Yidian Chen

We develop a machine learning assisted holographic model that consistently describes both the equation of state and glueball spectrum of pure Yang-Mills theory, achieved through neural network reconstruction of Einstein-dilaton gravity. Our framework incorporates key nonperturbative constraints of lattice QCD data: The ground ( 0 + + ) and first-excited ( 0 + + * ) scalar glueball masses pins down the infrared (IR) geometry, while entropy density data anchors the ultraviolet (UV) behavior of the metric. A multistage neural network optimization then yields the full gravitational dual—warp factor A ( z ) and dilaton field Φ ( z ) —that satisfies both spectroscopic and thermodynamic constraints. The resulting model accurately reproduces the deconfinement phase transition thermodynamics (pressure, energy density, trace anomaly) and predicts higher glueball excitations ( 0 + + * * , 0 + + * * * ) consistent with available lattice calculations. This work establishes a new paradigm for data-driven holographic reconstruction, solving the long-standing challenge of unified description of confinement thermodynamics and spectroscopy.

We study dynamical properties of strongly coupled chiral matter by using the holographic method. We demonstrate, at both linear and nonlinear levels, that perturbations on thermodynamically unstable backgrounds within the spinodal region of chiral first-order phase transitions exhibit dynamic instability. The corresponding magnitude of dynamic instability can be characterized by the critical momentum. Furthermore, we found that, within a certain temperature range, the quasinormal-mode spectrum contains purely imaginary diffusive modes. As spatial momentum increases, a transition occurs in the system’s long-time dynamics. The dominant contribution shifts from diffusive mode to propagating mode. When the diffusive mode becomes dominant, the spectral function exhibits a transport peak structure in the low-frequency region. A heuristic argument suggests that this particular transition can be related to the chiral symmetry breaking and restoration.

We study dynamical properties of strongly coupled chiral matter by using holographic method. We demonstrate, at both linear and nonlinear levels, that perturbations on thermodynamically unstable backgrounds within the spinodal region of chiral first-order phase transitions exhibit dynamic instability. The corresponding magnitude of dynamic instability can be characterized by the critical momentum. Furthermore, we found that, within a certain temperature range, the quasi-normal mode spectrum contains purely imaginary diffusive modes. As spatial momentum increases, a transition occurs in the system's long-time dynamics. The dominant contribution shifts from diffusive mode to propagating mode. When the diffusive mode becomes dominant, the spectral function exhibits a transport peak structure in the low-frequency region. A heuristic argument suggests that this particular transition can be related to the chiral symmetry breaking and restoration.

A bstract: By using the holographic approach, we investigate the interplay between the order parameter and Goldstone modes in the real-time dynamics of the chiral phase transition. By quenching the system to a different thermal bath and obtaining different kinds of initial states, we solve the real-time evolution of the system and find that an additional prethermalization stage emerges at non-critical temperature after introducing the Goldstone modes. Some basic properties related to this additional prethermalization stage have been discussed in detail. More interestingly, an additional scaling relation is observed, indicating the appearance of a non-thermal fixed point in the dynamical region.

The properties of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matter at finite isospin densities are investigated employing holographic hard-wall and soft-wall anti–de Sitter (AdS)/QCD models. It is confirmed that at high enough isospin densities, charged pions start to condense and the pion superfluid phase appears in the system. It is shown that the chiral condensate and the pion condensate can be transformed to each other and form a chiral circle in the superfluid phase. We derived the equation of state (EoS) for pionic matter, calculated the normalized trace anomaly Δ and ( ε − 3 p ) / m π 4 , and analyzed the sound speed and adiabatic index. Additionally, we provided data on the mass-radius relation and tidal deformability of pion stars. The results indicate that the holographic models align well with lattice QCD concerning isospin density, axial-vector condensation, EoS, and trace anomaly, though discrepancies in sound speed and adiabatic index emerge at higher isospin chemical potentials. The holographic models closely match the leading-order results from chiral perturbation theory ( χ PT ) in certain observables, suggesting that they may effectively capture aspects of χ PT dynamics within a five-dimensional framework under the probe approximation. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

We investigate the behavior of vector mesons ρ , ϕ , and J / Ψ in both nonrotating and rotating thermal media using the soft-wall holographic QCD model with four flavors. By incorporating anisotropic backgrounds derived from the Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton action, we incorporate rotational effects via a U ( 1 ) gauge field, and the induced polarization of gluons is described by a rotation dependent dilation field. Spectral function analysis reveals that ρ and ϕ mesons exhibit broad peaks at lower temperatures, indicating their presence in the medium, while these peaks disappear at higher temperatures. Rotation delays this melting process, increasing the dissociation temperature. In contrast, the J / Ψ meson, owing to its heavy charm quark content, demonstrates its resilience to thermal effects. We further explore the global spin alignment of these mesons in the event plane frame. For the ϕ meson, the averaged ρ 00 over the full range of azimuthal angles shows weak temperature dependence at low transverse momentum ( p T ) but significant suppression at high p T , aligning with experimental observations. Rotation enhances ρ 00 at high p T , a phenomenon attributed to angular momentum transfer via spin-orbit coupling. The J / Ψ meson, however, displays insensitivity to temperature and rotation up to p T = 5 GeV , with a very small suppression observed at higher p T , likely due to its heavy quark nature. Although ρ meson spin alignment is not yet experimentally measured, it exhibits behavior qualitatively similar to the ϕ meson, with thermal fluctuations dampening alignment and rotation enhancing it.

We investigate the effects of rotation on deconfinement and chiral phase transitions in the framework of the dynamical holographic QCD model. Instead of transforming to the rotating system by Lorentz boost, we construct an anisotropic gravitational background by incorporating the rotating boundary current. We first investigate the pure gluon system under rotation to extract deconfinement phase transition from the Polyakov loop then add two-flavor probe for chiral restoration phase transition from the chiral condensate. It is observed that at low chemical potentials, the deconfinement phase transition of pure gluon system is of first order and the chiral phase transition of a two-flavor system is of crossover. Both the critical temperatures of deconfinement and chiral phase transitions decrease/increase with imaginary/real angular velocity ( Ω I / Ω ) as T / T c ∼ 1 − C 2 Ω I 2 and T / T c ∼ 1 + C 2 Ω 2 , which is consistent with lattice QCD results. In the temperature-chemical potential T − μ phase diagram, the critical end point moves toward regions of higher temperature and chemical potential with real angular velocity.

By using the holographic approach, we investigate the interplay between the order parameter and Goldstone modes in the real-time dynamics of the chiral phase transition. By quenching the system to a different thermal bath and obtaining different kinds of initial states, we solve the real-time evolution of the system numerically. Our main focus is on studying far-from equilibrium dynamics of strongly-coupled system and universal scaling behaviors related to such dynamics. The most striking observation is that an additional prethermalization stage emerges at non-critical temperature after introducing the Goldstone modes, which is not reported in any previous studies. Some basic properties related to this additional prethermalization stage have been discussed in detail. More interestingly, we also report a new scaling relation describing non-equilibrium evolution at non-critical temperature. This additional universal behavior indicates the appearance of a non-thermal fixed point in the dynamical region.