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A<sc>bstract</sc> The formulation of the S-matrix as a path integral with specified asymptotic boundary conditions naturally leads to the realization of a Carrollian partition function defined on the boundary of Minkowski space. This partition function, specified at past and future null infinity in the case of massless particles, generates Carrollian correlation functions that encode the S-matrix. We explore this connection, including the realization of symmetries, soft theorems arising from large gauge transformations, and the correspondence with standard momentum space amplitudes. This framework is also well-suited for embedding the Minkowski space S-matrix into the AdS/CFT duality in the large radius limit. In particular, we identify the AdS and Carrollian partition functions through a simple map between their respective asymptotic data, establishing a direct correspondence between the actions of symmetries on both sides. Our approach thus provides a coherent framework that ties together various topics extensively studied in recent and past literature.
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This content will become publicly available on April 1, 2026
Gravity as a mesoscopic system
A<sc>bstract</sc> We employ a probabilistic mesoscopic description to draw conceptual and quantitative analogies between Brownian motion and late-time fluctuations of thermal correlation functions in generic chaotic systems respecting ETH. In this framework, thermal correlation functions of ‘simple’ operators are described by stochastic processes, which are able to probe features of the microscopic theory only in a probabilistic sense. We apply this formalism to the case of semiclassical gravity in AdS3, showing that wormhole contributions can be naturally identified as moments of stochastic processes. We also point out a ‘Matryoshka doll’ recursive structure in which information is hidden in higher and higher moments, and which can be naturally justified within the stochastic framework. We then re-interpret the gravitational results from the boundary perspective, promoting the OPE data of the CFT to probability distributions. The outcome of this study shows that semiclassical gravity in AdS can be naturally interpreted as a mesoscopic description of quantum gravity, and a mesoscopic holographic duality can be framed as a moment-vs.-probability-distribution duality.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2209997
- PAR ID:
- 10644283
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of High Energy Physics
- Volume:
- 2025
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 1029-8479
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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