In recent work (arXiv:0712.2456, arXiv:0712.2451) the energy-momentum tensor for the N=4 SYM fluid was computed up to second derivative terms using holographic methods. The aim of this note is to propose an entropy current (accurate up to second derivative terms) consistent with this energy-momentum tensor and to explicate its relation with the existing theories of relativistic hydrodynamics. In order to achieve this, we first develop a Weyl-covariant formalism which simplifies the study of conformal hydrodynamics. This naturally leads us to a proposal for the entropy current of an arbitrary conformal fluid in any spacetime (with d>3). In particular, this proposal translates into a definite expression for the entropy flux in the case of N=4 SYM fluid. We conclude this note by comparing the formalism presented here with the conventional Israel-Stewart formalism.
We study hydrodynamics of four-dimensional non-conformal holographic plasma with non-equal central charges $c\ne a$ at the ultraviolet fixed point. We compute equation of state, the speed of sound waves, transport coefficients (shear and bulk viscosities), and discuss causality. We study the asymptotic character of the hydrodynamic series for the homogeneous and isotropic expansion of the plasma. We perform computations for finite $c-a\ne 0$, but to leading nonvanishing order in the conformal symmetry breaking coupling.
We examine the hydrodynamic limit of non-conformal branes using the recently developed precise holographic dictionary. We first streamline the discussion of holography for backgrounds that asymptote locally to non-conformal brane solutions by showing that all such solutions can be obtained from higher dimensional asymptotically locally AdS solutions by suitable dimensional reduction and continuation in the dimension. As a consequence, many holographic results for such backgrounds follow from the corresponding results of the Asymptotically AdS case. In particular, the hydrodynamics of non-confo…
We study the effect of conformal anomalies on the hydrodynamic description of conformal field theories in even spacetime dimensions. We consider equilibrium curved backgrounds characterized by a time-like Killing vector and construct a local low energy effective action that captures the conformal anomalies. Using as a special background the Rindler spacetime we derive a formula for the anomaly effect on the hydrodynamic pressure. We find that this anomalous effect is only due to the Euler central charge.
We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to study first-order relativistic viscous magneto-hydrodynamics of (2+1) dimensional conformal magnetic fluids. It is shown that the first order magneto-hydrodynamics constructed following Landau and Lifshitz from the positivity of the entropy production is inconsistent. We propose additional contributions to the entropy motivated dissipative current and, correspondingly, new dissipative transport coefficients. We use the strongly coupled M2-brane plasma in external magnetic field to show that the new magneto-hydrodynamics leads to self-consistent results in t…
We embed a holographic model of an U(1) charged fluid with Galilean invariance in string theory and calculate its specific heat capacity and Prandtl number. Such theories are generated by a R-symmetry twist along a null direction of a N=1 superconformal theory. We study the hydrodynamic properties of such systems employing ideas from the fluid-gravity correspondence.
We study second-order hydrodynamic transport in strongly coupled non-conformal field theories with holographic gravity duals in asymptotically anti-de Sitter space. We first derive new Kubo formulae for five second-order transport coefficients in non-conformal fluids in $(3+1)$ dimensions. We then apply them to holographic RG flows induced by scalar operators of dimension $Δ=3$. For general background solutions of the dual bulk geometry, we find explicit expressions for the five transport coefficients at infinite coupling and show that a specific combination, $\tilde{H}=2ητ_π-2(κ-κ^*)-λ_2$, al…
We use gauge-gravity duality to compute entanglement entropy in a non-conformal background with an energy scale $Λ$. At zero temperature, we observe that entanglement entropy decreases by raising $Λ$. However, at finite temperature, we realize that both $\fracΛ{T}$ and entanglement entropy rise together. Comparing entanglement entropy of the non-conformal theory, $S_{A(N)}$, and of its conformal theory at the $UV$ limit, $ S_{A(C)}$, reveals that $S_{A(N)}$ can be larger or smaller than $S_{A(C)}$, depending on the value of $\fracΛ{T}$.
Using the proposal for holographic entanglement entropy in higher derivative gravities, we compute holographic entanglement entropy for the conformal gravity in four dimensions which turns out to be finite. However, if one subtracts the contribution of the four dimensional Gauss-Bonnet term, the corresponding entanglement entropy has a divergent term and indeed restricted to an Einstein solution of the conformal gravity, the resultant entanglement entropy is exactly the same as that in the Einstein gravity. We will also make a comment on the first law of the entanglement thermodynamics for the…
Using a uniformization map we determine the holographic entanglement entropy for states of a Warped Conformal Field Theory dual to a generic vacuum metric in AdS$_3$ gravity with Compère--Song--Strominger boundary conditions. We point out how that expression could lead to inequalities that can be interpreted as quantum energy conditions for Warped Conformal Field Theories.
We consider the hydrodynamics of relativistic conformal field theories at finite temperature and its slow motions limit, where it reduces to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The symmetries of the equations and their solutions are analyzed. We construct exact solutions with finite time singularities of one-dimensional relativistic conformal hydrodynamic motions, and use them to generate multi-dimensional solutions via special conformal transformations. These solutions, however, are shown to have no non-trivial slow motions limit. A simple non-equilibrium steady state in the form of a…
It is pointed out that the entanglement entropy of quantum fields near the horizon of a two-dimensional black hole can be derived by means of the conformal field theory. This can be done in a way analogous to the computation of the entropy of BTZ black holes. The important feature of the considered case is that the degrees of freedom of the conformal theory are states localized in the physical space-time.
The holographic interpretation of the hydrodynamic entropy current is developed for the case of hydrodynamics with a conserved charge. This is carried out within a framework developed in earlier work, which showed how to associate entropy currents with horizons in the dual geometry. The entropy current defined by the event horizon in the dual bulk geometry is calculated. It is also shown that to second order in the gradient expansion the dual geometry possesses a unique Weyl-invariant apparent horizon which also defines an admissable entropy current. At first order both currents coincide with …
We explore the behaviour of renormalized entanglement entropy in a variety of holographic models: non-conformal branes; the Witten model for QCD; UV conformal RG flows driven by explicit and spontaneous symmetry breaking and Schrödinger geometries. Focussing on slab entangling regions, we find that the renormalized entanglement entropy captures features of the previously defined entropic c-function but also captures deep IR behaviour that is not seen by the c-function. In particular, in theories with symmetry breaking, the renormalized entanglement entropy saturates for large entangling region…
We propose that the entropy of de Sitter space can be identified with the mutual entropy of a dual conformal field theory. We argue that unitary time evolution in de Sitter space restricts the total number of excited degrees of freedom to be bounded by the de Sitter entropy, and we give a CFT interpretation of this restriction. We also clarify issues arising from the fact that both de Sitter and anti de Sitter have dual descriptions in terms of conformal field theory.
We conjecture an equality between (1) the entropy associated with a Janus interface in a 4d N=2 superconformal field theory and (2) Calabi's diastasis, a particular combination of analytically continued Kahler potentials, on the conformal manifold (moduli space) of the 4d theory.
We consider a conformal field theory in two dimensions in which an external perturbation is placed. We study the energy flux and entanglement entropy for one, two and multiple intervals and give a suggestion relating the two in some cases. We show that both the energy flux and the entanglement entropy exhibit a light-cone singularity which strongly depends on the regularization we choose.
We present a generating functional which describes the equilibrium thermodynamic response of a relativistic system to external sources. A variational principle gives rise to constraints on the response parameters of relativistic hydrodynamics without making use of an entropy current. Our method reproduces and extends results available in the literature. It also provides a technique for efficiently computing n-point zero-frequency hydrodynamic correlation functions without the need to solve the equations of hydrodynamics.
We study holographic entanglement entropy for certain logarithmic conformal field theories by making use of their gravity descriptions. The corresponding gravity descriptions are provided by higher derivative gravity at critical points where the equations of motion degenerate leading to a log gravity. When the central charge of the dual theory is zero, the entanglement entropy has a new divergent term whose coefficient is given by the new anomaly of the logarithmic conformal field theory.
The very near horizon regions of nonextremal black holes have a conformal symmetry which is anomalous and spontaneously broken by the Rindler vacuum. Therefore, these black holes can effectively be described by the pseudo Goldstone bosons of conformal symmetry and their Schwarzian action which is determined by the breakdown of the conformal symmetry to $SL(2)$. In Euclidean gravity, the Schwarzian action leads to the Wald entropy of nonextremal black holes. These results are consistent with the neutral limit of near extremal charged black holes described by near $AdS_2$ space--times.
The role of conformal anomaly in AdS/CFT and related issues is clarified. The comparison of holographic and QFT conformal anomalies (with account of brane quantum gravity contribution) indicates on the possibility for brane quantum gravity to occur within AdS/CFT set-up. 3d quantum induced inflationary (or hyperbolic) brane-world is shown to be realized in frames of AdS3/CFT2 correspondence where the role of 2d brane cosmological constant is played by effective tension due to two-dimensional conformal anomaly. The dynamical equations to describe 4d FRW-Universe with account of quantum effects …
We consider perturbation defects obtained by perturbing a 2D conformal field theory (CFT) by a relevant operator on a half-plane. If the perturbed bulk theory flows to an infrared fixed point described by another CFT, the defect flows to a conformal defect between the ultraviolet and infrared fixed point CFTs. For short bulk renormalization group flows connecting two fixed points which are close in theory space we find a universal perturbative formula for the boundary entropy of the corresponding conformal perturbation defect. We compare the value of the boundary entropy that our formula gives…
In the Einestein-dilaton theory with a Liouville potential parameterized by $η$, we find a Schwarzschild-type black hole solution. This black hole solution, whose asymptotic geometry is described by the warped metric, is thermodynamically stable only for $0 \le η< 2$. Applying the gauge/gravity duality, we find that the dual gauge theory represents a non-conformal thermal system with the equation of state depending on $η$. After turning on the bulk vector fluctuations with and without a dilaton coupling, we calculate the charge diffusion constant, which indicates that the life time of the quas…
The subject of relativistic hydrodynamics is explored using the tools of gauge/gravity duality. A brief literature review of AdS/CFT and gauge/gravity duality is presented first. This is followed by a pedagogical introduction to the use of these methods in determining hydrodynamic dispersion relations, $w(q)$, of perturbations in a strongly coupled fluid. Shear and sound mode perturbations are examined in a special class of gravity duals: those where the matter supporting the metric is scalar in nature. Analytical solutions (to order $q^4$ and $q^3$ respectively) for the shear and sound mode d…
In a recent letter, Carlip proposed a generalization of the Brown-Henneaux-Strominger construction to any dimension. We present two criticisms about his formulation.
Spacetime boundaries with canonical Neuman or Dirichlet conditions preserve conformal invarience, but "mixed" boundary conditions which interpolate linearly between them can break conformal symmetry and generate interesting Renormalization Group flows even when a theory is free, providing soluble models with nontrivial scale dependence. We compute the (Rindler) entanglement entropy for a free scalar field with mixed boundary conditions in half Minkowski space and in Anti-de Sitter space. In the latter case we also compute an additional geometric contribution, which according to a recent propos…
The conformal weights of spherical twist operators at non--zero (Euclidean) chemical potential are computed for free Dirac fields in arbitrary dimensions. An image technique, equivalent to replicas, is again used to obtain the $n$--fold cover quantities. The proof of a conjecture made by Bueno, Myers and Witczac--Krempa regarding the relation between the conformal weights and a corner coefficient in the Rényi entropy, given before for scalar fields, is extended to the fermion case. The variation of the weights with chemical potential indicates phase changes.
We show that the entropy of extremal $D=4$ Reissner--Nordstrom black holes can be computed from horizon CFTs with central charges and conformal weights fixed by the dimensionless Rindler energy. This is possible in the simultaneous extremal and near horizon limit of the black hole which takes the geometry to an $AdS_2$ Rindler space with finite temperature. The CFT description of dilatonic $AdS_2$ black holes, obtained from extremal ones by dimensional reduction, lead to exactly the same CFT states.
In this paper we will present in more detail a construction using Wilson lines and the corresponding dual Galilean conformal field theory calculations for analytically determining holographic entanglement entropy for flat space in $2+1$ dimensions first presented in hep-th/1410.4089. In addition we will show how the construction using Wilson lines can be expanded to flat space higher-spin theories and determine the thermal entropy of (spin-3 charged) flat space cosmologies using this approach.
We consider conformal blocks of two heavy operators and an arbitrary number of light operators in a (1+1)-d CFT with large central charge. Using the monodromy method, these higher-point conformal blocks are shown to factorize into products of 4-point conformal blocks in the heavy-light limit for a class of OPE channels. This result is reproduced by considering suitable worldline configurations in the bulk conical defect geometry. We apply the CFT results to calculate the entanglement entropy of an arbitrary number of disjoint intervals for heavy states. The corresponding holographic entangleme…
We obtain the reflected entropy for bipartite states in a class of $(1+1)$-dimensional Galilean conformal field theories ($GCFT_{1+1}$) through a replica technique. Furthermore we compare our results with the entanglement wedge cross section (EWCS) obtained for the dual (2+1) dimensional asymptotically flat geometries in the context of flat holography. We find that our results are consistent with the duality between the reflected entropy and the bulk EWCS for flat holographic scenarios.
We study corner contributions to holographic entanglement entropy in non-conformal backgrounds: a kink for D2-branes as well as a cone and two different types of crease for D4-branes. Unlike 2+1-dimensional CFTs, the corner contribution to the holographic entanglement entropy of D2-branes exhibits a power law behaviour rather than a logarithmic term. However, the logarithmic term emerges in the holographic entanglement entropy of D4-branes. We identify the logarithmic term for a cone in D4-brane background as the universal contribution under appropriate limits and compare it with other physica…
We show that microscopic black hole entropy formula based on Virasoro algebra can be derived from usual properties of stationary Killing horizons alone and absence of singularities of curvature invariants on them. In such a way some usual additional assumptions are shown to be fulfilled. In addition, for all quantities power expansion near horizon and thus explicit insight of the limiting procedure is given. More important the near horizon conformal symmetry proposed by Carlip together with its consequences on microscopic entropy is given a clear geometric origin.
In this work we study wave propagation in dissipative relativistic fluids described by a simplified set of the 2nd order viscous conformal hydrodynamic equations. Small amplitude waves are studied within the linearization approximation while waves with large amplitude are investigated using the reductive perturbation method. Our results indicate the presence of a "soliton-like" wave solution in 2nd order conformal hydrodynamics despite the presence of dissipation and relaxation effects.
We show that the recently constructed holographic duals of conformal non-relativistic theories behave hydrodynamically at long distances, and construct the gravitational dual of fluid flows in a long-wavelength approximation. We compute the thermal conductivity of the holographic conformal non-relativistic fluid. The corresponding Prandtl number is equal to one.
The odd entanglement entropy (OEE) for bipartite states in a class of $(1+1)$-dimensional Galilean conformal field theories ($GCFT_{1+1}$) is obtained through an appropriate replica technique. In this context our results are compared with the entanglement wedge cross section (EWCS) for $(2+1)$-dimensional asymptotically flat geometries dual to the $GCFT_{1+1}$ in the framework of flat holography. We find that our results are consistent with the duality of the difference between the odd entanglement entropy and the entanglement entropy of bipartite states, with the bulk EWCS for flat holographi…
We study Abelian Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory in three-dimensional $AdS$ black hole backgrounds for both integer and non-integer Chern-Simons coupling. Such theories can be derived from various string theory constructions, which we review in the present work. In particular we find exact solutions in the low frequency, low momentum limit, $ω, k \ll T$(hydrodynamic limit). Using the holographic principle, we translate our results into correlation functions of vector and scalar operators in the dual strongly coupled 1+1-dimensional quantum field theory with a chiral anomaly at non-zero temperature…
We propose a field theoretic framework for calculating the dependence of Rényi entropies on the shape of the entangling surface in a conformal field theory. Our approach rests on regarding the corresponding twist operator as a conformal defect and in particular, we define the displacement operator which implements small local deformations of the entangling surface. We identify a simple constraint between the coefficient defining the two-point function of the displacement operator and the conformal weight of the twist operator, which consolidates a number of distinct conjectures on the shape de…
Renyi entropy and central charge, $C_T$, are calculated for a coexact p--form on an even sphere with particular reference to the conformally invariant case. It is shown, for example, that the entanglement entropy is minus the standard conformal anomaly with no `shift' being required. The shift necessary for a conformal p--form, when using a hyperbolic technique, is predicted, on a numerical basis, to be (minus) the entanglement entropy of a conformal (p-1)-form. The central charges agree numerically with a general formula of Buchel {\it et al}.
Following [arXiv:1202.5935 [hep-th]] and [arXiv:1212.4328 [hep-th]], we study non-conformal brane plane wave backgrounds dual to strongly coupled gauge theories with constant energy flux and holographic entanglement entropy for strip subsystems in them. We find that for the strip direction along the direction of the energy flux, the finite cutoff-independent part of entanglement entropy can be estimated in terms of a dimensionless combination of the energy density and the strip dimensions, alongwith an effective scale-dependent number of degrees of freedom. For the strip orthogonal to the flux…
We present string-theory derivation of the semiclassical entropy of extremal dyonic black holes in the approach based on conformal sigma model (NS-NS embedding of the classical solution). We demonstrate (resolving some puzzles existed in previous related discussions) that the degeneracy responsible for the entropy is due to string oscillations in four transverse dimensions `intrinsic' to black hole: four non-compact directions of the D=5 black hole and three non-compact and one compact (responsible for embedding of magnetic charges) dimensions in the D=4 black hole case. Oscillations in other …
We establish the relation of partition functions of conformal higher spin fields on Weyl equivalent spaces in $d=4$ dimension. We express the partition function of Weyl graviton and conformal higher spin fields as an integral over characters on $S^1\times AdS_3$, $S^4$, and $AdS_4$. We observe that the partition function of conformal higher spins on hyperbolic cylinders differs from the partition function on $S^4$ by the `edge' contribution. The logarithmic coefficient obtained from the character integral of the partition function of conformal higher spins on $AdS_4$ is the half of that obtain…
An entanglement Renyi entropy for a spatial partition of a system is studied in conformal theories which admit a dual description in terms of an anti-de Sitter gravity. The divergent part of the Renyi entropy is computed in 4D conformal N=4 super Yang-Mills theory at a weak coupling. This result is used to suggest a holographic formula which reproduces the Renyi entropy at least in the leading approximation. The holographic Renyi entropy is an invariant functional set on a codimension 2 minimal hypersurface in the bulk geometry. The bulk space does not depend on order $n$ of the Renyi entropy.…
We present some exact solutions of relativistic second-order hydrodynamic equations in theories with conformal symmetry. Starting from a spherically expanding solution in ideal hydrodynamics, we take into account general conformal second-order corrections, and construct, for the first time, fully analytical axisymmetric exact solutions including the case with nonzero vorticity. These solutions are time-reversible despite having a nonvanishing shear stress tensor and provide a useful quantitative measure of the second-order effects in relativistic hydrodynamics.
We study the ratio of the entropy to the total energy in conformal field theories at finite temperature. For the free field realizations of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory in D=4 and the (2,0) tensor multiplet in D=6, the ratio is bounded from above. The corresponding bounds are less stringent than the recently proposed Verlinde bound. For strongly coupled CFTs with AdS duals, we show that the ratio obeys the Verlinde bound even in the presence of rotation. For such CFTs, we point out an intriguing resemblance in their thermodynamic formulas with the corresponding ones of two-dimensional CFTs. The…
Standard textbooks will state that hydrodynamics requires near-equilibrium to be applicable. Recently, however, out-of-equilibrium attractor solutions for hydrodynamics have been found in kinetic theory and holography in systems with a high degree of symmetry, suggesting the possibility of a genuine out-of-equilibrium formulation of hydrodynamics. This work demonstrates that attractor solutions also occur in non-conformal kinetic theory and spatially non-homogeneous systems, potentially having important implications for the interpretation of experimental data in heavy-ion and proton-proton col…
In this work the TFD formalism is explored in order to study a dissipative time-dependent thermal vacuum. This state is a consequence of a particular interaction between two theories, which can be interpreted as two conformal theories defined at the two asymptotic boundaries of an AdS black hole. The initial state is prepared to be the equilibrium TFD thermal vacuum. The interaction causes dissipation from the point of view of observers who measure observables in one of the boundaries. We show that the vacuum evolves as an entangled state at finite temperature and the dissipative dynamics is c…
In this thesis the research work, done by the author in the three years of his Ph.D. study, will be exposed. The role of two dimensional conformal field theories will be discussed. Different approaches will be studied in order to find a classical central charge in the Poisson algebra of the symmetry generators. In this way one can compute the black hole entropy using the Cardy formula. Being the central charge classical the computation is independent from a specific model of quantum theory of gravity. It will be shown eventually that the microscopic degrees of freedom of the black hole can be …
We consider second-order viscous hydrodynamics in conformal field theories at finite temperature. We show that conformal invariance imposes powerful constraints on the form of the second-order corrections. By matching to the AdS/CFT calculations of correlators, and to recent results for Bjorken flow obtained by Heller and Janik, we find three (out of five) second-order transport coefficients in the strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. We also discuss how these new coefficents can arise within the kinetic theory of weakly coupled conformal plasmas. We point out that the Muelle…
In this paper we present the details of our previous work on exact solutions in second-order conformal hydrodynamics together with a number of new solutions found by mapping Minkowski space onto various curved spacetimes such as anti-de Sitter space and hyperbolic space. We analytically show how the solutions of ideal hydrodynamics are modified by the second-order effects including vorticity. We also find novel boost-invariant exact solutions which exist only in second-order hydrodynamics and have an unusual dependence on the proper time.
We show how to generate non-trivial solutions to the conformally invariant, relativistic fluid dynamic equations by appealing to the Weyl covariance of the stress tensor. We use this technique to show that a recently studied solution of the relativistic conformally invariant Navier-Stokes equations in four-dimensional Minkowski space can be recast as a static flow in three-dimensional de Sitter space times a line. The simplicity of the de Sitter form of the flow enables us to consider several generalizations of it, including flows in other spacetime dimensions, second order viscous corrections…
We generalize the Noether current method proposed by Majhi and Padmanabhan recently to $f(R)$ gravity and conformal gravity and analyze the near horizon symmetry of black holes in these models. It is shown that the entropy obtained with Cardy's formula agrees with Wald entropy.
Asymptotic symmetry of the Euclidean 3D gravity with torsion is described by two independent Virasoro algebras with different central charges. Elements of this boundary conformal structure are combined with Cardy's formula to calculate the black hole entropy.
Near an event horizon, the action of general relativity acquires a new asymptotic conformal symmetry. Using two-dimensional dilaton gravity as a test case, I show that this symmetry results in a chiral Virasoro algebra with a calculable classical central charge, and that Cardy's formula for the density of states reproduces the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. This result lends support to the notion that the universal nature of black hole entropy is controlled by conformal symmetry near the horizon.
Motivated by the analogy proposed by Witten between Chern-Simons and Conformal Field Theories, we explore an alternative way of computing the entropy of a black hole starting from the isolated horizon framework in Loop Quantum Gravity. The consistency of the result opens a window for the interplay between Conformal Field Theory and the description of black holes in Loop Quantum Gravity.
We show that relativistic hydrodynamics in Minkowski space-time has intrinsic ambiguity in second order viscosity parameters in the Landau-Lifshitz frame. This stems from the possibility of improvements of energy-momentum tensor. There exist at least two viscosity parameters which can be removed by using this ambiguity in scale invariant hydrodynamics in (1+3) dimension, and seemingly non-conformal hydrodynamic theories can be hiddenly conformal invariant.
