Jet Quenching in Anisotropic Holographic QCD: Probing Phase Transitions and Critical Regions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how jet quenching varies with orientation in an anisotropic quark-gluon plasma using holographic duality, revealing phase transition effects on jet quenching parameters.

Contribution

It introduces a generalized approach to compute jet quenching in anisotropic holographic QCD, highlighting orientation-dependent discontinuities at phase transitions.

Findings

Jet quenching parameter depends on orientation.

Discontinuities occur at first-order phase transitions.

Effects are observed across various quark types and conditions.

Abstract

The jet quenching phenomenon in an anisotropic quark-gluon plasma is studied using gauge-gravity duality. We consider a more general orientation of the contour of a lightlike Wilson loop in the boundary field theory. The Nambu-Goto action for a two-dimensional worldsheet, whose boundary is this contour, is evaluated in a five-dimensional bulk. We present the dependence of the jet quenching parameter on the orientation. Discontinuities of the jet quenching parameter occur at a first-order phase transition, and their magnitude depends on the orientation. These dependencies are observed in holographic models for both light and heavy quarks with nonzero temperature, chemical potential, magnetic field, and spatial anisotropy, supported by an Einstein-dilaton-three-Maxwell action.