Papers

Vector meson dominance models describe the mixing of photons with vector mesons; the hadronic admixture frequently dominates the interactions of photons with nucleons. This mixing also makes it possible to test for new physics affecting the vector mesons using photon measurements. The possibilities for new physics to be contrained in this indirect fashion include potential Lorentz and CPT violations in the hadronic effective action. The characteristic scale of bounds on Lorentz violation coefficients in the $\rho^{0}$ meson sector is two orders of magnitude weaker than the corresponding photon bounds, three orders of magnitude weaker for $\phi$ vector mesons, and four orders of magnitude weaker for $\omega$ mesons.

In this paper, we study the dimensional reduction of a nonlocal scalar field theory to 1+2 dimensions. This nonlocal model introduces a light mass parameter as a scale that primarily modifies the infrared regime of the theory. We constraint the external sources to a bidimensional plane to obtain the effective Green's function and propose an effective Lagrangian for the scalar field in 1+2 dimensions. Using the static propagator, we calculate the interaction energy between point-like charges in the planar space. Furthermore, we evaluate the causal and Feynman Green's functions, and discuss the unitarity of the effective planar model at tree level. Finally, we implement the Matsubara formalism to investigate the thermodynamics of the planar model. The exact thermal free energy shows the fractional degrees of freedom characteristic of kinematic confinement and imposes a strict low-temperature validity bound ($T \ll \Lambda$) to preserve the macroscopic thermodynamic stability.

Axion-star mass-radius relations are commonly computed using different orders of relativistic approximation, making it important to determine where these descriptions remain reliable. We perform a unified numerical comparison of axion-star ground-state configurations in the Newtonian Schrödinger-Poisson description, first- and second-order relativistic effective field theories, and the full Einstein-Klein-Gordon system for a real scalar field. Using the same attractive quartic self-interaction in all four descriptions, we scan $|\widetilde{\lambda}|=(M_{\rm Pl}/f_a)^2$ and determine the maximum masses and corresponding enclosed-mass radii. All descriptions recover the common large-$|\widetilde{\lambda}|$ dilute-star scaling, while substantial differences appear at weak and moderate coupling. The relativistic EFTs interpolate systematically between the Newtonian and full-GR results. For part of the maximum-mass sequence where $\max|\phi|/f_a=O(1)$, we test the temporal-harmonic and potential truncations explicitly in full GR. The higher-harmonic expansion shows rapid convergence, while restoring the complete single-cosine potential changes the maximum mass only at the percent level and $R_{95}$ at the several-percent level. Together with the systematic convergence of the relativistic EFT descriptions toward full GR, these results show that the large weak-coupling departure from the Schrödinger-Poisson prediction reflects the breakdown of the nonrelativistic structural description. Our results provide a systematic benchmark for determining when Newtonian, relativistically corrected, or fully general-relativistic descriptions are required for axion-star structure. The numerical implementation used in this work is available in the Axion Star Solvers repository at https://github.com/Parisa-Arabameri/AxionStar.

We construct the first-law-consistent entropy of a geometrically minimal-length-deformed Schwarzschild spacetime, obtained via the areal-radius substitution $R(r)=\sqrt{r^{2}+\ell^{2}}$ on $r\in[0,+\infty)$ with $f(R)=1-2M/R$, whose nonvanishing Einstein tensor sources an effective geometric fluid with no classical matter counterpart. Integrating the first law gives $S=\pi[r_{h}R_{h}+\ell^{2}\ln((r_{h}+R_{h})/\ell)]$. This coincides in functional form with the semiclassical term found independently by Joshi and Joshi, but we fix its boundary condition $S(r_h=0)=0$ on independent physical grounds and adopt it, rather than the Bekenstein–Hawking area law, as the complete entropy of the model, building the free energy, geometrothermodynamics, and mode-stability analysis on it. Evaporation, governed by the Helmholtz free energy $F(M)$, terminates at $M_{\min}=\ell/2$ in a previously unrecognised endpoint: a degenerate extremal regular black hole, where the regular centre coincides with a degenerate Killing horizon of quadratic order, $f\approx r^{2}/(2\ell^{2})$, at areal radius $\ell$, with $T_{H}\to 0$, $S\to 0$, $C\to 0^{+}$, and finite curvature everywhere; we display its Penrose–Carter structure for the first time. The same entropy, with $\ell$, defines the equilibrium state space of a Legendre-invariant geometrothermodynamic (GTD) description whose curvature scalar diverges independently at the Davies-type transition $M^{*}=\ell/\sqrt{2}$ and at $M_{\min}$, a divergence with no counterpart in the minimal-length black hole literature, specific to a genuine horizon at $S=0$. We embed this remnant within the observational discriminant noted qualitatively by Tsukamoto: exact shadow degeneracy combined with a measurable photon-ring flux enhancement $r_{n}=e^{-2\pi/a}>e^{-2\pi}$, accessible to next-generation very-long-baseline interferometry.

We investigate electromagnetic duality as a diagnostic of the sensitivity of information content of holographic complexity via "complexity=anything" in Einstein-ModMax theory. Functionals constructed solely from gravitational invariants are duality invariant, whereas matter-sensitive functionals can distinguish electromagnetic configurations that share the same bulk geometry and energy-momentum tensor. As an explicit example, we consider a functional involving $F_{\mu\nu}F^{\mu\nu}$ and show that its complexity and complexity growth vary along the duality orbit, interpolating between purely electric, mixed electric-magnetic, and purely magnetic configurations. This provides an explicit realization of the freedom inherent in generalized holographic complexity and shows that different choices of complexity functional can retain different sensitivity to information about the bulk matter sector even when the gravitational geometry is insensitive to that information.

It is now well-established that classical statistical mechanics emerges from the entanglement structure of quantum chaotic systems, as quantified by the (subsystem) eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH). While this statement rests on the well-studied bipartite entanglement of the eigenstates of such systems, recent years have shown that many-body states are often characterized by multipartite entanglement, raising the question: what are the universal multipartite entanglement features of chaotic eigenstates? We answer this question in part by studying a tripartite generalization of the ergodic bipartition ansatz through the lens of two tripartite entanglement probes, the Rényi tripartite multi-entropy and the Rényi reflected entropy. We derive leading-order analytical expressions for the ensemble averages of both quantities using a saddle-point analysis. Beyond these measures, we obtain the average of the Rényi-2 reflected density matrix, $\rho_{AA^*}^{(2)}$,which controls the Rényi-2 reflected entropy. We show that $\rho_{AA^*}^{(2)}$ in a chaotic eigenstate is well-described by this ensemble average which, unlike an ordinary reduced density matrix, takes three qualitatively distinct forms across subsystem-size regimes, which may be viewed as a tripartite generalization of subsystem ETH. We benchmark our analytical predictions against exact diagonalization of the mixed-field Ising model.

We propose a setup that embeds Matrix Theory for M-theory into the AdS/CFT correspondence, allowing the former to be tested using the latter. The central claim is a triality among the BMN matrix model of rank $m$, a large-charge monopole sector of ABJM theory with charge $J$, and M-theory on the maximally supersymmetric eleven-dimensional pp-wave with a compact lightlike direction. The relevant ABJM limit sends $N,k,J\to\infty$ while keeping $N/k^2$ and $m=J/k$ fixed. We provide quantitative evidence for this triality by showing that, in this triple-scaling limit, the ABJM superconformal index agrees precisely with a grand-canonical sum of Witten indices of the $U(m)$ BMN matrix model. This relation also yields a compact grand-canonical expression for the BMN index, which we use to revisit its large-$m$ behavior. Our analytic and numerical results reveal strong boson–fermion cancellations and show no evidence for the previously claimed $e^{O(m^2)}$ growth when the BMN charge scales as $Q \sim m^2$. We further study the correspondence between the BPS cohomologies of the two theories by constructing a letter-level dictionary. This leads to a new notion of BPS fortuity in ABJM theory that survives even at strict $N=\infty$: although the usual fortuity associated with finite-$N$ trace relations disappears in the triple-scaling limit, each fixed-monopole sector is governed by the effective rank $m$, and finite-$m$ trace relations generate fortuitous states that map directly to fortuitous states of the BMN matrix model. Finally, we discuss connections to related concepts such as large-charge matrix models, open–closed–open triality, and worldline holography.

Einstein gravity in four asymptotically flat dimensions is governed by a tower of soft theorems obeying an $\mathcal{L}w_{1+\infty}$ commutator algebra. This algebra is deformed to $\mathcal{L}_\Lambda w_{1+\infty}$ in the conformally related AdS$_4$ and dS$_4$ spacetimes. Here we construct the larger “conformal $w$-algebra", denoted $\mathcal{C}w_{1+\infty}$, which acts on conformal gravity in all of these spacetimes. It includes $\mathcal{L}w_{1+\infty}$, $\mathcal{L}_\Lambda w_{1+\infty}$ and the $\mathfrak{so}(4,2)$ 4D conformal algebra as subalgebras. We show that $\mathcal{C}w_{1+\infty}$ is the conformal completion of either $\mathcal{L}w_{1+\infty}$ or $\mathcal{L}_\Lambda w_{1+\infty}$. A derivation of $\mathcal{C}w_{1+\infty}$ is given as the symmetry of the twistor action of self-dual conformal gravity.

We determine the conditions under which the nonlinear Maxwell-Cattaneo theory of charge transport admits a local Gaussian Schwinger-Keldysh embedding with a particular modified dynamical KMS symmetry. We show that treating the additional vector as intrinsically dissipative fundamentally modifies the entropy-current analysis: the hydrostatic generating functional no longer fixes all entropy-current improvements, which must instead be supplied independently. Subsequently we discuss the additional constraints not contained in the hydrodynamic analysis that are imposed by the modified KMS transformation becoming a symmetry of the action. We both interpret and supply the corresponding stochastic quasi-hydrodynamics.

We construct a class of integrable chiral fermionic quantum field theories with interactions that depend on both space and time. The construction starts from a unitary, regular, difference-form two-body scattering matrix satisfying braiding unitarity and the Yang–Baxter equation. Each freely moving right- or left-moving particle carries a characteristic coordinate that remains constant along its trajectory, and the scattering matrix depends on differences of these coordinates. The many-body amplitudes form a discrete connection over the coordinate-ordering sectors. The Yang–Baxter equation gives local path independence, while periodic winding on a spatial circle produces quantum Knizhnik–Zamolodchikov (qKZ) difference equations expressing global flatness. Once a reference amplitude satisfying the exchange and qKZ constraints is specified, these transport equations determine the exact wavefunction in every fixed-particle-number sector. Independent reparametrizations of the right- and left-moving characteristics give couplings that depend on both space and time. For the chiral $SU(2)$ Gross–Neveu realization, we solve the qKZ equations for this full characteristic family using off-shell Bethe vectors. The resulting amplitudes are written in the characteristic labels, and their pullbacks give exact many-body wavefunctions for the corresponding space-time-dependent couplings. The two-body amplitude is a ratio of Gamma functions that resums the phase shifts from successive scattering processes. Equal-slope affine maps give a spatially homogeneous specialization in which the coupling depends only on time, and the Bethe ansatz with constant coupling is recovered when the qKZ step vanishes.

We propose a framework for understanding the information loss paradox in the context of canonical quantum gravity. We first revisit several approaches to black hole evaporation that do not involve an event horizon. In these models, we assume that each time slice corresponds to a coherent state in the gravitational phase space. Due to this property, the quantum state associated with a given spatial configuration will have a nonzero overlap with another spatial configuration. We show how this property can account for both semi-classical dynamics and unitary time evolution. We introduce an explicit toy model that follows semi-classical time evolution at the coarse-grained level; in addition, its time evolution is unitary at the fine-grained level. The only price that one must pay is the violation of the entropy bound; we discuss reasons why this may be justifiable.

We extend the algebro-geometric construction of bifiltered affine schemes that encode both the Higgs branch and the Macdonald index of 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal field theories to theories with non-trivial Higgs branches. For the Argyres–Douglas theories $\mathcal{D}_p(SU(N))$, we find that a universal potential, given by a function in the Casimir invariants of $\mathfrak{sl}(N)$, determines the scheme. The scheme is given by a `fattened' nilpotent orbit closure, encoding the OPE decoupling structure of the 4d theory. A procedure we call syzygy maximization fixes the precise potential in a broad range of examples, and the resulting schemes reproduce the 4d data. The underlying graded ring gives conjectural presentations of Zhu's $C_2$-algebra of the associated vertex operator algebra, while the bifiltration refines Arakawa's associated scheme by retaining the R-symmetry information. We find that Higgs branch renormalization group flows are realized by pulling back the same universal potential to the corresponding Slodowy slices, including flows for which the infrared Higgs branch is a point. In particular, our construction provides a systematic method for determining the Macdonald indices of the $\mathcal{D}_p(SU(N), O)$ theories, for which no general expressions were previously known.

We perform a numerical conformal bootstrap study of the mixed system of correlation functions involving a spin-1 $\mathrm{U}(1)$ current $J$ and the stress-energy tensor $T$ in parity-preserving 3d CFTs. We find universal bounds on the stress-tensor two-point function $c_T$, which numerically reproduce the conformal collider bounds on $\langle JJT\rangle$ and $\langle TTT\rangle$, as well as bounds on the leading parity-even and parity-odd scalar operator dimensions. Under mild assumptions, we determine the values of the $\langle JJT\rangle$ and $\langle TTT\rangle$ three-point functions in the $\mathrm{O}(2)$ vector model. The $\langle TTT\rangle$ result is new and $\langle JJT\rangle$ is consistent with a previous result in the literature.

We describe the implementation and use of colour_tensors: a Mathematica package built for the concrete construction of explicit colour tensors involving arbitrarily charged particles in any gauge theory. These can be used to directly determine linear relations among colour tensors and compute a number of otherwise difficult, representation-theoretic quantities relevant to scattering amplitudes such as colour-interference between partial amplitudes.

In the gauge/gravity framework flavor degrees of freedom are introduced to the gauge theory side through the insertion of probe flavor $D$ branes in the supergravity background. Scalar, vector or spinor fluctuations on theses flavor branes perceive neither the background supergravity metric nor the worldvolume-induced metric of the flavor branes. Indeed, they follow an effective metric called the open string metric (OSM). Through a proper choice of worldvolume gauge fields, one can induce a horizon structure in these OSMs. Studying holographic information-theoretic quantities in these kinds of geometries is equivalent to studying information-theoretic quantities in the flavor sector on the gauge theory side. In this article, we have studied various information-theoretic measures like mutual information, entanglement wedge cross-section and entanglement negativity for an open string geometry. All the calculations are done by considering strip-like parallel boundary subsystems for three- and four-dimensional OSMs. We have also measured the change in these mixed-state information-theoretic quantities from the relevant quantities in the pure AdS geometry due to the application of a background electric field.

We study the dynamical scalar tidal Love numbers of wormholes that provide viable mimickers for black holes, focusing on thin-shell Schwarzschild and Damour-Solodukhin geometries. Using a matched near- and far-zone expansion, we determine their tidal response in the low-frequency regime. The presence of a long throat introduces an additional characteristic scale and naturally separates the modes into two classes. Super-throat modes probe the global wormhole geometry and are sensitive to both asymptotic regions, whereas sub-throat modes probe only one side of the wormhole and effectively perceive the throat as a black-hole horizon. We derive the scalar tidal Love numbers analytically for both classes of modes and show that their dissipative parts exhibit distinct low-frequency behavior, reflecting whether one or both potential barriers participate in the scattering process. We further find that, as the wormhole approaches the black-hole limit, the super-throat contribution becomes progressively negligible, while the sub-throat response smoothly reduces to that of a Schwarzschild black hole. These results demonstrate that the tidal response of wormholes depends crucially on whether the perturbation probes the global structure of the throat.

We investigate the thermodynamic and topological phase structure of charged AdS black holes with a nonminimal gauge–curvature coupling in the grand canonical ensemble. In the minimal-coupling limit $\epsilon=0$, the system exhibits only Hawking–Page-like behavior and does not possess van der Waals criticality. Working perturbatively in the nonminimal coupling, we find that the $\epsilon\neq0$ interaction generates a rich phase structure as the electric potential is varied, including several distinct regimes of critical behavior, a double-critical region, and a regime where conventional criticality disappears. We complement the conventional thermodynamic analysis with a topological description based on the winding number of the thermodynamic vector field. The resulting $r_h$–$\tau$ diagrams reveal that the ordering and morphology of the black-hole branches depend sensitively on both the pressure and the off-shell inverse temperature, with monotonic, disconnected, S-shaped, and cusp-like structures appearing in different parameter ranges. Remarkably, these substantial rearrangements of the solution branches can occur without changing the global winding number. In particular, the system remains in the $W=+1$ topological class beyond the range of conventional criticality, before eventually entering a $W=0$ sector. Our results demonstrate that thermodynamic topology provides complementary global information that is not captured by conventional local criticality criteria alone.

We discuss dominant representations (or Young diagrams), in thermal matrix models with gauge symmetry from the perspective of partial deconfinement. We propose a prescription for defining the dominant representations for thermal matrix models with interaction terms. As an explicit example, we consider the large-$N$ Gaussian matrix model. We obtain the Vershik–Kerov–Logan–Shepp (VKLS) shape of the dominant Young diagrams through a new analytic saddle-point analysis based on a mapping of the representation theory of U($\infty$) to free fermions in two spacetime dimensions. This computation provides a direct derivation of the previously observed functional relation between the shape of the dominant Young diagrams and the eigenvalue distribution of the thermal holonomy: the position of the complex saddle point is naturally identified with the eigenvalue. The dominant Young diagrams admit a natural interpretation in terms of partial deconfinement: the number of rows in the dominant Young diagrams matches the size of the submatrix corresponding to the deconfined subsector.

We present an extended study of the gravitationally localized soliton-like solutions to the minimally-coupled Einstein-Dirac-Higgs equations, embedded in asymptotically Minkowski spacetimes. The equations of motion describing these Yukawa-coupled Dirac stars are generalized to any even number of constituent fermions. We first expand the discussion of two-fermion ground-state solutions initially analyzed in Leith et al. [Phys. Rev. D. 107, 106020 (2023)]. Upon extending our analysis to excited states and many-fermion states, we find that both exhibit different behaviors to their two-fermion ground-state counterparts. In these excited states and many-fermion states, the Higgs field may exhibit stepwise increases and at times decrease within the soliton, which has not been seen for the two-fermion ground states. We also propose the potential cause of a significant degree of ADM-to-fermion mass disparity, which is present in states with strong Yukawa-coupling.

We study the thermodynamics of Lorentzian Taub–NUT spacetimes in Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet AdS gravity in arbitrary even dimensions, constructed as $U(1)$ fibrations over Einstein–Kähler base manifolds. We compute the temperature from the surface gravity and the energy as the conserved charge associated with the stationary Killing vector using the off-shell Abbott–Deser–Tekin formalism. Within the same framework, we obtain the entropy as a horizon Noether charge. The result agrees with the Iyer–Wald formula and includes a Gauss–Bonnet correction to the Bekenstein–Hawking area law. Retaining the Misner strings whenever present, we formulate a first law of full cohomogeneity in which the NUT parameter varies independently of the horizon radius. This requires an additional thermodynamic charge and its conjugate potential, which we determine explicitly. We also briefly discuss the static limit.

We prove braided tensor equivalences between the categories of weight modules of the affine vertex algebra of $\mathfrak{sl}_2$ at any admissible level and categories associated to partially semisimplified versions of quantum $\mathfrak{sl}_{2|1}$ at roots of unity.

We provide a manifestly gauge-invariant description of the Higgs mechanism in the Standard Model, casting it not as the breaking of a local symmetry, but as a smooth, analytic crossover from a high-temperature symmetric phase to a low-temperature Higgs phase. Taking the vacuum expectation value of a gauge-invariant local scalar operator and constructing composite quasi-particle states from the original fields of the Lagrangian usually introduces contact-term divergences. Previous attempts to circumvent this issue via bilocal operators remain unsatisfactory. Here we demonstrate that the gradient flow at a flow time $t$ provides a clean, structurally sound, and Lorentz-covariant regularization that permits a consistent, renormalon-free matching onto the standard $\overline{\text{MS}}$ scheme at a scale $\mu \sim 1/\sqrt{2t}\gg m_t$. Beyond its theoretical appeal, this construction clarifies a number of conceptional and practical questions. We demonstrate the utility of this framework at the one-loop level, thereby establishing the foundation for future electroweak precision physics in this approach.

Born-Infeld New Massive Gravity (BINMG) is an all-order curvature extension of New Massive Gravity in three dimensions, whose linearized spectrum around its unique maximally symmetric vacuum contains the two polarizations of a massive spin-two field. Whether an additional scalar degree of freedom appears in the full nonlinear theory has remained an open question. We perform a nonlinear canonical analysis of BINMG using its auxiliary-metric formulation. On the regular branch connected to the maximally symmetric vacuum, the Dirac algorithm yields three first-class diffeomorphism constraints and a second-class pair of scalar constraints. The resulting count gives exactly two local degrees of freedom per spatial point. Thus, nonlinear BINMG propagates no additional Boulware-Deser-type scalar mode on this branch.

This article investigates the dimensional reduction of the massive Carroll-Field-Jackiw (CFJ) theory from $(3+1)D$ to $(2+1)D$ dimensions with the objective of constructing and analyzing the resulting effective field theory, termed pseudo-Carroll-Field-Jackiw (PCFJ). The theoretical framework relies on quantum field theory, pseudo-quantum electrodynamics (PQED) and Lorentz-violating models. The methodological procedure projects the three-dimensional dynamics onto the plane by rigorously integrating out the gauge field degrees of freedom along the transverse momentum. Subsequently, the study calculates the static interaction potential, applies both the generalized optical theorem and the Källén-Lehmann spectral representation to test probability conservation. The results reveal that the effective theory exhibits an intricate non-local structure, governed by nested pseudo-differential operators, which generates a static potential that transitions from a Coulomb-like behavior at short distances to a long-range decay modified by a topological mass. The research analytically proves that the integration of the extra-dimensional topology introduces ineliminable branch cuts in momentum space, which preclude the causal definition of asymptotic states and determine the breakdown of unitarity. The work concludes that this quantum instability emerges from the direct interplay between the spatial projection and the pre-existing Lorentz-violating background in the bulk.

We explore O(2N) vector model with fractional Laplacian, $\sqrt{-\nabla^2}$ in $d$-dimension and its Hamiltonain dynamics which is described by a Schrodinger type equation. This equation is a kind of current conservation equation, where one can define a current $j(\phi^a)$ of a probability $P(\phi^a)$, where $\phi^a$ is the O(2N) vector field. Naturally, Gibbs entropy $S=-\int [D\phi^a] P(\phi^a)\log P(\phi^a)$ can be considered to explore the system. We realize that this Gibbs entropy of the O(2N) vector model with fractional Laplacian is matched with free energy of O(N) vector model in finite temperature, $1/\beta$ with a deformation, $\mu$ in $d$-dimension. The precise map between the stochastic fictitious time $t$ and the inverse temperature $\beta$ is $\beta=2t$. Therefore, the temperature dependence of the thermal O(N) vector model can be realized as a dynamics of time dependent solution satisfying Schrodinger type equation. This free energy is obtained by putting O(N) vector model in $S^1\times \mathbb R_d$, where $S^1$ is thermal circle with its periodicity $\beta$. To get $d$-dimensional theory, we sum up all possible frequencies on the circle(so called Matsubara frequency summation) which gives $d$-dimensional thermal partition function. We note that the nontrivial $t$-dependence appears beyond classical limit. To take into account quantum effects, we solve the Hamiltonian dynamics by keeping $\hbar$ corrections. The spectral deformation is mediated by a parameter $l$ such that $\mu=\beta^{-1}\log l$ and so we call this $l$-deformation. This is related to the initial boundary condition of the Schrodinger equation. We also note that the two theoreis are not equivalent each other and we just check their correspondence in the level of one-loop determinant, i.e. zero point function in the note.

Accelerating black holes in General Relativity are described by the C-metric. We study how this geometry is modified by higher-derivative corrections, focusing on cubic curvature terms of even and odd parity. Using a suitable metric ansatz, we obtain closed-form solutions at first order in the coupling constants. The corrected geometries contain new integration constants, which correspond to physical deformations of the C-metric, and exhibit different behavior depending on the parity of the correction. In particular, parity-violating terms generate an off-diagonal metric component and induce rotation. For AdS solutions, we analyze the thermodynamics, including the Hawking temperature, entropy, and string tensions, and discuss the subtleties in defining the mass and thermodynamic string lengths.

Pressure anisotropy in relativistic stars is commonly prescribed through a phenomenological closure, obscuring its microscopic origin and relation to stress-energy conservation. Here it is derived directly from the minimally coupled Einstein-complex-Proca theory. For spherical Proca stars, the principal-pressure difference admits an exact on-shell form whose sign is controlled solely by the local mass-shell threshold. The stress is radially dominated in the core, reverses on a surface of fixed gravitational redshift, and becomes tangentially dominated in the envelope. At the first mass maximum, the fractional anisotropy reaches about 21% near the density maximum, whilst the region beyond the reversal contains about 9% of the mass. Its exact atmospheric limit is approximately 24%, equal in magnitude and opposite in sign to the scalar-boson-star limit. Because the usual local fluid variables remain non-zero at the crossing, no sign-definite closure constructed from them can reproduce the profile. These results identify an intrinsically vectorial stress reversal, generated without additional interactions, and provide a first-principles benchmark for anisotropic bosonic compact objects.

This is an extended version of arXiv:2511.22129. We develop a general construction of the superstrip algebra $\mathbf{sStr}_{\mathscr C}(\mathcal M)$, the fermionic counterpart of the strip algebra, for a gapped $(1+1)$-dimensional system with a fermionic superfusion category $\mathscr C$ and the vacuum structure described by the supermodule category $\mathcal M$. As illustrations, we work out the superstrip algebra for two simple examples: the fermionic variant of the Fibonacci fusion category and the q-type $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. We then apply the framework to the gapped IR phases of the $\mathcal N=2$ and $\mathcal N=1$ superconformal minimal models deformed by their least relevant operator and compute the Witten indices. We explain how the particle and soliton spectra, together with their fermion parity, are organized into representations of the corresponding superstrip algebras. A mixed 't Hooft anomaly between the spontaneously broken symmetry and the unbroken fermion parity $(-1)^F$ further forces each $\mathcal N =2$ soliton to carry a fractional fermion number. Finally, we set up the boundary SymTFT for fermionic systems and reproduce the results in several examples studied in this paper.

We consider defect conformal field theories (DCFTs) at finite temperature, where a $p$-dimensional conformal defect wraps the thermal circle. Extending the previous study of line defects to defects of general dimensions, we determine the general forms of the thermal one-point functions of bulk scalars, conserved currents and the stress tensor by imposing the residual symmetry and the conservation laws. The low temperature expansion of the thermal one-point functions is shown to be reproduced by the bulk-defect operator expansion, allowing us to read off the thermal one-point coefficients of defect operators. We examine the general results in four classes of examples with free bulk theories: the trivial defect, free scalar and fermion theories with a boundary, the free scalar theory with a localized $\phi$ deformation in $d=2\,p+2$ dimensions and the free $\mathrm{O}(N)$ model with a localized $\phi^2$ deformation in $d=p+2-\epsilon$ dimensions. In the last example with $\epsilon = 1$, where the defect becomes an interface, we find that the thermal one-point functions coincide with those of the free scalar theory with the Dirichlet boundary condition, in accordance with the conjectured factorization of an interface CFT into two decoupled boundary CFTs.

Scalar and spinor Kink fluctuations are summarized in the Jackiw-Rebbi model. Canonical quantization is conventionally achieved by promoting the coefficients of the scalar and spinor field expansions to bosonic/fermionic creation/annihilation operators. One-particle states for bosons, respectively for fermions, are supplied by the scalar eigenfunctions of the Schr$\ddot{\rm o}$dinger, respectively, the eigenspinors of the Dirac Hamiltonian, evaluated either on the ground state or the Kink background. One-loop kink mass shifts are computed induced either by bosons or fermions. Both bound and scattering states contribute when the quanta are trapped by or scattered off the Kink. Zero modes of Kink fluctuations bosonic and fermionic do not modify the Kink mass at one-loop order. The Dashed-Hasslacher-Neveu prescription, derived in the canonical quantization framework, is generalized to the fermionic realm. Alternatively, quantization à la Feynman of the Jackiw-Rebbi model in the spaces of Kink scalar and spinor fluctuations is developed. It is ensured that Berezin integration over the Grassmann coefficients of the Kink spinor fluctuations leads to identical scenario as that revealed by including Fermi statistics in the DHN paradigm, at least with respect to the computation of the Kink Casimir energy.