Holographic duality and the resistivity of strange metals

Abstract

We present a strange metal, described by a holographic duality, which reproduces the famous linear resistivity of the normal state of the copper oxides, in addition to the linear specific heat. This holographic metal reveals a simple and general mechanism for producing such a resistivity, which requires only quenched disorder and a strongly interacting, locally quantum critical state. The key is the minimal viscosity of the latter: unlike in a Fermi liquid, the viscosity is very small and therefore is important for the electrical transport. This mechanism produces a resistivity proportional to the electronic entropy.