We explicitly rewrite the path integral for the free or critical O(N) (or U(N)) bosonic vector models in d space-time dimensions as a path integral over fields (including massless high-spin fields) living on (d + 1)-dimensional anti-de Sitter space. Inspired by de Mello Koch, Jevicki, Suzuki and Yoon and earlier work, we first rewrite the vector models in terms of bi-local fields, then expand these fields in eigenmodes of the conformal group, and finally map these eigenmodes to those of fields on anti-de Sitter space. Our results provide an explicit (non-local) action for a high-spin theory on anti-de Sitter space, which is presumably equivalent in the large N limit to Vasiliev’s classical high-spin gravity theory (with some specific gauge-fixing to a fixed background), but which can be used also for loop computations. Our mapping is explicit within the 1/N expansion, but in principle can be extended also to finite N theories, where extra constraints on products of bulk fields need to be taken into account.

We construct holographic backgrounds that are dual by the AdS/CFT correspondence to Euclidean conformal field theories on products of spheres S d 1 × S d 2 , for conformal field theories whose dual may be approximated by classical Einstein gravity (typically these are large N strongly coupled theories). For d 2 = 1 these backgrounds correspond to thermal field theories on S d 1 , and Hawking and Page found that there are several possible bulk solutions, with two different topologies, that compete with each other, leading to a phase transition as the relative size of the spheres is modified. By numerically solving the Einstein equations we find similar results also for d 2 > 1, with bulk solutions in which either one or the other sphere shrinks to zero smoothly at a minimal value of the radial coordinate, and with a first order phase transition (for d 1 + d 2 < 9) between solutions of two different topologies as the relative radius changes. For a critical ratio of the radii there is a (sub-dominant) singular solution where both spheres shrink, and we analytically analyze the behavior near this radius. For d 1 + d 2 < 9 the number of solutions grows to infinity as the critical ratio is approached.

Determining the stability of a viscoelastic structure is a difficult task. Seemingly stable conformations of viscoelastic structures may gradually creep until their stability is lost, while a discernible creeping in viscoelastic solids does not necessarily lead to instability. In lieu of theoretical predictive tools for viscoelastic instabilities, we are presently limited to numerical simulation to predict future stability. In this work, we describe viscoelastic solids through a temporally evolving instantaneous reference metric with respect to which elastic strains are measured. We show that for incompressible viscoelastic solids, this transparent and intuitive description allows to reduce the question of future stability to static calculations. We demonstrate the predictive power of the approach by elucidating the subtle mechanism of delayed instability in thin elastomeric shells, showing quantitative agreement with experiments.

We study the ‘string star’ saddle, also known as the Horowitz-Polchinski solution, in the middle of d + 1 dimensional thermal AdS space. We show that there’s a regime of temperatures in which the saddle is very similar to the flat space solution found by Horowitz and Polchinski. This saddle is hypothetically connected at lower temperatures to the small AdS black hole saddle. We also study, numerically and analytically, how the solutions are changed due to the AdS geometry for higher temperatures. Specifically, we describe how the solution joins with the thermal gas phase, and find the leading correction to the Hagedorn temperature due to the AdS curvature. Finally, we study the thermodynamic instabilities of the solution and argue for a Gregory-Laflamme-like instability whenever extra dimensions are present at the AdS curvature scale.

We study the Lyapunov exponent λ L in quantum field theories with spacetimeindependent disorder interactions. Generically λ L can only be computed at isolated points in parameter space, and little is known about the way in which chaos grows as we deform the theory away from weak coupling. In this paper we describe families of theories in which the disorder coupling is an exactly marginal deformation, allowing us to follow λ L from weak to strong coupling. We find surprising behaviors in some cases, including a discontinuous transition into chaos. We also derive self-consistency equations for the two-and four-point functions for products of N nontrivial CFTs deformed by disorder at leading order in 1/N .