15 research outputs found
Is entanglement a probe of confinement?
We study various entanglement measures in a one-parameter family of three-dimensional, strongly coupled Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons field theories by means of their dual supergravity descriptions. A generic field theory in this family possesses a mass gap but does not have a linear quark-antiquark potential. For the two limiting values of the parameter, the theories flow either to a fixed point or to a confining vacuum in the infrared. We show that entanglement measures are unable to discriminate confining theories from non-confining ones with a mass gap. This lends support on the idea that the phase transition of entanglement entropy at large-N can be caused just by the presence of a sizable scale in a theory and just by itself should not be taken as a signal of confinement. We also examine flows passing close to a fixed point at intermediate energy scales and find that the holographic entanglement entropy, the mutual information, and the F-functions for strips and disks quantitatively match the conformal values for a range of energies.Peer reviewe
Is entanglement a probe of confinement?
We study various entanglement measures in a one-parameter family of three-dimensional, strongly coupled Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons field theories by means of their dual supergravity descriptions. A generic field theory in this family possesses a mass gap but does not have a linear quark-antiquark potential. For the two limiting values of the parameter, the theories flow either to a fixed point or to a confining vacuum in the infrared. We show that entanglement measures are unable to discriminate confining theories from non-confining ones with a mass gap. This lends support on the idea that the phase transition of entanglement entropy at large-N can be caused just by the presence of a sizable scale in a theory and just by itself should not be taken as a signal of confinement. We also examine flows passing close to a fixed point at intermediate energy scales and find that the holographic entanglement entropy, the mutual information, and the F-functions for strips and disks quantitatively match the conformal values for a range of energies.Peer reviewe
Limitations of entanglement entropy in detecting thermal phase transitions
We explore the efficacy of entanglement entropy as a tool for detecting
thermal phase transitions in a family of gauge theories described
holographically. The rich phase diagram of these theories encompasses first and
second-order phase transitions, as well as a critical and a triple point. While
entanglement measures demonstrate some success in probing transitions between
plasma phases, they prove inadequate when applied to phase transitions leading
to gapped phases. Nonetheless, entanglement measures excel in accurately
determining the critical exponent associated with the observed phase
transitions, providing valuable insight into the critical behavior of these
systems.Comment: 25 pages + appendices, 11 figures. v2: typos corrected and references
adde
Monopoles and confinement in three dimensions from holography
We study the phase diagram of a confining three-dimensional
supersymmetric theory with holographic dual
corresponding to a known string theory solution. The theory possesses a global
symmetry under which magnetic monopoles are charged. We introduce
both temperature and an external magnetic field for monopoles and find that
there are deconfinement phase transitions as any of the two is increased,
supporting monopole condensation as the possible mechanism for confinement. We
find that the transition as the magnetic field is increased is second order,
providing the first example in holographic duals of a deconfinement transition
which is not first order. We also uncover a rich structure in the phase
diagram, with a triple point and a critical point where a line of first order
transitions end.Comment: 27 pages + appendices, 11 figures. Expansions available at
https://subils.me/resources/poliakov-confinement-at-strong-coupling
Multiple Mass Hierarchies from Complex Fixed Point Collisions
A pair of complex-conjugate fixed points that lie close to the real axis
generates a large mass hierarchy in the real renormalization group flow that
passes in between them. We show that pairs of complex fixed points that are
close to the real axis and to one another generate multiple hierarchies, some
of which can be parametrically enhanced. We illustrate this effect at weak
coupling with field-theory examples, and at strong coupling using holography.
We also construct complex flows between complex fixed points, including flows
that violate the -theorem.Comment: 24 pages + appendices, 12 figure
Holographic approach to transport in dense QCD matter
The transport properties of dense QCD matter play a crucial role in the physics of neutron stars and their mergers but are notoriously difficult to study with traditional quantum field theory tools. Specializing to the case of unpaired quark matter in beta equilibrium, we approach the problem through the machinery of holography, in particular the V-QCD and D3-D7 models, and derive results for the electrical and thermal conductivities and the shear and bulk viscosities. In addition we compare the bulk to shear viscosity ratio to the speed of sound and find that it violates the so-called Buchel bound. Our results differ dramatically from earlier predictions of perturbative QCD, the root causes and implications of which we analyze in detail.Peer reviewe
Phase transitions in a three-dimensional analogue of Klebanov-Strassler
We use top-down holography to study the thermodynamics of a one-parameter family of three-dimensional, strongly coupled Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons theories with M-theory duals. For generic values of the parameter, the theories exhibit a mass gap but no confinement, meaning no linear quark-antiquark potential. For two specific values of the parameter they flow to an infrared fixed point or to a confining vacuum, respectively. As in the Klebanov-Strassler solution, on the gravity side the mass gap is generated by the smooth collapse to zero size of a cycle in the internal geometry. We uncover a rich phase diagram with thermal phase transitions of first and second order, a triple point and a critical point