Real-time gauge/gravity duality: Prescription, Renormalization and Examples

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive method for computing real-time correlation functions in gauge/gravity duality, including renormalization and multiple examples, applicable to any holographic supergravity background.

Contribution

It introduces a unified prescription for real-time correlators in holography, incorporating holographic renormalization and detailed examples across various coordinate systems and correlator types.

Findings

Valid for any holographic supergravity background

Successfully computes various types of real-time correlators

Demonstrates the application of holographic renormalization in this context

Abstract

We present a comprehensive analysis of the prescription we recently put forward for the computation of real-time correlation functions using gauge/gravity duality. The prescription is valid for any holographic supergravity background and it naturally maps initial and final data in the bulk to initial and final states or density matrices in the field theory. We show in detail how the technique of holographic renormalization can be applied in this setting and we provide numerous illustrative examples, including the computation of time-ordered, Wightman and retarded 2-point functions in Poincare and global coordinates, thermal correlators and higher-point functions.