Papers

We introduce half dualization as a general principle to construct non-invertible duality defects. The construction performs a duality transformation only in a subregion of spacetime, leaving an interface between the original theory and its dual. A non-invertible duality defect can be hosted on this interface. Half dualization is applicable whenever a local duality transformation is available, and does not depend on the spacetime dimension. We demonstrate the construction procedure in the (2+1)-dimensional Villainized charge-$n$ XY model on a cubic lattice. Half dualization yields a non-invertible particle-vortex duality defect whose fusion with its orientation reverse produces a (1+1)-dimensional $\mathbb{Z}_n$ gauge theory on the fusion surface. We then apply half dualization to the $\mathbb{Z}_n$-gauged XY model relevant to the 3D XY$^\ast$ transition. In the gauged model, the half dualization interface hosts a gauge covariant duality wall, rather than a genuine gauge invariant duality defect. It flows to an invertible duality defect in infrared when the $\mathbb{Z}_n$ gauge theory is confined or Higgsed.

We study the 4-point out-of-time-ordered correlator (OTOC) of scalar fields using the eikonal approximation to gravity around a de Sitter background. It can be defined in a gauge-invariant way by dressing the operators to an observer. We consider de Sitter space in any dimension and any bulk masses of the scalar fields. At tree level we find the maximal Lyapunov exponent of $2 \pi/\beta_{\rm dS}$. However, we describe an IR problem in this calculation at the loop level associated with the vector part of the graviton propagator. Regularizing this divergence leads to the vanishing of all odd powers in Newton's constant in the asymptotic expansion, so that the leading answer comes with twice the maximal Lyapunov exponent in simple operator configurations. We find that the perturbative OTOC in de Sitter can initially grow, which is not allowed by the quantum bound on chaos. Interestingly, we find that this growth is mediated by large diffeomorphisms in the graviton propagator.

Magic, also known as non-stabilizerness, measures the usefulness of a quantum state for quantum computation. While magic is defined relative to a choice of computational basis, in some physical settings the available data determine this basis only up to local phase conventions. In this paper, we generalize the notion of magic and formulate it in a phase-independent manner, and hence define a generalized stabilizer Rényi entropy. As a case study, we consider higher-multiplicity tree-level gluon scattering, interpreting the outgoing helicities as qubits. In this setting, the helicity data naturally determine a local basis for each qubit but leave a phase ambiguity. For $3\to 2$ scattering, we find that the final-state phase-independent magic is generically larger than the maximum attainable in $2\to 2$ scattering. For $2 \to 3$ scattering, we find a nonzero minimal value approached in the soft limit. Moreover, when the three outgoing momenta become symmetric, the magic approaches a local minimum only a few percent above the soft-limit value. In all cases considered, the color dependence cancels from the phase-independent stabilizer Rényi entropy.

Inclusive hadronic decay widths remain a long-standing challenge for first-principles QCD. We present a framework combining lattice QCD with strongly-coupled potential nonrelativistic QCD (pNRQCD) to compute inclusive P-wave heavy quarkonium decays to light hadrons. At leading order in the velocity expansion, all nonperturbative effects, apart from the square of the derivative of the wavefunction at the origin, are encoded in a single universal moment of the two-point chromoelectric correlator, which we determine for the first time from a quenched lattice QCD calculation matched to $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$ via the gradient flow. Combined with perturbative short-distance coefficients and the square of the derivative of the wavefunction at the origin, our result reproduces the observed $\chi_{cJ}(1P)$ widths and, at the same time, provides predictions for the unmeasured $\chi_{bJ}(nP)$ widths. The framework extends naturally to inclusive decays and production of ordinary and exotic hadrons.

The collision of black holes at relativistic speeds probes gravity in its most extreme dynamical regime. While the maximum gravitational recoil from grazing high-energy collisions ($\approx28\,562$~km/s, i.e., $\sim0.1c$) and the maximum radiated energy $E_{\rm rad}$ and remnant spin $\alpha_f^{\max}$ from such encounters ($E_{\rm rad}/M_{\rm ADM}\approx32\%$ where $M_{\rm ADM}$ is the ADM mass, and $\alpha_f^{\max}\approx0.987$) have been established previously~\cite{Healy:2022jbh,Healy:2024lhl}, here we focus on the head-on high-energy collision of equal-mass spinning black holes and on the detailed structure of the resulting recoil. Performing a sequence of full numerical simulations for spin magnitudes $s=0.5,0.65$, and $0.8$ over a range of initial momenta $\gamma v$, we characterize the peak recoil $V_p$, the final recoil $V_f$, and the antikick $\Delta V\equiv V_f-V_p$, and we provide phenomenological fits of their dependence on $\gamma v$ and $s$. We complement these results with a zero-frequency-limit (ZFL) analysis of the radiated energy and momentum, a quasinormal-mode model of the antikick, and a superposed boosted double-Kerr close-limit estimate. We find that in the relativistic regime ($\gamma v>1$) the peak and final recoil are directly proportional, $V_p\approx7.4\,V_f$ (equivalently $\Delta V \approx-6.4\,V_f$), largely independent of both the initial momentum and the spin magnitude, pointing to a common post-merger relaxation. While the ZFL predicts a leading linear-in-spin dependence, the close-limit analysis predicts a leading $s^3$ dependence of the recoil amplitude; with the three spin magnitudes studied here the empirical exponent is $s^{1.27\pm0.08}$, motivating an even higher energy collision spin sequence study.

I derive the charged-particle spectral edge from the quantum instrument of soft QED. I use two projections of that instrument. Tracing over unresolved photons gives the reduced hard-sector channel. Pushing the outcomes to total energy gives the inclusive energy distribution. Its Laplace exponent is fixed by the diagonal soft intensity. For ${\rm d} N_h(\omega)=\eta_h{\rm d}\omega/\omega+{\rm d} N_{h,\mathrm{reg}}(\omega)$, I obtain $\rho_{\mathrm{inc}}(s)\sim C\theta(s-m^2)(s-m^2)^{-1+\eta_h}$. I retain the coherence kernel and derive hard-sector dephasing and the spectral edge from two contractions of one soft environment. The diagonal coefficient $\kappa_{aa}$ fixes the endpoint exponent, while $\frac12(\kappa_{aa}+\kappa_{bb}-2\operatorname{Re}\kappa_{ba})$ fixes the dephasing exponent between hard alternatives. I then classify infrared energy marginals, derive the finite-resolution residue $Z(\mu)=(\mu/\Lambda)^{\eta_h}$, prove stability under infrared-integrable perturbations, and separate the bath exponent from a hard threshold exponent. For the one-electron spectral measure, the hard threshold factor is regular. The resulting edge has the local power law of a gapped unparticle spectrum, while its exponent remains a response coefficient of the unresolved photon sector.

We consider the formation of a near-extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black hole by collapse, and show how to compute correlations in the outgoing Hawking radiation due to enhanced gravitational backreaction effects in the near-horizon region. This is done by reducing to the s-wave and employing the Hamiltonian formulation of Einstein-Maxwell theory coupled to a scalar field. Solving the constraints yields an action for the scalar field that incorporates gravitational backreaction effects at the quantum level, governed by an effective coupling g = G/(\pi r_0^3 T_H) that grows at low temperature, as in recent Schwarzian-based analyses. This action produces corrections to the free field Hawking state which are imprinted on correlation functions of the Hawking radiation measured at null infinity. As part of our analysis, we show that this action evaluated in the AdS_2 region is equivalent, at the level of all tree-level boundary correlators, to the standard JT/Schwarzian description coupled to dressed bilocal operators. We also reproduce some one-loop results. In our approach, metric fluctuations are included quantum mechanically through the reduced scalar action, rather than through a semiclassical expectation value, and our computation of the radiation manifestly reduces to Hawking's original treatment when metric fluctuations are neglected.

As noted by Sorkin, regarding quantum instruments whose Kraus operators are localizable within some spacetime region as operations accessible therein leads to superluminal communication. This so-called Sorkin paradox can be resolved by further constraining the set of allowed local operations in quantum field theory (QFT). In this spirit, Fewster and Verch proposed a framework for local QFT operations that generalizes non-relativistic quantum measurement theory and does not lead to Sorkin-like paradoxes. Shortly afterwards, Jubb (and later Oeckl) identified the minimal conditions that QFT instruments must satisfy to be compatible with Einstein's causality. In this work, we study both approaches in the quantum field theory of the free scalar field. First, we prove that a very wide class of causal instruments is FV-realizable: namely, those whose measurement channels are random displacements of the field operators. As we show, this class allows implementing arbitrary instruments in a heralded, probabilistic way, as well as non-demolition measurements deterministically. Second, we construct examples of causal channels that do not admit an approximate FV realization. Some of such causal, not FV-realizable channels violate basic physical principles, so they should not be part of any measurement theory for QFT. Third, we investigate the difficulty of characterizing the set of QFT channels that can be generated through the composition of several FV schemes. In this regard, we find a countable family of simple QFT channels for which no Turing machine can discriminate between channels within or far away from the implementable set.

A non-minimal coupling between gravity and the inflaton field is a generic contribution in inflationary cosmology. In this work, we consider models of inflation with a non-minimal coupling $-\xi\phi^2 R$ and study their observational predictions for the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ and the spectral index $n_s$. Unlike the conventional approach of working in the Einstein frame, we perform the analysis in the Jordan frame where the underlying dynamics, particularly the competition between the potential force and the coupling-induced friction, are more transparent. For suitable values of $\xi$, the system exhibits an extended constant-roll regime, in which this friction counteracts the potential force. Focusing on monomial potentials $V(\phi) \propto \phi^n$, we find that negative $\xi$ systematically reduces $r$ in the $(n_s, r)$ plane, while the shift in $n_s$ depends on the power $n$: for $n \geq 4$, the spectral index increases with $|\xi|$, whereas for $n < 4$, it decreases. Notably, the quartic model $V(\phi) = \lambda \phi^4/4$ with $\xi \lesssim -0.1$ shows good agreement with the ACT DR6 data and exhibits a distinct $n_s(\xi)$ dependence compared to other monomial cases. Our results demonstrate that non-minimally coupled models can effectively reconcile Planck and ACT observations, providing a unified framework for interpreting current CMB constraints.

We derive a set of recursion relations for the perturbative evaluation of the scattering of two black holes in Einstein gravity. To illustrate, we solve the equations up to third post-Minkowskian order in the gravitational coupling constant G, recovering the correct result, including the back-reaction from gravitational radiation.

The GeV-scale QCD axion – where Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry is broken by the QCD condensate at $f_a\sim\mathcal{O}(1)$~GeV – faces a structural isospin problem: the PQ spurion coupling to light quarks ($u,d,s$) breaks $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ isospin, generating an unacceptable $\sim 15\%$ $\pi^0$–$\pi^\pm$ mass splitting. We show that coupling the PQ scalar to the charm quark instead eliminates this violation entirely, and lowering $m_\phi\sim 3$–$4$~MeV makes the charm Yukawa $\kappa_c\propto m_\phi$ perturbative ($\kappa_c<1$). The resulting $f_a\sim\text{GeV}\ll M_{\rm Pl}$ solves the axion quality problem: even the lowest-dimension $d=6$ Planck-suppressed operator gives $m_{\rm PQ}/m_a\sim 10^{-14}$, without any additional symmetry. The model predicts a distinctive negative $\Delta N_{\rm eff}\sim -0.1$ for $m_\phi\sim 3$~MeV, testable by CMB-S4. The $B\to K\sigma$ penguin predicts $\mathrm{BR}\sim 2\times 10^{-5}$, consistent with the Belle~II evidence for $B^+\to K^+\nu\bar{\nu}$ at $(2.3\pm0.7)\times 10^{-5}$~\cite{BelleII:2024knv}. All ten classes of experimental, astrophysical, and cosmological constraints are satisfied in the viable window $m_\phi\sim 3$–$4$~MeV, with the $B_s$ mixing constraint pending a dedicated lattice calculation.

In this note, starting from the exact counting formulae for 4D BPS black hole degeneracies in the cases of 1/2 BPS $\mathcal{N}=4$ and 1/8 BPS $\mathcal{N}=8$ solutions, expressed as Rademacher expansions for coefficients of modular and Jacobi forms respectively, we explicitly show how the number theoretic data in each Rademacher summand is encoded by a Segal-Bargmann heat kernel calculation in the de Alfaro-Fubini-Furlan (DFF) model of conformal quantum mechanics, thus demonstrating the holographic origin of the BPS Bekenstein-Hawking entropy, and all logarithmic and power law suppressed corrections to it. We then derive the 2D holographically dual bulk space-time for this CQM and show that it is an AdS$_2$ space-time with radial length scale correlated to the energy scale of the DFF model. We further show how the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy emerges from an entanglement entropy computation in this bulk space-time. Hence, for the two classes of 4D BPS black holes under consideration, we have inferred the holographic CQM relevant for microscopic state counting from the exact number-theoretic degeneracy formulae and demonstrated the emergence of the near-horizon AdS$_2$ attractor geometry that is holographically dual to it.

We investigate the effect of finite angular velocity on the phase structure and Schwinger pair production in a holographic QCD model based on the Einstein–Maxwell–dilaton framework. Rotation is introduced through a boost construction that generates a stationary rotating geometry from the corresponding static background. We first study the thermodynamic phase diagram using the grand potential together with several response functions and show that all thermodynamic phase boundaries satisfy an exact scaling relation under rotation, implying that the rotating thermodynamic sector is completely determined by the corresponding static solution through a simple boost transformation. We then investigate confinement through the effective string tension and find that, consistent with the thermodynamic observables, rotation decreases the string confinement–deconfinement transition temperature and chemical potential. The corresponding phase boundary, however, no longer obeys the thermodynamic scaling relation. Consequently, the region in the phase diagram that is thermodynamically confined but string deconfined grows with angular velocity. We further study the Schwinger effect using the potential analysis approach. Rotation lowers both the confining and catastrophic critical electric fields and suppresses the height and width of the potential barrier, thereby enhancing pair production in both confined and deconfined phases. In the deconfined phase, rotation also generates a worldsheet horizon that limits the radial extent of connected string solutions and reduces both the maximum quark–antiquark separation and the deepest turning point of the energetically favored string. These results demonstrate that, while rotation acts trivially in the thermodynamic sector through an exact scaling law, it produces genuinely new effects in the string sector.

We investigate the timelike entanglement first law in holographic conformal field theories whose bulk dual is Lovelock gravity. Using the double Wick rotation formulation of timelike entanglement entropy together with the Jacobson-Myers entropy functional, we compute the linear variation of holographic timelike entanglement entropy for hyperbolic subregions. For cubic Lovelock gravity, we explicitly show that a single, universal multiplicative renormalization factor governs how higher curvature interactions enter the variations of both the entropy and the modular Hamiltonian, leading to $\Delta S=\Delta\langle H\rangle$ for low-energy thermal excitations. We then extend the analysis to Lovelock gravity of arbitrary order around the anti-de Sitter spacetime in the Fefferman-Graham gauge. For normalizable perturbations, the variation of the Jacobson-Myers functional reduces to the Einstein gravity's result multiplied by the same coupling-dependent factor that renormalizes the effective Newtonian constant in the linearized field equations of Lovelock gravity. We further show that the boundary contribution vanishes in the conformal limit for the class of perturbations considered. Consequently, the timelike entanglement first law is equivalent to the linearized field equations of Lovelock gravity about the maximally symmetric background, within the hyperbolic and perturbative regime considered in the present paper.

We study the gauge structure of interacting antisymmetric tensor field models obtained by the dimensional reduction on a group manifold. In such models a dimensionful parameter related to the size of the compact manifold plays the role of a coupling constant. We focus on open issues of reducibility of the gauge transformations in these theories and show that stages of reducibility of the interacting models coincide with ones of corresponding free counterparts.

Wineglass wormholes mediate the nucleation of baby universes out of an asymptotically Anti-de Sitter or flat spacetime. Upon materialization, the new universe naturally undergoes an inflationary phase. Here we study the quantum state of tensor and probe scalar field fluctuations that these wormhole geometries prepare, finding that they reproduce the Bunch-Davies vacuum for short-wavelength modes but lead to deviations from Bunch-Davies on large scales. These deviations, which depend on the charge of the wormhole, cause a small shift as well as oscillations in the angular power spectrum generated by an ensuing inflationary phase, and thus provide a distinctive cosmological observable. The wormholes are supported by either axionic or magnetic charges. In the limit of vanishing charge, they undergo a topological transition after which they contain no-boundary instantons. We find that the small-charge limit suppresses deviations from the Bunch-Davies state for both scalar and tensor fluctuations, indicating that the topological transition is smooth.

Field redefinitions connect many formulations of the same physics, but the standard equivalence theorem is an on-shell result and cannot be used to decide when two quantum descriptions are equivalent off shell. This paper develops an operational criterion for that problem in terms of the Vilkovisky–DeWitt effective action. The central idea is that equivalence should be tested on scalar observables built by pairing configuration-space tensors with admissible probes. This makes the criterion sensitive to the observable class under consideration and separates the usual on-shell notion of equivalence from the stronger off-shell notions needed in gravity, cosmology and non-equilibrium quantum field theory. Metric $f(R)$ gravity and a scalar field theory example serve as prototypes, showing how the formal criterion distinguishes local, branchwise and genuinely global equivalence. In particular, we show that metric $f(R)$ gravity and its auxiliary-field reformulation yield the same quantum theory when the auxiliary constraint is enforced in the path integral. This is distinct from quantizing the corresponding scalar–tensor action with the metric and scalar treated as independent integration variables, which defines a different quantum theory. Apparent quantum inequivalences can then be traced to comparisons between different quantum objects, rather than to a failure of actual equivalences. This leads to general and precise notions of local and global equivalence under both field redefinitions and auxiliary-variable extensions.

In this work, we develop and study the classical Lanczos algorithm allowing us to define Krylov complexity using the symplectic structure of phase space: Poisson brackets take on the role of the quantum commutators and phase-space integrals furnish the inner product needed to define the Lanczos recursion. We show, using general methods of quantum mechanics in phase space, that the $\hbar \to 0$ limit of the usual quantum mechanical Krylov framework smoothly goes over into the classical one. In theories with well-defined semiclassical limits, we show that classical Krylov complexity accurately approximates quantum complexity at early enough times, and thus is a useful characteristic of early-time chaotic dynamics. We define a Krylov-Ehrenfest time, which quantifies the eventual divergence of classical and quantum complexities, corresponding to a characteristic depth of the Krylov chain, $n\sim n_*(\hbar)$, which in the time domain translates to the well-known scale, $t_*\sim\lambda_K^{-1}\log(1/\hbar)$, in generic chaotic systems. We additionally define microcanonical Krylov complexities, both in the classical and quantum setting, which allows one a fine-grained study of complexity, energy shell by energy shell. We apply this framework to the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick (LMG) and Feingold-Peres (FP) models, which are collective spin systems known to classicalize in the thermodynamic limit. In particular, while the FP model features spectral chaos for some range of coupling values, the LMG model is known to exhibit early-time saddle-dominated scrambling. Our analysis shows that the instability in LMG is resolved by the microcanonical Krylov complexity, which is controlled by the integrable structure of the Hamiltonian in spectral windows away from the instability, both at early and late times.

We study a number of holographic solutions describing conformal line defects within $N=2$ SCFTs from matter-coupled $N=4$ gauged supergravity in five dimensions. For $SO(2)_D\times SO(3)$ gauge group, the gauged supergravity admits two supersymmetric $AdS_5$ vacua with $N=4$ and $N=2$ unbroken supersymmetries. It turns out that only solutions that are asymptotic to the $N=4$ vacuum are possible leading to line defects within the dual $N=2$ SCFT. In gauged supergravity with $SO(2)\times ISO(3)$ gauge group, we find similar solutions with the $N=2$ SCFT appearing in the IR while the UV field theories correspond to six-dimensional $N=(0,2)$ field theories arising from M5-branes wrapped on a hyperbolic space $H^2$. The solution with $SO(2)\times SO(3)$ symmetry is also uplifted to eleven dimensions via a consistent truncation on $H^2\times S^4$. Finally, for gauged supergravity with $SO(2)\times SO(3)\times SO(3)$ gauge group that admits two $N=4$ supersymmetric $AdS_5$ vacua, we find a solution describing a line defect that interpolates between these two vacua as well as a solution with only one asymptotic $AdS_5$ geometry.

We construct finite-tension non-Abelian vortex solutions in a renormalizable $(3+1)$-dimensional $SO(3)$ gauge theory Higgsed to the tetrahedral group $A_4$ by a Higgs field in the spin-3 representation. Since the vacuum manifold is $SO(3)/A_4$, the vortices are characterized by the non-Abelian fundamental group $\pi_1(SO(3)/A_4)\simeq \widetilde{A}_4$, the binary tetrahedral group. We obtain explicit axisymmetric vortex solutions carrying holonomies corresponding to the order-two and order-three conjugacy classes of $A_4$, determine their tensions numerically, and show that they exhibit type-I, type-II, and Bogomol'nyi–Prasad–Sommerfield-like behavior depending on the Higgs and gauge boson mass ratios. The vortices are classified by conjugacy classes of $\widetilde{A}_4$, while their infrared descriptions are labeled by conjugacy classes of $A_4$. We further demonstrate that the smooth finite-tension vortices reduce in the infrared to Gukov–Witten surface operators of the $A_4$ discrete gauge theory, thereby establishing a finite-energy ultraviolet completion of non-invertible defects in a renormalizable gauge-Higgs theory.

We calculate high-order late-time tails of the retarded Green function of the Teukolsky equation for linear field perturbations of (subextremal) Kerr spacetime. We calculate these tails at a fixed spheroidal harmonic $\ell$ and azimuthal number $m$ up to the first three orders for the field point: at finite radius (away from the event horizon) for large Boyer-Lindquist time $t$; along the future event horizon $\mathscr{H}^+$ for large ingoing Eddington-Finkelstein coordinate $v$; and along future null infinity $\mathscr{I}^+$ for large outgoing Eddington-Finkelstein coordinate $u$. We obtain the tail powers for generic integer field spin $s$ and the tail coefficients specifically for gravitational ($s=-2$) perturbations. Our asymptotics include the known leading power-law (generic) tails, respectively,$t^{-2\ell-3}$, $e^{im\Omega_H v}v^{-2\ell-3-b}$ (where $b=1$ for $s>0, m=0$ and $b=0$ otherwise, and where $\Omega_H$ is the angular velocity of the event horizon) and $u^{-\ell+s-2}$, as well as their higher-order logarithmic corrections: $t^{-2\ell-5}\ln t$, $e^{im\Omega_H v}v^{-2\ell-5-b}\ln v$ and $u^{-\ell+s-3}\ln u$ (as well as $u^{-\ell+s-4}\ln^2 u$). Since we obtain the high-order expansions for modes for generic $\ell$ and $m$, we can readily infer the explicit expansions of the full retarded Green function for $s=-2$ (and its decay powers for generic integer $s$). We obtain the late-time asymptotics from small-frequency expansions of the Fourier modes of the retarded Green function in the frequency domain. Accordingly, we also provide small-frequency expansions of various quantities of interest in the scattering theory. We also attach two notebooks which provide expansions for specific values of $s$: one notebook provides them to the first three leading orders for generic $\ell$ and the other one to arbitrary order for specific values of $\ell$.

Scalar field dark matter provides us with a well motivated alternative to conventional particle dark matter, especially when ultralight fields form coherent oscillations or compact self gravitating clumps. Here we develop three complementary Solar System and local Galactic level probes of such models. These probes pertain to ADAF-like flares from scalar clump encounters with Kuiper Belt Objects, atomic clock searches for oscillatory variations of fundamental constants and astrometric microlensing by compact scalar clumps. We derive simple sensitivity estimates and null detection bounds on the scalar clump fraction, clock couplings and compact lens abundance. Our results show that Gaia-like astrometry can probe compact scalar clumps at the percent level near $M_s\gtrsim10^{-2}M_\odot$, while future astrometric and clock experiments can extend the reach to lower masses and weaker couplings.

We develop explicit computational tools for the recent homological approach to the construction of $2$-dimensional integrable field theories on $\Sigma$ from $4$-dimensional semi-holomorphic Chern-Simons theory on $\Sigma \times C$. In this framework, the operation of integrating out the spectral curve $C$ is realized by homotopy transfer of a cyclic $L_\infty$-algebra associated with the $4$-dimensional theory with prescribed singularities and boundary conditions. We construct explicit strong deformation retracts for divisor-twisted Dolbeault complexes on $C=\mathbb{C}P^1$ and use them to make the transferred $L_\infty$-structure computationally accessible. As an application, we study the choice of meromorphic $1$-form corresponding to the principal chiral model with a Wess-Zumino term. We compute the transferred Maurer-Cartan action and the associated Lax connection, showing that the former resums to the standard principal chiral model action with a Wess-Zumino term and that the latter reproduces the usual Lax connection.

We provide a proof of unitarity for quantum field theory in a general spacetime. Our argument expresses the Bogoliubov transformations in terms of a unitary squeezing operator relating the initial and final Hilbert spaces. The $S$-matrix in curved spacetime is thus the product of the squeezing operator and the $S$-matrix in the out-Hilbert space (typically Minkowski). Since both factors are unitary, their product is unitary. It follows that the Bogoliubov in-vacuum is described by a BCS-like state (Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer): (i) for fermions, it is exactly the BCS state, but with electrons and positrons in place of electrons with opposite spin; (ii) for bosons, it is the Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) superfluid ground state. Thus, gravity, or an accelerating force, creates from the vacuum a many-particle system unstable towards forming a new ground state of Cooper pairs. Technically, gravity converts the vacuum into an electron-positron condensate, with respect to which quantum field theory evolves unitarily. By reverse engineering, we reconstruct the effective Hamiltonian of QFT in a black hole (or Rindler) background, together with a simple formula for the mass gap function, which grows approximately linearly with the temperature. Hence, electrons and positrons condense into a superconducting state at increasingly higher temperatures as the black hole mass decreases. Unitarity and the particle interpretation are preserved at every stage of evaporation. The Hawking state is exactly a BCS state. Finally, we compute the entanglement entropy and derive the area law.

We investigate the presence of compact, long-range, and vacuumless regimes in models described by real scalar fields in 2D flat and 5D warped geometries. In the two-dimensional case, we study in detail several models that support localized solutions. When embedded into a warped $\text{AdS}_5$ background, these fields generate distinct kinds of brane profiles.

The worldsheet $\sigma$-model of strings on AdS$_3$ with NS-NS fluxes can be equivalently described in terms of a Liouville field theory coupled to a timelike field with background charge, plus a marginal deformation. The operator that produces the deformation is non-normalizable and, from the string theory perspective, is associated to the spectral flow sector $\omega =2$. Its role is to control the winding number violation in scattering amplitudes. In the semiclassical (large $k$) limit, the central charge of the Liouville factor tends to that of the dual CFT$_2$, namely $c\simeq 6k$. This may appear very similar to what occurs in the Liouville-type description of the dual deformed orbifold CFT$_2$, where a twist-2 deformation operator dressed with a non-normalized field also appears. Indeed, there are some similarities to that; however, there are also significant differences, which we discuss.

In this paper, we discuss the validity of the composite worldline instanton approach for the nonperturbative decay of charged particles in constant electric and magnetic fields. It is shown that the instanton results in the leading exponential approximation in the different limits agree with the ones obtained by the imaginary part of the self-energy in the external field and by overlap of the wave functions. We comment on the possible application of our results for the estimation of the decay rate of the proton in the external electric and magnetic field in the leading exponential approximation. The effects of entanglement of the particles in the final state are briefly mentioned.

We determine the quantum corrections to transport arising from fluctuations of the near-AdS${}_2$ throat of near-extremal black branes in holographic models with momentum relaxation. By computing the shear viscosity and electrical conductivity at both zero and finite chemical potential, we uncover a universal low-temperature enhancement of transport generated by Schwarzian quantum fluctuations. Specifically, transport coefficients extracted from retarded Green's functions increase throughout the regime $C T \ll 1$. For operators with Schwarzian scaling dimension $\Delta >1$, this enhancement is preceded by a universal minimum at a characteristic temperature $T_{\rm min} \propto C^{-1}$, leading to a non-monotonic temperature dependence strikingly similar to that observed in many correlated materials. In contrast, for the case $\Delta =1$, relevant for the electrical conductivity, the transport coefficient evolves monotonically toward a constant value. Our results identify universal signatures of near-horizon quantum gravity in the transport properties of holographic quantum matter.

We revisit holographic electrical conductivity in the regime of very low temperatures where quantum fluctuations in the throat of the near-extremal, asymptotically AdS$_4$ dual black brane are strongly coupled. We treat the fluctuations via an effective two-dimensional action capturing the effects of the Schwarzian modes at the scale $1/C$. Our main result is a non-monotonic temperature dependence: the quantum-corrected conductivity decreases as the temperature is lowered, reaches a minimum at $(CT_{\mathrm{min}}\simeq 0.023)$, and grows as $(1/\sqrt{CT})$ for $(CT\ll 1)$. We further estimate the one-loop contribution to the conductivity directly from the four-dimensional gravitational path integral and find qualitative agreement with the effective two-dimensional description in the regime $(CT\gg 1)$. We find that quantum corrections substantially modify the low-temperature behavior of the holographic conductivity in both approaches.

The quantum Rabi model is a standard effective Hamiltonian in studies of light-matter interaction, capturing the simplest nontrivial setting in which a qubit couples to a single harmonic oscillator. Within the broader Rabi family, we focus on two special cases: the Jaynes-Cummings (JC) model, which carries an explicit $U(1)$ symmetry, and the asymmetric quantum Rabi model (AQRM), which possesses a parameter-dependent "hidden” symmetry that appears only at integer bias, $\varepsilon/\omega\in\mathbb{Z}$, and is not manifest in the Hamiltonian. We use the time-averaged entangling power as an operator-level diagnostic of these symmetry structures. Since the oscillator Hilbert space is infinite-dimensional, we compare two finite input ensembles: a Haar average after Fock-space truncation and a coherent-state average at fixed mean occupation $\bar{n}$. Both diagnostics show peaks at the integer-bias points of the AQRM, where the hidden symmetry resides. In contrast, the manifest $U(1)$ symmetry at the JC point instead gives a weak dip. Thus, the time-averaged entangling power responds to both the hidden symmetry and the $U(1)$ symmetry in the Rabi family, with the sign of the response indicating how the symmetry reorganizes the spectral expansion. These results demonstrate that the entangling power can serve as an operator diagnostic to reveal the presence and properties of hidden and manifest symmetries in light-matter systems.