Hot Giant Loop Holography

TL;DR

This paper discusses a phase transition in the expectation value of the Polyakov loop in large N, high-temperature N=4 Yang-Mills theory, and its possible dual string theory interpretation involving D3-branes.

Contribution

It identifies a new phase transition in the Polyakov loop for large symmetric representations and proposes a holographic dual description involving D3-branes.

Findings

Phase transition occurs in the Polyakov loop expectation value.

Transition is associated with large symmetric representations.

Potential holographic dual involves critical behavior of D3-branes.

Abstract

We argue that there is a phase transition in the expectation value of the Polyakov loop operator in the large N limit of the high temperature deconfined phase of N=4 Yang-Mills theory on a spatial S^3. It occurs for large completely symmetric representation of the SU(N) symmetry group. We speculate that this transition is reflected in the string theory dual as a critical behavior of the D3-brane duals of large representation loops.