In this work we initiate the study of open effective field theories of fermions interacting with holographic baths. As a first step in this direction, we explain how the recently identified holographic Schwinger-Keldysh saddles naturally reproduce the Fermi-Dirac statistics of boundary correlators. We study Dirac fermions propagating in the background of a doubled $AdS_{d+1}$ Schwarzchild blackbrane. We solve for both ingoing (quasi-normal) as well as outgoing (Hawking) modes of the Dirac field in a boundary gradient expansion and compare our findings against exact results in $d=2$. The holographic Schwinger-Keldysh boundary conditions automatically select a unique combination of these modes consistent with fermionic KMS relations. Evaluating the bulk on-shell action using these solutions, we obtain an explicit expression for the influence phase of the probe fermion in a gradient expansion.
We investigate the holographic fermionic phase transition induced by the effective impurity in holography, which is introduced by massless scalar fields in Einstein-Maxwell-massless scalar gravity. We obtain a phase diagram in $(α, T)$ plane separating the Fermi liquid phase and the non-Fermi liquid phase.
We identify the near-critical effective theory (EFT) for a wide class of low-temperature phase transitions found via holography. The EFT is of the semi-holographic type and describes both holographic Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) and second-order transitions with non-trivial scaling. It is a simple generalization of the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson paradigm to systems with an emergent (or hidden) conformal sector. Having identified the near-critical EFT, we explore its basic phenomenology by computing critical exponents and low-frequency correlators.
The mixing of graviphotons and dark brane photons to the Standard Model hypercharge is analyzed in full generality, in weakly-coupled string theory. Both the direct mixing as well as effective terms that provide mixing after inclusion of SM corrections are estimated to lowest order. The results are compared with Effective Field Theory (EFT) couplings, originating in a hidden large-N theory coupled to the SM. The string theory mixing terms are typically subleading compared with the generic EFT couplings. The case where the hidden theory is a holographic theory is also analyzed, providing also s…
Motivated by the close connection of tensor models to the SYK model, we use representation theory to construct the complete set of gauge invariant observables for bosonic and fermionic tensor models. Correlation functions of the gauge invariant operators in the free theory are computed exactly. The gauge invariant operators close a ring. The structure constants of the ring are described explicitly. Finally, we construct a collective field theory description of the bosonic tensor model.
I consider anomalies in effective field theories (EFTs) of gauge fields coupled to fermions on an interval in AdS_5, and their holographic duals. The anomalies give rise to constraints on the consistent EFT description, which are stronger than the usual four-dimensional anomaly cancellation condition for the zero modes. Even though the anomalies occur on both boundaries of the interval, corresponding to both the UV and the IR of the holographic dual, they are nevertheless consistent with the non-renormalization of the anomaly and the 't Hooft matching condition. They give rise, in general, to …
Braneworld theories are often described as low-energy effective field theories (EFTs) featuring an infinitely thin 3-brane and 4D fields exactly localized on it. We investigate whether an exactly localized braneworld can arise as a limit of a theory of 5D fields. Using a holographic formalism we argue that such limit does not exist in the presence of gravity, therefore implying a discontinuity in the space of EFTs. We then present specific models involving exactly localized fields in which inconsistencies appear, which are solved when fields are taken as quasilocalized. Part of our arguments r…
We find exact, analytic solutions of the Dirac equation for a charged, massless fermion in the background of a charged, dilatonic black hole in AdS_5. The black hole descends from type IIB supergravity, where it describes D3-branes with equal angular momenta in two of the three independent planes of rotation orthogonal to the world-volume. The Green's function near the Fermi surface for a strongly coupled fermionic system can be extracted holographically from an exact solution of the Dirac equation at zero frequency but nonzero momentum. There can be several Fermi momenta, and they take the fo…
We report on a potentially new class of non-Fermi liquids in (2+1)-dimensions. They are identified via the response functions of composite fermionic operators in a class of strongly interacting quantum field theories at finite density, computed using the AdS/CFT correspondence. We find strong evidence of Fermi surfaces: gapless fermionic excitations at discrete shells in momentum space. The spectral weight exhibits novel phenomena, including particle-hole asymmetry, discrete scale invariance, and scaling behavior consistent with that of a critical Fermi surface postulated by Senthil.
We provide a framework to compute the dynamics of massive Dirac fermions using holography. To this end we consider two bulk Dirac fermions that are coupled via a Yukawa interaction and propagate on a gravitational background in which a mass deformation is introduced. Moreover, we discuss the incorporation of this approach in semiholography. The resulting undoped fermionic spectral functions indeed show that the Yukawa coupling induces a gap in the holographic spectrum, whereas the semiholographic extension is in general gapped but additionally contains a quantum critical point at which the eff…
The Pomeranchuk instability, in which an isotropic Fermi surface distorts and becomes anisotropic due to strong interactions, is a possible mechanism for the growing number of experimental systems which display transport properties that differ along the $x$ and $y$ axes. We show here that the gauge-gravity duality can be used to describe such an instability in fermionic systems. Our holographic model consists of fermions in a background which describes the causal propagation of a massive neutral spin-two field in an asymptotically AdS spacetime. The Fermi surfaces in the boundary theory distor…
We examine thermal Green's functions of fermionic operators in quantum field theories with gravity duals. The calculations are performed on the gravity side using ingoing Eddington-Finkelstein coordinates. We find that at negative imaginary Matsubara frequencies and special values of the wavenumber, there are multiple solutions to the bulk equations of motion that are ingoing at the horizon and thus the boundary Green's function is not uniquely defined. At these points in Fourier space a line of poles and a line of zeros of the correlator intersect. We analyze these `pole-skipping' points in t…
The holographic principle in the pp-wave limit proposed in our previous works is further confirmed by studying impurity non-preserving processes which contain a fermionic BMN operator with one scalar and one fermion impurities. We show that the previously proposed duality relation between the matrix elements of the three point interaction Hamiltonian in the holographic string field theory and the OPE coefficients in super Yang-Mills theory holds to the leading order in the large $μ$ limit. Operator mixing is required to obtain the BMN operator of definite conformal dimension which corresponds …
We show that the canonical ensemble in any of the six supersymmetric string theories, type IIA and IIB, type IB and type I', or heterotic E_8 x E_8 and Spin(32)/Z_2, exhibits a strong version of holography: the growth of the number of degrees of freedom in the free energy at high temperatures is identical to that in a two-dimensional quantum field theory. We clarify the precise nature of the thermal duality phase transition in each case, confirming that it lies within the Kosterlitz-Thouless universality class. We show that, in the presence of Dbranes, and a consequent Yang-Mills gauge sector,…
Deep learning emergent spacetime from fermionic spectral functions in holography
Kyoto University（京都大学）；Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics（亚太理论物理中心）；Pohang University of Science and Technology（浦项科技大学）；Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology（光州科学技术院）
We investigate recent results for the electrical conductivity and the fermionic self-energy, obtained in a holographic bottom-up model for a relativistic charge-neutral conformal field theory. We present two possible field-theoretic derivations of these results, using either a semiholographic or a holographic point of view. In the semiholographic interpretation, we also show how, in general, the conductivity should be calculated in agreement with Ward identities. The resulting field-theory interpretation may lead to a better understanding of the holographic dictionary in applied AdS/CMT.
This is a short review of recent developments in the application of AdS/CFT methods to some condensed matter problems. In particular we present the holographic description of a local quantum critical state, related to (non)-Fermi liquids and the strange metal, that appears in large N CFTs with a gravity dual at finite density and zero temperature, and explore its properties by probing it with fermionic operators. Further we discuss possible bosonic and fermionic instabilities, leading to s-, p- or d-wave holographic superconductors and "electron stars". Finally we present a realization of loca…
We explore some aspects of holographic dual of Boundary Conformal Field Theory (BCFT). In particular we study asymptotic symmetry of geometries which provide holographic dual of BCFTs. We also compute two-point functions of certain bosonic and fermionic operators in the dual BCFT by making use of AdS/BCFT correspondence.
We study correlation functions of elementary fermions in strongly interacting field theories using the AdS/CFT correspondence. This correspondence generically associates bulk fields to composite operators in field theory. We modify the holographic prescription in order to obtain correlators that correspond to fermonic single-particle excitations by introducing a dynamical fermionic source localized on a UV brane in a holographic background. We work out the conditions when these correlators obey the zeroth frequency sum-rule satisfied by angle-resolved photo-emission spectroscopy (ARPES) and ar…
In the fermionic sector of top-down approaches to holographic systems, one generically finds that the fermions are coupled to gravity and gauge fields in a variety of ways, beyond minimal coupling. In this paper, we take one such interaction -- a Pauli, or dipole, interaction -- and study its effects on fermion correlators. We find that this interaction modifies the fermion spectral density in a remarkable way. As we change the strength of the interaction, we find that spectral weight is transferred between bands, and beyond a critical value, a hard gap emerges in the fermion density of states…
Motivated by Beyond the Standard Model theories of composite fermions or top partners, we propose a holographic mechanism that generates light baryonic states in a strongly coupled gauge theory. The starting point are the fermionic fluctuations of massive probe branes embedded into AdS$_5 \times S^5$. We first consider the D3/probe D7-brane system. We derive in detail the fermionic fluctuation equations and show the supersymmetric degeneracy of the mesinos with the mesons. Here we view the fermionic mesinos as potential realizations of composite fermions or top partners. We then add higher dim…
Anomalous Dimension of a General Effective Gauge Theory II: Fermionic Sector
PSI Center for Neutron and Muon Sciences（瑞士保罗谢勒研究所中子与缪子科学中心）；Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “G. Galilei”, Università degli Studi di Padova（帕多瓦大学伽利略物理与天文学系）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova（意大利国家核物理研究所帕多瓦分部）
We holographically investigate the effects of a dipole coupling between a fermion field and a $U(1)$ gauge field on the dual fermionic sector in the charged gravity bulk with hyperscaling violation. We analytically study the features of the ultraviolet and infrared Green's functions of the dual fermionic system and we show that as the dipole coupling and the hyperscaling violation exponent are varied, the fluid possess Fermi, marginal Fermi, non-Fermi liquid phases and also an additional Mott insulating phase. We find that the increase of the hyperscaling violation exponent which effectively r…
Strongly coupled field theories with gravity duals can be placed at finite density in two ways: electric field flux emanating from behind a horizon, or bulk charged fields outside of the horizon that explicitly source the density. We discuss field-theoretical observables that are sensitive to this distinction. If the charged fields are fermionic, we discuss a modified Luttinger's theorem that holds for holographic systems, in which the sum of boundary theory Fermi surfaces counts only the charge outside of the horizon. If the charged fields are bosonic, we show that the the resulting superflui…
This is a short review on selected theory developments on Tensor Network (TN) states for strongly correlated systems. Specifically, we briefly review the effect of symmetries in TN states, fermionic TNs, the calculation of entanglement Hamiltonians from Projected Entangled Pair States (PEPS), and the relation between the Multi-scale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz (MERA) and the AdS/CFT or gauge/gravity duality. We stress the role played by entanglement in the emergence of several physical properties and objects through the TN language. Some recent results along these lines are also discus…
Holography and the Swampland: Constraints on Quantum Gravity from Holographic Principles
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)（大学间天文学与天体物理学中心）；Department of Physics, K.L.S. College, Nawada, Magadh University（那达德KLS学院物理系，马加德大学）；Center for Theoretical Physics, Tomsk State Pedagogical University（托木斯克国立师范学院理论物理中心）；National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University（托木斯克理工大学国家研究型大学）；Núcleo Interdisciplinar de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza, NICEN, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco（伯南布哥联邦大学精确与自然科学跨学科核心）；Department of Nuclear Physics, Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo（圣保罗大学物理研究所核物理系）
We study the interface between a fractional topological insulator and an ordinary insulator, both described using holography. By turning on a chemical potential we induce a finite density of matter localized at the interface. These are gapless surface excitations which are expected to have a fermionic character. We study the thermodynamics of the system, finding a symmetry preserving compressible state at low temperatures, whose excitations exhibit hyperscaling violation. These results are consistent with the expectation of gapless fermionic excitations forming a Fermi surface at finite densit…
We first point out to all order $α'$ corrections to lower order fermionic couplings and their effective actions of type II super string theory. In order to reveal all symmetries of the particular D-brane Anti-D-brane system, and to construct not only all the singularity structures but also all order $α'$ corrections of fermionic couplings to tachyons, we employ all the Conformal Field Theory (CFT) methods to a six point function. Basically, we construct all the correlation functions of four spin operators and two world sheet fermion fields. The S-matrix of two fermion fields, two real tachyons…
We use holography to compute spectral functions of certain fermionic operators in three different finite-density, zero-temperature states of ABJM theory with a broken U(1) symmetry. In each of the three states, dual to previously studied domain wall solutions of four-dimensional gauged supergravity, we find that the fermionic operators have gapped spectra. In one case the gap can be traced to the small charge of the fermions, while in the other cases it is due to a particular interaction that mixes particles and holes.
We study axion effective field theories (EFTs), with a focus on axion couplings to massive chiral gauge fields. We investigate the EFT interactions that participate in processes with an axion and two gauge bosons, and we show that, when massive chiral gauge fields are present, such interactions do not entirely originate from the usual anomalous EFT terms. We illustrate this both at the EFT level and by matching to UV-complete theories. In order to assess the consistency of the Peccei--Quinn (PQ) anomaly matching, it is useful to introduce an auxiliary, non-dynamical gauge field associated to t…
In this paper, we find mechanisms for the generation of Fermi arcs using the gauge/gravity correspondence. The gravity background is taken to be a charged black hole with vector hair in asymptotically AdS4 spacetime. The response function of fermion probes exhibits a p-wave gap in the dual superconductor. We couple the fermions to a charged rank-two antisymmetric field. Assuming that its spatial components condense, a novel type of open Fermi surface is produced. We derive an analytical formula for the Green's function and study its unique properties. The results are confirmed by separate nume…
We analytically obtain a new charged Lifshtitz solution by adding a non-relativistic Maxwell field in Horava-Lifshitz gravity. The black hole exhibits an anisotropic scaling between space and time (Lifshitz scaling) in the UV limit, while in the IR limit, the Lorentz invariance is recovered. We introduce the probed Lorentz-violation fermions into the background and holographically investigate the spectral properties of the dual fermionic operator. The Lorentz-violation of fermions will enhance the peak and corresponds larger fermi momentum, which compensates the non-relativistic bulk effect of…
We analyze the fermionic quasinormal modes of the BTZ black hole in the presence of space-time noncommutativity. Our analysis exploits a duality between a spinless and spinning BTZ black hole, the spin being proportional to the noncommutative deformation parameter. Using the AdS/CFT correspondence we show that the horizon temperatures obtained from the dual CFT pick up noncommutative contributions. We demonstrate the equivalence between the quasinormal and non-quasinormal modes for the noncommutative fermionic probes, which provides further evidence of holography in the noncommutative setting.…
We study phase transitions driven by fermionic double-trace deformations in gauge-gravity duality. Both the strength of the double trace deformation and the infrared conformal dimension/self-energy scaling of the quasiparticle can be used to decrease the critical temperature to zero, leading to a line of quantum critical points. The self-energy scaling is controlled indirectly through an applied magnetic field and the quantum phase transition naturally involves the condensation of a fermion bilinear which models the spin density wave in an antiferromagnetic state. The nature of the quantum cri…
We use holography to study the ground state of a system with interacting bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom at finite density. The gravitational model consists of Einstein-Maxwell gravity coupled to a perfect fluid of charged fermions and to a charged scalar field which interact through a current-current interaction. When the scalar field is non-trivial, in addition to compact electron stars, the screening of the fermion electric charge by the scalar condensate allows the formation of solutions where the fermion fluid is made of antiparticles, as well as solutions with coexisting, separa…
We study the universal scaling behavior of the entanglement entropy of critical theories in $2+1$ dimensions. We specially consider two fermionic scale-invariant models, free massless Dirac fermions and a model of fermions with quadratic band touching, and numerically study the two-cylinder entanglement entropy of the models on the torus. We find that in both cases the entanglement entropy satisfies the area law and has the subleading term which is a scaling function of the aspect ratios of the cylindrical regions. We test the scaling of entanglement in both the free fermion models using three…
The effect of the complex phase of the fermion determinant is a key question related to the sign problem in finite-density QCD. Recently it has been shown that ignoring the complex phase -- the phase quenching -- does not change physics in a certain region of the phase diagram when a number of colors N_c is large. In this paper we study the effect of the phase quenching within the frameworks of effective models and holographic models. We show, in a unified manner, that the phase quenching gives exact results for any fermionic observables (e.g., chiral condensate) in the mean-field approximatio…
Recently, the identification of new higher-curvature interactions known as Einsteinian cubic gravity (ECG) and Generalized quasi-topological gravities (GQGs) has allowed for important advances in the study of black hole solutions and holographic applications of higher-order gravity. These theories are characterized by having second-order linearized equations on maximally symmetric background and by possessing static, spherically symmetric (SSS) black hole solutions satisfying $g_{tt}g_{rr}=-1$, and whose thermodynamic properties can be studied analytically in a fully non-perturbative fashion. …
We develop in detail the holographic framework for an $\mathcal{N}=2$ pure AdS supergravity model in four dimensions, including all the contributions from the fermionic fields and adopting the Fefferman-Graham parametrization. We work in the first order formalism, where the full superconformal structure can be kept manifest in principle, even if only a part of it is realized as a symmetry on the boundary, while the remainder has a non-linear realization. Our study generalizes the results presented in antecedent literature and includes a general discussion of the gauge-fixing conditions on the …
Robustness of the Luttinger theorem for fermionic liquids is examined in holography. The statement of the Luttinger theorem, the equality between the fermion charge density and the volume enclosed by the Fermi surface, can be mapped to a Gauss's law in the gravity dual, a la Sachdev. We show that various deformations in the gravity dual, such as inclusion of magnetic fields, a parity-violating theta-term, dilatonic deformations, and higher-derivative corrections, do not violate the holographic derivation of the Luttinger theorem, as long as the theory is in a confining phase. Therefore a robus…
We study circuit complexity for free fermionic field theories and Gaussian states. Our definition of circuit complexity is based on the notion of geodesic distance on the Lie group of special orthogonal transformations equipped with a right-invariant metric. After analyzing the differences and similarities to bosonic circuit complexity, we develop a comprehensive mathematical framework to compute circuit complexity between arbitrary fermionic Gaussian states. We apply this framework to the free Dirac field in four dimensions where we compute the circuit complexity of the Dirac ground state wit…
