Kristan Jensen

Towards hydrodynamics without an entropy current

We present a generating functional which describes the equilibrium thermodynamic response of a relativistic system to external sources. A variational principle gives rise to constraints on the response parameters of relativistic hydrodynamics without making use of an entropy current. Our method reproduces and extends results available in the literature. It also provides a technique for efficiently computing n-point zero-frequency correlation functions within the hydrodynamic derivative expansion without the need to explicitly solve the equations of hydrodynamics.

Thermodynamics, gravitational anomalies and cones

A bstractBy studying the Euclidean partition function on a cone, we argue that pure and mixed gravitational anomalies generate a “Casimir momentum” which manifests itself as parity violating coefficients in the hydrodynamic stress tensor and charge current. The coefficients generated by these anomalies enter at a lower order in the hydrodynamic gradient expansion than would be naively expected. In 1 + 1 dimensions, the gravitational anomaly affects coefficients at zeroth order in the gradient expansion. The mixed anomaly in 3 + 1 dimensions controls the value of coefficients at first order in the gradient expansion.

Light quark energy loss in strongly coupled N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma

We compute the penetration depth of a light quark moving through a large N{sub c}, strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma using gauge/gravity duality and a combination of analytic and numerical techniques. We find that the maximum distance a quark with energy E can travel through a plasma is given by {delta}x{sub max}(E)=(C/T)(E/T{radical}({lambda})){sup 1/3} with C{approx_equal}0.5.

Holographic Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions.

We find the first example of a quantum Berenzinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase transition in two spatial dimensions via holography. This transition occurs in the D3/D5 system at nonzero density and magnetic field. At any nonzero temperature, the BKT scaling is destroyed and the transition becomes second order with mean-field exponents. We go on to conjecture about the generality of quantum BKT transitions in two spatial dimensions.

Parity-violating hydrodynamics in 2 + 1 dimensions

A bstractWe study relativistic hydrodynamics of normal fluids in two spatial dimensions. When the microscopic theory breaks parity, extra transport coefficients appear in the hy- drodynamic regime, including the Hall viscosity, and the anomalous Hall conductivity. In this work we classify all the transport coefficients in first order hydrodynamics. We then use properties of response functions and the positivity of entropy production to restrict the possible coefficients in the constitutive relations. All the parity-breaking transport coeffi- cients are dissipationless, and some of them are related to the thermodynamic response to an external magnetic field and to vorticity. In addition, we give a holographic example of a strongly interacting relativistic fluid where the parity-violating transport coefficients are computable.

Jets in strongly coupled N=4 super Yang-Mills theory

We study jets of massless particles in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory using the AdS/conformal field theory correspondence both at zero and finite temperature. We set up an initial state corresponding to a highly energetic quark/antiquark pair and follow its time evolution into two jets. At finite temperature the jets stop after traveling a finite distance, whereas at zero temperature they travel and spread forever. We map out the corresponding baryon number charge density and identify the generic late-time behavior of the jets as well as features that depend crucially on the initial conditions.

Towards a holographic marginal Fermi liquid

We present an infinite class of 2+1 dimensional field theories which, after coupling to semi-holographic fermions, exhibit strange metallic behavior in a suitable large N limit. These theories describe lattices of hypermultiplet defects interacting with parity-preserving supersymmetric Chern-Simons theories with U(N) x U(N) gauge groups at levels {+-}k. They have dual gravitational descriptions in terms of lattices of probe M2 branes in AdS{sub 4} x S{sup 7}/Z{sub k} (for N >> 1,N >> k{sup 5}) or probe D2 branes in AdS{sub 4} x CP{sup 3} (for N >> k >> 1,N << k{sup 5}). We discuss several challenges one faces in maintaining the success of these models at finite N, including backreaction of the probes in the gravity solutions and radiative corrections in the weakly coupled field theory limit.

Chiral anomalies and AdS/CMT in two dimensions

I clarify some recent confusion regarding the holographic description of finite-density systems in two dimensions. Notably, the chiral anomaly for symmetry currents in 2d conformal field theories (CFT) completely determines their correlators. The important exception is a CFT with a gauge theory to which we may couple an external current, as in the probe D3/D3 system or the putative dual to the charged BTZ black hole. These systems are analyzed with an eye for potential condensed matter applications.

Anomaly inflow and thermal equilibrium

A bstractUsing the anomaly inflow mechanism, we compute the flavor/Lorentz non-invariant contribution to the partition function in a background with a U(1) isometry. This contribution is a local functional of the background fields. By identifying the U(1) isometry with Euclidean time we obtain a contribution of the anomaly to the thermodynamic partition function from which hydrostatic correlators can be efficiently computed. Our result is in line with, and an extension of, previous studies on the role of anomalies in a hydrodynamic setting. Along the way we find simplified expressions for Bardeen-Zumino polynomials and various transgression formulae.

Holographic dual of an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pair has a wormhole.

We construct the holographic dual of two colored quasiparticles in maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory entangled in a color singlet EPR pair. In the holographic dual the entanglement is encoded in a geometry of a non-traversable wormhole on the worldsheet of the flux tube connecting the pair. This gives a simple example supporting the recent claim by Maldacena and Susskind that EPR pairs and non-traversable wormholes are equivalent descriptions of the same physics.