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# Untitled Document

HIP-2002-05/TH

On Noncommutativity in String Theory and D-Branes

Masud Chaichian

and

Dimitri Polyakov Masud.Chaichian@helsinki.fi, Dimitri.Polyakov@helsinki.fi

High Energy Physics Division

Department of Physical Sciences

University of Helsinki

and

Helsinki Institute of Physics

P.O. Box 64, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland

Abstract

String theory in a constant B-field exhibits noncommutative structure of space-time. By considering the B-field dynamical and studying its interaction with Ramond-Ramond (RR) background we observe the breaking of the B-field gauge symmetry in the effective action. This effect takes place due to non-perturbative coupling of the B-field to membrane topological charge. As a result, the B-field is renormalized in the RR backgrounds, making it impossible to obtain consistent non-commutative models with constant B-field. We argue that the gauge invariance should be restored by introducing appropriate external D-brane configuration.

PACS:$`04.50.+h`$;$`11.25.Mj`$.

February 2002

1. Introduction

Space-time noncommutativity in string theory appears as a result of open string dynamics in a constant B-field background , . The case of a special interest is the noncommutativity in the presence of D-branes. Prior to the remarkable work of Polchinski  on D-branes it had long been a profound puzzle which objects are the actual sources of Ramond-Ramond charges. In superstring theory charges are usually carried by emission vertices of corresponding physical states, i.e. by BRST invariant and non-trivial vertex operators. For instance, the open superstring vertex operator of a photon:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill V_{ph}(k)=A_m(k)c(X^m+i(k\psi )\psi ^m)e^{ikX}(z)& \\ \hfill k_mA^m(k)=0& \end{array}$$

is multiplied by the vector gauge potential $`A_m(k)`$ of the photon and therefore can be regarded as the source of the U(1) electric charge. In the Ramond-Ramond sector, however, the situation is different. It is well-known that expressions for Ramond-Ramond vertex operators at canonical picture are given by:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill V_{RR}(k)=\frac{1}{p!}\gamma _{\alpha \beta }^{m_1\mathrm{}m_p}F_{m_1\mathrm{}m_p}(k)c\overline{c}e^{\frac{1}{2}\varphi \frac{1}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_\alpha \overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_\beta e^{ikX}(z,\overline{z})& \end{array}$$

where $`\gamma _{\alpha \beta }^{m_1\mathrm{}m_p}`$ is antisymmetrized product of 10d gamma-matrices, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, $`\overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}`$ are spin operators for matter fields, $`\varphi `$ is bosonized superconformal ghost and the rank $`p`$ of the RR field strength $`F`$ may be odd or even, depending on the type of superstring theory we consider - that is, type IIA or type IIB.

The standard bozonization formulae  for reparametrization and superconformal ghosts $`b,c,\beta `$ and $`\gamma `$ are given by:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill c(w)=e^\sigma (w),b(w)=e^\sigma (w),\gamma (w)=e^{\varphi \chi }(w),\beta (w)=e^{\chi \varphi }\chi (w)& \\ \hfill <\sigma (z)\sigma (w)>=<\chi (z)\chi (w)>=log(zw)& \\ \hfill <\varphi (z)\varphi (w)>=log(zw)& \end{array}$$

The crucial point here is that the BRST invariance of the operators (2) requires that they couple to RR field strength rather than RR gauge potential. BRST invariance condition is then equivalent to the Maxwell’s equations for the RR field strength $`F(k)`$. For this reason, the RR vertex operators (2) cannot be considered as the sources of the RR charges. This puzzle has been resolved in the crucial work by Polchinski where it has been shown that the RR charges are carried by the non-perturbative solitonic objects, the D-branes. Namely, the RR gauge potentials appear in the WZ terms of DBI actions for Dp-branes, coupling to their worldvolume $`p+1`$-forms. D-branes may also be realized as open strings with mixed Dirichlet-Neumann boundary conditions, at least up to massless modes. Remarkably, however, the RR vertex operators carrying the RR charges still can be constructed at non-canonical pictures. Namely, consider the physical RR vertex operator at picture $`(3/2,3/2)`$:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill V_{RR}^{(3/2,3/2)}(k)=\frac{1}{p!}\gamma _{\alpha \beta }^{m_1\mathrm{}m_p}R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_p}(k)c\overline{c}e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi \frac{3}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_\alpha \overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_\beta e^{ikX}(z,\overline{z})& \end{array}$$

Properties of this operator are significantly different from those of (2) (this question has also been considered in , . It is easy to check that in this case BRST invariance condition imposes no on-shell constraints on the polarization p-form $`R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_p}(k)`$ and for this reason it cannot be interpreted as a RR field strength. We shall refer to the p-form space-time field $`R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_p}(k)`$ as Ramond-Ramond prepotential, for reasons which will later become clear. To point out the physical meaning of $`R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_p}(k)`$ let us act on it with left and right picture-changing operators $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and $`\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}`$ and compare the result with (2). The normal ordered expression for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is given by

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \mathrm{\Gamma }(z)=:e^\varphi (G_{matter}+G_{ghost}):(z)=\frac{1}{2}e^\varphi \psi _mX^m(z)+\frac{1}{4}be^{2\varphi \chi }(\sigma +\chi )(z)+ce^\chi \chi (z)& \end{array}$$

and analogously for $`\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}`$.

Using the relevant OPE’s, including

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \psi ^m(z)\mathrm{\Sigma }_\alpha (w)(zw)^{\frac{1}{2}}\gamma _{\alpha \gamma }^m\mathrm{\Sigma }_\gamma (w)+\mathrm{}& \\ \hfill e^{\alpha \varphi }(z)e^{\beta \varphi }(w)(zw)^{\alpha \beta }e^{(\alpha +\beta )\varphi }(w)+\mathrm{}& \\ \hfill X^m(z)e^{ikX}(w)(zw)^1ik^me^{ikX}(w)+\mathrm{}& \\ \hfill \mathrm{\Sigma }_\alpha (z)\mathrm{\Sigma }_\beta (w)\frac{\delta _{\alpha \beta }}{(zw)^{\frac{5}{4}}}+\underset{p}{}\frac{1}{p!}\frac{\gamma _{\alpha \beta }^{m_1\mathrm{}m_p}\psi _{m_1}\mathrm{}\psi _{m_p}(w)}{(zw)^{\frac{5}{4}\frac{p}{2}}}+\mathrm{}& \end{array}$$

we have:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill :\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}V_{RR}^{(3/2,3/2)}(k):=\frac{1}{2}(\gamma _{\alpha \beta }^{m_1\mathrm{}m_pn}R_{[m_1\mathrm{}m_p}(k)k_{n]}& \\ \hfill +\gamma _{\alpha \beta }^{m_1\mathrm{}m_{p1}}R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_p}(k)k_{m_p})\times c\overline{c}e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi \frac{1}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_\alpha \overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_\beta e^{ikX}(z,\overline{z})V_{RR}^{(3/2,1/2)}(k)& \end{array}$$

where the square brackets imply antisymmetrization over the space-time indices. Next, acting on this expression with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(z)`$ we get:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill :\mathrm{\Gamma }\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}V_{RR}^{(3/2,3/2)}(k):=\frac{1}{4}c\overline{c}e^{\frac{1}{2}\varphi \frac{1}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_\alpha \overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_\beta e^{ikX}(z,\overline{z})& \\ \hfill \times 2\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\alpha \beta }^{nm_1\mathrm{}m_{p1}}k_{m_p}k_{[n}R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_{p1}]m_p}(k)& \\ \hfill V_{RR}^{(1/2,1/2)}(k)& \end{array}$$

Comparing this with (1) we deduce the following relations between the RR field strength $`F`$, RR gauge potential $`A`$ and RR prepotential $`R`$:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill F_{nm_1\mathrm{}m_{p1}}(k)=k_{m_p}k_{[n}R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_{p1}]m_p}(k)& \\ \hfill A_{m_1\mathrm{}m_{p1}}(k)=k_{m_p}R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_{p1}m_p}(k)& \end{array}$$

In other words, the Ramond-Ramond $`(p1)`$-form gauge potential $`A`$ is given by the divergence of the p-form prepotential $`R`$, while the RR field strength $`F`$ is given by the Laplacian of $`R`$. The p-form prepotential $`R`$ may also be interpreted as a parameter for the Penrose class of solutions to Maxwell’s equations Therefore the RR potential enters the expression for picture $`3/2,1/2`$ (or equivalently $`1/2,3/2`$) RR vertex operator which can now be expressed as

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill V_{RR}^{(3/2,1/2)}(k):=\frac{1}{2}c\overline{c}e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi \frac{1}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_\alpha \overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_\beta e^{ikX}(z,\overline{z})(\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\alpha \beta }^{m_1\mathrm{}m_{p1}}A_{m_1\mathrm{}m_{p1}}(k)& \\ \hfill +\mathrm{\Gamma }^{m_1\mathrm{}m_pn}k_{[n}R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_{p1}]m_p}(k))& \end{array}$$

In other words, the RR vertex operator taken at the mixed $`(3/2,1/2)`$-picture can be considered as a source of the RR-charge (shifted by the exterior derivative of the RR-prepotential, necessary to insure the BRST-invariance). In this sense the $`(3/2,1/2)`$-picture vertex operators are similar to D-branes and should have a non-perturbative nature, while the structure of their scattering amplitudes may be expected to reflect a non-perturbative physics. In this letter we shall observe and discuss one particularly interesting example of non-perturbative effect related to RR scattering amplitudes at non-canonical pictures - the breaking of the B-field gauge invariance in the low energy effective action due to the presence of the non-canonical RR states. Namely, we will show that terms of the form $`(BF^{(p2)},F^{(p)})`$ appear in the effective Lagrangian (particularly for $`p=4`$) due to the interaction of the B-field with non-canonical RR backgrounds in superstring theory. Note that, contrary to the canonical case (related to scattering amplitudes of the B-field with canonical RR vertices) these terms are not full derivatives (as this is the case for the well-known CS term $`BF^{(4)}F^{(4)}`$ coming from M-theory) and therefore the B-field gauge invariance is broken. Let us stress that this effect is non-perturbative (as the $`V_{RR}^{(3/2,1/2)}`$ vertices correspond to non-perturbative brane dynamics) and of course may lead to significant consequences for issues like non-commutativity occuring in certain B-field backgrounds. Some of these consequences will be discussed in this letter.

2. B-field in RR backgrounds and non-perturbative 2-form state

Before starting the calculation of scattering amplitudes revealing the

non-perturbative B-field gauge invariance breaking, we shall comment on some peculiarities of the OPE’s of spin operators at non-canonical pictures to clarify the physics behind the gauge invariance breaking. Consider first the OPE of two canonical Ramond spin operators. We shall be interested in simple poles of these OPE’s (as for 3-point correlators of primary fields only these OPE terms are important). Using the OPE expressions (6) we have:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill e^{\frac{1}{2}\varphi }\mathrm{\Sigma }_\alpha (z)e^{\frac{1}{2}\varphi }\mathrm{\Sigma }_\beta (w)\frac{1}{zw}e^\varphi \psi _m(w)\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\alpha \beta }^m+\mathrm{}& \end{array}$$

At the same time,

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi }\mathrm{\Sigma }_\alpha (z)e^{\frac{1}{2}\varphi }\mathrm{\Sigma }_\beta (w)\frac{1}{(zw)^2}e^{2\varphi }(w)\delta _{\alpha \beta }& \\ \hfill +\frac{1}{zw}(\frac{1}{2}(e^{2\varphi })(w)\delta _{\alpha \beta }+\frac{1}{2}e^{2\varphi }\psi _m\psi _n(w)\gamma _{\alpha \beta }^{mn})& \end{array}$$

The OPE (12) differs from (11) substantially. While the r.h.s. of (11) contains only the usual vector field at picture $`1`$, the r.h.s. of the OPE (12) involving the non-canonical spin field $`e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi }\mathrm{\Sigma }_\alpha `$ contains the two-form term given by $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{mn}=e^{2\varphi }\psi _m\psi _n`$ The origin of this two-form has been discussed in . It has been shown that this corresponds to the membrane topological charge , appearing as a two-form central term in picture-changed space-time SUSY algebra. This intermediate state may also be interpreted as a two-form $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$-parameter associated with a choice of regularization in the worldsheet path integral for a string theory with the B-field ,. Indeed, it is easy to see that for the space-time conjugate momentum operator at picture -1 $`P_m=\frac{dz}{2i\pi }e^\varphi \psi _m(z)`$ one has $`[P_m,P_n]=\frac{dz}{2i\pi }\mathrm{\Phi }_{mn}[_m,_n]`$. At nonzero momenta this two-form gives rise to physical vertex operator given by $`ce^{2\varphi }\psi _m\psi _ne^{ikX}`$ which does not correspond to any perturbative open string excitation (such as a photon) but which describes the non-perturbative membrane dynamics. There is no version of this vertex at picture zero; this operator is BRST-nontrivial if the momentum k is directed along any of 8 space-time directions transverse to its indices $`m`$ and $`n`$. Now, because of the form of the OPE (12) these two-form vertices appear as an intermediate state (both in left and right sectors) in all amplitudes involving the RR vertices at non-canonical pictures. The crucial point is that it is the interaction of this intermediate two-form membrane-like vertex with the axionic state that makes the amplitude picture-dependent and plays the crucial role in breaking the gauge invariance of the B-field in the low-energy effective action. This effect is therefore non-perturbative. In the following section we shall demonstrate it by direct computation of scattering amplitude.

3. Interaction of the B-field with non-canonical RR backgrounds

In this section we compute the interaction of the B-field with 2-form RR field strength and the 4-form RR-prepotential taking place in the type IIA theory, showing that it gives rise to the anomalous term in the low-energy effective action.

The relevant correlator to compute is given by

$$A_{FFB}=<V_{RR}^{(3/2,3/2)}(p)V_{RR}^{(1/2,1/2)}(k)V_B^{(0,0)}(q)>$$

where $`V_B^{(0,0)}(p)`$ is the axionic vertex at picture $`(0,0)`$, given by

$$V_B^{(0,0)}(q)=c\overline{c}(X^m+i(q\psi )\psi _m)(\overline{}X^m+i(q\overline{\psi })\overline{\psi }_n)e^{iqX}(z,\overline{z})B_{mn}(q)$$

Let us start with computing the correlator of RR-vertices with the purely fermionic part of $`V_B`$, i.e. the one biquadratic in $`\psi `$ and $`\overline{\psi }`$. We have:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill A_{FFB}^{(1)}(p,k,q)=\frac{1}{2!4!}<c\overline{c}e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi \frac{3}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\alpha _1}\overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{\beta _1}e^{ipX}(z_1,\overline{z_1})c\overline{c}e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi \frac{3}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\alpha _2}\overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{\beta _2}e^{ikX}(z_2,\overline{z_2})& \\ \hfill \times q^sq^tc\overline{c}:\psi _s\psi _m\overline{\psi }_t\overline{\psi }_n:(z_3,\overline{z_3})>\gamma _{\alpha _1\beta _1}^{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}\gamma _{\alpha _2\beta _2}^{n_1n_2}R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)B_{mn}(q)& \end{array}$$

(the minus sign here is due to the total $`i^2`$ factor in the fermionic part of $`V_B`$) Computing this correlator using the OPE expressions (6) we obtain

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill A_{FFB}^{(1)}(p,k,q)=\frac{1}{(2!)^34!}Tr(\gamma ^{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}\gamma ^{tn}\gamma ^{n_1n_2}\gamma ^{sm})q_sq_t& \\ \hfill \times R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)B_{mn}(q)\delta (p+k+q)& \end{array}$$

Straightforward evaluation of the gamma-matrix trace gives:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill Tr(\gamma ^{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}\gamma ^{tn}\gamma ^{n_1n_2}\gamma ^{sm})& \\ \hfill =(96g^{mn_1}g^{sm_1}g^{n_2m_2}g^{tm_3}g^{nm_4}+perm([n_1n_2],[ms]))& \\ \hfill (96g^{mt}g^{sm_1}g^{n_1m_2}g^{n_2m_3}g^{nm_4}+perm([nt],[ms]))& \\ \hfill +(96g^{mm_1}g^{sn_1}g^{n_2m_2}g^{tm_3}g^{nm_4}+perm([n_1n_2],[ms]))& \\ \hfill +(96g^{mm_1}g^{sm_2}g^{n_1m_3}g^{tn_2}g^{nm_4}+perm([nt],[ms]))& \end{array}$$

where $`g^{mn}`$ is Minkowski tensor and permutations imply antisymmetrizations over the appropriate indices. Contracting the obtained expression for the trace with the space-time fields and using the on-shell conditions:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill q^mB_{mn}(q)=0& \\ \hfill k^mF_{mn}(k)=0& \\ \hfill k_{[m}F_{np]}(k)=0& \\ \hfill q^2=k^2=p^2=0& \end{array}$$

we obtain the result for this part of the amplitude:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill A_{FFB}^{(1)}(p,k,q)=\frac{192}{2!^34!}q_sR_{mnsn_1}(p)q^tF_{tn_1}(k)B_{mn}(q)=A_{mnn_1}^{RR}(p)p^tF_{tn_1}(k)B_{mn}(q)& \\ \hfill =F_{tmnn_1}(p)F_{tn_1}(k)B_{mn}(q)& \end{array}$$

The next contribution is from the correlator involving the X-part of the axionic vertex:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill A_{FFB}^{(2)}(p,k,q)=\frac{1}{2!4!}<c\overline{c}e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi \frac{3}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\alpha _1}\overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{\beta _1}e^{ipX}(z_1,\overline{z_1})c\overline{c}e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi \frac{3}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\alpha _2}\overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{\beta _2}e^{ikX}(z_2,\overline{z_2})& \\ \hfill \times c\overline{c}X^m\overline{}X^ne^{iqX}>\times \gamma _{\alpha _1\beta _1}^{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}\gamma _{\alpha _2\beta _2}^{n_1n_2}R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)B_{mn}(q)& \\ \hfill =k_np_mR_{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)B_{mn}(q)Tr(\gamma ^{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}\gamma ^{n_1n_2})=0& \end{array}$$

i.e. this contribution iz zero as the gamma-matrix trace vanishes. Finally, the cross-term contribution is given by:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill A_{FFB}^{(3)}(p,k,q)=\frac{i}{2!4!}<c\overline{c}e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi \frac{3}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\alpha _1}\overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{\beta _1}e^{ipX}(z_1,\overline{z_1})c\overline{c}e^{\frac{3}{2}\varphi \frac{3}{2}\overline{\varphi }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\alpha _2}\overline{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{\beta _2}e^{ikX}(z_2,\overline{z_2})& \\ \hfill \times c\overline{c}(q_s\psi _s\psi _m\overline{}X^n+X^mq_s\overline{\psi }_s\overline{\psi }_n)e^{iqX}(z_3,\overline{z_3})>& \\ \hfill \times \gamma _{\alpha _1\beta _1}^{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}\gamma _{\alpha _2\beta _2}^{n_1n_2}R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)B_{mn}(q)& \\ \hfill =2\times \frac{i}{(2!)^24!}R_{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)B_{mn}(q)q_sq_nTr(\gamma ^{m_1\mathrm{}m_4}\gamma ^{sm}\gamma ^{n_1n_2}\gamma ^{m_1\mathrm{}m_4})& \end{array}$$

Evaluating the gamma-matrix trace as before and using the on-shell conditions for the space-time fields along with momentum conservation we get

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill A_{FFB}^{(3)}(p,k,q)=\frac{8\times 4!}{(2!)^24!}q_sR_{smn_1n_2}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)p_nB_{mn}(q)& \\ \hfill =2A_{mn_1n_2}^{RR}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)p_nB_{mn}(q)=2F_{nmn_1n_2}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)B_{mn}(q)& \\ \hfill =2F_{mnn_1n_2}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)B_{mn}(q)& \end{array}$$

Physically, the factor of 2 in this contribution is related to sum of the contributions from the left and the right sectors (interaction with left and right intermediate two-form states) Adding all the contributions together, we get

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill A_{FFB}(p,k,q)A_{FFB}^{(1)}(p,k,q)+A_{FFB}^{(2)}(p,k,q)+A_{FFB}^{(3)}(p,k,q)& \\ \hfill =3F_{mnn_1n_2}(p)F_{n_1n_2}(k)B_{mn}(q)& \end{array}$$

This concludes our calculation of the 3-point correlator. It corresponds to the term

$$S_{BFF}d^{10}xF_{mnn_1n_2}F_{n_1n_2}B_{mn}$$

in the low-energy effective action, apparently breaking the B-field gauge symmetry. As we have already remarked above, the mechanism of this symmetry breaking originates from the interaction of the B-field vertex with the membrane-like intermediate states (left and right), described by two-form vertex operators at the picture $`2`$, i.e. this effect is non-perturbative, even though technically it involves only the perturbative string amplitudes. In the next section we shall discuss the relevance of this result to the space-time non-commutativity problem.

4. Gauge symmetry breaking and non-commutativity in RR backgrounds

The phenomenon of the gauge invariance breaking, caused by the non-perturbative interaction of the B-field with non-canonical RR-states, particularly raises questions of how consistent are the models of space-time noncommutativity based on open strings in a constant B-field background In these models the presence of the B-field modifies the two-point propagator $`<X^m(z)X^n(w)>`$ on the worldsheet boundary. As a result the modified propagator acquires the antisymmetric part giving rise to non-commutativity of space-time coordinates after the regularization at coincident points z and w ,  The non-commutativity parameter, $`\theta _{mn}`$, is then given by the function of the $`B_{mn}`$ axionic field, originating from a rank 2 antisymmetric massless mode of a closed string. In these models the two-form $`B`$-field is treated as a static background, without any regard to a closed string. In the perturbative string-theoretic framework such a consideration is valid and non-contradictory since perturbatively the constant $`B`$-field background plays no role in closed string dynamics. This is because perturbatively the B-field is a gauge field, entering the low-energy effective action through its 3-form field strength $`H=dB`$. The only exception is the CS term $`BF^{(4)}F^{(4)}`$ where $`F^{(4)}`$ is the RR 4-form field strength. This topological term, originating from M-theory, is gauge-invariant and does not affect the equations of motion, playing the role analogous to the $`\theta `$-term. For constant $`B_{mn}`$-field the B-field strength is zero and it can be gauged away by suitable transformation. The situation changes, however, if one takes into account the non-perturbative interaction of the B-field with the RR-sector (taking place through the intermediate NS 2-form state $`e^{2\varphi }\psi _m\psi _ne^{ikX}`$) Due to the non-vanishing s-matrix element of the B-field with two RR-states. As a result, the gauge symmetry is broken and the B-field background becomes $`dynamical`$ and gets renormalized by the Ramond-Ramond space-time fields. Due to this renormalization, the space-time profile of the B-field is no longer arbitrary but is ralated to the profile of the RR-fields so as to satisfy the condition of the worldsheet conformal invariance. To see the relation consider the worldsheet RG flow equations involving the B-field and the RR-states, taking into account their non-perturbative interaction (13).Using the result of our calculation of the 3-point correlator (23) it is easy to write down equations for the beta-functions:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \beta _B\frac{dB_{mn}}{d(log\mathrm{\Lambda })}k^2B_{mn}3F_{mnpq}^{}{}_{}{}^{RR(4)}F_{pq}^{}{}_{}{}^{RR(2)}+\mathrm{}& \\ \hfill \beta _{F^{(2)}}\frac{dF_{pq}^{}{}_{}{}^{RR(2)}}{d(log\mathrm{\Lambda })}k^2F_{pq}^{}{}_{}{}^{RR(2)}3F_{mnpq}^{}{}_{}{}^{RR(4)}B_{mn}+\mathrm{}& \\ \hfill \beta _{F^{(4)}}\frac{dF_{mnpq}^{}{}_{}{}^{RR(4)}}{d(log\mathrm{\Lambda })}k^2F_{mnpq}^{}{}_{}{}^{RR(4)}3F_{[pq}^{}{}_{}{}^{RR(2)}B_{mn]}& \end{array}$$

Upon the Fourier transform, the conformal invariance condition $`\beta _B=0`$ particularly implies the equation of motion for the B-field:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill ^2B_{mn}=3F_{mnpq}^{}{}_{}{}^{RR(4)}F_{pq}^{}{}_{}{}^{RR(2)}& \end{array}$$

reflecting the non-perturbative breaking of the gauge symmetry. Thus we see that for general RR backgrounds $`F^{RR}0`$ constant B-field is not a solution of this equation. In other words, standard non-commutativity models based on open superstring theory in a constant B-field are not conformally invariant on the worldsheet (on the non-perturbative level) in the presence of the RR-fields. One way to cure this problem and to restore the conformal symmetry along the gauge symmetry is to introduce appropriate D-brane configuration which would screen the RR-charges. In terms of the effective action this would correspond to shifting the B-field as $`BB+dA`$ where $`A`$ is the D-brane’s U(1) field. As a result, the terms with the B-field will be transformed into those with the the $`B_{mn}+F_{mn}`$ \- type structure; the terms that were breaking the B-field gauge symmetry before the introduction of D-branes would evolve into those of the type $`((C^{RR(p)}+C^{RR(p2)}(B+dA))^2`$ which are gauge invariant under the appropriate combination of the U(1) and B field gauge transformations. In other words, the gauge symmetry will be restored by the D-brane’s U(1) field. Therefore the introduction of D-brane backgrounds is indispensable to preserve the B-field gauge symmetry on the non-perturbative level, as well as to consistently formulate non-commutative theories in Ramond-Ramond backgrounds, based on a constant B-field.

5. Conclusions

In this letter we have considered the Ramond-Ramond vertex operators at non-canonical pictures, showing that they may be considered as sources of the RR gauge potential. In this way these operators have a non-perturbative character (similarly to D-branes) and correlation functions involving these operators contain essential information about the non-perturbative physics of strings. We also have discussed one particularly interesting non-perturbative effect related to these vertices \- the breaking of the B-field gauge symmetry. The only way to restore this gauge symmetry is to introduce D-branes so that the presence of the D-brane U(1) field compensates for the B-field gauge non-invariance. Therefore the presence of the non-canonical vertex operators in superstring spectrum automatically entails the introduction of D-branes to insure the gauge symmetry. The gauge symmetry restoration may also be understood in another way. Namely, the dynamics of various D-branes can be represented in terms of the NS and NS-NS brane-like vertex operators  similar to those appearing as intermediate extra states in the amplitude (23). As we have seen, these intermediate extra states are in fact those leading to the gauge symmetry violation. Therefore introducing D-brane backgrounds (described by the brane-like states) is equivalent to screening these intermediate poles. Such a screening insures that the gauge symmetry associated with the B-field is restored.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank A. Kobakhidze, A.M. Polyakov and M. Sheikh-Jabbari for useful discussions and comments. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Academy of Finland under the Project no. 54023 D.P. also expresses his acknowledgements to the RFFI public grant RFBR 01-02-17682

References

relax N. Seiberg and E. Witten, hep-th/9908142, JHEP 9909 (1999) 032 relax F. Ardalan, H. Arfaei and M. Sheikh-Jabbari, hep-th/9810072, JHEP 9902 (1999) 016 relax J. Polchinski, hep-th/9510017, Phys. Rev. Lett.75 (1995) 4724 relax D. Friedan, E. Martinec and S. Shenker, Nucl. Phys. B271 (1986) 93 relax M. Billo, P. Di Vecchia et al.,hep-th/9802088,Nucl.Phys.B526:199-228,(1998) relax P. Di Vecchia, M.Frau et al., hep-th/9906214, Nucl.Phys.B565:397-426, (2000) relax D. Polyakov, hep-th/0111227, to appear in Phys. Rev. D relax J. de Azcarraga, J. Gauntlett, J. Izquierdo and P. Townsend Phys. Rev. Lett. 62 (1989) 2579 relax N. Seiberg, hep-th/0008013, JHEP 0009 (2000) 003 relax O. Andreev and H. Dorn, hep-th/9912070, Phys. Lett B476(2000) 402


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# The central binary and surrounding nebula of the symbiotic star V1016 Cygni

## 1 Introduction

V1016 Cyg is a symbiotic star which falls into the D(usty)-type sub-category, containing a Mira variable as its late-type cool component and a white dwarf as the hot component (e.g. Taranova & Yudin 1983). There are a number of distance estimates in the literature, ranging from 2.1 to 10 kpc (Watson et al. 2000, and references therein). The binary period of the system has been suggested to be 80$`\pm `$25 years from spectropolarimetry (Schild & Schmid 1996) or more recently as $`15`$ years from optical photometry (Parimucha et al. 2000). Infrared photometry also shows a $``$450 day periodicity which has been attributed to the pulsations of the Mira (Harvey 1974).

The system is well known for its nova-like optical outburst in 1965 and has since been dubbed a symbiotic nova (see e.g. Parimucha et al. 2000 and references therein). The outburst is thought to be the result of a thermonuclear runaway on the surface of the white dwarf as it accretes material emitted by the Mira (Mikołajewska & Kenyon 1992). As with classical novae, symbiotic novae may be accompanied by a radio outburst – while radio monitoring did not take place in 1965, V1016 Cyg is certainly one of the brightest radio sources among the symbiotic systems (e.g. Belczyński et al. 2000).

The source has been imaged previously in the radio and emits a spectrum typical of thermal bremsstrahlung. While originally thought to be produced in an expanding shell as a result of the 1965 outburst, Watson et al. (2000) used MERLIN observations to show that it is more likely that the peaks in the radio maps are the result of colliding winds between the two stellar components. Despite a number of similarities between V1016 Cyg and another D-type symbiotic, HM Sagittae, V1016 Cyg does not show any evidence for non-thermal emission which has been detected in the former system (Richards et al. 1999).

The majority of optical papers in the literature have concentrated on spectroscopic observations and there is little in the way of imaging. What there is has revealed an extended nebula (Bang et al. 1992, Corradi et al. 1999) but no counterpart in either the infrared or ultraviolet has been observed. The resolution of ground-based optical telescopes has been insufficient for any observations of the inner nebula at sub-arcsecond scales to have taken place.

In this paper we present HST/WFPC2 images of V1016 Cyg with resolution of $`<`$0.1 arcsec. We combine our results with VLA radio imaging and archival ultraviolet HST/STIS observations which enable diagnostic tests to be applied in order to determine various physical parameters.

## 2 Observations

### 2.1 HST/WFPC2

Our HST observations took place on 1999 November 4 as part of GO programme 8330 on symbiotic stars. Over the course of two orbits images were made in six different filters – F218W, F437N, F469N, F502N, F547M, F656N – details of which can be found in Table 1 and in Biretta et al. (1996). These filters were chosen in order to probe the hot and cool continuum components of the symbiotic system (F218W and F547M respectively, see Eyres et al. 2001 for assumptions and justification), as well as various emission lines from which conditions within the nebula could be determined.

The calibrated images were obtained from the HST archive. Since there were two observations in each filter it was possible to perform cosmic ray removal. A second pair of shorter exposures was also taken in each filter; this time the second image was ‘dithered’ in order to allow full recovery of the spatial resolution (Biretta et al. 1996). The iraf task drizzle was used to recombine the images. The resultant pixel size of the dithered images was 0.02275 arcsec, compared with 0.0455 arcsec for the undithered images. We use the dithered images to obtain the results below.

Each image has been de-reddened using the standard interstellar extinction curve of Whittet (1992) and published values of Rudy et al. (1990), who determined a value of E(B$``$V)=0.46$`\pm `$0.007 from the hydrogen lines. (See also Section 3.4.)

### 2.2 HST/STIS

We have also obtained two STIS spectra from the public archive (Proposal 8188, Cycle 8, P.I. C.D. Keyes). V1016 Cyg was observed on 2000 March 24 using the gratings G140L and G230L; the wavelength coverage is 1145–1740 and 1570–3180 Å with a spectral resolution of 0.60 and 1.58 Å/pixel respectively. The slit width and length were 0.5 and 52 arcsec respectively with a pixel scale of 0.025 arcsec/pixel on the CCD chip.

### 2.3 VLA

The VLA observations were made on 1999 September 26 at 23 GHz. Whilst not strictly simultaneous with the WFPC2 observations we note that a $`40`$ day period is short, relative to the likely timescales of variability in the source, and so therefore it is possible to compare them directly.

The images were reduced using standard flagging, calibration and imaging techniques within aips. The primary calibrator was 3C286 (1331+305) which led to determination of the flux of the secondary calibrator, 2007+404, as $`1.57\pm 0.07`$ Jy. The complex gain solutions obtained were then applied to the target, V1016 Cyg for which a peak flux of $`23.28\pm 0.17`$ mJy/beam was measured. The final image was naturally weighted in order to improve the somewhat high noise levels at this frequency.

## 3 Results and discussion

### 3.1 Images

The resulting dereddened images can be seen in Figures 1 and 2. Fig. 1 shows the HST images in the F218W, F469N (He ii $`\lambda 4686`$), F547M, F437N (\[Oiii\] $`\lambda 4364`$) and F502N (\[Oiii\] $`\lambda \lambda 4959,5007`$), as well as the ratio of the two \[Oiii\] images. Fig. 2 shows the image taken with the H$`\alpha `$ filter, F656N and the 23 GHz radio map. North is to the top of the image in each case and an AU scale is given for each image at an assumed distance of 2kpc (the black line represents 2000 AU in each HST image and 200 AU in the radio and map).

The majority of the HST images show an approximately circular (spherical?) nebula ranging in size from 0.5–2 arcseconds in diameter; there are very few additional features. However in the case of F502N (Fig. 1) the nebula is more asymmetric and, as we show in the next section, extended approximately perpendicular to the derived binary axis. We must consider the possibility that this is some form of bipolar outflow. Closer inspection of the brighter regions of the image reveals more intricate features with various filaments and enhanced ‘blobs’. Comparison with the larger-scale images of Corradi et al. (1999) is difficult due to the different resolution scales – nonetheless, possible extension in the same direction as their work is suggested.

The 23 GHz radio map (Fig. 2) shows a source with peak intensity $`23.3\pm 0.17`$ mJy/beam. Contours indicate flux density values of 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 96 $`\times \sigma `$ where $`\sigma =0.19`$ mJy. Structure is observed on a smaller scale compared with the optical; we note that the spatial resolution of the VLA and dithered HST images are comparable. Again an extension approximately perpendicular to the binary position angle (see below) is apparent, as well as an additional extension rotated $`90^{}`$ clockwise from this.

The ratio map and the annotations on the H$`\alpha `$ image are explained in Sections 3.3 and 3.5.

### 3.2 Stellar positions

By making use of the dithering technique in order to recover full spatial resolution, we have been able to measure the position of the two stars of the symbiotic system. We use the argument presented in Eyres et al. (2001) to show that it is reasonable to assume that the hot component dominates the emission peak in the F218W filter and that the cool component dominates in the F547M filter.

We have used the AIPS task imfit to fit a Gaussian to these two images – using of course the images in which the pixel size was 0.02275 arcsec. We note that in each case the Gaussian provided a good ($`\chi _\nu ^21`$) fit to the radial profiles and was in agreement (within the errors) with comparison point spread functions produced by the tinytim software. The peak position was determined relative to 19 57 05 +39 49 36 – the shift in the F218W image was $`\alpha =0.09860\pm 0.00004`$, $`\delta =0.9130\pm 0.00005`$; in the F547M image it was $`\alpha =0.10028\pm 0.00004`$, $`\delta =0.8789\pm 0.00005`$. Thus the hot component and the cool component are separated by 42.4 mas (to within an accuracy of $`<1`$ mas) at a position angle of 143.5 (to within an accuracy of $`<10^{}`$).

This is only the second time the separation of the two stars in a symbiotic binary has been measured directly (HM Sge being the first – Eyres et al. 2001) and such a measurement can place important constraints on estimates of the distance to and orbital period of the system. We used Kepler’s third law to calculate that for a projected separation of 42 mas, an assumed distance of 2 kpc and an assumed total mass of 2M the minimum orbital period is $`544`$ years. Since the system is non-eclipsing, thus ruling out a high inclination angle and increasing the separation, the period will actually be higher than this; obviously using one of the higher published distance estimates increases the period further still. In order to decrease the orbital period to $`80`$ years (Schild & Schmid 1996) it is necessary to decrease the distance to $`580`$ pc. We note that even a period of 80 years is high compared with other symbiotic systems (Belczyński et al. 2000) and suggest that either the distance to V1016 Cyg needs revising or the period of V1016 Cyg is unusually high or the published orbital periods for other symbiotic systems may be too low. However, we also note that these published values tend to be for S-type symbiotics which are expected to have shorter obital periods; D-type symbiotics are indeed expected to have periods on timescales of hundreds of years and so our result is consistent with this. A final possibility is that our HST observations took place around apastron of a highly eccentric orbit.

At this point we must add a note of caution to these results. The values for angular separation and position angle of the two components in V1016 Cyg and HM Sge are very similar (V1016 Cyg – 42.4 mas, 143.5; HM Sge – 40 mas, 130), perhaps suggesting some, as yet unknown, instrumental effect. We note that the HST roll angle was similar for the two targets (252 vs. 259). However measurement of the angular separation of the stellar components in CH Cyg (Eyres et al. 2002) has also been attempted and none was found, to within the errors of the method. This was consistent with the fact that the hot component was eclipsed by the giant at the time of the HST imaging, as shown by photometric monitoring, and adds credibility to the method. Furthermore, the position angle for the components of HM Sge is confirmed using a second method (Schmid et al. 2000). Perhaps we should not be too surprised by our results for V1016 Cyg as the observed similarities between them (e.g. position and separation of radio peaks; Watson et al. 2000, Eyres et al. 2001) would lead us to expect similar parameters. However further investigation of any possible instrumental cause is probably warranted.

### 3.3 Nebular diagnostics

The ratio of the \[Oiii\] lines in the nebula ($`R_{OIII}`$) depends on both electron temperature $`T_e`$ (K) and density $`n_e`$ (cm<sup>-3</sup>) (Osterbrock 1989) according to:

$$R_{OIII}=\frac{j_{\lambda 4959}+j_{\lambda 5007}}{j_{\lambda 4363}}=\frac{7.73exp[3.29\times 10^4T_e^1]}{1+4.5\times 10^4(n_eT_e^{0.5})}$$
(1)
Furthermore, the radio brightness temperature $`T_b`$ in Kelvins is given by

$$T_b=T_e(1e^{\tau _\nu })$$
(2)
where the optical depth $`\tau _\nu `$ at frequency $`\nu `$ (GHz) is

$$\tau _\nu 8.24\times 10^2T_e^{1.35}\nu ^{2.1}n_e^2l$$
(3)
where $`l`$ (pc) is the path length through the nebula. Thus the three relationships can be used to plot the ratio $`R_{OIII}`$ and the brightness temperature $`T_b`$ as functions of $`T_e`$ and $`n_e`$.

The ratio of the two \[Oiii\] maps has been obtained and is shown in Fig. 1. We note that the \[Oiii\] lines dominate the emission in the filter bands used for our observations (e.g. Andrillat, Ciatti & Swings 1982). Contours indicate $`R_{OIII}`$ 2, 4, 6, 8 and increase outwards from the centre of the nebula. In the outer regions values increase further up to $`R_{OIII}`$ 15 and the occasional pixel has a value higher still, although these should be treated with caution. The higher value contours have been omitted from the plot for clarity. Therefore, by using the same assumptions and considerations as Eyres et al. (2001) we can use our ratio map to determine the conditions of the nebula at different path lengths.

Curves for $`R_{OIII}=`$2, 4, 8, 16 have been plotted in $`T_e`$:$`\mathrm{log}n_e`$ space and can be seen in Fig. 3. The brightness temperature of the radio emission has also been determined for the second-highest ($`48\sigma `$, i.e. $`T_b5424`$ K) and lowest ($`3\sigma `$ i.e. $`T_b339`$ K) contours in the radio map. The 23 GHz radio image suggests that the angular size of the nebula is 0.1–0.5 arcsec, corresponding to 0.001–0.005 pc (or $``$ 200–1030 AU assuming a distance of 2 kpc); unfortunately it is not possible to probe the more extended regions of the nebula without lower frequency and/or resolution radio images). Thus a further four curves corresponding to these values of $`T_b`$ and $`l`$ have also been included in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 suggests that $`n_e`$ increases with increased brightness temperature and decreases with increased path length, as we would expect. The regions of lowest $`R_{OIII}`$ are found right at the centre of the source (see ratio map in Fig. 1) and it is clear that the regions of the nebula probed by our radio observations correspond to $`R_{OIII}8`$ and electron temperatures in excess of 40-50000 K – suggesting some shock heating may begin to become important here. The extended nebula is cooler, with $`R_{OIII}8`$; however, radio imaging at lower frequencies is required to probe these regions. We note that our results are not inconsistent with those of Schmid & Schild (1990) who determine a similar value of $`R_{OIII}`$ but a temperature of $`30000`$ K. Their observations were at considerably lower spatial resolution and thus included the cooler regions of the nebula; our high resolution observations probe only the innermost and potentially significantly hotter parts of the nebula.

### 3.4 Extinction

We make use of the fact that the dereddened H$`\beta `$ flux can be derived from the radio flux via the equation (Pottasch 1983):

$$S_\nu =2.51\times 10^8T_e^{0.53}\nu ^{0.1}F(\text{H}\beta )\text{Jy}$$
(4)
Thus from our measured values of the H$`\alpha `$ flux we can extrapolate the value for the measured H$`\beta `$ flux (Osterbrock 1989) and determine an estimate for the extinction across the nebula from the ratio of the radio to H$`\alpha `$ images:

$$E(BV)=\frac{1}{1.46}\mathrm{log}\left[\frac{S_\nu }{F_{obs}(H\alpha )}\right]7.15$$
(5)
We note that, due to the poor absolute positional accuracy of the $`HST`$ compared with the VLA, it was necessary to assume that the peak flux position of both the radio map and H$`\alpha `$ image were identical and to re-align the $`HST`$ image accordingly. We also assumed that the radio emission is purely thermal and optically thin – these are reasonable assumptions as outlined in Eyres et al. (2001).

The resultant map showed extinction peaks either side of the radio peak as one might expect from a hot source surrounded by an extended dusty nebula. However the values of E(B$``$V) derived (ranging from 1.4$`\pm `$1.0 to 2.5$`\pm `$2.0) are high compared with previous estimates (e.g. Birriel et al. 2000), possibly due to self-absorption in H$`\alpha `$, and noisy due to the poor S/N in the radio image and the broad PSF of the H$`\alpha `$ peak.

### 3.5 STIS spectra

The slit of the spectrograph lay at a position angle of 119.28 (from north measured through west) and had dimensions 0.5 x 52 arcsec; the approximate position of the slit is indicated in Fig. 2. The zero position of the pointing was $`\alpha =`$ 19 57 05.0, $`\delta =`$39 49 36.5, corresponding to pixels $`y=`$ 392 and 512 for the G140L and G230L gratings respectively. Thus we were able to determine that the slit lay roughly parallel to the derived binary axis but that it lay across the nebula, not actually over either of the two stars.

Using the iraf package x1d we extracted one-dimensional spectra at many positions along the slit; the intervals were determined by the signal-to-noise possible at each position, with a greater degree of averaging taking place towards the outer parts of the slit, particularly for the G230L grating. Spectra centred on position $`y=`$ 392 and 512 (i.e. the slit centre) for the G140L and G230L gratings respectively) are shown in the top panels of Fig. 4 (averaged over 0.025 and 0.075 arcsec along the slit respectively); the bottom panels show sample spectra 1.45 arcsec and 0.425 arcsec from the slit centre respectively (averaged over 0.12 and 0.25 arcsec along the slit respectively). Each of these three positions is indicated by dotted lines on the H$`\alpha `$ image in Fig. 2. We then used the splot task to measure the integrated flux under various emission lines for each extracted spectrum and compared these values across the nebula. In order to do this direct comparison it was necessary to take into account the averaging of rows during the extraction. Thus each flux was divided by the number of rows averaged, the pixel scale and the slit width, resulting in fluxes per square arcsecond.

The resulting spectra from both gratings, although particularly G140L, showed that a number of emission lines remained visible in the outer parts of the nebula – we show the integrated fluxes of lines Cii\] $`\lambda `$2326, Ciii\] $`\lambda `$1909 and Civ $`\lambda `$1549 in Fig. 5. As we would expect, the fluxes decreased from the centre of the slit outwards to the edge of the nebula. With a spatial scale of 0.025 arcsec/pixel it is clear that the nebula maintains a significant flux level to a diameter of at least 15 arcsec and possibly as much as 20–25 arcsec, although improved sensitivity is required to confirm this. This may seem surprising when compared with the images presented earlier in this paper which span about 2 arcsec at most. However we draw attention to work by Bang et al. (1992) who found evidence for a $`24`$ arcsec nebula from long-slit high-resolution spectroscopy of the H$`\alpha `$, He ii $`\lambda `$4686 and \[O iii\] $`\lambda `$5007 emission lines. The presence of this extended emission was confirmed by Corradi et al. (1999) who obtained \[N ii\] $`\lambda `$6583 spectra and images of V1016 Cyg; in this case the nebula appeared extended in the same direction as the \[O iii\] $`\lambda \lambda `$4959,5007 image above. This is the first time that the ultraviolet counterpart to the extended nebula has been discovered, although with only one STIS observation at a single slit position we are unable to investigate the detailed morphology of this extended ultraviolet emission.

Finally we have plotted in Fig. 6 the Cii\] $`\lambda `$2326 / Ciii\] $`\lambda `$1909 vs. Civ $`\lambda `$1549 / Ciii\] $`\lambda `$1909 ratios as for the diagnostic diagram of Allen et al. (1998, although we note that this model has been developed for active galaxies). Points from the outermost parts of the nebula have not been included due to the extremely high uncertainties in these regions. All other points lie in a region of the diagram which is suggestive of photoionisation, although the possibility of shocks is not actually ruled out. Perhaps surprisingly, there is no relationship between position in this diagram and position in the nebula, although it is possible that this will change with improved sensitivity data. These results are preliminary and more detailed modelling will take place, particularly if we obtain data with higher signal-to-noise at both optical and ultraviolet wavelengths.

### 3.6 Comparison with HM Sge

HM Sge and V1016 Cyg share a number of common properties which has led frequently to their simultaneous study (including e.g. Corradi et al. 1999, Schmid & Schild 1990). Both systems are D-type symbiotics with a Mira as the cool component; furthermore they are both symbiotic novae which have experienced an outburst within the last forty years. They are both relatively bright radio sources and the published estimates of their orbital periods are relatively long compared with other symbiotic systems. Comparison of our results above with Eyres et al. (2001) suggests that coincidentally both central binary systems had similar separations and position angles at the time of our observations.

Unfortunately such comparisons are insufficient if we wish to study the characterstics of the sources. Despite such similar parameters HM Sge is considerably brighter and appears to have much more structure within the nebula. Furthermore there is evidence for non-thermal radio emission from extended regions whereas there is no such emission in V1016 Cyg observed to date. In addition, our preliminary ultraviolet diagnostics suggest that photoionisation is more significant than shocked emission in the V1016 Cyg nebula. The $`10`$-year gap in time between the oubursts of these two sources may explain some of these differences. Current distance estimates to V1016 Cyg (2–10 kpc) suggest that it is considerably further away than HM Sge ($``$ 1250 pc, Richards et al. 1999) and this may explain some of the differences; however if, as we suggest above, the distance is actually less than those published then it would be interesting to determine more about how and why these two sources differ, rather than focussing soley on their similarities.

## 4 Conclusions

We have presented the first sub-arcsecond optical images of the symbiotic star V1016 Cyg and have shown that although the source was approximately circular in most images, the \[O iii\] $`\lambda \lambda `$4959,5007 emission appears to trace a bipolar outflow with axis aligned approximately NE-SW. These images have allowed us to determine the positions of the two stellar components of the system and thus a separation of 84 AU (assuming a distance of 2 kpc) and position angle of 143.5; the subsequent orbital period calculated for such a projected separation is extremely long ($`544`$ years) and may require revision of the distance estimate and/or a highly eccentric orbit. We have added a note of caution here, however, as we need to conduct further work to totally eliminate any possible instrumental effects. Furthermore we have presented a 23 GHz radio image which we have used in calculation of firstly the electron density and temperatures for different path lengths through the nebula and secondly the extinction at different locations within the nebula; the brightness temperature near the centre of the radio image was $`5424\pm 113`$ K. Finally we have determined accurately the position of the slit in archival STIS spectra thus enabling us to show that there is extended emission in the ultraviolet in a $`1525`$ arcsec (diameter) nebula, as observed in optical data previously and which appears to be photoionised from preliminary analysis. Further STIS spectrosocopy, particularly if used to ‘map’ the nebula, is strongly encouraged in this and other extended nebulae of symbiotic sources.

## Acknowledgements

Many thanks are due to Dr. S.J. Smartt of the UK HST Support Unit for his assistance with extracting the one-dimensional STIS spectra. The VLA is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a joint project between the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). CB is supported by a PPARC grant, as was SPSE in the initial phases of this work.


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# De Sitter Holography and the Cosmic Microwave Background

## 1 Introduction

Astronomical observations indicate that the universe is currently accelerating. The simplest interpretation of this data is that we are entering an epoch dominated by a positive cosmological constant, a de Sitter phase, which will persist eternally. The Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropy and other measurements pertaining to the very early universe similarly suggest an epoch of rapid acceleration in our distant past. The history of the universe may thus be interpreted as the interpolation between two de Sitter phases. The traditional framework to interpret this evolution is to hypothesize some medium, the inflaton field or quintessence, and design the dynamics of the corresponding scalar field so it dominates at early and late times, respectively. Recently, a more radical interpretation was proposed: the cosmic evolution is holographic; i.e. it can be usefully analyzed in terms of a dual field theory . This paper develops the holographic proposal further.

A holographic duality has been established only for anti-de Sitter space (AdS) , but it is plausible that many other backgrounds similarly allow holographic representations, particularly in view of the area law for gravitational entropy. In the case of AdS the dual theory is a conformally invariant gauge theory, situated at the AdS boundary at large radius. The symmetries of de Sitter space (dS) suggest that their duals are conformal field theories (CFT’s) as well; these theories are Euclidean and located at asymptotically early (or late) times . If the dS/CFT correspondence is correct, the cosmological evolution interpolating between two de Sitter-phases can be naturally interpreted as the renormalization group flow linking two CFT’s (analogous flows were considered in AdS ). Then there is one underlying quantum field theory, with the future de Sitter phase governed by the ultraviolet (UV) fixed point, and the past corresponding to the infrared (IR) fixed point. The increasing entropy of the expanding universe is interpreted holographically as the “integrating in” of the reverse renormalization group flow.

The purpose of this paper is to make this abstract scenario more concrete. Our main example is the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. We find that holography gives the same predictions as standard slow-roll inflation; in fact, there is a simple dictionary between the holographic model and the standard approach using a single spacetime scalar field. However, the holographic interpretation is different: the basic input is the dual quantum field theory, rather than the inflationary potential; so now scaling violations are interpreted in terms of the $`\beta `$-function and the anomalous dimension. One reason this is interesting is that it gives a new perspective on the fine-tuning problems introduced by inflation, and on the cosmological constant problem. A different approach to interpreting the CMB in terms of critical scaling behavior can be found in .

Another motivation for studying the holographic formulation is that it may provide a phenomenologically viable path to microphysics111Other recent attempts to connect cosmology and microphysics appear in .. It is often presumed that the inflationary potential will be the interlocutor, inferred in some detail from observations as well as derived from a low energy limit of string/M-theory. It seems to us no less fanciful to envision interpreting observations in terms of scaling violations and compare them with a microscopic understanding of the dual field theory.

In the simplest viable models of inflation, there is a single inflaton field which dominates the energy density . The quantum fluctuations of this field are ultimately responsible for the CMB anisotropy. The detailed spectrum depends on small departures from pure de Sitter space and is conventionally parametrized in terms of the slow-roll parameters $`ϵ`$ and $`\eta `$. In the dual interpretation the inflationary epoch is reinterpreted as a quantum field theory close to its IR fixed point. The CMB spectrum now depends on the scaling violations of the field theory and is simply parametrized by the $`\beta `$-function and the anomalous dimension $`\lambda `$. Perturbative quantum field theory gives $`\beta \lambda `$ corresponding to the prediction $`ϵ\eta `$.

In Section 2, we first review standard inflationary cosmology and then summarize the conjectured dS/CFT correspondence. Next, we explain how the bulk physics determines properties of the CMB, and show how this is reinterpreted in the dual theory. Of course, we do not as yet understand all aspects of the dS/CFT duality, but for our purposes a few simple features suffice. The most conservative view is that we simply reorganize the standard inflationary picture in a way inspired by dS/CFT, but ultimately interpretable in terms of symmetries. This point of view could be useful phenomenologically even if no holographic dual exists. In the remainder of the paper we will simply assume the dS/CFT correspondence and take the view that we are deriving some of its consequences.

In Section 3 we introduce a concrete quantum field theory realization of the central features assumed in our general discussion. We explicitly compute the CMB spectrum in this toy model of the early universe. We conclude the paper in Section 4 with a discussion of some standard problems in inflationary cosmology, such as the cosmological constant problem, the fine-tuning of the inflaton potential, and the initial value problem. We translate these problems to the dual theory and explain some potential advantages of the holographic perspective.

## 2 Holographic Cosmology

### 2.1 FRW Cosmology

We consider 4d Einstein gravity coupled to scalars $`\varphi ^I`$ via

$$=\frac{1}{2\kappa ^2}R\frac{1}{2}G_{IJ}_\mu \varphi ^I^\mu \varphi ^JV(\varphi ^I),$$
(1)
where $`\kappa ^2=8\pi G=1/M_{p}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}`$ and $`G_{IJ}`$ is the metric on the moduli space of the scalars $`\varphi ^I`$. The potential $`V(\varphi ^I)`$ is assumed to have de Sitter extrema. Using the standard spatially flat FRW metric

$$ds^2=dt^2+a(t)^2\left(dr^2+r^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_2^2\right),$$
(2)
and assuming spatial isotropy $`\stackrel{}{}\varphi ^I=0`$, the equations of motion are given by

$`\ddot{\varphi }^I`$ $`+`$ $`3H\dot{\varphi }^I+G^{IJ}{\displaystyle \frac{dV}{d\varphi ^J}}=0,`$ (3)
$`H^2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\kappa ^2\rho ,`$ (4)
$`\dot{H}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\kappa ^2\left(\rho +p\right),`$ (5)
where the Hubble parameter $`H`$ is $`H\dot{a}/a`$, the dot representing a derivative with respect to the coordinate time $`t`$, and the density $`\rho `$ and pressure $`p`$ are given by

$`\rho `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}G_{IJ}\dot{\varphi }^I\dot{\varphi }^J+V(\varphi ^I),`$
$`p`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}G_{IJ}\dot{\varphi }^I\dot{\varphi }^JV(\varphi ^I).`$ (6)
The equations of motion give

$$\frac{3}{4}\kappa ^2(\omega +1)=H^2G^{IJ}\frac{dH}{d\varphi ^I}\frac{dH}{d\varphi ^J},$$
(7)
for the equation of state parameter $`\omega p/\rho `$. Also recall that one of the equations of motion is redundant, e.g. (3) and (4) imply (5).

In the following we drop the index $`I`$ and consider a single scalar with canonical kinetic energy; the generalization back to multiple scalars is straightforward.

### 2.2 The dS/CFT Correspondence

We now want to reinterpret this 4d bulk cosmology in terms of a dual 3d Euclidean quantum field theory. The idea is that the scalar field breaks the de Sitter symmetry in the bulk and this will correspond to broken scale invariance in the dual theory.

According to the dS/CFT correspondence a scalar field $`\varphi `$ with asymptotic value $`\varphi _0(\stackrel{}{x})`$ is dual to an operator $`𝒪`$. This means the dual theory is perturbed away from its conformal fixed point

$$=_{\mathrm{CFT}}+g𝒪,$$
(8)
where the coupling $`g=\kappa \varphi _0`$. The QFT scale parameter is $`\mu a`$, mapping bulk UV (early times) to field theory IR and vice versa. With this map the QFT $`\beta `$-function translates into the bulk as

$$\beta \frac{g}{\mathrm{log}\mu }=\frac{}{\mathrm{log}a}\kappa \varphi =\frac{2}{\kappa H}\frac{dH}{d\varphi }.$$
(9)
The last step employed the FRW equations (4-5).

To proceed we assume that the potential has a mass term $`_\varphi ^2V|_{\varphi =0}=m^20`$. Then the Klein-Gordon scalar equation (3) with $`a(t)e^{H_0t}`$ as either $`t\mathrm{}`$ or $`t\mathrm{}`$ determines the asymptotic wave function $`\varphi =\varphi _0(\stackrel{}{x})e^{\lambda H_0t}`$ where

$$\lambda ^2+3\lambda +\frac{m^2}{H_0^2}=0,$$
(10)
giving two solutions for $`\lambda `$

$$\lambda _\pm =\frac{3}{2}\pm \sqrt{\left(\frac{3}{2}\right)^2\frac{m^2}{H_0^2}}.$$
(11)
A similar relation (with $`m^2m^2`$) is standard in the AdS/CFT correspondence . To interpret the parameter $`\lambda `$ note that, in the asymptotic de Sitter space, the wave function transforms as $`\varphi \varphi e^{\lambda H_0\mathrm{\Delta }t}`$ under a time translation $`tt+\mathrm{\Delta }t`$. But, according to the metric (2), this can also be viewed as a rescaling of the spatial slice $`\stackrel{}{x}(\frac{\mu }{\mu _0})\stackrel{}{x}`$ where $`\frac{\mu }{\mu _0}=e^{\mathrm{\Delta }tH_0}`$. Thus $`\varphi _0(\frac{\mu }{\mu _0})^\lambda \varphi _0`$ under rescaling within the spatial slice; so $`\lambda `$ is the anomalous scaling dimension of the dual operator $`𝒪`$. We can relate it to the beta function as

$$\lambda =\frac{\mathrm{log}\varphi _0}{\mathrm{log}a}=\frac{\mathrm{log}g}{\mathrm{log}\mu }=\frac{\beta }{g}.$$
(12)
For each field there are two values of $`\lambda `$, given by (11). The interpretation of $`\lambda `$ in terms of the asymptotic behavior of the wave function $`\varphi _\pm e^{\lambda _\pm H_0t}`$ shows that $`\lambda _+`$ corresponds to infinite asymptotic energy $`E=\dot{\varphi }^2a^3d^3x=\mathrm{}`$; in contrast, $`\lambda _{}`$ is a finite energy perturbation $`E<\mathrm{}`$. It is therefore natural to interpret the $`\lambda _+`$ as a deformation of the dual field theory whereas $`\lambda _{}`$ corresponds to an excitation of the theory without changing the underlying Lagrangian. This interpretation is standard in the AdS/CFT correspondence . Since the energetics is similar in de Sitter space we expect the result to hold here as well222 The distinction usually made is actually between normalizable and non-normalizable states. In bulk the standard norm is the Klein-Gordon norm, but in de Sitter space this norm vanishes because the wavefunctions $`\varphi _\pm e^{\lambda _\pm H_0t}`$ are real. Using the asymptotic energy as criterion attempts to circumvent this difficulty.. In our application we want to consider the RG-flow between different theories. This will require deforming the theory and thus considering $`\lambda _+`$.

Let us now focus on the IR theory at $`t\mathrm{}`$, the traditional inflationary regime. The approach to an IR fixed point is described by an irrelevant deformation of the IR theory. The field theory expectation is thus for a positive anomalous dimension $`\lambda _+^{IR}>0`$. According to (11) this corresponds to $`m^2<0`$, a tachyon mass. This is expected from the bulk point of view as well: the scalar field rolls down a hill from a maximum.

The approach to the IR fixed point of a quantum field theory is generally described by many irrelevant operators. However, the final approach is dominated by the operator(s) of smallest dimension because this will have survived the RG flow the longest. If this operator is nearly marginal, with $`\lambda _+^{IR}1`$, then the slow-roll conditions for inflation are satisfied in the bulk, as we will show in the next subsection.

The assumption of a nonvanishing mass of the bulk scalar is significant for the preceding discussion. The corresponding field theory statement is $`\beta g`$ for small coupling, as follows from (12) with constant $`\lambda `$. This behavior corresponds to the $`\beta `$-function of a coupling with classical mass dimension, a common behavior in three dimensions. If we want to consider instead couplings with $`\beta g^n`$ for $`n>1`$ the corresponding bulk field has $`m^2=0`$ and the anomalous dimension $`\lambda _+`$ of the dual operator vanishes at the fixed point. In this case (9) can be inverted to determine the spacetime potential as $`V\varphi ^{n+1}`$ for small $`\varphi `$. In perturbative QFT $`\lambda `$ always satisfies (12); so we define $`\lambda `$ as the $`g`$ dependent function

$$\lambda \frac{\beta }{g},$$
(13)
away from the fixed point. Then our considerations will be valid for these more general theories as well.

To complete our dictionary we introduce the holographic $`c`$-function. This function decreases along the RG-flow towards the IR and thus provides a precise formulation of the heuristic idea that the RG-flow integrates out degrees of freedom. The $`c`$-function has not yet been firmly established in QFT above two dimensions but the evidence in its favor is substantial . Importantly, there is a natural candidate for a holographic interpretation in AdS  as well as in de Sitter ; it is given in 4 dimensions by

$$c\frac{1}{\kappa ^2H^2}.$$
(14)
The FRW equation (5) gives $`\dot{H}<0`$ for matter satisfying the null energy condition (e.g. $`p+\rho >0`$) so $`c(t)`$ increases in time. In cosmology it expresses the increasing entropy of the expanding universe; in QFT it represents the “integrating in” along the RG-flow towards the UV fixed point. De Sitter RG-flows and the holographic “c-theorem” were recently discussed in .

### 2.3 The Slow-Roll Parameters

Spacetime inflates when the cosmological evolution is dominated by the potential energy of the scalar (for reviews on inflation see ) . This situation arises when $`\dot{\varphi }^2V(\varphi )`$ and $`|\ddot{\varphi }||3H\dot{\varphi }|,|_\varphi V|`$. It is convenient to introduce the slow roll parameters333Our slow-roll parameters are denoted $`ϵ_H`$ and $`\eta _H`$ in . Another set of commonly used parameters are related to ours as $`ϵ_{\mathrm{here}}=ϵ_{\mathrm{there}}`$ and $`\eta _{\mathrm{here}}=\eta _{\mathrm{there}}ϵ_{\mathrm{there}}`$ in the slow-roll limit.

$`ϵ`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{log}H}{\mathrm{log}a}}={\displaystyle \frac{2}{\kappa ^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{H}}{\displaystyle \frac{dH}{d\varphi }}\right)^2,`$ (15)
$`\eta `$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{log}\frac{H}{\varphi }}{\mathrm{log}a}}={\displaystyle \frac{2}{\kappa ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{H}}{\displaystyle \frac{d^2H}{d\varphi ^2}},`$ (16)
and write these conditions as

$$|ϵ|,|\eta |1.$$
(17)
Inflation ends precisely when the slow-roll conditions are violated. From then on the cosmological evolution will be dominated by the kinetic energy of the scalar and by matter and radiation.

We now want to express the slow-roll parameters in terms of the $`\beta `$-function (9) and the anomalous dimension $`\lambda `$ (13), the natural parameters in the dual field theory. Comparing (9) and (15) gives

$$ϵ=\frac{1}{2}\beta ^2.$$
(18)
The other slow-roll parameter $`\eta `$ (16) can be written as

$$\eta =\frac{1}{2}\beta ^2\frac{1}{\kappa }\frac{d\beta }{d\varphi }.$$
(19)
In the vicinity of the fixed point at $`g=0`$ (12) then gives

$$\eta =\lambda .$$
(20)
When $`\lambda `$ vanishes close to a fixed point with $`\beta g^n`$ for $`n>1`$ the relation becomes $`\eta =n\lambda `$ to the leading order. The relations (18) and (20) provide the basic dictionary between scaling violations in QFT and inflation.

Inflation ends when the slow-roll parameters approach unity. The dual field theory interpretation is that the theory enters a complicated interacting regime with no useful perturbative description. A plausible scenario is that when $`\lambda 1`$ is violated many hitherto negligible operators become important and so the simple scaling regime breaks down. The end of inflation can be modeled in detail but one must make specific assumptions about the complete field content and the corresponding $`\beta `$’s and $`\lambda `$’s, even away from the weakly coupled regime. We expect that such models would parallel the standard inflationary models.

### 2.4 Holography and the CMB

The main application of these ideas is to cosmological perturbations. A massless scalar field in de Sitter space has fluctuations at each wavenumber $`k`$, with magnitude $`\delta \varphi _k=\frac{H}{2\pi }`$. This leads to density perturbations on every scale if the potential is sufficiently flat. The power spectrum of the scalar component of the spatial metric is

$$𝒫_{\mathrm{scalar}}=\left(\frac{H}{\dot{\varphi }}\right)^2\left(\frac{H}{2\pi }\right)^2|_{k=aH}k^{n_S1},$$
(21)
where the subscript $`k=aH`$ indicates that the expression is to be evaluated at the moment when the physical scale of the perturbation is equal to the Hubble radius. Perfect scale invariance corresponds to $`n_S=1`$; and the scaling violations, due to the slow rolling of $`H`$ and $`\dot{\varphi }`$, become

$$n_S=14ϵ+2\eta .$$
(22)
The tensor component of the spatial metric also develops fluctuations, interpreted as graviton waves. Their power spectrum is

$$𝒫_{\mathrm{grav}}=2\kappa ^2\left(\frac{H}{2\pi }\right)^2|_{k=aH}k^{n_T}.$$
(23)
Perfect scale invariance now corresponds to $`n_T=0`$; the scaling violations are

$$n_T=2ϵ.$$
(24)
A third observable is the ratio $`r`$ of the tensor and scalar power444The ratio of multipole moments $`C_l^{(T)}/C_l^{(S)}`$ is often quoted instead. It differs from this by an $`l`$-dependent numerical factor of geometric origin.

$$r\frac{𝒫_{\mathrm{grav}}}{𝒫_{\mathrm{scalar}}}=2\kappa ^2\left(\frac{\dot{\varphi }}{H}\right)^2=4ϵ.$$
(25)
The observables (21),(23),(25) are all expressed in terms of the slow-roll parameters $`ϵ`$ and $`\eta `$; they can therefore also be expressed in terms of the dual $`\beta ,\lambda `$, using (18) and (20). The results to the leading significant order are

$`n_S`$ $`=`$ $`12\lambda ,`$ (26)
$`n_T`$ $`=`$ $`\beta ^2,`$ (27)
$`r`$ $`=`$ $`2\beta ^2,`$ (28)
with $`\beta \lambda 1`$. The power of the tensor component is thus negligible; and the tilt of the scalar component is determined in terms of $`\eta =\lambda `$ alone and because $`\lambda >0`$ this implies a slightly red spectrum. In the standard notation $`ϵ\eta 1`$ and $`\eta <0`$, results also predicted by a large class of inflationary models .

We would like to understand these results from the QFT. The first step is to justify the use of perturbation theory. In QFT inflation ends in a strongly coupled regime; we want to compute correlators at this time with arguments corresponding to astronomically large distances. A huge RG transformation of $`𝒪(10^{5060})`$ transforms this into correlators at more natural distances, and the RG flow also shifts the strong coupling towards the IR by a large amount, presumably bringing the coupling to the perturbative regime555This might not happen, despite the large scale transformation. Inflationary models with predictions different from ours might arise this way.. (However, we are not requiring the fixed point theory itself to be weakly coupled.)

The next step is to derive the fluctuation spectrum directly from QFT. This should also be possible if we assume certain details of the dS/CFT duality to hold. This is apparent, since the bulk fluctuations are determined by properties of correlation functions. The asymptotics of a bulk correlation function $`\varphi \varphi `$ will be related to a boundary correlation function $`𝒪𝒪`$, if $`\varphi `$ is dual to $`𝒪`$. The momentum dependence of the boundary correlation function, close to the fixed point, is determined by the scaling dimension of $`𝒪`$ at the fixed point. Similar computations for the energy-momentum tensor in the CFT correspond to tensor fluctuations in bulk. We have not carried out this procedure explicitly; it would clearly be interesting to do so.

### 2.5 Dark Energy

Until this point our focus has been on the approach to the IR fixed point, i.e. the inflationary regime. In holographic cosmology the entire cosmological evolution can be interpreted in the dual field theory, at least in principle. The holographic variables are not useful throughout the RG-flow but they might simplify also close to the UV fixed point, i.e. in the regime dominated by dark energy.

The UV theory is perturbed by a relevant operator, inducing the RG flow. The simplest is to assume that one such operator dominates. This means there is some scalar field $`\varphi `$ satisfying

$$\varphi e^{\lambda _+^{UV}H_0t};t\mathrm{},$$
(29)
with666We only consider real $`\lambda _+^{UV}`$. $`\frac{3}{2}<\lambda _+^{UV}<0`$. Equivalently, the mass of the UV scalar field is expected in the range $`0<\frac{m^2}{H_0^2}<(\frac{3}{2})^2`$.

This type of model would be very similar to the quintessence model of dark energy . As for inflation one can translate the natural holographic variables, $`\beta `$ and $`\lambda `$, to those customary in the quintessence literature. There one usually concentrates on the equation of state parameter $`\omega `$, as well as the scalar mass $`m`$. $`\lambda `$ is related to $`m^2`$ through (11) and $`\omega `$ is given by $`3(\omega +1)=\beta ^2`$ . We can now take over standard considerations from quintessence.

An important difference between inflation and dark energy is that the holographic perspective gives no clear motivation for considering a theory of a single scalar field close to the UV limit. Indeed, although we have used the same notation $`\varphi `$ for the scalar field at both $`t\mathrm{}`$ and $`t\mathrm{}`$ they are generally completely unrelated; the details of the UV and IR theories are very different. The only relation between these two regimes is that, as a matter of principle, they can be described by the same underlying quantum field theory.

## 3 The Dual Field Theory

To this point we have not discussed in detail the precise nature of the duality between de Sitter space and conformal field theory . Of course it could be a full-fledged duality, similar in nature to AdS/CFT. This view has conceptual  and practical difficulties: for example, de Sitter space does not seem to have simple realizations in string theory . It has been established that the dS/CFT correspondence, if true, is not simply a continuation of the AdS/CFT correspondence .

On the other hand, it is sometimes claimed that most or all gauge theories have gravitational duals ; this could be taken to mean that any Euclidean CFT will have a dual de Sitter description. The matter content and other properties of the spacetime theory will then depend on the choice of CFT, but the background geometry should be de Sitter for all such CFT’s. This optimistic view motivates us to consider a toy model, the simplest example of a Euclidean theory in 3 dimensions with properties of the kind we have assumed in this paper. That the central charge $`c_{IR}\kappa ^2\mathrm{\Lambda }_{IR}^1`$ is rather low for typical $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{IR}`$ indeed gives evidence that the IR CFT can be quite simple. Even if this toy model is in fact not dual to de Sitter space it is an instructive illustration of our ideas.

Let us then consider the model

$$S_E=d^3x\left[\frac{1}{2}(_\mu \phi )^2+\frac{g}{6!}\phi ^6\right].$$
(30)
This has the virtue of being renormalizable. The $`\phi ^6`$ term is classically marginal but at the quantum level the coupling $`g`$ is in fact marginally irrelevant in the IR. This is just what we want: the IR CFT is the trivial fixed point and scaling violations away from the fixed point are governed by perturbation theory.

The renormalization properties of this theory are quite simple in perturbation theory. Of course, for the action (30) to be valid near the fixed point, it must be finely tuned, as there are several relevant perturbations. (This feature could presumably be fixed in a simple supersymmetric extension of the model.) The anomalous dimension of $`\phi ^6`$ can be computed by considering the correlation function $`T_{\mu \nu }(x)\phi ^6(y)`$ or, equivalently by considering $`G_{66}(x,y)=\phi ^6(x)\phi ^6(y)`$, which satisfies the Callan-Symanzik equation

$$\left[\frac{}{\mathrm{ln}\mu }+\beta _g\frac{}{g}2\lambda _{(\phi ^6)}\right]G_{66}=0.$$
(31)
At leading order the diagram

gives

$$G_{66}1+\frac{20}{3!}g\frac{d^3k}{(2\pi )^3}\frac{d^3p}{(2\pi )^3}\frac{1}{k^2}\frac{1}{p^2}\frac{1}{(p+k)^2},$$
(32)
and thus

$$\lambda _{(\phi ^6)}=\frac{5}{3}\frac{g}{16\pi ^2}.$$
(33)
The general relation (13) gives the $`\beta `$-function

$$\beta _g=\frac{5}{3}\frac{g^2}{16\pi ^2}.$$
(34)
This result also follows from explicit computation of the diagram

which leads to the same integral as (32).

Inserting the results (34) and (33) for $`\beta `$ and $`\lambda `$ into (18) and (20) we find expressions for $`ϵ`$ and $`\eta `$ and hence for the CMB spectrum. We find at weak coupling $`g1`$ that $`ϵ\eta `$, in agreement with the general discussion in Section 2.4. Of course in the explicit model the conformal dimension is derived in terms of the coupling $`g`$, a microscopic parameter.

We stress that these results should not be taken as a prediction of holography; they are the predictions derived from this specific dual theory which we have motivated only by its simplicity. The explicit discussion is meant to demonstrate how holographic considerations can lead to a concrete computational framework.

The theory (30) is not completely satisfying as an IR theory for several reasons. We have already mentioned that the existence of relevant perturbations lead to a fine tuning: this can be interpreted as a very particular renormalization group trajectory for which the action is valid. We will comment further on this issue in the following section. Another potential problem with this IR CFT is that it is weakly coupled: we of course chose this to be true to facilitate explicit computations, but it is presumably not expected to be the case, if the CFT is to be dual to a weakly coupled gravitational system.

## 4 Discussion

One of the motivations for considering holographic cosmology is that it offers an alternative viewpoint on several cosmological fine-tuning problems and may ultimately lead to their resolution. As a conclusion to the paper we discuss in turn the fine-tuning of the inflationary potential, the cosmological constant problem, and the initial value problem.

Fine-tuning of the Inflationary Potential: In the usual implementation of inflation, phenomenological constraints force the inflationary potential to be extremely flat. For example, in a model with $`V(\phi )=\frac{1}{4}g\phi ^4`$, one must have $`g10^{13}`$ . Such potentials are regarded as unnatural in quantum field theory: dimensionless coefficients are expected to be roughly of $`𝒪(1)`$. If one tries to choose them much smaller, they are expected to take their natural values after renormalization.

The holographic perspective improves this situation. Since we interpret the inflationary epoch as the final approach to the IR fixed point after a long flow from a complicated UV theory, there are naturally few degrees of freedom. Any fine tuning of the bulk theory has an interpretation in terms of the properties of this IR flow. A viable IR fixed point must possess suitable marginally irrelevant perturbations, and the RG flows must come in to the fixed point along these directions. The absence of relevant perturbations at the fixed point may be a desirable property from this point of view, although it is not clear if this is realistic. Modifications to the bulk inflaton potential do not correspond to quantum effects in the dual theory, but rather to changes in the properties of the fixed point. A nice property is that, in a given theory, universality of RG flows guarantees that the details of the UV region are not too important for inflation, apart from the fact that in a given model, particular trajectories may be required. This robustness of the IR theory thus appears to constitute a resolution of this fine-tuning problem.

The Cosmological Constant Problem: In the holographic model the cosmological evolution is an inverse RG flow from small $`c_{IR}`$ (large cosmological constant) in the past to large $`c_{UV}`$ (small cosmological constant) in the future. The ratio

$$\frac{c_{UV}}{c_{IR}}=\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }_{IR}}{\mathrm{\Lambda }_{UV}}10^{120},$$

is enormous and the holographic perspective does not require this to be so (there are perfectly respectable RG flows with $`c_{UV}/c_{IR}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{few}`$). Holographic cosmology therefore does not resolve the cosmological constant problem.

On the other hand, a possible motivation for large $`c_{UV}/c_{IR}`$ may be the following. In the AdS/CFT correspondence classical space-times correspond to the large $`N`$ limit, and thus to a large value of the central charge. In the holographic scenario, the value of the cosmological constant is rather directly related to the complexity of the Universe, or more precisely, the complexity of the dual field theory. Large $`N`$ in the AdS/CFT example may be a simple prototype for complexity in the Universe. There is thus a clear anthropic account of the cosmological constant here: only those Universes with sufficient complexity are realistic, and this corresponds to a large dual central charge, and a small cosmological constant.

A technical aspect of the usual cosmological constant problem is that small values are unstable to quantum corrections. It is important to contemplate the role of quantum corrections in the holographic scenario. Given a suitable starting point in the UV of the dual field theory, quantum effects simply generate the RG flow. The details of how large these corrections are do not matter in detail: the natural value for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is approached in the IR. One could also consider modifications to the UV theory, but as long as $`c_{UV}`$ is large, they do not de-stabilize $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. Thus, as long as the whole scenario exists, the technical cosmological constant problem is resolved. For other holographic discussions of the cosmological constant problem see .

The Initial Value Problem: Inflationary models usually take the view that inflation was a finite epoch. Singularity theorems state that the spacetime preceding this epoch inevitably has a singularity somewhere , presumably to be resolved by string theory/M-theory. In principle, the pre-inflationary epoch provides the initial conditions for inflation; but in practice this data is inflated away, allowing inflation to make predictions that are independent of the initial conditions. The initial value problem is therefore not acute, but the situation is nevertheless conceptually unsatisfactory.

In holography the situation is quite different. In this paper, we have effectively assumed that the pre-inflationary period is eternal de Sitter, as the endpoint of the dual RG flow was assumed to be the IR fixed point. Technically, the singularity theorems do not apply to eternal de Sitter but it is far from clear that de Sitter constitutes a satisfactory boundary condition. One problem is that we must somehow determine amplitudes for all irrelevant operators in the theory. Another (presumably related) issue is that, after spatially inhomogeneous field configurations are taken into account, de Sitter may be unstable towards fragmentation .

A variation of our scenario is to identify the inflationary epoch in the dual theory as a fortuitously close approach (with sufficient e-foldings) to a fixed point with relevant directions. If this were the case, then the pre-inflationary epoch would correspond to some further RG flow; and the properties of this flow would constitute everything there is to the initial value problem.

Of course, in either formulation, the initial values are observationally irrelevant. As we have shown, a single operator typically dominates, and we can make predictions without knowing its detailed properties. Thus the practical situation is completely parallel to standard inflation.

###### Acknowledgments.

We thank S. Carroll, K. Freese, L. Kofman, E. Poppitz, A. Peet, M. Spradlin, and R. Wald for discussions. RGL thanks the University of Michigan for hospitality and FL thanks the theory group at the University of Chicago for their comments and for hospitality. Supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy under grants DE-FG02-91ER40677 and DE-FG02-95ER40899.