[en] We compute the phase diagram in the N→∞ limit for lattice RP^N-1, CP^N-1 and QP^N-1 σ-models with the quartic action, and more generally for mixed isovector/isotensor models. We show that the N=∞ limit exhibits phase transitions that are forbidden for any finite N. We clarify the origin of these pathologies by examining the exact solution of the one-dimensional model: we find that there are complex zeros of the partition function that tend to the real axis as N→∞. We conjecture the correct phase diagram for finite N as a function of the spatial dimension d. Along the way, we prove some new correlation inequalities for a class of N-component σ-models, and we obtain some new results concerning the complex zeros of confluent hypergeometric functions

[en] We find quasinormal modes of near extremal black branes by solving a singular boundary value problem for the Heun equation. The corresponding eigenvalues determine the dispersion law for the collective excitations in the dual strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory at finite temperature

[en] We formulate a prescription for computing Minkowski-space correlators from AdS/CFT correspondence. This prescription is shown to give the correct retarded propagators at zero temperature in four dimensions, as well as at finite temperature in the two-dimensional conformal field theory dual to the BTZ black hole. Using the prescription, we calculate the Chern-Simons diffusion constant of the finite-temperature N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in the strong coupling limit. We explain why the quasinormal frequencies of the asymptotically AdS background correspond to the poles of the retarded Green's function of the boundary conformal field theory. (author)

[en] We consider hydrodynamics of N = 4 supersymmetric SU(N_c) Yang-Mills plasma at a nonzero density of R-charge. In the regime of large N_c and large 't Hooft coupling the gravity dual description involves an asymptotically Anti- de Sitter five-dimensional charged black hole solution of Behrnd, Cvetic and Sabra. We compute the shear viscosity as a function of chemical potentials conjugated to the three U(1)-SO(6)_R charges. The ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density is independent of the chemical potentials and is equal to 1/4π. For a single charge black hole we also compute the thermal conductivity, and investigate the critical behavior of the transport coefficients near the boundary of thermodynamic stability

[en] Quasinormal frequencies of electromagnetic and gravitational perturbations in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetime can be identified with poles of the corresponding real-time Green's functions in a holographically dual finite temperature field theory. The quasinormal modes are defined for gauge-invariant quantities which obey an incoming-wave boundary condition at the horizon and a Dirichlet condition at the boundary. As an application, we explicitly find poles of retarded correlation functions of R-symmetry currents and the energy-momentum tensor in strongly coupled finite temperature N=4 supersymmetric SU(N_c) Yang-Mills theory in the limit of large N_c

[en] We compute the correlation functions of R-charge currents and components of the stress-energy tensor in the strongly coupled large-N finite-temperature N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, following a recently formulated minkowskian AdS/CFT prescription. We observe that in the long-distance, low-frequency limit, such correlators have the form dictated by hydrodynamics. We deduce from the calculations the R-charge diffusion constant and the shear viscosity. The value for the latter is in agreement with an earlier calculation based on the Kubo formula and absorption by black branes. (author)

[en] We use the Lorentzian AdS/CFT prescription to find the poles of the retarded thermal Green's functions of N=4 SU(N) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in the limit of large N and large 't Hooft coupling. In the process, we propose a natural definition for quasinormal modes in an asymptotically AdS spacetime, with boundary conditions dictated by the AdS/CFT correspondence. The corresponding frequencies determine the dispersion laws for the quasiparticle excitations in the dual finite-temperature gauge theory. Correlation functions of operators dual to massive scalar, vector and gravitational perturbations in a five-dimensional AdS-Schwarzschild background are considered. We find asymptotic formulas for quasinormal frequencies in the massive scalar and tensor cases, and an exact expression for vector perturbations. In the long-distance, low-frequency limit we recover results of the hydrodynamic approximation to thermal Yang-Mills theory

[en] As a non-trivial check of the non-supersymmetric gauge/gravity duality, we use a near-extremal black brane background to compute the retarded Green's functions of the stress-energy tensor in N=4 super-Yang-Mills (SYM) theory at finite temperature. For the long-distance, low-frequency modes of the diagonal components of the stress-energy tensor, hydrodynamics predicts the existence of a pole in the correlators corresponding to propagation of sound waves in the N=4 SYM plasma. The retarded Green's functions obtained from gravity do indeed exhibit this pole, with the correct values for the sound speed and the rate of attenuation. (author)

[en] In holography, quasinormal spectra of black branes coincide with the poles of retarded finite-temperature correlation functions of a dual quantum field theory in the limit of infinite number of relevant degrees of freedom such as colours. For asymptotically antide Sitter backgrounds, the spectra form a characteristic pattern in the complex frequency plane, colloquially known as the “Christmas tree”. At infinite coupling, the tree has only one pair of branches. At large but finite coupling, the branches become more dense and lift up towards the real axis, consistent with the expectation of forming a branch cut in the limit of zero coupling. However, it is known that at zero coupling, the corresponding correlators generically have not one but multiple branch cuts separated by intervals proportional to the Matsubara frequency. This suggests the existence of multiple branches of the “Christmas tree” spectrum in dual gravity. In this note, we show numerically how these additional branches of the spectrum can emerge from the dual gravitational action with higher-derivative terms. This phenomenon appears to be robust, yet, reproducing the expected weak coupling behaviour of the correlators quantitatively implies the existence of certain constraints on the coefficients of the higher-derivative terms of the dual gravity theory.

[en] We investigate the analytic structure of thermal energy-momentum tensor correlators at large but finite coupling in quantum field theories with gravity duals. We compute corrections to the quasinormal spectra of black branes due to the presence of higher derivative R"2 and R"4 terms in the action, focusing on the dual to N=4 SYM theory and Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We observe the appearance of new poles in the complex frequency plane at finite coupling. The new poles interfere with hydrodynamic poles of the correlators leading to the breakdown of hydrodynamic description at a coupling-dependent critical value of the wave-vector. The dependence of the critical wave vector on the coupling implies that the range of validity of the hydrodynamic description increases monotonically with the coupling. The behavior of the quasinormal spectrum at large but finite coupling may be contrasted with the known properties of the hierarchy of relaxation times determined by the spectrum of a linearized kinetic operator at weak coupling. We find that the ratio of a transport coefficient such as viscosity to the relaxation time determined by the fundamental non-hydrodynamic quasinormal frequency changes rapidly in the vicinity of infinite coupling but flattens out for weaker coupling, suggesting an extrapolation from strong coupling to the kinetic theory result. We note that the behavior of the quasinormal spectrum is qualitatively different depending on whether the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density is greater or less than the universal, infinite coupling value of ℏ/4πk_B. In the former case, the density of poles increases, indicating a formation of branch cuts in the weak coupling limit, and the spectral function shows the appearance of narrow peaks. We also discuss the relation of the viscosity-entropy ratio to conjectured bounds on relaxation time in quantum systems.