Holographic collisions in large $D$ effective theory

TL;DR

This paper models holographic shockwave collisions using a large D effective theory, analyzing various collision scenarios with charged matter and studying entropy production mechanisms.

Contribution

It presents the first 4+1 Einstein-Maxwell collision simulations in the large D limit, exploring effects of charge, shape, and impact parameter on collision outcomes.

Findings

Impact parameter below blob width leads to equivalent collisions under rescaling

Charge has a weak effect on collision dynamics

Multiple stages of linear entropy growth are identified

Abstract

We study collisions of Gaussian mass-density blobs in a holographic plasma, using a large $D$ effective theory, as a model for holographic shockwave collisions. The simplicity of the effective theory allows us to perform the first 4+1 collisions in Einstein-Maxwell theory, which are dual to collisions of matter with non-zero baryonic number. We explore several collision scenarios with different blob shapes, impact parameters and charge values and find that collisions with impact parameter below the transverse width of the blobs are equivalent under rescaling. We also observe that charge weakly affects the rest of quantities. Finally, we study the entropy generated during collisions, both by charge diffusion and viscous dissipation. Multiple stages of linear entropy growth are identified, whose rates are not independent of the initial conditions.