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Andreas Karch

Publications and source records attributed to Andreas Karch.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
arXiv2009

Critical Exponents from AdS/CFT with Flavor

We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to study the thermodynamics of massive N=2 supersymmetric hypermultiplet flavor fields coupled to N=4 supersymmetric SU(Nc) Yang-Mills theory, formulated on curved four-manifolds, in the limits of large Nc and large 't Hooft coupling. The gravitational duals are probe D-branes in global thermal AdS. These D-branes may undergo a topology-changing transition in the bulk. The D-brane embeddings near the point of the topology change exhibit a scaling symmetry. The associated scaling exponents can be either real- or complex-valued. Which regime applies depends on the dimensionality of a collapsing submanifold in the critical embedding. When the scaling exponents are complex-valued, a first-order transition associated with the flavor fields appears in the dual field theory. Real scaling exponents are expected to be associated with a continuous transition in the dual field theory. For one example with real exponents, the D7-brane, we study the transition in detail. We find two field theory observables that diverge at the critical point, and we compute the associated critical exponents. We also present analytic and numerical evidence that the transition expresses itself in the meson spectrum as a non-analyticity at the critical point. We argue that the transition we study is a true phase transition only when the 't Hooft coupling is strictly infinite.

hep-th↗
arXiv2009

Light quark energy loss in strongly-coupled N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma

We compute the penetration depth of a light quark moving through a large $N_c$, strongly coupled $\mathcal N = 4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma using gauge/gravity duality and a combination of analytic and numerical techniques. We find that the maximum distance a quark with energy $E$ can travel through a plasma is given by $Δx(E) = (\mathcal C/T) (E/T \sqrtλ)^{{1}/{3}}$ with $\mathcal C \approx 0.5$.

hep-th↗
arXiv2009

ABJM Mirrors and a Duality of Dualities

We clarify how mirror symmetry acts on 3d theories with N=2,3 or 4 supersymmetries and non-abelian Chern-Simons terms and then construct many new examples. We identify a new duality, geometric duality, that allows us to generate large families of gauge theories, with and without Chern-Simons term, that all flow to the same conformal field theory in the infrared. In particular, we find an interesting duality of dualities: a pair of theories related via mirror symmetry can be mapped, via geometric duality, into a pair of gauge theories related by Seiberg duality. This network of dualities can be understood as the simple result that all of these theories are different realizations of one and the same system in M-theory.

hep-th↗
arXiv2009

Alternative large Nc baryons and holography

In gauge theories in the limit of a large number Nc of colors, baryons are usually described as heavy solitonic objects with mass of order Nc. We discuss an alternative large Nc description both directly in the field theory as well as using holography. In this alternative large Nc limit at least some of the baryons behave like mesons, that is they stay light even at large Nc and their interactions vanish in that limit. For Nc=3 these alternative large Nc baryons are equivalent to the standard baryons. In the holographic description it is manifest that the Regge slopes of mesons and alternative baryons are degenerate.

hep-th↗
arXiv2009

The Stress-Energy Tensor of Flavor Fields from AdS/CFT

We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to study the transport properties of massive N=2 hypermultiplet fields in an N=4 SU(Nc) super-Yang-Mills theory plasma in the large Nc, large 't Hooft coupling limit, and in the presence of a baryon number chemical potential and external electric and magnetic fields. In particular, we compute the flavor fields' contribution to the stress-energy tensor. We find infrared divergences in the stress-energy tensor, arising from the flavor fields' constant rate of energy and momentum loss. We regulate these divergences and extract the energy and momentum loss rates from the divergent terms. We also check our result in various limits in which the divergences are absent. The supergravity dual is a system of D7-branes, with a particular configuration of worldvolume fields, probing an AdS-Schwarzschild background. The supergravity calculation amounts to computing the stress-energy tensor of the D7-branes.

hep-th↗
arXiv2009

A holographic perspective on non-relativistic conformal defects

We study defects in non-relativistic conformal field theories. As in the well-studied case of relativistic conformal defects, we find that a useful tool to organize correlation functions is the defect operator expansion (dOPE). We analyze how the dOPE is implemented in theories with a holographic dual, highlighting some interesting aspects of the operator/state mapping in non-relativistic holography.

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arXiv2008

Jets in strongly-coupled N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory

We study jets of massless particles in N=4 super Yang-Mills using the AdS/CFT correspondence both at zero and finite temperature. We set up an initial state corresponding to a highly energetic quark/anti-quark pair and follow its time evolution into two jets. At finite temperature the jets stop after traveling a finite distance, whereas at zero temperature they travel and spread forever. We map out the corresponding baryon number charge density and identify the generic late time behavior of the jets as well as features that depend crucially on the initial conditions.

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arXiv2007

Holographic Calculation of Boundary Entropy

We use the holographic proposal for calculating entanglement entropies to determine the boundary entropy of defects in strongly coupled two-dimensional conformal field theories. We study several examples including the Janus solution and show that the boundary entropy extracted from the entanglement entropy as well as its more conventional definition via the free energy agree with each other. Maybe somewhat surprisingly we find that, unlike in the case of a conformal field theory with boundary, the entanglement entropy for a generic region in a theory with defect carries detailed information about the microscopic details of the theory. We also argue that the g-theorem for the boundary entropy is closely related to the strong subadditivity of the entanglement entropy.

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arXiv2007

Time dependent black holes and thermal equilibration

We study aspects of a recently proposed exact time dependent black hole solution of IIB string theory using the AdS/CFT correspondence. The dual field theory is a thermal system in which initially a vacuum density for a non-conserved operator is turned on. We can see that in agreement with general thermal field theory expectation the system equilibrates: the expectation value of the non-conserved operator goes to zero exponentially and the entropy increases. In the field theory the process can be described quantitatively in terms of a thermofield state and exact agreement with the gravity answers is found.

hep-th↗
arXiv2007

Holographic Thermodynamics at Finite Baryon Density: Some Exact Results

We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to study the thermodynamics of massive N=2 supersymmetric hypermultiplets coupled to N=4 supersymmetric SU(Nc) Yang-Mills theory in the limits of large Nc and large 't Hooft coupling. In particular, we study the theory at finite baryon number density. At zero temperature, we present an exact expression for the hypermultiplets' leading-order contribution to the free energy, and in the supergravity description we clarify which D-brane configuration is appropriate for any given value of the chemical potential. We find a second-order phase transition when the chemical potential equals the mass. At finite temperature, we present an exact expression for the hypermultiplets' leading-order contribution to the free energy at zero mass.

hep-th↗
arXiv2007

Metallic AdS/CFT

We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to compute the conductivity of massive N=2 hypermultiplet fields at finite baryon number density in an N=4 SU(N_c) super-Yang-Mills theory plasma in the large N_c, large 't Hooft coupling limit. The finite baryon density provides charge carriers analogous to electrons in a metal. An external electric field then induces a finite current which we determine directly. Our result for the conductivity is good for all values of the mass, external field and density, modulo statements about the yet-incomplete phase diagram. In the appropriate limits it agrees with known results obtained from analyzing small fluctuations around equilibrium. For large mass, where we expect a good quasi-particle description, we compute the drag force on the charge carriers and find that the answer is unchanged from the zero density case. Our method easily generalizes to a wide class of systems of probe branes in various backgrounds.

hep-th↗
arXiv2007

Debye screening in strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma

Using the AdS/CFT correspondence, we examine the behavior of correlators of Polyakov loops and other operators in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory at non-zero temperature. The implications for Debye screening in this strongly coupled non-Abelian plasma, and comparisons with available results for thermal QCD, are discussed.

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arXiv2006

Chiral Transition of N=4 Super Yang-Mills with Flavor on a 3-Sphere

We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to perform a numerical study of a phase transition in strongly-coupled large-Nc N = 4 Super-Yang-Mills theory on a 3-sphere coupled to a finite number Nf of massive N = 2 hypermultiplets in the fundamental representation of the gauge group. The gravity dual system is a number Nf of probe D7-branes embedded in AdS_5 x S^5. We draw the phase diagram for this theory in the plane of hypermultiplet mass versus temperature and identify for temperatures above the Hawking-Page deconfinement temperature a first-order phase transition line across which the chiral condensate jumps discontinuously.

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arXiv2006

The CFT/AdS correspondence, massive gravitons and a connectivity index conjecture

We discuss the general question of which conformal field theories have dual descriptions in terms of quantum gravity theories on anti-de Sitter space. We analyze in detail the case of a deformed product of n conformal field theories (each of which has a gravity dual), and we claim that the dual description of this is by a quantum gravity theory on a union of n anti-de Sitter spaces, connected at their boundary (by correlations between their boundary conditions). On this union of spaces, (n-1) linear combinations of gravitons obtain a mass, and we compute this mass both from the field theory and from the gravity sides of the correspondence, finding the same result in both computations. This is the first example in which a graviton mass in the bulk of anti-de Sitter space arises continuously by varying parameters. The analysis of these deformed product theories leads us to suggest that field theories may be generally classified by a "connectivity index", corresponding to the number of components (connected at the boundary) in the space-time of the dual gravitational background. In the field theory this index roughly counts the number of independent gauge groups, but we do not have a precise general formula for the index.

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arXiv2006

Linear Confinement and AdS/QCD

In a theory with linear confinement, such as QCD, the masses squared m^2 of mesons with high spin S or high radial excitation number n are expected, from semiclassical arguments, to grow linearly with S and n. We show that this behavior can be reproduced within a putative 5-dimensional theory holographically dual to QCD (AdS/QCD). With the assumption that such a dual theory exists and describes highly excited mesons as well, we show that asymptotically linear m^2 spectrum translates into a strong constraint on the INFRARED behavior of that theory. In the simplest model which obeys such a constraint we find m^2 ~ (n+S).

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

Holographic Renormalization of Probe D-Branes in AdS/CFT

We perform holographic renormalization for probe branes in AdS_5 x S^5. We show that for four known probe D-branes wrapping an AdS_m x S^n, the counterterms needed to render the action finite are identical to those for the free, massive scalar in AdS_m plus counterterms for the renormalization of the volume of AdS_m. The four cases we consider are the probe D7, two different probe D5's and a probe D3. In the D7 case there are scheme-dependent finite counterterms that can be fixed by supersymmetry.

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arXiv2005

Relaxing to Three Dimensions

We propose a new selection principle for distinguishing among possible vacua that we call the "relaxation principle". The idea is that the universe will naturally select among possible vacua through its cosmological evolution, and the configuration with the biggest filling fraction is the likeliest. We apply this idea to the question of the number of dimensions of space. We show that under conventional (but higher-dimensional) FRW evolution, a universe filled with equal numbers of branes and antibranes will naturally come to be dominated by 3-branes and 7-branes. We show why this might help explain the number of dimensions that are experienced in our visible universe.

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