Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: A bstract We construct a U(3) extension of a soft-wall holographic QCD model to investigate how a phenomenological determinant interaction affects the pseudoscalar nonet and the finite-temperature chiral phase structure. The holographic-coordinate-dependent determinant interaction dynamically generates the η - η ′ mass splitting and singlet-octet mixing. By analyzing pseudoscalar spectra, decay constants, mixing parameters, and quark-mass dependence, we find that vacuum pseudoscalar observables constrain the overall size of the determinant contribution but do not uniquely determine its holographic profile. We then examine how representative profiles compatible with the vacuum pseudoscalar spectrum influence the chiral transition and the Columbia plot. The resulting phase structure is highly profile dependent: some profiles yield crossover/second-order behavior across the explored quark-mass plane, whereas others produce a first-order region in the light-quark corner. Although the model should be regarded as a phenomenological mesonic implementation rather than a complete topological construction of the QCD axial anomaly, it provides a useful framework for tracing how η ′ -sector constraints propagate into holographic chiral thermodynamics.
Source: Journal of High Energy Physics
Authors: Xin-Yi Liu, Yue-Liang Wu, Zhen Fang
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7215981152