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arXiv · 2603.09322

Scheme dependence and instability of double-trace deformations for gauge fields in AdS$_5$

Abstract

In holography, double-trace deformations provide a general framework for deforming boundary field theories. In particular, they can be utilized to introduce dynamical gauge fields in the boundary theory through double-trace deformations of bulk gauge fields. In this work, we study this construction in the case where the bulk geometry is asymptotically AdS$_5$, and find that such a system involves tachyon and ghost modes. This instability originates from the logarithmic behavior of the gauge fields in the vicinity of the AdS boundary, which leads to a scheme-dependent ambiguity in the double-trace deformation. We investigate this instability by using both analytical and numerical methods in several holographic setups, including bottom-up models and the top-down D3-D7 construction.

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Shuta Ishigaki, Masataka Matsumoto. 2026-06-18. Scheme dependence and instability of double-trace deformations for gauge fields in AdS$_5$. https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep06(2026)167

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