symmetry [37, 40] with a small coupling. Then the current J
µ
can be treated as an induced
current in a conducting medium described by a self-consistent macroscopic electrodynamics
(see section 6).
Our derivation consists of several steps. We first solve the bulk Maxwell equations in
a static AdS
5
black brane geometry. An important element of the procedure is that we
solve the Maxwell equations for a set of unspecified boundary conditions A
(0)
µ
imposed at
the conformal boundary. The boundary field A
(0)
µ
acts as a source of the current J
µ
. All
order transport coefficient functions are then read off from the near boundary behaviour
of the bulk Maxwell field. In the hydrodynamic limit ω 1, q 1, our analytical results
derived in subsection 5.1 are
D =
1
2
+
1
8
πiω +
1
48
− π
2
ω
2
+ q
2
(6 log 2 − 3π)
+ ··· ,
σ
e
= 1 +
log 2
2
iω +
1
24
π
2
ω
2
−q
2
(3π + 6 log 2)
+ ··· ,
σ
m
= 0 +
1
16
iω(2π − π
2
+ 4 log 2) + ··· .
(1.11)
These results fully agree with all previous studies (and extend beyond): the constant
term in D (D
0
) was first reported in [13]; the DC conductivity σ
0
e
is consistent with that
of [37] obtained using the low-frequency results of [13]; the expression for σ
e
at q
2
= 0 is
in agreement with [42, 43] (see also subsection 5.2 for a more comprehensive comparison
extending to generic values of ω). The underlined terms are new results unavailable in
the literature. Quite interestingly, the hydrodynamic expansion of σ
m
starts from a term
linear in ω, rather than from a constant.
For generic values of momenta, the transport coefficient functions are computed nu-
merically. The results are presented and discussed in subsection 5.2. Particularly, the dif-
fusion function vanishes at very large momenta, which is a necessary condition for causality
restoration. The memory function introduced in (1.2) is defined as Fourier transform of
the diffusion function D
e
D(t, q
2
) =
1
√
2π
Z
∞
−∞
D(ω, q
2
)e
−iωt
dω . (1.12)
e
D is also computed in subsection 5.2 and it is found to be causal
e
D(t) ∼ Θ(t). For positive
times,
e
D(t) displays damped oscillations, which reflects the presence of a (infinite) set of
complex poles — the bulk’s quasi-normal modes. In the next section 2, the meaning of
all-order gradient resummation and its implication on the dynamics are briefly clarified,
essentially quoting the discussion presented earlier in [30].
The holographic model is introduced in section 3. Section 4 presents our main calcula-
tions. Maxwell equations in the bulk are discussed first. We search for solutions which are
functionals of the boundary data ρ(x
α
) and A
(0)
µ
(x
α
). Decomposing these solutions in a
basis constructed from the boundary fields, we are able to cast the problem into a set of or-
dinary differential equations for the decomposition coefficients. Then, we read off J
µ
from
the near-boundary expansion of the decomposition coefficients. The latter are computed
– 5 –