Scott Collier, Lorenz Eberhardt, Beatrix Mühlmann, Victor A. Rodriguez
SciPost Phys. 16, 057 (2024) ·
published 26 February 2024
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We introduce a critical string theory in two dimensions and demonstrate that this theory, viewed as two-dimensional quantum gravity on the worldsheet, is equivalent to a double-scaled matrix integral. The worldsheet theory consists of Liouville CFT with central charge c$≥$ 25 coupled to timelike Liouville CFT with central charge 26-c. The double-scaled matrix integral has as its leading density of states the universal Cardy density of primaries in a two-dimensional CFT, thus motivating the name Virasoro minimal string. The duality holds for any value of the continuous parameter $c$ and reduces to the JT gravity/matrix integral duality in the large central charge limit. It thus provides a precise stringy realization of JT gravity. The main observables of the Virasoro minimal string are quantum analogues of the Weil-Petersson volumes, which are computed as absolutely convergent integrals of worldsheet CFT correlators over the moduli space of Riemann surfaces. By exploiting a relation of the Virasoro minimal string to three-dimensional gravity and intersection theory on the moduli space of Riemann surfaces, we are able to give a direct derivation of the duality. We provide many checks, such as explicit numerical - and in special cases, analytic - integration of string diagrams, the identification of the CFT boundary conditions with asymptotic boundaries of the two-dimensional spacetime, and the matching between the leading non-perturbative corrections of the worldsheet theory and the matrix integral. As a byproduct, we discover natural conformal boundary conditions for timelike Liouville CFT.
SciPost Phys. 15, 083 (2023) ·
published 7 September 2023
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A holographic description of three-dimensional warped black holes suffers from ambiguities due to a seemingly harmless choice of coordinate system. This gives rise to the notion of ensembles in warped black holes, and we focus on two of them: the canonical and quadratic ensemble. Our aim is to quantify the imprint of these ensembles in the near-extremal limit of a warped black hole. To this end, for each ensemble, we explore the thermodynamic response and evaluate greybody factors. We also set-up a holographic dictionary in their near-AdS$_2$ region, and decode aspects of the dual near-CFT$_1$. This gives us different perspectives of the black hole that we can contrast and compare. On the one hand, we find perfect agreement between the near-extremal limit of the canonical ensemble warped black holes, their near-AdS$_2$ effective analysis, and a warped conformal field theory description. On the other, we are led to rule out the quadratic ensemble due to inconsistencies at the quantum level with the near-AdS$_2$ effective description.
SciPost Phys. 15, 056 (2023) ·
published 9 August 2023
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Warped conformal field theories (WCFTs) are two-dimensional non-relativistic systems, with a chiral scaling and shift symmetry. We present a detailed derivation of the near-extremal limit for their torus partition function. This limit requires large values of the central charge, and is only consistent for non-unitary WCFT. We compare our analysis with previous studies of WCFT and its relation to a one-dimensional warped-Schwarzian theory. We discuss different ensembles of warped CFTs and contrast our results with analogous limits in two-dimensional CFTs.
