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Register a new userHolographic RG flows on curved manifolds and quantum phase transitions
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Holographic RG flows dual to QFTs on maximally symmetric curved manifolds (dS$_d$, AdS$_d$, and $S^d$) are considered in the framework of Einstein-dilaton gravity in $d+1$ dimensions. A general dilaton potential is used and the flows are driven by a scalar relevant operator. The general properties of such flows are analyzed and the UV and IR asymptotics computed. New RG flows can appear at finite curvature which do not have a zero curvature counterpart. The so-called bouncing flows, where the $beta$-function has a branch cut at which it changes sign, are found to persist at finite curvature. Novel quantum first-order phase transitions are found, triggered by a variation in the $d$-dimensional curvature in theories allowing multiple ground states.
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We study $F$-functions in the context of field theories on $S^3$ using gauge-gravity duality, with the radius of $S^3$ playing the role of RG scale. We show that the on-shell action, evaluated over a set of holographic RG flow solutions, can be used to define good $F$-functions, which decrease monotonically along the RG flow from the UV to the IR for a wide range of examples. If the operator perturbing the UV CFT has dimension $Delta > 3/2$ these $F$-functions correspond to an appropriately renormalized free energy. If instead the perturbing operator has dimension $Delta < 3/2$ it is the quantum effective potential, i.e. the Legendre transform of the free energy, which gives rise to good $F$-functions. We check that these observations hold beyond holography for the case of a free fermion on $S^3$ ($Delta=2$) and the free boson on $S^3$ ($Delta=1$), resolving a long-standing problem regarding the non-monotonicity of the free energy for the free massive scalar. We also show that for a particular choice of entangling surface, we can define good $F$-functions from an entanglement entropy, which coincide with certain $F$-functions obtained from the on-shell action.
A notable class of superconformal theories (SCFTs) in six dimensions is parameterized by an integer $N$, an ADE group $G$, and two nilpotent elements $mu_mathrm{L,R}$ in $G$. Nilpotent elements have a natural partial ordering, which has been conjectured to coincide with the hierarchy of renormalization-group flows among the SCFTs. In this paper we test this conjecture for $G=mathrm{SU}(k)$, where AdS$_7$ duals exist in IIA. We work with a seven-dimensional gauged supergravity, consisting of the gravity multiplet and two $mathrm{SU}(k)$ non-Abelian vector multiplets. We show that this theory has many supersymmetric AdS$_7$ vacua, determined by two nilpotent elements, which are naturally interpreted as IIA AdS$_7$ solutions. The BPS equations for domain walls connecting two such vacua can be solved analytically, up to a Nahm equation with certain boundary conditions. The latter admit a solution connecting two vacua if and only if the corresponding nilpotent elements are related by the natural partial ordering, in agreement with the field theory conjecture.
We construct numerically finite density domain-wall solutions which interpolate between two $AdS_4$ fixed points and exhibit an intermediate regime of hyperscaling violation, with or without Lifshitz scaling. Such RG flows can be realized in gravitational models containing a dilatonic scalar and a massive vector field with appropriate choices of the scalar potential and couplings. The infrared $AdS_4$ fixed point describes a new ground state for strongly coupled quantum systems realizing such scalings, thus avoiding the well-known extensive zero temperature entropy associated with $AdS_2 times mathbb{R}^2$. We also examine the zero temperature behavior of the optical conductivity in these backgrounds and identify two scaling regimes before the UV CFT scaling is reached. The scaling of the conductivity is controlled by the emergent IR conformal symmetry at very low frequencies, and by the intermediate scaling regime at higher frequencies.
Boundary, defect, and interface RG flows, as exemplified by the famous Kondo model, play a significant role in the theory of quantum fields. We study in detail the holographic dual of a non-conformal supersymmetric impurity in the D1/D5 CFT. Its RG flow bears similarities to the Kondo model, although unlike the Kondo model the CFT is strongly coupled in the holographic regime. The interface we study preserves $d = 1$ $mathcal{N} = 4$ supersymmetry and flows to conformal fixed points in both the UV and IR. The interfaces UV fixed point is described by $d = 1$ fermionic degrees of freedom, coupled to a gauge connection on the CFT target space that is induced by the ADHM construction. We briefly discuss its field-theoretic properties before shifting our focus to its holographic dual. We analyze the supergravity dual of this interface RG flow, first in the probe limit and then including gravitational backreaction. In the probe limit, the flow is realized by the puffing up of probe branes on an internal $mathsf{S}^3$ via the Myers effect. We further identify the backreacted supergravity configurations dual to the interface fixed points. These supergravity solutions provide a geometric realization of critical screening of the defect degrees of freedom. This critical screening arises in a way similar to the original Kondo model. We compute the $g$-factor both in the probe brane approximation and using backreacted supergravity solutions, and show that it decreases from the UV to the IR as required by the $g$-theorem.
Axionic holographic RG flow solutions are studied in the context of general Einstein-Axion-Dilaton theories. A non-trivial axion profile is dual to the (non-perturbative) running of the $theta$-term for the corresponding instanton density operator. It is shown that a non-trivial axion solution is incompatible with a non-trivial (holographic) IR conformal fixed point. Imposing a suitable axion regularity condition allows to select the IR geometry in a unique way. The solutions are found analytically in the asymptotic UV and IR regimes, and it is shown that in those regimes the axion backreaction is always negligible. The axion backreaction may become important in the intermediate region of the bulk. To make contact with the axion probe limit solutions, a systematic expansion of the solution is developed. Several concrete examples are worked out numerically. It is shown that the regularity condition always implies a finite allowed range for the axion source parameter in the UV. This translates into the existence of a finite (but large) number of saddle-points in the large $N_c$ limit. This ties in well with axion-swampland conjectures.
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