We initiate a systematic enumeration and classification of entropy inequalities satisfied by the Ryu-Takayanagi formula for conformal field theory states with smooth holographic dual geometries. For 2, 3, and 4 regions, we prove that the strong subad
ditivity and the monogamy of mutual information give the complete set of inequalities. This is in contrast to the situation for generic quantum systems, where a complete set of entropy inequalities is not known for 4 or more regions. We also find an infinite new family of inequalities applicable to 5 or more regions. The set of all holographic entropy inequalities bounds the phase space of Ryu-Takayanagi entropies, defining the holographic entropy cone. We characterize this entropy cone by reducing geometries to minimal graph models that encode the possible cutting and gluing relations of minimal surfaces. We find that, for a fixed number of regions, there are only finitely many independent entropy inequalities. To establish new holographic entropy inequalities, we introduce a combinatorial proof technique that may also be of independent interest in Riemannian geometry and graph theory.
We derive global constraints on the non-BPS sector of supersymmetric 2d sigma-models whose target space is a Calabi-Yau manifold. When the total Hodge number of the Calabi-Yau threefold is sufficiently large, we show that there must be non-BPS primar
y states whose total conformal weights are less than 0.656. Moreover, the number of such primary states grows at least linearly in the total Hodge number. We discuss implications of these results for Calabi-Yau geometry.
It has been pointed out that the axion electrodynamics exhibits instability in the presence of a background electric field. We show that the instability leads to a complete screening of an applied electric field above a certain critical value and the
excess energy is converted into a magnetic field. We clarify the physical origin of the screening effect and discuss its possible experimental realization in magnetic materials where magnetic fluctuations play the role of the dynamical axion field.
We present a string theory construction of a gravity dual of a spatially modulated phase. In our earlier work, we showed that the Chern-Simons term in the 5-dimensional Maxwell theory destabilizes the Reissner-Nordstrom black holes in anti-de Sitter
space if the Chern-Simons coupling is sufficiently high. In this paper, we show that a similar instability is realized on the worldvolume of 8-branes in the Sakai-Sugimoto model in the quark-gluon plasma phase. We also construct and analyze a non-linear solution describing the end-point of the transition. Our result suggests a new spatially modulated phase in quark-gluon plasma when the baryon density is above 0.8 N_f fm^{-3} at temperature 150 MeV.
In the previous paper [arXiv:0911.0679], we showed that the Reissner-Nordstrom black hole in the 5-dimensional anti-de Sitter space coupled to the Maxwell theory with the Chern-Simons term is unstable when the Chern-Simons coupling is sufficiently la
rge. In the dual conformal field theory, the instability suggests a spatially modulated phase transition. In this paper, we construct and analyze non-linear solutions which describe the end-point of this phase transition. In the limit where the Chern-Simons coupling is large, we find that the phase transition is of the second order with the mean field critical exponent. However, the dispersion relation with the Van Hove singularity enhances quantum corrections in the bulk, and we argue that this changes the order of the phase transition from the second to the first. We compute linear response functions in the non-linear solution and find an infinite off-diagonal DC conductivity in the new phase.
We show how the smooth geometry of Calabi-Yau manifolds emerges from the thermodynamic limit of the statistical mechanical model of crystal melting defined in our previous paper arXiv:0811.2801. In particular, the thermodynamic partition function of
molten crystals is shown to be equal to the classical limit of the partition function of the topological string theory by relating the Ronkin function of the characteristic polynomial of the crystal melting model to the holomorphic 3-form on the corresponding Calabi-Yau manifold.
These lecture notes review the topological string theory and its applications to mathematics and physics. They expand on material presented at the Takagi Lectures of the Mathematical Society of Japan on 21 June 2008 at Department of Mathematics, Kyoto University.
