Taking a critical look at holographic critical matter

Abstract

Despite a recent flurry of applications of the broadly defined ('non-AdS/non-CFT') holographic correspondence to a variety of condensed matter problems, the status of this intriguing, yet speculative, approach remains largely undetermined. This note exposes a number of potential inconsistencies between the previously made holographic predictions and advocates for a compelling need to systematically contrast the latter against the results of alternate, more conventional, approaches as well as experimental data. It is also proposed to extend the list of computed observables and utilize the general relations between them as a further means of bringing the formal holographic approach into a closer contact with the physical realm.