No Arabic abstract
Holographic entanglement entropy was recently recast in terms of Riemannian flows or bit threads. We consider the Lorentzian analog to reformulate the complexity=volume conjecture using Lorentzian flows -- timelike vector fields whose minimum flux through a boundary subregion is equal to the volume of the homologous maximal bulk Cauchy slice. By the nesting of Lorentzian flows, holographic complexity is shown to obey a number of properties. Particularly, the rate of complexity is bounded below by conditional complexity, describing a multi-step optimization with intermediate and final target states. We provide multiple explicit geometric realizations of Lorentzian flows in AdS backgrounds, including their time-dependence and behavior near the singularity in a black hole interior. Conceptually, discretized flows are interpreted as Lorentzian threads or gatelines. Upon selecting a reference state, complexity thence counts the minimum number of gatelines needed to prepare a target state described by a tensor network discretizing the maximal volume slice, matching its quantum information theoretic definition. We point out that suboptimal tensor networks are important to fully characterize the state, leading us to propose a refined notion of complexity as an ensemble average. The bulk symplectic potential provides a specific canonical thread configuration characterizing perturbations around arbitrary CFT states. Consistency of this solution requires the bulk satisfy the linearized Einsteins equations, which are shown to be equivalent to the holographic first law of complexity, thereby advocating for a principle of spacetime complexity. Lastly, we argue Lorentzian threads provide a notion of emergent time. This article is an expanded and detailed version of [arXiv:2105.12735], including several new results.
The continuous min flow-max cut principle is used to reformulate the complexity=volume conjecture using Lorentzian flows -- divergenceless norm-bounded timelike vector fields whose minimum flux through a boundary subregion is equal to the volume of the homologous maximal bulk Cauchy slice. The nesting property is used to show the rate of complexity is bounded below by conditional complexity, describing a multi-step optimization with intermediate and final target states. Conceptually, discretized Lorentzian flows are interpreted in terms of threads or gatelines such that complexity is equal to the minimum number of gatelines used to prepare a CFT state by an optimal tensor network (TN) discretizing the state. We propose a refined measure of complexity, capturing the role of suboptimal TNs, as an ensemble average. The bulk symplectic potential provides a canonical thread configuration characterizing perturbations around arbitrary CFT states. Its consistency requires the bulk to obey linearized Einsteins equations, which are shown to be equivalent to the holographic first law of complexity, thereby advocating a notion of spacetime complexity.
Quantum corrections to holographic entanglement entropy require knowledge of the bulk quantum state. In this paper, we derive a novel dual prescription for the generalized entropy that allows us to interpret the leading quantum corrections in a geometric way with minimal input from the bulk state. The equivalence is proven using tools borrowed from convex optimization. The new prescription does not involve bulk surfaces but instead uses a generalized notion of a flow, which allows for possible sources or sinks in the bulk geometry. In its discrete version, our prescription can alternatively be interpreted in terms of a set of Planck-thickness bit threads, which can be either classical or quantum. This interpretation uncovers an aspect of the generalized entropy that admits a neat information-theoretic description, namely, the fact that the quantum corrections can be cast in terms of entanglement distillation of the bulk state. We also prove some general properties of our prescription, including nesting and a quantum version of the max multiflow theorem. These properties are used to verify that our proposal respects known inequalities that a von Neumann entropy must satisfy, including subadditivity and strong subadditivity, as well as to investigate the fate of the holographic monogamy. Finally, using the Iyer-Wald formalism we show that for cases with a local modular Hamiltonian there is always a canonical solution to the program that exploits the property of bulk locality. Combining with previous results by Swingle and Van Raamsdonk, we show that the consistency of this special solution requires the semi-classical Einsteins equations to hold for any consistent perturbative bulk quantum state.
We present a kind of generalized Vaidya solutions in a generic Lovelock gravity. This solution generalizes the simple case in Gauss-Bonnet gravity reported recently by some authors. We study the thermodynamics of apparent horizon in this generalized Vaidya spacetime. Treating those terms except for the Einstein tensor as an effective energy-momentum tensor in the gravitational field equations, and using the unified first law in Einstein gravity theory, we obtain an entropy expression for the apparent horizon. We also obtain an energy expression of this spacetime, which coincides with the generalized Misner-Sharp energy proposed by Maeda and Nozawa in Lovelock gravity.
In which is developed a new form of superselection sectors of topological origin. By that it is meant a new investigation that includes several extensions of the traditional framework of Doplicher, Haag and Roberts in local quantum theories. At first we generalize the notion of representations of nets of C*-algebras, then we provide a brand new view on selection criteria by adopting one with a strong topological flavour. We prove that it is coherent with the older point of view, hence a clue to a genuine extension. In this light, we extend Roberts cohomological analysis to the case where 1--cocycles bear non trivial unitary representations of the fundamental group of the spacetime, equivalently of its Cauchy surface in case of global hyperbolicity. A crucial tool is a notion of group von Neumann algebras generated by the 1-cocycles evaluated on loops over fixed regions. One proves that these group von Neumann algebras are localized at the bounded region where loops start and end and to be factorial of finite type I. All that amounts to a new invariant, in a topological sense, which can be defined as the dimension of the factor. We prove that any 1-cocycle can be factorized into a part that contains only the charge content and another where only the topological information is stored. This second part resembles much what in literature are known as geometric phases. Indeed, by the very geometrical origin of the 1-cocycles that we discuss in the paper, they are essential tools in the theory of net bundles, and the topological part is related to their holonomy content. At the end we prove the existence of net representations.
We consider a deformation of five-dimensional warped gravity with bulk and boundary mass terms to quadratic order in the action. We show that massless zero modes occur for special choices of the masses. The tensor zero mode is a smooth deformation of the Randall-Sundrum graviton wavefunction and can be localized anywhere in the bulk. There is also a vector zero mode with similar localization properties, which is decoupled from conserved sources at tree level. Interestingly, there are no scalar modes, and the model is ghost-free at the linearized level. When the tensor zero mode is localized near the IR brane, the dual interpretation is a composite graviton describing an emergent (induced) theory of gravity at the IR scale. In this case Newtons law of gravity changes to a new power law below the millimeter scale, with an exponent that can even be irrational.