English

Renormalized pseudoentropy in dS/CFT

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-05-28 v2

Abstract

We study holographic pseudoentropy for subregions in non-unitary Euclidean conformal field theories (CFTs) within the framework of the de Sitter/conformal field theory (dS/CFT) correspondence. Pseudoentropy, defined as the von Neumann entropy of a transition matrix, is computed holographically from codimension-two extremal surfaces in dS space and is divergent due to the asymptotic bulk volume at future infinity. We show that a finite and regulator-independent definition follows from the on-shell action of conformal gravity in four and six dimensions, implemented through the replica construction. We illustrate the formalism for spherical entangling surfaces and small shape deformations thereof. The renormalized pseudoentropy isolates the universal contribution, which for a spherical entangling surface is proportional to the complex-valued central charge aa^\star of the non-unitary CFT. On an equal footing, for infinitesimal deformations away from the sphere, we recover, at quadratic order in the deformation parameter, an analytic continuation of the Mezei-like formula in its anti-de Sitter counterpart.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.17989,
  title  = {Renormalized pseudoentropy in dS/CFT},
  author = {Giorgos Anastasiou and Ignacio J. Araya and Avijit Das and Javier Moreno},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.17989},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

41 pages, 5 figures, v2: extended clarifications on conformal symmetry, state interpretation, unitarity, and pseudoentropy; figure and typographical corrections added following referee comments.published version in Journal of High Energy Physics (JHEP)

R2 v1 2026-07-01T10:43:50.923Z