arXiv subjects

Christopher Pollack

Publications and source records attributed to Christopher Pollack.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Covariant Formulation of Logarithmic Supertranslations at Spatial Infinity

We investigate the asymptotic symmetries of asymptotically flat spacetimes at spatial infinity. We propose a new symplectic structure and conservative boundary conditions in a polyhomogeneous Beig-Schmidt expansion. The asymptotic symmetries extend the BMS algebra by abelian sectors, notably incorporating regular log-translations and log-supertranslations. The associated charges are finite and conserved, and we show that their algebra admits a central extension between supertranslations and log-supertranslations, and between the singular translations and regular log-translations. Our analysis is compatible with, and extends, both the work of arXiv:1106.4045 and arXiv:2211.10941 : it extends the former by incorporating log-supertranslations, and the latter by allowing both parities of the log-supertranslations in the same phase space. These newly identified symmetries at spatial infinity encode novel physical information that has not been revealed in other regions of asymptotically flat spacetimes, thereby opening the door to new observables to consider at null and timelike infinity.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Beyond Noether: A Covariant Study of Poisson-Lie Symmetries in Low Dimensional Field Theory

We explore global Poisson-Lie (PL) symmetries using a Lagrangian, or "covariant phase space" approach, that manifestly preserves spacetime covariance. PL symmetries are the classical analog of quantum-group symmetries. In the Noetherian framework symmetries leave the Lagrangian invariant up to boundary terms and necessarily yield (on closed manifolds) $\mathfrak{g}^{*}$-valued conserved charges which serve as Hamiltonian generators of the symmetry itself. Non-trivial PL symmetries transcend this framework by failing to be symplectomorphisms and by admitting (conserved) non-Abelian group-valued momentum maps. In this paper we discuss various structural and conceptual challenges associated with the implementation of PL symmetries in field theory, focusing in particular on non-locality. We examine these issues through explicit examples of low-dimensional field theories with non-trivial PL symmetries: the deformed spinning top (or, the particle with curved momentum and configuration space) in 0+1D; the non-linear $\sigma$-model by Klim\v{c}\'ik and \v{S}evera (KS) in 1+1D; and gravity with a cosmological constant in 2+1D. Although these examples touch on systems of different dimensionality, they are all ultimately underpinned by 2D $\sigma$-models, specifically the A-model and KS model.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Experimentally bounding deviations from quantum theory for a photonic three-level system using theory-agnostic tomography

If one seeks to test quantum theory against many alternatives in a landscape of possible physical theories, then it is crucial to be able to analyze experimental data in a theory-agnostic way. This can be achieved using the framework of Generalized Probabilistic Theories (GPTs). Here, we implement GPT tomography on a three-level system corresponding to a single photon shared among three modes. This scheme achieves a GPT characterization of each of the preparations and measurements implemented in the experiment without requiring any prior characterization of either. Assuming that the sets of realized preparations and measurements are tomographically complete, our analysis identifies the most likely dimension of the GPT vector space describing the three-level system to be nine, in agreement with the value predicted by quantum theory. Relative to this dimension, we infer the scope of GPTs that are consistent with our experimental data by identifying polytopes that provide inner and outer bounds for the state and effect spaces of the true GPT. From these, we are able to determine quantitative bounds on possible deviations from quantum theory. In particular, we bound the degree to which the no-restriction hypothesis might be violated for our three-level system.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Lower-dimensional Gauss-Bonnet Gravity and BTZ Black Holes

We consider the $D\to 3$ limit of Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We find two distinct but similar versions of the theory and obtain black hole solutions for each. For one theory the solution is an interesting generalization of the BTZ black hole that does not have constant curvature but whose thermodynamics is identical. The other theory admits a solution that is asymptotically AdS but does not approach the BTZ black hole in the limit of small Gauss-Bonnet coupling. We also discuss the distinction between our solutions and those obtained by taking a $D\to 3$ limit of solutions to $D$-dimensional Einstein Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We find that these latter metrics are not solutions of the theories we consider except for particular constraints on the parameters.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

On Taking the $D\to 4$ limit of Gauss-Bonnet Gravity: Theory and Solutions

We comment on the recently introduced Gauss-Bonnet gravity in four dimensions. We argue that it does not make sense to consider this theory to be defined by a set of $D\to 4$ solutions of the higher-dimensional Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We show that a well-defined $D\to 4$ limit of Gauss-Bonnet Gravity is obtained generalizing a method employed by Mann and Ross to obtain a limit of the Einstein gravity in $D=2$ dimensions. This is a scalar-tensor theory of the Horndeski type obtained by a dimensional reduction methods. By considering simple spacetimes beyond spherical symmetry (Taub-NUT spaces) we show that the naive limit of the higher-dimensional theory to four dimensions is not well defined and contrast the resultant metrics with the actual solutions of the new theory.

gr-qc↗