A solvable 3d quantum gravity model is defined by summing Virasoro TQFT copies over all topologies, shown to be dual to a 2d CFT ensemble and to exhibit semiclassical features such as cured negative density of states and Hawking-Page transition in the large-c limit.
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Quantum Gravity Partition Functions in Three Dimensions
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We consider pure three-dimensional quantum gravity with a negative cosmological constant. The sum of known contributions to the partition function from classical geometries can be computed exactly, including quantum corrections. However, the result is not physically sensible, and if the model does exist, there are some additional contributions. One possibility is that the theory may have long strings and a continuous spectrum. Another possibility is that complex geometries need to be included, possibly leading to a holomorphically factorized partition function. We analyze the subleading corrections to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy and show that these can be correctly reproduced in such a holomorphically factorized theory. We also consider the Hawking-Page phase transition between a thermal gas and a black hole and show that it is a phase transition of Lee-Yang type, associated with a condensation of zeros in the complex temperature plane. Finally, we analyze pure three-dimensional supergravity, with similar results.
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Non-orientable topological gravity produces a resummed topological expansion whose late-time behavior matches the GOE universality class of random matrix theory for time-reversal invariant chaotic systems.
The Hartle-Hawking state for toroidal quantum cosmologies is expressed in the Langlands decomposition as a sum over zeta zeros whose near-singularity dynamics follow the Hilbert-Pólya Hamiltonian and as a Möbius average of CFT partition functions.
Symmetry reduction of 3D AdS Chern-Simons gravity on toroidal boundary yields two inequivalent 1D boundary theories: standard Schwarzian and affine-deformed Schwarzian with Kac-Moody extensions.
A Lorentzian path integral contour for charged AdS black holes selects a finite subset of complex saddles via Picard-Lefschetz theory, ensuring the semiclassical sum converges at finite β.
3d gravity on Σ_{g,n} × I with EOW branes equals the Virasoro minimal string random matrix model, with exact match for g=0 n=2 and inner-product formulation for negative Euler characteristic.
Introduces RMT surgery to relate off-shell 3D gravity partition functions to CFT spectral statistics via Euclidean wormholes with four-punctured sphere and trumpet boundaries.
The paper shows that Euclidean axion wormholes remain regular and stable in AdS3 for any mouth radius to AdS radius ratio and across topologies, with computable actions that can be included in the 3D gravitational path integral.
Inner horizon saddles supply the semiclassical correction -exp(A_inner/4G) to near-extremal black-hole entropy and motivate a spectral KSW criterion for well-defined one-loop effects around complex gravitational saddles.
Spinning states scaled with central charge cancel negative densities in 3D gravity, reinterpreted as bulk defects or overspinning BTZ quotients of AdS3 that preserve the gap but exhibit causal pathologies.
Finite cutoff in JT gravity causes faster ERB-length saturation, deformation-dependent baby-universe emission only under Lorentzian evolution, and possible one-cut universality corrections in the matrix dual.
The Zamolodchikov metric in Narain CFTs is realized using the Cartan matrix K_g and its inverse from finite-dimensional Lie algebras g.
Open Virasoro TQFT computes 3d gravity path integrals on compact regions using threshold-dependent boundary conditions and yields an open-closed duality relating Conformal Turaev-Viro theory to the diagonal sector of two Virasoro TQFT copies.
From the de Sitter partition function in various approximations, the volume probability distribution concentrates around the classical value but shifts to favor smaller universes as quantum effects increase.
Lecture notes deliver a self-contained pedagogical overview of worldsheet strings in AdS3 with NSNS flux, summarizing 25 years of results with emphasis on spectrally flowed correlation functions.
citing papers explorer
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A solvable model of 3d quantum gravity
A solvable 3d quantum gravity model is defined by summing Virasoro TQFT copies over all topologies, shown to be dual to a 2d CFT ensemble and to exhibit semiclassical features such as cured negative density of states and Hawking-Page transition in the large-c limit.
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Mind the crosscap: $\tau$-scaling in non-orientable gravity and time-reversal-invariant systems
Non-orientable topological gravity produces a resummed topological expansion whose late-time behavior matches the GOE universality class of random matrix theory for time-reversal invariant chaotic systems.
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M\"obius randomness in the Hartle-Hawking state
The Hartle-Hawking state for toroidal quantum cosmologies is expressed in the Langlands decomposition as a sum over zeta zeros whose near-singularity dynamics follow the Hilbert-Pólya Hamiltonian and as a Möbius average of CFT partition functions.
-
Dimensional reduction of AdS3 Chern-Simons gravity: Schwarzian and affine boundary theories
Symmetry reduction of 3D AdS Chern-Simons gravity on toroidal boundary yields two inequivalent 1D boundary theories: standard Schwarzian and affine-deformed Schwarzian with Kac-Moody extensions.
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How to tame your (black hole) saddles: Lessons from the Lorentzian Gravitational Path Integral
A Lorentzian path integral contour for charged AdS black holes selects a finite subset of complex saddles via Picard-Lefschetz theory, ensuring the semiclassical sum converges at finite β.
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On random matrix statistics of 3d gravity
3d gravity on Σ_{g,n} × I with EOW branes equals the Virasoro minimal string random matrix model, with exact match for g=0 n=2 and inner-product formulation for negative Euler characteristic.
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Surgery and statistics in 3d gravity
Introduces RMT surgery to relate off-shell 3D gravity partition functions to CFT spectral statistics via Euclidean wormholes with four-punctured sphere and trumpet boundaries.
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AdS3 axion wormholes as stable contributions to the Euclidean gravitational path integral
The paper shows that Euclidean axion wormholes remain regular and stable in AdS3 for any mouth radius to AdS radius ratio and across topologies, with computable actions that can be included in the 3D gravitational path integral.
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Inner Horizon Saddles and a Spectral KSW Criterion
Inner horizon saddles supply the semiclassical correction -exp(A_inner/4G) to near-extremal black-hole entropy and motivate a spectral KSW criterion for well-defined one-loop effects around complex gravitational saddles.
-
Spinning States and Unitarity in 3D Gravity
Spinning states scaled with central charge cancel negative densities in 3D gravity, reinterpreted as bulk defects or overspinning BTZ quotients of AdS3 that preserve the gap but exhibit causal pathologies.
-
Finite cutoff JT gravity: Baby universes, Matrix dual, and (Krylov) Complexity
Finite cutoff in JT gravity causes faster ERB-length saturation, deformation-dependent baby-universe emission only under Lorentzian evolution, and possible one-cut universality corrections in the matrix dual.
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Algebraic Realisation of the Zamolodchikov Metric in Narain Theories
The Zamolodchikov metric in Narain CFTs is realized using the Cartan matrix K_g and its inverse from finite-dimensional Lie algebras g.
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The many facets of a hyperbolic tetrahedron: open and closed triangulations of 3d gravity
Open Virasoro TQFT computes 3d gravity path integrals on compact regions using threshold-dependent boundary conditions and yields an open-closed duality relating Conformal Turaev-Viro theory to the diagonal sector of two Virasoro TQFT copies.
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Euclidean volume fluctuations in de Sitter quantum gravity
From the de Sitter partition function in various approximations, the volume probability distribution concentrates around the classical value but shifts to favor smaller universes as quantum effects increase.
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Lecture notes on strings in AdS$_3$ from the worldsheet and the AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$ duality
Lecture notes deliver a self-contained pedagogical overview of worldsheet strings in AdS3 with NSNS flux, summarizing 25 years of results with emphasis on spectrally flowed correlation functions.