English

Looking for (and not finding) a bulk brane

High Energy Physics - Theory 2021-12-22 v2

Abstract

When does a holographic CFT with a boundary added to it (a BCFT) also have a `good' holographic dual with a localized gravitating end-of-the-world brane? We argue that the answer to this question is almost never. By studying Lorentzian BCFT correlators, we characterize constraints imposed on a BCFT by the existence of a bulk causal structure. We argue that approximate `bulk brane' singularities place restrictive constraints on the spectrum of a BCFT that are not expected to be true generically. We discuss how similar constraints implied by bulk causality might apply in higher-dimensional holographic descriptions of BCFTs involving a degenerating internal space. We suggest (although do not prove) that even these higher-dimensional holographic duals are not generic.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2108.10345,
  title  = {Looking for (and not finding) a bulk brane},
  author = {Wyatt Reeves and Moshe Rozali and Petar Simidzija and James Sully and Christopher Waddell and David Wakeham},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2108.10345},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

Minor edits to v1 (comments and citations added in footnotes); acknowledgments added

R2 v1 2026-06-24T05:21:26.995Z