Probe Branes, Time-dependent Couplings and Thermalization in AdS/CFT

TL;DR

This paper uses probe D-branes in AdS space to holographically study thermalization and non-equilibrium dynamics in conformal field theories, revealing horizon formation and thermal behavior during quantum quenches.

Contribution

It introduces a holographic framework with rotating probe branes to analyze thermalization and time-dependent couplings in CFTs, showing horizon formation without bulk black holes.

Findings

Induced metrics on rotating D-branes develop horizons with Hawking temperatures.

Holographic models exhibit Brownian motion and AC conductivities.

Quantum quenches lead to apparent horizon formation and thermalization.

Abstract

We present holographic descriptions of thermalization in conformal field theories using probe D-branes in AdS X S space-times. We find that the induced metrics on Dp-brane worldvolumes which are rotating in an internal sphere direction have horizons with characteristic Hawking temperatures even if there is no black hole in the bulk AdS. The AdS/CFT correspondence applied to such systems indeed reveals thermal properties such as Brownian motions and AC conductivities in the dual conformal field theories. We also use this framework to holographically analyze time-dependent systems undergoing a quantum quench, where parameters in quantum field theories, such as a mass or a coupling constant, are suddenly changed. We confirm that this leads to thermal behavior by demonstrating the formation of apparent horizons in the induced metric after a certain time.