Fermionic response in a zero entropy state of N=4 super-Yang-Mills

Abstract

We analyze fermionic response in the geometry holographically dual to zero-temperature N = 4 super-Yang-Mills theory with two equal nonvanishing chemical potentials, which is characterized by a singular horizon and zero ground state entropy. We show that fermionic fluctuations are completely stable within a gap in energy around a Fermi surface singularity, beyond which non-Fermi liquid behavior returns. This gap disappears abruptly once the final charge is turned on and is associated to a discontinuity in the corresponding chemical potential. We also show that the singular near-horizon geometry lifts to a smooth AdS(3) x R-3 and interpret the gap as a region where the quasiparticle momentum is spacelike in six dimensions due to the momentum component in the Kaluza-Klein direction, corresponding to the final charge.