When do real observers resolve de Sitter's imaginary problem?
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866914473117220864 |
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| author | Ali, Ahmed Farag |
| author_facet | Ali, Ahmed Farag |
| contents | The universal phase $\rev{\ii}^{D+2}$ of the Euclidean de Sitter path integral obstructs a straightforward state-counting interpretation of the Gibbons--Hawking entropy. Building on Maldacena's proposal that specific black-hole observers can reorganize this phase, we derive a general constraint on when such ``real observers'' can succeed. By distinguishing \emph{gravitational observers} from \emph{topological spectators}, we show at quadratic semiclassical order that any sector whose \emph{infrared effective} action is metric independent at the de Sitter saddle factorizes in the path integral, $\Ztot = \Zgrav^{(\text{obs})}\Ztop$, so the imaginary phase persists regardless of the sector's information-processing capabilities. Using confining $\SU(3)$ gauge theory and topological orders as examples, we demonstrate that an information-bearing clock is necessary but insufficient: only observers whose fluctuations share the negative modes of the conformal factor belong to the special class that can remove the de Sitter phase. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_18068 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | When do real observers resolve de Sitter's imaginary problem? Ali, Ahmed Farag High Energy Physics - Theory General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology The universal phase $\rev{\ii}^{D+2}$ of the Euclidean de Sitter path integral obstructs a straightforward state-counting interpretation of the Gibbons--Hawking entropy. Building on Maldacena's proposal that specific black-hole observers can reorganize this phase, we derive a general constraint on when such ``real observers'' can succeed. By distinguishing \emph{gravitational observers} from \emph{topological spectators}, we show at quadratic semiclassical order that any sector whose \emph{infrared effective} action is metric independent at the de Sitter saddle factorizes in the path integral, $\Ztot = \Zgrav^{(\text{obs})}\Ztop$, so the imaginary phase persists regardless of the sector's information-processing capabilities. Using confining $\SU(3)$ gauge theory and topological orders as examples, we demonstrate that an information-bearing clock is necessary but insufficient: only observers whose fluctuations share the negative modes of the conformal factor belong to the special class that can remove the de Sitter phase. |
| title | When do real observers resolve de Sitter's imaginary problem? |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Theory General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.18068 |