Event Details

The spectral weight is an important and interesting field theoretic quantity. It directly counts the number of degrees of freedom at a given momentum. Therefore, calculating a nonzero value for the spectral weight at low energy and over a finite range of momenta is a signature of a Fermi surface. In this talk, I introduce the calculation of the low energy spectral weight in three holographic theories: the semi-local quantum liquid with and without broken translational symmetry, and the holographic superfluid. In the semi-local quantum liquid theories, we discover nonzero low energy spectral weight over a finite range of momenta, and attribute this Fermi surface behavior to the charges existing behind the black hole horizon. Contrary to our expectations, we also obtain nonzero spectral weight in the holographic superfluid case, complete with a bulk instability indicating that the theory is not in the true ground state. We offer an interpretation of these findings, and present the interesting questions that are raised regarding the connection between the bulk and boundary charge distributions.