Speaker
Description
We study the phase structure of hot, dense QCD matter within five-dimensional anisotropic holographic models of Einstein–dilaton–Maxwell type, which support both primary and magnetic-field-induced anisotropies. The background equations are solved in fully analytic form for the light- and heavy-quark cases, allowing us to locate the first-order and crossover phase transitions and to construct the resulting phase diagram in the (chemical potential, temperature) plane. The jet quenching parameter, the drag force, the direct-photon emission rate, and the running coupling constant are computed as functions of temperature, chemical potential, magnetic field, and spatial anisotropy parameter, and their non-monotonic behavior is shown to trace out the critical regions of the diagram. Spatial anisotropy and an external magnetic field shift the transition lines and the position of the critical end point. Anisotropy-sensitive observables are thus established as practical probes of non-perturbative QCD in the extreme environments created in heavy-ion collisions.