Horizon Edge Partition Functions in $\Lambda>0$ Quantum Gravity

Abstract

We obtain the spectra of codimension-2 horizon "edge" degrees of freedom for gravity and higher-spin gauge fields in de Sitter space and in the static Nariai spacetime, advancing previous Lorentzian and Euclidean analyses of one-loop thermodynamics. The edge spectra exhibit universal shift symmetries, revealing a novel symmetry-breaking structure in one-loop partition functions with positive cosmological constant. For the graviton, these modes admit a geometric interpretation as fluctuations of the cosmic horizon, which also persists in the Nariai case.