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Slow Relaxation and Diffusion in Holographic Quantum Critical Phases.
Richard A Davison1,2, Simon A Gentle3, Blaise Goutéraux4
1Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|November 9, 2019
Summary
Strongly interacting quantum systems exhibit unusually long-lived collective excitations near quantum critical points. This slow equilibration is linked to dangerously irrelevant couplings, affecting thermal transport properties.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Field Theory
- Holography
Background:
- Dissipative dynamics in strongly interacting systems typically follow a timescale inverse to temperature (τP∼ℏ/(kBT)).
- Quantum critical points (QCPs) in holographic theories describe strongly interacting systems at low energies.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate collective excitations and their lifetimes near QCPs in holographic theories.
- Determine the factors governing thermal transport and equilibration in these systems.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of quasinormal modes in dual black hole spacetimes.
- Study of dangerously irrelevant couplings breaking symmetries at QCPs.
Main Results:
- A collective excitation with a lifetime (τeq) parametrically longer than τP (τeq≫T⁻¹) was identified.
- Enhanced thermal diffusivity, governed by τeq, was observed near QCPs.
- A conjecture for a long-lived propagating mode and an exact relation for thermal diffusivity (D=v_s²τeq) were proposed.
Conclusions:
- Dangerously irrelevant couplings can lead to slow equilibration and enhanced thermal transport.
- Generalized scaling theories incorporating these couplings are applicable even when scale invariance is broken.
- The study highlights the link between irrelevant deformations and emergent slow dynamics.
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