Benjamin Withers

A simple holographic model of momentum relaxation

A bstractWe consider a holographic model consisting of Einstein-Maxwell theory in d + 1 bulk spacetime dimensions with d − 1 massless scalar fields. Momentum relaxation is realised simply through spatially dependent sources for operators dual to the neutral scalars, which can be engineered so that the bulk stress tensor and resulting black brane geometry are homogeneous and isotropic. We analytically calculate the DC conductivity, which is finite. In the d = 3 case, both the black hole geometry and shear-mode currentcurrent correlators are those of a sector of massive gravity.

Gravity derivation of the Tisza-Landau model in AdS/CFT

We derive the fully backreacted bulk solution dual to a boundary superfluid with finite supercurrent density in AdS/CFT. The nonlinear boundary hydrodynamical description of this solution is shown to be governed by a relativistic version of the Tisza-Landau two-fluid model to nondissipative order. As previously noted, the phase transition can be both first order and second order, but in the strongly backreacted regime at low charge q we find that the transition remains second order for all allowed fractions of superfluid density.

Black branes dual to striped phases

We construct inhomogeneous charged black branes in AdS, holographically dual to a phase at finite chemical potential with spontaneously broken translation invariance in one direction. These are obtained numerically, solving PDEs for the fully backreacted system. Fixing the periodicity scale, we find a second order phase transition to the inhomogeneous phase. We comment on the properties of the state emerging at low temperatures. For some models we demonstrate the existence of a branch of striped solutions but no continuous phase transition.

Black holes as bubble nucleation sites

A bstractWe consider the effect of inhomogeneities on the rate of false vacuum decay. Modelling the inhomogeneity by a black hole, we construct explicit Euclidean instantons which describe the nucleation of a bubble of true vacuum centred on the inhomogeneity. We find that inhomogeneity significantly enhances the nucleation rate over that of the Coleman-de Luccia instanton — the black hole acts as a nucleation site for the bubble. The effect is larger than previously believed due to the contributions to the action from conical singularities. For a sufficiently low initial mass, the original black hole is replaced by flat space during this process, as viewed by a single causal patch observer. Increasing the initial mass, we find a critical value above which a black hole remnant survives the process. This resulting black hole can have a higher mass than the original black hole, but always has a lower entropy. We compare the process to bubble-to-bubble transitions, where there is a semi-classical Lorentzian description in the WKB approximation.

A soliton menagerie in AdS

A bstractWe explore the behaviour of charged scalar solitons in asymptotically global AdS4 spacetimes. This is motivated in part by attempting to identify under what circumstances such objects can become large relative to the AdS length scale. We demonstrate that such solitons generically do get large and in fact in the planar limit smoothly connect up with the zero temperature limit of planar scalar hair black holes. In particular, for given Lagrangian parameters we encounter multiple branches of solitons: some which are perturbatively connected to the AdS vacuum and surprisingly, some which are not. We explore the phase space of solutions by tuning the charge of the scalar field and changing scalar boundary conditions at AdS asymptopia, finding intriguing critical behaviour as a function of these parameters. We demonstrate these features not only for phenomenologically motivated gravitational Abelian-Higgs models, but also for models that can be consistently embedded into eleven dimensional supergravity.

TeVeS gets caught on caustics

TeVeS uses a dynamical vector field with timelike unit-norm constraint to specify a preferred local frame. When matter moves slowly in this frame\char22{}the so-called quasistatic regime\char22{}modified Newtonian dynamics results. Theories with such vectors (such as Einstein-Aether) are prone to the vector dynamics forming singularities that render their classical evolution problematic. Here, we analyze the dynamics of the vector in TeVeS in various situations. We begin by analytically showing that the vacuum solution of TeVeS forms caustic singularities under a large class of physically reasonably initial perturbations. This shows the classical evolution of TeVeS appears problematic in the absence of matter. We then consider matter by investigating black hole solutions. We find large classes of new black hole solutions with static geometries, where the curves generated by the vector field are attracted to the black hole and may form caustics. We go on to consider the full dynamics with matter by numerically simulating, assuming spherical symmetry, the gravitational collapse of a scalar, and the evolution of an initially nearly static boson star. We find that in both cases our initial data evolves so that the vector field develops caustic singularities on a time scale of order the gravitational in-fall time. Having shown singularity formation is generic with or without matter, Bekensteins original formulation of TeVeS appears dynamically problematic. We argue that by modifying the vector field kinetic terms to the more general form used by Einstein-Aether, this problem may be avoided.

Einstein-aether as a quantum effective field theory

The possibility that Lorentz symmetry is violated in gravitational processes is relatively unconstrained by experiment, in stark contrast with the level of accuracy to which Lorentz symmetry has been confirmed in the matter sector. One model of Lorentz violation in the gravitational sector is Einstein-aether theory, in which Lorentz symmetry is broken by giving a vacuum expectation value to a dynamical vector field. In this paper, we analyse the effective theory for quantized gravitational and aether perturbations. We show that this theory possesses a controlled effective expansion within dimensional regularization, that is, for any process there are a finite number of Feynman diagrams which will contribute to a given order of accuracy. We find that there is no log running of the 2-derivative phenomenological parameters, justifying the use of experimental constraints for these parameters obtained over many orders of magnitude in energy scale. Given the stringent experimental bounds on 2-derivative Lorentz-violating operators, we estimate the size of matter Lorentz violation which arises due to loop effects. This amounts to an estimation of the natural size of coefficients for Lorentz-violating dimension-6 matter operators, which in turn can be used to obtain a new bound on the 2-derivative parameters of this theory.

Bosonic fractionalisation transitions

A bstractAt finite density, charge in holographic systems can be sourced either by explicit matter sources in the bulk or by bulk horizons. In this paper we find bosonic solutions of both types, breaking a global U(1) symmetry in the former case and leaving it unbroken in the latter. Using a minimal bottom-up model we exhibit phase transitions between the two cases, under the influence of a relevant operator in the dual field theory. We also embed solutions and transitions of this type in M-theory, where, holding the theory at constant chemical potential, the cohesive phase is connected to a neutral phase of Schrödinger type, via a z = 2 QCP.

Self-similar equilibration of strongly interacting systems from holography

We study the equilibration of a class of far-from-equilibrium strongly interacting systems using gauge-gravity duality. The systems we analyze are 2+1 dimensional and have a four-dimensional gravitational dual. A prototype example of a system we analyze is the equilibration of a two-dimensional fluid which is translational invariant in one direction and is attached to two different heat baths with different temperatures at infinity in the other direction. We realize such setup in gauge-gravity duality by joining two semi-infinite asymptotically anti-de Sitter (AdS) black branes of different temperatures, which subsequently evolve towards equilibrium by emitting gravitational radiation towards the boundary of AdS. At sufficiently late times the solution converges to a similarity solution, which is only sensitive to the left and right equilibrium states and not to the details of the initial conditions. This attractor solution not only incorporates the growing region of equilibrated plasma but also the outwardly propagating transition regions, and can be constructed by solving a single ordinary differential equation.

Universal spatial structure of nonequilibrium steady states

We describe a large family of nonequilibrium steady states (NESS) corresponding to forced flows over obstacles. The spatial structure at large distances from the obstacle is shown to be universal, and can be quantitatively characterized in terms of certain collective modes of the strongly coupled many body system, which we define in this work. In holography, these modes are spatial analogues of quasinormal modes, which are known to be responsible for universal aspects of relaxation of time dependent systems. These modes can be both hydrodynamical or nonhydrodynamical in origin. The decay lengths of the hydrodynamic modes are set by η/s, the shear viscosity over entropy density ratio, suggesting a new route to experimentally measuring this ratio. We also point out a new class of nonequilibrium phase transitions, across which the spatial structure of the NESS undergoes a dramatic change, characterized by the properties of the spectrum of these spatial collective modes.