We continue the systematic study of the thermal partition function of Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity started in [arXiv:1911.01659]. We generalize our analysis to the case of multi-boundary correlators with the help of the boundary creation operator. We clarify how the Korteweg-de Vries constraints arise in the presence of multiple boundaries, deriving differential equations obeyed by the correlators. The differential equations allow us to compute the genus expansion of the correlators up to any order without ambiguity. We also formulate a systematic method of calculating the WKB expansion of the Baker-Akhiezer function and the 't Hooft expansion of the multi-boundary correlators. This new formalism is much more efficient than our previous method based on the topological recursion. We further investigate the low temperature expansion of the two-boundary correlator. We formulate a method of computing it up to any order and also find a universal form of the two-boundary correlator in terms of the error function. Using this result we are able to write down the analytic form of the spectral form factor in JT gravity and show how the ramp and plateau behavior comes about. We also study the Hartle-Hawking state in the free boson/fermion representation of the tau-function and discuss how it should be related to the multi-boundary correlators.
We study multi-boundary correlators of Witten-Kontsevich topological gravity in two dimensions. We present a method of computing an open string like expansion, which we call the 't Hooft expansion, of the $n$-boundary correlator for any $n$ up to any order by directly solving the Korteweg-De Vries equation. We first explain how to compute the 't Hooft expansion of the one-boundary correlator. The algorithm is very similar to that for the genus expansion of the open free energy. We next show that the 't Hooft expansion of correlators with more than one boundary can be computed algebraically fro…
We present a compact formula in Mellin space for the four-point tree-level holographic correlators of chiral primary operators of arbitrary conformal weights in $(2,0)$ supergravity on $AdS_3 \times S^3$, with two operators in tensor multiplet and the other two in gravity multiplet. This is achieved by solving the recursion relation arising from a hidden six-dimensional conformal symmetry. We note the compact expression is obtained after carefully analysing the analytic structures of the correlators. Various limits of the correlators are studied, including the maximally R-symmetry violating li…
We calculate a class of two-point boundary correlators in 2D quantum gravity using its microscopic realization as loop gas on a random surface. We find a perfect agreement with the two-point boundary correlation function in Liouville theory, obtained by V. Fateev, A. Zamolodchikov and Al. Zamolodchikov. We also give a geometrical meaning of the functional equation satisfied by this two-point function.
In the semiclassical approximation to JT gravity, we find two-point and four-point correlators of heavy operators. To do so, we introduce a massive particle in the bulk and compute its action with gravitational backreaction. In Euclidean signature, the two-point function has a finite limit at large distances. In real time, we find that the thermal two-point function approaches an exponentially small value $\sim \exp(-N)$ at long time. We also find that after a period of exponential decay, the out of time ordered four-point function approaches an exponentially small value as well.
We calculate 2-point correlators for New Massive Gravity at the chiral point and find that they behave precisely as those of a logarithmic conformal field theory, which is characterized in addition to the central charges c_L = c_R = 0 by `new anomalies' b_L = b_R = -σ\frac{12\ell}{G_N}, where σis the sign of the Einstein-Hilbert term, \ell the AdS radius and G_N Newton's constant.
We study multi-boundary correlators in 2d Witten-Kontsevich topological gravity. We present a proof of the loop equations obeyed by the correlators. While the loop equations were derived a long time ago, our proof is fully explicit in the presence of general couplings $t_k$. We clarify all the details, in particular the treatment of the genus zero part of the one-boundary correlator. The loop equations are verified by several new examples, including the correlators of Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity in the genus expansion and the exact correlators in the Airy case. We also discuss the free boson/fer…
We introduce a parametrization of the coupling constant space of the generalized Kontsevich models in terms of a set of moments equivalent to those introduced recently in the context of topological gravity. For the simplest generalization of the Kontsevich model we express the moments as elementary functions of the susceptibilities and the eigenvalues of the external field. We furthermore use the moment technique to derive a closed expression for the genus zero multi-loop correlators for $(3,3m-1)$ and $(3,3m-2)$ rational matter fields coupled to gravity. We comment on the relation between the…
We construct the one matrix model (MM) correlators corresponding to the general bulk-boundary correlation numbers of the minimal Liouville gravity (LG) on the disc. To find agreement between both discrete and continuous approach, we investigate the resonance transformation mixing boundary and bulk couplings. It leads to consider two sectors, depending on whether the matter part of the LG correlator is vanishing due to the fusion rules. In the vanishing case, we determine the explicit transformation of the boundary couplings at the first order in bulk couplings. In the non-vanishing case, no bu…
We consider type-A higher-spin gravity in 4 dimensions, holographically dual to a free O(N) vector model. In this theory, the cubic correlators of higher-spin boundary currents are reproduced in the bulk by the Sleight-Taronna cubic vertex. We extend these cubic correlators from local boundary currents to bilocal boundary operators, which contain the tower of local currents in their Taylor expansion. In the bulk, these boundary bilocals are represented by linearized Didenko-Vasiliev (DV) "black holes". We argue that the cubic correlators are still described by local bulk structures, which incl…
The AdS boundary correlators and their dual correlation functions of boundary operators have been the main dynamic observables of the holographic duality relating a bulk AdS theory and a boundary conformal field theory. We show that tree-level AdS boundary correlators for generic states can be expressed as nonlocal differential operators of a certain structure acting on contact Witten diagrams. We further write the boundary correlators in a form that is very similar to flat space amplitudes, with Mandelstam variables replaced by certain combinations of single-state conformal generators, prove …
We calculate holographically arbitrary n-point correlators of the boundary stress tensor in three-dimensional Einstein gravity with negative or vanishing cosmological constant. We provide explicit expressions up to 5-point (connected) correlators and show consistency with the Galilean conformal field theory Ward identities and recursion relations of correlators, which we derive. This provides a novel check of flat space holography in three dimensions.
We generalize the color/kinematics duality of flat-space scattering amplitudes to the embedding space formulation of AdS boundary correlators. Kinematic numerators and propagators are replaced with differential operators acting on a scalar contact diagram that is the AdS generalization of the momentum conserving delta function of flat space scattering amplitudes. We show that color/kinematics duality implies differential relations among AdS boundary correlators that naturally generalize the flat space BCJ amplitude relations and verify them for the correlators of Yang-Mills theory and of the N…
Boundary correlators of elementary fields in some 2d conformal field theories defined on AdS$_2$ have a particularly simple structure. For example, the correlators of the Liouville scalar happen to be the same as the correlators of the chiral component of the stress tensor on a plane restricted to the real line. Here we show that an analogous relation is true also in the WZW model: boundary correlators of the WZW scalars have the same structure as the correlators of chiral Kač-Moody currents. This is checked at the level of the tree and one-loop Witten diagrams in AdS$_2$. We also compute some…
The recursion relations of 2D quantum gravity coupled to the Ising model discussed by the author previously are reexamined. We study the case in which the matter sector satisfies the fusion rules and only the primary operators inside the Kac table contribute. The theory involves unregularized divergences in some of correlators. We obtain the recursion relations which form a closed set among well-defined correlators on sphere, but they do not have a beautiful structure that the bosonized theory has and also give an inconsistent result when they include an ill-defined correlator with the diverge…
We investigate the multi-loop correlators and the multi-point functions for all of the scaling operators in unitary minimal conformal models coupled to two-dimensional gravity from the two-matrix model. We show that simple fusion rules for these scaling operators exist, and these are summarized in a compact form as fusion rules for loops. We clarify the role of the boundary operators and discuss its connection to how loops touch each other. We derive a general formula for the n-resolvent correlators, and point out the structure similar to the crossing symmetry of underlying conformal field the…
We consider the Liouville theory in fixed Euclidean AdS$_2$ background. Expanded near the minimum of the potential the elementary field has mass squared 2 and (assuming the standard Dirichlet b.c.) corresponds to a dimension 2 operator at the boundary. We provide strong evidence for the conjecture that the boundary correlators of the Liouville field are the same as the correlators of the holomorphic stress tensor (or the Virasoro generator with the same central charge) on a half-plane or a disc restricted to the boundary. This relation was first observed at the leading semiclassical order (tre…
Quantum Gravity Corrections to Giant Graviton Correlators
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院理论科学卡弗里研究所）；Peng Huanwu Center for Fundamental Theory（彭桓武基础理论中心）
We investigate correlation functions for maximally symmetric boundary conditions in the WZNW model on GL(1|1). Special attention is payed to volume filling branes. Generalizing earlier ideas for the bulk sector, we set up a Kac-Wakimoto-like formalism for the boundary model. This first order formalism is then used to calculate bulk-boundary 2-point functions and the boundary 3-point functions of the model. The note ends with a few comments on correlation functions of atypical fields, point-like branes and generalizations to other supergroups.
We study correlation functions with multiple averaged null energy (ANEC) operators in conformal field theories. For large $N$ CFTs with a large gap to higher spin operators, we show that the OPE between a local operator and the ANEC can be recast as a particularly simple differential operator acting on the local operator. This operator is simple enough that we can resum it and obtain the finite distance OPE. Under the large $N$ - large gap assumptions, the vanishing of the commutator of ANEC operators tightly constrains the OPE coefficients of the theory. An important example of this phenomeno…
We investigate out of time ordered correlators in the bulk of dS JT gravity, using Schwarzian perturbation theory, and propose that these out of time ordered correlators are encoded on the second sheet of the gravitational path integral, different sheets corresponding to different gravitational operator orderings. Implementing this in practice, we establish maximal chaos, in agreement with shockwave intuition.
We use the correspondence between three-dimensional asymptotically flat spacetimes and two-dimensional contracted conformal field theories (CCFTs) to derive the stress tensor correlators of CCFT$_2$. On the gravity side we use the metric formulation instead of the Chern-Simons formulation of three-dimensional gravity. This method can also be used for four-dimensional case where there is no Chern-Simons formulation for the bulk theory.
In this article we probe the proposed holographic duality between $T\bar{T}$ deformed two dimensional conformal field theory and the gravity theory of $\rm AdS_3$ with a Dirichlet cutoff by computing correlators of energy-momentum tensor. We focus on the large central charge sector of the $T\bar{T}$ CFT in a Euclidean plane and in a sphere, and compute the correlators of energy-momentum tensor using an operator identity promoted from the classical trace relation. The result agrees with a computation of classical pure gravity in $\rm AdS_3$ with the corresponding cutoff surface, given a hologra…
Cosmological correlators are very important objects in cosmology as they offer us a huge amount of information of the early universe. They reside on the future boundary of a de Sitter space and can be calculated by two methods. First method involves our old Lagrangian picture where we evaluate the bulk time integrals to find the correlator at the future boundary. The other method which is our main topic of interest is to find the correlators by imposing constraints from symmetries and singularities on the future boundary. Particularly, we obtain the differential equation satisfied by the corre…
We consider the conformal $A_{n}$ Toda theory in AdS$_{2}$. Due to the bulk full Virasoro symmetry, this system provides an instance of a non-gravitational $\text{AdS}_{2}$/$\text{CFT}_{1}$ correspondence where the 1d boundary theory enjoys enhanced "$\frac{1}{2}$-Virasoro" symmetry. General boundary correlators are expected to be captured by the restriction of chiral correlators in a suitable $\mathcal WA_{n}$ Virasoro extension. At next-to-leading order in weak coupling expansion they have been conjectured to match the subleading terms in the large central charge expansion of the dual $\math…
We calculate bulk and boundary correlators in JT gravity by summing over geometries. The answers are reproduced by computing suitable ensemble averages of correlators of chaotic quantum systems. We then consider bulk correlators at large spatial separations and find that semiclassical decay eventually makes way for erratic oscillations around some nonzero answer. There is no cluster decomposition because of wormholes connecting distant regions. We construct more microscopic versions of JT gravity which are dual to a single quantum system by including a set of branes in the gravitational theory…
In the context of higher-spin holography, we compare the classification of cubic interaction vertices for higher-spin gravity theories in three dimensions to the possible three-point correlation functions of conserved higher-spin currents in two-dimensional conformal field theories. In both cases, the allowed structures are governed by triangle inequalities for the involved spins. It is established that higher-order correlators satisfy similar polygon inequalities and that the same inequalities are valid for higher-order continuations of cubic vertices in the three-dimensional higher-spin grav…
We discuss the concept of connected, reparameterization invariant matter correlators in quantum gravity. We analyze the effect of discretization in two solvable cases: branched polymers and two-dimensional simplicial gravity. In both cases the naively defined connected correlators for a fixed volume display an anomalous behavior, which could be interpreted as a long-range order. We suggest that this is in fact only a highly non-trivial finite-size effect and propose an improved definition of the connected correlator, which reduces the effect. Using this definition we illustrate the appearance …
We study non-Gaussian bulk 2d CFTs in AdS$_2$ using boundary CFT techniques and recent results in JT/Schwarzian gravity. We highlight the constraints on the operator content of a theory imposed by the boundary conditions by examining the relation between correlator coefficients and OPE coefficients in the presence of a boundary. We then calculate bulk and boundary correlators for various boundary conditions. Schwarzian techniques are used to calculate gravitational correlators perturbatively in $1/c$.
We study one and two point functions of conformal field theories on spaces of maximal symmetry with and without boundaries and investigate their spectral representations. Integral transforms are found, relating the spectral decomposition to renormalized position space correlators. Several applications are presented, including the holographic boundary CFTs as well as spacelike boundary CFTs, which provide realizations of the pseudo-conformal universe.
The timelike boundary Liouville (TBL) conformal field theory consisting of a negative norm boson with an exponential boundary interaction is considered. TBL and its close cousin, a positive norm boson with a non-hermitian boundary interaction, arise in the description of the $c=1$ accumulation point of $c<1$ minimal models, as the worldsheet description of open string tachyon condensation in string theory and in scaling limits of superconductors with line defects. Bulk correlators are shown to be exactly soluble. In contrast, due to OPE singularities near the boundary interaction, the computat…
We present arguments which suggest that the bulk higher-spin gravity duals of weakly-coupled conformal field theories obey some refined notion of locality. In particular, we discuss the Mellin amplitude programme in this context. We focus on the $O(N)$ vector model and minimal higher-spin gravity as a paradigmatic example of such holographic dual pairs. We restrict ourselves to three- and four-point functions of scalar primary operators, but the qualitative conclusions are expected to hold for the generic case.
We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to calculate CFT correlation functions of vector and spinor fields. The connection between the AdS and boundary fields is properly treated via a Dirichlet boundary value problem.
We study a scalar field in the background of a holographic neutron star at finite temperature and analyze its asymptotic behavior to compute the two-point correlator at the boundary. From the normal modes of the field we determine the resonances and decay constants of the boundary field theory. We show that the correlator is dominated by the normal modes in the stable regions of phase space of the neutron star, becoming a power law as we move into the unstable zones.
For cosmological topologically massive gravity at the chiral point we calculate momentum space 2- and 3-point correlators of operators in the postulated dual CFT on the cylinder. These operators are sourced by the bulk and boundary gravitons. Our correlators are fully consistent with the proposal that cosmological topologically massive gravity at the chiral point is dual to a logarithmic CFT. In the process we give a complete classification of normalizable and non-normalizeable left, right and logarithmic solutions to the linearized equations of motion in global AdS_3.
We derive explicit expressions for a specific subclass of Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity bilocal correlators, corresponding to degenerate Virasoro representations. On the disk, these degenerate correlators are structurally simple, and they allow us to shed light on the 1/C Schwarzian bilocal perturbation series. In particular, we prove that the series is asymptotic for generic weight $h\notin - \mathbb{N}/2$. Inspired by its minimal string ancestor, we propose an expression for higher genus corrections to the degenerate correlators. We discuss the extension to the $\mathcal{N}=1$ super JT mode…
All correlation functions of conserved currents of the CFT that is dual to unbroken Vasiliev theory are found as invariants of higher-spin symmetry in the bulk of AdS. The conformal and higher-spin symmetry of the correlators as well as the conservation of currents are manifest, which also provides a direct link between the Maldacena-Zhiboedov result and higher-spin symmetries. Our method is in the spirit of AdS/CFT, though we never take any boundary limit or compute any bulk integrals. Boundary-to-bulk propagators are shown to exhibit an algebraic structure, living at the boundary of SpH(4), …
We compute correlation functions, specifically 1-point and 2-point functions, in holographic boundary conformal field theory (BCFT) using geodesic approximation. The holographic model consists of a massive scalar field coupled to a Karch-Randall brane -- a rigid boundary in the bulk AdS space. Geodesic approximation requires the inclusion of paths reflecting off of this brane, which we show in detail. For the 1-point function, we find agreement between geodesic approximation and the harder $Δ$-exact calculation, and we give a novel derivation of boundary entropy using the result. For the 2-poi…
We study the c_L=25 limit, which corresponds to c=1 string theory, of bulk and boundary correlation functions of Liouville theory with FZZT boundary conditions. This limit is singular and requires a renormalization of vertex operators. We formulate a regularization procedure which allows to extract finite physical results. A particular attention is paid to c=1 string theory compactified at the self-dual radius R=1. In this case, the boundary correlation functions diverge even after the multiplicative renormalization. We show that all infinite contributions can be interpreted as contact terms a…
Among (conformal) quantum field theories, the rational conformal field theories are singled out by the fact that their correlators can be constructed from a modular tensor category C with a distinguished object, a symmetric special Frobenius algebra A in C, via the so-called TFT-construction. These correlators satisfy in particular all factorization constraints, which involve gluing homomorphisms relating correlators of world sheets of different topology. We review the action of the gluing homomorphisms and discuss the implications of the factorization constraints for boundary conditions. The …
