D3/D7 Quark-Gluon Plasma with Magnetically Induced Anisotropy

TL;DR

This paper explores how magnetic fields induce anisotropy in a quark-gluon plasma using a D3/D7 brane holographic model, analyzing thermodynamics, sound propagation, and energy loss mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a holographic model of anisotropic plasma with magnetic fields, studying its thermodynamics and energy loss properties in detail.

Findings

Magnetic field causes anisotropy in plasma properties.

Sound propagation differs parallel and orthogonal to magnetic field.

Magnetic field influences quark energy loss and jet quenching.

Abstract

We study the effects of the temperature and of a magnetic field in the setup of an intersection of D3/D7 branes, where a large number of D7 branes is smeared in the transverse directions to allow for a perturbative solution in a backreaction parameter. The magnetic field sources an anisotropy in the plasma, and we investigate its physical consequences for the thermodynamics and energy loss of particles probing the system. In particular we comment on the stress-energy tensor of the plasma, the propagation of sound in the directions parallel and orthogonal to the magnetic field, the drag force of a quark moving through the medium and jet quenching.