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Updated: Jul 2, 2026
07:46
Setting Limits on Supersymmetry Using Simplified Models
Published on: November 15, 2013
Gravity duals for nonrelativistic conformal field theories
Koushik Balasubramanian1, John McGreevy
1CTP, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|September 4, 2008
Summary
This study generalizes the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence to nonrelativistic systems. It introduces a new holographic framework applicable to ultracold atoms and quantum critical phenomena.
Area of Science:
- Theoretical Physics
- Quantum Field Theory
- Condensed Matter Physics
Background:
- The anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT) correspondence links gravitational theories to quantum field theories.
- Nonrelativistic conformal field theories (NCFTs) describe critical phenomena in systems like ultracold atoms but lack a standard holographic description.
- Galilean invariance is a key symmetry in nonrelativistic systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To generalize the AdS/CFT correspondence to NCFTs with Galilean invariance.
- To establish a holographic framework for understanding quantum critical behavior in nonrelativistic systems.
- To explore the properties of novel gravitational solutions relevant to NCFTs.
Main Methods:
- Construction of a family of metrics that realize Galilean symmetries as isometries.
- Solving Einstein's gravity with a negative cosmological constant coupled to pressureless dust.
- Developing a holographic dictionary to map between bulk and boundary theories.
- Calculating two-point correlators in the proposed holographic framework.
Main Results:
- A family of gravitational solutions realizing nonrelativistic conformal symmetries was constructed.
- These solutions are associated with gravity and pressureless dust, with bulk superconductors as a possible realization.
- A holographic dictionary was developed, and two-point correlators consistent with NCFTs were derived.
- The emergent bulk geometry possesses two additional noncompact dimensions.
Conclusions:
- The study successfully generalizes the holographic principle to nonrelativistic conformal field theories.
- The developed framework provides a new tool for studying ultracold atoms and quantum criticality.
- The presence of extra dimensions in the bulk geometry is a key feature of this novel correspondence.
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