Perturbative search for dead-end CFTs

To explore the possibility of self-organized criticality, we look for CFTs without any relevant scalar deformations (a.k.a. dead-end CFTs) within power-counting renormalizable quantum field theories with a weakly coupled Lagrangian description. In three dimensions, the only candidates are pure (Abelian) gauge theories, which may be further deformed by Chern-Simons terms. In four dimensions, we show that there are infinitely many non-trivial candidates based on chiral gauge theories. Using the three-loop beta functions, we compute the gap of scaling dimensions above the marginal value, and it can be as small as O 1 0 − 5 $$\mathcal{O}\left(1{0}^{-5}\right)$$ and robust against the perturbative corrections. These classes of candidates are very weakly coupled and our perturbative conclusion seems difficult to refute. Thus, the hypothesis that non-trivial dead-end CFTs do not exist is likely to be false in four dimensions

Holographic quantum error-correcting codes: toy models for the bulk/boundary correspondence

We propose a family of exactly solvable toy models for the AdS/CFT correspondence based on a novel construction of quantum error-correcting codes with a tensor network structure. Our building block is a special type of tensor with maximal entanglement along any bipartition, which gives rise to an isometry from the bulk Hilbert space to the boundary Hilbert space. The entire tensor network is an encoder for a quantum error-correcting code, where the bulk and boundary degrees of freedom may be identified as logical and physical degrees of freedom respectively. These models capture key features of entanglement in the AdS/CFT correspondence; in particular, the Ryu-Takayanagi formula and the negativity of tripartite information are obeyed exactly in many cases. That bulk logical operators can be represented on multiple boundary regions mimics the Rindlerwedge reconstruction of boundary operators from bulk operators, realizing explicitly the quantum error-correcting features of AdS/CFT recently proposed in [1]

New formulation of the type IIB superstring action in AdS 5 × S 5

Previous studies of the type IIB superstring in an AdS 5 × S 5 background are based on a description of the superspace geometry as the quotient space PSU(2 , 2|4) / SO(4 , 1) × SO(5). This paper develops an alternative approach in which the Grassmann coordinates provide a nonlinear realization of PSU(2 , 2|4) based on the quotient space PSU(2 , 2|4) / SU(2 , 2) × SU(4), and the bosonic coordinates are described as a submanifold of SU(2 , 2) × SU(4). This formulation keeps all bosonic symmetries manifest, and it provides the complete dependence on the Grassmann coordinates in terms of simple analytic expressions. It is used to construct the superstring world-sheet action in a form in which the PSU(2 , 2|4) symmetry is manifest and kappa symmetry can be established. This formulation might have some advantages compared to previous ones, but this remains to be demonstrated

Small field inflation and the spectral index

It is sometimes stated that ns = 0.98 in hybrid inflation; sometimes that it predicts ns > 1. A number of authors have consider aspects of Planck scale corrections and argued that they affect these predictions. Here we consider these systematically, describing the situations which can yield ns = 0.96, and the extent to which this result requires additional tuning

Yukawa bound states of a large number of fermions

We consider the bound state problem for a field theory that contains a Dirac fermion χ that Yukawa couples to a (light) scalar field ϕ . We are interested in bound states with a large number N of χ particles. A Fermi gas model is used to numerically determine the dependence of the radius R of these bound states on N and also the dependence of the binding energy on N . Since scalar interactions with relativistic χ ’s are suppressed two regimes emerge. For modest values of N the state is composed of non-relativistic χ particles. In this regime as N increases R decreases. Eventually the core region becomes relativistic and the size of the state starts to increase as N increases. As a result, for fixed Yukawa coupling and χ mass, there is a minimum sized state that occurs roughly at the value of N where the core region first becomes relativistic. We also compute an elastic scattering form factor that can be relevant for direct detection if the dark matter is composed of such χ particles

Relativeness in quantum gravity: limitations and frame dependence of semiclassical descriptions

Consistency between quantum mechanical and general relativistic views of the world is a longstanding problem, which becomes particularly prominent in black hole physics. We develop a coherent picture addressing this issue by studying the quantum mechanics of an evolving black hole. After interpreting the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy as the entropy representing the degrees of freedom that are coarse-grained to obtain a semiclassical description from the microscopic theory of quantum gravity, we discuss the properties these degrees of freedom exhibit when viewed from the semiclassical standpoint. We are led to the conclusion that they show features which we call extreme relativeness and spacetime-matter duality — a nontrivial reference frame dependence of their spacetime distribution and the dual roles they play as the “constituents” of spacetime and as thermal radiation. We describe black hole formation and evaporation processes in distant and infalling reference frames, showing that these two properties allow us to avoid the arguments for firewalls and to make the existence of the black hole interior consistent with unitary evolution in the sense of complementarity. Our analysis provides a concrete answer to how information can be preserved at the quantum level throughout the evolution of a black hole, and gives a basic picture of how general coordinate transformations may work at the level of full quantum gravity beyond the approximation of semiclassical theory

The weak scale from BBN

The measured values of the weak scale, v , and the first generation masses, m u , d , e , are simultaneously explained in the multiverse, with all these parameters scanning independently. At the same time, several remarkable coincidences are understood. Small variations in these parameters away from their measured values lead to the instability of hydrogen, the instability of heavy nuclei, and either a hydrogen or a helium dominated universe from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. In the 4d parameter space of ( m u , m d , m e , v ), catastrophic boundaries are reached by separately increasing each parameter above its measured value by a factor of (1.4, 1.3, 2.5, ∼ 5), respectively. The fine-tuning problem of the weak scale in the Standard Model is solved: as v is increased beyond the observed value, it is impossible to maintain a significant cosmological hydrogen abundance for any values of m u , d , e that yield both hydrogen and heavy nuclei stability

Entanglement entropy: a perturbative calculation

We provide a framework for a perturbative evaluation of the reduced density matrix. The method is based on a path integral in the analytically continued spacetime. It suggests an alternative to the holographic and ‘standard’ replica trick calculations of entanglement entropy. We implement this method within solvable field theory examples to evaluate leading order corrections induced by small perturbations in the geometry of the background and entangling surface. Our findings are in accord with Solodukhin’s formula for the universal term of entanglement entropy for four dimensional CFTs

Supernova cooling in a dark matter smog

A light hidden gauge boson with kinetic mixing with the usual photon is a popular setup in theories of dark matter. The supernova cooling via radiating the hidden boson is known to put an important constraint on the mixing. I consider the possible role dark matter, which under reasonable assumptions naturally exists inside supernova, can play in the cooling picture. Because the interaction between the hidden gauge boson and DM is likely unsuppressed, even a small number of dark matter compared to protons inside the supernova could dramatically shorten the free streaming length of the hidden boson. A picture of a dark matter ``smog'' inside the supernova, which substantially relaxes the cooling constraint, is discussed in detail

Infrared consistency and the weak gravity conjecture

The weak gravity conjecture (WGC) asserts that an Abelian gauge theory coupled to gravity is inconsistent unless it contains a particle of charge q and mass m such that q ≥ m/m Pl . This criterion is obeyed by all known ultraviolet completions and is needed to evade pathologies from stable black hole remnants. In this paper, we explore the WGC from the perspective of low-energy effective field theory. Below the charged particle threshold, the effective action describes a photon and graviton interacting via higher-dimension operators. We derive infrared consistency conditions on the parameters of the effective action using i ) analyticity of light-by-light scattering, ii ) unitarity of the dynamics of an arbitrary ultraviolet completion, and iii ) absence of superluminality and causality violation in certain non-trivial backgrounds. For convenience, we begin our analysis in three spacetime dimensions, where gravity is non-dynamical but has a physical effect on photon-photon interactions. We then consider four dimensions, where propagating gravity substantially complicates all of our arguments, but bounds can still be derived. Operators in the effective action arise from two types of diagrams: those that involve electromagnetic interactions (parameterized by a charge-to-mass ratio q/m ) and those that do not (parameterized by a coefficient γ). Infrared consistency implies that q/m is bounded from below for small γ