Geodesic string condensation from symmetric tensor gauge theory: a unifying framework of holographic toy models

Abstract: In this work we reason that there is a universal picture for several different holographic toy model constructions, and a gravity-like bulk field theory that gives rise it. First, we observe that the perfect tensor-networks and hyperbolic fracton models are both equivalent to the even distribution of bit-threads on geodesics in the AdS space. Such picture is also a natural "leading-order" approximation to the holographic entanglement properties. Then, we argue that the rank-2 U(1) theory with linearized diffeomorphism as its gauge symmetry, also known as a case of Lifshitz gravity, is the bulk field theory behind such picture. The Gauss' laws and spatial curvature require the electric field lines along the geodesics to be the fundamental dynamical variables, which lead to geodesic string condensation. These results provide an intuitive way to understand the entanglement structure of gravity in AdS/CFT.