Instability in $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on $S^3$ at finite density

Abstract

Homogeneous and isotropic equilibrium states of strongly coupled $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills charged plasma in ${\mathbb{R}}^3$ with equal chemical potentials for the maximal Abelian subgroup of the $R$-symmetry group become dynamically unstable below some critical temperature. The instabilities arise in the $R$-symmetry charge transport, precisely when the equilibrium state becomes thermodynamically unstable. We study the fate these correlated instabilities when the theory is placed on $S^3$. The curvature of the three-sphere affects the onset of the dynamical and the thermodynamic instabilities differently: increasing the curvature at low temperatures can stabilize its transport, but leave the plasma thermodynamically unstable. Thermodynamic stability is never recovered provided the $S^3$ volume is allowed to fluctuate.

22 pages, 2 figures; v2: clarified thermodynamic instability; v3: added stability analysis in the fixed-pressure ensemble