Inverse Anisotropic Catalysis in Holographic QCD

We investigate the effects of anisotropy on the chiral condensate in a holographic model of QCD with a fully backreacted quark sector at vanishing chemical potential. The high temperature deconfined phase is a neutral and anisotropic plasma showing different pressure gradients along different spatial directions, similar to the state produced in noncentral heavy-ion collisions. We find that the chiral transition occurs at a lower temperature in the presence of anisotropy. Equivalently, we find that anisotropy acts destructively on the chiral condensate near the transition temperature. These are precisely the same footprints as the "inverse magnetic catalysis" i.e. the destruction of the condensate with increasing magnetic field observed earlier on the lattice, in effective field theory models and in holography. Based on our findings we suggest, in accordance with the conjecture of [1], that the cause for the inverse magnetic catalysis may be the anisotropy caused by the presence of the magnetic field instead of the charge dynamics created by it. We conclude that the weakening of the chiral condensate due to anisotropy is more general than that due to a magnetic field and we coin the former "inverse anisotropic catalysis". Finally, we observe that any amount of anisotropy changes the IR physics substantially: the geometry is $\text{AdS}_4 \times \mathbb{R}$ up to small corrections, confinement is present only up to a certain scale, and the particles acquire finite widths.Comment: 41 pages, 11 figure

More on the Tensor Response of the QCD Vacuum to an External Magnetic Field

In this Letter we discuss a few issues concerning the magnetic susceptibility of the quark condensate and the Son-Yamamoto (SY) anomaly matching equation. It is shown that the SY relation in the IR implies a nontrivial interplay between the kinetic and WZW terms in the chiral Lagrangian. It is also demonstrated that in a holographic framework an external magnetic field triggers mixing between scalar and tensor fields. Accounting for this, one may calculate the magnetic susceptibility of the quark condensate to all orders in the magnetic field.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figure

Magnetic Susceptibility of the Quark Condensate and Polarization from Chiral Models

We compute the magnetic susceptibility of the quark condensate and the polarization of quarks at zero temperature and in a uniform magnetic background. Our theoretical framework consists of two chiral models that allow to treat self-consistently the spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry: the linear $\sigma-$model coupled to quarks, dubbed quark-meson model, and the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. We also perform analytic estimates of the same quantities within the renormalized quark-meson model, both in the regimes of weak and strong fields. Our numerical results are in agreement with the recent literature; moreover, we confirm previous Lattice findings, related to the saturation of the polarization at large fields.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Anomalous AV∗VAV^*V vertex in the soft-wall holographic model of QCD

We discuss the vertex function of two vector and one axial-vector operators in the soft-wall holographic model of QCD. When one of the two vector currents represents an on-shell soft photon, such a vertex is described by two structure functions $w_L$ and $w_T$, which are usually calculated through triangular loop diagrams. We evaluate these functions in the soft-wall model of holographic QCD (HQCD) and compare the outcome to the QCD findings.Comment: 4 pages, contribution to conference "QCD 12", 16th International Conference in Quantum ChromoDynamics, 2nd-6th july 2012 (Montpellier - France

Four-point correlator of vector currents and electric current susceptibility in holographic QCD

In this work we calculate the four-point correlation function of vector quark currents of QCD via holographic QCD model. Computing the correlator we take into account the exchange of vector and axial vector bosons and dilaton in the bulk. The result is used for calculation of the two-point correlator of electromagnetic currents in external magnetic field at zero momentum, related to RHIC experiments, chiral magnetic effect and lattice study. At zero temperature we find this quantity to be loosely connected with chiral symmetry breaking and strongly dependent on the confinement properties. Some features of the AdS/QCD models are also discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure (v2: references added, typos corrected

Anomaly matching condition in two-dimensional systems

Based on Son-Yamamoto relation obtained for transverse part of triangle axial anomaly in ${\rm QCD}_4$, we derive its analog in two-dimensional system. It connects the transverse part of mixed vector-axial current two-point function with diagonal vector and axial current two-point functions. Being fully non-perturbative, this relation may be regarded as anomaly matching for conductivities or certain transport coefficients depending on the system. We consider the holographic RG flows in holographic Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons theory via the Hamilton-Jacobi equation with respect to the radial coordinate. Within this holographic model it is found that the RG flows for the following relations are diagonal: Son-Yamamoto relation and the left-right polarization operator. Thus the Son-Yamamoto relation holds at wide range of energy scales.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure