Global Scaling Symmetry, Noether Charge and Universality of Shear Viscosity

Recently it was established in Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton gravity that the KSS viscosity/entropy ratio associated with AdS planar black holes can be viewed as the boundary dual to the generalized Smarr relation of the black holes in the bulk. In this paper we establish this relation in Einstein gravity with general minimally-coupled matter, and also in theories with an additional non-minimally coupled scalar field. We consider two examples for explicit demonstrations.Comment: 16 pages, no figur

Lifshitz and Schrodinger Vacua, Superstar Resolution in Gauged Maximal Supergravities

We consider the subset of gauged maximal supergravities that consists of the SO(n+1) gauge fields A^{ij} and the scalar deformation T^{ij} of the S^n in the spherical reduction of M-theory or type IIB. We focus on the Abelian Cartan subgroup and the diagonal entries of T^{ij}. The resulting theories can be viewed as the STU models with additional hyperscalars. We find that the theories with only one or two such vectors can be generalized naturally to arbitrary dimensions. The same is true for the D=4 or 5 Einstein-Maxwell theory with such a hyperscalar. The gauge fields become massive, determined by stationary points of the hyperscalars a la the analogous Abelian Higgs mechanism. We obtain classes of Lifshitz and Schrodinger vacua in these theories. The scaling exponent z turns out to be rather restricted, taking fractional or irrational numbers. Tweaking the theories by relaxing the mass parameter or making a small change of the superpotential, we find that solutions with z=2 can emerge. In a different application, we find that the resolution of superstar singularity in the STU models by using bubbling-AdS solitons can be generalized to arbitrary dimensions in our theories. In particular, we obtain the smooth AdS solitons that can be viewed as the resolution of the Reissner-Nordstrom superstars in general dimensions.Comment: Latex, 24 page

Thermodynamics of Lifshitz Black Holes

We specialize the Wald formalism to derive the thermodynamical first law for static black holes with spherical/torus/hyperbolic symmetries in a variety of supergravities or supergravity-inspired theories involving multiple scalars and vectors. We apply the formula to study the first law of a general class of Lifshitz black holes. We analyse the first law of three exact Lifshitz black holes and the results fit the general pattern. In one example, the first law is $TdS + \Phi dQ=0$ where $(\Phi,Q)$ are the electric potential and charge of the Maxwell field. The unusual vanishing of mass in this specific solution demonstrates that super-extremal charged black holes can exist in asymptotic Lifshitz spacetimes.Comment: 27 page

Scalar Charges in Asymptotic AdS Geometries

We show that for n-dimensional Einstein gravity coupled to a scalar field with mass-squared m_0^2=-n(n-2)/(4\ell^2), the first law of thermodynamics of (charged) AdS black holes will be modified by the boundary conditions of the scalar field at asymptotic infinity. Such scalars can arise in gauged supergravities in four and six dimensions, but not in five or seven. The result provides a guiding principle for constructing designer black holes and solitons in general dimensions, where the properties of the dual field theories depend on the boundary conditions.Comment: Latex, 9 pages, references adde

Blue Phosphorene Oxide: Strain-tunable Quantum Phase Transitions and Novel 2D Emergent Fermions

Tunable quantum phase transitions and novel emergent fermions in solid state materials are fascinating subjects of research. Here, we propose a new stable two-dimensional (2D) material, the blue phosphorene oxide (BPO), which exhibits both. Based on first-principles calculations, we show that its equilibrium state is a narrow-bandgap semiconductor with three bands at low energy. Remarkably, a moderate strain can drive a semiconductor-to-semimetal quantum phase transition in BPO. At the critical transition point, the three bands cross at a single point at Fermi level, around which the quasiparticles are a novel type of 2D pseudospin-1 fermions. Going beyond the transition, the system becomes a symmetry-protected semimetal, for which the conduction and valence bands touch quadratically at a single Fermi point that is protected by symmetry, and the low-energy quasiparticles become another novel type of 2D double Weyl fermions. We construct effective models characterizing the phase transition and these novel emergent fermions, and we point out several exotic effects, including super Klein tunneling, supercollimation, and universal optical absorbance. Our result reveals BPO as an intriguing platform for the exploration of fundamental properties of quantum phase transitions and novel emergent fermions, and also suggests its great potential in nanoscale device applications.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure