Papers

Within the toric-code phase, we study parameterized families of topologically ordered states. We construct $1$- and $2$-parameter families of local Hamiltonians and confirm their non-triviality via topological pumping. For the $1$-parameter family, we show that the $em$-exchange defect is pumped into the bond Hilbert space of a tensor-network representation. For the $2$-parameter case, we construct a “pump of a pump” that transports an $S^1$-family of a system in one lower spatial dimension. Using similar methods, we also present a $1$-parameter family with a higher-order anyon pump that produces corner-localized anyon modes. These constructions provide explicit lattice realizations and concrete diagnostics of family-level topology. We use recently developed boundary algebra methods to study the non-triviality of these families.

We study correlation functions of half-BPS operators in planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ Super-Yang-Mills at strong coupling, in the classical limit where operator dimensions scale with the coupling. We focus on the two-dimensional kinematics corresponding in the dual description to strings propagating in $AdS_{3}\times S^{3}$. Using the hexagon formalism, we show that correlation functions exponentiate in this regime and are governed by the free energy of an associated set of Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz (TBA) equations. These equations are structurally equivalent to the Gaiotto–Moore–Neitzke equations encoding BPS spectra in $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric field theories. Exploiting this correspondence, we apply wall-crossing techniques to extend the TBA framework and formulate a $\chi$-system applicable both to polygonal hexagon tilings and to closed geometries describing correlators of single-trace operators. In particular, for four-point functions, this construction generalizes the results of Caetano and Toledo for minimal surfaces in $AdS_{2}\times S^{1}$.

We solve an infrared effective holographic model of a non-Fermi liquid at finite temperature that satisfies Luttinger's theorem and incorporates long-range Coulomb interactions. Motivated by the absence of a Luttinger-counting Fermi surface in standard Reissner-Nordstrom holographic metals, we consider a Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory in a static anti-de Sitter-Schwarzschild background, coupled to an LU(1) gauge field rather than a conventional U(1) gauge field. By an appropriate choice of boundary conditions, we obtain a damped collective plasmon mode whose plasma frequency scales as predicted by Luttinger's theorem. We further analyze the density-density correlator in the absence of long-range Coulomb interactions and identify a contribution consistent with a Lindhard-like continuum.

We point out that double categories provide a natural setting for modular functors obtained by a (bicategorical) string-net construction: The source of the modular functor – which is now a double functor – is a symmetric monoidal double category of bordisms, with bordisms as horizontal morphisms and smooth embeddings of manifolds as vertical morphisms. The target of the modular functor is a double category with profunctors and functors as horizontal and vertical morphisms. The correlators and field functors for a conformal field theory based on a pivotal monoidal category $\mathcal C$ can then be understood in the unified setting of a vertical transformation between the modular functors for two pointed pivotal bicategories, the delooping of $\mathcal C$ and the bicategory of $\Delta$-separable symmetric Frobenius algebras in $\mathcal C$. Using skein theoretic methods, we show that this vertical transformation is an equivalence, which implies that field functors are equivalences of categories and that universal correlators are isomorphisms of vector spaces.

We study the rank-two logarithmic sector of critical Topologically Massive Gravity through the Virasoro zero-mode action \[ U(s,\bar s)=e^{-sL_0-\bar s\bar L_0}. \] Writing $L_0=h\mathbf 1+\frac{1}{2}N$ and $\bar L_0=\bar h\mathbf 1+\frac{1}{2}N$, with $N^2=0$, separates the semisimple conformal grading from the nilpotent mixing of the logarithmic pair. We apply the Virasoro zero-mode action to logarithmic two-point functions and to the conformal grading of the logarithmic contribution to the one-loop partition function. For the correlators, the semisimple part generates the ordinary conformal power law, while the nilpotent mixing governed by the combination $s+\bar s$ produces the characteristic logarithmic dependence. For the critical-TMG weights $(h,\bar h)=(2,0)$, this gives a holomorphic power law together with logarithmic dependence on the full Euclidean separation. For the partition function, the relations $q=e^{-s}$ and $\bar q=e^{-\bar s}$ express its conventional multiplicative grading in terms of the additive parameters of the same Virasoro zero-mode action, providing an exact reparameterization of the established one-loop result. The two applications capture complementary information: logarithmic correlators resolve the off-diagonal Jordan mixing, whereas the ordinary graded trace organizes conformal weights, multiplicities, and descendant content without separately resolving the nilpotent matrix element. The Virasoro zero-mode action therefore provides a unified representation-theoretic description of these boundary structures in critical TMG.

We give new results on the structure and representations of the three lattices $\mathbf{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{k}},\mathbf{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{k}\mathcal{C}},\mathbf{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{k}}^{\ast }$ relevant to code CFTs realizing Narain conformal field theories. In this construction, $\mathbf{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{k}}^{\ast }$ denotes the dual of the even lattice $\mathbf{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{k}}$ and $\mathbf{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{k}\mathcal{C}}$ is an even self-dual intermediate lattice with a (d,d) signature. We study the inclusion relations $\mathbf{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{k}}\subset \mathbf{\Lambda } _{\mathrm{k}\mathcal{C}}\subset \mathbf{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{k}}^{\ast }$ characterized by the discriminant group $\mathbf{\Lambda } _{\mathrm{k}}^{\ast }/\mathbf{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{k}}$ isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}_{\mathrm{k}}$ and provide explicit constructions of these $\mathbb{R}^{(\mathrm{r}d,\mathrm{r}d)}$ lattices first for rank $\mathrm{r}=d=1$ and then for higher dimensional Lie algebras with $\mathrm{r}=d>1$. Additional structural features and generalisations are also discussed.

We investigate the constraints imposed by supersymmetry on the IIB matrix model (IKKT model) by requiring both the closure of the transformations and the satisfaction of the Ward identities at the leading order of the order expansion. Following the systematic methodology, we evaluate the most general forms of the effective action and supersymmetry transformations consistent with the $SU(N)$ algebra. In ten dimensions, we prove that these supersymmetric requirements lead to a non-renormalization theorem, which forces all coefficient functions to be constant. This result stems from the emergence of a 5-form tensor in the closure condition that cannot be absorbed by the $SU(N)$ algebra. This residual term strictly forbids non-trivial fluctuations at the leading order. While a similar non-renormalization theorem holds in four dimensions, we demonstrate that the four-dimensional Clifford algebra provides a unique exit through Hodge duality. This duality geometrically maps the anomalous high-rank tensor structures into absorbable lower-rank forms, allowing for non-trivial dynamical backgrounds prohibited in ten dimensions. We find that such non-trivial solutions are restricted to (anti-)self-dual configurations, which, through reality conditions, necessitate a Euclidean metric. Our results indicate that the emergence of a four-dimensional Euclidean space-time is a prerequisite for the theory to admit non-trivial backgrounds while preserving supersymmetry at the leading order.

In this note we give a summary of [arXiv:2401.14449] in which we proposed a proof of the weak gravity conjecture in perturbative string theory. While the WGC is well established, checked in many examples, and many of the ingredients we use have previously appeared in the literature, a comprehensive proof from the top-down was still missing. The present work focuses on the bosonic string as a proof of concept, while the generalization to superstring cases is to appear in a forthcoming paper. This note is based heavily on [arXiv:2401.14449] and on a talk given at the Corfu2025 Workshop on Quantum Gravity and Strings.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming scientific research and has become central to many data-intensive disciplines. High Energy Physics (HEP), with its vast data volumes, complex theoretical structures, and precision-driven methodologies, lies at a particularly fertile intersection with modern AI. In this document, we present a community-informed overview of AI+HEP development in China and beyond, motivated in part by discussions at the 2025 Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Workshop in Qingdao, Shandong Province. We briefly review current AI activities across experimental, phenomenological, and theoretical HEP, along with key aspects of the research ecosystem. This work does not aim to represent the entire community, but rather reflects a partial and evolving snapshot informed by discussions and perspectives gathered from members of the broader AI+HEP community. We hope it serves as an initial roadmap to inform future coordinated efforts and to lay the groundwork for a more comprehensive community white paper.

We investigate gauge-invariant nonlinear electrodynamics in the Plebański first-order Hamiltonian formulation, taking the single-invariant potential $\hat V(P)$ as the primary object. Our focus is on the existence of stable Lorentz-violating magnetic vacua. For three explicit two-parameter models – rational asymmetric, logarithmic, and exponential – we determine the regions of parameter space in which nontrivial constant electromagnetic vacua are compatible with an effective Hamiltonian bounded from below and a positive-semidefinite Hessian. In all three cases, physically admissible Lorentz-violating vacua are realized in the magnetic branch. We further discuss the electric branch and several additional one-parameter models, illustrating that Hamiltonian boundedness by itself does not ensure spontaneous Lorentz symmetry breaking. We also comment on how the symmetry-breaking conditions are related to known strong-field causality criteria.

In this paper, we investigate black-hole thermodynamics in the multi-fractional theory with $q$-derivatives, focusing on static, spherically symmetric vacuum solutions in the spherical-coordinate approximation. In the geometric frame the solution is exactly Schwarzschild in the areal radius $q$, so that canonical charges can be defined using standard covariant methods. The conserved mass depends only on the Schwarzschild integration constant, and the Iyer–Wald entropy satisfies the usual area law in terms of the geometric horizon radius. When the Hawking temperature is defined in the fractional radial coordinate $r$, however, it acquires an explicit dependence on the multi-fractional profile through the local factor $q'(r_{\rm h})$ at the horizon. As a result, variations of the non-dynamical profile parameters generically obstruct integrability of a naive Clausius relation expressed solely in terms of mass and entropy. We show that this obstruction is resolved by enlarging the thermodynamic state space to include the profile parameters and by constructing an integrable entropy functional obtained from a radial integral of the geometric radius. The corresponding extended first law contains additional work terms conjugate to the multi-fractional couplings. We analyze both binomial and log-oscillating profiles, clarify the role of presentation dependence, and delineate the consistency conditions required for a well-defined exterior branch with a single horizon. Our results make explicit the separation between profile-insensitive canonical charges and profile-sensitive thermal quantities in multi-fractional black-hole thermodynamics.

Non-radial oscillations of neutron stars provide a powerful probe of stellar structure and relativistic gravity, but a fully general relativistic treatment for gravitationally coupled two-fluid stars with independently conserved currents has so far been lacking. In this work, we develop a fully relativistic framework for polar perturbations of gravitationally coupled two-fluid neutron stars, assuming that the two fluids interact only through the common spacetime and are not coupled by entrainment or direct microphysical interactions. We derive the coupled linear perturbation equations governing the metric and both fluid components, and complete the formulation by establishing the regularity, surface, and exterior matching conditions required for a well-posed oscillation eigenvalue problem. We then implement the resulting system numerically and compute representative polar mode spectra for gravitationally coupled two-fluid stellar models. This implementation provides a practical way to address mode identification in gravitationally coupled two-fluid stars, allowing the fundamental ($\mathsf{f}$) and pressure ($\mathsf{p}$) mode branches of the spectrum to be classified according to their dominant inner- or outer-fluid character through the associated eigenfunctions and their node structure. The formalism developed here provides a foundation for extending relativistic asteroseismology to multi-fluid compact stars and for exploring their potential gravitational-wave signatures in a fully general relativistic setting.

We apply the complex scaling method to black-hole perturbations in four-dimensional Schwarzschild–de~Sitter (dS) spacetimes. The method converts the outgoing-wave boundary-value problem into a non-Hermitian spectral problem and enables quasinormal-mode poles and the rotated continuum to be treated in a common framework. We focus in particular on the continuum level density, which characterizes the continuum response beyond isolated quasinormal-mode frequencies. Using Regge–Wheeler-type perturbation equations for scalar, electromagnetic, and gravitational fields, we investigate how a nonzero cosmological constant modifies the pole and continuum sectors. We also discuss a possible extension to string-inspired coupled-channel systems, and illustrate that higher-dimensional dS black holes can be treated within the same framework, at least in tensor- and vector-type sectors. Our results indicate that complex scaling offers a useful spectral framework for analyzing both quasinormal modes and continuum response in black-hole physics.

We first review the calculations for the modular flow and the vector flow of $\text{CFT}_2$, warped CFTs and Bondi-Metzner-Sachs Field Theories (BMSFTs), and then we present the vector flows and modular flows in Celestial field theory and Klein CFTs. We also discuss the search for this structure in Lifshitz and other exotic field theories.

Understanding heat transport in low-dimensional and nano-architectured materials remains a central challenge in nonequilibrium statistical physics due to persistent deviations from Fourier's law. These deviations are driven by anharmonicity, reduced dimensionality, and the emergence of long-lived coherent excitations. In this work, we develop a unified theoretical framework for two-dimensional thermal metamaterials that combines nonlinear lattice dynamics, soliton-based effective field theories, and geometrically organized defect networks as guiding structures for energy flow. We introduce minimal discrete and continuum-inspired models suitable for controlled benchmarking of thermal transport in patterned two-dimensional architectures and identify a two-channel transport mechanism in which coherent nonlinear excitations coexist with incoherent hydrodynamic modes. The interplay between these channels is shown to be highly sensitive to geometry, nonlinearity, and temperature, offering new avenues for thermal management. We establish rigorous connections between microscopic nonlinearity, geometry-driven channeling of heat in two dimensions, and quantum-enabled exploration of both high-occupation classical regimes and genuinely quantum regimes beyond the reach of standard simulation strategies. The theoretical predictions are corroborated by recent experimental and computational results in Stone-Wales-defected PdSSe monolayers and silicon phononic crystal nanostructures, which exhibit ultra-low thermal conductivity coexisting with high carrier mobility and strong anisotropy – direct manifestations of the two-channel mechanism. This synthesis provides actionable guidance for the design of engineered heat-spreading architectures and positions quantum simulation as a transformative tool for advancing the theory of nonlinear heat transport.

Flat spacetimes are foliated by hyperbolic slices that are geometrically three-dimensional de Sitter or anti-de Sitter spaces. As such, it is possible to construct flat space holographic dualities by applying the AdS/CFT bulk-to-boundary dictionary slice by slice. In this work, we reduce 4D actions for massless scalars in both Minkowski space and Klein space and massive scalars in Minkowski space to actions on these 3D dS and AdS slices. In both Minkowski and Klein space, the reduced theories have a continuous spectrum of fields originating from the reduction over the noncompact $x^2$ direction. These actions are linked by boundary terms arising from field configurations discontinuous across the lightcone. In the massless case, different asymptotic limits of the reduced field near the boundary of the unit hyperbolic slice replicate either light cone or null infinity limits of the field; in the massive case, only one boundary mode of the reduced field has a simple geometric interpretation.

We show that all 5d balanced (ADE-shaped) special unitary quivers with no Chern-Simons level admit a UV completion which is a 5d conformal matter SCFT. We give explicit local Calabi-Yau threefolds realizing each of these models in M-theory. This unified description enables a systematic exploration of their physical properties, such as their Higgs Branch, as well as connections to class-S constructions and the affine Grassmannian.

We study the spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry in an AdS spacetime at finite temperature using the quark-meson model. The condensate $\sigma$ is typically inhomogeneous in AdS and is determined from the differential gap equation. We demonstrate that there are no free integration constants in the regular solutions to the differential equation and find that the solution to the boundary value problem is unique. We find that chiral symmetry is always broken close to the AdS boundary. We construct the phase diagram of the system as a function of the AdS curvature and temperature. These two parameters have opposing effects: temperature tends to restore chiral symmetry, whereas negative curvature favors its spontaneous breaking. We also consider how the phase diagram is modified when the Hawking-Page phase transition is taken into account.

We present a geometric characterisation of local models in the bipartite Bell scenario with three measurement settings per site and binary outcomes, i.e. the (3,3,2,2) case. Restricting attention to indistinguishable sites, thus resulting in a `symmetric local' scenario, we introduce a three-dimensional mixed-moment space in which the mixed moments are calculated under off-diagonal measurement settings. In this reduced representation, the symmetric local region assumes the remarkably simple form of a regular tetrahedron - the 'pyramid'. We prove that only three inequalities are required to characterise the interior of this region. We call them the pyramid inequalities that separate symmetric local ($\mathcal{SL}$) models from their complement, non-symmetric local ($\mathcal{\overline{SL}}$) models. Remarkably, in this representation, the 'symmetric quantum' region forms an elliptope defined by a single inequality. We also clarify the relation between the symmetry-reduced pyramid representation and the full $(3,3,2,2)$ Bell polytope in the 36-dimensional conditional-probability space, which possesses 684 facet-defining inequalities. The reduction from 684 to three reflects normalisation, symmetry reduction, and projection to the mixed-moment space. In the pyramid representation, the hierarchy $\mathcal{SL} \subsetneq \mathcal{SQ} \subsetneq \mathcal{NS}$ appears geometrically as a tetrahedron embedded in a somewhat larger curved body of symmetric quantum models, $\mathcal{SQ}$, which in turn is embedded in a cube of no-signalling models, $\mathcal{NS}$. This provides a unified three-dimensional visualisation of symmetric local, symmetric quantum, and symmetric post-quantum correlations. The qualitative advantages of the pyramid representation over the standard one-dimensional CSHS representation of the $(2,2,2,2)$ case are also discussed.

We introduce a new approach for the computation of the class of Feynman integrals whose integrands vanish in strictly four-dimensions, so-called ”pseudo-evanescent” integrals. We argue that, up to $\mathcal{O}(\epsilon)$ corrections, local subtraction techniques can be used to express pseudo-evanescent integrals in terms of contributions from infrared and ultraviolet regions of loop-momentum space. We study two-loop examples and find that many pseudo-evanescent Feynman integrals are reduced to either products of one-loop integrals or one-fold integrals thereof. As a demonstration of the power of our approach, we use it to recompute the two-loop all-plus five-point amplitude. We find that, up to scheme-dependent logarithms, all contributions from soft and collinear regions cancel exactly against known infrared structure and that the finite remainder is entirely given by contributions from ultraviolet regions.

Gluon and graviton radiation in strong field shockwave scattering are described by effective Lipatov vertices, with the graviton Lipatov vertex proportional to the bilinear of its QCD counterpart. We show here that the n-particle gluon radiation spectrum can be described as a generalized Susskind-Glogower (gSG) squeezed coherent state and discuss the properties of such squeezed states. The double copy structure of the radiative frameworks suggests that multi-graviton radiation can be similarly described as a gSG state. We examine the physical parameter space and show that very large squeezing parameters $\sim \ln({\bar n})$ (where ${\bar n}$ is the mean graviton occupancy) are feasible for nearly minimal uncertainty configurations of the gSG state. Quantum noise in the corresponding gravitational wave spectrum is enhanced above the sensitivity of current and future gravitational wave detectors. Our results point to the importance of a comprehensive study of the strong field Lipatov regime of gravitational radiation.

We show that a pair of identical large $N$ 1D CFTs, like the low-energy limit of the SYK model or a line-defect inside a higher dimensional CFT, contains a natural sub-algebra of operators that comprise a generalized free field algebra living on a time-like geodesic in d+1-dimensional de Sitter spacetime. The construction uses large $N$ factorization, 1D conformal symmetry, and the split representation of de Sitter Green functions. We show that for 3D de Sitter spacetime, the holographic map extends into the bulk and reduces to the standard HKLL prescription adjusted to de Sitter spacetime. We describe how our construction is automatically implemented in a covariant version of Schwarzian quantum mechanics and comment on the relevance of our results to the de Sitter/DSSYK correspondence.

Wormholes are fascinating alternatives to black hole geometries. In this paper, we have studied a special case of wormhole solution in the context of $R=0$ spacetime. Our approximate analytical calculations show that under a strictly static axial gravitational perturbation of this spacetime, the magnetic-type tidal Love number (for $\ell=2$) vanishes if we keep the solution of the master equation up to linear order in the regularisation parameter of the geometry. Moreover, imposing physically viable boundary conditions on the master variable we have corroborated our result with the numerical solutions. We have further extended our analysis towards the case of Damour-Solodukhin wormhole, which also yields similar conclusion.

Black hole perturbations are characterized by a superposition of damped exponentials known as quasinormal modes. In general relativity, the spectra of parity-even and parity-odd quasinormal modes coincide – a property known as isospectrality, which is typically broken by corrections beyond general relativity. Recently, certain higher-derivative operators were shown to preserve isospectrality in the high-frequency (eikonal) regime. Motivated by the relation between the light ring Penrose limit and the eikonal limit, we study isospectrality in a class of plane-wave spacetimes. In general relativity, we show that dynamical metric fluctuations on these backgrounds admit a gravitational analog of electric-magnetic duality, which enforces isospectrality. Requiring this duality to persist in the presence of higher-derivative corrections constrains the couplings so that isospectrality is preserved. We conclude that gravitational electric-magnetic duality at the light ring is the organizing principle behind isospectrality in the eikonal limit, and we conjecture that this remains true for other duality-invariant corrections to general relativity.

A major promise of quantum computers is the controlled preparation of many-body quantum states beyond the reach of efficient classical computation. Among the most important targets are thermal mixed states and their thermofield double (TFD) purifications, which play central roles in quantum many-body physics and quantum gravity. For target systems with a bounded energy spectrum that obey the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH), we present a parent Hamiltonian built from two copies of the target Hamiltonian and ultra-local couplings between the copies, which we argue is gapped with a ground state that approximates a TFD state of the target Hamiltonian. By adiabatically evolving down from strong coupling, we can thus prepare a high-fidelity TFD state. We study two variants of the parent Hamiltonian using numerical methods in two classes of models: mixed field Ising models in one and two dimensions and non-local "spin Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev” models. In the simpler variant, the parent Hamiltonian ground state has high overlap with a TFD for system sizes accessible to near-term quantum devices. However, the global overlap decays exponentially with the number of qubits, with a small error per degree of freedom. The second variant introduces an additional penalty term which can be tuned to reduce or remove the decay of the overlap with system size. Together with a general ETH-based analysis, these results suggest a broadly applicable method for TFD preparation that is not limited to particular temperatures or geometric locality.

The Euclidean Nariai geometry has long been proposed as the instanton describing the nucleation of maximal-mass black holes in de Sitter space. We place this interpretation on firmer footing by showing that, once an observer is included, the gravitational path integral produces the imaginary phase required for a transition rate. As a warmup, we revisit the Hawking-Moss instanton and, as a byproduct, find that scalar fields can enhance black-hole nucleation, suggesting a quantum-gravity bound on scalar potentials with de Sitter solutions. We then study the subsequent semiclassical evolution of the nucleated black hole. We show that the previously claimed "anti-evaporation" channel is unphysical, arising from a quantum state with singular horizons. In a smooth state, the black hole instead undergoes standard thermal Hawking evaporation. We verify explicit agreement with the no-boundary state and argue that this evaporation is not subject to large quantum-gravity corrections. The nucleated black hole thus evaporates completely back to the maximally-entropic empty de Sitter vacuum, making the full process a Boltzmann fluctuation.

Numerous unconventional superconductors such as cuprates, heavy-fermions, and twisted-bilayer graphene exhibit incoherent metallic transport above the superconducting critical temperature. This phenomenon cannot be described with Fermi-liquid theory and has presented a significant theoretical challenge to overcome. We utilize the two-dimensional Yukawa-SYK model of fermions with spatially random coupling to quantum-critical bosons to study transport in a manner which is non-perturbative in the coupling strength. Our work provides a microscopic model of quantum-critical incoherent metals and their concomitant properties, including a non-Boltzmann transport formula between resistivity and quasi-particle lifetime, violation of the Mott-Ioffe-Regel resistivity bound, and violation of the Kovtun-Son-Starinets shear viscosity to entropy density bound.

Using the BPS-protected higher derivative $R^4$-term as an exactly solvable example, we analyze which instanton corrections are generated by a one-loop Schwinger integral over the light towers of states that arise in infinite distance limits in moduli space. We find that the Schwinger integral fully captures precisely those instantons whose action lies parametrically in the window $(\Lambda_{\rm sp}/M_{\rm light})^{-1}\le {\rm S}_{\rm inst}\le \Lambda_{\rm sp}/M_{\rm light}$, that is, instantons whose action is bounded by the ratio of the gravity cutoff and the mass scale of the lightest tower. This proposal is supported by considering the entire moduli space of toroidal compactifications in eight dimensions, together with a number of limits in seven dimensions. In each case, integrating out the light towers via the Schwinger integral reproduces the complete contribution of the instantons within the above window. We further recast the proposal in terms of the taxonomy classification, allowing us to determine the emergent instantonic spectrum associated with any infinite distance limit.

We introduce a generalised six-state clock chain that interpolates between the clock and Potts models via a multicritical point described by decoupled Ising and three-state Potts models. We find that this decoupling extends into stable phases that break only $\mathbb{Z}_2$ or $\mathbb{Z}_3$ symmetry. We also use boundary CFT analysis and level spectroscopy to conclusively identify a $\mathbb{Z}_6$ parafermion multicritical point terminating the clock model Luttinger-liquid phase. Our work shows that parafermions emerge far from integrability, even in systems with intertwined Ising and three-state Potts orders.

We explore the ideas of open-closed-open triality within twisted holography. Starting from two transverse stacks of branes in the B-model on the resolved conifold, we obtain two equivalent open string descriptions. Both are full-fledged field theories. In the appropriate limit, they simplify to gauged $\beta\gamma$-systems with determinant insertions, as expected from open string field theory. The $\rho$-matrix models that have appeared previously in the literature appear from an on-shell analysis of the field-theory actions. Most importantly, we show that the effective potential generated by integrating out the open strings on the other stack of branes exactly captures their backreaction on the geometry. In particular, we match the action of the probe branes to that of giant gravitons in the $\textit{deformed}$ conifold. The second open string description of the triality thus directly diagnoses the emergent bulk spacetime.