Out-of-time-order correlator as a detector of baryonic phase structure in holographic QCD with instanton

Abstract

We study the out-of-time-order correlators (OTOC) of Skyrmion as baryon in the D0-D4/D8 model which is expected to be holographically dual to QCD with instantons as D0-branes or with a non-zero theta angle. Baryon states are identified to the excitations of the Skyrmion which are described by a holographic quantum mechanical system in this model. By employing the definition of OTOC in quantum mechanics, we derive the formulas and demonstrate explicitly the numerical calculations of the OTOC. Our calculation illustrates the quantum OTOC with imaginary Lyapunov coefficient indicates the possibly metastable baryonic status in the presence of the instanton while the classical OTOC can not, thus it reveals the instantonic or theta-dependent features of QCD are dominated basically by its quantum properties. Furthermore, the OTOC also implies the baryonic phase becomes really chaotic with real Lyapunov exponent if the instanton charge increases sufficiently which agrees with the unstable baryon spectrum presented in this model. In this sense, we believe the OTOC may be treated as a tool to detect the baryonic phase structure of QCD.