Jet quenching in holographic QCD as an indicator of phase transitions in anisotropic regimes

In this paper, we employ the gauge-gravity duality to study jet quenching (JQ) phenomena in the quark-gluon plasma. For this purpose, we implement holographic quantum chromodynamics (QCD) models constructed from an Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton gravity at finite temperature and finite chemical potential for light and heavy quarks. The models capture both the confinement and deconfinement phases of QCD and the first-order phase transitions. We calculate the JQ parameter in different models and compare them with the experimental data obtained in heavy-ions studies. In particular, we investigate how JQ, as a function of temperature <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <a:mi>T</a:mi> </a:math> , chemical potential <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <c:mi>μ</c:mi> </c:math> , and magnetic field <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <e:msub> <e:mi>c</e:mi> <e:mi>B</e:mi> </e:msub> </e:math> , serves as a probe for identifying first-order phase transitions within the <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <g:mo stretchy="false">(</g:mo> <g:mi>T</g:mi> <g:mo>,</g:mo> <g:mi>μ</g:mi> <g:mo>,</g:mo> <g:msub> <g:mi>c</g:mi> <g:mi>B</g:mi> </g:msub> <g:mo stretchy="false">)</g:mo> </g:math> parameter space of holographic QCD. Particular attention is paid to the dependence of JQ on the parameter <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <k:mi>ν</k:mi> </k:math> , which characterizes longitudinal versus transverse anisotropy relative to the heavy-ion collision axis. By analyzing the dependence of the JQ parameters on these thermodynamic variables, we map critical regions associated with phase boundaries. We compare our findings to earlier studies of the running coupling constant’s behavior within the gauge-gravity duality framework. This approach provides new insights into the interplay between nonperturbative dynamics and phase structure in strongly coupled systems.