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Title: Unitarity in the presence of closed timelike curves

Abstract

We conjecture that, in certain cases, quantum dynamics is consistent in the presence of closed timelike curves. We consider time dependent orbifolds of three-dimensional Minkowski space describing, in the limit of large anti-de Sitter (AdS) radius, Banados, Teitelboim, Zanelli (BTZ) black holes inside the horizon. Although perturbative unitarity fails, we show that, for discrete values of the gravitational coupling, particle propagation is consistent with unitarity. This quantization corresponds to the quantization of the black hole angular momentum, as expected from the dual conformal field theory (CFT) description. Note, however, that we recover this result by analyzing the physics inside the horizon and near the singularity. The space-time under consideration has no AdS boundary, and we are therefore not using any assumption regarding a possible dual formulation. We perform the computation at very low energies, where string effects are irrelevant and interactions are dominated by graviton exchange in the eikonal regime. We probe the noncausal structure of space-time to leading order, but work to all orders in the gravitational coupling.

Authors:
 [1];  [2]
  1. Dipartimento di Fisica and INFN, Universita di Roma, 'Tor Vergata' Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133, Rome (Italy)
  2. Departamento de Fisica e Centro de Fisica do Porto Faculdade de Ciencias da, Universidade do Porto Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007 Porto (Portugal)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
20871226
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review. D, Particles Fields
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 74; Journal Issue: 6; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.74.064024; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0556-2821
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; ANGULAR MOMENTUM; BLACK HOLES; CONFORMAL INVARIANCE; COUPLING; DE SITTER GROUP; EIKONAL APPROXIMATION; MINKOWSKI SPACE; QUANTIZATION; QUANTUM FIELD THEORY; SINGULARITY; SPACE-TIME; THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS; TIME DEPENDENCE; UNITARITY

Citation Formats

Cornalba, Lorenzo, and Costa, Miguel S. Unitarity in the presence of closed timelike curves. United States: N. p., 2006. Web. doi:10.1103/PHYSREVD.74.064024.
Cornalba, Lorenzo, & Costa, Miguel S. Unitarity in the presence of closed timelike curves. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.74.064024
Cornalba, Lorenzo, and Costa, Miguel S. 2006. "Unitarity in the presence of closed timelike curves". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.74.064024.
@article{osti_20871226,
title = {Unitarity in the presence of closed timelike curves},
author = {Cornalba, Lorenzo and Costa, Miguel S},
abstractNote = {We conjecture that, in certain cases, quantum dynamics is consistent in the presence of closed timelike curves. We consider time dependent orbifolds of three-dimensional Minkowski space describing, in the limit of large anti-de Sitter (AdS) radius, Banados, Teitelboim, Zanelli (BTZ) black holes inside the horizon. Although perturbative unitarity fails, we show that, for discrete values of the gravitational coupling, particle propagation is consistent with unitarity. This quantization corresponds to the quantization of the black hole angular momentum, as expected from the dual conformal field theory (CFT) description. Note, however, that we recover this result by analyzing the physics inside the horizon and near the singularity. The space-time under consideration has no AdS boundary, and we are therefore not using any assumption regarding a possible dual formulation. We perform the computation at very low energies, where string effects are irrelevant and interactions are dominated by graviton exchange in the eikonal regime. We probe the noncausal structure of space-time to leading order, but work to all orders in the gravitational coupling.},
doi = {10.1103/PHYSREVD.74.064024},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/20871226}, journal = {Physical Review. D, Particles Fields},
issn = {0556-2821},
number = 6,
volume = 74,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2006},
month = {Fri Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2006}
}