Papers

In theoretical physics, finding connections between problems that appear in distinct contexts is an important way to leapfrog progresses, often by illuminating deep aspects that may otherwise seem obscure. In this paper, we consider in 2d CFTs the phenomenon of forbidden singularities in auto-correlation functions – a key signature of eigenstate thermalization. We show that they correspond to phase transitions in the context of eigenstates. The connection is made explicit by utilizing the AGT correspondence, which relates eigenstate auto-correlations to the Nekrasov partition functions describing an instanton gas of the $\mathcal{N}=2$ SUSY gauge theories. We show that by taking the counter-part of the heavy-light limit, two phases emerge for the instanton gas. They are dominated by configurations represented by string-like Young tableaux with distinct structures and thermodynamic properties, which bare resemblance to the confined and the deconfined phases. A phase transition occurs as instantons proliferate from one side, in a manner that mimics the Lee-Yang theory. We work out the critical fugacity and find it corresponding exactly to the forbidden singularity.

As phase transitions in isolated quantum systems remain elusive, here we show how a thermodynamic-like phase transition, falling into the Lee-Yang paradigm, can arise in systems displaying eigenstate thermalization. Specifically, we show that in holographic conformal field theories, the eigenstate expectation of the auto-correlation function can be mapped to the partition function ${\cal Z}_{{gauge}}(z)$ of a virtual interacting instanton gas, with the conformal mapping of the imaginary time: $z=1-e^{-\tau}$ and the central charge $c$ mimicking the instanton fugacity and volume, respectively. We find that akin to the Lee-Yang paradigm, for $c\to\infty$ a pair of complex conjugate zeros of ${\cal Z}_{{gauge}}(z)$ move to the real axis located at the famous forbidden singularity. Passing through the singularity the system transits from the low- to high-fugacity phase, accompanied by dramatic changes in scaling behaviors of the free energy and dominant microscopic configurations. Our findings indicate that physics of phase transitions from eigenstate thermalization is very rich.

We construct four families of spacetime metrics depending on a single variable for a broad class of $D$-dimensional gravitational theories coupled to scalar and Abelian gauge fields. As applications of the general formalism, we derive one-variable solutions of ungauged $\mathcal{N}=2$, $D=4$ supergravity coupled to vector multiplets. We also obtain explicit solutions for a consistent truncation of $\mathcal{N}=8$, $D=4$ supergravity, as well as for theories whose scalar fields parametrize the symmetric coset manifolds $SL(N,\mathbb{R})/SO(N,\mathbb{R})$. In all cases, the geometry of the scalar manifold plays a central role in determining the structure of the resulting solutions with nontrivial scalar and gauge field configurations.

A novel approach to a computation of vacuum amplitude for a single scalar field in any number of dimensions with arbitrary potential on a lattice is proposed. The computation involves symmetrization of kinetic exponential factor in the path integral over all permutations of lattice sites and Waring decomposition of the symmetrized expression.

The main goal of tomography is the reconstruction of density function out of its line integrals (integral measurements of this density along x-ray lines). Such construction is possible and known as inverse x-ray/Radon transformations. We are interested in generalization of this problem to the case of particles. For this we need to limit the speed of these particles, otherwise the problem is reduced to the previous one. The question we discuss in this paper is how low can this speed be depending on the parameters of the studied potential. We study this problem using simple theoretical examples and Machine Learning pipeline to restore the potential.

We investigate the topological properties of QCD across the finite temperature Roberge-Weiss transition, which is found for particular values of the imaginary baryon chemical potential. Our study is conducted for $N_f = 2+1+1$ QCD with physical quark masses, discretized via stout improved staggered fermions and considering mostly two different values of the compactifed dimension, $N_t = 8$ and $N_t = 10$. Results for $T_{RW}$ and for the associated universality class are consistent with those found in the $N_f = 2 + 1$ case with a slightly different discretization. The topological susceptibility appears to be practically constant for $T \lesssim T_{RW}$, then rapidly decaying for higher temperatures. The analysis of the fourth order cumulant of the topological charge distribution, $b_2$, reveals that it is compatible with the prediction of the Dilute Instanton Gas Approximation right after $T_{RW}$, showing thus a sharp transition, which is more similar to what observed in pure gauge theories rather than to full QCD along the standard thermal line, where instead a slower transition was observed in previous studies.

We study a number of supersymmetric $AdS_4\times \Sigma$ solutions with $\Sigma$ being a topological disk with non-trivial $U(1)$ holonomy on the boundary or a “half-spindle” from matter-coupled $F(4)$ gauged supergravity. The gauged supergravity is coupled to three vector multiplets with $SO(3)\times SO(3)$ gauge group. The resulting solutions preserve eight supercharges and $SO(2)\times SO(2)$ or $SO(2)_{\text{diag}}$ symmetries and are expected to be dual to $N=2$ SCFTs in three dimensions arising from compactifications of five-dimensional $N=2$ SCFT on a half-spindle. All of the solutions lie within the $U(1)\times U(1)$ subsector of the matter-coupled $F(4)$ gauged supergravity that can be embedded in massive type IIA theory. After uplifted to ten dimensions, the solutions can be interpreted as a system of D4-D8-branes wrapped on $\Sigma$. Some of the solutions are asymptotic to a locally $AdS_6$ geometry and can be identified as codimension-2 conformal defects within the $N=2$ SCFT in five dimensions. For these solutions, the circle inside $\Sigma$ decompactifies in the $AdS_6$ limit rendering the holographic free energy infinite. There also exist solutions with finite free energy in the dual three-dimensional SCFTs. In addition, we show that the results both extend the previously known solutions and provide a novel class of solutions.

Hybrid $\alpha$-attractor models \cite{Kallosh:2022ggf} can have significantly greater values of $n_{s}$ and smaller $r$, while preserving the relation $r\cong 3\alpha (1-n_s)^2$, which is valid for exponential T- and E-models at large values of the inflaton field. Here we study single-field $\alpha$-attractors with features inspired by hybrid models: one can uplift the potential, and one can also have a waterfall regime that leads to a premature termination of inflation near the critical point $\varphi_c$. This allows one to increase the effective number of e-foldings $N_c$ in formulas like $n_s\simeq 1-{2\over N_c}$, $r\simeq {12 \alpha\over N_c^2}$. By changing the waterfall's steepness and location, one can continuously move the predictions along the curves with $r\cong 3\alpha (1-n_s)^2$ as $n_s$ increases and $r$ decreases. We also study the effect of waterfall insertions and uplift on $n_s$ in quintessential $\alpha$-attractors that describe inflation and dynamical dark energy.

In this work, we take a first step to a stochastic real-time description of the vacuum phase transitions in a radiation-dominated FLRW universe from the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. By splitting the phase transition field $\Phi$ into the long-wavelength mode $\phi$ and the short-wavelength mode $\sigma$ and tracing over the latter as the environment, we obtain a classical Langevin-type equation-of-motion for the long-wavelength field $\phi$, where the quantum effects are encoded in a non-Markov memory kernel and a non-Gaussian noise. As a phenomenological example, we start from a polynomial potential and a thermalized initial state, and study the structure of the memory kernel as well as the correlation functions of the noise term. Further extensions remain possible to describe the whole dynamics of cosmological first-order phase transitions via numerical simulations.

We study how boundaries affect Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory, a three-dimensional gauge theory that combines ordinary electromagnetic propagation with a topological Chern-Simons term. On a strip, the two boundaries can support edge excitations while the single massive bulk mode mediates a Casimir interaction between them. We use Symanzik's local boundary-field-theory framework, deriving the boundary conditions from the most general quadratic local boundary action considered here rather than imposing them by hand. Requiring these conditions to act consistently on the unique physical bulk mode selects a continuous family of admissible boundaries, characterized by an impedance and an edge velocity. The associated conserved currents form two boundary current algebras with opposite levels, and for a symmetric strip the edge modes propagate in opposite directions. The bulk and residual edge sectors factorize, leaving a single physical scattering channel for the Casimir problem. We derive its reflection amplitude, identify a stable pole-free domain, and show that the force is attractive there. In the Maxwell limit the usual long-range one-channel Casimir interaction is recovered, whereas the topological mass produces exponential screening at large separation. Outside the pole-free domain, localized surface modes can appear and must be included separately. The analysis provides a unified description of edge dynamics, boundary conditions and vacuum forces in a topologically massive gauge theory.

We extend the recently proposed modified double-copy formalism to quasitopological gravity (QTG) coupled to matter. For spherically symmetric configurations, the QTG field equations in $D-$dimensional curved spacetime with a broad class of matter sources are mapped to equations for an auxiliary nonlinear gauge field in a flat $(D+1)$-dimensional spacetime. The nonlinear electrodynamics governing this auxiliary field is determined entirely by the generating function $h(p)$ that specifies the QTG model, while the corresponding current is determined by the matter stress-energy tensor. Restricting the auxiliary solution to a $D$-dimensional hyperplane and applying the modified double-copy prescription yields the Kerr–Schild metric solving the QTG equations. We show that Maxwell and nonlinear electrodynamics, as well as a broad class of spherically symmetric Yang–Mills fields, provide physical matter sources compatible with this construction. In the absence of null-matter fluxes, the corresponding solutions possess an additional Killing vector. This means that they satisfy a generalized Birkhoff theorem, whereas null charged currents naturally generate Vaidya-type solutions. In the Einstein limit, $h(p)=p$, the auxiliary nonlinear electrodynamics reduces to Maxwell theory.

The number of non-Clifford gates needed to perform a task, or simply magic, is a resource for fault-tolerant quantum computation. Von Neumann algebras provide a formal mathematical structure to describe infinite-dimensional quantum systems, such as those in quantum field theory or quantum statistical mechanics. A particularly important class of von Neumann algebras is called Type III algebras, for which the standard notions of finite-dimensional systems such as density matrices and traces break down. In this work, we argue that Type III von Neumann algebras fundamentally require an infinite amount of magic. Specifically, we consider the thermodynamic limit of finite-dimensional quantum systems, such as lattice systems, and show that if the states in the thermodynamic limit possess only a bounded amount of magic, the resulting local von Neumann algebra cannot be of Type III. Our result has direct implications for the quantum simulations of quantum field theories, for which the algebra of a local subregion is known to be of Type III.

In this work we investigate the tidal properties of the Dymnikova regular black hole and their ef fects on massive particles in radial free-fall. Starting from Dymnikova static, spherically symmetric solution, we derive the equations governing timelike radial geodesics and construct an orthonormal tetrad adapted to a free-falling observer. We then obtain the radial and angular components of the tidal tensor and analyze their dependence on the black hole mass and the characteristic length scale of the de Sitter core. At large radial distances, tidal forces recover Schwarzschild behavior, whereas near the regular center, both components remain finite, reflecting the non-singular nature of the spacetime. We show that the radial and angular tidal forces vanish and change sign at characteris tic radii inside the event horizon, indicating transitions between stretching and compression regimes. A particle released from rest outside the event horizon reaches a turnaround point located inside the Cauchy horizon, rather than reaching the regular center. We also solve the geodesic deviation equations for two sets of initial conditions and examine the evolution of the radial and transverse components of the deviation vector. Although the solutions asymptotically reproduce Schwarzschild behavior, they differ significantly in the inner region: the deviation vector components remain finite up to the turnaround point, whereas the corresponding radial component in the Schwarzschild case diverges at the singularity. These results demonstrate how the de Sitter core regularizes the tidal dynamics of extended falling bodies.

We study the possibility of an inverse first-order electroweak phase transition (IFOEWPT) and observable gravitational waves (GW) in a radiative neutrino mass model of scotogenic type where singlet-doublet (SD) fermions, the lightest of whom is the dark matter (DM) candidate, generate the necessary seesaw at one-loop level. Considering the possibility of light neutrinos being Dirac for simplicity and additional detection prospects, we extend the standard model (SM) with two generations of $SU(2)_L$ singlet and doublet fermions, one singlet scalar, and three right-handed neutrinos (RHNs). While RHNs provide the right chiral parts of light Dirac neutrinos, the SD fermions and the scalar singlet facilitate the one-loop neutrino mass diagram. The neutral component of the lighter SD fermion, stabilized under a residual $Z_2$ symmetry plays the role of DM while the heavier SD fermions strongly couple to the Higgs leading to an IFOEWPT where the Universe undergoes two different first-order phase transition as it goes from the symmetric to the final broken Higgs phase. We constrain the parameter space from the requirements of generating the correct neutrino mass, DM relic as well as IFOEWPT while incorporating the existing constraints from different experiments. The final allowed parameter space of the model can be probed at collider, direct-detection, GW and cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments in near future.

Treating the number of flavors $n$ as a variable in the $O(n)$ model leads to non-perturbative constraints on the spectrum of operators. Using the duality between $O(n)$ and $Sp(-n)$, we extend these relations to negative even values of $n$ and we make them explicit by decomposing operators with general flavor structure into irreducible representations. In perturbation theory, we exploit this structure to reveal novel degeneracies in the scaling dimensions of different operators, which persist for arbitrary $n$. This allows us to derive the two-loop anomalous dimension of any $\phi^k$-type operator from existing results without additional loop calculations. The same mechanism dictates patterns in renormalization group mixing matrices, yielding new non-renormalization results in a specific operator basis. We comment on extending this framework to relations between operator product expansion coefficients and to analogous constraints arising from evanescence under continuation in the number of spacetime dimensions.

In this note, we study the stabilizer complexity of the reduced density matrix corresponding to one side of a partially entangled thermal (PET) state with fixed energy boundary conditions in a holographic CFT. In particular, we study Wigner negativity, an operationally meaningful magic monotone which can be interpreted as the complexity of classically simulating any quantum circuit preparation of the reduced state on the subregion. Using assumptions on the pseudorandomness of the CFT spectrum and the heavy operator insertion, we observe that the Wigner negativity of the PET state relative to the microcanonical density matrix at the given energy is given by $\exp\left[\frac{1}{8G_N}(A_{\text{out}} - A_{\text{min}})\right]$, where $A_{\text{out}}$ is the area of the outer extremal surface, while $A_{\text{min}}$ is the area of the minimal extremal surface. Thus, the stabilizer complexity of the reduced density matrix on the boundary subregion is $O(1)$ in the absence of a python's lunch, but gets exponentially enhanced in the presence of a python's lunch in the bulk geometry.

We study decay of a scalar field false vacuum near a (3+1)-dimensional Schwarzschild black hole equilibrated at Hawking temperature with the environment. Our scalar field model has negative quartic self-coupling and thereby resembles Higgs sector of the Standard Model in the large-field limit. We demonstrate that if the black hole is not too small, the false vacuum in this model decays aspherically with regard to the black hole center: via formation of expanding true vacuum bubbles emerging on the outer side of the event horizon. More specifically, we identify three regimes of the decay. For the largest and coldest black holes, the main mechanism is quantum tunneling described by an infinitesimally thin bounce sitting at some point of the horizon. In the intermediate-mass regime, the vacuum is destroyed by thermal fluctuations creating aspherical critical bubbles in the horizon vicinity. Finally, near the smallest black holes thermal fluctuations still guide the decay but the dominant critical bubble is spherically symmetric and covers the entire horizon.

We have previously proposed a new approach to the cosmological constant problem based on anisotropic scaling in a compact extra dimension. In the ultra-local $z=0$ limit, the interplay between a projectable lapse, foliation-preserving diffeomorphisms, and higher-form fluxes renders the gravitational field equations insensitive to radiative corrections to the matter vacuum energy. Here we extend this framework beyond the ultra-local limit by introducing $z=1$ deformations that restore dynamics along the compact direction. We show that vacuum-energy cancellation persists at the level of the background equations, while generic extrinsic-curvature couplings propagate an additional scalar ghost. A healthy quadratic spectrum selects the Fierz-Pauli relation between these couplings. This motivates a particularly simple realization in terms of five-dimensional Einstein gravity, a top-form flux, and a spacelike khoron scalar field that dynamically defines a preferred projectable foliation. In this covariant formulation, the global constraint arises from an auxiliary einbein on the space of khoron leaves, and constant shifts of the renormalized matter vacuum energy cancel algebraically from the intrinsic Einstein equations. Finally, allowing matter to propagate around the compact dimension generates finite, topology-sensitive Casimir contributions that are not automatically removed by the mechanism. Suppressing these contributions requires additional spectral conditions on the propagating bulk degrees of freedom.

We develop a lattice characterization of fermionic 't Hooft anomalies of finite internal symmetries in one and two spatial dimensions, formulated in terms of obstructions to symmetric short-range-entangled (SRE) states. We consider lattice systems formed by tensor product of onsite fermionic and bosonic local degrees of freedom, and finite internal symmetry given by a central extension $\mathbb Z_2^F\to G_f\to G_b$. We extract a hierarchy of fermionic anomaly indices for a given symmetry operator in both (1+1)D and (2+1)D. In (1+1)D, an exact lattice symmetry is characterized by a pair of cohomological data $(n_2,\nu_3)$. For $G_f=G_b\times\mathbb Z_2^F$, we further show that a symmetry with trivial lattice anomaly indices $(n_2,\nu_3)$ is onsiteable and hence admits a symmetric SRE state, establishing that these indices faithfully detect the lattice anomaly. Comparing with continuum fermionic QFT, we find that exact lattice symmetries do not realize the additional $H^1(BG_b,\mathbb Z_2)$ anomaly layer in continuum QFT. In particular, for $G_b=\mathbb Z_2$, exact lattice symmetries realize only the even $\mathbb Z_4$ subgroup of the continuum $\mathbb Z_8$ classification. In (2+1)D, we identify three successive anomaly layers of cohomological data $(n_2,n_3,\nu_4)$. We show that a nontrivial value of any layer obstructs a symmetric SRE state. For $G_f=G_b\times\mathbb Z_2^F$, it also forbids a symmetric invertible state. We also construct a non-onsite $\mathbb Z_4^F$ lattice symmetry in (2+1)D with nontrivial lattice anomaly index that forbids any symmetric invertible states with $c_-\in\mathbb{Z}$, therefore forbids any invertible states compatible with onsite $\mathbb{Z}_4^F$ symmetry. Our results motivate a systematic study of which continuum anomalies admit exact microscopic lattice realizations.

We study a spin-$\frac12$ impurity coupled to the boundary of a strongly correlated spin-$s$ Takhtajan–Babujian chain, an integrable model whose low-energy physics is described by a perturbed $SU(2)_{2s}$ Wess–Zumino–Witten conformal field theory. While boundary conformal field theory determines the low-energy universality class of the weak-coupling regime, exact Bethe Ansatz methods reveal a sequence of boundary quantum phase transitions in which impurity-bound states emerge and reorganize the Hilbert space into multiple excitation towers built on distinct boundary configurations. This tower restructuring provides the organizing principle for a rich boundary phase diagram extending beyond the conventional Kondo regime. Weak antiferromagnetic coupling realizes the overscreened $2s$-channel Kondo universality class, whereas stronger couplings generate localized boundary modes and qualitatively new screening mechanisms. To describe the resulting thermodynamics, we develop a generalized thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz framework that captures the multi-tower structure across all regimes. The impurity entropy reproduces the boundary conformal field theory prediction in the overscreened Kondo regime but develops pronounced nonmonotonic temperature dependence once boundary-bound states appear, in quantitative agreement with large-scale finite-temperature matrix-product-operator simulations. Complementary dynamical calculations reveal sharp threshold features in the impurity spectral function that directly track the underlying tower structure. Together, boundary conformal field theory, exact Bethe Ansatz, generalized thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz, and tensor-network simulations provide a unified description of impurity screening, boundary-bound-state formation, and excitation-tower reconstruction in a correlated spin-$s$ chain.

We construct phase transitions that proliferate condensable anyons in general 2+1d topological orders, including non-abelian ones. The central tool that provides a systematic approach to this question is the Symmetry Topological Field Theory (SymTFT). For a given topological order, we identify the relevant symmetry from the transparent lines generated by the condensable anyons, and thereby realize the topological order in terms of a 3+1d SymTFT sandwich. The proliferation phase transition is realized by coupling scalar fields to the anyons purely on the symmetry boundary of the SymTFT. We illustrate the construction for abelian theories, as well as non-abelian ones, $D(S_3)$ and $SU(2)_k$ Chern-Simons theories, and extend it to anomalous anyons.

Strong coupling to a magnetic texture makes an electron propagate through an emergent curved space. We show that an elementary vortex realizes the exterior spatial geometry of an Ellis wormhole: an ultrastatic throat with radius fixed by the topological charge and Hund exchange, cut off at short distances by the microscopic core. Two separable signatures follow directly: the electron deflection collapses onto a single Ellis curve governed by the vortex winding and exchange coupling, while the spin Berry phase produces a half-flux Aharonov–Bohm response switched on and off by winding parity. The same metric can be emulated in a designer honeycomb lattice, where the valley-symmetrized wave-packet response follows the predicted exterior geodesic. These signatures are accessible through real-space electron deflection and scattering, providing experimentally distinct probes of the emergent geometry and Berry flux. The magnetic vortex thus turns a topological defect into a tunable curved-space lens for electrons in quantum materials and designer lattices.

We develop a super-current formulation of $\mathcal{N}=1$ super-Virasoro constraints for external-source models. By assigning bosonic and fermionic monodromies independently, we unify the NS-NS, NS-R, R-NS, and R-R sectors. For each, a super-Miwa transformation represents the projected super energy-momentum tensor as a differential operator in spectral variables. Dilaton shifts yield Super Quantum Airy Structures in the NS-NS and R-NS sectors, whereas the R-R and NS-R sectors require an additional odd coordinate. Our principal result is an exact similarity transformation relating the NS-NS and R-R differential constraints. The intertwining prefactor combines a bosonic determinant, a cubic Airy weight, and a Grassmann exponential kernel defined by the difference of Neveu–Schwarz and Ramond fermionic propagators. These results establish a concrete candidate system of Ward identities for a supersymmetric extension of the Kontsevich model, delineating the precise algebraic and analytic properties of the measure and fermionic kernel required for its potential matrix-model realization.

Ryu-Takayanagi established how boundary entanglement encodes bulk area. We provide the metric counterpart: boundary mutual information imposes a rigorous lower bound on bulk geodesic separation that diverges logarithmically as correlations vanish. A multiscale iteration promotes this local inequality to a global obstruction to bulk connectivity. For parallel strips in AdS$_5$/CFT$_4$, the bound necessitates a quantum resolution of the classical mutual-information transition and fixes the asymptotic growth of geodesic distance.

We study holography for three-dimensional asymptotically flat spacetimes in which the bulk gravitational dynamics is conjectured to be dual to a two-dimensional Carrollian (equivalently BMS) conformal field theory. Such theories are known to arise as ultrarelativistic ($c\rightarrow0$) contractions of relativistic 2d conformal field theories. Under this contraction, the Virasoro algebra becomes the conformal Carrollian algebra and the Brown-Henneaux central charges become $c_L=0$, $c_M=\frac{3}{G}$. In this article, we recover these central charges directly from holography. We first construct the holographic quasilocal stress tensor for asymptotically flat spacetimes carrying Bondi mass and angular momentum. Under BMS$_3$ transformations, the stress tensor acquires an inhomogeneous term, the “BMS Schwarzian", and extracting the central charges from it reproduces the algebraic result exactly. We then obtain the action for the boundary BMS Schwarzian modes. Finally, we show that the holographic stress-tensor correlators satisfy the expected Ward identity, while stress-tensor conservation obeys flux-balance laws.

We perform a detailed diagrammatic analysis of the renormalisation of a family of asymptotically free, shift-symmetric four-derivative scalar field theories introduced by Holdom in arXiv:2303.06723 and arXiv:2402.09223. We extend the renormalisation of the theory from one to three loops using both an $R^*$ method and an asymptotic expansion in momenta. We prove that the Euclidean correlators (or off-shell amplitudes) are IR finite, to all orders in perturbation theory, and derive a non-renormalisation theorem describing the all-order structure of the renormalisation constants. In particular, a purely cubic interaction is RG invariant and a perfect square Lagrangian density is preserved under renormalisation. The latter result is due to a Ward identity in a related $\textit{ gravitational}$ theory $-$ the conformally flat limit of quadratic gravity (CFQG). We show that the beta function for the perfect square theory maps exactly to that of an $O(2)$-symmetric, two-derivative, massless $\phi^4$ theory at negative coupling. We verify this relationship explicitly up to three loops and thus determine the beta function and anomalous dimension for both the perfect square theory and CFQG to six loops.

The compatibility of the semiorthogonal decomposition of a cubic fourfold with Bridgeland stability beyond a generic point is the missing ingredient in the conjectured dynamical protection of the K3 atom $\AX$. We analyze it in the exactly solvable models of the noncommutative minimal model program. In the uncoupled Fano models ($\PP^1$; $\PP^1 \times \PP^1$ at resonance) the quantum cohomology path exits the geometric chamber at an explicit finite time, enters the selection region of the gluing, and never leaves; perturbing the resonance shows the $\varepsilon$-crossover is not a wall. The $A_2$ quiver provides a coupled counterpart. We examine the deformed cubic oscillator, Painlevé~I, and formulate a tau-JLO dictionary as a determinant identification and establish its perturbative layer, including computing closed-form quantum periods through $Z_4$, all-orders flatness with exact curvature the tau-divisor current, identifying it with the zeta determinant's zero divisor along a Painlevé~I trajectory. We close by conjecturing that the determinant's nonperturbative jumps are automorphisms of the underlying Joyce structure.

We prove the robustness of the analytic approximation used in (hybrid) loop quantum cosmology to compute the primordial power spectrum of the cosmological perturbations for a recently proposed vacuum state (the non-oscillatory state with asymptotic Hamiltonian diagonalization). To investigate this, we study different approximations to the effective mass of these perturbations near the bounce, showing that the Pöschl-Teller potential employed in previous works leads to indistinguishable power spectra compared to other estimations of the mass, provided that they successfully capture the characteristic scale of the bounce, which translates into a scale of power suppression.

In any theory of quantum gravity, an interesting question to address is to what extent known solutions of the Einstein field equations can be obtained as expectation values of metric operators on suitable quantum states. In this work, we consider coherent states (to ensure minimum uncertainty) for different foliations of the de~Sitter spacetime and study temporal evolution and coordinate invariance. A general framework will first be introduced for metrics that can be diagonalised globally. We will then find that the normalisability of coherent states in this framework requires using reference frames without coordinate singularities.

In the $\mathcal N=2$ supersymmetric SYK model with $N$ fermions, every BPS state is fortuitous: at fixed charge, it exists only over a finite range of $N$. Allowing the charge to increase, we show that BPS classes may instead be uplifted along lattice walks inside the fortuity window, potentially to arbitrarily large $N$. However, there is no canonical uplift. We therefore introduce a decoder $D$ whose spectrum quantifies exact uplift and its metric cost. We call the failure or increasing cost of uplifting harmonic representatives metric fragility. Chen's single-matrix model and the protected tower of the two-flavor SYK model realize bare and genuinely dressed mechanisms of perfect uplift, respectively. In the generic one-flavor model, exact uplift eventually fails. The Lin-Maldacena-Rozenberg-Shan-type operator $D^\dagger D$ exhibits level statistics consistent with the Gaussian unitary ensemble. Its eigenvalues quantify the metric continuity of BPS states across system size, while their correlations probe chaos within the BPS sector. Metric fragility and BPS chaos are thus encoded in complementary observables of the same operator, distinguishing chaotic BPS sectors from exactly solvable towers.