Uniqueness of null-local modular flow

Abstract

In arXiv:2306.01837, it was conjectured that one can engineer a large class of quantum field theory states for which the modular flow on a spacelike slice is "instantaneously local." Here we show that on null slices, such flows are highly constrained; ultraviolet universality essentially requires null-local modular flow to be unique. Concretely, we study massless Klein-Gordon theory in Minkowski spacetime, and construct, for any sufficiently regular future-directed vector field on the past null boundary of a causal diamond, a state that has this vector field as its instantaneous modular flow. We then show by explicit computation that no two distinct states in this class can be realized in the same local Hilbert space. Using a more abstract argument, we also show that in the vacuum sector of the theory, the only null-local modular flow in a causal diamond is provided by the vacuum state itself. We also comment on the construction of null-local modular flow for massive scalars, free Maxwell fields, free gravitons, and in curved backgrounds.