Quantum geometry and gravitational entropy

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Published 18 December 2007 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd
, , Citation Vijay Balasubramanian et al JHEP12(2007)067 DOI 10.1088/1126-6708/2007/12/067

1126-6708/2007/12/067

Abstract

Most quantum states have wavefunctions that are widely spread over the accessible Hilbert space and hence do not have a good description in terms of a single classical geometry. In order to understand when geometric descriptions are possible, we exploit the AdS/CFT correspondence in the half-BPS sector of asymptotically AdS;{5} × S5 universes. In this sector we devise a ``coarse-grained metric operator" whose eigenstates are well described by a single spacetime topology and geometry. We show that such half-BPS universes have a non-vanishing entropy if and only if the metric is singular, and that the entropy arises from coarse-graining the geometry. Finally, we use our entropy formula to find the most entropic spacetimes with fixed asymptotic moments beyond the global charges.

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10.1088/1126-6708/2007/12/067