Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Hot Degenerate Components in Blue Stragglers: A Multi-Wavelength SED Analysis of Nine Open Clusters with Swift/UVOT
Deniz Cennet Ç{\i}nar, D. Bisht, Selçuk Bilir et al. (+2 more)
We present a homogeneous multi-wavelength analysis of 35 blue straggler
star (BSS) candidates in nine open clusters, combining Swift/UVOT near-ultraviolet data with
Gaia DR3 astrometry and optical-to-infrared photometry. We construct spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to search for signatures of hot companions associated with past mass transfer. Among the sample, 15 BSSs (~43%) show ultraviolet excesses that are better described by two-component SED fits. The inferred companions are consistent with hot white
dwarfs and pre-extremely low-mass (pre-ELM) white
dwarf candidates, suggesting systems observed at different stages following mass transfer. We examine the radial distribution of the BSSs and find evidence for mass segregation in dynamically evolved clusters, a result that is broadly consistent with the estimated half-mass relaxation timescales of the host systems. To place the clusters in a
Galactic context, we compute their orbits using galpy, obtaining low eccentricities (e <= 0.1) and disk-like trajectories. We also find a positive relation between the half-number radius of the BSS population (r50) and the total number of BSSs. Overall, our results are consistent with a scenario in which the BSS population in these clusters is dominated by binary
evolution. The systems identified here provide observational constraints on post-mass-transfer evolutionary phases. While the number of robust detections is limited and intrinsic degeneracies remain in SED-based decomposition, these results provide a useful foundation for future spectroscopic confirmation.
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All authors Deniz Cennet Ç{\i}nar, D. Bisht, Selçuk Bilir, Songmei Qin, Leila Saker
High Energy Physics (Phenomenology)
Gravitational Wave Imprints of a High-Quality Axion and the Origin of Flavor Hierarchies
K.S. Babu, Sai Charan Chandrasekar, Sudip Jana et al. (+1 more)
Axions, arising from an anomalous global Peccei-Quinn
symmetry $U(1)_{\text{PQ}}$, offer a compelling solution to the strong CP problem but are vulnerable to Planck-suppressed operators. Gauged abelian
flavor symmetries $U(1)_F$, invoked to explain the
flavor hierarchies via the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism, can naturally shield the
axion from such effects, yielding an accidental high-quality flavored
axion with unit domain wall number. Such constructions predict two complementary signatures: (i)
flavor-changing neutral currents from $K\to\pi a$ decays, typically associated with high
flavor scales $\Lambda_{\text{FN}}\gtrsim f_a$, and (ii)
stochastic Gravitational Waves (GWs) sourced by the
evolution and decay of gauged flavonic and axionic
cosmic-string networks. In addition, global axionic strings can efficiently radiate
axions, potentially accounting for the observed dark matter relic abundance. We show that the resulting characteristic plateau–valley structure in the GW spectrum provides a distinctive and powerful probe of high-quality flavored
axion dark matter models, complementary to low-energy
flavor experiments.
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All authors K.S. Babu, Sai Charan Chandrasekar, Sudip Jana, Sudip Manna
High Energy Physics (Theory)
Non-linear evolution of five-dimensional black strings in effective field theory
Pau Figueras, Áron D. Kovács and Shunhui Yao
We use numerical relativity to study the non-linear instability of five-dimensional black strings in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet
gravity. Black strings evolve into a series of black holes joined by thinner string-like segments, but key features of the dynamics depend on the sign of the Gauss-Bonnet coupling. For positive coupling, favored by UV considerations, the growth of
curvature invariants is limited within the validity of effective field theory (EFT), suggesting a mechanism for restoring weak
cosmic censorship. For negative coupling this cap is absent and
curvatures may grow until the EFT breaks down.
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Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
The Influence of Opacity on Inferred MHD Wave Signatures in the Lower Solar Atmosphere
Samuel J. Skirvin, Samuel D. T. Grant, David B. Jess et al. (+8 more)
Magnetohydrodynamic wave activity in small-scale
magnetic structures, such as
solar pores, provides key insights into energy transport in the lower
solar atmosphere. This study presents high-resolution observations of ten
solar pores contained within a 43 x 43 Mm$^2$ field of view, obtained with the CRISP instrument at the Swedish 1-m
Solar Telescope. We investigate the temporal behaviour of the line-of-sight velocity (vlos) and
magnetic field (blos) oscillations within the pore structures. Using SIR inversions, we analyse the oscillatory signals at multiple optical depths (log $\tau$ levels) to assess how variations in
geometric height (z) and temperature relate to the observed blos fluctuations. Our results reveal that higher-frequency oscillations (> 6 mHz) exhibit strong coherences with in-phase fluctuations between blos and z across atmospheric layers, consistent with upward-propagating magneto-acoustic waves. In contrast, coherent lower-frequency oscillations display significant phase differences, which may arise from opacity effects contaminating the inversion response. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for opacity effects when interpreting
magnetic oscillations, with direct implications for forthcoming high-precision
magnetic diagnostics from facilities such as DKIST.
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All authors Samuel J. Skirvin, Samuel D. T. Grant, David B. Jess, Ryan J. Campbell, Shahin Jafarzadeh, Mika V. Kontiainen, Michele Berretti, Timothy J. Duckenfield, Glen Chambers, Marco Stangalini, Luc Rouppe van der Voort
High Energy Physics (Theory)
Mass-Flow Invariance of $Q$-Cohomology in BMN Matrix Quantum Mechanics
Chi-Ming Chang, Zhengyuan Du, Sarthak Duary et al. (+2 more)
We study the dependence of the dynamical supercharges of BMN
matrix quantum mechanics on the mass parameter $\mu$. Taking the $\mu$-derivative at fixed canonical
matrix variables, we show that the sixteen-component supercharge evolves by the adjoint action of a Hermitian quadratic bosonic operator $\mathcal{K}$, together with the spinor-space factor $i\gamma^{123}$. After projection to a $\gamma^{123}$-eigenspace, this flow integrates to a finite similarity transformation. For the nilpotent component $Q(\mu)=\mathcal Q^4_-(\mu)$, one obtains $Q(\mu)=M(\mu,\mu_0)Q(\mu_0)M(\mu,\mu_0)^{-1}$, giving an algebraic mass-flow non-renormalization statement for the $Q$-
cohomology. The corresponding
Hilbert-space statement has an analytic qualification, parallel to Witten's argument for supersymmetric
quantum mechanics: $M$ is non-
unitary and unbounded, so its action on the normalizable domain must be controlled. We formulate a small-step criterion by comparing the quadratic growth of $M$ with the Gaussian falloff of BMN oscillator wavefunctions within each component $\mu>0$ or $\mu<0$. As a concrete check, we evaluate this condition in the $N=2$ theory, whose two
vacuum sectors are built on the trivial
vacuum and the irreducible fuzzy-sphere
vacuum. We also compute the induced $Q_{\rm BPS}$-action on the corresponding BPS letters: in the trivial sector it agrees with the standard BMN-sector BPS-letter differential of $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM, while in the irreducible sector it vanishes.
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All authors Chi-Ming Chang, Zhengyuan Du, Sarthak Duary, Kangning Liu, Yi-Xiao Tao
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
The WISSHFUL program: the highest redshift UFO discovered in a non-lensed QSO
G. Lanzuisi, L. Borrelli, E. Piconcelli et al. (+28 more)
We present the first results from the WISSHFUL program, an XMM-Newton heritage program targeting luminous QSOs at
Cosmic Noon. We report on recent simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations of the Super-Eddington accreting
quasar WISSH13 at z=3.294, which provide the highest quality broadband X-ray spectrum to date for a non-lensed QSO at this
redshift. Physical modeling of the continuum reveals a soft
photon index ($\Gamma\sim2$) and strong reflection ($R\sim1.4-1.8$), despite the weak narrow Fe emission, and a low high-energy cut-off ($E_{cut}\sim60-80$ keV, $kTe = 15-20$ keV, depending on the model adopted). Most notably, we detect two significant (at $96.7\%$ and $98.9\%$ confidence level, respectively) absorption features at $\sim7.5$ and $\sim10$ keV rest-frame, interpreted as a blueshifted blend of Fe XXV He$\alpha$ and Fe XXVI Ly$\alpha$. These features indicate the presence of two kinematic components of a highly ionized, high column Ultra-Fast
Outflow (UFO) with a velocity of $v_{out}\sim0.1c$ and $v_{out}\sim0.3c$, respectively. The slower wind is consistently detected in an archival 2017 XMM-Newton observation, whereas the faster wind is detected only in 2024. This stratified and variable wind exhibits extreme energetics, with a mass
outflow rate of $\dot{M}_{out}\sim20M_{\odot}/yr$ (corresponding to $15\% \dot{M}_{acc}$) for each component, and a kinetic power of the order of $\sim1$ and $\sim10\%$ of the bolometric luminosity, respectively. While this represents one of the most powerful UFOs ever detected, its kinetic power is a similar fraction of the QSO's bolometric luminosity compared to lower-
redshift AGN. We present several theoretical frameworks to explain the peculiar
accretion and ejection properties of this remarkable QSO at
Cosmic Noon.
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All authors G. Lanzuisi, L. Borrelli, E. Piconcelli, G. Chartas, A. Luminari, J. Reeves, V. Braito, E. Bertola, S. Bianchi, A. Comastri, M. Brusa, C. Vignali, F. Vito, S. Marchesi, M. Cappi, M. Dadina, L. Zappacosta, A. Tortosa, M. Bischetti, G. Vietri, F. Salvestrini, G. Bruni, M. Fanelli, E. Kammoun, X. Zhao, G. Matzeu, F. Tombesi, A. Marinucci, M. Gaspari, T. Misawa, D. Stern
Quantum Physics
Setting angles in quantum approximate optimization at utility-scale
Maosheng Guo, Joel Jurado Diaz, Anurag Ramesh et al. (+16 more)
The
quantum approximate optimization
algorithm (QAOA) is a powerful heuristic that seeks to solve combinatorial optimization problems using
quantum hardware and classical optimization in tandem. Various methods exist to train the parameterized
quantum circuits that serve as an ansatz in QAOA. However, which method works best to identify optimal angles for a given problem instance remains poorly understood, especially at utility-scale, i.e., $100$
qubits or more. In this work, we address this challenge through utility-scale
benchmarks from which we distill operational guidance for QAOA practitioners. First, we investigate approximation techniques, such as
matrix product states and Pauli propagation, to find optimal angles. Second, we train QAOA on small-scale representative problems and transfer the angles to larger ones. We then validate the results on
quantum hardware for utility-scale problem instances that can be meaningfully executed. In this way, we identify insights for QAOA angle setting strategies that work best for problems at the utility scale, including as a function of resource cost for the search. Crucially, the operational implications we draw from our
benchmarks will help
quantum optimization practitioners execute QAOA end-to-end pipelines efficiently on current and future hardware.
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All authors Maosheng Guo, Joel Jurado Diaz, Anurag Ramesh, Conrad J. Haupt, Alberto Baiardi, Dimitrios Athanasakos, M. Emre Sahin, Oscar Wallis, George Pennington, Christian Arenz, Sebastian Brandhofer, Georgios Korpas, Ieva Čepaitė, J. A. Montañez-Barrera, Jakub Marecek, Davide Venturelli, Stephan Eidenbenz, David E. Bernal Neira, Daniel J. Egger
Astrophysics of Galaxies
A Decade to Map the Diffuse Universe: FRB-QSO Pairs with HST/COS Spectroscopy
Jessica Werk, Matthew McQuinn, J. Xavier Prochaska et al. (+16 more)
Jointly analyzing the sightlines of arcsecond-localized fast
radio bursts (FRBs) and UV-bright
quasars (QSOs) nearby in projection has the potential to provide strong constraints on the phases, mass distributions, and
magnetic structure of the diffuse universe. Each probe supplies what the other cannot: FRBs provide integrated electron columns (DM), line-of-sight
magnetic field estimates (RM), and scattering constraints ($\tau_{\rm scatt}$) that are independent of gas phase; QSOs provide the
redshift- and phase-resolved column densities needed to interpret them. Today, there are only $\sim100$ arcsecond-localized FRBs at $z < 1$, making statistical FRB-QSO pair surveys impossible. By 2035, there will be $\sim10^{5}$. Using the most recent FRB localization forecasts and UV-bright QSO catalogs, we estimate that next-generation interferometers will yield thousands of FRB–QSO pairs at angular separations $\theta < 10'$, including $\sim100$ pairs at $\theta < 1'$, over a common 20,000\,deg$^2$ footprint by 2035. We outline the science enabled by this sample: constraints on CGM ionization fractions and
baryon masses; observational constraints on the role of
magnetic fields and
turbulence in the CGM and
cosmic web; sightline-by-sightline partitioning of the
cosmic DM budget; and three-dimensional mapping of the multiphase Milky Way and M31
halos. Together, these measurements directly address the physics of feedback, non-thermal pressure support, and energy balance in the diffuse gas that regulates
galaxy growth. HST/COS is the only instrument that can carry out this program, and the 2030s are the only decade in which to do it before Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) defines the next era of diffuse universe science.
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All authors Jessica Werk, Matthew McQuinn, J. Xavier Prochaska, Sunil Simha, Rongmon Bordoloi, Liam Connor, Andrew Fox, J. Chris Howk, Cameron Hummels, Lordrick Kahinga, Victoria Kaspi, Khee-Gan Lee, Nicolas Lehner, Kiyoshi Masui, Benjamin Oppenheimer, Vikram Ravi, Kate Rubin, Kirill Tchernyshyov, Yong Zheng
High Energy Physics (Phenomenology)
Interference effects in gluon-fusion Higgs boson production
Federico Buccioni and Federica Devoto
In this contribution we summarize recent progress in higher-order computations of signal-background interference effects in
Higgs boson production via
gluon fusion. The focus is on the resonance region, where interference terms are most significant relative to the pure signal contribution when the
Higgs boson decay is loop-induced. We present results for the well-studied $gg \to H \to \gamma\gamma$ process and for the rare $gg \to H \to Z\gamma$ mode. In both cases, the interference is destructive, reducing the resonant
Higgs boson production rate by about 1.6% in the diphoton channel and by roughly 3% in the $Z\gamma$ decay mode.
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High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Constraining the jet base emission of M87* with past and future Event Horizon Telescope observations
Noemi La Bella, Michael Janssen, Britton Jeter et al. (+5 more)
We investigate the detectability of the jet base of M87* at Event Horizon
Telescope (EHT) observing frequencies. Although M87 is known to host a prominent relativistic jet, detecting jet emission close to the black hole at horizon scales remains challenging. Our goal is to determine the minimum jet intensity that can be reliably detected with the recent EHT array configurations. We use synthetic EHT data generated for three array configurations corresponding to the 2021 and 2022 observing campaigns and to a near future EHT campaign. As input models, we employ semi analytic
accretion jet models in which the jet emission can be tuned independently of the
accretion flow. The synthetic data are reconstructed with regularized maximum likelihood and
Bayesian imaging. Jet detectability is assessed through flux density recovery, image fidelity, and uncertainty maps. We find that jet detectability strongly depends on the jet intensity, the array configuration, and imaging methodology. Using our analysis, we determine a lower limit on the jet intensity that can be reliably recovered. The 2022 EHT array configuration represents a significant improvement over earlier arrays, enabling a more robust reconstruction of faint jet features. Our results indicate that the current EHT array is already sensitive to weak jet emission at horizon scales in M87*. The improved short-baseline coverage introduced in 2022 makes faint inner jet features more easily detectable. If the inner jet contributes a significant fraction of the unresolved compact flux, it should become visible in post-2021 observations. On the other hand, if no clear jet signature is found, this would suggest that the horizon-scale jet contributes only a small part of the compact emission. The continued expansion of the EHT will further improve the detection of such jet emission in M87*.
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All authors Noemi La Bella, Michael Janssen, Britton Jeter, Hendrik Müller, Bram Van de Berg, Hung-Yi Pu, Paul Tiede, Heino Falcke
Lattice Field Theory
Gauge field flow for chiral gauge theories on a slab
Jinlong Dang, Rohith Karur and Srimoyee Sen
The proposal to formulate
chiral gauge theories using domain wall
fermions on $2n+1$ dimensional Euclidean
lattice with a slab geometry involves $2n$ dimensional dynamical gauge fields residing on one of the domain walls. The gauge fields are extended into the extra dimension using gradient flow decoupling the mirror
fermions on the anti-wall. We implement this construction on the
lattice for $n=1$ in the presence of $2n$ dimensional background gauge fields. We also formulate and implement an additional gauge field flow proposal, where the gauge fields satisfy $2n+1$ dimensional equation of motion away from the domain wall, known as the EOM (equation of motion) flow. In both cases, we couple the gauge fields to
fermions and demonstrate how current conservation and anomaly inflow work on the
lattice.
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Lattice Field Theory
Gauge field flow for chiral gauge theories on a disk boundary
Jinlong Dang, Rohith Karur and Srimoyee Sen
A recent non-perturbative formulation of $2n$ dimensional
chiral gauge theories relies on realizing
chiral fermions on the $2n$ dimensional boundary of a $2n+1$ dimensional disk
manifold. It also requires extending boundary gauge configurations into the interior of the disk using some flow prescription that preserves 2n dimensional gauge invariance. In this paper we propose a concrete realization of the equation of motion flow with the disk embedded on a square
lattice. In addition, we couple the flow gauge field to
fermions and demonstrate the mechanism of anomaly inflow and anomaly cancellation at work on the
lattice.
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High Energy Physics (Theory)
Krylov Complexity: Flat bands and Carroll breaking deformations
Aritra Banerjee, Arpan Bhattacharyya, Rudranil Basu et al. (+1 more)
Systems with flat band structures, when written in the
language of Compact Localised States (CLS), have been shown to be explicitly invariant under supertranslation
symmetries, making Carrollian
symmetries inherently important for such systems. In this work, we explore the state dynamics of these systems, focusing on quenches induced by Carroll breaking perturbations, through the probe of Krylov (spread) Complexity. We specialise to Fermionic ladder
Hamiltonians with all bands flat (ABF) scenario, augmented by a supertranslation preserving interaction, and discuss Krylov state complexity for quenches across critical lines. We further discuss how the growth of Krylov complexity sharply resolves the phase-dependent resilience of Carrollian sectors against delocalising perturbations. This is augmented by a complementary mechanism for Krylov growth in a continuum Carroll scalar field theory with a gradient deformation, which exhibits strong ultraviolet sensitivity (UV/IR mixing).
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All authors Aritra Banerjee, Arpan Bhattacharyya, Rudranil Basu, Sayan Das
Superconductivity
Magnetochiral anisotropy in strained superconducting transition metal dichalcogenides
Joaquim Telles de Miranda, Maxim Khodas and Alex Levchenko
We present a theoretical study of nonreciprocal charge transport in two-dimensional noncentrosymmetric
superconductors, taking the transition-metal dichalcogenide MoS$_2$ as a representative example. In the normal state, the magnetochiral anisotropy vanishes within the minimal band model of MoS$_2$, appearing only at subleading order in the
symmetry-breaking perturbations set by trigonal warping, Ising
spin-orbit coupling, and the Zeeman field. Superconductivity changes this picture qualitatively: in the vicinity of the transition, the magnetochiral anisotropy is strongly enhanced by pairing fluctuations. We evaluate the nonreciprocal current density arising from order-parameter fluctuations and
quantum-interference processes – the Aslamazov-Larkin and Maki-Thompson channels – and show that both are governed by cubic Lifshitz invariants of the Ginzburg-Landau free energy, generically allowed once inversion and time-reversal
symmetries are broken. These invariants are derived microscopically from the band model, including the effects of disorder: in the diffusive limit the warping-induced invariant is suppressed, yet the resulting response remains sizable. Strain is shown to enable additional vector components of the nonlinear current, activating the Maki-Thompson channel. Finally, invoking Onsager reciprocity, we identify kinetic Lifshitz invariants, nonreciprocal corrections to the order-parameter relaxation rate, locked to the Langevin noise by the fluctuation-dissipation
theorem, and demonstrate that their contribution to the magnetochiral anisotropy is parametrically subleading near the transition.
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Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
AGN Line-Intensity Mapping: A Probe of Faint Black Holes at Cosmic Noon
Eli Visbal and Greg L. Bryan
We propose line-intensity mapping (LIM) as a new probe of active
galactic nuclei (AGN). By cross-correlating [Ne V] intensity maps with
galaxy redshift surveys, we show that the cumulative AGN line emission can be detected even when individual sources are below the detection threshold. The 97.1 eV ionization potential of [Ne V] makes it an essentially uncontaminated tracer of AGN activity, arising from the narrow line region which is accessible even in heavily obscured AGN. We forecast signal-to-noise ratios using a Fisher
matrix formalism for two hypothetical future instruments: a CDIM-like instrument targeting [Ne V] $\lambda 3426$ and a PRIMA-like instrument optimized for LIM targeting [Ne V] $14.3 \mu$m. For the CDIM-like case we find strong constraints on the product of the mean AGN intensity and bias, $S_{\rm NeV} b_{\rm NeV}$, across $z=2-3$, with
redshift-space distortions enabling individual constraints on $S_{\rm NeV}$ and $b_{\rm NeV}$. The LIM signal retains sensitivity to AGN below the $5\sigma$ direct detection threshold, which at $z=3$ corresponds to $L_{\rm bol} \sim 5\times10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and coincides with the faint end of existing luminosity function measurements. Roughly 10% of the total signal originates from below this threshold, with the sub-threshold population detectable at $S/N=9-4$ across $z=2-3$ (for $S_{\rm NeV} b_{\rm NeV}$). The PRIMA-like instrument achieves slightly lower signal-to-noise but provides a complementary probe of the AGN population due to the insensitivity of the $14.3 \mu$m line to
dust attenuation. AGN LIM can potentially be applied to several scientific problems including tracing the total AGN emissivity history, constraining the black hole-
halo connection at faint luminosities, and discriminating between supermassive black hole seeding mechanisms.
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High Energy Physics (Phenomenology)
NNLO+PS Higgs-pair production in MiNNLOPS
Francesco Garosi, Marius Wiesemann and Giulia Zanderighi
We consider
Higgs-
boson pair production in
gluon fusion at
hadron colliders and match next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) QCD corrections to parton showers within the MiNNLO$_{PS}$ framework. Since the full top-
quark mass dependence at this order is not available, finite top-
quark mass effects are incorporated through approximations based on the exact NLO QCD result, using the available two-loop amplitude in the full theory. Specifically, the Born, single-virtual, single-real and double-real contributions are included exactly, while the real–virtual and double-virtual corrections are approximated. We consider different approximations for the latter to assess the associated uncertainties. We validate our predictions against fixed-order NNLO QCD results and compare with existing NNLO calculations matched to parton shower from GENEVA, where in some cases we find noticeable differences. Finally, we present phenomenological results for different
Higgs-decay channels and variations of the trilinear
Higgs coupling. Our MiNNLO$_{PS}$ generator for
Higgs-
boson pair production is available within the POWHEG-BOX-RES framework.
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High Energy Physics (Phenomenology)
Heavy-element paleodetectors for Higgsino dark matter
Peter W. Graham, Harikrishnan Ramani and Samuel S. Y. Wong
Paleodetectors have been proposed as a new approach to direct detection of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), through the search for damage tracks in ancient minerals induced by WIMP-nucleon scattering. However, for inelastic dark matter such as the Higgsino, existing paleodetector targets lack sufficiently heavy
nuclei to overcome the kinematic threshold for scattering. We propose heavy-element paleodetectors as a new probe of inelastic dark matter, using ancient, radiopure minerals containing heavy elements such as lead. We identify brine precipitates from deep geothermal aquifers as a possible geological source of such minerals. Additionally, paleodetectors are uniquely sensitive to the history of the dark matter high-velocity tail, including a possible fast population induced by the Large Magellanic Cloud's close approach 50 Myr ago. Such a scenario would favor younger minerals than usually assumed in the paleodetector literature. This method can probe Higgsino mass splittings up to $\delta \simeq 920$ keV. Due to the large Higgsino-nucleon cross section, we find that even suboptimal mineral samples with ordinary radioactivity from depths of only 2 km can probe new parameter space, thus partially relaxing the stringent requirements on radiopurity and depth that constitute two significant challenges for the paleodetector program.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies
Dynamical models of cluster members to probe the total mass properties of cluster subhalos. I. A comparison with parametric strong lensing models
Nicola Bianchetti, Claudio Grillo, Giovanni Granata et al. (+6 more)
In this series of papers, we present dynamical models of cluster members in strong
lensing (SL)
galaxy clusters to independently probe the persistent discrepancy reported between SL models and cosmological simulations, in terms of total mass properties for the cluster subhalos. In this work, we focused our study on early-type
galaxies within Abell 2744 ($z=0.309$) and MACS J0416.1-2403 ($z=0.397$). We took advantage of deep MUSE spectroscopic data, complemented with HFF photometry. We used a pipeline based on spectral fitting to perform kinematic measurements of the LOS velocity dispersion profiles of 109 cluster members. We modeled the
galaxies assuming a dPIE total mass density distribution and a Jaffe
stellar mass density distribution. From the models, we inferred the values of the central
stellar velocity dispersion, $\sigma_0$, and the truncation radius, $r_t$, for the
galaxies in our sample. We found that $\sigma_0$ is accurately recovered for all of the cluster members, while $r_t$ is reliably measured for a fraction of
galaxies in our sample, with sufficiently extended radial kinematic coverage. Our dynamical models predicted LOS velocity dispersion profiles that fit the measured ones better than those inferred from SL models. We then exploited the $\sigma_0$ measurements obtained from the dynamical models to calibrate the Faber-Jackson scaling relations for the cluster members in both
galaxy clusters. When comparing our relations to those obtained in previous kinematics and SL works, we found systematically higher normalization and compatible slope and scatter values. We conclude that our dynamical measurements of $\sigma_0$ and $r_t$, along with calibrated scaling relations, are more robust than previous kinematic estimates which are biased by not taking into account the effects of the PSF, and should therefore be adopted as improved initial prescriptions in future SL models.
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All authors Nicola Bianchetti, Claudio Grillo, Giovanni Granata, Pietro Bergamini, Massimo Meneghetti, Amata Mercurio, Piero Rosati, Eros Vanzella, Gabriel B. Caminha
Quantum Physics
Continuous-variable ADAPT-VQE for bosonic lattice models
Dimitrios Athanasakos, Gloria Tejedor-García, Jack Y. Araz et al. (+4 more)
We present a continuous-variable adaptive variational
quantum eigensolver (CV-ADAPT-VQE). As concrete examples, we consider the ground-state preparation for (i) the Bose-Hubbard model and (ii) the bosonic Kitaev chain, including its extension with an on-site Kerr interaction. The former conserves the total
boson number, while the latter conserves global parity. We construct
symmetry-preserving operator pools tailored to each case and show, using GPU-based classical simulations, that CV-ADAPT-VQE results in significantly shallower
circuits compared to
Hamiltonian-based VQE approaches. Our results point toward direct applications in
quantum simulations of condensed-matter systems,
quantum chemistry, and high-energy physics.
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All authors Dimitrios Athanasakos, Gloria Tejedor-García, Jack Y. Araz, Mafalda Ramôa, Bharath Sambasivam, Sophia E. Economou, Felix Ringer
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
TOI-3664 b, TOI-4034 b & TOI-6564 b: Three new hot Jupiters around stars approaching the terminal age main sequence
Matthew P. Battley, Marina Lafarga, Edward Gillen et al. (+21 more)
Studying the
evolution of hot Jupiters requires a sample of well-characterised systems across all evolutionary states. We present three new gas
giant exoplanets around
stars approaching the end of the main sequence, a comparatively unexplored epoch of hot Jupiter
evolution. These
planets were discovered by TESS before being vetted and confirmed through dedicated spectroscopic follow-up programmes by CARMENES, CORALIE and MINERVA-Australis. TOI-3664 b has a period of 3.30 days, a radius of 1.22 +/- 0.03 RJup and a mass of 0.36 +/- 0.12 MJup. TOI-4034 b is a short-period hot Jupiter with a period of 1.80 days, a radius of 1.58 +/- 0.02 RJup and a mass of 0.87 +/- 0.16 MJup. Meanwhile TOI-6564 b has a period of 3.99 days, radius of 1.46 +/- 0.02 RJup and mass of 0.70 +/- 0.07 MJup. All three
planets have radii larger than Jupiter but sub-Jupiter masses, in line with slight inflation as their hosts increase in luminosity towards the end of the main sequence. These
exoplanets' low densities and hosts' advanced evolutionary states make them interesting
planets with which to study the later stages of hot Jupiter
evolution. Careful analysis was undertaken to determine the ages of each system, considering astrometry, gyrochronology,
stellar isochrones and lithium abundance, yielding ages of 9.0 +2.4/-2.1 Gyr, 5.7 +/- 0.5 Gyr and 4.0 +/- 1.0 Gyr for TOI-3664, TOI-4034 and TOI-6564 respectively, yet each system has a similar evolutionary state because of their differing
stellar masses (0.98 +/- 0.03, 1.19 +0.13/-0.03 and 1.18 +0.16/-0.03 M*). These three
planets add more steps to the "age-ladder" of exoplanetary
evolution, building towards the community's goal of understanding how
planets evolve over time.
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All authors Matthew P. Battley, Marina Lafarga, Edward Gillen, Monika Lendl, Solène Ulmer-Moll, Cynthia S. K. Ho, Emilio Marfil, Sergio Sousa, Yolanda Frensch, Dimitri Veras, François Bouchy, Yann Carteret, Ian J. M. Crossfield, Tyler Fairnington, Mathilde Houelle, Dan Huber, Marziye Jafariyazani, Léna Parc, Don Radford, TG Tan, Sara Tavella, Rob Wittenmyer, Duncan Wright, George Zhou
Quantum Physics
Isospectrality and Operator Complexity
Pradip Kattel, Yicheng Tang and Natan Andrei
We study a pair of exactly solvable, isospectral
fermion chains, one strongly interacting and one quadratic, that nevertheless display remarkably different phase structures and operator dynamics. A nonlocal nonlinear
unitary transformation maps one onto the other while preserving the entire many-body spectrum and converting local
fermion operators into extended many-body strings. Thus, operators that evolve within a closed linear subspace in the quadratic model become interacting operators that generate increasingly higher-body terms and exhibit asymptotic Lanczos growth $b_n\propto\sqrt n$. Despite their identical spectra, the two models realize distinct phases and sharply different notions of operator complexity. Our results demonstrate that free many-body spectra and interacting operator dynamics are fundamentally compatible.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons
Thermalization Dynamics in the Two-Dimensional Hubbard Model with Neural-Network Quantum States
Alessandro Sinibaldi, Luciano Loris Viteritti, Riccardo Rende et al. (+2 more)
Thermalization in strongly correlated fermionic systems remains a central open problem in
quantum many-body physics. In this work, we investigate the real-time dynamics and the approach to thermalization in the two-dimensional Hubbard model, a paradigmatic framework for correlated electrons, relevant to high-temperature superconductivity and ultracold
quantum simulation. Focusing on the half-filled square
lattice, we monitor the time
evolution of the double occupancy following a quench in the on-site interaction $U$, and assess whether its long-time value is captured by a canonical thermal ensemble. We employ time-dependent variational Monte Carlo methods combined with
transformer-based Neural-Network
Quantum States to accurately describe the nonequilibrium dynamics of
fermions, especially for the behavior at long times, thereby accessing regimes that were previously inaccessible to numerical simulations. Our results reveal two dynamical behaviors: for weak to intermediate interactions, the double occupancy rapidly approaches the thermal prediction, consistent with ergodic
evolution; beyond a critical interaction $U_{C}$, the dynamics remains distinct from the thermal expectation on the timescales investigated, revealing signatures of a prethermal plateau delaying fast relaxation. These results establish numerical simulation as a powerful tool to probe nonequilibrium
quantum phenomena in correlated fermionic matter.
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All authors Alessandro Sinibaldi, Luciano Loris Viteritti, Riccardo Rende, Fakher F. Assaad, Giuseppe Carleo
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Eppur binaria non é esclusa: Gaia astrometry does not disfavor a binary origin for Long Secondary Periods
Patryk Iwanek, Piotr A. Kołaczek-Szymański, Dorota M. Skowron et al. (+2 more)
We present an independent reassessment of the nearby long secondary period (LSP)
stars analyzed by Shariat et al. (2026). By inspecting long-term All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) light curves, together with
Gaia Focused Product Release (
Gaia FPR) radial velocity (RV) curves, for 221 LSP candidates (out of 224) located within 1.5 kpc from the Sun, we find that less than half of the sample (103 objects, $\sim 47$%) exhibit convincing LSP-like behavior. The remaining part of the sample could be more naturally interpreted as that of semi-regular variables (SRVs), characterized by irregular or multi-periodic pulsations. This indicates that the analyzed sample is significantly contaminated by non-LSP objects and therefore is not representative of the classical period-luminosity sequence-D population. Using the gaiamock tool to predict
Gaia renormalized unit weight error (RUWE) values for binary systems, we show that even the nearest LSP
stars do not have to exhibit elevated RUWE values as a consequence of their binarity. We also argue that the binary-nature hypothesis for LSP
stars does not lead to a discrepancy between the observed and expected distance-RUWE relation for these variables.
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All authors Patryk Iwanek, Piotr A. Kołaczek-Szymański, Dorota M. Skowron, Grzegorz Pojmański, Igor Soszyński
High Energy Physics (Phenomenology)
Peter B. Denton, Julia Gehrlein and Henry Truelson
The
flavor puzzle remains one of the biggest open questions in particle theory to date and upcoming results from
neutrino experiments will have a large impact on its potential solution in the future. While some classes of leptonic
flavor models are difficult to constrain with current data, this will change in the coming years as several yet unknown quantities, like the
neutrino mass ordering and the octant of $\theta_{23}$, will be determined, and the CP-violating quantity $\delta$ will be measured with some precision. In addition, significant improvements in the precision of the other oscillation parameters, notably $\theta_{12}$, is also expected to impact our understanding of
flavor. Together with anticipated improvements on the absolute
neutrino mass scale determination from the combination of cosmological data sets or beta decay endpoint spectrum measurements, upcoming experiments will lead to a refined picture of our understanding of
flavor in the
lepton sector. In this paper, we show exactly how
flavor model predictions relate to expected measurements. Five popular classes of leptonic
flavor model predictions are considered: mass sum rules, one and two texture-zeros for both Dirac and Majorana
neutrinos, charged
lepton corrections, modular
symmetries, and constrained sequential dominance. We discuss correlations, degeneracies, and discrimination capabilities in the context of the expected measurements from upcoming experiments. We also highlight how different
flavor model predictions can be differentiated and the roles each upcoming observable has on
flavor model predictions. We anticipate that the precision targeted in future measurements will be sufficient to dramatically reduce the number of viable leptonic
flavor models, will allow us to disentangle them, and could hopefully begin to shed light on the answer to the
flavor puzzle.
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High Energy Physics (Theory)
Unitarity, Recursion and Soft Limits in (EA)dS through Dressing
Arhum Ansari, Deep Mazumdar and Brijesh Thakkar
Using the recently developed framework in which cosmological correlators in (E)AdS are represented as flat-space amplitudes dressed by auxiliary propagators, we show that several structural properties of the cosmological observables have a direct flat-space origin. We derive cosmological cutting rules for spinning correlators from the flat-space optical
theorem, obtain the cosmological tree
theorem from the Feynman tree
theorem, and uplift BCFW recursion relations to (E)AdS via dressing. We also show that flat-space soft
theorems reproduce the soft limits of (E)AdS correlators, and find indications of an emergent universal structure in subleading soft limits. These results provide evidence that key features of cosmological correlators can be systematically understood as dressed manifestations of flat-space physics.
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Quantum Physics
Emergent Self-Similar Quantum Revivals in Spiral Drives
Xin-Chi Zhou, Liang-Hong Mo, Hongzheng Zhao et al. (+1 more)
We uncover a distinct form of nonequilibrium temporal order: self-similar
quantum revivals in a many-body system driven by quasiperiodic spiral kicks, where the system recurrently returns close to its initial state at a hierarchically nested sequence of times. We demonstrate that both the fidelity and
entanglement entropy exhibit this self-similar temporal structure. It originates from an emergent dynamical attractor, which we identify, such that all momentum modes eventually fall into the same closed orbits at self-similar times. We analytically justify this behavior and show that, for special momentum modes, this attractor arises as a consequence of a generalized
spin echo process, and more generally we prove its existence using quasiperiodic SU(2) cocycles. Interestingly, the dynamics between consecutive revivals supports either volume- or area-law
entanglement scaling, tunable via the driving parameters. In the presence of integrability-breaking perturbations, the system eventually heats up, but a long-lived prethermal regime with algebraically tunable lifetime occurs before heating sets in. Our results establish self-similar
quantum revivals as a new paradigm for nonequilibrium
quantum matter and provide a realistic route for its observation in current
quantum simulators.
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All authors Xin-Chi Zhou, Liang-Hong Mo, Hongzheng Zhao, Bastien Lapierre
High Energy Physics (Theory)
String dualities and wedge singularities
Ivano Basile and Dieter Lust
We study strings propagating in backgrounds with a wedge singularity, namely whose internal sector describes a wedge sum of closed
manifolds. We focus on the wedge sum of two circles, which was recently argued to provide a
quantum geometry for an M-theoretic description of type 0 strings, along with a much wider non-supersymmetric duality web stemming from quotients thereof. In the context of this proposal, we investigate whether the worldsheet features of type IIA strings, together with strong-coupling ingredients, can consistently reproduce the expectation of a weakly coupled type 0A frame. To this end, we combine worldsheet effects due to the wedge singularity with the emergence proposal applied to D0-branes probing it. We find that the resulting potential reproduces the correct tree-level mass of the tachyon in a specific scaling limit. We also discuss the possibility of kinematic obstructions to our worldsheet approach using the framework of topological modular forms, and comment on some puzzles and open questions.
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High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Nonthermal Particle Acceleration by Magnetic Pumping in Pulsating Plasmas
Giuseppe Arrò, Vladimir Zhdankin and Fabio Bacchini
We present a new pulsating box setup to investigate particle acceleration in high-beta
plasmas undergoing compression–expansion cycles. Our fully kinetic simulations show that particles are efficiently accelerated by
magnetic pumping, producing nonthermal energy distributions with power-law tails. Numerical results are in excellent agreement with a generalized maximum
entropy model that we derive, linking the power-law index of distributions to the injected energy. Our results could be relevant for understanding the origin of high-energy particles in certain high-beta space and astrophysical
plasmas.
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Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Toward decision-aware AI for LSST-scale time-domain astronomy
C. R. Bom, A. Mahabal, F. Bianco et al. (+27 more)
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will generate approximately (10^7) alerts per night, pushing time-domain astronomy beyond pipelines that treat discovery as a static labeling problem. We argue that LSST is better understood as a partially observed dynamical environment, in which scientific return depends on the quality of follow-up decisions made under uncertainty and finite observational resources. The central challenge is therefore to maintain evolving, uncertainty-aware representations of astrophysical sources and to select actions that maximize long-term scientific value. We propose that foundation models trained on heterogeneous time-domain data can learn survey-scale representations of source state, while decision-theoretic policies support principled, auditable allocation of follow-up resources. Embedded within human-supervised agentic systems, these components position AI as part of the operational inference loop rather than as a downstream predictive tool. The way such systems represent belief, optimize utility, and expose their
reasoning will shape observational efficiency, the distribution of scientific agency, including who participates in discovery and the scientific questions that receive priority.
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All authors C. R. Bom, A. Mahabal, F. Bianco, P. Darc, B. Fraga, R. Bonito, S. Chaini, M. W. Coughlin, S. Dillmann, F. Fontinele Nunes, A. Gomboc, N. Hernitschek, X. Li, F. Z. Majidi, A. I. Malz, A. Melandri, V. Petrecca, S. Piranomonte, M. Rabus, F. Ragosta, O. Razim, M. C. Romão, N. Sarin, A. Sasli, V. A. Srećković, A. Tramuto, V. Vujčić, M. J. Vyas, Rubin LSST Transients, Variable Stars Science Collaboration
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Metal-Poor Gas Accretion Drives Giant Clump Formation at 0.6 < z < 2.6
Visal Sok, Adam Muzzin, Ben Forrest et al. (+20 more)
The physical properties of kiloparsec-scale clumps in high-
redshift star-forming
galaxies (SFGs) contain crucial constraints on how they assemble. Building on recent work that indicates the presence of a
metallicity offset in clumpy
galaxies compared to nonclumpy SFGs, we analyze the chemical abundance in a large sample of ${\sim}300$ SFGs between $0.6<z<2.6$ using LEGA-C, MOSDEF and CANUCS near-infrared spectroscopic observations. We find that clumpy
galaxies generally have lower gas-phase metallcities compared to the mass-
metallicity relation, while nonclumpy
galaxies have higher
metallicities. We further investigate the relationship between the resolved
stellar properties of clumps and the integrated gas-phase
metallicity of the host
galaxies using a subset of
galaxies observed in the CANUCS fields. In particular, clumps in SFGs with
metallicity below the mass-
metallicity relation (i.e., $\Delta Z \leq 0$) are generally younger and have higher SFRs, compared to clumps whose host
galaxies have $\Delta Z > 0$. We do not find a significant mass difference between these two clump populations. Finally, we compute the merger statistic using the Gini-M20 morphological parameters and find that the majority of clumpy
galaxies are not classified as mergers based on their
stellar mass maps. The results suggest that the clumpy nature of
cosmic noon
galaxies is linked to metal-poor gas
accretion events that trigger
star formation and dilute
metallicities.
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All authors Visal Sok, Adam Muzzin, Ben Forrest, Gillian Wilson, Jialu Chen, Vivian Yun Yan Tan, Sunna Withers, Roberto Abraham, Maruša Bradač, Vicente Estrada-Carpenter, Kartheik G. Iyer, Nicholas S. Martis, Gaël Noirot, Ghassan T. E. Sarrouh, Marcin Sawicki, Chris J. Willott, Aurélien Henry, Naadiyah Jagga, Danilo Marchesini, Ian McConachie, Katherine Myers, Nelson Nunes, Luke Robbins