4pm - 5pm

Tuesday 3 December 2019

How colours make a black hole

We propose a simple mechanism of how, in gauge/gravity duality, a black hole is described by colour degrees of freedom of gauge theory. The key new concept is partial deconfinement: M of N colours deconfine, and M/N gradually grows from zero (confinement) to one (complete deconfinement). We point out that this mechanism admits a simple interpretation in the form of spontaneous breaking of gauge symmetry. In terms of the dual gravity theory, such breaking occurs during the formation of a black hole. We speculate whether the breaking and restoration of gauge symmetry can serve as an alternative definition of the deconfinement transition in theories without centre symmetry, such as QCD. We also point out a natural connection between Bose-Einstein condensation and confinement. If time permits: in order to give an intuitive picture of partial deconfinement, we explain the intriguing resemblance between the dynamics of D-branes and collective behaviours of ants -- "black hole/ant trail correspondenceā€.

39 AA 04
University of Surrey
Guildford
Surrey
GU2 7XH
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