Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Density matrices in quantum gravity

  Tarek Anous, Jorrit Kruthoff, Raghu Mahajan

  SciPost Phys. 9, 045 (2020) · published 5 October 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study density matrices in quantum gravity, focusing on topology change. We argue that the inclusion of bra-ket wormholes in the gravity path integral is not a free choice, but is dictated by the specification of a global state in the multi-universe Hilbert space. Specifically, the Hartle-Hawking (HH) state does not contain bra-ket wormholes. It has recently been pointed out that bra-ket wormholes are needed to avoid potential bags-of-gold and strong subadditivity paradoxes, suggesting a problem with the HH state. Nevertheless, in regimes with a single large connected universe, approximate bra-ket wormholes can emerge by tracing over the unobserved universes. More drastic possibilities are that the HH state is non-perturbatively gauge equivalent to a state with bra-ket wormholes, or that the third-quantized Hilbert space is one-dimensional. Along the way we draw some helpful lessons from the well-known relation between worldline gravity and Klein-Gordon theory. In particular, the commutativity of boundary-creating operators, which is necessary for constructing the alpha states and having a dual ensemble interpretation, is subtle. For instance, in the worldline gravity example, the Klein-Gordon field operators do not commute at timelike separation.

  32 citations

• The grin of Cheshire cat resurgence from supersymmetric localization

  Daniele Dorigoni, Philip Glass

  SciPost Phys. 4, 012 (2018) · published 27 February 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  First we compute the $\mbox{S}^2$ partition function of the supersymmetric $\mathbb{CP}^{N-1}$ model via localization and as a check we show that the chiral ring structure can be correctly reproduced. For the $\mathbb{CP}^1$ case we provide a concrete realisation of this ring in terms of Bessel functions. We consider a weak coupling expansion in each topological sector and write it as a finite number of perturbative corrections plus an infinite series of instanton-anti-instanton contributions. To be able to apply resurgent analysis we then consider a non-supersymmetric deformation of the localized model by introducing a small unbalance between the number of bosons and fermions. The perturbative expansion of the deformed model becomes asymptotic and we analyse it within the framework of resurgence theory. Although the perturbative series truncates when we send the deformation parameter to zero we can still reconstruct non-perturbative physics out of the perturbative data in a nice example of Cheshire cat resurgence in quantum field theory. We also show that the same type of resurgence takes place when we consider an analytic continuation in the number of chiral fields from $N$ to $r\in\mathbb{R}$. Although for generic real $r$ supersymmetry is still formally preserved, we find that the perturbative expansion of the supersymmetric partition function becomes asymptotic so that we can use resurgent analysis and only at the end take the limit of integer $r$ to recover the undeformed model.

  32 citations

• Generalized dilaton gravity in 2d

  Daniel Grumiller, Romain Ruzziconi, Céline Zwikel

  SciPost Phys. 12, 032 (2022) · published 21 January 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Generalized dilaton gravity in 2d is the most general consistent deformation of the Jackiw-Teitelboim model that maintains local Lorentz invariance. The action is generically not power-counting renormalizable, thus going beyond the class of models typically studied. Nevertheless, all these models are exactly soluble. We focus on a subclass of dilaton scale invariant models. Within this subclass, we identify a 3-parameter family of models that describe black holes asymptoting to AdS2 in the UV and to dS2 in the IR. Since these models could be interesting for holography, we address thermodynamics and boundary issues, including boundary charges, asymptotic symmetries and holographic renormalization.

  32 citations

• Subsystem Rényi entropy of thermal ensembles for SYK-like models

  Pengfei Zhang, Chunxiao Liu, Xiao Chen

  SciPost Phys. 8, 094 (2020) · published 26 June 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model is an $N$-modes fermionic model with infinite range random interactions. In this work, we study the thermal R\'enyi entropy for a subsystem of the SYK model using the path-integral formalism in the large-$N$ limit. The results are consistent with exact diagonalization [1] and can be well approximated by thermal entropy with an effective temperature [2] when subsystem size $M\leq N/2$. We also consider generalizations of the SYK model with quadratic random hopping term or $U(1)$ charge conservation.

  32 citations

• Renormalization group consistency and low-energy effective theories

  Jens Braun, Marc Leonhardt, Jan M. Pawlowski

  SciPost Phys. 6, 056 (2019) · published 9 May 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Low-energy effective theories have been used very successfully to study the low-energy limit of QCD, providing us with results for a plethora of phenomena, ranging from bound-state formation to phase transitions in QCD. These theories are consistent quantum field theories by themselves and can be embedded in QCD, but typically have a physical ultraviolet cutoff that restricts their range of validity. Here, we provide a discussion of the concept of renormalization group consistency, aiming at an analysis of cutoff effects and regularization-scheme dependences in general studies of low-energy effective theories. For illustration, our findings are applied to low-energy effective models of QCD in different approximations including the mean-field approximation. More specifically, we consider hot and dense as well as finite systems and demonstrate that violations of renormalization group consistency affect significantly the predictive power of the corresponding model calculations.

  32 citations

• Many-body localization in presence of cavity mediated long-range interactions

  Piotr Sierant, Krzysztof Biedroń, Giovanna Morigi, Jakub Zakrzewski

  SciPost Phys. 7, 008 (2019) · published 11 July 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that a one-dimensional Hubbard model with all-to-all coupling may exhibit many-body localization in the presence of local disorder. We numerically identify the parameter space where many-body localization occurs using exact diagonalization and finite-size scaling. The time evolution from a random initial state exhibits features consistent with the localization picture. The dynamics can be observed with quantum gases in optical cavities, localization can be revealed through the time-dependent dynamics of the light emitted by the resonator.

  32 citations

• Non-invertible defects in 5d, boundaries and holography

  Jeremias Aguilera Damia, Riccardo Argurio, Eduardo Garcia-Valdecasas

  SciPost Phys. 14, 067 (2023) · published 12 April 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that very simple theories of abelian gauge fields with a cubic Chern-Simons term in 5d have an infinite number of non-invertible codimension two defects. They arise by dressing the symmetry operators of the broken electric 1-form symmetry with a suitable topological field theory, for any rational angle. We further discuss the same theories in the presence of a 4d boundary, and more particularly in a holographic setting. There we find that the bulk defects, when pushed to the boundary, have various different fates. Most notably, they can become codimension one non-invertible defects of a boundary theory with an ABJ anomaly.

  32 citations

• Quench dynamics of the Ising field theory in a magnetic field

  Kristóf Hódsági, Márton Kormos, Gábor Takács

  SciPost Phys. 5, 027 (2018) · published 25 September 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We numerically simulate the time evolution of the Ising field theory after quenches starting from the $E_8$ integrable model using the Truncated Conformal Space Approach. The results are compared with two different analytic predictions based on form factor expansions in the pre-quench and post-quench basis, respectively. Our results clarify the domain of validity of these expansions and suggest directions for further improvement. We show for quenches in the $E_8$ model that the initial state is not of the integrable pair state form. We also construct quench overlap functions and show that their high-energy asymptotics are markedly different from those constructed before in the sinh/sine-Gordon theory, and argue that this is related to properties of the ultraviolet fixed point.

  32 citations

• Domain wall problem in the quantum XXZ chain and semiclassical behavior close to the isotropic point

  Grégoire Misguich, Nicolas Pavloff, Vincent Pasquier

  SciPost Phys. 7, 025 (2019) · published 29 August 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the dynamics of a spin-1/2 XXZ chain which is initially prepared in a domain-wall state. We compare the results of time-dependent Density Matrix Renormalization Group simulations with those of an effective description in terms of a classical anisotropic Landau-Lifshitz (LL) equation. Numerous quantities are analyzed: magnetization (x, y and z components), energy density, energy current, but also some spin-spin correlation functions or entanglement entropy in the quantum chain. Without any adjustable parameter a quantitative agreement is observed between the quantum and the LL problems in the long time limit, when the models are close to the isotropic point. This is explained as a consequence of energy conservation. At the isotropic point the mapping between the LL equation and the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation is used to construct a variational solution capturing several aspects of the problem.

  31 citations

• Higher central charges and topological boundaries in 2+1-dimensional TQFTs

  Justin Kaidi, Zohar Komargodski, Kantaro Ohmori, Sahand Seifnashri, Shu-Heng Shao

  SciPost Phys. 13, 067 (2022) · published 26 September 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A 2+1-dimensional topological quantum field theory (TQFT) may or may not admit topological (gapped) boundary conditions. A famous necessary, but not sufficient, condition for the existence of a topological boundary condition is that the chiral central charge $c_-$ has to vanish. In this paper, we consider conditions associated with "higher" central charges, which have been introduced recently in the math literature. In terms of these new obstructions, we identify necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a topological boundary in the case of bosonic, Abelian TQFTs, providing an alternative to the identification of a Lagrangian subgroup. Our proof relies on general aspects of gauging generalized global symmetries. For non-Abelian TQFTs, we give a geometric way of studying topological boundary conditions, and explain certain necessary conditions given again in terms of the higher central charges. Along the way, we find a curious duality in the partition functions of Abelian TQFTs, which begs for an explanation via the 3d-3d correspondence.

  31 citations