Holographic thermalization with a chemical potential in Gauss-Bonnet gravity

Abstract

Holographic thermalization is studied in the framework of Einstein-Maxwell-Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We use the two-point correlation function and expectation value of Wilson loop, which are dual to the renormalized geodesic length and minimal area surface in the bulk, to probe the thermalization. The numeric result shows that larger the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient is, shorter the thermalization time is, and larger the charge is, longer the thermalization time is, which implies that the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient can accelerate the thermalization while the charge has an opposite effect. In addition, we obtain the functions with respect to the thermalization time for both the thermalization probes at a fixed charge and Gauss-Bonnet coefficient, and on the basis of these functions, we obtain the thermalization velocity, which shows that the thermalization process is non-monotonic. At the middle and later periods of the thermalization process, we find that there is a phase transition point, which divides the thermalization into an acceleration phase and a deceleration phase. We also study the effect of the charge and Gauss-Bonnet coefficient on the phase transition point. © 2014 The Author(s).