We perform a detailed analysis of a large class of effective holographic models with broken translations at finite charge density and magnetic field. We exhaustively discuss the dispersion relations of the hydrodynamic modes at zero magnetic field and successfully match them to the predictions from charged hydrodynamics. At finite magnetic field, we identify the presence of an expected type-B Goldstone boson $\mathrm{Re}[ω]\sim k^2$, known as magnetophonon and its gapped partner -- the magnetoplasmon. We discuss their properties in relation to the effective field theory and hydrodynamics expectations. Finally, we compute the optical conductivities and the quasinormal modes at finite magnetic field. We observe that the pinning frequency of the magneto-resonance peak increases with the magnetic field, in agreement with experimental data on certain 2D materials, revealing the quantum nature of the holographic pinning mechanism.
We study the transition of a scalar field in a fixed $AdS_{d+1}$ background between an extremum and a minimum of a potential. We compute analytically the solution to the perturbation equation for the vev deformation case by generalizing the usual matching method to higher orders and find the propagator of the boundary theory operator defined through the AdS-CFT correspondence. We show that, contrary to what happens at the leading order of the matching method, the next-to-leading order presents a simple pole at $q^2=0$ in accordance with the Goldstone theorem applied to a spontaneously broken d…
We investigate the low-energy dynamics of systems with pseudo-spontaneously broken $U(1)$ symmetry and Goldstone phase relaxation. We construct a hydrodynamic framework which is able to capture these, in principle independent, effects. We consider two generalisations of the standard holographic superfluid model by adding an explicit breaking of the $U(1)$ symmetry by either sourcing the charged bulk scalar or by introducing an explicit mass term for the bulk gauge field. We find agreement between the hydrodynamic dispersion relations and the quasi-normal modes of both holographic models. We ve…
We provide a comprehensive classification of isotropic solid and fluid holographic models with broken translational invariance. We describe in detail the collective modes in both the transverse and longitudinal sectors. First, we discuss holographic fluid models, i.e. systems invariant under internal volume preserving diffeomorphisms. We consider the explicit (EXB) and the spontaneous (SSB) breaking of translations and we emphasize the differences with respect to their solid counterpart. Then, we present a study of the longitudinal collective modes in simple holographic solid and fluid models …
We formulate the theory of nonlinear viscoelastic hydrodynamics of anisotropic crystals in terms of dynamical Goldstone scalars of spontaneously broken translational symmetries, under the assumption of homogeneous lattices and absence of plastic deformations. We reformulate classical elasticity effective field theory using surface calculus in which the Goldstone scalars naturally define the position of higher-dimensional crystal cores, covering both elastic and smectic crystal phases. We systematically incorporate all dissipative effects in viscoelastic hydrodynamics at first order in a long-w…
In this paper we review and discuss several aspects of supertranslations and their associated algebras at the horizon of a Schwarzschild black hole. We will compare two different approaches on horizon supertranslations, which were recently considered in separate publications. Furthermore we describe a possible holographic description of a Schwarzschild black hole in terms of a large N boundary theory, which accommodates the Goldstone bosons of the horizon supertranslations.
Motivated by recent progress in developing action formulations of relativistic hydrodynamics, we use holography to derive the low energy dissipationless effective action for strongly coupled conformal fluids. Our analysis is based on the study of novel double Dirichlet problems for the gravitational field, in which the boundary conditions are set on two codimension one timelike hypersurfaces (branes). We provide a geometric interpretation of the Goldstone bosons appearing in such constructions in terms of a family of spatial geodesics extending between the ultraviolet and the infrared brane. F…
We review recent progress towards the understanding of higher spin gauge symmetry breaking in AdS space from a holographic vantage point. According to the AdS/CFT correspondence, N=4 SYM theory at vanishing coupling constant should be dual to a theory in AdS which exhibits higher spin gauge symmetry enhancement. When the SYM coupling is non-zero, all but a handful of HS currents are violated by anomalies, and correspondingly local higher spin symmetry in the bulk gets spontaneously broken. In agreement with previous results and holographic expectations, we find that, barring one notable except…
Spectra of pions, which are known as the pseudo-Goldstone bosons of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, as well as their relationship with chiral phase transition and pion superfluidity phase transition, have been investigated in the framework of soft-wall AdS/QCD. In chiral limit, it is proved both numerically and analytically that pions are massless Goldstone bosons even at finite temperature, which was usually considered as an assumption in soft-wall models. Above $T_c$, at which chiral condensate $\langle \bar{q}q\rangle$ vanishes, the spectra of pions and scalar mesons merge together, s…
I concisely review the results of recent work done in collaboration with N. Beisert, H. Samtleben, and J. F. Morales, that shed some light on ``La Grande Bouffe'', the Pantagruelic Higgs mechanism whereby higher spin gauge fields in the AdS bulk eat lower spin Goldstone fields and become massive, and on its holographic implications such as the emergence of anomalous dimensions in the boundary N=4 SYM theory.
In this Colloquium, we review recent progress in the effective description of strongly-correlated phases of matter with spontaneously broken translations, such as charge density waves or Wigner crystals. In real materials, disorder is inevitable and pins the Goldstones of broken translations. We describe how pinning can be incorporated in the effective field theory at low energies, without making any assumption on the presence of boost symmetry. We review the essential role played by gauge-gravity duality models in establishing these effective field theories with only approximate symmetries. W…
We study the elastic response of planar black hole (BH) solutions in a simple class of holographic models with broken translational invariance. We compute the transverse quasi-normal mode spectrum and the propagation speed of the lowest energy mode. We find that the speed of the lowest mode relates to the BH rigidity modulus as dictated by elasticity theory. This allows to identify these modes as transverse phonons---the pseudo Goldstone bosons of spontaneously broken translational invariance. In addition, we show that these modes have a mass gap controlled by an explicit source of the transla…
We study the viability of spontaneous breaking of continuous symmetries in theories with Lifshitz scaling, according to the number of space-time dimensions $d$ and the dynamical scaling $z$. Then, the answer to the question in the title is no (quantum field theoretically) and yes (holographically). With field theory tools, we show that symmetry breaking is indeed prevented by large quantum fluctuations when $d\leq z+1$, as expected from scaling arguments. With holographic tools, on the other hand, we find nothing that prevents the existence of a vacuum expectation value. This difference is mad…
In light of recent developments in nearly AdS$_2$ holography, we revisit the semi-classical version of two-dimensional dilaton gravity proposed by Callan, Giddings, Harvey, and Strominger (CGHS) in the early 90's. In distinction to the classical model, the quantum corrected CGHS model has an AdS$_2$ vacuum with a constant dilaton. By turning on a non-normalizable mode of the Liouville field, i.e. the conformal mode of the $2d$ gravity, the explicit breaking of the scale invariance renders the AdS$_2$ vacuum nearly AdS$_2$. As a consequence, there emerges an effective one-dimensional Schwarzian…
We consider the spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry and identify the associated Goldstone mode -- a longitudinal phonon -- in a holographic model with Bianchi VII helical symmetry. For the first time in holography, we observe the pinning of this mode after introducing a source for explicit breaking compatible with the helical symmetry of our setup. We study the dispersion relation of the resulting pseudo-Goldstone mode, uncovering how its speed and mass gap depend on the amplitude of the source and temperature. In addition, we extract the optical conductivity as a function of freque…
We apply the holographic method to 5D gauge theories on the warped interval. Our treatment includes the scalars associated with the fifth gauge field component, which appear as 4D Goldstone bosons in the holographic effective action. Applications are considered to two classes of models in which these scalars play an important role. In the Composite-Higgs (and/or Gauge-Higgs Unification) scenario, the scalars are interpreted as the Higgs field and we use the holographic recipe to compute its one-loop potential. In AdS/QCD models, the scalars are identified with the mesons and we compute hologra…
We provide a complete and unified description of translational symmetry breaking in a simple holographic model. In particular, we focus on the distinction and the interplay between explicit and spontaneous breaking. We consider a class of holographic massive gravity models which allow to range continuously from one situation to the other. We study the collective degrees of freedom, the electric AC conductivity and the shear correlator in function of the explicit and spontaneous scales. We show the possibility of having a sound-to-diffusion crossover for the transverse phonons. Within our model…
We study the holographic duals of four-dimensional field theories with 1-form global symmetries, both discrete and continuous. Such higher-form global symmetries are associated with antisymmetric tensor gauge fields in the bulk. Various different realizations are possible: we demonstrate that a Maxwell action for the bulk antisymmetric gauge field results in a non-conformal field theory with a marginally running double-trace coupling. We explore its hydrodynamic behavior at finite temperature and make contact with recent symmetry-based formulations of magnetohydrodynamics. We also argue that d…
Planar black holes in AdS, which are holographically dual to compressible relativistic fluids, have a long-lived phonon mode that captures the physics of attenuated sound propagation and transports energy in the plasma. We describe the open effective field theory of this fluctuating phonon degree of freedom. The dynamics of the phonon is encoded in a single scalar field whose gravitational coupling has non-trivial spatial momentum dependence. This description fits neatly into the paradigm of classifying gravitational modes by their Markovianity index, depending on whether they are long-lived. …
We use holography to study $d=4$, $\mathcal{N}=4$, SU($N_{\rm \tiny{c}}$) super Yang-Mills coupled to $N_{\rm \tiny{F}} \ll N_{\rm \tiny{c}}$ quark flavors. We place the theory at finite isospin density $n_{\rm \tiny{I}}$ by turning on an isospin chemical potential $μ_{\rm \tiny{I}}=M_{\rm \tiny{q}}$, with $M_{\rm \tiny{q}}$ the quark mass. We also turn on two R-symmetry charge densities $n_1=n_2$. We show that the ground state is a supersymmetric, superfluid, color superconductor, namely a finite-density state that preserves a fraction of supersymmetry in which part of the global symmetries a…
We argue that a $SO(d)$ magnetic monopole in an asymptotically AdS space-time is dual to a $d$-dimensional strongly coupled system in a solid state. In light of this, it would be remiss of us not to dub such a field configuration $solidon$. In the presence of mixed boundary conditions, a solidon spontaneously breaks translations (among many other symmetries) and gives rise to Goldstone excitations on the boundary$-$the phonons of the solid. We derive the quadratic action for the boundary phonons in the probe limit and show that, when the mixed boundary conditions preserve conformal symmetry, t…
In this work, we show how states with conserved numbers of dynamical defects (strings, domain walls, etc.) can be understood as possessing generalised global symmetries even when the microscopic origins of these symmetries are unknown. Using this philosophy, we build an effective theory of a $2+1$-dimensional fluid state with two perpendicular sets of immersed elastic line defects. When the number of defects is independently conserved in each set, then the state possesses two one-form symmetries. Normally, such viscoelastic states are described as fluids coupled to Goldstone bosons associated …
Within the context of top-down holography, we study a one-parameter family of regular background solutions of maximal gauged supergravity in seven dimensions, dimensionally reduced on a 2-torus. The dual, four-dimensional confining field theory realises the global (spontaneous as well as explicit) symmetry breaking pattern SO(5)->SO(4). We compute the complete mass spectrum for the fluctuations of the 128 bosonic degrees of freedom of the five-dimensional gravity theory, which correspond to scalar, pseudoscalar, vector, axial-vector, and tensor bound states of the dual field theory, and includ…
