A physical protocol for observers near the boundary to obtain bulk information in quantum gravity

We consider a set of observers who live near the boundary of global AdS, and are allowed to act only with simple low-energy unitaries and make measurements in a small interval of time. The observers are not allowed to leave the near-boundary region. We describe a physical protocol that nevertheless allows these observers to obtain detailed information about the bulk state. This protocol utilizes the leading gravitational backreaction of a bulk excitation on the metric, and also relies on the entanglement-structure of the vacuum. For low-energy states, we show how the near-boundary observers can use this protocol to completely identify the bulk state. We explain why the protocol fails completely in theories without gravity, including non-gravitational gauge theories. This provides perturbative evidence for the claim that one of the signatures of holography - the fact that information about the bulk is also available near the boundary - is already visible in the low-energy theory of gravity.

Automated summary

The researchers have described a physical protocol that allows observers near the boundary to obtain information about the system state using gravitational backreaction and vacuum entanglement structure, showing that this protocol can completely identify the system state in low-energy states. It is also explained why the protocol fails in theories without gravity, providing perturbative evidence for holography.