A perturbative CFT dual for pure NS-NS AdS3 strings

We construct a conformal field theory dual to string theory on AdS3 with pure NS-NS flux. It is given by a symmetric orbifold of a linear dilaton theory deformed by a marginal operator from the twist-2 sector. We compute two- and three-point functions on the CFT side to 4th order in conformal perturbation theory at large N. They agree with the string computation at genus 0, thus providing ample evidence for a duality. We also show that the full spectra of both short and long strings on the CFT and the string side match. The duality should be understood as perturbative in 1/N.

Inhomogeneous Conformal Field Theory Out of Equilibrium

We study the non-equilibrium dynamics of conformal field theory (CFT) in 1+1 dimensions with a smooth position-dependent velocity v(x) explicitly breaking translation invariance. Such inhomogeneous CFT is argued to effectively describe 1+1-dimensional quantum many-body systems with certain inhomogeneities varying on mesoscopic scales. Both heat and charge transport are studied, where, for concreteness, we suppose that our CFT has a conserved U(1) current. Based on projective unitary representations of diffeomorphisms and smooth maps in Minkowskian CFT, we obtain a recipe for computing the exact non-equilibrium dynamics in inhomogeneous CFT when evolving from initial states defined by smooth inverse-temperature and chemical-potential profiles $$\beta (x)$$ β ( x ) and $$\mu (x)$$ μ ( x ) . Using this recipe, the following exact analytical results are obtained: (i) the full time evolution of densities and currents for heat and charge transport, (ii) correlation functions for components of the energy–momentum tensor and the U(1) current as well as for any primary field, and (iii) the thermal and electrical conductivities. The latter are computed by direct dynamical considerations and alternatively using a Green–Kubo formula. Both give the same explicit expressions for the conductivities, which reveal how inhomogeneous dynamics opens up the possibility for diffusion as well as implies a generalization of the Wiedemann–Franz law to finite times within CFT.

Symmetry-resolved entanglement for excited states and two entangling intervals in AdS3/CFT2

We test the proposal of [1] for the holographic computation of the charged moments and the resulting symmetry-resolved entanglement entropy in different excited states, as well as for two entangling intervals. Our holographic computations are performed in U(1) Chern-Simons-Einstein-Hilbert gravity, and are confirmed by independent results in a conformal field theory at large central charge. In particular, we consider two classes of excited states, corresponding to charged and uncharged conical defects in AdS3. In the conformal field theory, these states are generated by the insertion of charged and uncharged heavy operators. We employ the monodromy method to calculate the ensuing four-point function between the heavy operators and the twist fields. For the two-interval case, we derive our results on the AdS and the conformal field theory side, respectively, from the generating function method of [1], as well as the vertex operator algebra. In all cases considered, we find equipartition of entanglement between the different charge sectors. We also clarify an aspect of conformal field theories with a large central charge and $$ \hat{\mathfrak{u}}{(1)}_k $$ u ̂ 1 k Kac-Moody symmetry used in our calculations, namely the factorization of the Hilbert space into a gravitational Virasoro sector with large central charge, and a $$ \hat{\mathfrak{u}}{(1)}_k $$ u ̂ 1 k Kac-Moody sector.

More on the weak gravity conjecture via convexity of charged operators

The Weak Gravity Conjecture has recently been re-formulated in terms of a particle with non-negative self-binding energy. Because of the dual conformal field theory (CFT) formulation in the anti-de Sitter space, the conformal dimension ∆(Q) of the lowest-dimension operator with charge Q under some global U(1) symmetry must be a convex function of Q. This property has been conjectured to hold for any (unitary) conformal field theory and generalized to larger global symmetry groups. Here we refine and further test the convex charge conjecture via semiclassical computations for fixed charge sectors of different theories in various dimensions. We analyze the convexity properties of the leading and next-to-leading order terms stemming from the semiclassical computation, de facto, extending previous tests beyond the leading perturbative contributions and to arbitrary charges. In particular, the leading contribution is sufficient to test convexity in the semiclassical computations. We also consider intriguing cases in which the models feature a transition from real to complex conformal dimensions either as a function of the charge or number of matter fields. As a relevant example of the first kind, we investigate the O(N) model in 4 + ϵ dimensions. As an example of the second type, we consider the U(N) × U(M) model in 4 − ϵ dimensions. Both models display a rich dynamics where, by changing the number of matter fields and/or charge, one can achieve dramatically different physical regimes. We discover that whenever a complex conformal dimension appears, the real part satisfies the convexity property.

The spectrum of marginally-deformed $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 CFTs with AdS4 S-fold duals of type IIB

A holographic duality was recently established between an $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 non-geometric AdS4 solution of type IIB supergravity in the so-called S-fold class, and a three- dimensional conformal field theory (CFT) defined as a limit of $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 super-Yang-Mills at an interface. Using gauged supergravity, the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 conformal manifold (CM) of this CFT has been assessed to be two-dimensional. Here, we holographically characterise the large-N operator spectrum of the marginally-deformed CFT. We do this by, firstly, providing the algebraic structure of the complete Kaluza-Klein (KK) spectrum on the associated two-parameter family of AdS4 solutions. And, secondly, by computing the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 super-multiplet dimensions at the first few KK levels on a lattice in the CM, using new exceptional field theory techniques. Our KK analysis also allows us to establish that, at least at large N, this $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 CM is topologically a non-compact cylindrical Riemann surface bounded on only one side.

The entanglement entropy of typical pure states and replica wormholes

In a 1+1 dimensional QFT on a circle, we consider the von Neumann entanglement entropy of an interval for typical pure states. As a function of the interval size, we expect a Page curve in the entropy. We employ a specific ensemble average of pure states, and show how to write the ensemble-averaged Rényi entropy as a path integral on a singular replicated geometry. Assuming that the QFT is a conformal field theory with a gravitational dual, we then use the holographic dictionary to obtain the Page curve. For short intervals the thermal saddle is dominant. For large intervals (larger than half of the circle size), the dominant saddle connects the replicas in a non-trivial way using the singular boundary geometry. The result extends the ‘island conjecture’ to a non-evaporating setting.