Rho meson condensation at finite isospin chemical potential in a holographic model for QCD

Understand

We analyze the effect of an isospin chemical potential \mu_I in the Sakai-Sugimoto model, which is the string dual of a confining gauge theory related to large N_c QCD, at temperatures below the chiral symmetry restoration temperature.

• For small chemical potentials we show that the results agree with expectations from the low-energy chiral Lagrangian, and the charged pion condenses.
• When the chemical potential reaches a critical value \mu_I = \mu_{crit} ~ 1.7 m_{\rho}, the lowest vector meson (the "rho meson") becomes massless, and it condenses (in addition to the pion condensate) for \mu_I > \mu_{crit}.
• This spontaneously breaks the rotational symmetry, as well as a residual U(1) flavor symmetry.