2017/08/31 by A. Bagrov, Andrey A. Bagrov, Ben Craps +9 · 18 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Atomic physics #Excited state #Holography #Laser #Optical conductivity #Optics #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #Quasinormal mode #Relaxation (psychology) #Spectroscopy #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #Thermalisation #cond-mat.str-el #cond-mat.supr-con #hep-th #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.97.086005
published in Physical review. D/Physical review. D. 97(8) (American Physical Society) · 7 pages, 4 figures; v2: broader context emphasized, references added
arxiv created 2018/04/03 · openalex publication_date 2018/04/09 · arxiv updated 2018/04/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Using holography, we model experiments in which a 2+1D strange metal is pumped by a laser pulse into a highly excited state, after which the time evolution of the optical conductivity is probed. We consider a finite-density state with mildly broken translation invariance and excite it by oscillating electric field pulses. At zero density, the optical conductivity would assume its thermalized value immediately after the pumping has ended. At finite density, pulses with significant dc components give rise to slow exponential relaxation, governed by a vector quasinormal mode. In contrast, for high-frequency pulses the amplitude of the quasinormal mode is strongly suppressed, so that the optical conductivity assumes its thermalized value effectively instantaneously. This surprising prediction may provide a stimulus for taking up the challenge to realize these experiments in the laboratory. Such experiments would test a crucial open question faced by applied holography: are its predictions artifacts of the large N limit or do they enjoy sufficient UV independence to hold at least qualitatively in real-world systems?