Papers

We describe the construction of a spanning set of individually pure, planar master integrals involving massless particles in four dimensions which include all maximal-weight contributions at two loops. In this basis, every independent region associated with infrared divergence is individually matched by specific masters, with all other masters being manifestly finite in four dimensions.

We study magnets composed of molecules with an arbitrary number $m$ of magnetically active atoms in a chain configuration interacting with nearest-neighbor couplings. We derive the thermodynamics of a chain of spin-$j$ $SU(2)$ magnetic atoms using a mean-field approach and determine the equilibrium states and stability conditions. The system exhibits a rich phase structure with a cascade of ferromagnetic phase transitions, their number ranging from $m$, for maximal ferromagnets, to zero, for paramagnets, depending on the relative strengths of the couplings. In the presence of impurities (modified couplings) at the ends of the chain, boundary states emerge that coexist with the paramagnetic phase or the fully ferromagnetic phase. For long chains, a continuum approximation can be taken that clarifies the structure of the phases. In the continuum description, magnetized states at temperatures lower than the critical temperature at which they appear correspond to kink solitons.

Topologically ordered superfluids (TOSFs) support deconfined, gapped anyonic excitations while remaining gapless because of Goldstone modes. We develop a general framework for characterizing their topological data in $(2+1)$-dimensional bosonic systems with spontaneously broken charge ${\rm U}(1)_{\rm c}$ symmetry. Gauging ${\rm U}(1)_{\rm c}$ maps a TOSF to a gapped topological order enriched by a dual ${\rm U}(1)_{\rm dual}$ symmetry with vanishing Hall conductance, while gauging ${\rm U}(1)_{\rm dual}$ recovers the TOSF. This two-way mapping allows the topological data of the TOSF, including the condensate charge, deconfined anyon content, and topological properties of vortices, to be systematically encoded using the algebraic framework of symmetry-enriched topological orders. In particular, superfluid vortices share the topological properties of flux defects associated with the residual discrete symmetry in the gapped anyon sector. We develop complementary algebraic and field-theoretic formulations of this framework, with the latter also suggesting a natural transition to a gapped topologically ordered phase. Additionally, using parton constructions, we present examples of TOSFs with non-Abelian vortices in bosonic systems.

It has been argued that in quantum gravity the Hilbert space associated with any closed universe is trivially one-dimensional. To reconcile this argument with the richness of our own universe, it was suggested that a nontrivial Hilbert space will emerge once an “observer" is included. Such an “observer" has been modeled in different ways. There are three concrete classes of models: $\textbf{1)}$ The “observer" is modeled by a term in the full Hamiltonian of the system which is linear in a phase space variable; $\textbf{2)}$ The “observer" is modeled in the quantum circuit model of holography as a subsystem in the closed universe which is entangled with an external non-gravitational system; $\textbf{3)}$ The “observer" is argued to be described by the emergent Goldstone bosons when the diffeomorphisms are spontaneously broken. In fact, the third class was discovered by an attempt to physically realize the first class. In this paper, we will show that the second class can also be unified into the third class. Our result indicates that the emergence of the “observer" is a manifestation of the $\textit{Massive Islands}$ paradigm. It demonstrates that the graviton mass is a feature of the quantum state. One should think of the islands as closed universes and the Goldstone boson associated with the graviton mass as the “observer", which is exactly the case at late-times for evaporating black holes. An implication of this work is that the “observer" can “observe" global symmetries in quantum gravity.

We show that the radial sector of a Carroll-Weyl gauged null string in Poincaré $\mathrm{AdS}_D$ is locally trivial in BRST cohomology. In a quotient-adapted BFV basis, the radial coordinate, its conjugate momentum, and the associated ghosts form a contractible quartet. An explicit contracting homotopy extends this reduction to the full algebra of local spatial jets, leaving precisely the $(D-1)$-dimensional ILST BRST complex. The same quartet carries zero net Virasoro central charge, so that the anomaly condition of the parent theory, $D=27$, descends to the ILST condition $d=26$.

We establish a charge-regular formulation of separated Kerr–Newman perturbations and an explicit map from master solutions to physical radiative fields. We derive regular angular and radial first-order systems and their second-order reductions, with finite-charge deformations of the spin $\pm1$ and $\pm2$ Teukolsky equations. The field and boundary normalizations recover the standard Kerr conventions while accounting for the nonuniform zero-charge limit at infinity. For physical Einstein–Maxwell perturbations with the usual peeling behavior, we obtain explicit outgoing gravitational and electromagnetic amplitudes and energy fluxes at nonzero real frequency. The resulting finite-charge radiation-composition ratios depend only on the regular angular functions, independently of the radial excitation.

We show that the radial differential equation for a scalar field in an anti-de Sitter black brane background can be encoded in an exactly solvable semi-infinite spin chain independent of dimensionality. The radial coordinate emerges as lattice quasimomentum. Spin coherence encodes the geometry, while the spectrum and response recover gravitational observables and yield exact screening-mass sum rules. We implement the finite chain on a superconducting processor. At finite filling and low energies, the model yields a conformal field theory in a coordinate proportional to proper radial distance.

We analyze the existence of static black hole solutions with maximally symmetric horizons and nontrivial torsion in five-dimensional Lovelock gravity. For each symmetry class, we obtain a black hole solution characterized by two independent constants. We also determine the conserved charges associated with these solutions.

We study the low-frequency scattering of gravitational and pseudoscalar waves off a non-rotating black hole in dynamical Chern-Simons (dCS) gravity, where the axial (odd-parity) gravitational sector is irreducibly coupled to the dynamical pseudoscalar while the polar sector remains general relativistic. Working to first order in the dimensionless coupling zeta = (ell_CS/M)^4 and using matched asymptotic expansions, we obtain an exact closed form for the graviton-to-pseudoscalar conversion probability, d_2 = 3(pi^2-9)^2/8, and a high-precision reconstruction, in a proven transcendental basis, of the graviton greybody (absorption) asymmetry, kappa_2 = (21/80) pi^4 + (27/8) pi^2 - 89833/1536, for the quadrupole (ell=2) channel. Both reduce to combinations of pi^4, pi^2, and rational numbers, with no ln2 or odd-zeta terms in the reconstructed basis; the transmission-phase sector, by contrast, contains an analytically derived zeta(3)-9/8 static integral, while its overall matching prefactor is identified numerically. The leading reflection-phase asymmetry vanishes, so that no polarization rotation is imprinted on the reflected wave at leading low-frequency order, while a subleading O(omegazeta) asymmetry remains in the transmitted phase. The normalized flux asymmetries are numerically consistent with a 1/(Momega)^2 falloff in the geometric-optics limit, where the leading remaining flux effect is conversion loss. The matched-asymptotic results are checked against direct two-channel integration, while the one-dimensional integral determining kappa_2 is evaluated to high precision within an analytically controlled transcendental basis. The results provide analytic targets linking dCS parity violation in absorption and mode conversion to the axial/polar quasinormal-mode splitting.

We construct chiral extensions of the cotangent Yangian using vertex algebroids. At zero level, the construction yields a vertex algebra with a compatible coproduct, whose Zhu reduction recovers the cotangent Yangian of Abedin and Niu. We also construct vertex algebra extensions at non-zero levels and study level-additive coproducts. The zero-level vertex algebra admits two natural quasi-conformal structures. We compute the corresponding sphere one-point conformal blocks and equip each block space with an associative product induced by the coproduct. For the first quasi-conformal structure, the blocks space can be identified with the dual of a certain Lie algebroid homology; for the second, we describe the block algebra and its classical limit in terms of mini-twistor geometry.

Mediators coupled predominantly to the electron remain weakly constrained above the kinematic reach of the $B$~factories, a region that is difficult to access at hadron colliders and only partially covered by existing $e^+e^-$ data. We point out that the asymmetric $\mu^+e^-$ mode of the proposed $\mu$TRISTAN collider, operating at $\sqrt{s}=346$~GeV, is well suited to this window, and quantify its reach for two minimal realisations: an axion-like particle and a $Z'$ gauge boson, treated as effective interactions with the electron current. Both are radiated off the electron line and decay to an electron-positron pair, giving a common four-lepton signature whose Standard Model counterpart is under good control. A resonance search in the electron-positron invariant mass, performed for mediator masses between $5.5$ and $300$~GeV, yields projected $95\%$~CL sensitivities to couplings of order $10^{-5}$ at the light end of this range, improving on existing bounds by more than four orders of magnitude for the pseudoscalar and by up to two orders of magnitude for the vector, and providing the only constraint on the heaviest masses considered.

The stability of the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless phase against long-range interactions remains an open problem. We address this question in the two-dimensional XY model with couplings decaying as $r^{-2-\sigma}$, by developing a real-space renormalization-group treatment near the Gaussian manifold of quasi-long-range ordered (QLRO) states. We retain the full many-body vortex interaction and show that, at leading order in the fugacity, screening by small vortex–antivortex pairs preserves its Gaussian-average representation without an expansion in the long-range coupling. Including spin waves perturbatively then yields a local stability criterion: a stable QLRO interval exists only for $\sigma>7/4$. We also investigate a Wilson–Fisher-like fixed point at finite coupling for $\sigma<7/4$, for which the retained flow predicts $\nu^{-1}\sim\sqrt{7/4-\sigma}$ as it merges with the Gaussian line.

We construct unitary, local, 3+1-dimensional conformal field theories with finitely many fields whose thermal state breaks a continuous global symmetry at every temperature. They are finite-$N$ versions of the Chaudhuri–Choi–Rabinovici theories, whose planar circle of fixed points has an ordered arc. The circle is lifted at order $1/N^2$, and an infinite family of fixed points on this arc reaches arbitrarily weak coupling, where the superfluid is under parametric control. We also show that weakly gauging the symmetry gives a superconductor over an exponential range of temperatures.

We study the pole mass for a heavy quark probe in the Gross–Neveu model, at the first non-trivial order in the $1/N$ expansion. We show that this mass suffers from a perturbative renormalon ambiguity structurally similar to the one in QCD. The exact large $N$ solution leads however to an explicit expression for the pole mass which can be decoded as a trans-series, and we find that non-perturbative corrections cure the renormalon ambiguity. We also calculate the self-energy of the heavy quark beyond perturbation theory by using the OPE method with condensates, and show that the results are in agreement with the large $N$ solution. The non-perturbative corrections to the pole mass turn out to be determined to a large extent by the condensate corrections to the self-energy. However, there is a class of corrections that has to be reorganized due to on-shell effects and cannot be obtained from the conventional condensate expansion. We discuss possible implications of this toy model for QCD.

We compute the on-shell closed, generalized Komar charges associated to an arbitrary Killing vector of the two 10-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supergravity theories which are the low-energy effective field theories of the type~IIA and IIB superstrings. We study different rewritings of this charge in terms of Page charges and forms with special properties that are used in the derivation of thermodynamical relations in black $p$-brane spacetimes. The, we show that, when the Killing vector is the supersymmetric Killing vector built as a bilinear of a Killing spinor, the momentum maps of the different fields of the theory are

Many Quantum Field Theory models, either designed to improve the ultraviolet behavior via higher derivative terms or aimed at providing unified descriptions of Gravity, inevitably introduce negative-energy 'ghosts' states. These states raise fundamental questions regarding the stability of the theory. In this study, we investigate the time evolution of simplified quantum mechanical models consisting of two coupled normal and ghost subsystems. Although the full spectrum of these models is unbounded from below and, therefore, lacks a true ground state, we focus the time evolution of a 'would-be ground state': a zero-energy eigenstate of the decoupled system. By analyzing its metastability under interactions, we gain insights into the dynamics of ghost-like states. Contrary to the standard paradigm, our results demonstrate that, across a broad range of couplings, the would-be ground state does not decay and remains dynamically stable over long times. This provides evidence towards resolving the stability problems of Hamiltonians that are unbounded from below. We also discuss the connections with the corresponding classical and semiclassical dynamics.

A recent experiment by Roy et al. (Nat. Commun. 17, 2853 (2026)) demonstrated a robust half-integer thermal conductance plateau, \kappa_0 T/2, at a bipolar (\nu,\nu')=(2,-1) junction in bilayer graphene, produced not by non-Abelian topology but by full equilibration of co-propagating electron and hole edge modes. We prove a theorem that fixes when the two origins can be told apart: under full thermal equilibration, the two-terminal thermal conductance of a network of chiral edge segments joined at ideal floating contacts is a rational function of the net chiral central charges of the segments alone, quantities pinned by the gravitational anomaly and invariant under arbitrary local boundary kinetics. The corollary is an impossibility statement: whenever two realizations present the same anomaly data to the same network, no thermal-conductance measurement can distinguish them. That the equilibrated (2,-1) value equals the central charge of a chiral Majorana mode is an arithmetic fact about one filling combination, but wherever such a coincidence occurs it is beyond the reach of thermometry, and the separation must come from the charge sector, which is not anomaly-pinned at a superconducting boundary. We develop the topological insulator-superconductor interface as the application: a vortex carries fractional charge e/4 from the \theta = \pi magnetoelectric coupling, the boundary hosts a chiral Majorana mode of central charge 1/2, and a laterally adjacent integer quantum Hall (IQH) region supplies the kinetic realization. The Lorenz ratio (anomalous for the isolated Majorana boundary, L_0 / (1 + 4|\nu_{IQH}|) in the composite device) and the excess shot noise (growing with B from e/4 vortex tunneling versus locked to IQH plateaus) together resolve the mechanism, provided the quantum Hall edge does not abut the superconductor.

We develop a geometric characterization of electromagnetic memory in terms of the optical data of charged-particle congruences. We derive the worldline deviation of charged particles near null infinity for both massless and massive particles and construct the corresponding optical data. We show that the asymptotic shear of the charged-particle congruence provides an equivalent encoding of electromagnetic memory and its associated large gauge transformation. This establishes a geometric interpretation of electromagnetic memory and large gauge transformations in terms of the asymptotic evolution of charged-particle congruences.

A holographic superconductor whose scalar mass depends on the gauge field strength, $M(\Fsq)$, reproduces a superconducting dome for a suitable $M$, and recovering that $M$ from a given dome has so far taken days for a single training run. We propose a new way of training this model, with which an inversion takes from about ten minutes to an hour. Training needs the gradient of the condition that fixes the critical temperature, which the earlier method obtains by finite differences, repeating the bulk integrations for every training parameter. Here that condition is obtained, without any fit, from two integrations started at the horizon and at the boundary, and its derivative with respect to $M$ is an integral over the same two solutions, so the gradient needs no integration of its own. We use the speed to study the part of $M$ that a dome cannot determine, on the interval between the value $\Fsq$ takes at the horizon for the lowest doping and $\Fsq=0$, at which $M$ is the scalar mass $M(0)$ that fixes the dimension of the dual operator. We hold the scalar mass at several values, which we call pinned masses, retrain everything else at each, and find that the reconstructions agree wherever the horizons of the dome reach, including the minima of $M$, and differ only on that interval. A rule that keeps the reconstruction with the simplest closed form recovers both the scalar mass and the mass function of a test dome. On Gaussian and double-Gaussian domes and on the measured phase diagrams of YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{y}$ and 2M-WS$_{2}$, however, the pinned mass it keeps rests on ties or on narrow margins, so for these targets the scalar mass is left open. The dome thus constrains $M$ where its horizons reach, and fixing the dimension of the dual operator needs a second observable.

We give algebraic proofs of two conjectural relations between quantum $A$-periods and thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (TBA)-like equations for quantum mirror curves. The quadratic relation follows from constant terms of shifted product expansions. For higher-degree relations, a cyclic quantum-torus trace and a finite matrix determinant identify the period with the free energy of nonoverlapping rods. Their density equation yields the TBA-like equation, with normalization fixed by the rod length. Both proofs hold as formal power series in the complex structure parameter, with exact dependence on $q=e^{i\hbar}$.

We derive a family of sum rules for the tensor structure functions of targets with spin one or higher, rooted in exact Siegert relations. The mixed rank-two $TT$–$LT$ degeneracy combines amplitudes of opposite crossing parity and, under the superconvergence assumption, gives $\int_0^1\! d x\,[b_2(x,Q^2)-3b_4(x,Q^2)]=0$ in the Hoodbhoy–Jaffe–Manohar (HJM) basis. At large $Q^2$, the protected moment agrees with Detmold's target-mass-complete twist-two OPE; in the strict Bjorken projection, and if $b_4$ is neglected, it reduces to the Efremov–Teryaev (ET)-type condition $\int_0^1\! d x\,x\,b_1(x)=0$, whose measured-range footprint is consistent with the HERMES data. Two further rank-two combinations connect crossing-even amplitudes and determine the corresponding subtraction functions through weighted HJM moments. The protected combination can be isolated through separated tensor $LT$ and $TT$ responses, providing a direct experimental strategy for JLab and, ultimately, a future EIC.

Part I: Semiclassical Gravity Efficiently Solves $\mathsf{NP}$-Complete Problems Assuming the gravitational field is classical and that it couples to quantum fields via the semiclassical Einstein field equations (EFEs), we show that the weak-field dynamics of a massive and non-relativistic qubit can in principle be used to solve an $\mathsf{NP}$-complete problem in polynomial time. We attribute this vast computational power to the non-linear qubit dynamics afforded by the semiclassical EFEs. Consequently, the above two assumptions entail a violation of the Physical Extended Church–Turing Thesis, which we regard as evidence for the quantization of gravity. Part II: Spacetime Quasicrystals We generalize self-similar quasicrystals, such as the Penrose tilings, from Euclidean space to Minkowski spacetime. We construct the first examples of Lorentzian quasicrystals and identify their key novel features. We then explore possible connections to fundamental physics. First, we propose a speculative scenario in which our $(3+1)$D universe is embedded in a particularly symmetric $(9+1)$D torus $\mathbb{T}^{9,1}$, previously identified as the most symmetric toroidal compactification of the superstring. We suggest that this construction may shed light on the seesaw relation $M_{\rm Pl}M_{\rm vac} \approx M_{\rm EW}^{2}$ between the Planck, vacuum-energy, and electroweak scales. Second, we replace the random causal sets of causal set theory with ordered, highly symmetric quasi-crystalline causal sets. We find suggestive evidence that our quasicrystals outperform Poisson random sets in the number-volume correspondence in both $(1+1)$D and $(3+1)$D, where such behaviour has been conjectured to be impossible. Finally, extending hyperuniformity from space to spacetime, we show that our $(1+1)$D quasicrystal is the first demonstrated example of a spacetime-hyperuniform structure.

We study linear perturbations of the Maldacena-Milekhin-Popov (MMP) wormhole in the parity sector that pairs axial metric perturbations with polar gauge perturbations. It contains the axial gravitational mode and the electric field along the magnetic field lines. The lowest Landau level (LLL) of the charged fermions responds through its charge. The gauge components $a_\tau$, $a_\rho$ form a two-dimensional gauge field on the worldsheet of each field line, and the fermions respond with the exact Schwinger current. Lifted over the sphere, it gives the electric field the MMP screening mass $m_S^2=\alpha q^2$, which is not small and survives in the mouth. In the throat the perturbation tilts the worldsheets, and the Casimir stress tensor acquires mixed components. Force balance then requires a current across the field lines, and charge conservation fixes an accompanying polarisation current, the counterpart of the Hall current of the polar sector. These currents close the Bianchi identities at first order in the fermionic backreaction $\alpha$. The system reduces to three coupled master equations, given in closed form and matched to the fermion-free mouth. Consistency alone does not select the fermionic constitutive relation, but locality, covariance and the index theorem do. At $\alpha=0$ the throat reduces to Poschl-Teller problems with masses $l(l-1)$ and $(l+1)(l+2)$ at $m_S^2=0$. At finite $m_S^2$ one mode is screened, one tends to the mass $l^2+l+2$, and one neutral charge-density wave stays exactly massless. The $O(\alpha)$ shifts of the massive normal frequencies are real and negative. The two parity sectors are isospectral only without fermions. The neutral channel sees an attractive region in each mouth, and a numerical solution coupled to the gravitational channel in the exact mouth potential finds no bound state. The sector has no growing mode for $l\ge2$ at this order.

We study the singlet sector of large-$N$, $O(N)$ vector model on $S^1_\beta\times S^2_r$ in presence of an angular potential $\Omega$. We compute the free energy of the model both at the free fixed point as well as the non-trivial fixed point. The model undergoes a phase transition when the temperature $T$ and angular potential attain the relation $T^2r^2\sim N (1-\omega^2)$, where $\omega=r\Omega$ and $r$ is the radius of $S^2$, with $Tr\gg1$, at both the fixed points, with different numerical coefficients. The transition was studied earlier at zero angular potential at $Tr\sim \sqrt{N}$. The holonomy eigenvalue distribution, having support on the full circle below the transition, develops a gap above it, called the Gross-Witten-Wadia transition. The angular potential introduces an additional parameter to such a transition, tuning it, the transition can occur even at a fixed temperature. We show that for the free model transition can occur as $1-\omega^2\sim 1/N$ while $Tr\sim O(1)$. For the interacting model the computation is performed at a limit $Tr\gg1$, thus we show the same at a large but fixed temperature which does not scale as $\sqrt{N}$. In the ungapped phase, the free energy exhibits a double pole near $\omega^2=1$ for both the fixed points. This is possibly due to the fact that the theory projected onto the singlets is non-local and therefore need not obey the leading simple pole scaling of a local thermal effective action.

Four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=3$ superconformal field theories (SCFTs) are an exotic class of quantum field theories that admit no conventional Lagrangian description. In this Letter, we construct an $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric gauge theory and argue that its infrared fixed point exhibits supersymmetry enhancement to an $\mathcal{N}=3$ SCFT. The ultraviolet theory has gauge group $SU(2)^3$, a set of chiral multiplets, and a suitable superpotential. By performing $a$-maximization, we obtain infrared central charges $a=c=5/4$, matching those of the rank-one $\mathcal{N}=3$ $\mathbb{Z}_3$ S-fold SCFT. The ultraviolet gauge-theory description allows us to compute the full superconformal index with four independent fugacities. We then examine various limits of the full index and further propose a closed-form expression for the Macdonald index, reproducing all known results for the proposed $\mathcal{N}=3$ theory. More remarkably, we argue that further gauging the $\mathcal{N}=3$ theory yields the frozen rank-one $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFT conjectured from Seiberg–Witten geometry, providing strong evidence for its existence and unlocking its previously inaccessible full superconformal index. Our construction thus opens a systematic route to exploring the refined protected structure of these exotic, intrinsically strongly coupled theories using conventional $\mathcal{N}=1$ Lagrangian techniques.

We investigate semiclassical backreaction of a quantized scalar field in four-dimensional anti-de Sitter (AdS) and de Sitter (dS) spacetimes from two complementary perspectives. First, we determine self-consistent field parameters for which the prescribed geometry remains an exact solution with the bare cosmological constant fixed to its classical geometric value. Second, we retain the renormalized vacuum stress–energy tensor on the prescribed background and study its contribution to the effective cosmological constant. In AdS, the self-consistent solutions depend on the admissible boundary conditions, while the corresponding dS solutions are obtained within the Bunch–Davies state, revealing sensitivity to global and state-dependent information. For massless configurations, the effective cosmological constant takes the universal form $\Lambda_{\rm eff}=A/\ell^{2}+B/\ell^{4}$, allowing comparison of classical and quantum contributions and identification of the characteristic curvature scales at which their relative importance changes. We then test whether the classical relation between AdS and dS extends to the quantum level through the formal continuation $\ell\rightarrow i\ell$. Although the classical curvature term is mapped correctly, the quantum contribution is not: for minimal coupling the AdS and dS coefficients are in the ratio $29/61$, while for conformal coupling they have equal magnitude and opposite sign. These discrepancies show that semiclassical backreaction is not determined by local curvature alone, but retains information about the quantum state, boundary conditions, and global structure. The results clarify the limitations of analytic continuation as a map between the semiclassical quantum theories of AdS and dS.

Supercooled first-order phase transitions provide an attractive framework for generating observable gravitational waves (GWs), but the accompanying entropy injection dilutes any pre-existing baryon asymmetry, motivating baryogenesis during or after the phase transition. Cold baryogenesis offers a promising mechanism in which bubble collisions generate Higgs winding configurations and the Chern-Simons number through out-of-equilibrium dynamics. In the present study, we perform three-dimensional lattice simulations of a two-field model where the scalar field responsible for the phase transition is separated from the Higgs sector. Using realistic initial conditions obtained from bounce solutions, we follow the bubble expansion and collisions and study the generation of Chern-Simons number. It is found that efficient Chern-Simons production persists even for strongly non-degenerate potentials with large latent heat, which are favorable for enhancing GW signals. We also estimate the resulting baryon asymmetry using the simulated Chern-Simons dynamics and an effective CP-violating operator. Our results demonstrate that cold baryogenesis remains viable in the strongly supercooled regime, providing an important step toward establishing baryogenesis from cosmological first-order phase transitions.

Rapid advances in AI have opened a new era for physics, enabling unprecedented capabilities in research and discovery. However, these advances also bring challenges in verifying, trusting, and reusing the results they so rapidly produce. Formalization is a necessary part of the solution to these challenges. In this paper, as well as giving an overview of the role of AI and formalization in physics, we make the case that: (1) formalization is an essential layer for AI-driven discoveries in both computational and theoretical physics; (2) AI is lowering the barrier to, and increasing the efficiency of, formalization in physics, though it remains weaker at choosing definitions and designing libraries than at writing proofs; (3) the speed AI brings to formalization in physics currently comes at the cost of trust, credit, and community; (4) shared, community-reviewed formal libraries such as Physlib should be central in making progress in this field, both as a trusted, reusable foundation for physics results and as the environment in which AI systems can reason about physics; (5) formalizing physics raises challenges beyond those in mathematics, most importantly that a checked proof does not establish that its definitions faithfully capture the intended physics. We also give our perspectives on near-term and long-term directions in these areas.

When computing tree-level amplitudes of the nonlinear sigma model (NLSM) via the BCFW on-shell recursion relation, boundary terms are inevitable. Here, the BCFW recursion relation refers to the original prescription with momentum-shifts on two external legs, as opposed to the generalized versions with redefined momentum-shifts. We propose a simple general scheme that determines the boundary terms of NLSM amplitudes recursively from lower-point amplitudes. Hidden zeros and mass dimensions severely constrain boundary terms, allowing us to compute these terms from the $2$-split property of the tree amplitudes. Combined with the existing rules in the literature for obtaining the two currents in the $2$-split from on-shell amplitudes, this scheme enables the recursive construction of boundary terms for higher-point amplitudes from lower-point amplitudes.

We study the logarithmic corrections to the asymptotic trajectories of massive particles. These corrections enter the calculation of the soft-log sector of the radiative field at null infinity in four-dimensional gravitational scattering. We first isolate the part of the metric which enters the particle equations of motion. We show that the nonlinear source can only affect this sector through homogeneous modes on the hyperboloid, and that matching to the proposed soft tower implies that these modes vanish, except for the first mode. We show that this mode cannot affect the trajectory coefficients at leading order in G. We then invert the matter energy-momentum tensor on the particle worldlines to obtain the trajectory coefficients at leading order in $G$ and at every logarithmic order using Legendre polynomials. The first two coefficients reproduce the known results at orders $G$ and $G^2$. .