Complex saddles and Euclidean wormholes in the Lorentzian path integral

Loges, Gregory J.; Shiu, Gary; Sudhir, Nidhi

doi:10.1007/jhep08(2022)064

Title: Complex saddles and Euclidean wormholes in the Lorentzian path integral

Journal Article · 04 August 2022 · Journal of High Energy Physics (Online)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep08(2022)064 · OSTI ID:1976507

^[1]; Shiu, Gary ^[2]; Sudhir, Nidhi ^[2]

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

We study complex saddles of the Lorentzian path integral for 4D axion gravity and its dual description in terms of a 3-form flux, which include the Giddings-Strominger Euclidean wormhole. Transition amplitudes are computed using the Lorentzian path integral and with the help of Picard-Lefschetz theory. The number and nature of saddles is shown to qualitatively change in the presence of a bilocal operator that could arise, for example, as a result of considering higher-topology transitions. We also analyze the stability of the Giddings-Strominger wormhole in the 3-form picture, where we find that it represents a perturbatively stable Euclidean saddle of the gravitational path integral. This calls into question the ultimate fate of such solutions in an ultraviolet-complete theory of quantum gravity.

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Research Organization:: University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0017647

OSTI ID:: 1976507

Journal Information:: Journal of High Energy Physics (Online), Journal Name: Journal of High Energy Physics (Online) Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 2022; ISSN 1029-8479

Publisher:: Springer NatureCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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