Work

Toward a holographic realization of the 2 + 1 -flavor QCD phase structure

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We present a fully backreacted Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton–flavor model with dynamical light and strange sectors, calibrated to lattice QCD using a machine-learning–assisted spectral method. The model reproduces the 2 + 1 -flavor equation of state and chiral dynamics with quantitative accuracy, and maps the Columbia plot with a tricritical point at m s tri ≃ 21 MeV and a critical mass m c ≃ 0.785 MeV , consistent with lattice results. At finite density, it yields a crossover-to-first-order transition and predicts a critical endpoint at T C = 75.4 MeV and μ C = 768 MeV , within the reach of heavy-ion experiments. These findings establish a unified holographic framework for the QCD phase structure across quark masses and baryon density, providing the first consistent and quantitative description of both deconfinement and chiral transitions within a single holographic model.

Source: Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

DOI: 10.1103/3plt-wlt7

Authors: Jin-Yang Shen, Xin-Yi Liu, Jin-Rui Wu, Yue-Liang Wu, Zhen Fang

Institutions: Hunan University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, International Centre for Theoretical Physics Asia-Pacific

Language: English

Topic: High-Energy Particle Collisions Research

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, National Key Research and Development Program of China

Awards: G274418720, G3062115224, G3289481219, G4480060792, G5847793060