Stringy ER=EPR

Abstract

The ER = EPR correspondence relates a superposition of entangled, disconnected spacetimes to a connected spacetime with an Einstein-Rosen bridge. We construct examples in which both sides may be described by weakly-coupled string theory. The relation between them is given by a Lorentzian continuation of the FZZ duality of the two-dimensional Euclidean black hole CFT in one example, and in another example by continuation of a similar duality that we propose for the asymptotic Euclidean AdS3 black hole. This gives a microscopic understanding of ER = EPR: one has a worldsheet duality between string theory in a connected, eternal black hole, and in a superposition of disconnected geometries in an entangled state. The disconnected description includes a condensate of entangled folded strings emanating from a strong-coupling region in place of a horizon. Our construction relies on a Lorentzian interpretation of Euclidean time winding operators via angular quantization, as well as some lesser known worldsheet string theories, such as perturbation theory around a thermofield-double state, which we define using Schwinger-Keldysh contours in target space.

94 pages, 19 figures. v2: Clarifications and summary added to the introduction, citations fixed

References in corpus (4)

• Physics at the entangling surface
• Thermal AdS(3), BTZ and competing winding modes condensation
• String Perturbation Theory on the Schwinger-Keldysh Time Contour
• Instant Folded Strings and Black Fivebranes

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Microstates of a $2d$ Black Hole in string theory
• Probing the connection between entangled particles and wormholes in general relativity
• The S-Matrix of 2D Type 0B String Theory Part 2: D-Instanton Effects
• On spectrally flowed local vertex operators in AdS${}_3$
• A Worldsheet Description of Instant Folded Strings
• A duality in string theory on AdS${}_3$
• Boundary Description of Microstates of the Two-Dimensional Black Hole
• Black Hole Complementarity and ER/EPR
• Bridging Worldsheet CFTs and Wormholes