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Structural and Dynamical Aspects of the AdS/CFT Correspondence: a Rigorous Approach

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Author(s):
Pedro Lauridsen Ribeiro
Total Authors: 1
Document type: Doctoral Thesis
Press: São Paulo.
Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Física (IF/SBI)
Defense date:
Examining board members:
Joao Carlos Alves Barata; Elcio Abdalla; Frank Michael Forger; Severino Toscano do Rego Melo; Ricardo Schwartz Schor
Advisor: Joao Carlos Alves Barata
Abstract

We elaborate a detailed study of certain aspects of (a version of) the AdS/CFT correspondence, conjectured by Maldacena and Witten, between quantum field theories in a gravitational background given by an asymptotically anti-de Sitter (AAdS) spacetime, and conformally covariant quantum field theories in the latter\'s conformal infinity (in the sense of Penrose), aspects such that: (a) are independent from (the pair of) specific models in Quantum Field Theory, and (b) susceptible to a recast in a mathematically rigorous mould. We adopt as a starting point the theorem demonstrated by Rehren in the context of Local Quantum Physics (also known as Algebraic Quantum Field Theory) in anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes, called algebraic holography or Rehren duality. The main body of the present work consists in extending Rehren\'s result to a reasonably general class of d-dimensional AAdS spacetimes (d>3), scrutinizing how the properties of such an extension are weakened and/or modified as compared to AdS spacetime, and probing how non-trivial gravitational effects manifest themselves in the conformal infinity\'s quantum theory. Among the obtained results, we quote: not only does the imposition of reasonably general conditions on bulk null geodesics (whose plausibility we justify through geometrical rigidity techniques) guarantee that our generalization is geometrically consistent with causality, but it also allows a ``holographic\'\' reconstruction of the bulk topology in the absence of horizons and singularities; the implementation of conformal symmetries in the boundary, which we explicitly associate to an intrinsically constructed family of bulk asymptotic isometries, have a purely asymptotic character and is dynamically attained through a process of return to equilibrium, given suitable boundary conditions at infinity; gravitational effects may cause obstructions to the reconstruction of the bulk quantum theory, either by making the latter trivial in sufficiently small regions or due to the existence of multiple inequivalent vacua, which on their turn lead to the existence of solitonic excitations localized around domain walls, similar to D-branes. The proofs make extensive use of global Lorentzian geometry. The language employed for the quantum theories relevant for our generalization of Rehren duality follows the functorial formulation of Local Quantum Physics due to Brunetti, Fredenhagen and Verch, extended afterwards by Sommer in order to incorporate boundary conditions. (An English translation of the full text can be found at arXiv:0712.0401) (AU)