Current-driven tricritical point in large-$N_{c}$ gauge theory

TL;DR

This paper uncovers a novel tricritical point in a strongly-coupled gauge theory under non-equilibrium conditions, revealing a Landau-like phase transition driven by electric current and magnetic field.

Contribution

It demonstrates the existence of a non-equilibrium tricritical point in a large-$N_{c}$ gauge theory using AdS/CFT, with critical exponents matching Landau theory.

Findings

Identification of a non-equilibrium tricritical point

Critical exponents consistent with Landau theory

Chiral symmetry breaking under electric current and magnetic field

Abstract

We discover a new tricritical point realized only in non-equilibrium steady states, using the AdS/CFT correspondence. Our system is a (3+1)-dimensional strongly-coupled large-$N_{c}$ gauge theory. The tricritical point is associated with a chiral symmetry breaking under the presence of an electric current and a magnetic field. The critical exponents agree with those of the Landau theory of equilibrium phase transitions. This suggests that the presence of a Landau-like phenomenological theory behind our non-equilibrium phase transitions.