Holography and quantum states in elliptic de Sitter space

Abstract

Abstract: We outline a program for interpreting the higher-spin dS/CFT model in terms of physics in the causal patch of a dS observer. The proposal is formulated in “elliptic” de Sitter space (Formula presented.), obtained by identifying antipodal points in dS4. We discuss recent evidence that the higher-spin model is especially well-suited for this, since the antipodal symmetry of bulk solutions has a simple encoding on the boundary. For context, we test some other (free and interacting) theories for the same property. Next, we analyze the notion of quantum field states in the non-time-orientable (Formula presented.). We compare the physics seen by different observers, with the outcome depending on whether they share an arrow of time. Finally, we implement the marriage between higher-spin holography and observers in (Formula presented.), in the limit of free bulk fields. We succeed in deriving an observer’s operator algebra and Hamiltonian from the CFT, but not her S-matrix. We speculate on the extension of this to interacting higher-spin theory.