Phases of holographic d-wave superconductor

We study different phases in the holographic model of d-wave superconductor. These are described by solutions to the classical equations of motion found in different ansatze. Apart from the known homogeneous d-wave superconducting phase we find three new solutions. Two of them represent two distinct families of the spatially modulated solutions, which realize the charge density wave phases in the dual theory. The third one is the new homogeneous phase with nonzero anapole moment. These phases are relevant to the physics of cuprate high-Tc superconductor in pseudogap region. While the d-wave phase preserves translation, parity and time reversal symmetry, the striped phases break translations spontaneously. Parity and time-reversal are preserved when combined with discrete half-periodic shift of the wave. In anapole phase translation symmetry is preserved, but parity and time reversal are spontaneously broken. All of the considered solutions brake the global $U(1)$. Thermodynamical treatment shows that in the simplest d-wave model the anapole phase is always preferred, while the stripe phases realize the continuous transition in solution space between the normal phase and two homogeneous condensed phases.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure

Relaxation regimes of the holographic electrons at charge neutrality after a local quench of chemical potential

In this work we study the relaxation of the system of strongly correlated electrons, at charge neutrality, when the chemical potential undergoes a local change. This setup is a model for for the X-ray absorbtion edge study in the half-filled graphene. We use holographic duality to describe the system as a classical Schwarzschild black hole in curved 4-dimensional AdS spacetime. Assuming the amplitude of the quench is small, we neglect the backreaction on the geometry. We numerically study the two relaxation regimes: the adiabatic relaxation when the quench is slow and the relaxation governed by the quasinormal modes of the system, when the quench is fast. We confirm the expectation that the scale of separation between the slow and fast regimes is set by the characteristic frequency of the quasinormal modes.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures; v2: references updated, treatment of scales improved; v3: technical mistakes corrected, treatment of QNMs improved; v4: treatment of evolution equation improved, Bessel analysis added, journal accepted versio

Holographic discommensurations

When the system with internal tendency to a spontaneous formation of a spatially periodic state is brought in contact with the external explicit periodic potential, the interesting phenomenon of commensurate lock in can be observed. In case when the explicit potential is strong enough and its period is close to the period of the spontaneous structure, the latter is forced to assume the periodicity of the former and the commensurate state becomes a thermodynamically preferred one. If instead the two periods are significantly different, the incommensurate state is formed. It is characterized by a finite density of solitonic objects -- discommensurations -- on top of the commensurate state. In this note I study the properties of discommensurations in holographic model with inhomogeneous translational symmetry breaking and explain how one can understand the commensurate/incommensurate phase transition as a proliferation of these solitons. Some useful numerical techniques are discussed in the Appendix.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures. v2: misprints corrected, reverences adde

Pinning of longitudinal phonons in holographic spontaneous helices

We consider the spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry and identify the associated Goldstone mode -- a longitudinal phonon -- in a holographic model with Bianchi VII helical symmetry. For the first time in holography, we observe the pinning of this mode after introducing a source for explicit breaking compatible with the helical symmetry of our setup. We study the dispersion relation of the resulting pseudo-Goldstone mode, uncovering how its speed and mass gap depend on the amplitude of the source and temperature. In addition, we extract the optical conductivity as a function of frequency, which reveals a metal-insulator transition as a consequence of the pinning.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures. v2: comments and references added; v3: discussions added, slight change of title, version published in JHE

Isolated zeros in the spectral function as signature of a quantum continuum

We study the observable properties of quantum systems which involve a quantum continuum as a subpart. We show in a very general way that in any system, which consists of at least two isolated states coupled to a continuum, the spectral function of one of the states exhibits an isolated zero at the energy of the other state. Several examples of quantum systems exhibiting such isolated zeros are discussed. Although very general, this phenomenon can be particularly useful as an indirect detection tool for the continuum spectrum in the lab realizations of quantum critical behavior.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; Published versio

Classical and quantum temperature fluctuations via holography

We study local temperature fluctuations in a 2+1 dimensional CFT on the sphere, dual to a black hole in asymptotically AdS spacetime. The fluctuation spectrum is governed by the lowest-lying hydrodynamic modes of the system whose frequency and damping rate determine whether temperature fluctuations are thermal or quantum. We calculate numerically the corresponding quasinormal frequencies and match the result with the hydrodynamics of the dual CFT at large temperature. As a by-product of our analysis we determine the appropriate boundary conditions for calculating low-lying quasinormal modes for a four-dimensional Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole in global AdS.Comment: LaTeX: 31 pages, 7 figures; V2: reference added; V3: added/updated charged cas