We study the charge transport properties of fields confined to a (2+1)-dimensional defect coupled to (3+1)-dimensional super-Yang-Mills at large-$\nc$ and strong coupling, using AdS/CFT techniques applied to linear response theory. The dual system is described by $\nf$ probe D5- or D7-branes in the gravitational background of $\nc$ black D3-branes. Surprisingly, the transport properties of both defect CFT's are essentially identical -- even though the D7-brane construction breaks all supersymmetries. We find that the system possesses a conduction threshold given by the wave-number of the perturbation and that the charge transport arises from a quasiparticle spectrum which is consistent with an intuitive picture where the defect acquires a finite width. We also examine finite-$λ$ modifications arising from higher derivative interactions in the probe brane action.
Solutions describing holographic surface defects in $D=5,N=4$ gauged supergravity theories are constructed. It is shown that a surface defect solution in pure Romans' gauged supergravity is singular. Adding a single vector multiplet allows for the construction of a non-singular solution. The on-shell action and one point functions of operators in the presence of the defect are computed using holographic renormalization.
We construct solutions of four-dimensional $N=2$ gauged supergravity coupled to vector multiplets which are holographically dual to superconformal line defects. For the gauged STU and the $SU(1,n)/U(1)\times SU(n)$ coset models, we use the solutions to calculate holographic observables such as the expectation value of the defect and one-point functions in the presence of the defect.
We study defects in non-relativistic conformal field theories. As in the well-studied case of relativistic conformal defects, we find that a useful tool to organize correlation functions is the defect operator expansion (dOPE). We analyze how the dOPE is implemented in theories with a holographic dual, highlighting some interesting aspects of the operator/state mapping in non-relativistic holography.
In this note we construct a solution of six-dimensional $F(4)$ gauged supergravity using $AdS_2\times S^3$ warped over an interval as an ansatz. The solution is completely regular, preserves eight of the sixteen supersymmetries of the $AdS_6$ vacuum and is a holographic realization of a line defect in a dual five-dimensional theory. We calculate the expectation value of the defect and the one-point function of the stress tensor in the presence of the defect using holographic renormalization.
We study SU(N) Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons theory in the presence of defects that shift the Chern-Simons level from a holographic point of view by embedding the system in string theory. The model is a D3-D7 system in Type IIB string theory, whose gravity dual is given by the AdS soliton background with probe D7-branes attaching to the AdS boundary along the defects. We holographically renormalize the free energy of the defect system with sources, from which we obtain the correlation functions for certain operators naturally associated to these defects. We find interesting phase transitions when th…
We present a detailed study of a single vortex in a holographic symmetry breaking phase. At low energies the system flows to an nontrivial conformal fixed point. Novel vortex physics arises from the interaction of these gapless degrees of freedom with the vortex: at low energies the vortex may be understood as a conformal defect in this low energy theory. Defect conformal symmetry allows the construction of a simple infrared geometry describing a new kind of extremal horizon: a Poincare horizon with a small bubble of magnetic Reissner-Nordstrom horizon inside it that carries a single unit of m…
We use holography to study codimension-2 surface defects in 5d SCFTs engineered by $(p,q)$ 5-brane webs. The three-dimensional defects are realized by D3-branes ending on the brane web. We identify the holographic representation of the defects in Type IIB $AdS_6$ solutions as probe D3-branes, and study conformal and non-conformal defects which, respectively, preserve one half and one quarter of the supersymmetry. For a sample of 5d SCFTs, including the $T_N$ theories, we provide explicit solutions for conformal and non-conformal defects. For the conformal defects we obtain their contribution t…
We propose defect extremal surface as the holographic counterpart of boundary quantum extremal surface. The defect extremal surface is defined by minimizing the Ryu-Takayanagi surface corrected by the defect theory. This is particularly interesting when the RT surface crosses or terminates on the defect. In a simple set up of AdS/BCFT, we find that the defect extremal surface formula gives precisely the same results of the boundary quantum extremal surface. We provide a decomposition procedure of an AdS bulk with a defect brane to see clearly how Island formula emerges from a brane world syste…
We study a number of (3+1)- and (2+1)-dimensional defect and boundary conformal field theories holographically dual to supergravity theories. In all cases the defects or boundaries are planar, and the defects are codimension-one. Using holography, we compute the entanglement entropy of a (hemi-)spherical region centered on the defect (boundary). We define defect and boundary entropies from the entanglement entropy by an appropriate background subtraction. For some (3+1)-dimensional theories we find evidence that the defect/boundary entropy changes monotonically under certain renormalization gr…
We develop a first order formalism for constructing gravitational duals of conformal defects in a bottom up approach. Similarly as for the flat domain walls a single function specifies the solution completely. Using this formalism we construct several novel families of analytic solutions dual to conformal interfaces and boundaries. As a sample application we study the boundary OPE and entanglement entropy for one of the found defects.
We investigate some aspects of a recent proposal for a holographic description of the multiverse. Specifically, we focus on the implications on the suggested duality of the fluctuations of a bubble separating two universes with different cosmological constants. We do so by considering a similar problem in a 2+1 CFT with a codimension one defect, obtained by an M5-brane probe embedding in AdS_4x S^7, and studying its spectrum of fluctuations. Our results suggest that the kind of behavior required by the spectrum of bubble fluctuations is not likely to take place in defect CFTs with an AdS dual,…
We calculate the holographic entanglement entropy in type IIB supergravity solutions that are dual to half-BPS disorder-type surface defects in ${\cal N}=4$ Super Yang-Mills theory. The entanglement entropy is calculated for a ball-shaped region bisected by a surface defect. Using the bubbling supergravity solutions we also compute the expectation value of the defect operator. Combining our result with the previously-calculated one-point function of the stress tensor in the presence of the defect, we adapt the calculation of Lewkowycz and Maldacena to obtain a second expression for the entangl…
Defect conformal field theories (dCFTs) have been attracting increased attention recently, mainly because they enable us to bridge the gap between idealistic, highly symmetric models of our world (such as the particle/string duality) and real-world systems. This talk is about the AdS/defect CFT correspondence, an exciting new proposal that joins the forces of holography, integrability, supersymmetric localization and the conformal bootstrap program in a framework that is appropriate for the study of defects in real-world systems. After introducing dCFTs and some of their holographic realizatio…
We investigate the formation of topological defects in the course of a dynamical phase transition with different boundary conditions in a ring from AdS/CFT correspondence. According to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, quenching the system across the critical point to symmetry-breaking phase will result in topological defects -- winding numbers -- in a compact ring. By setting two different boundary conditions, i.e., Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions for the spatial component of the gauge fields in the AdS boundary, we achieve the holographic superfluid and holographic superconductor models,…
Ultraviolet dissipation and defect OPE in bottom-up holographic interfaces
Weinberg Institute for Theoretical Physics, The University of Texas at Austin（德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校温伯格理论物理研究所）；Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, The University of Tokyo（东京大学 Kavli宇宙物理与数学研究所（WPI），东京大学高等研究院）
In this study, we have analytically considered a dislocation in three-dimensional Weyl semimetal and its holographic model. A quantum singularity that originated in the dislocation creates a defect in momentum space. This defect causes topologically protected zero-energy mode bound to the quantum singularity. The defect has two aspects: First, it prevents the formation of a topological winding number. Second, it provides another topological number around itself. The gauge field adjusts these effects of the defect, and it is possible to control the phase transition. Further, from holographic du…
We extend the ideas of using AdS/CFT to calculate energy loss of extended defects in strongly coupled systems to general holographic metrics. We find the equations of motion governing uniformly moving defects of various dimension and determine the corresponding energy loss rates in terms of the metric coefficients. We apply our formulae to the specific examples of both bulk geometries created by general Dp-branes, as well as to holographic superfluids. For the Dp-branes, we find that the energy loss of our defect, in addition to the expected quadratic dependence on velocity, depends on velocit…
We study instant conformal symmetry breaking as a holographic effect of ultrarelativistic particles moving in the AdS3 spacetime. We give the qualitative picture of this effect probing it by two-point correlation functions and the entanglement entropy of the corresponding boundary theory. We show that within geodesic approximation the ultra-relativistic massless defect due to gravitational lensing of the geodesics, produces a zone structure for correlators with broken conformal invariance. Meanwhile, the holographic entanglement entropy also exhibits a transition to the non-conformal behaviour…
Using the AdS/CFT correspondence, we study the thermodynamic properties and the phase diagram of matter fields on (2+1)-dimensional defects coupled to a (3+1)-dimensional N=4 SYM "heat bath". Considering a background magnetic field, (net) quark density, defect "magnitude" $δN_c$ and the mass of the matter, we study the defect contribution to the thermodynamic potentials and their first and second derivatives to map the phases and study their physical properties. We find some features that are qualitatively similar to other systems e.g. in (3+1) dimensions and a number of features that are part…
In this work, we initiate a holographic study of field theory on time dependent background with conical defect. We focus on the Milne space-time to which, in the absence of cosmological constant, at late time any hyperbolic Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric flows to. When the Milne vacuum is represented by the adiabatic one, we are able to compute the two point correlators of operators which are dual to the massive scalars in the bulk AdS-Milne background with defect. We find, for both twisted and untwisted operators, the correlators can be represented as the sum over images. This sum can be c…
We initiate the study of how tensor networks reproduce properties of static holographic space-times, which are not locally pure anti-de Sitter. We consider geometries that are holographically dual to ground states of defect, interface and boundary CFTs and compare them to the structure of the requisite MERA networks predicted by the theory of minimal updates. When the CFT is deformed, certain tensors require updating. On the other hand, even identical tensors can contribute differently to estimates of entanglement entropies. We interpret these facts holographically by associating tensor update…
We explore the phase structure for defect theories in full generality using the gauge/gravity correspondence. On the gravity side, the systems are constructed by introducing M (probe) D(p+4-2k)-branes in a background generated by N Dp-branes to obtain a codimension-k intersection. The dual gauge theory is a U(N) Supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on a (1+p-k)-dimensional defect with both adjoint and fundamental degrees of freedom. We focus on the phase structure in the chemical potential versus temperature plane. We observe the existence of two universality classes for holographic gauge theories…
The mutual information of disconnected regions in large $N$ gauge theories with holographic gravity duals can undergo phase transitions. These occur when connected and disconnected bulk Ryu-Takayanagi surfaces exchange dominance. That is, the bulk `soap bubble' snaps as the boundary regions are drawn apart. We give a gauge-theoretic characterization of this transition: States with and without a certain defect operator insertion -- the defect separates the entangled spatial regions -- are shown to be perfectly distinguishable if and only if the Ryu-Takayanagi surface is connected. Meanwhile, st…
Quantum anomalies give rise to new non-dissipative transport phenomena in relativistic fluids induced by external electromagnetic fields and vortices. These phenomena can be studied in holographic models with Chern-Simons couplings dual to anomalies in field theory. We perform a computation in AdS/CFT of the anomalous transport coefficients in a holographic massive gravity model, and find that the anomalous conductivities turn out to be independent of the holographic disorder couplings of the model. To arrive at this result we suggest a new definition of the energy-momentum tensor in presence …
We compute the contribution to the conductivity from holographic Fermi surfaces obtained from probe fermions in an AdS charged black hole. This requires calculating a certain part of the one-loop correction to a vector propagator on the charged black hole geometry. We find that the current dissipation is as efficient as possible and the transport lifetime coincides with the single-particle lifetime. In particular, in the case where the spectral density is that of a marginal Fermi liquid, the resistivity is linear in temperature.
We compute the holographic entanglement entropy contribution from planar two-dimensional defects in six-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(2,0)$ superconformal field theory, holographically dual to probe M2- and M5-branes in $AdS_7 \times S^4$. In particular, we test the viability of the universal contribution of the defect to entanglement entropy as a candidate $C$-function. We find that this coefficient is not monotonic under defect renormalization group flows triggered by the vacuum expectation value of a marginal operator. Another candidate $C$-function, the on-shell action inside the entanglement …
We study a holographic gauge theory dual to the D3/D5 intersection. We consider a pure gauge B-field flux through the internal two-sphere wrapped by the probe D5--brane, which corresponds to a non-commutative configuration of adjoint scalars. There is a domain wall separating the theory into regions with different ranks of the adjoint group. At zero temperature the theory is supersymmetric and at finite temperature there is a critical point of a second order phase transition. We study the corresponding critical exponents and find that the second derivatives of the free energy, with respect to …
We investigate relevant deformation and the renormalization group flow in a defect conformal field theory from the point of view of the holography. We propose a candidate of g-function in the context of the holography, and prove the g-theorem: the g-function is monotonically non-increasing along the RG flow. We apply this g-theorem to the D5-brane solution which is an asymptotically AdS_4 x S^2 brane in AdS_5 x S^5. This solution corresponds to the mass deformation of the defect CFT. We checked that the g-function is monotonically non-increasing in this solution.
Holographic reconstruction for defect CFTs from $\mathrm{AdS}_p \times S^q$ spacetimes
International Centre for Theoretical Physics Asia–Pacific, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学亚太理论物理中心）；INFN, Sezione di Milano（意大利国家核物理研究所米兰分部）
We explore the two holographic complexity proposals for the case of a 2d boundary CFT with a conformal defect. We focus on a Randall-Sundrum type model of a thin AdS$_2$ brane embedded in AdS$_3$. We find that, using the "complexity=volume" proposal, the presence of the defect generates a logarithmic divergence in the complexity of the full boundary state with a coefficient which is related to the central charge and to the boundary entropy. For the "complexity=action" proposal we find that the complexity is not influenced by the presence of the defect. This is the first case in which the resul…
Holographic strange metals are known to have a power law resistivity rising with temperature, which is reminiscent of the strange metal phases in condensed matter systems. In some holographic models, however, the exponent of the power law in the resistivity can be negative. In this case one encounters phases with diverging resistivity at zero temperature: holographic strange insulators. These states arise as a result of translational symmetry breaking in the system, which can either be strong explicit and relevant in the IR, or spontaneous, but pinned by a small explicit source. In some regard…
We study transport phenomena of total angular momentum in holography, as a first step toward holographic understanding of spin transport phenomena. Spin current, which has both the local Lorentz index for spins and the space-time vector index for current, couples naturally to the bulk spin connection. Therefore the bulk spin connection becomes the source for the boundary spin current. This allows us to evaluate the spin current holographically, with a relation to the stress tensor and metric fluctuations in the bulk. We examine the spin transport coefficients and the thermal spin Hall conducti…
In this paper, we show universal relations among the transport coefficients by calculating the electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and thermo-electric conductivity in the presence of a chemical potential and magnetic fields for Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton-axion system in arbitrary but even dimensional bulk spacetime as well as for Einstein-DBI-dilaton-axion system in $3+1$ dimensional bulk spacetime. Moreover, we have also obtained a new hyperscale violating black hole solution with finite charge density and magnetic fields but with a trivial dilaton field at IR.
The geodesics prescription in holographic approach in Lorentzian signature is valid only for geodesics which connect spacelike-separated points at the boundary, since there are no timelike geodesics which reach the boundary. There is also no straightforward analytic Euclidean continuation for a general background, such as e. g. moving particle in AdS. We propose an improved geodesic image method for two-point Lorentzian correlators which is valid for arbitrary time intervals in case of the bulk spacetime deformed by point particles. We illustrate that our prescription is consistent with the ca…
We study two-point functions of single-trace half-BPS operators in the presence of a supersymmetric Wilson line in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM. We use inversion formula technology in order to reconstruct the CFT data starting from a single discontinuity of the correlator. In the planar strong coupling limit only a finite number of conformal blocks contributes to the discontinuity, which allows us to obtain elegant closed-form expressions for two-point functions of single-trace operators $\mathcal{O}_J$ of weight $J=2,3,4$. Our final result passes a number of non-trivial consistency checks: it has the …
Aspects of Witten Diagrams for Holographic Defects
Theoretical Physics Department, CERN（CERN理论物理部）；Department of Mathematics and Physics University of Haifa at Oranim（奥拉尼姆海法大学数学与物理系）；Department of Physics and Haifa Center for Physics and Astrophysics, University of Haifa（海法大学物理系和海法物理与天体物理中心）
Strongly interacting Dirac semimetals are investigated using a holographic model especially geared to compute the single-particle correlation function for this case, including both interaction effects and nonzero temperature. We calculate the (homogeneous) electrical conductivity at zero chemical potential, and show that it consists of two contributions. The interband contribution scales as a power law either in frequency or in temperature for low frequency. The precise power is related to a critical exponent of the dual holographic theory, which is a parameter in the model. On top of that we …
