A Paradox and its Resolution Illustrate Principles of de Sitter Holography

Document Type : Regular article

Author

Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4060, USA

Abstract

Semiclassical gravity and the holographic description of the static patch of de Sitter space appear to disagree about properties of correlation functions‎. ‎Certain ‎‎‎holographic correlation functions are necessarily real whereas their semiclassical counterparts have both real and imaginary parts‎. ‎The resolution of this apparent contradiction involves the fact that time-reversal is a gauge symmetry in de Sitter space---a point made by Harlow and Ooguri--‎- ‎and the need for an observer (or quantum reference frame) as advocated by Chandrasekaran‎, ‎Longo‎, ‎Penington‎, ‎and Witten‎.

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Volume 5, Issue 2
June 2025
Pages 1-9
  • Receive Date: 09 February 2025
  • Revise Date: 04 March 2025
  • Accept Date: 23 February 2025