An analytic analysis of phase transitions in holographic superconductors (Q2889942)

Properties of the second-order phase transition in a general class of the Stückelberg holographic superconductor in arbitrary dimensions are studied analytically. The Stückelberg holographic superconductor [\textit{S. Franco, A. M. García-García} and \textit{D. Rodriguez-Gómez}, ``A holographic approach to phase transitions'', Phys. Rev. D 81, No. 4, 041901 (2010; \url{doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.81.041901}), \url{arXiv:0911.1354}] is a simple generalization of the abelian Higgs model in which the condensation occurs via the Stückelberg spontaneous symmetry breaking mechanism. It is based on the application of the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT) to the study of strongly coupled phenomena. AdS/CFT offers new possibilities in using some field theories in the strong coupling region via their holographic dual weakly coupled gravitational descriptions. The studied properties of the second-order phase transition are obtained by using a simple approach, i.e., by matching the asymptotic and horizon solutions of two essential scalar fields at an arbitrary point between. In this way, the explicit expression of the critical exponent is derived. In most cases, this exponent of the second-order phase transition corresponds to the mean field critical exponent \(1/2\) and, for some holographic superconductor models, it can be higher.