Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: Even for holographic theories that obey boundary causality, the full bulk Lorentzian path integral includes metrics that violate this condition. This leads to the following puzzle: the commutator of two field theory operators at space-like-separated points on the boundary must vanish. However, if these points are causally related in a bulk metric, then the bulk calculation of the commutator will be nonzero. It would appear that the integral over all metrics of this commutator must vanish exactly for holography to hold. This is puzzling since it must also be true if the commutator is multiplied by any other operator. Upon a careful treatment of boundary conditions in holography, we show how the bulk path integral leads to a natural resolution of this puzzle.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Authors: Sergio Hernández-Cuenca, Gary T. Horowitz, Gabriel Treviño, Diandian Wang
Institution: University of California, Santa Barbara
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,750
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W3134711973