Holographic shear correlators at low temperatures, and quantum $\eta/s$

Abstract

The strongly-coupled 3-dimensional theory, holographically dual to black branes at fixed chemical potential $\muext$ and temperature $T \ll \mu$ is considered in AdS$_4$ Einstein-Maxwell theory. The retarded Green's functions at frequency $\omega$ is calculated using holography in the regime $\omega, T \ll \muext$ but otherwise arbitrary. When the transverse space has finite volume, there is a non-zero energy scale $E_\text{gap}$, scaling as $1/\mu$ for large $\mu$, below which quantum-gravitational corrections due to the fluctuations of the nearly-gapless Schwarzian modes become important. Such corrections to the retarded Green's function are calculated at different relative values of $\omega$, $T$, and $E_\text{gap}$. The $\omega \to 0$ limit is used to define the shear viscosity $\eta$. As the temperature is lowered below $\mu$, quantum corrections are found to increase the value of $\eta$ with respect to its semiclassical value.The quantum-corrected result for $\eta$ diverges as $\sqrt{E_\text{gap}/T}$ at $T \ll E_\text{gap}$, in accord with corresponding results for the absorption cross section. The quantum result for the ratio $\eta/s$, where $s$ is the entropy density, dips below the semiclassical limit of $1/4\pi$ when $E_\text{gap} \ll T \ll \mu$,then turns back to increase towards lower temperatures, and finally diverges at temperatures much below $E_\text{gap}$.