabilities due to driven scalars in AdS

We extend the study of the non-linear perturbative theory of weakly turbulent energy cascades in AdSd+1 to include solutions of driven systems, i.e. those with time-dependent sources on the AdS boundary. This necessitates the activation of non-normalizable modes in the linear solution for the massive bulk scalar field, which couple to the metric and normalizable scalar modes. We determine analytic expressions for secular terms in the renormalization flow equations mass values {m}_{BF}^2<{m}^2le 0 , and for various driving functions. Finally, we numerically evaluate these sources for d = 4 and discuss what role these driven solutions play in the perturbative stability of AdS.

Gaussian null coordinates, near-horizon geometry and conserved charges on the horizon of extremal nondilatonic black p-branes

In this paper, we examine the emergence of conserved charges on the horizon of a particular class of extremal nondilatonic black [Formula: see text]-branes (which reduce to extremal dilatonic black holes in [Formula: see text] dimensions upon toroidal compactification) in the presence of a probe massless scalar field in the bulk. This result is achieved by writing the black [Formula: see text]-brane geometry in a Gaussian null coordinate system which allows us to get a nonsingular near-horizon geometry description. We find that the near-horizon geometry is [Formula: see text] and that the [Formula: see text] section has an internal structure which can be seen as a warped product of [Formula: see text] in Gaussian null coordinates. We show that the bulk scalar field satisfying the field equations is expanded in terms of nonnormalizable and normalizable modes, which for certain suitable quantization conditions are well-behaved at the boundary of [Formula: see text] space. Furthermore, we show that picking the normalizable modes results in the existence of conserved quantities on the horizon. We discuss the impact of these conserved quantities in the late-time regime.

Nearly AdS2 holography in quantum CGHS model

In light of recent developments in nearly AdS2 holography, we revisit the semi­classical version of two-dimensional dilaton gravity proposed by Callan, Giddings, Harvey, and Strominger (CGHS) [1] in the early 90’s. In distinction to the classical model, the quantum-corrected CGHS model has an AdS2 vacuum with a constant dilaton. By turning on a non-normalizable mode of the Liouville field, i.e. the conformal mode of the 2d gravity, the explicit breaking of the scale invariance renders the AdS2 vacuum nearly AdS2. As a consequence, there emerges an effective one-dimensional Schwarzian-type theory of pseudo Nambu-Goldstone mode-the boundary graviton-on the boundary of the nearly AdS2 space. We go beyond the linear order perturbation in non-normalizable fluctuations of the Liouville field and work up to the second order. As a main result of our analysis, we clarify the role of the boundary graviton in the holographic framework and show the Virasoro/Schwarzian correspondence, namely that the 2d bulk Virasoro constraints are equivalent to the graviton equation of motion of the 1d boundary theory, at least, on the SL(2, R) invariant vacuum.

A defect in holographic interpretations of tensor networks

We initiate the study of how tensor networks reproduce properties of static holographic space-times, which are not locally pure anti-de Sitter. We consider geometries that are holographically dual to ground states of defect, interface and boundary CFTs and compare them to the structure of the requisite MERA networks predicted by the theory of minimal updates. When the CFT is deformed, certain tensors require updating. On the other hand, even identical tensors can contribute differently to estimates of entanglement entropies. We interpret these facts holographically by associating tensor updates to turning on non-normalizable modes in the bulk. In passing, we also clarify and complement existing arguments in support of the theory of minimal updates, propose a novel ansatz called rayed MERA that applies to a class of generalized interface CFTs, and analyze the kinematic spaces of the thin wall and AdS3-Janus geometries.

Fermionic and bosonic mass deformations of N $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 4 SYM and their bulk supergravity dual

We examine the AdS-CFT dual of arbitrary (non)supersymmetric fermionic mass deformations of $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 4 SYM, and investigate how the backreaction of the RR and NS-NS two-form potentials dual to the fermion masses contribute to Coulomb-branch potential of D3 branes, which we interpret as the bulk boson mass matrix. Using representation theory and supergravity arguments we show that the fermion masses completely determine the trace of this matrix, and that on the other hand its traceless components have to be turned on as non-normalizable modes. Our result resolves the tension between the belief that the AdS bulk dual of the trace of the boson mass matrix (which is not a chiral operator) is a stringy excitation with dimension of order (g s N )1/4 and the existence of non-stringy supergravity flows describing theories where this trace is nonzero, by showing that the stringy mode does not parameterize the sum of the squares of the boson masses but rather its departure from the trace of the square of the fermion mass matrix. Hence, asymptotically-AdS flows can only describe holographically theories where the sums of the squares of the bosonic and fermionic masses are equal, which is consistent with the weakly-coupled result that only such theories can have a conformal UV fixed point.

Nonlocal probes of thermalization in holographic quenches with spectral methods

We describe the application of pseudo-spectral methods to problems of holographic thermal quenches of relevant couplings in strongly coupled gauge theories. We focus on quenches of a fermionic mass term in a strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma, and the subsequent equilibration of the system. From the dual gravitational perspective, we study the gravitational collapse of a massive scalar field in asymptotically anti-de Sitter geometry with a prescribed boundary condition for its non-normalizable mode. Access to the full background geometry of the gravitational collapse allows for the study of nonlocal probes of the thermalization process. We discuss the evolution of the apparent and the event horizons, the two-point correlation functions of operators of large conformal dimensions, and the evolution of the entanglement entropy of the system. We compare the thermalization process from the viewpoint of local (the one-point) correlation functions and these nonlocal probes, finding that the thermalization time as measured by the probes is length dependent, and approaches the thermalization time of the one-point function for longer probes. We further discuss how the different energy scales of the problem contribute to its thermalization.

Mixed-symmetry fields in AdS(5), conformal fields, and AdS/CFT

Mixed-symmetry arbitrary spin massive, massless, and self-dual massive fields in AdS(5) are studied. Light-cone gauge actions for such fields leading to decoupled equations of motion are constructed. Light-cone gauge formulation of mixed-symmetry anomalous conformal currents and shadows in 4d flat space is also developed. AdS/CFT correspondence for normalizable and non-normalizable modes of mixed-symmetry AdS fields and the respective boundary mixed-symmetry anomalous conformal currents and shadows is studied. We demonstrate that the light-cone gauge action for massive mixed-symmetry AdS field evaluated on solution of the Dirichlet problem amounts to the light-cone gauge 2-point vertex of mixed-symmetry anomalous shadow. Also we show that UV divergence of the action for mixed-symmetry massive AdS field with some particular value of mass parameter evaluated on the Dirichlet problem amounts to the action of long mixed-symmetry conformal field, while UV divergence of the action for mixed-symmetry massless AdS field evaluated on the Dirichlet problem amounts to the action of short mixed-symmetry conformal field. We speculate on string theory interpretation of a model which involves short low-spin conformal fields and long higher-spin conformal fields.

On chiral mesons in AdS/CFT

We analyze the spectra of non-chiral and chiral bifundamental mesons arising on intersecting D7-branes in AdS 5 × S 5. In the absence of magnetic flux on the curve of intersection, the spectrum is non-chiral, and the dual gauge theory is conformal in the quenched/probe approximation. For this case we calculate the dimensions of the bifundamental mesonic operators. We then consider magnetization of the D7-branes, which deforms the dual theory by an irrelevant operator and renders the mesons chiral. The magnetic flux spoils the conformality of the dual theory, and induces a D3-brane charge that becomes large in the ultraviolet, where the non-normalizable bifundamental modes are rapidly divergent. An ultraviolet completion is therefore necessary to calculate the correlation functions in the chiral case. On the other hand, the normalizable modes are very well localized in the infrared, leading to new possibilities for local model-building on intersecting D7-branes in warped geometries.

Stability analysis of the Witten black hole (cigar soliton) under world-sheet renormalization group flow

We analyze the stability of the Euclidean Witten black hole (the cigar soliton in mathematics literature) under first-order RG (Ricci) flow of the world-sheet sigma model. This analysis is from the target space point of view. We find that the Witten black hole has no unstable normalizable perturbative modes in a linearized mode analysis in which we consider circularly symmetric perturbations. Finally, we discuss a result from mathematics that implies the existence of a non-normalizable mode of the Witten black hole under which the geometry flows to the sausage solution studied by Fateev, Onofri and Zamolodchikov.

Anomalous conformal currents, shadow fields, and massive AdS fields

In the framework of the gauge invariant approach involving Stueckelberg and auxiliary fields, a totally symmetric arbitrary spin anomalous conformal current and shadow field in flat space-time of dimension greater than or equal to 4 are studied. Gauge invariant differential constraints for such anomalous conformal current and shadow field and realization of global conformal symmetries are obtained. A gauge invariant two-point vertex of the arbitrary spin anomalous shadow field is also obtained. In the Stueckelberg gauge frame, the two-point gauge invariant vertex becomes the standard two-point vertex of CFT. A light-cone gauge two-point vertex of the arbitrary spin anomalous shadow field is derived. The AdS/CFT correspondence for arbitrary spin anomalous conformal current and shadow field and the respective normalizable and non-normalizable modes of massive arbitrary spin AdS field is studied. The AdS field is considered in modified de Donder gauge which simplifies considerably the study of AdS/CFT correspondence. We show that on-shell leftover gauge symmetries of bulk massive field are related to gauge symmetries of boundary anomalous conformal current and shadow field, while the modified de Donder gauge condition for a bulk massive field is related to differential constraints for boundary anomalous conformal current and shadow field.

Multitrace deformations, Gamow states, and stability of AdS/CFT

We analyze the effect of multitrace deformations in conformal field theories at leading order in a large N approximation. These theories admit a description in terms of weakly coupled gravity duals. We show how the deformations can be mapped into boundary terms of the gravity theory and how to reproduce the RG equations found in field theory. In the case of doubletrace deformations, and for bulk scalars with masses in the range − d 2 /4 <m 2 < − d 2 /4 + 1, the deformed theory flows between two fixed points of the renormalization group, manifesting a resonant behavior at the scale characterizing the transition between the two CFT’s. On the gravity side the resonance is mapped into an IR non-normalizable mode (Gamow state) whose overlap with the UV region increases as the dual operator approaches the free field limit. We argue that this resonant behavior is a generic property of large N theories in the conformal window, and associate it to a remnant of the Nambu-Goldstone mode of dilatation invariance. We emphasize the role of nonminimal couplings to gravity and establish a stability theorem for scalar/gravity systems with AdS boundary conditions in the presence of arbitrary boundary potentials and nonminimal coupling.

HOLOGRAPHY OF NON-RELATIVISTIC STRING ON AdS5 × S5

We briefly review a holography of non-relativistic (NR) string on AdS 5× S 5. The NR string can be regarded as a semiclassical string around an AdS2 classical solution corresponding to a straight Wilson line in the gauge-theory side. Exciting non-normalizable modes of the NR string gives source term insertions on the Wilson line. For normalizable modes we discuss a relation to a conformal quantum mechanics.

Holography of non-relativistic string on AdS5× S5

We discuss a holographic dual of a non-relativistic (NR) string on AdS5 ? S5 . The NR string can be regarded as a semiclassical string around an AdS2 classical solution corresponding to a straight Wilson line in the gauge-theory side. The quadratic action with respect to the fluctuations is composed of free massive and massless scalars, and free massive fermions on the AdS2 world-sheet. We show that the complete agreement of the spectra between the NR string and a conformal quantum mechanics (CQM). Then we show a holographic relation between normalizable modes of the NR string and wave functions in the CQM. Then it may be argued from this result that an AdS2/CFT1 would be realized in AdS5/CFT4. We can really discuss a GKPW-type relation by considering non-normalizable modes of the NR string in Euclidean signature. Those modes give a source term insertion to the Wilson line, which can also be regarded as a small deformation of it.

DGP specteroscopy

We systematically explore the spectrum of gravitational perturbations in codimension-1 DGP braneworlds, and find a 4D ghost on the self-accelerating branch of solutions. The ghost appears for any value of the brane tension, although depending on the sign of the tension it is either the helicity-0 component of the lightest localized massive tensor of mass $0<m^2 < 2H^2$ for positive tension, the scalar `radion' for negative tension, or their admixture for vanishing tension. Because the ghost is gravitationally coupled to the brane-localized matter, the self-accelerating solutions are not a reliable benchmark for cosmic acceleration driven by gravity modified in the IR. In contrast, the normal branch of solutions is ghost-free, and so these solutions are perturbatively safe at large distance scales. We further find that when the $\mathbb{Z}_2$ orbifold symmetry is broken, new tachyonic instabilities, which are much milder than the ghosts, appear on the self-accelerating branch. Finally, using exact gravitational shock waves we analyze what happens if we relax boundary conditions at infinity. We find that non-normalizable bulk modes, if interpreted as 4D phenomena, may open the door to new ghost-like excitations.

Completeness of non-normalizable modes

We establish the completeness of some characteristic sets of non-normalizable modes by constructing fully localized square steps out of them, with each such construction expressly displaying the Gibbs phenomenon associated with trying to use a complete basis of modes to fit functions with discontinuous edges. As well as being of interest in and of itself, our study is also of interest to the recently introduced large extra dimension brane-localized gravity program of Randall and Sundrum, since the particular non-normalizable mode bases that we consider (specifically the irregular Bessel functions and the associated Legendre functions of the second kind) are associated with the tensor gravitational fluctuations which occur in those specific brane worlds in which the embedding of a maximally four-symmetric brane in a five-dimensional anti-de Sitter bulk leads to a warp factor which is divergent. Since the brane-world massless four-dimensional graviton has a divergent wave function in these particular cases, its resulting lack of normalizability is thus not seen to be any impediment to its belonging to a complete basis of modes, and consequently its lack of normalizability should not be seen as a criterion for not including it in the spectrum of observable modes. Moreover, because the divergent modes we consider form complete bases, we can even construct propagators out of them in which these modes appear as poles with residues which are expressly finite. Thus even though normalizable modes appear in propagators with residues which are given as their finite normalization constants, non-normalizable modes can just as equally appear in propagators with finite residues too -- it is just that such residues will not be associated with bilinear integrals of the modes.

Strings in an electric field, and the Milne Universe

Arguably the simplest model of a cosmological singularity in string theory,the Lorentzian orbifold ℝ1,1/boostis known to lead to severe divergencesin scattering amplitudes of untwisted states, indicating a large backreactiontowards the singularity. In this work we take a first step in investigatingwhether condensation of twisted states may remedy this problem and resolvethe spacelike singularity. By using the formal analogy with charged openstrings in an electric field, we argue that, contrary to earlier claims,twisted sectors do contain physical scattering states, which can be viewedas charged particles in an electric field. Correlated pairs of twistedstates will therefore be produced by the ordinary Schwinger mechanism.For open strings in an electric field, on-shell wave functionsfor the zero-modes are determined, and shownto analytically continue to non-normalizable modes of the usual Landau harmonic oscillatorin Euclidean space. Closed string scattering states of the Milne orbifoldcontinue to non-normalizable modes in an unusual Euclidean orbifoldof ℝ2 by a rotation by an irrational angle. Irrespective of the formal analogy with the MilneUniverse, open strings in a constant electric field, or colliding D-branes,may also serve as a useful laboratory to study time-dependence instring theory.