We explain how all information about ambient component field spin assignments in higher-dimensional off-shell supersymmetry is accessibly coded in one-dimensional restrictions, known as shadows. We also explain how to determine whether the components of a given one-dimensional supermultiplet may assemble into representations of $\spin(1,D-1)$ and, if so, how to specifically determine those representations.
These notes were prepared for the introductory lectures on Higher Spin Holography presented at the Twelfth Modave Summer School in Mathematical Physics 2016, aimed at Ph.D. students and researchers new to this topic. Contents: 1. Higher spin particles in AdS 2. The AdS/CFT correspondence and higher spins 3. The ambient space formalism 4. Witten diagrams for higher spin fields / higher spin interactions from CFT
We study the holographic principle of the two-point function in the case of a spinning string in the AdS/CFT correspondence. Following the general method proposed by Yoneya et al. for the bulk-boundary correspondence in the large $J$ limit, we study the spinning string solution which starts and ends at the boundary. We then show that the spinning string solution directly gives a two-point function that is consistent with the spin chain picture in gauge theory.
A new family of higher spin algebras that arises upon restricting matrix extensions of $\mathfrak{shs}[λ]$ is found. We identify coset CFTs realising these symmetry algebras, and thus propose new higher spin-CFT dual pairs. These higher spin theories arise naturally as a subsector of string theory on ${\rm AdS}_3\times {\rm S}^3 \times {\rm S}^3 \times {\rm S}^1$ for specific ratios of the radii of the two spheres.
We study the chiral flat space higher-spin algebra, which is the global symmetry algebra of the chiral higher-spin theory in the 4d Minkowski space. We find that it can be constructed as the universal enveloping algebra of a certain chiral deformation of the Poincare algebra quotiented by a set of quadratic identities. These identities allow us to identify a representation of the latter algebra, which by analogy with the AdS space higher-spin holography, we interpret as the flat space singleton representation. We provide two explicit realisations of this singleton representation -- in terms of…
I review recent work on the holographic relation between higher-spin theories in Anti-de Sitter spaces and conformal field theories. I present the main results of studies concerning the higher-spin holographic dual of the three-dimensional O(N) vector model. I discuss the special role played by certain double-trace deformations in Conformal Field Theories that have higher-spin holographic duals. Using the canonical formulation I show that duality transformations in a U(1) gauge theory on AdS4 induce boundary double-trace deformations. I argue that a similar effect takes place in the holography…
We analyze cubic spin 3 interaction in AdS space using the higher spin extension of string-theoretic sigma-model constructed in our previous work, which low energy limit is described by AdS vacuum. We find that, in the leading order of the cosmological constant, the spin 3 correlator on the AdS4 string theory side reproduces the structure of 3 point function of composite operators, quadratic in free fields, in the dual vector model. The cancellation of terms violating higher spin holography is related to the value of the Liouville background charge in four dimensions.
We construct Schroedinger-like solutions of the Vasiliev higher spin theory in D>3 dimension. Symmetries of such solutions and the linearised equation of motion for the scalar on such backgrounds are analysed. We further propose Galilean invariant bosonic and fermionic field theories that could be dual to the two parity invariant higher spin theories on the Schroedinger-like background respectively. The discussion is phrased mainly in D=4 dimension, while similar constructions follow straightforwardly in higher dimensions.
We review the extrapolation of the single-particle string spectrum on AdS(5)xS(5) to the Higher Spin enhancement point and the successful comparison of the resulting spectrum with the one of single-trace gauge-invariant operators in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. We also describe how to decompose the common spectrum in terms of massless and massive representations of the relevant Higher Spin symmetry group. Based on the lecture delivered by M. Bianchi at the First Solvay Conference on Higher-Spin Gauge Theories held in Bruxelles, on May 12-14, 2004.
We prove the flat space analogue of the Flato-Fronsdal theorem. It features the flat space singleton representation suggested recently. We do that by deriving a kernel that intertwines a pair of singleton representations with massless higher-spin fields in flat space. Next, we derive two-point functions of flat space singletons, which are then used to construct two- and three-point scattering amplitudes in the dual theory of massless higher-spin fields. These amplitudes agree with amplitudes in the chiral higher-spin theory.
We argue that the N=1 higher-spin theory on AdS4 is holographically dual to the N=1 supersymmetric critical O(N) vector model in three dimensions. This appears to be a special form of the AdS/CFT correspondence in which both regular and irregular bulk modes have similar roles and their interplay leads simultaneously to both the free and the interacting phases of the boundary theory. We study various boundary conditions that correspond to boundary deformations connecting, for large-N, the free and interacting boundary theories. We point out the importance of parity in this holography and elucid…
In this paper we simplify and extend previous work on three-point functions in Vasiliev's higher spin gauge theory in AdS4. We work in a gauge in which the space-time dependence of Vasiliev's master fields is gauged away completely, leaving only the internal twistor-like variables. The correlation functions of boundary operators can be easily computed in this gauge. We find complete agreement of the tree level three point functions of higher spin currents in Vasiliev's theory with the conjectured dual free O(N) vector theory.
I concisely review the results of recent work done in collaboration with N. Beisert, H. Samtleben, and J. F. Morales, that shed some light on ``La Grande Bouffe'', the Pantagruelic Higgs mechanism whereby higher spin gauge fields in the AdS bulk eat lower spin Goldstone fields and become massive, and on its holographic implications such as the emergence of anomalous dimensions in the boundary N=4 SYM theory.
The even spin W^e_\infty algebra that is generated by the stress energy tensor together with one Virasoro primary field for every even spin s \geq 4 is analysed systematically by studying the constraints coming from the Jacobi identities. It is found that the algebra is characterised, in addition to the central charge, by one free parameter that can be identified with the self-coupling constant of the spin 4 field. We show that W^e_\infty can be thought of as the quantisation of the asymptotic symmetry algebra of the even higher spin theory on AdS_3. On the other hand, W^e_\infty is also quant…
A duality between the large N 't Hooft limit of the WD_N minimal model CFTs and a higher spin gravity theory on AdS3 is proposed. The gravity theory has massless spin fields of all even spins s=2,4,6,..., as well as two real scalar fields whose mass is determined by the 't Hooft parameter of the CFT. We show that, to leading order in the large N limit, the 1-loop partition function of the higher spin theory matches precisely with the CFT partition function.
Recent progress in holographic correspondence uncovered remarkable relations between key characteristics of the theories on both sides of duality and certain integrable models. In this note we revisit the problem of the role of certain invariants in low-dimensional holography. As motivating example we consider first the entanglement entropy in 2d CFT and projective invariants. Next we consider higher projective invariants and suggest generalization to higher spin theories. Quadratic in invariants deformations is considered and conjectured to play role in low-dimensional higher spin holography.
We study conical geometry with the maximal number of fermionic symmetry in the higher spin supergravity described by sl(N+1|N) + sl(N+1|N) Chern-Simons gauge theory. It was proposed that a three dimensional N=2 higher spin supergravity is holographically dual to the N=(2,2) CP^N Kazama-Suzuki model. Based one the duality, we find a map between conical geometries and primary states in the dual CFT. In particular, we construct geometric solutions corresponding to primary states in the RR-sector. The proposal is checked by the comparison of a few charges and by the relation between null vectors a…
We derive the propagators for higher-spin master fields in anti-de Sitter space of arbitrary dimension. A method is developed to construct the propagators directly without solving any differential equations. The use of the ambient space, where AdS is represented as a hyperboloid and its conformal boundary as a projective light-cone, simplifies the approach and makes a direct contact between boundary-to-bulk propagators and two-point functions of conserved currents.
A two-dimensional Sp($2N$) vector model with small $\mathcal{N}=4$ superconformal symmetry is formulated, and its chiral algebra is shown to be generated by superprimary fields of even conformal weight. This vector model is the large level limit of a coset theory with large $\mathcal{N}=4$, whose proposed AdS$_3$ dual is a minimal Vasiliev higher spin theory with gauge algebra generated by fields of even spin. The relation of this vector model to the symmetric product orbifold, dual to tensionless strings in AdS$_3$ $\times$ S$^3$ $\times$ $\mathbb{T}^4$, is also worked out.
We derive the spectrum of gauge invariant operators for maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories in d dimensions. After subtracting the tower of BPS multiplets, states are shown to fall into long multiplets of a hidden SO(10,2) symmetry dressed by thirty-two supercharges. Their primaries organize into a universal, i.e. d-independent pattern. The results are in perfect agreement with those following from (naive) KK reduction of type II strings on the warped AdS x S near-horizon geometry of Dp-branes.
Recently, a 2d coset model with N=3 superconformal symmetry was proposed to be holographic dual to a higher spin supergravity on AdS_3 and the relation to superstring theory was discussed. However, away from the tensionless limit, there is no higher spin symmetry and the higher spin states are massive. In this paper, we examine the deformations of the coset model which preserve N=3 superconformal symmetry, but break generic higher spin symmetry. We focus on double-trace type deformations which are dual to changes of boundary conditions for the bulk matter fields. In the bulk theory, the symmet…
We revisit the derivation of higher spin bulk theory using the renormalization group in the dual field theory. We argue that existing proposals have problems already at the level of linearized perturbations on AdS. This is due to the form of the cutoff, which must act on bilinears in the fundamental fields rather than on the fields themselves. For the light-cone collective field theory, we show that the RG produces the correct linearized perturbations. We relate this to the precursor formula of de Mello Koch, Jevicki, Jin and Rodrigues, and we also elaborate on that result. The covariant RG an…
We propose a duality between a higher spin N=1 supergravity on AdS_3 and a large N limit of a family of N=(1,1) superconformal field theories. The gravity theory is an N=1 truncation of the N=2 supergravity found by Prokushkin and Vasiliev, and the dual conformal field theory is defined by a supersymmetric coset model. We check this conjecture by comparing one loop partition functions and find agreement. Moreover, we study the symmetry of the dual coset model and in particular compute fields of the coset algebra of dimension 3/2, 2, 2 and 5/2 explicitely.
The class of 2d minimal model CFTs with higher spin AdS3 duals is extended to theories with large N=4 superconformal symmetry. We construct a higher spin theory based on the global D(2,1|alpha) superalgebra, and propose a large N family of cosets as a dual CFT description. We also indicate how a non-abelian version of this Vasiliev higher spin theory might give an alternative description of IIB string theory on an AdS3 x S3 x S3 x S1 background.
We present an interacting spin-2 gauge theory coupled to the two-dimensional dilaton-gravity in flat spacetime. The asymptotic symmetry group is enhanced to the central extension of Diff$(S^1)\ltimes C^\infty(S^1)\ltimes$Vec($S^1$) when the central element of the Heisenberg subgroup is zero (vanishing $U(1)$ level). Using the BF-formulation of the model we derive the corresponding boundary coadjoint action which is the spin-2 extension of the warped Schwarzian theory at vanishing $U(1)$ level. We also discuss the thermodynamics of black holes in this model.
In this paper we calculate the tree level three-point functions of Vasiliev's higher spin gauge theory in AdS4 and find agreement with the correlators of the free field theory of N massless scalars in three dimensions in the O(N) singlet sector. This provides substantial evidence that Vasiliev theory is dual to the free field theory, thus verifying a conjecture of Klebanov and Polyakov. We also find agreement with the critical O(N) vector model, when the bulk scalar field is subject to the alternative boundary condition such that its dual operator has classical dimension 2.
Employing the world line spinning particle picture we discuss the appearance of several different `gauges' which we use to gain a deeper explanation of the Collective/Gravity identification. We discuss transformations and algebraic equivalences between them. For a bulk identification we develop a `gauge independent' representation where all gauge constraints are eliminated. This `gauge reduction' of Higher Spin Gravity demonstrates that the physical content of 4D AdS HS theory is represented by the dynamics of an unconstrained scalar field in 6d. It is in this gauge reduced form that HS Theory…
The form of higher-spin current interactions in $AdS_4$ is derived from the full nonlinear higher-spin equations in the sector of Weyl 0-forms. The coupling constant in front of spin-one currents built from scalars and spinors as well as Yukawa coupling are determined explicitly. Couplings of all other higher-spin current interactions are determined implicitly. All couplings are shown to be independent of the phase parameter of the nonlinear higher-spin theory. The proper holographic dependence of the vertex on the higher-spin phase parameter is shown to result from the boundary conditions on …
It has been believed for a long time that the tensionless limit of superstring theory can be described by a higher spin gauge theory. Recently, a concrete realization of this idea was proposed via 3d Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis (ABJ) theory with the help of holographic duality. In this note we review our work on finding a similar relation involving 2d coset type models. We start by proposing and examining holographic dualities between 3d higher spin gauge theories with matrix valued fields and the large N limit of 2d coset type models. After that we discuss possible relations to superstring theor…
We study the importance of spin structures as defining data for 11d supergravity backgrounds of the form AdS$_4\times S^7/\mathbf{Z}_k$ with a free orbifold action. For a generic choice of the orbifold action, there is only one spin structure that preserves invariant Killing spinors. There are, however, orbifold actions that allow for more than one spin structure with preserved Killing spinors. In these cases the two different spin structures should lead to distinct holographically dual 3d SCFTs with different amounts of supersymmetry. We illustrate this phenomenon by studying the KK spectrum …
In this talk, we present some direct evidences of the Higher Spin/Vector Model correspondence. There are two particular examples we would like to address on. The first example concerns a constructive approach of four dimensional higher spin theory from 3d O(N) vector model based on a bi-local formulation. These bi-local fields are seen to give a bulk description of the higher spin theory with extra dimension and interactions. The second example is a similar AdS_3/CFT_2 duality put forward by Gaberdiel and Gopakumar. Specifically, we are interested in black hole solutions carrying nonzero highe…
This dissertation consists of three parts. The first part of the thesis is devoted to the study of gravity and higher spin gauge theories in 2+1 dimensions. The first part deals with cosmological solutions of spin-3 gravity and their thermodynamics, flat space limit of AdS$_3$ gravity and higher spins using Grassmann approach and chiral higher spin solutions with the most general AdS$_3$ boundary condition. The second part is devoted to the problem of Neumann boundary condition in Einstein's gravity. We present an explicit boundary term that makes the Neumann variational problem well posed and…
We examine three point functions with two scalar operators and a higher spin current in 2d W_N minimal model to the next non-trivial order in 1/N expansion. The minimal model was proposed to be dual to a 3d higher spin gauge theory, and 1/N corrections should be interpreted as quantum effects in the dual gravity theory. We develop a simple and systematic method to obtain three point functions by decomposing four point functions of scalar operators with Virasoro conformal blocks. Applying the method, we reproduce known results at the leading order in 1/N and obtain new ones at the next leading …
In this article we study the algebra generated by the holographically reconstructed cubic couplings for the type A minimal bosonic higher-spin theory on AdS$_{d+1}$, which were recently extracted from the free scalar $O(N)$ model. We demonstrate that it is equal to the unique higher-spin algebra for bosonic totally symmetric higher-spin fields in generic dimensions. This provides an explicit check of the holographic reconstruction and of the duality between higher-spin theories and the free $O(N)$ model in general dimensions, extending the result of Giombi and Yin in AdS$_4$. For completeness,…
We study the correlators of the 2d W_N minimal model in the semiclassical regime with large central charge from bulk viewpoint by utilizing open Wilson lines in sl(N) Chern-Simons gauge theory. We extend previous works for the tree level of bulk theory to incorporate loop corrections in this paper. We offer a way to regularize divergences associated with loop diagrams such that three point functions with two scalars and a higher spin current agree with the values fixed by the boundary W_N symmetry. With the prescription, we reproduce the conformal weight of the operator corresponding to a bulk…
We propose a holographic duality between a higher spin AdS_3 gravity with so(p) extended supersymmetry and a large N limit of a 2-dimensional Grassmannian-like model with a specific critical level k=N and a non-diagonal modular invariant. As evidence, we show the match of one-loop partition functions. Moreover, we construct symmetry generators of the coset model for low spins which are dual to gauge fields in the supergravity. Further, we discuss a possible relation to superstring theory by noticing an N=3 supersymmetry of critical level model at finite k,N. In particular, we examine BPS state…
We consider linearised Vasiliev's equations around the background AdS field in three dimensions for the scalar-scalar-higher spin field correlation function. Relating this with the higher spin field determined in the metric formulation allows determination of the corresponding coupling coefficient. The result agrees with the analogous computation for the spin three field.
The conjectured holographic duality between vector models with quartic interaction and higher-spin field theory in the bulk is reviewed, with emphasis on some versions and generalisations (higher dimensions, beyond the singlet sector, etc) which have not been much investigated yet. The strongest form of the conjecture assumes that it holds for any (not necessarily large) number of massless scalar fields and for any value of the coupling constant. Since the quartic interaction is of double-trace type, the exact duality (for any value of the coupling constant) automatically follows from its vali…
We propose holographic dualities between higher spin gravity theories extended with Chan-Paton factor on AdS_3 and a large N limit of two dimensional Grassmannian models with and without supersymmetry. These proposals are natural extensions of the duality without Chan-Paton factor, and the extensions are motivated by a higher dimensional version of the duality, which implies a possible relation to superstring theory via ABJ theory. As evidence for the proposals, we show that the free limit of the Grassmannian models have the higher spin symmetry expected from the dual gravity theory. Furthermo…
We study the functional class and locality problems in the context of higher-spin theories and Vasiliev's equations. A locality criterion that is sufficient to make higher-spin theories well-defined as field theories on Anti-de-Sitter space is proposed. This criterion identifies admissible pseudo-local field redefinitions which preserve AdS/CFT correlation functions as we check in the 3d example. Implications of this analysis for known higher-spin theories are discussed. We also check that the cubic coupling coefficients previously fixed in 3d at the action level give the correct CFT correlati…
We take the first steps towards non-AdS holography in higher spin gravity. Namely, we propose a variational principle for generic 3-dimensional higher spin gravity that accommodates asymptotic backgrounds beyond AdS, like asymptotically Schrodinger, Lifshitz or warped AdS spacetimes. As examples we study in some detail the four sl(2) embeddings of spin-4 gravity and provide associated geometries, including an asymptotic Lifshitz black hole.
We review recent progress towards the understanding of higher spin gauge symmetry breaking in AdS space from a holographic vantage point. According to the AdS/CFT correspondence, N=4 SYM theory at vanishing coupling constant should be dual to a theory in AdS which exhibits higher spin gauge symmetry enhancement. When the SYM coupling is non-zero, all but a handful of HS currents are violated by anomalies, and correspondingly local higher spin symmetry in the bulk gets spontaneously broken. In agreement with previous results and holographic expectations, we find that, barring one notable except…
The 16 higher spin currents with spins (1, 3/2, 3/2, 2), (3/2, 2, 2, 5/2), (3/2, 2, 2, 5/2) and (2, 5/2, 5/2, 3) in an extension of large N=4 `nonlinear' superconformal algebra in two dimensions were obtained previously. By analyzing the zero mode eigenvalue equations carefully, the three point functions of bosonic (higher spin) currents with two scalars for any finite N (where SU(N+2) is the group of coset) and k (the level of spin-1 Kac Moody current) are obtained. Furthermore, the 16 higher spin currents with above spin contents in an extension of large N=4 `linear' superconformal algebra a…
The proposed duality between Vasiliev's supersymmetric higher spin theory on AdS3 and the 't Hooft limit of the 2d superconformal Kazama-Suzuki models is analysed in detail. In particular, we show that the partition functions of the two theories agree in the large N limit.
We present a way to include impurities in AdS/CFT correspondence, in view of its application to condensed matter physics. Examples of these are the current impurity and spin impurity. We calculate electric conductivity and spin susceptibility of holographic superconductors, with doping of density/spin impurities.
We aim at formulating a higher-spin gravity theory around AdS$_2$ relevant for holography. As a first step, we investigate its kinematics by identifying the low-dimensional cousins of the standard higher-dimensional structures in higher-spin gravity such as the singleton, the higher-spin symmetry algebra, the higher-rank gauge and matter fields, etc. In particular, the higher-spin algebra is given here by $hs[λ]$ and parameterized by a real parameter $λ$. The singleton is defined to be a Verma module of the AdS$_2$ isometry subalgebra $so(2,1) \subset hs[λ]$ with conformal weight $Δ= \frac{1\p…
Is it possible for an anisotropic Lifshitz critical point to actually exhibit isotropic conformal invariance? We answer this question in the affirmative by constructing a concrete holographic realization. We study three-dimensional spin-3 higher-spin gauge theory with a z=2 Lifshitz ground state with non-trivial spin-3 background. We provide consistent boundary conditions and determine the associated asymptotic symmetry algebra. Surprisingly, we find that the algebra consists of two copies of the W_3 extended conformal algebra, which is the extended conformal algebra of an isotropic critical s…
The CP^N Kazama-Suzuki models with the non-linear chiral algebra SW_infinity[lambda] have been conjectured to be dual to the fully supersymmetric Prokushkin-Vasiliev theory of higher-spin gauge fields coupled to two massive N=2 multiplets on AdS_3. We perform a non-trivial check of this duality by computing three-point functions containing one higher-spin gauge field for arbitrary spin s and deformation parameter lambda from the bulk theory, and from the boundary using a free ghost system based on the linear sw_infinity[lambda] algebra. We find an exact match between the two computations. In t…
For the N=2 Kazama-Suzuki models that appear in the duality with a higher spin theory on AdS_3 it is shown that the large level limit can be interpreted as a continuous orbifold of 2N free bosons and fermions by the group U(N). In particular, we show that the subset of coset representations that correspond to the perturbative higher spin degrees of freedom are precisely described by the untwisted sector of this U(N) orbifold. We furthermore identify the twisted sector ground states of the orbifold with specific coset representations, and give various pieces of evidence in favour of this identi…