Abstract
We chart the breakdown of semiclassical gravity by analyzing the Virasoro conformal blocks to high numerical precision, focusing on the heavy-light limit correspond-ing to a light probe propagating in a BTZ black hole background. In the Lorentzian regime, we find empirically that the initial exponential time-dependence of the blocks transitions to a universal \( t-\frac{3}{2} \) power-law decay. For the vacuum block the transition occurs at \( t\approx \frac{\uppi c}{6{h}_L} \), confirming analytic predictions. In the Euclidean regime, due to Stokes phenomena the naive semiclassical approximation fails completely in a finite region enclosing the ‘forbidden singularities’. We emphasize that limitations on the reconstruction of a local bulk should ultimately stem from distinctions between semiclassical and exact correlators.
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Chen, H., Hussong, C., Kaplan, J. et al. A numerical approach to Virasoro blocks and the information paradox. J. High Energ. Phys. 2017, 102 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2017)102
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2017)102