dS JT Gravity and Double-Scaled SYK

Abstract: This paper pushes forward a conjecture made in [1] that a high-temperature double-scaled limit of the SYK model ($\mathrm{DSSYK}{\infty}$) describes a de Sitter-like space. We identify a specific bulk theory which we conjecture to be dual to $\mathrm{DSSYK}{\infty}$, namely JT gravity with positive cosmological constant (dS-JT). We focus our attention on a specific solution of dS-JT in which spacetime is a particular bounded submanifold of dS$2$ and the profile of the dilaton coincides with that of the radial coordinate of a static patch. This solution can be understood as a dimensional reduction of dS$_3$ and was previously studied by [2] in a context different than ours. We describe the geometry of this solution in detail and discuss some ways in which the physics of this solution matches known physics of $\mathrm{DSSYK}{\infty}$. We describe an example of holographic bulk emergence and find a new role for the timescale $t_* \sim \beta_{\mathrm{GH}}\log(S)$ as the timescale governing this emergence. We discuss some constraints on the boundary-to-bulk operator mapping. This paper provides additional background and context for a companion paper [3] by L. Susskind, which will appear simultaneously.