# Wilson loops in exact holographic RG flows at zero and finite temperature

## TL;DR

This paper investigates the behavior of Wilson loops in holographic RG flows at zero and finite temperature, revealing confining and non-confining phases depending on the RG flow background, using minimal surface calculations.

## Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of Wilson loops in exact holographic RG flows, highlighting the conditions for confinement at long distances in different backgrounds.

## Key findings

- Confined phase at zero temperature in QCD-like RG flow.
- Non-confining behavior in RG flow with AdS UV fixed point.
- Finite temperature effects on Wilson loop behavior.

## Abstract

We study rectangular timelike Wilson loops at long distances in the exact renormalization group flow in the context of the holographic duality. We consider the 5d holographic model with an exponential dilaton potential constructed in [arXiv:1803.06764]. To probe the RG flow backgrounds at zero and finite temperatures we calculate the minimal surfaces of the corresponding string worldsheets. We show that a holographic RG flow at $T=0$, that mimics QCD behaviour of the running coupling, has a confining phase at long distances, while the RG flow with an AdS UV fixed point is non-confining.