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Quantum electron star
Andrea Allais1, John McGreevy, S Josephine Suh
1Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|September 26, 2012
Summary
Researchers explored a holographic model of matter formed by interacting Fermi liquids and conformal field theories (CFTs). They found that Landau quasiparticles persist even when coupled to a CFT, a key finding for condensed matter physics and quantum field theory.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Field Theory
- Holographic Duality
Background:
- Fermi liquids are fundamental states of interacting fermions.
- Conformal field theories (CFTs) describe systems with scale invariance.
- Holographic duality relates gravitational theories to quantum field theories.
Purpose of the Study:
- To construct and analyze a holographic description of matter resulting from coupling a Fermi liquid to a CFT.
- To investigate the fate of Landau quasiparticles in such a coupled system.
Main Methods:
- Construction of a holographic model in anti-de Sitter space.
- Utilizing a quantum gas of fermions supported by electrostatic repulsion.
- Analysis in the probe limit of the holographic description.
Main Results:
- A stable bulk solution describing the coupled system was achieved.
- The electrostatic repulsion prevents fermion collapse into the gravitational well.
- Landau quasiparticles were found to survive the coupling to the CFT.
Conclusions:
- The holographic framework provides a viable description for the interplay between Fermi liquids and CFTs.
- The persistence of Landau quasiparticles suggests robust features of Fermi liquid theory under specific CFT couplings.
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