We discuss the connections between the complex SYK model at the conformal limit and warped conformal field theories. Both theories have an SL(2 ,R)×U(1) global symmetry. We present comparisons on symmetries, correlation functions, the effective action and the entropy formula. We also use modular covariance to reinterpret results in the complex SYK model.

The study of Rényi mutual information (RMI) sheds light on the AdS/CFT correspondence beyond classical order. In this article, we study the Rényi mutual information between two intervals at large distance in two-dimensional holographic warped conformal field theory, which is conjectured to be dual to the gravity on AdS3 or warped AdS3 spacetime under the Dirichlet-Newman boundary conditions. By using the operator product expansion of twist operators up to level 3, we read the leading oder and the next-toleading order RMI in the large central charge and small cross-ratio limits. The leading order result is furthermore confirmed using the conformal block expansion. Finally, we match the next-to-leading result by a 1-loop calculation in the bulk.

We study thermodynamic aspects of a tractable toy model of holography for extremal Kerr black holes proposed in [arXiv:1806.10127]. On the gravity side, the theory can be described by the worldsheet action of string theory on a warped AdS3 background supported by NS-NS flux. Once we turn on temperature, the deformed background is described by a black string solution of type IIB supergravity that features a locally warped AdS3 factor. The dual field theory is conjectured to be a single-trace version of a JT¯-deformed CFT at finite temperature. As evidence for the correspondence we show that the spectrum of strings winding on the deformed background agrees with the spectrum of JT¯-deformed CFTs. Furthermore, we show that the gravitational charges of the black string match the averaged charges of a thermal ensemble in the dual field theory. Finally, we reproduce the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the black string from the microscopic density of states of JT¯-deformed CFTs.

We study the relationship between TsT transformations, marginal deformations of string theory on AdS3 backgrounds, and irrelevant deformations of 2d CFTs. We show that TsT transformations of NS-NS backgrounds correspond to instantaneous deformations of the worldsheet action by the antisymmetric product of two Noether currents, holographically mirroring the definition of the TT¯, JT¯, TJ¯, and JJ¯ deformations of 2d CFTs. Applying a TsT transformation to string theory on BTZ ×S^3×M^4 we obtain a general class of rotating black string solutions, including the Horne-Horowitz and the Giveon-Itzhaki-Kutasov ones as special cases, which we show are holographically dual to thermal states in single-trace TT¯-deformed CFTs. We also find a smooth solution interpolating between global AdS3 in the IR and a linear dilaton background in the UV that is interpreted as the NS-NS ground state in the dual TT¯-deformed CFT. This background suggests the existence of an upper bound on the deformation parameter above which the solution becomes complex. We find that the worldsheet spectrum, the thermodynamics of the black strings (in particular their Bekenstein-Hawking entropy), and the critical value of the deformation parameter match the corresponding quantities obtained from single-trace TT¯ deformations.

We propose a holographic entanglement entropy prescription for general states and regions in two models of holography beyond AdS/CFT known as flat3/BMSFT and (W)AdS3/WCFT. Flat3/BMSFT is a candidate of holography for asymptotically flat three-dimensional spacetimes, while (W)AdS3/WCFT is relevant in the study of black holes in the real world. In particular, the boundary theories are examples of quantum field theories that feature an infinite dimensional symmetry group but break Lorentz invariance. Our holographic entanglement entropy proposal is given by the area of a swing surface that consists of ropes, which are null geodesics emanating from the entangling surface at the boundary, and a bench, which is a spacelike geodesic connecting the ropes. The proposal is supported by an extension of the Lewkowycz-Maldacena argument, reproduces previous results based on the Rindler method, and satisfies the first law of entanglement entropy.