Holographic instant conformal symmetry breaking by colliding conical defects

Abstract

We study instant conformal symmetry breaking as a holographic effect of ultrarelativistic particles moving in the AdS₃ space–time. We give a qualitative picture of this effect based on calculating the two-point correlation functions and the entanglement entropy of the corresponding boundary theory. We show that in the geodesic approximation, because of gravitational lensing of the geodesics, the ultrarelativistic massless defect produces a zone structure for correlators with broken conformal invariance. At the same time, the holographic entanglement entropy also exhibits a transition to nonconformal behavior. Two colliding massless defects produce a more diverse zone structure for correlators and the entanglement entropy.