arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Alex Buchel.
We develop master equations to study perturbative stability of de Sitter Dynamical Fixed Points (DFPs) of strongly coupled massive quantum field theories in $d+1$ space-time dimensions with a holographic dual. The derived spectrum of linearized fluctuations characterizes the late-time dynamics of holographic strongly coupled non-conformal gauge theories in de Sitter background. Numerous checks and examples are presented.
The holographic duality between cascading gauge theory and type IIB supergravity on warped deformed conifold with fluxes reveals exotic thermal phases with nonzero expectation values of certain operators, persistent to high temperatures. These phases, in the limit of vanishing the strong coupling scale of the cascading gauge theory, would realize thermal ordered conformal phases in relativistic QFTs. We find that the dual Klebanov-Strassler and Klebanov-Tseytlin black branes in this limit are outside the regime of the supergravity approximation, rendering the construction of such conformal ordered states unreliable. While we have been able to construct conformal order in phenomenologically deformed effective theory of type IIB supergravity reduced on warped deformed conifold with fluxes, the removal of the deformation parameter causes the destruction of the thermal conformal ordered phases. Once again, we find that the holographic models with the conformal ordered phases are in the String Theory swampland.
Typically, an interactive system evolves towards thermal equilibrium, with hydrodynamics representing a universal framework for its late-time dynamics. Classification of the dynamical fixed points (DFPs) of a driven Quantum Field Theory (with time dependent coupling constants, masses, external background fields, etc.) is unknown. We use holographic framework to analyze such fixed points in one example of strongly coupled gauge theory, driven by homogeneous and isotropic expansion of the background metric - equivalently, a late-time dynamics of the corresponding QFT in Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker Universe. We identify DFPs that are perturbatively stable, and those that are perturbatively unstable, computing the spectrum of the quasinormal modes in the corresponding holographic dual. We further demonstrate that a stable DFP can be unstable non-perturbatively, and explain the role of the entanglement entropy density as a litmus test for a non-perturbative stability. Finally, we demonstrated that a driven evolution might not have a fixed point at all: the entanglement entropy density of a system can grow without bounds.
We study holographic conformal order compactified on $S^3$. The corresponding boundary CFT$ _4$ has a thermal phase with a nonzero expectation value of a certain operator. The gravitational dual to the ordered phase is represented by a black hole in asymptotically $AdS_5$ that violates the no-hair theorem. While the compactification does not destroy the ordered phase, it does not cure its perturbative instability: we identify the scalar channel QNM of the hairy black hole with Im$[w]>0$. On the contrary, we argue that the disordered thermal phase of the boundary CFT is perturbatively stable in holographic models of Einstein gravity and scalars.
We extend Kodama-Ishibashi and Jansen-Rostworowski-Rutkowski master field framework to study quasinormal modes of black branes and black holes of Einstein gravity in $D=5$ space-time dimensions with multiple scalars and an arbitrary bulk potential. As an application, we consider a thermodynamically unstable state of mass deformed ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory at strong coupling. The corresponding gravitational dual is ${\cal N}=2^*$ black brane with a dynamical instability of its translationary invariant horizon. We study the dependence of the quasinormal mode spectra as the boundary gauge theory is compactified on $S^3$ -- the black brane is turned into the black hole.
We present a comprehensive analysis of the black holes on warped deformed conifold with fluxes in Type IIB supergravity. These black holes realize the holographic dual to thermal states of the ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric $SU(N)\times SU(N+M)$ cascading gauge theory of Klebanov et.al on round $S^3$. There are three distinct mass scales in the theory: the strong coupling scale $Λ$ of the cascading gauge theory, the compactification scale $μ=1/L_3$ (related to the $S^3$ radius $L_3$) and the temperature $T$ of a thermal state. Depending on $Λ\,,\, μ$ and $T$, there is an intricate pattern of confinement/deconfinement (Hawking-Page) and the chiral symmetry breaking phase transitions. In the $S^3\to {\mathbb R}^3$ decompactification limit, $i.e$, $μ\to 0$, we recover the Klebanov-Tseytlin and the Klebanov-Strassler black branes.
We present a large class of holographic models where the boundary ${\mathbb R}^{2,1}$ dimensional conformal field theory has a thermal phase with a spontaneously broken global symmetry. The dual black branes in a Poincare patch of asymptotically $AdS_4$ violate the no-hair theorem.
We use holographic correspondence to study transport of the conformal plasma in ${\mathbb R}^{2,1}$ in a phase with a spontaneously broken global $Z_2$ symmetry. The dual black branes in a Poincare patch of asymptotically $AdS_4$ have "hair" -- a condensate of the order parameter for the broken symmetry. This hair affects both the hydrodynamic and the nonhydrodynamic quasinormal modes of the black branes. Nonetheless, the shear viscosity of the conformal order is universal, the bulk viscosity vanishes and the speed of the sound waves is $c_s^2=\frac 12$. We compute the low-lying spectrum of the non-hydrodynamic modes. We identify a quasinormal mode associated with the fluctuations of the $Z_2$ order parameter with the positive imaginary part. The presence of this mode in the spectrum renders the holographic conformal order perturbatively unstable. Correspondingly, the dual black branes violate the correlated stability conjecture.
We explore the embedding of the phenomenological holographic models describing thermal relativistic ordered conformal phases in ${\mathbb R}^{2,1}$ in SUGRA/String theory. The dual black branes in a Poincare patch of asymptotically $AdS_4$ have ``hair'' -- a condensate of the order parameter for the broken symmetry. In a gravitational dual the order parameter for a spontaneous symmetry breaking is represented by a bulk scalar field with a nontrivial potential. To construct the ordered conformal phases perturbatively we introduce a phenomenological deformation parameter in the scalar potential. We find that while the ordered phases exist for different values of the deformation parameter, they disappear before the deformation is removed, in one case once the potential is precisely as in the top-down holography. It appears that the holographic models with the conformal ordered phases are in the String theory swampland.
The Klebanov-Strassler black hole is a holographic dual to ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric $SU(N)\times SU(N+M)$ cascading gauge theory plasma with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. The chiral symmetry breaking sector of the cascading gauge theory contains two dimension-3 operators and a single dimension-7 operator. The black hole solution constructed in arXiv:1809.08484 represents the end point of the instability triggered by the condensation of one of the dimension-3 operators. We study here all three branches of the quasinormal modes of the chiral symmetry breaking sector -- there are no additional instabilities beyond the one identified in arXiv:1012.2404. Thus, the Klebanov-Strassler black hole solution of arXiv:1809.08484 is the only one with homogeneous and isotropic horizon, perturbatively connected to the chirally symmetric Klebanov-Tseytlin black hole arXiv:0706.1768.
We use top-down holographic models to study the thermal equation of state of strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma in external magnetic field. We identify different conformal and non-conformal theories within consistent truncations of ${\cal N}=8$ gauged supergravity in five dimensions (including STU models, gauged ${\cal N}=2^*$ theory) and show that the ratio of the transverse to the longitudinal pressure $P_T/P_L$ as a function of $T/\sqrt{B}$ can be collapsed to a 'universal' curve for a wide range of the adjoint hypermultiplet masses $m$. We stress that this does not imply any hidden universality in magnetoresponse, as other observables do not exhibit any universality. Instead, the observed collapse in $P_T/P_L$ is simply due to a strong dependence of the equation of state on the (freely adjustable) renormalization scale: in other words, it is simply a fitting artifact. Remarkably, we do uncover a different universality in ${\cal N}=2^*$ gauge theory in the external magnetic field: we show that magnetized ${\cal N}=2^*$ plasma has a critical point at $T_{crit}/\sqrt{B}$ which value varies by $2\%$ (or less) as $m/\sqrt{B}\in [0,\infty)$. At criticality, and for large values of $m/\sqrt{B}$, the effective central charge of the theory scales as $\propto \sqrt{B}/m$.
${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric $SU(N)\times SU(N+M)$ cascading gauge theory of Klebanov et.al spontaneously breaks chiral symmetry in Minkowski space-time. We demonstrate that in de Sitter space-time the chiral symmetry breaking occurs for the values of the Hubble constant $H\lesssim 0.7 Λ$, as well as in a narrow window $0.92(1) Λ\le H\le 0.92(5) Λ$. We give a precise definition of the strong coupling scale $Λ$ of cascading gauge theory, which is related to the glueball mass scale in the theory $m_{glueball}$ and the asymptotic string coupling $g_s$ as $Λ\sim g_s^{1/2} m_{glueball}$.
Two recent results indicate that the addition of supersymmetry-breaking ingredients can destabilize the Klebanov-Strassler warped deformed conifold throat. The first comes from an analytic treatment of the interaction between anti-D3 branes and the complex-structure modulus corresponding to the deformation of the conifold [arXiv:1809.06861]. The second comes from the numeric construction of Klebanov-Strassler black holes [arXiv:1809.08484], which stop existing above a certain value of the non-extremality. We show that in both calculations the destabilization energies have the same parametric dependence on $g_s$ and the conifold flux, and only differ by a small numerical factor. This remarkable match confirms that anti-D3 brane uplift can only work in warped throats that have an O(1000) contribution to the D3 tadpole.
We construct a black hole solution on warped deformed conifold in type IIB supergravity with fluxes. The black hole has translationary invariant horizon and is a holographic dual to a thermal homogeneous and isotropic state of a cascading $SU(K+P)\times SU(K)$ ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric gauge theory with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. We discuss thermal properties of the new black hole solutions. We comment on implications of the new black hole solutions for the landscape of KKLT de Sitter vacua in string theory.
de Sitter vacuum of nonconformal gauge theories is non-equilibrium, manifested by a nonvanishing rate of the comoving entropy production at asymptotically late times. This entropy production rate is related to the entanglement entropy of the de Sitter vacuum of the theory. We use holographic correspondence to compute vacuum entanglement entropy density $s_{ent}$ of mass deformed ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory - the ${\cal N}=2^*$ gauge theory - for various values of the masses and the coupling constant to the background space-time curvature. For a particular choice of the curvature coupling, the Euclidean model can be solved exactly using the supersymmetric localization. We show that ${\cal N}=2^*$ de Sitter entanglement entropy is not the thermodynamic entropy of the localization free energy at de Sitter temperature. Neither it is related to the thermal entropy of de Sitter vacuum of pair-produced particles.
Relativistic fluid hydrodynamics, organized as an effective field theory in the velocity gradients, has zero radius of convergence due to the presence of non-hydrodynamic excitations. Likewise, the theory of elasticity of brittle solids, organized as an effective field theory in the strain gradients, has zero radius of convergence due to the process of the thermal nucleation of cracks. Viscoelastic materials share properties of both fluids and solids. We use holographic gauge theory/gravity correspondence to study all order hydrodynamics of relativistic viscoelastic media.
Gauge theory/string theory holographic correspondence for ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory is well under control in the planar limit, and for large (infinitely large) 't Hooft coupling, $λ\to \infty$. Certain aspects of the correspondence can be extended including ${\cal O}(λ^{-3/2})$ corrections. There are no reliable first principle computations of the ${\cal N}=4$ plasma non-equilibrium properties beyond the stated order. We show extreme sensitivity of the non-hydrodynamic spectra of holographic ${\cal N}=4$ SYM plasma to ${\cal O}(λ^{-3})$ corrections, challenging any conclusions reached from 'resummation' of ${\cal O}(λ^{-3/2})$ corrections.
We study hydrodynamics of four-dimensional non-conformal holographic plasma with non-equal central charges $c\ne a$ at the ultraviolet fixed point. We compute equation of state, the speed of sound waves, transport coefficients (shear and bulk viscosities), and discuss causality. We study the asymptotic character of the hydrodynamic series for the homogeneous and isotropic expansion of the plasma. We perform computations for finite $c-a\ne 0$, but to leading nonvanishing order in the conformal symmetry breaking coupling.