46 research outputs found
AdS/QHE: Towards a Holographic Description of Quantum Hall Experiments
Transitions among quantum Hall plateaux share a suite of remarkable
experimental features, such as semi-circle laws and duality relations, whose
accuracy and robustness are difficult to explain directly in terms of the
detailed dynamics of the microscopic electrons. They would naturally follow if
the low-energy transport properties were governed by an emergent discrete
duality group relating the different plateaux, but no explicit examples of
interacting systems having such a group are known. Recent progress using the
AdS/CFT correspondence has identified examples with similar duality groups, but
without the DC ohmic conductivity characteristic of quantum Hall experiments.
We use this to propose a simple holographic model for low-energy quantum Hall
systems, with a nonzero DC conductivity that automatically exhibits all of the
observed consequences of duality, including the existence of the plateaux and
the semi-circle transitions between them. The model can be regarded as a
strongly coupled analog of the old `composite boson' picture of quantum Hall
systems. Non-universal features of the model can be used to test whether it
describes actual materials, and we comment on some of these in our proposed
model.Comment: LaTex 52 pages 11 figures. Repost improves the discussion of the
probe approximation; corrects minor errors; adds references. Second repost
generalizes charged solution and improves scaling discussio
Finite Size Scaling in Quantum Hallography
At low temperatures observations of the Hall resistance for Quantum Hall
systems at the interface between two Hall plateaux reveal a power-law
behaviour, dR_xy/dB ~ T^(-p) (with p = 0.42 +/- 0.01); changing at still
smaller temperatures, T < T_s, to a temperature-independent value. Experiments
also show that the transition temperature varies with sample size, L, according
to T_s ~ 1/L. These experiments pose a potential challenge to the holographic
AdS/QHE model recently proposed in arXiv:1008.1917. This proposal, which was
motivated by the natural way AdS/CFT methods capture the emergent duality
symmetries exhibited by quantum Hall systems, successfully describes the
scaling exponent p by relating it to an infrared dynamical exponent z with p =
2/z. For a broad class of models z is robustly shown to be z = 5 in the regime
relevant to the experiments (though becoming z = 1 further in the ultraviolet).
By incorporating finite-size effects into these models we show that they
reproduce a transition to a temperature-independent regime, predicting a
transition temperature satisfying T_s ~ 1/L or ~ 1/L^5 in two separate regions
of parameter space, even though z = 5 governs the temperature dependence of the
conductivity in both cases. The possibility of a deviation from naive z = 5
scaling arises because the brane tension introduces a new scale, which alters
where the transition between UV and IR scaling occurs, in an L-dependent way.
The AdS/CFT calculation indicates the two regimes of temperature scaling are
separated by a first-order transition, suggesting new possibilities for testing
the picture experimentally. Remarkably, in this interpretation the gravity dual
of the transition from temperature scaling to temperature-independent
resistance is related to the Chandrashekar transition from a star to a black
hole with increasing mass.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, Rewritten to better explain the results, which
remain unchange
AdS/QHE: towards a holographic description of quantum Hall experiments
Transitions among quantum Hall plateaux share a suite of
remarkable experimental features, such as semicircle laws and duality relations, whose accuracy and robustness are difficult to explain directly in terms of the detailed dynamics of the microscopic electrons. They would naturally follow if the low-energy transport properties were governed by an emergent discrete duality group relating the different plateaux, but no explicit examples of interacting systems having such a group are known. Recent progress using the AdS/CFT correspondence has identified examples with similar duality groups, but without the dc ohmic conductivity characteristic of quantum Hall experiments. We use this to propose a simple holographic model for low-energy quantum Hall systems, with a nonzero dc conductivity that automatically exhibits all of the observed consequences of duality, including the existence of the plateaux and the semicircle transitions between them. The model can be regarded as a strongly coupled analogue of the old ‘composite boson’ picture of quantum Hall systems. Non-universal features of the model can be used to test whether it describes actual materials, and we comment on some of these in our proposed model. In particular, the model indicates the value 2/5 for low-temperature scaling exponents for transitions among quantum Hall plateaux, in agreement with the
measured value 0.42±0.01
Sculpting the Extra Dimensions: Inflation from Codimension-2 Brane Back-reaction
We construct an inflationary model in 6D supergravity that is based on
explicit time-dependent solutions to the full higher-dimensional field
equations, back-reacting to the presence of a 4D inflaton rolling on a
space-filling codimension-2 source brane. Fluxes in the bulk stabilize all
moduli except the `breathing' modulus (that is generically present in
higher-dimensional supergravities). Back-reaction to the inflaton roll causes
the 4D Einstein-frame on-brane geometry to expand, a(t) ~ t^p, as well as
exciting the breathing mode and causing the two off-brane dimensions to expand,
r(t) ~ t^q. The model evades the general no-go theorems precluding 4D de Sitter
solutions, since adjustments to the brane-localized inflaton potential allow
the power p to be dialed to be arbitrarily large, with the 4D geometry becoming
de Sitter in the limit p -> infinity (in which case q = 0). Slow-roll solutions
give accelerated expansion with p large but finite, and q = 1/2. Because the
extra dimensions expand during inflation, the present-day 6D gravity scale can
be much smaller than it was when primordial fluctuations were generated -
potentially allowing TeV gravity now to be consistent with the much higher
gravity scale required at horizon-exit for observable primordial gravity waves.
Because p >> q, the 4 on-brane dimensions expand more quickly than the 2
off-brane ones, providing a framework for understanding why the observed four
dimensions are presently so much larger than the internal two. If uplifted to a
10D framework with 4 dimensions stabilized, the 6D evolution described here
could describe how two of the six extra dimensions evolve to become much larger
than the others, as a consequence of the enormous expansion of the 4 large
dimensions we can see.Comment: 27 pages + appendices, 2 figure
A no-go for no-go theorems prohibiting cosmic acceleration in extra dimensional models
A four-dimensional effective theory that arises as the low-energy limit of
some extra-dimensional model is constrained by the higher dimensional Einstein
equations. Steinhardt & Wesley use this to show that accelerated expansion in
our four large dimensions can only be transient in a large class of
Kaluza-Klein models that satisfy the (higher dimensional) null energy condition
[1]. We point out that these no-go theorems are based on a rather ad-hoc
assumption on the metric, without which no strong statements can be made.Comment: 20 page
Reducing Constraints in a Higher Dimensional Extension of the Randall and Sundrum Model
In order to investigate the phenomenological implications of warped spaces in
more than five dimensions, we consider a dimensional extension to
the Randall and Sundrum model in which the space is warped with respect to a
single direction by the presence of an anisotropic bulk cosmological constant.
The Einstein equations are solved, giving rise to a range of possible spaces in
which the additional spaces are warped. Here we consider models in
which the gauge fields are free to propagate into such spaces. After carrying
out the Kaluza Klein (KK) decomposition of such fields it is found that the KK
mass spectrum changes significantly depending on how the additional
dimensions are warped. We proceed to compute the lower bound on the KK mass
scale from electroweak observables for models with a bulk
gauge symmetry and models with a bulk gauge
symmetry. It is found that in both cases the most favourable bounds are
approximately TeV, corresponding to a mass of the first gauge
boson excitation of about 4-6 TeV. Hence additional warped dimensions offer a
new way of reducing the constraints on the KK scale.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures, v3: Additional comments in sections 1, 2 and 4.
New appendix added. Five additional figures. References adde
Geometry of open strings ending on backreacting D3-branes
We investigate open string theory on backreacting D3-branes using a spacetime
approach. We study in detail the half-BPS supergravity solutions describing
open strings ending on D3-branes, in the near horizon of the D3-branes. We
recover quantitatively several non-trivial features of open string physics
including the appearance of D3-brane spikes, the polarization of fundamental
strings into D5-branes, and the Hanany-Witten effect. Finally we detail the
computation of the gravitational potential between two open strings, and
contrast it with the holographic computation of Wilson lines. We argue that the
D-brane backreaction has a large influence on the low-energy gravity, which may
lead to experimental tests for string theory brane-world scenarios.Comment: 64 pages, 20 figure
The Social and Political Dimensions of the Ebola Response: Global Inequality, Climate Change, and Infectious Disease
The 2014 Ebola crisis has highlighted public-health vulnerabilities in Liberia, Sierra
Leone, and Guinea – countries ravaged by extreme poverty, deforestation and
mining-related disruption of livelihoods and ecosystems, and bloody civil wars in
the cases of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ebola’s emergence and impact are grounded
in the legacy of colonialism and its creation of enduring inequalities within African
nations and globally, via neoliberalism and the Washington Consensus. Recent
experiences with new and emerging diseases such as SARS and various strains of
HN influenzas have demonstrated the effectiveness of a coordinated local and
global public health and education-oriented response to contain epidemics. To what
extent is international assistance to fight Ebola strengthening local public health and
medical capacity in a sustainable way, so that other emerging disease threats, which
are accelerating with climate change, may be met successfully? This chapter
considers the wide-ranging socio-political, medical, legal and environmental factors
that have contributed to the rapid spread of Ebola, with particular emphasis on the
politics of the global and public health response and the role of gender, social
inequality, colonialism and racism as they relate to the mobilization and
establishment of the public health infrastructure required to combat Ebola and other
emerging diseases in times of climate change
A holographic model for the fractional quantum Hall effect
Experimental data for fractional quantum Hall systems can to a large extent
be explained by assuming the existence of a modular symmetry group commuting
with the renormalization group flow and hence mapping different phases of
two-dimensional electron gases into each other. Based on this insight, we
construct a phenomenological holographic model which captures many features of
the fractional quantum Hall effect. Using an SL(2,Z)-invariant
Einstein-Maxwell-axio-dilaton theory capturing the important modular
transformation properties of quantum Hall physics, we find dyonic diatonic
black hole solutions which are gapped and have a Hall conductivity equal to the
filling fraction, as expected for quantum Hall states. We also provide several
technical results on the general behavior of the gauge field fluctuations
around these dyonic dilatonic black hole solutions: We specify a sufficient
criterion for IR normalizability of the fluctuations, demonstrate the
preservation of the gap under the SL(2,Z) action, and prove that the
singularity of the fluctuation problem in the presence of a magnetic field is
an accessory singularity. We finish with a preliminary investigation of the
possible IR scaling solutions of our model and some speculations on how they
could be important for the observed universality of quantum Hall transitions.Comment: 86 pages, 16 figures; v.2 references added, typos fixed, improved
discussion of ref. [39]; v.3 more references added and typos fixed, several
statements clarified, v.4 version accepted for publication in JHE
Stringy Stability of Charged Dilaton Black Holes with Flat Event Horizon
Electrically charged black holes with flat event horizon in anti-de Sitter
space have received much attention due to various applications in Anti-de
Sitter/Conformal Field Theory (AdS/CFT) correspondence, from modeling the
behavior of quark-gluon plasma to superconductor. Crucial to the physics on the
dual field theory is the fact that when embedded in string theory, black holes
in the bulk may become vulnerable to instability caused by brane
pair-production. Since dilaton arises naturally in the context of string
theory, we study the effect of coupling dilaton to Maxwell field on the
stability of flat charged AdS black holes. In particular, we study the
stability of Gao-Zhang black holes, which are locally asymptotically anti-de
Sitter. We find that for dilaton coupling parameter > 1, flat black
holes are stable against brane pair production, however for 0 < < 1,
the black holes eventually become unstable as the amount of electrical charges
is increased. Such instability however, behaves somewhat differently from that
of flat Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes. In addition, we prove that the
Seiberg-Witten action of charged dilaton AdS black hole of Gao-Zhang type with
flat event horizon (at least in 5-dimension) is always logarithmically
divergent at infinity for finite values of , and is finite and positive
in the case tends to infinity . We also comment on the robustness of
our result for other charged dilaton black holes that are not of Gao-Zhang
type.Comment: Fixed some confusions regarding whether part of the discussions
concern electrically charged hole or magnetically charged one. No changes to
the result