Holographic thermalization in N=4 Super Yang-Mills theory at finite coupling

TL;DR

This paper explores how finite coupling effects influence thermalization patterns in holographic N=4 Super Yang-Mills plasma, revealing a shift from top-down to a different thermalization behavior as coupling decreases.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of finite coupling corrections on thermalization patterns in holographic plasma, highlighting the transition from top-down to altered thermalization.

Findings

Finite coupling weakens the top-down thermalization pattern.

Spectral densities deviate from thermal limit during out-of-equilibrium.

Quasinormal modes' flow depends on the 't Hooft coupling.

Abstract

We investigate the behavior of energy momentum tensor correlators in holographic $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills plasma, taking finite coupling corrections into account. In the thermal limit we determine the flow of quasinormal modes as a function of the 't Hooft coupling. Then we use a specific model of holographic thermalization to study the deviation of the spectral densities from their thermal limit in an out-of-equilibrium situation. The main focus lies on the thermalization pattern with which the plasma constituents approach their thermal distribution as the coupling constant decreases from the infinite coupling limit. All obtained results point towards the weakening of the usual top-down thermalization pattern.