Frame dependence of heavy-quark observables in a rotating strongly coupled plasma

Abstract

In genuinely rotating holographic backgrounds, Wilson-loop observables are usually constructed for a quark--antiquark pair static with respect to the rotating plasma. We investigate how this choice affects the heavy-quark sector by comparing two descriptions of the same rotating geometry: a corotating frame, in which the pair is static with respect to the plasma, and a static frame, in which it is static with respect to the static observer. We consider an equal-rotation Myers--Perry black hole in asymptotically global AdS and study Wilson loops oriented longitudinally and transversely to the rotation. We analyze the effective string tension, physical quark--antiquark separation, and heavy-quark potential at fixed thermodynamic temperature measured in the corresponding frame. We find a strong frame dependence of the rotational response. In the corotating frame, the longitudinal and transverse configurations respond qualitatively differently: rotation can either decrease or increase the separation and effective string tension, depending on orientation and, for the latter, on the bulk position and parameter range. The heavy-quark potential increases with angular velocity in both orientations. In the static frame, by contrast, the effective tension, physical separation, and maximal separation decrease with angular velocity in both orientations, while the heavy-quark potential increases. Thus, the anisotropic response is substantially stronger in the corotating frame, both qualitatively and quantitatively. In both frames, rotational modifications generally become less pronounced at higher temperature. These results show that the frame in which the quark pair is static is an essential part of the physical specification of Wilson-loop observables in rotating holographic systems.