Topological confinement in Skyrme holography

TL;DR

This paper explores topological phase transitions in a five-dimensional gravity model with Skyrme matter, revealing how topological numbers influence confinement and deconfinement in dual strongly coupled field theories.

Contribution

It introduces a novel class of topological phase transitions in holography involving Skyrme fields, extending the understanding of confinement mechanisms in dual CFTs.

Findings

Topological numbers determine the phase transition points.

Transitions depend on Skyrme coupling strength.

Dual CFT states exhibit confined or deconfined behavior.

Abstract

We study phase transitions in five-dimensional Einstein Gravity with a negative cosmological constant, coupled to a Skyrme matter field. These transitions are topological generalizations of the Hawking-Page transition between thermal Anti de Sitter (AdS) spacetime and an AdS black hole. Phases are characterized by a topological number associated with the Skyrme field configuration. Depending on that topological number and on the Skyrme coupling strength, there occur transitions between those phases at two, one, or no value(s) of the temperature. Through the holographic (AdS/CFT) correspondence, these solutions are dual to topologically non-trivial states in a conformal field theory (CFT) with an SU(2)-symmetry, which support either confined or deconfined (quasi-)particles at strong coupling. We compare to similar known phase transitions, and discuss potential applications to confinement in topological phases of condensed matter and the quark-gluon plasma.