21 Apr 2014 | Stephen H. Shenker and Douglas Stanford
The paper by Shenker and Stanford explores the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in strongly coupled field theories using holography. They focus on the interplay between entanglement and scrambling, particularly in the context of black holes. The authors use a thermofield double state as a starting point and introduce a small perturbation by adding a few quanta to one side. These quanta, if released in the past, create a shock wave in the bulk geometry, which is a two-sided AdS black hole. The key effect is the blueshift of the early infalling quanta relative to the $t = 0$ slice, leading to a disruption of local two-sided correlations.
The paper discusses the implications of this setup for the firewall controversy, where the existence of a smooth region connecting the outside and inside of the horizon is questioned due to the destruction of delicate entanglement correlations during the black hole's evaporation. The authors also address string- and Planck-scale corrections to their setup and provide insights into the connection between chaotic behavior and the firewall proposal.
Key results include:
1. The scrambling time, \( t_* \), is found to be proportional to \( \beta \log S \), where \( S \) is the entropy of the system.
2. The shock wave geometry disrupts the entanglement between subsystems, leading to a sharp decrease in mutual information.
3. String and Planck-scale effects are considered, but they do not significantly alter the scrambling time \( t_* \).
The paper concludes by discussing the implications for the firewall proposal and the interplay between chaotic behavior and entanglement in black hole physics.The paper by Shenker and Stanford explores the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in strongly coupled field theories using holography. They focus on the interplay between entanglement and scrambling, particularly in the context of black holes. The authors use a thermofield double state as a starting point and introduce a small perturbation by adding a few quanta to one side. These quanta, if released in the past, create a shock wave in the bulk geometry, which is a two-sided AdS black hole. The key effect is the blueshift of the early infalling quanta relative to the $t = 0$ slice, leading to a disruption of local two-sided correlations.
The paper discusses the implications of this setup for the firewall controversy, where the existence of a smooth region connecting the outside and inside of the horizon is questioned due to the destruction of delicate entanglement correlations during the black hole's evaporation. The authors also address string- and Planck-scale corrections to their setup and provide insights into the connection between chaotic behavior and the firewall proposal.
Key results include:
1. The scrambling time, \( t_* \), is found to be proportional to \( \beta \log S \), where \( S \) is the entropy of the system.
2. The shock wave geometry disrupts the entanglement between subsystems, leading to a sharp decrease in mutual information.
3. String and Planck-scale effects are considered, but they do not significantly alter the scrambling time \( t_* \).
The paper concludes by discussing the implications for the firewall proposal and the interplay between chaotic behavior and entanglement in black hole physics.