Gravity without averaging

Abstract

We present a gravitational theory that interpolates between JT gravity, and a gravity theory with a fixed boundary Hamiltonian. For this, we consider a matrix integral with the insertion of a Gaussian with variance $σ^2$, centered around a matrix $\textsf{H}_0$. Tightening the Gaussian renders the matrix integral less random, and ultimately it collapses the ensemble to one Hamiltonian $\textsf{H}_0$. This model provides a concrete setup to study factorization, and what the gravity dual of a single member of the ensemble is. We find that as $σ^2$ is decreased, the JT gravity dilaton potential gets modified, and ultimately the gravity theory goes through a series of phase transitions, corresponding to a proliferation of extra macroscopic holes in the spacetime. Furthermore, we observe that in the Efetov model approach to random matrices, the non-averaged factorizing theory is described by one simple saddle point.