Pole-skipping of holographic correlators: aspects of gauge symmetry and generalizations

Abstract In the framework of anti-de Sitter space/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT), we study the pole-skipping phenomenon of the holographic correlators of boundary operators. We explore the locations of the pole-skipping points case by case with the U(1)-gauged form models in the asymptotic AdS bulk of finite temperature. In general, in different cases all the points are located at the Matsubara frequencies with corresponding wave vectors dispersed in the momentum space, displaying different types of patterns. Specifically, in the massless cases with U(1) symmetry, the wave vectors of the pole-skipping points have a form-number dependence, and a trans-mode equivalence in the dual fields is found in correspondence with electromagnetic duality. In the massive cases with explicit symmetry breaking, the points degenerate to be independent of the form number. We expect in such kind of pole-skipping properties implications of distinctive physics in the chaotic systems. These properties are further examined by higher-order computation, which provides a more complete pole-skipping picture. Our near-horizon computation is verified with the double-trace method especially in the example of 2-form where there is dimension-dependent boundary divergence. We illustrate in these cases that the pole-skipping properties of the holographic correlators are determined by the IR physics, consistent with the ordinary cases in previous studies.