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  • Open Access

Is holographic quark-gluon plasma homogeneous?

Tuna Demircik1,2,*, Niko Jokela3,†, Matti Järvinen4,5,6,‡, and Aleksi Piispa3,§

  • *Contact author: t.demircik@uu.nl
  • †Contact author: niko.jokela@helsinki.fi
  • ‡Contact author: matti.jarvinen@apctp.org
  • §Contact author: aleksi.piispa@helsinki.fi
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 026029 – Published 30 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/vrf4-s1sk

Abstract

We present evidence for a spatially modulated instability within the deconfined quark-gluon plasma phase of QCD, based on robust predictions from holographic models. In these models, which are accurately fitted to lattice data, the instability is driven by the Chern-Simons term mandated by the flavor anomalies of QCD. Such an instability occurs universally across holographic models at surprisingly low densities, within the crossover region amenable to lattice and experimental studies, therefore inviting further explorations of inhomogeneous phases in this region.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 026029– Published 30 January, 2026
  • Received 7 July 2024
  • Accepted 5 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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