Related papers: Scalar potentials, propagators and global symmetri…
We study the properties of the dilaton in a soft-wall background using two solutions of the Einstein equations. These solutions contain an asymptotically AdS metric with a nontrivial scalar profile that causes both the spontaneous breaking…
We initiate the study of Dyson equations of perturbative QFT in AdS and their consequences for large-N CFT. We show that the dressed one-particle AdS propagator features wavefunction renormalization and operator mixing, giving rise to…
We develop the idea of an effective conformal theory describing the low-lying spectrum of the dilatation operator in a CFT. Such an effective theory is useful when the spectrum contains a hierarchy in the dimension of operators, and a small…
We consider a real, massive scalar field on ${\rm PAdS}_{d+1}$, the Poincar\'e domain of the $(d+1)$-dimensional anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetime. We first determine all admissible boundary conditions that can be applied on the conformal…
We investigate the evolution of scalar metric perturbations across a sudden cosmological transition, allowing for an inhomogeneous surface stress at the transition leading to a discontinuity in the local expansion rate, such as might be…
We re-examine large scalar fields within effective field theory, in particular focussing on the issues raised by their use in inflationary models (as suggested by BICEP2 to obtain primordial tensor modes). We argue that when the large-field…
We propose a new consistency condition for the compatibility of a gravitational effective field theory in AdS with a dual holographic description in terms of a family of large-$N$ CFTs. Using large-$N$ factorization of correlation functions…
A major challenge in Causal Set research is that theories need only to match general relativity and quantum field theory in the appropriate limits. This means that there should be many different ways to calculate a scalar field propagator…
In this thesis, the AdS/CFT correspondence is used as a tool to explore novel AdS$_5$ Supergravity backgrounds (containing five-dimensional Anti-de Sitter spacetime) and their dual (four dimensional) Conformal Field Theory descriptions. In…
An analogue of the Oppenheimer-Synder collapsing model is treated analytically, where the matter source is a scalar field with an exponential potential. An exact solution is derived followed by matching to a suitable exterior geometry, and…
We consider a time-dependent deformation of anti-de-Sitter (AdS) space-time which contains a cosmological "singularity" - a space-like region of high curvature. Making use of the AdS/CFT correspondence we can map the bulk dynamics onto the…
Fixed points of scalar field theories with quartic interactions in $d=4-\varepsilon$ dimensions are considered in full generality. For such theories it is known that there exists a scalar function $A$ of the couplings through which the…
A higher spin field theory on AdS(4) possesses a conformal field theory on the boundary R(3) which can be identified with the critical O(N) sigma model of O(N) invariant fields only. The notions of quasiprimary and secondary fields can be…
Conformal blocks are the fundamental, theory-independent building blocks in any CFT, so it is important to understand their holographic representation in the context of AdS/CFT. We describe how to systematically extract the holographic…
In inflationary scenarios with more than one scalar field, inflation may proceed even if each of the individual fields has a potential too steep for that field to sustain inflation on its own. We show that scalar fields with exponential…
The AdS/CFT transformation relates two nonlinear realizations of (super)conformal groups: their realization in the appropriate field theories in Minkowski space with a Goldstone dilaton field and their realization as (super)isometry groups…
Quantum fluctuations of a scalar field and its derivatives are calculated when the field is confined between two parallel plates satisfying Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions. After regulation these fluctuations diverge in general…
The large radius limit in the AdS/CFT correspondence is expected to provide a holographic derivation of flat-space scattering amplitudes. This suggests that questions of locality in the bulk should be addressed in terms of properties of the…
Scalars in AdS${}_{d+1}$ with squared masses in the Breitenlohner-Freedman window $-d^2/4 \le m^2 < -d^2/4 +1$ (in units with the AdS scale $\ell$ set to 1) are known to enjoy a variety of boundary conditions. For larger masses $m^2 >…
Motivated by recent proposals for a de Sitter version of the AdS/CFT correspondence, we give some topological restrictions on spacetimes of de Sitter type, i.e., spacetimes with $\Lambda>0$, which admit a regular past and/or future…