Schwinger-Keldysh Propagators from AdS/CFT Correspondence

Abstract

We demonstrate how to compute real-time Green's functions for a class of finite temperature field theories from their AdS gravity duals. In particular, we reproduce the two-by-two Schwinger-Keldysh matrix propagator from a gravity calculation. Our methods should work also for computing higher point Lorentzian signature correlators. We elucidate the boundary condition subtleties which hampered previous efforts to build a Lorentzian-signature AdS/CFT correspondence. For two-point correlators, our construction is automatically equivalent to the previously formulated prescription for the retarded propagator.