A Constraint on Defect and Boundary Renormalization Group Flows

A conformal field theory (CFT) in dimension $d\geq 3$ coupled to a planar, two-dimensional, conformal defect is characterized in part by a "central charge" $b$ that multiplies the Euler density in the defect's Weyl anomaly. For defect renormalization group flows, under which the bulk remains critical, we use reflection positivity to show that $b$ must decrease or remain constant from ultraviolet to infrared. Our result applies also to a CFT in $d=3$ flat space with a planar boundary.Comment: 9 pages, ReVTeX, v2: references added and a minor correctio

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.Comment: 22 pages; minor corrections, 5 references added, added calculation of boundary two-point functions from fluctuations in Ad

On Holographic Entanglement Density

We use holographic duality to study the entanglement entropy (EE) of Conformal Field Theories (CFTs) in various spacetime dimensions $d$, in the presence of various deformations: a relevant Lorentz scalar operator with constant source, a temperature $T$, a chemical potential $\mu$, a marginal Lorentz scalar operator with source linear in a spatial coordinate, and a circle-compactified spatial direction. We consider EE between a strip or sphere sub-region and the rest of the system, and define the "entanglement density" (ED) as the change in EE due to the deformation, divided by the sub-region's volume. Using the deformed CFTs above, we show how the ED's dependence on the strip width or sphere radius, $L$, is useful for characterizing states of matter. For example, the ED's small-$L$ behavior is determined either by the dimension of the perturbing operator or by the first law of EE. For Lorentz-invariant renormalization group (RG) flows between CFTs, the "area theorem" states that the coefficient of the EE's area law term must be larger in the UV than in the IR. In these cases the ED must therefore approach zero from below as $L \to \infty$. However, when Lorentz symmetry is broken and the IR fixed point has different scaling from the UV, we find that the ED often approaches the thermal entropy density from above, indicating area theorem violation.Comment: References clarified and updated compared to JHEP versio

Holographic Zero Sound from Spacetime-Filling Branes

We use holography to study sound modes of strongly-interacting conformal field theories with non-zero temperature, $T$, and $U(1)$ chemical potential, $\mu$. Specifically, we consider charged black brane solutions of Einstein gravity in $(3+1)$-dimensional Anti-de Sitter space coupled to a $U(1)$ gauge field with Dirac-Born-Infeld action, representing a spacetime-filling brane. The brane action has two free parameters: the tension and the non-linearity parameter, which controls higher-order terms in the field strength. For all values of the tension, non-linearity parameter, and $T/\mu$, and at sufficiently small momentum, we find sound modes with speed given by the conformal value and attenuation constant of hydrodynamic form. In particular we find sound at arbitrarily low $T/\mu$, outside the usual hydrodynamic regime, but in the regime where a Fermi liquid exhibits Landau's "zero" sound. In fact, the sound attenuation constant as a function of $T/\mu$ qualitatively resembles that of a Fermi liquid, including a maximum, which in a Fermi liquid signals the collisionless to hydrodynamic crossover. We also explore regimes of the tension and non-linearity parameter where two other proposed definitions of the crossover are viable, via pole collisions in Green's functions or peak movement in the charge density spectral function.Comment: v2: minor corrections and edits, no changes to results, version published in JHE

Fermionic Operator Mixing in Holographic p-wave Superfluids

We use gauge-gravity duality to compute spectral functions of fermionic operators in a strongly-coupled defect field theory in p-wave superfluid states. The field theory is (3+1)-dimensional N=4 supersymmetric SU(Nc) Yang-Mills theory, in the 't Hooft limit and with large coupling, coupled to two massless flavors of (2+1)-dimensional N=4 supersymmetric matter. We show that a sufficiently large chemical potential for a U(1) subgroup of the global SU(2) isospin symmetry triggers a phase transition to a p-wave superfluid state, and in that state we compute spectral functions for the fermionic superpartners of mesons valued in the adjoint of SU(2) isospin. In the spectral functions we see the breaking of rotational symmetry and the emergence of a Fermi surface comprised of isolated points as we cool the system through the superfluid phase transition. The dual gravitational description is two coincident probe D5-branes in AdS5 x S5 with non-trivial worldvolume SU(2) gauge fields. We extract spectral functions from solutions of the linearized equations of motion for the D5-branes' worldvolume fermions, which couple to one another through the worldvolume gauge field. We develop an efficient method to compute retarded Green's functions from a system of coupled bulk fermions. We also perform the holographic renormalization of free bulk fermions in any asymptotically Euclidean AdS space.Comment: 68 pages, 25 eps files in 9 figures; v2 minor corrections, added two references, version published in JHE