Magnetically-Charged Black Branes and Viscosity/Entropy Ratios

Abstract

We consider asymptotically-AdS $n$-dimensional black brane solutions in a theory of gravity coupled to a set of $N$ $p$-form field strengths, in which the field strengths carry magnetic charges. For appropriately chosen charges, the metrics are isotropic in the $(n-2)$ transverse directions. However, in general the field strength configurations break the full Euclidean symmetry of the $(n-2)$-dimensional transverse space. We then study the linearised equation for transverse traceless metric perturbations in these backgrounds, and by employing the Kubo formula we obtain expressions for $\eta/S$, the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density. We find that the KSS bound on the ratio $\eta/S$ is generally violated in these solutions. We also extend the discussion by including also a dilatonic scalar field in the theory, leading to solutions that are asymptotically Lifshitz with hyperscaling violation.