Localized shocks

• Main Authors: Stanford, Douglas (Author), Susskind, Leonard (Author), Roberts, Daniel Adam (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer-Verlag, 2015-06-03T13:20:33Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

We study products of precursors of spatially local operators, W[subscript xn](tn)⋅⋅⋅W[subscript x1](t[subscript 1]), where W [subscript x] (t) = e [superscript − iHt] W [subscript x] e [superscript iHt]. Using chaotic spin-chain numerics and gauge/gravity duality, we show that a single precursor fills a spatial region that grows linearly in t. In a lattice system, products of such operators can be represented using tensor networks. In gauge/gravity duality, they are related to Einstein-Rosen bridges supported by localized shock waves. We find a geometrical correspondence between these two descriptions, generalizing earlier work in the spatially homogeneous case.
American Society for Engineering Education. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship
Hertz Foundation
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 0756174)
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant PHYS-1066293)
United States. Dept. of Energy (Contract DE-SC00012567)