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# References

TECHNION-PH-00-25

EFI-2000-8

hep-ph/0003119

March 2000

THE ROLE OF $`B_sK\pi `$ IN DETERMINING THE WEAK PHASE $`\gamma `$ 111To be submitted to Physics Letters B.

Michael Gronau

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel

and

Jonathan L. Rosner

Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics

University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637

ABSTRACT

> The decay rates for $`B^0K^+\pi ^{}`$, $`B^+K^0\pi ^+`$, and the charge-conjugate processes were found to provide information on the weak phase $`\gamma \mathrm{Arg}(V_{ub}^{})`$ when the ratio $`r`$ of weak tree and penguin amplitudes was taken from data on $`B\pi \pi `$ or semileptonic $`B\pi `$ decays. We show here that the rates for $`B_sK^{}\pi ^+`$ and $`\overline{B}_sK^+\pi ^{}`$ can provide the necessary information on $`r`$, and estimate the statistical accuracy of forthcoming measurements at the Fermilab Tevatron.

PACS codes: 12.15.Hh, 12.15.Ji, 13.25.Hw, 14.40.Nd

The measurement of phases of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix  is a crucial test of our understanding of CP violation. Various aspects of the decays $`BK\pi `$, in particular, have been shown to provide information on the weak phase $`\gamma \mathrm{Arg}(V_{ub}^{})`$ . In Ref.  we showed that ratios of partial decay rates for charged and neutral $`B`$ mesons to $`K\pi `$ final states yielded $`\gamma `$ when supplemented with information on the ratio $`r`$ of weak tree and penguin amplitudes. It was necessary to extract $`r`$ either from data on $`B\pi \pi `$ or from semileptonic $`B\pi `$ decays.

In the present Letter we show that the decays  $`B_sK^{}\pi ^+`$ and $`\overline{B}_sK^+\pi ^{}`$, which are related by U-spin to the processes $`B^0K^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`\overline{B}^0K^{}\pi ^+`$, respectively, can provide the necessary information on $`r`$. We describe the constraints available by including information on these processes, and estimate the statistical power of forthcoming measurements at the Fermilab Tevatron.

We use the same procedure as Ref. , which may be consulted for further details. However, for convenience, we shall decompose our amplitudes into “tree” and “penguin” contributions in a somewhat different manner.

We define the following charge-averaged ratios:

$$R\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^0K^+\pi ^{})+\mathrm{\Gamma }(\overline{B}^0K^{}\pi ^+)}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^+K^0\pi ^+)+\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^{}\overline{K}^0\pi ^{})},$$
(1)
$$R_s\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(B_sK^{}\pi ^+)+\mathrm{\Gamma }(\overline{B}_sK^+\pi ^{})}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^+K^0\pi ^+)+\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^{}\overline{K}^0\pi ^{})},$$
(2)
and CP-violating rate (pseudo-)asymmetries:

$$A_0\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^0K^+\pi ^{})\mathrm{\Gamma }(\overline{B}^0K^{}\pi ^+)}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^+K^0\pi ^+)+\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^{}\overline{K}^0\pi ^{})},$$
(3)
$$A_s\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(B_sK^{}\pi ^+)\mathrm{\Gamma }(\overline{B}_sK^+\pi ^{})}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^+K^0\pi ^+)+\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^{}\overline{K}^0\pi ^{})}.$$
(4)
The amplitudes for $`BK\pi `$ were expressed in Ref.  in terms of “tree” and “penguin” contributions involving CKM factors $`V_{ub}^{}V_{us}`$ and $`V_{tb}^{}V_{ts}`$, respectively. Using the unitarity of the CKM matrix, it is more convenient in our case to decompose the amplitudes into terms containing $`V_{ub}^{}V_{us}`$ and $`V_{cb}^{}V_{cs}`$. This decomposition is in accordance with the structure of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }B=1,\mathrm{\Delta }C=0,\mathrm{\Delta }S=1`$ effective Hamiltonian

$$_{\mathrm{eff}}=\frac{G_F}{\sqrt{2}}\left[V_{ub}^{}V_{us}\left(\underset{1}{\overset{2}{}}c_iQ_i^{us}+\underset{3}{\overset{10}{}}c_iQ_i^s\right)+V_{cb}^{}V_{cs}\left(\underset{1}{\overset{2}{}}c_iQ_i^{cs}+\underset{3}{\overset{10}{}}c_iQ_i^s\right)\right],$$
(5)
where the flavor structure of the various short-distance operators is $`Q_{1,2}^{qs}\overline{b}q\overline{q}s,Q_{3,..,6}^s\overline{b}s\overline{q}^{}q^{},Q_{7,..,10}^s\overline{b}se_q^{}\overline{q}^{}q^{}`$.

The amplitude of $`B_sK^{}\pi ^+`$ is obtained from the one for $`B^0K^+\pi ^{}`$ by a U-spin transformation, $`sd`$, acting both on the effective Hamiltonian and on the initial and final hadronic states. The ratios of the corresponding two CKM factors occuring in these amplitudes are $`V_{ub}^{}V_{ud}/V_{ub}^{}V_{us}=1/\stackrel{~}{\lambda }`$ and $`V_{cb}^{}V_{cd}/V_{cb}^{}V_{cs}=\stackrel{~}{\lambda }`$, where $`\stackrel{~}{\lambda }=|V_{us}/V_{ud}|=|V_{cd}/V_{cs}|=\mathrm{tan}\theta _c0.226`$.

In a convention where the coefficient of the strangeness-changing penguin amplitude in $`B^+K^0\pi ^+`$ is taken to be real and positive, we then have

$$A(B^+K^0\pi ^+)=A(B^{}\overline{K}^0\pi ^{})=P+𝒪(\frac{1}{2}\stackrel{~}{\lambda }^2),$$
(6)
$$A(B^0K^+\pi ^{})=[P+Te^{i(\delta +\gamma )}],$$

$$A(\overline{B}^0K^{}\pi ^+)=[P+Te^{i(\delta \gamma )}],$$
(7)
$$A(B_sK^{}\pi ^+)=\stackrel{~}{\lambda }P(1/\stackrel{~}{\lambda })Te^{i(\delta +\gamma )},$$

$$A(\overline{B}_sK^+\pi ^{})=\stackrel{~}{\lambda }P(1/\stackrel{~}{\lambda })Te^{i(\delta \gamma )},$$
(8)
Here $`\delta `$ is the strong phase difference between the tree and penguin amplitudes. The $`𝒪(\frac{1}{2}\stackrel{~}{\lambda }^2)`$ term in Eq. (6) is the relative contribution of the $`V_{ub}^{}V_{us}`$ term in comparison with the dominant $`V_{cb}^{}V_{cs}`$ term. The effects of this term could be amplified if rescattering is important. Various estimates  consider this possibility to be unlikely, but it can be checked by measuring the CP-violating rate difference between $`B^+K^0\pi ^+`$ and $`B^{}\overline{K}^0\pi ^{}`$ or by improving bounds on the charge-averaged rate of the U-spin related decay $`B^\pm K^0(\overline{K}^0)K^\pm `$. Also, when using isospin symmetry in Eqs. (6) and (7) to assume equal penguin amplitudes in $`B^+`$ and $`B^0`$ decays, we have neglected color-suppressed electroweak penguin contributions . Their effects on determining $`\gamma `$ were studied in , and ways for controlling these small terms were discussed in .

In the above equations we have taken $`P`$ and $`T`$ to be real but of indeterminate sign. Calculations based on the factorization hypothesis or free-quark estimates  suggest $`T>0`$, $`P<0`$, $`\delta 0`$. We define the ratio $`rT/P`$. One then expects $`r<0,\delta 0`$ in the factorization limit. Note that this definition differs from the one in , since the present definition of $`T`$ contains a contribution from the $`V_{ub}^{}V_{uq}`$ term ($`q=d,s`$) in the penguin amplitude of Ref. .

The charge-averaged ratios and charge asymmetries are now given by

$$R=1+r^2+2r\mathrm{cos}\delta \mathrm{cos}\gamma ,$$
(9)
$$R_s=\stackrel{~}{\lambda }^2+(r/\stackrel{~}{\lambda })^22r\mathrm{cos}\delta \mathrm{cos}\gamma ,$$
(10)
$$A_0=A_s=2r\mathrm{sin}\gamma \mathrm{sin}\delta .$$
(11)
The expressions for $`R`$ and $`A_0`$ are those given in Ref. , with a sign change in the term proportional to $`r`$ corresponding to our different convention for labeling amplitudes. The expressions for $`R_s`$ and $`A_s`$ provide new information.

Notice that since both $`R_s`$ and $`A_s`$ involve the ratios of strange and nonstrange $`B`$ partial widths, their measurement in a hadronic experiment will demand a better estimate of the relative production fraction of strange and nonstrange $`B`$ mesons. (The CDF detector at the Tevatron has measured this ratio to be $`f_s/(f_u+f_d)=0.213\pm 0.068`$ .) One way to accomplish this will be to compare same-sign and opposite-sign lepton pair production .

The equation for $`R_s`$ provides an opportunity to learn the magnitude of $`r`$, related to a quantity estimated previously  with the help of $`B\pi \pi `$ or $`B\pi \mathrm{}\nu _{\mathrm{}}`$ decays. Adding Eqs. (9) and (10), we find

$$R+R_s=(1+\stackrel{~}{\lambda }^2)(1+\frac{r^2}{\stackrel{~}{\lambda }^2}),\mathrm{or}|r|=\stackrel{~}{\lambda }\left[\frac{R+R_s}{1+\stackrel{~}{\lambda }^2}1\right]^{1/2}.$$
(12)
Once $`|r|`$ is known we can establish a useful bound on $`\gamma `$ independent of any possible CP-violating charge-asymmetry. We write

$$(R1r^2)^2=4r^2\mathrm{cos}^2\delta \mathrm{cos}^2\gamma 4r^2\mathrm{cos}^2\gamma ,$$
(13)
implying

$$|\mathrm{cos}\gamma |\frac{|R1r^2|}{2|r|},$$
(14)
or

$$|\mathrm{sin}\gamma |\frac{[\lambda (1,R,r^2)]^{1/2}}{2|r|},\lambda (a,b,c)a^2+b^2+c^22ab2ac2bc.$$
(15)
The limiting cases of an equality, in which $`\gamma `$ is determined up to a twofold ambiguity, $`\gamma \pi \gamma `$, correspond to $`\delta =0`$ or $`\delta =\pi `$. Assuming that the strong phase difference between $`T`$ and $`P`$ is small, as indicated by perturbative QCD arguments , measurements of $`R`$ and $`R_s`$ already determine $`\gamma `$. Note that we expect $`r<0`$ for a vanishing final-state phase $`\delta `$, in which case one has

$$\mathrm{cos}\gamma =\frac{1+r^2R}{2|r|}.$$
(16)
In case that the strong phase is large, one expects to measure nonzero asymmetries $`A_0=A_s`$, which together with $`R`$ and $`R_s`$ would determine $`\gamma `$. As quoted previously , by eliminating $`\delta `$ from the equations for $`R`$ and $`A_0`$, one finds

$$R=1+r^2\pm \sqrt{4r^2\mathrm{cos}^2\gamma A_0^2\mathrm{cot}^2\gamma },$$
(17)
which can then be solved for $`\mathrm{sin}^2\gamma `$ up to a two-fold ambiguity when $`A_00`$.

We have treated the systematic effects associated with theoretical uncertainties in our method in Ref. . There it was shown that an error on $`\gamma `$ of about $`10^{}`$ could be achieved if one obtained an error of about 10% on $`r`$ (defined in a somewhat different manner) for the value favored there, $`r=0.16`$. When obtaining $`r`$ using the measurement of $`R`$ and $`R_s`$, the statistically limiting measurement is likely to be that of $`R_s`$, since the $`B_s`$ is expected to be produced less copiously than the $`B^0`$, and the tree amplitude $`T/\stackrel{~}{\lambda }`$ dominating the decay $`B_sK^{}\pi ^+`$ is expected to be smaller than the amplitude $`P`$ dominating the decay $`B^0K^+\pi ^{}`$. In one estimate , the ratio of produced $`B_sK^{}\pi ^+`$ : $`B^0K^+\pi ^{}`$ events is expected to be 1:8.

As one example, we take $`R=1`$ (the present experimental value is $`1.01\pm 0.30`$ ), and find that $`r=0.16\pm 0.016`$ corresponds to $`R_s=0.58_{0.10}^{+0.11}`$. Thus, one must measure $`R_s`$ to about $`\pm 18\%`$ in order to achieve a 10% measurement of $`r`$. This would require about 30 events of $`B_sK^{}\pi ^+`$ or $`\overline{B}_sK^+\pi ^{}`$, whereas a sample of about 2000 to 4000 untagged events, two orders of magnitude larger, is envisioned for Run II at the Tevatron .

It is sufficient to use untagged events since the rapid $`B_s`$$`\overline{B}_s`$ mixing ensures that the effective production rates for $`B_sK^{}\pi ^+`$ and $`\overline{B}_sK^+\pi ^{}`$ will be very nearly identical at each value of rapidity. While this is not so for $`B^0K^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`\overline{B}^0K^{}\pi ^+`$, it is true in proton-antiproton collisions if one averages over rapidity in a symmetric detector. Otherwise, one must know the individual production rates for $`B^0`$ and $`\overline{B}^0`$ before mixing. These can be measured, for example using self-tagging processes such as $`B^0J/\psi K^0`$ where the CP-violating asymmetry is expected to be small, or with the help of an assumption of isospin invariance and a corresponding measurement of $`B^+`$ and $`B^{}`$ production using self-tagging modes with small CP asymmetry such as $`B^\pm J/\psi K^\pm `$ .

In order to estimate the systematic error associated with our flavor SU(3) approximation, we adopt the often used assumption of factorized tree and penguin amplitudes. In this approximation, SU(3) breaking introduces in the ratio $`A(B_sK^{}\pi ^+)/A(B^0K^+\pi ^{})`$ a relative factor $`f_1=F_{B_sK}(m_\pi ^2)f_\pi /F_{B\pi }(m_K^2)f_K`$, involving the product of corresponding ratios of form factors and decay constants describing $`B_sK\pi `$ and $`BK\pi `$. Although $`B`$ decay form factors to $`K`$ and $`\pi `$ have not yet been measured, their ratio is expected to be somewhat larger than one; quark model  and QCD sum rule  calculations find $`F_{B_sK}(m_\pi ^2)/F_{B\pi }(m_K^2)1.16`$. With $`f_K/f_\pi =1.22`$, SU(3) breaking is expected to introduce a systematic uncertainty of only a few percent, $`f_10.95`$.

An actual check of the SU(3) (or U-spin) approximation relies on the asymmetry prediction $`A_s=A_0`$, or, in fact, on the prediction of equal CP-violating rate differences in $`B^0K\pi `$ and $`B_sK\pi `$. Including SU(3) breaking, one expects

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }(B_sK^{}\pi ^+)\mathrm{\Gamma }(\overline{B}_sK^+\pi ^{})=f_1^2[\mathrm{\Gamma }(B^0K^+\pi ^{})\mathrm{\Gamma }(\overline{B}^0K^{}\pi ^+)].$$
(18)
With 2000 events of $`B_sK^{}\pi ^+`$ or $`\overline{B}_sK^+\pi ^{}`$, one should be able to check this prediction to a fractional accuracy of $`(2000)^{1/2}2.2\%`$ which seems adequate for a precise determination of $`f_1`$. This factor can then be included in the analysis leading to a determination of $`\gamma `$. Note, however, that a very small strong phase difference $`\delta `$ may not permit useful asymmetry measurements. (The strong phases in $`B^0K\pi `$ and $`B_sK\pi `$ differ in broken SU(3), in spite of the fact that the final states in both decays are $`K^\pm \pi ^{}`$. This is similar to the case of $`K\pi `$ states produced in Cabibbo-favored and double-Cabibbo-suppressed $`D`$ decays .)

The processes studied here, $`B^0K^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`B_sK^{}\pi ^+`$, are related by a spectator quark transformation, $`ds`$, to another pair of U-spin related processes $`B_sK^+K^{}`$ and $`B^0\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. The amplitudes of these two pairs of processes are equal, respectively, in the limit of flavor SU(3) symmetry and neglecting smaller “exchange” and “penguin annihilation” amplitudes . These contributions are expected to be very small unless rescattering is important . This can be tested by measuring the rates for $`B^0K^+K^{}`$ or $`B_s\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ which are due solely to exchange and penguin annihilation amplitudes. Including an SU(3) breaking factor $`f_2=F_{B_sK}(m_K^2)/F_{B\pi }(m_K^2)F_{B_sK}(m_\pi ^2)/F_{B\pi }(m_\pi ^2)1.16`$, as expected in the factorization approximation, one has

$$A(B_sK^+K^{})=f_2A(B^0K^+\pi ^{}),$$

$$A(B^0\pi ^+\pi ^{})=f_2^1A(B_sK^{}\pi ^+).$$
(19)
The rates of these four processes can be used to check the factorization assumption and to determine the SU(3) breaking factor $`f_2`$. A study of $`\gamma `$ through time-integrated rates of $`B_sK^+K^{}`$, $`B^0\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and their charge-conjugates is very similar and complementary to the one using $`B^0/\overline{B}^0K^\pm \pi ^{}`$ and $`B_s/\overline{B}_sK^{}\pi ^\pm `$.

The present proposal for determining $`\gamma `$ is also complementary to the method comparing time-dependent asymmetry measurements in $`B^0\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and in $`B_sK^+K^{}`$ . In that method, one measures both an oscillation amplitude and an oscillation phase for both channels, i.e., four quantities, and thereby extracts four unknowns: the ratio of tree and penguin amplitudes (equivalent to our $`r`$), a strong final-state phase $`\delta `$ between tree and penguin assumed to be the same for $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`K^+K^{}`$, and two weak phases $`\beta `$ and $`\gamma `$. One must tag the flavor of the neutral mesons at time of production.

We comment briefly on the relation between the two methods. The present method has the following advantages:

(1) It requires neither time-dependent measurements nor flavor tagging for $`B^0`$ and $`B_s`$.

(2) The kinematic peaks associated with $`B^0K\pi `$ and $`B_sK\pi `$ are well-separated from one another and reasonably well separated from those corresponding to $`B^0\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`B_sK^+K^{}`$ (which lie between them and are nearly on top of each other), even without particle identification . To see this, we note that in the limit of relativistic pions or kaons, the mass $`m_{21}`$ of a $`\pi \pi `$, $`K\pi `$, or $`K\overline{K}`$ system is given by

$$m_{12}=\left[m_1^2\left(1+\frac{p_2}{p_1}\right)+m_2^2\left(1+\frac{p_1}{p_2}\right)+2p_1p_2(1\mathrm{cos}\theta _{12})\right]^{1/2},$$
(20)
where $`p_1`$ and $`p_2`$ are laboratory momenta of the two final-state tracks and $`\theta _{12}`$ is the laboratory angle between them. If we were to call both tracks pions and neglect $`m_1^2`$ and $`m_2^2`$, we would thus estimate

$$(m_{12}^{\mathrm{est}})^2=2p_1p_2(1\mathrm{cos}\theta _{12})=m_{12}^2m_1^2\left(1+\frac{p_2}{p_1}\right)+m_2^2\left(1+\frac{p_1}{p_2}\right).$$
(21)
For the case of symmetric momenta $`p_1=p_2`$ corresponding to the Jacobian peak of the distribution, we would thus estimate

$$m_{12}^{\mathrm{est}}(m_{12}2m_1^22m_2^2)^{1/2},$$
(22)
or about 45 MeV below the $`B`$ for $`BK\pi `$, $`M_B`$ for both $`B\pi \pi `$ and $`B_sK\overline{K}`$, and about 45 MeV above the $`B`$ for $`B_sK\pi `$.

The CDF Detector at Run II of the Tevatron will have a time-of-flight system for particle identification, whose capabilities of distinguishing kaons from pions in $`B`$ decay will be minimal. It will also make use of $`dE/dx`$ discrimination. Later-generation detectors, such as LHC-b at CERN and the proposed BTeV detector at Fermilab, will have better capabilities for particle identification, allowing for cleaner separation of $`\pi \pi `$, $`K\pi `$, and $`K\overline{K}`$ final states of $`B`$ and $`B_s`$ decay.

The method based on $`B^0\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`B_sK^+K^{}`$ has the following points in its favor:

(1) It involves no small corrections from rescattering and color-suppressed electroweak penguin contributions. Also, certain ratios of form factors and decay constants cancel one another in the factorization limit, since one is only discussing asymmetries.

(2) Although the peaks for $`B\pi \pi `$ and $`B_sK\overline{K}`$ lie nearly on top of one another in the absence of particle identification, the time-dependent CP-violating rate differences in the two cases can be separated from one another (as long as they both are nonzero) by a frequency analysis. For the two asymmetries one would still need particle identification in order to distinguish between the denominators defining $`B^0`$ and $`B_s`$ asymmetries.

(3) The analysis also allows for a lifetime difference between CP-even and CP-odd $`B_s`$ mass eigenstates , which may allow resolution of some discrete ambiguities present in our scheme .

To conclude, we have found that simultaneous measurement of rates for $`B^0K^+\pi ^{}`$, $`B_sK^{}\pi ^+`$, and their charge-conjugates can provide useful information on the weak phase $`\gamma `$. This measurement appears feasible at the Fermilab Tevatron and is an appealing possibility for other facilities envisioning $`B_s`$ production, such as the HERA-B detector at DESY, the BTeV detector at Fermilab, and the LHC-b detector at CERN. Effects of SU(3) breaking and rescattering appear to be controllable and to some extent testable, while electroweak penguin effects are expected to be small enough that a determination of $`\gamma `$ to better than $`10^{}`$ appears feasible. Our method, which can also be applied to time-integrated rates of $`B^0\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`B_sK^+K^{}`$, appears complementary to that  based on time-dependent asymmetries in the latter processes, for which comparable accuracy in $`\gamma `$ is expected . Whereas the latter determination of $`\gamma `$ could be affected by new physics contributions to $`B_s\overline{B}_s`$ mixing , our method is free of such modifications.

We thank S. Stone and F. Würthwein for useful discussions. M. G. would like to acknowledge the very kind hospitality of the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago. This work was supported in part by the United States – Israel Binational Science Foundation under Research Grant Agreement 98-00237 and by the United States Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-FG02-90-ER40560.


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# References

HUTP-00/A007, CITUSC/00-013

CALT68-2265, hep-th/0003147

Consistency Conditions for Holographic Duality

Vijay Balasubramanian1***vijayb@pauli.harvard.edu, Eric Gimon2egimon@theory.caltech,edu, and Djordje Minic3minic@physics.usc.edu

1Jefferson Laboratory of Physics, Harvard University,

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

2 CIT-USC Center for Theoretical Physics

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125.

3 CIT-USC Center for Theoretical Physics

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA 90089-0484, USA.

## Abstract

We show that if the beta functions of a field theory are given by the gradient of a certain potential on the space of couplings, a gravitational background in one more dimension can express the renormalization group (RG) flow of the theory. The field theory beta functions and the gradient flow constraint together reconstruct the second order spacetime equations of motion. The RG equation reduces to the conventional gravitational computation of the spacetime quasilocal stress tensor, and a c-theorem holds true as a consequence of the Raychaudhuri equation. Conversely, under certain conditions, if the RG evolution of a field theory possesses a monotonic c-function, the flow of couplings can be expressed in terms of a higher dimensional gravitational background.

Introduction

The holographic principle states that the degrees of freedom describing quantum gravity in some volume can be encoded at fixed density on a “screen” or surface that bounds that volume . A particularly simple realization of this principle appears to occur for asymptotically anti-de Sitter (AdS) spaces where $`(d+1)`$-dimensional spacetime dynamics is conjectured to be encoded in a local quantum field theory (QFT) on the timelike, $`d`$-dimensional AdS boundary .

In this correspondence, phenomena occuring closer to the AdS boundary are related to local, ultraviolet physics in the field theory, while infrared and non-local data encode the deep interior of the space . This suggests that the semiclassical structure called spacetime can sometimes be generated from a QFT via renormalization group (RG) flow.111In fact, it is known that the string field theory equations of motion are closely related to the Wilsonian RG flow of the string sigma model .

Here, we show that if the beta functions of a field theory in $`4`$ dimensions are given by the gradient of a certain potential on the space of couplings, the RG flow of the theory admits a description in terms of $`5`$ dimensional gravity coupled to scalar fields. For such flows, the second order spacetime equations of motion can be reconstructed from the field theory beta functions and the gradient flow constraint. The field theory RG equation is realized as the conventional gravitational computation of the trace of the quasilocal stress tensor. A c-theorem is satisfied by the RG flow as a consequence of the Raychaudhuri equation for the $`5`$ dimensional gravitational background. Conversely, if a QFT has a c-function that evolves monotonically down an RG trajectory, under certain conditions the flow of couplings may be expressed in terms of a $`5`$ dimensional gravitational background.

Gradient beta functions

Consider a $`4`$-dimensional QFT on a Ricci-flat manifold with an interaction Lagrangian:

$$S_{int}=d^4x\varphi ^IO_I.$$
(1)
On a flat manifold there is no conformal anomaly, and the RG equation is simply given by the conformal Ward identity for the trace of the stress tensor:

$$TT_i^i\frac{d\mathrm{\Gamma }}{d\mathrm{log}\lambda }=\beta ^I\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{\varphi ^I}.$$
(2)
$`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is quantum effective action of the field theory, the beta functions are the scale derivatives of the couplings $`\beta ^I=\frac{d\varphi ^I}{d\mathrm{log}\lambda }`$, and $`\lambda =\mathrm{\Lambda }/\mathrm{\Lambda }_0`$ in terms of an energy cutoff $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and a reference scale $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_0`$.

Now consider a QFT in which the beta fuctions can be derived as gradients of a particular potential on the couplings:

$$\beta ^I=G^{IJ}(\varphi )\frac{}{\varphi ^J}\mathrm{log}(aT+U(\varphi ))$$
(3)
$`G^{IJ}`$ is a positive, symmetric function of the couplings $`\varphi ^I`$, $`a`$ is a constant of length dimension 4, and $`U(\varphi )`$ is a function of couplings that will be related to the norm of the beta functions. We will show that near a conformal point the inverse metric $`G_{IJ}`$ must be related to the normalization of the 2-point function $`O_IO_J`$. At a conformal point the beta functions vanish. Then (3) implies that $`\frac{(T+U)}{\varphi ^I}`$ also vanishes, so that $`(T+U)`$ is extremized as a function of the couplings.

The QFT RG flow can be related to the equations of motion of 5d gravity if, in addition, the norm of the beta functions is:

$$\frac{1}{4}G_{IJ}\beta ^I\beta ^J=1\frac{V(\varphi )}{(aT+U(\varphi ))^2}0.$$
(4)
$`V(\varphi )`$ will be related to a c-function for the RG flow. The ultraviolet limit of the theory, if it exists, is conformal. In this limit, $`T0`$, and we can choose the normalization $`U(\varphi )1`$. Furthermore, at any conformal point, the vanishing of the beta functions requires that $`V(\varphi )T+U(\varphi )`$, implying that $`V(\varphi )`$ is extremized. We will show that the first order RG flow of the $`d`$-dimensional QFT can be represented as the second order equations of motion of $`5`$-dimensional gravity coupled to scalars $`\varphi ^I`$, with a potential $`V(\varphi )`$ and a “boundary” cosmological constant related to $`U(\varphi )`$.

At first glance, there are three unknowns in (3) and (4): the metric $`G^{IJ}`$ and the potentials $`U(\varphi )`$ and $`V(\varphi )`$. Since there are only two equations, this suggests that any RG flow is expressible in this manner by a suitable choice of metric and potentials. Near a conformal point, we will show that these quantities relate to other dynamical data such as correlation functions. But away from a conformal point, despite the constraints implied by the positivity and symmetry of the metric, (3) and (4) seem to be rather weak restrictions. However, we will argue that any flow that can be written as (3) and (4) possesses a c-function related to the potentials $`U`$ and $`V`$, provided a certain positive energy condition is satisfied. The inequality in (4) will be equivalent to a statement that field theories obeying (3) have a c-function that decreases monotonically during RG flow. So we will be forced to conclude either that a surprisingly general class of field theories possesses a monotonic c-function, or that the conditions (3) and (4) are much more restrictive than they appear.

Gravitational description

Einstein gravity coupled to scalars on a 5-dimensional manifold $``$ has an action

$`S_h`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{16\pi G_N}}{\displaystyle _{}}d^4x𝑑r\sqrt{h}\left[R_h+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}g_{IJ}h^{\mu \nu }(_\mu \alpha ^I)(_\nu \alpha ^J){\displaystyle \frac{12}{\mathrm{}^2}}v(\alpha )\right]`$ (5)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8\pi G_N}}{\displaystyle _{}}d^4x\sqrt{\gamma }\left[\mathrm{\Theta }+L_{c.t.}\right]`$
$`R_h`$ is the Ricci scalar of the spacetime metric $`h_{\mu \nu }`$, $`g_{IJ}`$ is the metric on the space of scalars $`\alpha ^I`$ and $`\mathrm{}`$ is a length scale. By choice, the potential $`v`$ has negative extrema, with at least one extremum at $`v=1`$. Placing the scalars at these points induces a negative cosmological constant in the space. We will be interested in solutions whose potentials approach $`v=1`$ as $`r\mathrm{}`$. The boundary extrinsic curvature $`\theta `$ makes the equations of motion well-defined, and $`L_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{t}.}`$ is a counterterm Lagrangian constructed from intrinsic invariants of the induced metric $`\gamma _{ij}`$ on the spacetime boundary. When the scalars are at the $`v(\alpha )=1`$ extremum, the gravitational part of the action can be rendered finite by setting $`L_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{t}.}=\frac{3}{\mathrm{}}\left(1\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{12}R_\gamma \right)`$ . We require a counterterm scheme that yields a finite gravitational action for any solution that asymptotically approaches an extremum of the scalar potential. One such scheme is

$$L_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{t}.}=\frac{3}{\mathrm{}}\left(u(\alpha )\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{12u(\alpha )}R_\gamma \right),$$
(6)
subject to the requirement that $`u(\alpha )^2v(\alpha )`$ when the $`\alpha ^I`$ approach any extremum of $`v`$.222The arguments of $`u(\alpha )`$ are the boundary values of the scalars. Also see  for discussions for boundary counterterms in theories with scalars. In effect, $`u(\alpha )`$ serves as a cosmological constant on the boundary of the space. Similarly, counterterms may be added to cancel divergences in the total action for the scalar fields .333As we will discuss later, there is a large scheme dependence in this counterterm prescription, in parallel with scheme dependences in field theory RG flows.

The most general $`4`$-dimensional Poincaré invariant solution of this action can be put in the form

$$ds^2=e^{2A(r)}\eta _{ij}dx^idx^j+dr^2,$$
(7)
with $`\eta _{ij}`$ the flat metric in $`4`$ dimensions and the scalars $`\varphi `$ chosen as functions of $`r`$ only. The second order equations of motion that follow from varying (5) with respect to the metric and requiring a solution of the form (7) are :

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d^2A}{dr^2}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}g_{IJ}{\displaystyle \frac{d\alpha ^I}{dr}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\alpha ^J}{dr}},`$ (8)
$`\left({\displaystyle \frac{dA}{dr}}\right)^2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mathrm{}^2}}v(\alpha )+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{24}}g_{IJ}{\displaystyle \frac{d\alpha ^I}{dr}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\alpha ^J}{dr}}.`$ (9)
The second equation is simply the statement of $`r`$-reparametrization invariance of the action (5) – i.e., it is the Hamiltonian constraint. The scalar equations of motion are

$$g_{KL}\frac{d^2\alpha ^L}{dr^2}+4g_{KL}\frac{d\alpha ^L}{dr}\frac{dA}{dr}=\frac{12}{\mathrm{}^2}\frac{v}{\alpha ^K}+\frac{1}{2}\frac{g_{IJ}}{\alpha ^K}\frac{d\alpha ^I}{dr}\frac{d\alpha ^J}{dr}\frac{g_{KL}}{\alpha ^I}\frac{d\alpha ^I}{dr}\frac{d\alpha ^L}{dr}.$$
(10)
So long as $`d\alpha ^I/dr0`$, we can treat $`A^{}dA/dr`$ and $`\alpha ^I^{}d\alpha ^I/dr`$ as functions of $`\alpha `$, to write (8) as444The analysis below will always hold piecewise in domains where $`d\alpha ^I/dr0`$. When the scalars are at an extremum of $`v`$, $`\alpha ^I^{}=0`$ and $`A^{}`$ is a constant. This will correspond to a conformal point in the field theory.

$`{\displaystyle \frac{A^{}}{\alpha ^I}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\alpha ^I}{dr}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}g_{IJ}{\displaystyle \frac{d\alpha ^I}{dr}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\alpha ^J}{dr}}.`$ (11)
Solutions to (11) are obtained by setting

$$\frac{d\alpha ^I}{dr}=6g^{IJ}\frac{A^{}}{\alpha ^J}.$$
(12)
Computing $`A^{}(\alpha )`$ from (12) and (9), it is easy to show that the scalar equations (10) are automatically satisfied.555To show this, differentiate (12) with respect to $`r`$ and use the $`\alpha ^I`$ derivative of (9). Thus, starting from (12) and (9) one can derive the complete equations of motions for a five-dimensional lagrangian of the form (5).

Integrating the solutions for $`\varphi ^I^{}`$ and $`A^{}`$ yields a trajectory $`\alpha ^I(r)`$ in the N-dimensional space of scalar fields. The $`N`$ first-order equations (11) and the the N-dimensional first-order equation (9) produce $`2N`$ integration constants . Along with the specification of the integration bound $`r_0`$ and $`A(r_0)`$, these constants reproduce the $`2N+2`$ expected initial conditions of the scalar and gravity equations of motion .

Now consider the total action as a functional of the induced “boundary” metric $`\gamma _{ij}`$ on a surface of fixed $`r`$. Following Brown and York , and including the counterterms (6, the quasilocal stress tensor of the spacetime on a fixed-$`r`$ surface is the response of the action to variations of $`\gamma _{ij}`$:

$`\tau _{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2}{\sqrt{\gamma }}}{\displaystyle \frac{\delta S_h}{\delta \gamma ^{ij}}}`$ (13)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8\pi G_N}}\left[\theta _{ij}\theta \gamma _{ij}{\displaystyle \frac{3u(\alpha )}{\mathrm{}}}\gamma _{ij}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}}{2u(\alpha )}}𝒢_{ij}\right].`$ (14)
Here $`\theta _{ij}`$ is the extrinsic curvature of the fixed-$`r`$ surface, $`\theta `$ is the trace of $`\theta _{ij}`$, and $`𝒢_{ij}`$ is the Einstein tensor constructed from the boundary metric. From the Hamilton-Jacobi perspective, $`\tau _{ij}`$ is simply the variable conjugate to the boundary metric $`\gamma _{ij}`$, given the action (5) as a functional of boundary data .

For solutions of the form (7), the trace of $`\tau _{ij}`$ is

$$\tau \gamma ^{ij}\tau _{ij}=\frac{3}{2\pi G_N\mathrm{}}\left[\mathrm{}\frac{dA}{dr}u(\alpha )\right].$$
(15)
We found solutions to the equations of motion by assuming $`d\alpha ^I/dr0`$, so that $`A^{}`$ and $`\alpha ^I^{}`$ could be expressed as functions of $`\alpha ^I`$. Under these conditions, the trace of the Hamilton-Jacobi expression for the Brown-York stress tensor is proportional to

$$\frac{\delta S_h}{\delta A}=\frac{\delta S_h}{\delta \alpha ^I}\frac{\delta \alpha ^I}{\delta A}.$$
(16)
(Recall that $`\tau =(D/\sqrt{\gamma })(\delta S/\delta A)`$).

In the connection between CFTs and gravity on AdS spaces, position in the radial direction is known to play the role of the scale in dual field theory computations. It is difficult to map the radial coordinate directly into field theory scales because of the possibility of radial reparametrization. However, there is an invariant way to study radial positions in classical solutions of the form (7) – we will associate the warp factor in the metric ($`A`$), with the $`\mathrm{log}`$ of $`\lambda `$, the scale in the definition of the beta functions in (2). The map between the field theory RG equations and the gravitational equations of motion is then:

| $`G^{IJ}6g^{IJ}`$ | $`\varphi ^I\alpha ^I`$ | $`a\frac{2\pi G_N\mathrm{}}{3}`$ | $`\mathrm{log}\lambda =A`$ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $`T\tau `$ | $`V(\varphi )v(\alpha )`$ | $`U(\varphi )u(\alpha )`$ |  |

Using these substitutions and the fact that $`A^{}=(a\tau +u(\alpha ))/\mathrm{}`$ (15), it easy to show that the equations of motion (12) and (9) are exactly the gradient beta function equation (3) and the potential equation (4) respectively. As discussed, simultaneous solution of (12) and (9) is sufficient to solve the complete coupled second-order equations for the scalars and the spacetime metric subject to the 4d Poincaré invariant ansatz (7). Identifying variations of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the QFT effective action as a function of couplings, with variations of $`S`$, the spacetime action as a function of boundary data, the expression for the trace of Brown-York stress tensor (16) becomes equivalent to the field theory RG equation (2).

We have mapped the boundary values of the spacetime scalar fields and the metric to field theory couplings. That accounts for half the integration constants of the equations of motion (8) – (10). The remaining constants are the radial derivatives of bulk fields which, in the AdS/CFT context, were related to expectation values of operators in the CFT . A similar relationship holds here; for example, $`T=\tau dA/dr`$ according to (15). Our analysis treats RG flow in the vacuum state where operator expectation values have been set to zero. From the gravitational perspective, this should correspond to fixing the radial derivatives of bulk fields to yield the lowest energy given the boundary values.

In perturbative string theory, a central consistency condition is the requirement of world-sheet conformal invariance, which implies that strings can consistently propagate only in backgrounds which satisfy the string equation of motion. In other words, the condition that the beta function is zero is equivalent to the target space equation of motion . Equation (3) is an analogue of this statement in the context of holographic duality. Supplemented by the requirement (4) on the norm of the beta functions, (3) yields the full equations of motion of the spacetime fields. As we shall see, the potential in the gradient beta function equation is intimately related to a c-function which decreases monotonically along our RG flows. After the identifications above, (4) became the condition of $`r`$-reparametrization invariance of the 5-dimensional spacetime. This suggests that it should be directly related to invariance of the field theory under redefinitions of the floating scale.

C-functions and an analogue Zamolodchikov metric

Any field theory satisfying the constraint (3) has a c-function that decreases monotonically during RG-flow. The basic reason for this is that $`T`$ is identified with the trace of $`\tau _{ij}`$, the quasilocal stress tensor of spacetime given in (14). Since the intrinsic curvatures of the boundaries at fixed $`r`$ vanish for metrics of the form (7), the trace of the stress tensor depends only on the extrinsic curvature:

$$T\tau =\frac{3}{8\pi G}\left(\theta +\frac{4u(\alpha )}{\mathrm{}}\right).$$
(17)
The Raychaudhuri equation implies a monotonic radial flow of $`\theta `$,

$$\frac{d\theta }{dr}0,$$
(18)
so long as a form of the weak positive energy condition is satisfied by the scalar fields .666Monotonicity follows from the Raychaudhuri equation describing evolution of the expansion $`\theta `$ along null curves, applied to static metrics of the form (7). If $`𝒯_{ab}`$ is the matter stress tensor and $`𝒯`$ is its trace, the required energy condition is that $`𝒯_{ab}k^ak^b0`$ for all null $`k^a`$. In , the weak energy condition is defined with respect to timelike $`\xi ^a`$: $`𝒯_{ab}\xi ^a\xi ^b0`$. Both this, and the strong positive energy condition in , $`𝒯_{ab}\xi ^a\xi ^b(1/2)𝒯`$, imply the positivity of $`𝒯_{ab}k^ak^b`$.

This fact, coupled with dimensional analysis and Bousso’s covariant entropy formula , has led Sahakian  to propose a candidate gravitational analogue of a c-function:777We are specializing the proposal to metrics of the form (7).

$$c\frac{1}{G_N\theta ^3}$$
(19)
(See  for interesting examples and related proposals.) Translating into field theory variables, the candidate c-function is

$$c=c_0(aT+U(\varphi ))^3;c_0=\frac{b\mathrm{}^3}{G_N}$$
(20)
with $`b`$ a dimensionless numerical constant. The Raychaudhuri equation automatically implies monotonicity of this c-function. Accepting this proposal, the gradient beta function equation (3) may be rewritten as

$$\beta ^I=\frac{1}{3}G^{IJ}\frac{\mathrm{log}c}{\varphi ^J}\stackrel{~}{G}^{IJ}\frac{c}{\varphi ^J}.$$
(21)
This formula gives a useful consistency check on the identifications we have been performing between field theory and gravitational quantities. We will show that $`\stackrel{~}{G}^{IJ}=G^{IJ}/3c`$ determines the normalization of the field theory 2-point function in the vicinity of a conformal point.

To see this, recall that perturbing around a conformal point by some marginal operators $`O_I`$, an analogue of the c-function in two dimensions can be defined as

$$T(x)\beta ^IO_I;T(k)T(k)=\stackrel{~}{c}k^4$$
(22)
in terms of the trace of the stress tensor $`T=T_i^i`$. At a conformal point, the 2-point function of $`O_I`$ is given by $`O_I(x)O_J(0)=\frac{G_{IJ}^Z}{x^8}`$, so that in the vicinity of this point

$$O_I(k)O_J(k)=k^4(\mathrm{const}.+G_{IJ}^Z\mathrm{log}\frac{k}{\mathrm{\Lambda }_0}+\mathrm{})G_{IJ}^Zf(k)+\mathrm{}$$
(23)
Here $`G_{IJ}^Z`$ is an analogue of the Zamolodchikov metric defined in two dimensions. The last two equations together imply that

$$\stackrel{~}{c}=\mathrm{const}.+\beta ^I\beta ^JG_{IJ}^Z\mathrm{log}\frac{k}{\mathrm{\Lambda }_0}+\mathrm{}$$
(24)
An alternative expression for $`c`$ can be obtained by expanding the couplings around the conformal point as $`\varphi ^I=\varphi _0^I+\beta ^I\mathrm{log}\frac{k}{\mathrm{\Lambda }_0}+\mathrm{}`$ and expanding $`c(\varphi )`$ around $`\varphi _0`$:

$$\stackrel{~}{c}=\mathrm{const}.+\frac{c}{\varphi ^I}\beta ^I\mathrm{log}\frac{k}{\mathrm{\Lambda }_0}+\mathrm{}$$
(25)
The two expressions for $`\stackrel{~}{c}`$ are equal close to a conformal point if

$$\beta ^I=G_Z^{IJ}\frac{\stackrel{~}{c}}{\varphi ^J},$$
(26)
$`G_Z^{IJ}`$ being the inverse of $`G_{IJ}^Z`$. In two dimensions, this formula is exactly true by Zamolodchikov’s theorem , while the above is an approximate derivation in four dimensions, in the vicinity of a conformal point. In fact, various candidates have been proposed for a c-function in 4-dimensional field theory . The coefficient $`\stackrel{~}{c}`$ in (22) is one of these, and is related to the coefficient of the Weyl tensor squared term in the conformal anomaly . Another candidate is the coefficient of the Euler invariant in the anomaly. The material point for us is that equation (26) holds true near a conformal point for either candidate c-function (see  and references therein).

Comparing (21) and (26) shows that consistency of the identification of the c-function in the former requires that $`\stackrel{~}{G}_{IJ}`$ determine the 2-point function of $`O_I`$ at the conformal point. At the UV conformal point, the beta functions and $`T`$ are zero, while $`u(\varphi )=1`$; we then expect that $`O_I(k)O_J(k)=f(k)\stackrel{~}{G}_{IJ}=3cf(k)G_{IJ}`$. This serves as a consistency check on the dictionary between field theory and gravity quantities that we are developing. We equated the spacetime action $`S`$, as a functional of boundary data, to the field theory quantum effective action $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, as a functional of couplings. So the field theory 2-point function relates directly to the spacetime propagator between boundary points for the scalars $`\alpha _I`$888Note the lower index.. We would like to see that this is proportional to $`f(k)G_{IJ}(G_N/\mathrm{}^3)`$.

At the ultraviolet conformal point, the potential $`v(\alpha )`$ in (5) was normalized to $`1`$, and the equations of motion are solved to give pure anti-de Sitter space. So the scalar propagator in spacetime is given by the standard computation in the AdS/CFT correspondence  and is proportional in momentum space to $`f(k)=k^4\mathrm{log}k`$. The normalization of the scalar fields in (5) implies that the scalar propagator for $`\alpha _I`$ is proportional to $`G_Ng_{IJ}`$. Since $`G_N`$ has length dimension three and $`\mathrm{}`$ is only remaning length scale, the scalar propagator must yield, via the QFT-gravity dictionary,

$$O_IO_Jf(k)G_{IJ}\frac{G_N}{\mathrm{}^3}+\mathrm{}$$
(27)
in the vicinity of the UV conformal point. In the identification of the RG equations and the spacetime equations of motion, only the combination of parameters $`a=2\pi G_N\mathrm{}/3`$ appeared. Now we see that this data can combine with the normalization of the 2-point function of $`O_I`$ to separately yield the Newton constant ($`G_N`$) and the spacetime curvature scale ($`\mathrm{}`$). Analysis of higher point functions would give further consistency conditions.

The results we have accumulated suffice to show that the RG flow of any theory with a monotonic c-function can be be rewritten in terms of a 5d gravity background under some conditions. Suppose we are given as data the beta functions, stress tensor and monotonic c-function of a 4-dimensional QFT. The relation (21) serves to define a metric $`G^{IJ}`$, which we require to be positive and symmetric. Equation (20) defines the potential $`U(\varphi )`$, and thereby the gradient beta function equation (3). Finally, consider the scale variation of the c-function:

$$\frac{d\mathrm{log}c}{d\mathrm{log}\lambda }=\beta ^I\frac{\mathrm{log}c}{\varphi ^I}$$
(28)
Inverting (21) to get an equation for $`\mathrm{log}c/\varphi ^J`$, we find:

$$\frac{d\mathrm{log}c}{d\mathrm{log}\lambda }G_{IJ}\beta ^I\beta ^J$$
(29)
The right hand side of this equation defines the potential $`V(\varphi )`$ in (4). We now see that $`V(\varphi )`$ is related to the deviation of the c-function away from its value at the conformal point. In summary, given the beta functions, stress tensor and monotonic c-function of a 4d QFT, we have defined a metric and two potentials. As we have shown, these are the elements of a five-dimensional gravitational Lagrangian whose equations of motion reproduce the field theory RG equations.

Discussion

The Hamiltonian constraint (9) expresses radial reparametrization invariance of solutions to the action (5). If radial positions are mapped to field theory scales, we would expect to extract a “holographic” RG equation from this constraint. In  de Boer, Verlinde and Verlinde achieve this goal by separating the five-dimensional bulk spacetime action $`S_h`$ bounded at a given radial position into one piece which is local in the boundary data ($`S_\mathrm{l}`$), and another which is non-local ($`S_{\mathrm{nl}}`$). The Hamiltonian constraint, i.e. the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the total spacetime action $`S_h`$, is rewritten as a first order RG equation of the Callan-Symanzik type for the non-local action $`S_{\mathrm{nl}}`$. The beta-functions are implicitly determined by the form of the local action $`S_\mathrm{l}`$ since they are defined as ratios of $`\frac{\delta S_\mathrm{l}}{\delta A}`$ and $`\frac{\delta S_\mathrm{l}}{\delta \varphi ^I}`$. This definition agrees with the beta function derived from the conformal Ward identity, i.e., the trace of the Brown-York stress tensor. Therefore, knowledge of $`S_\mathrm{l}`$ completely specifies the form of the beta function. Combined with the original Hamiltonian constraint, this determines all the equations of motion, as we have shown above. Furthermore, when the space is $`3+1`$ Poincaré invariant, the local action $`S_\mathrm{l}`$ is determined by the vacuum energy density of the boundary field theory, which is proportional to the trace of the stress-energy tensor. We have derived an RG equation from gravity by directly computing the trace of the quasilocal stress tensor. The resulting beta function agrees exactly with the one discussed in . The Hamiltonian constraint (9) can be rewritten as (4) which, as we have seen (29), simply defines the flow of the $`c`$ function in our formalism.

We have shown that if the beta functions of a 4d field theory are given by gradients of a certain potential, then the RG flow can be expressed as a classical solution of 5 dimensional gravity coupled to scalar fields.999By construction, the examples of holographic RG flows developed in  all fit our formalism. The Raychaudhuri equation in 5 dimensions automatically guaranteed a c-theorem for such flows. Equivalently, a 4d RG flow relates to 5d gravity when the beta functions are given by the gradient of a monotonic c-function (21), while the c-function is related to the trace of the stress tensor as in (20). Given the beta functions, stress tensor and c-function of a field theory we can always rewrite RG flow in terms of 5d gravity so long as the symmetric, positive metric $`G^{IJ}`$ in (21) can be defined. Similar results may be derived for RG flows of field theories in other dimensions. Famously, beta functions of any renormalizable theory in two dimensions can be expressed as gradients of a c-function  with a positive symmetric metric appearing in (21). It has been suggested that a holographic c-function appropriate to 2-dimensional theories will satisfy $`c1/(aT+U(\varphi ))`$ . Using this to define $`U(\varphi )`$, and (4) to define $`V(\varphi )`$, we expect that any such RG flow is expressible in terms of a gravity background.

What characterizes a theory which realizes gradient beta functions of the form discussed in this paper? By construction, the large $`N`$, conformal theories appearing in the AdS/CFT correspondence have the requisite traits. However, the symmetries and properties guaranteeing (3) (or a monotonic c-function) have not been generally understood. Based on the AdS/CFT experience, we expect that a theory might have an RG flow satisfying (3) in some limit of parameters, but that deviations from the limit produce systematic corrections. These should be compared to modified spacetime equations of motion arising from higher derivative terms added to the action (5). In string theory, such terms originate in propagation of the excited states of string and in loop corrections.

Only some field theory RG schemes can be expected to have holographic descriptions in gravity. Within our analysis, there is a scheme dependence in the definition of the stress tensor $`T`$ and the potentials $`U`$ and $`V`$ in field theory. However, these stress tensor ambiguities can be precisely matched by modifications in the counterterm scheme (6) for the gravitational stress tensor.101010One such ambiguity, affecting the definition of the trace anomaly on a curved manifold is discussed in . More generally, different RG schemes involve different ways of imposing a cutoff and integrating out modes or, alternatively, different choices of counterterms. The AdS/CFT correspondence suggests that an appropriate class of RG schemes coarsens field variables by convolving them against a smearing kernel . Even this cannot be entirely sufficient as the field theory approaches the deep infrared. In this limit, the gravity description involves a large bubble of essentially flat space at the center of an AdS spacetime. Since the field theory is in the deep infrared, it appears that the physics of homogeneous modes describes the flat space region. In the AdS/CFT case, these modes constitute the quantum mechanics of a large matrix, in an echo of the M(atrix) model of M-theory . This suggests that recovery of the equations of motion of a flat space region in AdS requires implementation of a “matrix renormalization group” relating the physics of $`SU(N)`$ to $`SU(Nk)`$.

Holographic realizations of the renormalization group associate field theory scales with radial positions in a higher dimensional spacetime. The full set of 5-dimensional diffeomorphisms can put “bumps” in surfaces at fixed radial positions. Recovering such transformations from 4-dimensional field theory will certainly involve a local notion of the renormalization group where the coarsening scale varies from point to point. This automatically requires consideration of theories with spatially varying couplings. It will be illuminating to elucidate the relation between local RG invariance in field theory and higher dimensional diffeomorphism invariance.

Acknowledgements

We have benefitted from discussions with M. Douglas, P. Hořava, P. Kraus, S. Shenker, E. Verlinde, H. Verlinde, N. Warner, E. Witten, and, particularly, J. de Boer and R. Gopakumar. V.B. was supported by the Harvard Society of Fellows, the Milton Fund of Harvard University, and NSF grant NSF-PHY-9802709. E.G. was supported by DOE grant DE-FG03-92ER40701. D.M. was supported by DOE grant DE-FG03-84ER40168. V.B. is grateful to the University of Chicago and UCLA where part of this work was completed. D.M. enjoyed the hospitality of the University of Illinois at Chicago during this project.

Recent work which overlaps with the content of this paper appears in .


text:
# On product spacetime with 2-sphere of constant curvature

## Abstract

If we consider the spacetime manifold as product of a constant curvature 2-sphere (hypersphere) and a 2-space, then solution of the Einstein equation requires that the latter must also be of constant curvature. There exist only two solutions for classical matter distribution which are given by the Nariai (anti) metric describing an Einstein space and the Bertotti - Robinson (anti) metric describing a uniform electric field. These two solutions are transformable into each other by letting the timelike convergence density change sign. The hyperspherical solution is anti of the spherical one and the vice -versa. For non classical matter, we however find a new solution, which is electrograv dual to the flat space, and describes a cloud of string dust of uniform energy density. We also discuss some interesting features of the particle motion in the Bertotti - Robinson metric.

PACS numbers : 04.20,04.60,98.80Hw

We consider the 4-dimensional spacetime as a product manifold of two spaces $`R^2\times S^2`$ with $`S^2`$ having constant curvature. The latter condition implies that $`R_2^2=R_3^3=const.`$ and $`R_0^0=R_1^1`$ where the coordinates are designated as $`t=0,z=1,\theta =2,\phi =3`$. Each space is a 2-space intersecting the other orthogonally and hence each would be specified by a single curvature, which would be $`R^{23}_{23}`$ for $`S^2`$ and $`R^{01}_{01}`$ for $`R^2`$. The Einstein equation would hence be a relation between them and it turns out that the only classical matter distribution it can sustain is the Einstein space ($`R_{ab}=\mathrm{\Lambda }g_{ab},\rho +p=0`$) or the uniform electric field, with $`R=0`$.

Let us define the the energy density by $`\rho =T_{ab}u^au^b`$, timelike convergence density by $`\rho _t=(T_{ab}1/2Tg_{ab})u^au^b`$ and the null convergence density by $`\rho _n=T_{ab}k^ak^b`$ where $`u^au_a=1,k^ak_a=0`$ . Note that for the product manifold, $`\rho =R_2^2,\rho _n=R_0^0R_1^1=0,\rho _t=R_0^0`$. For the classical matter distribution, there exist the only two possibilities; (i) $`\rho +\rho _t=0`$, the Einstein space given by the Nariai metric  and (ii) $`\rho \rho _t=0`$, the uniform electric field given by the Bertotti - Robinson metric , and $`\rho _n=0`$ always. The only other possibility could be of the two curvatures one could vanish; i.e. either $`\rho =0`$ or $`\rho _t=0`$. The former cannot vanish because it defines the constant curvature of the 2-sphere (hypersphere), the construction we began with. Even for the non classical matter, the only possibility is $`\rho _t=0`$, which is the equation of state for the cosmological defects, string dust, global monopole and global texture . The new solution that we shall obtain could describe a string dust of constant energy density. The solution could be shown to be the electrograv dual to the flat space .

For defining the electrogravity duality, we decompose, in analogy with the Maxwell theory, the Riemann curvature into electric and magnetic parts relative to a timelike unit vector. Since the Riemann curvature is a double 2-form, and hence it would always be the double projection. The active electric part is given by $`E_{ab}=R_{acbd}u^cu^d`$, the passive electric part by $`\stackrel{~}{E}_{ab}=Racbdu^cu^d`$ and the magnetic part by $`H_{ab}=R_{acbd}u^cu^d`$ where $`R_{abcd}=1/4\eta _{abmn}\eta _{cdpq}R^{mnpq}`$ and $`\eta _{abcd}`$ is the 4-volume element. In terms of the electromagnetic parts, the Ricci curvature is given by

$$R_{ab}=E_{ab}+\stackrel{~}{E}_{ab}+(E+\stackrel{~}{E})u_au_b\stackrel{~}{E}g_{ab}+u^cH^{mn}(\eta _{acmn}u_b+\eta _{bcmn}u_a)$$
(1)
where $`E=E_a^a,\stackrel{~}{E}_a^a=\stackrel{~}{E}`$, and $`\rho =\stackrel{~}{E},\rho _t=E`$.

By the electrogravity duality we mean ,

$$E_{ab}\stackrel{~}{E}_{ab},H_{ab}H_{ab}$$
(2)
That is the interchange of active and passive electric parts. Note that under duality, the Ricci and the Einstein tensors interchange , which is because contraction of the Riemann is Ricci while its double dual is Einstein.

Clearly under the duality transformation, $`\rho \rho _t,\rho _n\rho _n`$ which means the Einstein space would be anti dual while the uniform electric field solution would be self dual. We would further show that the new solution describing a string dust would be dual to the flat space.

We write the metric for the product spacetime as

$$ds^2=c^2dt^2a^2dz^2\frac{1}{\lambda ^2}(d\theta ^2+sin^2\theta d\phi ^2)$$
(3)
where $`\lambda `$ is a constant with dimension of inverse length, and $`c,a`$ are in general functions of $`z`$ and $`t`$ which run from $`\mathrm{}`$ to $`\mathrm{}`$. There are only two independent components of the Ricci tensor which read as

$$\rho _t=R_0^0=R_1^1=\frac{1}{c^2}(\frac{\ddot{a}}{a}\frac{\dot{a}\dot{c}}{ac})\frac{1}{a^2}(\frac{c^{\prime \prime }}{c}\frac{a^{}c^{}}{ac}),\rho =R_2^2=R_3^3=\lambda ^2$$
(4)
The two classical matter solutions would be obtained by solving the single equation $`\rho =\lambda ^2=\pm \rho _t`$. For its solution we will have to choose the one of $`a`$ and $`c`$ or a relation between them. There could exist both static and non static solutions but one could always be transformed into the other. We shall give the both in the gauge $`ac=1`$. The solutions are given as follows.

I. $`\rho +\rho _t=0`$: The Nariai metric  for the Einstein space,

$$c^2=a^2=(1+\lambda ^2t^2)^1,1\lambda ^2z^2$$
(5)
which gives $`\rho =\lambda ^2=p`$.

II. $`\rho =\rho _t=\lambda ^2`$: The Bertotti - Robinson metric  for the uniform electric field,

$$c^2=a^2=(1\lambda ^2t^2)^1,1+\lambda ^2z^2$$
(6)
The electric field would be along the $`z`$-axis, $`F_{01}=\pm \sqrt{2}ac\lambda `$, which would imply

$$(F^{ij}\sqrt{g})_{,j}=0$$
(7)
where a coma denotes ordinary derivative. Thus the electric field is uniform and is given by $`\pm \sqrt{2}\lambda `$. This equation indicates absence of charges, which would be lying at $`z=\pm \mathrm{}`$ to produce a uniform field.

Let us note some of the interesting properties of the two solutions:

(a) $`NBR`$ when $`\rho _t\rho _t`$, where N stands for the Nariai metric and BR for the Bertotti - Robinson metric. That means changing the sign of $`\lambda ^2`$ only in $`c`$.

(b) The anti metrics of N and BR would be given by letting sphere ($`sin\theta `$) to go to hypersphere ($`sinh\theta `$) in the metric. That is, in N and BR let both $`\rho \rho ,\rho _t\rho _t`$ to get to their anti counterparts.

(c) The anti metrics are transformable into each-other as in (a) above by letting $`\rho _t\rho _t`$.

(d) Under the duality transformation, $`\rho \rho _t`$, the Einstein space is anti dual, and the Nariai and anti Nariai are dual of each - other. On the other hand, the trace free matter field is self dual, and the BR and anti BR are dual of each other with both $`\rho `$ and $`\rho _t`$ changing sign. This is because under the duality gravitational constant changes sign .

Now let us turn to the only remaining possibility of a curved spacetime for the metric (3),e.g. $`\rho _t=R_0^0=0`$. That is $`R^2`$ is flat which would mean $`c=a=1`$. The metric (3) would still be curved giving rise to the stresses $`\rho =T_0^0=T_1^1=\lambda ^2`$ and the rest being zero. The equation of state, $`\rho _t=0`$ is characteristic of topological defects; string dust, global monopole and global texture . In the present case it is the string dust  that has constant energy density. The anti string dust metric would result if we let $`sin\theta sinh\theta ,spherehypersphere`$ in the metric (3) with $`a=c=1`$. This will have $`\rho =\lambda ^2`$.

The string dust solution can be obtained from the equation,

$$E_{ab}=0,\stackrel{~}{E}_b^a=\lambda ^2g_1^ag_b^1$$
(8)
which is dual to the effective flat space equation,

$$\stackrel{~}{E}_{ab}=0,E_b^a=\lambda ^2g_1^ag_b^1$$
(9)
for the metric (3). For a general spherically symmetric metric (replace $`z`$ by $`r`$, $`1/\lambda `$ by $`b`$ and take $`a,b,c`$ as functions of $`r`$ and $`t`$) it can be shown after considerable manipulation , that the above equation characterizes flat space. This shows that the string dust which is the solution of the dual set (8) is dual to flat space which is the solution of the set (9).

The stress tensor for string dust is given by $`T^{ab}=ϵ\sigma ^{ac}\sigma _c^b/\gamma ^{1/2}`$ where $`ϵ`$ is the proper energy density of the string cloud, $`\gamma _{ab}`$ is the 2-dimensional metric on the string world sheet, $`\sigma ^{ab}`$ is the bivector associated with the world sheet: $`\sigma ^{ab}=ϵ^{AB}x^a/\lambda ^Ax^b/\lambda ^B`$. Here $`ϵ^{AB}`$ is the 2-D Levi-Civita tensor ($`ϵ^{01}=ϵ^{10}=1`$) and $`\lambda ^A=(\lambda ^0,\lambda ^1)`$, where $`\lambda ^0`$ and $`\lambda ^1`$ are timelike and spacelike parameters on the string world sheet. In Ref. the stress tensor for a spherically symmetric metric has been computed and shown that it has $`T_0^0=T_1^11/r^2`$ which in our case would be proportional to a constant because the 2-sphere (hypersphere) has constant curvature. The matter distribution represented by the solution is indeed a cloud of string dust. As in other cases its anti version would have $`sin\theta `$ being replaced by $`sinh\theta `$, and $`\rho \rho `$.

We shall next consider some interesting features of particle motion in the Bertotti - Robinson metric as given by the following form,

$$ds^2=(1+\lambda ^2z^2)dt^2(1+\lambda ^2z^2)^1dz^2\frac{1}{\lambda ^2}(d\theta ^2+sin^2\theta d\phi ^2)$$
(10)
Here the red-shifted proper acceleration is given by $`\lambda z`$ which would be attractive/repulsive for $`z>0(z<0)`$. The most pertinent motion in this spacetime is the $`z`$-motion and it would clearly be simple harmonic about the stable state of rest $`z=0`$. A particle sitting at $`z=0`$, which could be chosen anywhere on the axis freely, would remain stay put there for ever. That would mean that a particle at rest would always remain at rest at any $`z`$ while one in motion would execute simple harmonic oscillation about some appropriate $`z=0`$ location. This happens because as it moves on the positive $`z`$, electrostatic energy lying behind it keeps on building up to pull it back, then it turns back and the same happens on the other side. This is an interesting simple harmonic oscillator which can be set up anywhere and is entirely maintained for ever by gravity (Fig. 1). Of course the catch is that the total energy of the system is infinite. It is though not very realistic, yet it is an interesting and novel example of a relativistic analogue of a simple classical situation.

What would happen if we consider motion of a charged particle in this spacetime? The effective potential for the pertinent motion would then be given by

$$V=q\lambda z+(1+\lambda ^2z^2)^{1/2}$$
(11)
where $`q`$ is the charge per unit mass. Without loss of generality, we can take $`q0`$, because negative $`q`$ would only imply reflection in $`z`$. Here there would be three cases corresponding to $`q^2<1`$, $`q^2>1`$ and $`q^2=1`$.

Case (i): For $`q^2<1`$, the potential would have the minimum at $`\lambda z=q/\sqrt{1q^2}`$ and $`V_{min}=\sqrt{1q^2}`$. Particle would have oscillatory motion like the neutral particle with $`V_{min}`$ being lowered and its location shifted on the negative $`z`$-axis. However the potential would not be symmetric but would be wider on the left of the minimum (Fig. 1). A particle sitting at the minimum of the potential would remain so for ever. That is, a charged particle in a uniform electric field is being kept at stable state of rest by gravity.

Case (ii): For $`q^2>1`$, there will be no minimum and $`V=0`$ at $`\lambda z=1/\sqrt{q^21}`$. It increases monotonically from negative large values to positive large values (Fig. 1). Negative energy orbits were first encountered in the Kerr spacetime  and they were confined to ergosphere with its outer boundary at $`r=2M`$. By bringing in electromagnetic interaction, the effective ergosphere could be extended but its extent would always remain bounded . In here we have a situation where occurrence of negative energy extends upto infinity in the negative $`z`$ direction. Particles with both positive and negative energy can have a bounce and go back to infinity. This unphysical feature is due to infinite energy of the spacetime.

Case (iii): For $`q^2=1`$, there again occurs no minimum and it asymptotically tends to zero for negative $`z`$ (Fig. 1).

With the constant curvature sphere (hypersphere) as one part of the product space, there are only three possible solutions. The two are the known solutions; Nariai cosmological metric for the Einstein space representing a fluid with $`\rho +p=0`$ and the Bertotti - Robinson metric for uniform electric field. The third one is new and represents non classical matter of string dust of constant energy density. The Nariai metric has six parameter symmetry group and is not conformally flat. It is shown to be created by quantum polarization of vacuum and asymptotically it decays into the de Sitter and the Kasner spacetimes . The Bertotti - Robinson metric is conformally flat and has also been used to calculate one-loop quantum gravitational corrections induced by fields of large mass . It would be worthwhile to carry out such calculations for the new string dust solution, which could in a way be viewed as ”minimally” curved because it is completely free of the Newtonian gravity .

Apart from the new solution, the novel feature of the paper is to expose the inter - transformability of the Nariai and the Bertotti - Robinson metrics, the role of electrogravity duality in finding the new solution and some interesting features of particle motion in the spacetime of uniform electric field. It is interesting that a particle at rest in this spacetime would remain at rest for ever while the one in motion along the axis of the field would execute simple harmonic oscillation for ever.

Acknowledgement: I wish to thank Varun Sahni and Ramseh Tikekar for enlightening and useful discussions, and Ivor Robinson for reading the manuscript.