Conformal Phase Transitions at Weak and Strong Coupling

Jul, 2011
52 pages
Published in:
  • Nucl.Phys.B 858 (2012) 155-195
  • Published: May 11, 2012
e-Print:

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Abstract: (Elsevier)
D 3 and D 7-branes intersecting in 2+1 dimensions give rise at low energies to N=4 supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory coupled to defect fermions in the fundamental representation. This theory undergoes a phase transition from a conformal phase to one in which the fermions acquire a non-zero mass when the ʼt Hooft coupling of the N=4 SYM exceeds a critical value. To study this transition, we continue the parameters of the model to a regime where a gravitational description is valid. We use it to calculate the masses of mesons and the phase diagram as a function of temperature and chemical potential. We also comment on the relation of our discussion to the transition from the non-abelian Coulomb phase to a confining one believed to occur in QCD at a critical number of flavors.
Note:
  • 52 pages, harvmac/ v2: references added
  • supersymmetry: 4
  • critical phenomena: conformal
  • gauge field theory: Yang-Mills
  • Yang-Mills: supersymmetry
  • potential: chemical
  • dimension: 3
  • energy: low
  • meson: mass
  • strong coupling
  • weak coupling