Causality and the AdS Dirichlet problem

Abstract

The (planar) AdS Dirichlet problem has previously been shown to exhibit superluminal hydrodynamic sound modes. This problem is defined by bulk gravitational dynamics with Dirichlet boundary conditions imposed on a rigid timelike cut-off surface. We undertake a careful examination of this set-up and argue that, in most cases, the propagation of information between points on the Dirichlet hypersurface is nevertheless causal with respect to the induced light cones. In particular, the high-frequency dynamics is causal in this sense. There are however two exceptions and both involve boundary gravitons whose propagation is not constrained by the Einstein equations. These occur in i) AdS${}_3$, where the boundary gravitons generally do not respect the induced light cones on the boundary, and ii) Rindler space, where they are related to the infinite speed of sound in incompressible fluids. We discuss implications for the fluid/gravity correspondence with rigid Dirichlet boundaries and for the black hole membrane paradigm.

29 pages, 5 figures. v2: added refs. v3: minor clarifications

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• Fix the dual geometries of $T\bar{T}$ deformed CFT${}_2$ and highly excited states of CFT${}_2$
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• Black Branes in a Box: Hydrodynamics, Stability, and Criticality
• Freelance Holography, Part II: Moving Boundary in Gauge/Gravity Correspondence
• Holographic RG Flow and Sound Modes of sQGP
• A hydrodynamical description of gravitational waves
• Compressible Fluids in the Membrane Paradigm: non-AdS Fluid/Gravity correspondences