We study the confinement-deconfinement phase transition in a holographic soft-wall QCD model. By solving the Einstein-Maxwell-scalar system analytically, we obtain the phase structure of the black hole backgrounds. We then impose probe open strings in such a background to investigate the confinement-deconfinement phase transition from different open string configurations under various temperatures and chemical potentials. Furthermore, we study the Wilson loop by calculating the minimal surface of the probing open string world sheet and obtain the Cornell potential in the confinement phase analytically.

• Received 12 June 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.96.066013