Analyticity and the Unruh effect: a study of local modular flow

Abstract The Unruh effect can be formulated as the statement that the Minkowski vacuum in a Rindler wedge has a boost as its modular flow. In recent years, other examples of states with geometrically local modular flow have played important roles in understanding energy and entropy in quantum field...

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Main Author: Jonathan Sorce
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2024-09-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2024)040
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author Jonathan Sorce
author_facet Jonathan Sorce
author_sort Jonathan Sorce
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The Unruh effect can be formulated as the statement that the Minkowski vacuum in a Rindler wedge has a boost as its modular flow. In recent years, other examples of states with geometrically local modular flow have played important roles in understanding energy and entropy in quantum field theory and quantum gravity. Here I initiate a general study of the settings in which geometric modular flow can arise, showing (i) that any geometric modular flow must be a conformal symmetry of the background spacetime, and (ii) that in a well behaved class of “weakly analytic” states, geometric modular flow must be future-directed. I further argue that if a geometric transformation is conformal but not isometric, then it can only be realized as modular flow in a conformal field theory. Finally, I discuss a few settings in which converse results can be shown — i.e., settings in which a state can be constructed whose modular flow reproduces a given vector field.
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spelling doaj-art-1dbe6525f76d482a8769ef6dbc384b792024-12-08T12:14:51ZengSpringerOpenJournal of High Energy Physics1029-84792024-09-012024914010.1007/JHEP09(2024)040Analyticity and the Unruh effect: a study of local modular flowJonathan Sorce0Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAbstract The Unruh effect can be formulated as the statement that the Minkowski vacuum in a Rindler wedge has a boost as its modular flow. In recent years, other examples of states with geometrically local modular flow have played important roles in understanding energy and entropy in quantum field theory and quantum gravity. Here I initiate a general study of the settings in which geometric modular flow can arise, showing (i) that any geometric modular flow must be a conformal symmetry of the background spacetime, and (ii) that in a well behaved class of “weakly analytic” states, geometric modular flow must be future-directed. I further argue that if a geometric transformation is conformal but not isometric, then it can only be realized as modular flow in a conformal field theory. Finally, I discuss a few settings in which converse results can be shown — i.e., settings in which a state can be constructed whose modular flow reproduces a given vector field.https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2024)040Conformal and W SymmetryField Theories in Higher DimensionsSpace-Time Symmetries
spellingShingle Jonathan Sorce
Analyticity and the Unruh effect: a study of local modular flow
Journal of High Energy Physics
Conformal and W Symmetry
Field Theories in Higher Dimensions
Space-Time Symmetries
title Analyticity and the Unruh effect: a study of local modular flow
title_full Analyticity and the Unruh effect: a study of local modular flow
title_fullStr Analyticity and the Unruh effect: a study of local modular flow
title_full_unstemmed Analyticity and the Unruh effect: a study of local modular flow
title_short Analyticity and the Unruh effect: a study of local modular flow
title_sort analyticity and the unruh effect a study of local modular flow
topic Conformal and W Symmetry
Field Theories in Higher Dimensions
Space-Time Symmetries
url https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2024)040
work_keys_str_mv AT jonathansorce analyticityandtheunruheffectastudyoflocalmodularflow