Holographic Particle Detection

TL;DR

This paper explores how non-local gauge theory objects, like Green function kinks, can distinguish between different supergravity solutions and detect black hole formation in AdS/CFT holography.

Contribution

It demonstrates that non-local observables in the dual CFT can resolve ambiguities in supergravity solutions and detect black hole formation via Green function analysis.

Findings

Kinks in CFT Green functions reveal particle configurations in AdS_3.

Black hole formation can be inferred from dual CFT quantities.

Non-local gauge theory objects provide additional resolution beyond local expectation values.

Abstract

In anti-de Sitter (AdS) space, classical supergravity solutions are represented "holographically" by conformal field theory (CFT) states in which operators have expectation values. These 1-point functions are directly related to the asymptotic behaviour of bulk fields. In some cases, distinct supergravity solutions have identical asymptotic behaviour; so dual expectation values are insufficient to distinguish them. We argue that non-local objects in the gauge theory can resolve the ambiguity, and explicitly show that collections of point particles in AdS_3 can be detected by studying kinks in dual CFT Green functions. Three dimensional black holes can be formed by collision of such particles. We show how black hole formation can be detected in the holographic dual, and calculate CFT quantities that are sensitive to the distribution of matter inside the event horizon.