Critical phenomena in N=4 SYM plasma

TL;DR

This paper investigates the critical phenomena and phase transition behavior of strongly coupled N=4 SYM plasma at finite temperature and chemical potential, revealing mean field theory characteristics and universality class, with implications for bulk viscosity models.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the phase transition in N=4 SYM plasma is of mean field type and classifies its dynamical universality, providing explicit holographic computations of bulk viscosity near the transition.

Findings

Phase transition is of mean field theory type.

The model belongs to the 'model B' universality class with z=4.

Existing bulk viscosity models conflict with holographic results.

Abstract

Strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma at finite temperature and chemical potential for an R-symmetry charge undergoes a second order phase transition. We demonstrate that this phase transition is of the mean field theory type. We explicitly show that the model is in the dynamical universality class of 'model B' according to the classification of Hohenberg and Halperine, with dynamical critical exponent z=4. We study bulk viscosity in the mass deformed version of this theory in the vicinity of the phase transition. We point out that all available models of bulk viscosity at continuous phase transition are in conflict with our explicit holographic computations.