Papers

We investigate the cosmological implications of the bulk viscosity within the framework of $f(R,T)$ gravity by considering the linear model $f(R,T)=R+2\lambda T$, where $\lambda$ characterizes the matter–geometry coupling. Assuming a homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker Universe, we derive analytical expressions for the Hubble parameter in two different scenarios: model A, corresponding to a pressureless viscous fluid ($\omega=0$), and model B, where the equation of state (EoS) parameter is treated as a free parameter. The cosmological parameters are constrained through a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis. The results show that both viscous $f(R,T)$ models provide an excellent description of the current expansion history and remain compatible with the combined observational data. Model A is slightly favored over the standard cosmological model ($\Lambda$CDM) according to AICc, reflecting the improved fit achieved with only one additional free parameter. In contrast, the BIC continues to favor the simpler $\Lambda$CDM model owing to its stronger penalty on model complexity. Although model B yields the lowest minimum $\chi^2$, the improvement is too small to justify the introduction of an additional free parameter, resulting in a statistical performance comparable to $\Lambda$CDM according to the AICc but less favorable according to the BIC.

We propose a relational noncommutative framework in which quantum kinematics, semiclassical geometry, internal gauge structure, and ultraviolet fixed-point behaviour arise as sectors of a common $*$-algebra equipped with a positive state and its Gelfand–Naimark–Segal (GNS) representation. The central construction is a projected fusion product on normalized quadratic current operators. Within the closed current sector, $P_{\rm rel}(O_A^2)=2O_A$ up to irrelevant corrections, and ultraviolet self-similarity expressed as $X_A\star X_A=X_A$ with $X_A=r_AO_A$ yields the interacting normalized fixed point $r_A^*=1/2$. With the retained operator basis fixed by the GNS Gram metric, a reduced per-generation fermionic current convention for the gauge sectors and canonical graviton normalization give a common algebraic value for $(10/3)g_Y^2$, $2g_2^2$, $2g_3^2$, and $32\pi G\mu^2$. We discuss conditional emergence of Lorentzian geometry and Einstein gravity, a Standard-Model-like internal algebra, three generation channels from a minimal quartic pairing sector, minimal selection of a $3+1$ dimensional branch, and relational time with a branch-dependent arrow of records. A Standard Model–Pati–Salam renormalization-group analysis provides a phenomenological consistency test of the proposed ultraviolet basin.

Motivated by the fact that quantum effects leave an imprint on the vacuum equation of state, making it depart from the standard cosmological constant relation, $P_{\rm vac}=-\rho_{\rm vac}$, this work investigates generalized running vacuum models (RVMs) by considering a dynamical vacuum equation of state in which the vacuum energy density, $\rho_{\text{vac}}$, evolves as a function of the Hubble parameter, $H$, and its time derivative, $\dot{H}$. This formulation extends previous running vacuum approaches by incorporating a dependence of the vacuum energy density on both, $H^2$ and $\dot{H}$. The corresponding Friedmann equations are derived and analyzed to study their impact on cosmic expansion. The model parameters are constrained through a joint statistical analysis combining the cosmic microwave background shift parameters, DESI-DR2 observations, PantheonPlus type Ia supernovae compilation, and Hubble rate $H(z)$ measurements. Model comparison is performed using information criteria, the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Deviance Information Criterion (DIC), in order to assess the statistical performance of the RVMs relative to the standard $\Lambda$CDM scenario. The results show that the generalized RVMs provide a good fit to current observations and represent a statistically competitive alternative to the standard $\Lambda$CDM model. Notably, all three running vacuum formulations yield lower AIC and DIC values than $\Lambda$CDM, indicating that dynamical running vacuum energy remains a viable cosmological scenario.

Multi-objective materials discovery with LLM agents is often limited not only by how many candidates can be proposed, but by how effectively each costly property evaluation informs the next search step. Existing agents mainly store evaluated candidates and their scores, so they know which materials succeeded but not which executable edits caused useful property changes. This makes local refinement difficult when objectives compete and an edit that improves one property may damage another. We propose TRACE, a transition-aware residual control framework that treats evaluated edits as the basic unit of feedback. TRACE records each local refinement as a parent-edit-child transition with observed property deltas, aggregates transition evidence to estimate reusable edit effects, and ranks future edits by their predicted ability to reduce the current candidate's remaining constraint violations while avoiding damage to already satisfied objectives. In a controlled same-backbone comparison, TRACE improves over LLEMA, the state-of-the-art LLM-agent baseline, raising macro-average hit rate from 18.13% to 25.96%.

Foundation models for astronomy are trained on survey pixels together with the catalogue products derived from those pixels. Those catalogues are incomplete at a measurable rate, and a model trained on both inherits that incompleteness as a systematic. We audit AION-1, a 39-modality transformer trained on more than 200 million objects, using causal interventions on its inputs. Holding the image tokens byte-identical and editing only the survey segmentation map changes every quantity the model reports – flux, size, ellipticity, redshift – by 110-4400 times a matched placebo. The mechanism is detection gating, presence at the field centre (r = 0.47), not the light the mask encloses (r = 0.30); across 322 real blends the model ignores how the pipeline partitioned the light (R = -0.006). Nor is the preference specific to that channel: contradicted catalogue photometry leaves the model nine times worse than supplying no metadata at all. The Legacy Survey pipeline leaves 3.68% of targets with no segment covering their position. Propagating that rate, with a miss represented by the fields the pipeline actually returns, shifts tomographic mean redshifts by a median 0.71 times the LSST DESC requirement over 40 assignments and exceeds it in 12; observed positional errors take the worst bin to 8.3 times. Drawing the misses by their measured magnitude dependence rather than uniformly does not change it. Spectroscopy removes the effect, withholding the detection channel removes it at no measurable cost, and the effect grows with model scale. Two further limits lie in the tokeniser: its image codec resolves 28 effective states on source patches against 934 for the spectrum codec, and the redshift readout is quantisation-limited. Sparse dictionaries are unreliable causal handles: across 15, recovery spans 26-75% and moves up to 18 points on the seed alone.

The Mandelstam-Tamm and Margolus-Levitin quantum speed limits bound how fast a state evolves, using the energy variance and the mean energy above the ground state. Speed limits on observables – the change of an expectation value <A(t)> – have so far used the variance (the Mandelstam-Tamm / quantum-Fisher-information lineage); the mean energy has not been brought to bear on the change of <A> in a fixed state. We close this branch. First, a no-go theorem: there is no state-independent linear mean-energy bound on the time to change an observable's expectation by Delta = |<A(T)> - <A(0)>|; the optimal state-independent exponent of Delta is exactly two. Second, the corresponding sharp quadratic bound, T (<H> - E_0) >= C_* Delta^2 / sigma_A^2, for every time-independent Hamiltonian H (ground energy E_0), every bounded observable A with spectral spread sigma_A = (lambda_max - lambda_min)/2, and every pure or mixed state, with the dimension-independent constant C_* = 1/(8 sin x_*) = 0.172506267461..., where x_* is the smallest positive root of tan(x/2) = x. The bound is tight, approached but not attained by a near-ground two-level family. We then give the exact energy-time/swing trade-off curve of which C_* is the small-swing slope – tight at every swing, the observable analog of the Giovannetti-Lloyd-Maccone curve for states – show the constant survives for mixed states via joint convexity of the trace distance, sharpen it for bandwidth-limited generators and several observables at once, and show the quadratic law degrades to a linear one when the initial state is an eigenvector of the observable. It completes the (mean-energy x observable) corner of the speed-limit landscape and, being quadratic, is most constraining where the linear variance bounds are weakest. Its cleanest physical home is the autonomous quantum clock, where it gives a coherent mean-energy resolution floor.

Uncertainty relations constrain the fluctuations of incompatible observables, but most familiar bounds depend on the quantum state. State-independent uncertainty relations instead ask how much fluctuation remains unavoidable for every quantum state. For observables generated by a continuous symmetry, sharp state-independent bounds are known when the symmetry representation is irreducible. Multipartite collective systems, however, generally appear as reducible tensor-product representations of a symmetry algebra, which raises the question of how to determine their total uncertainty. We resolve this problem for multipartite quantum systems with a compact semisimple symmetry algebra $\mathfrak g$. Exploiting the symmetry structure, we formulate a general framework for state-independent uncertainty based on representation theory. The total variance admits an exact decomposition into intrinsic fluctuations within irreducible sectors and a nonnegative dispersion between sectors. This yields the sharp state-independent bound for the total variance $\Delta_\rho^2(\mathfrak g)$ on the multipartite Hilbert space $\mathcal H$ \[ \min_{\rho}\Delta_\rho^2(\mathfrak g) = \min_{\lambda\in\Lambda(\mathcal H)} 2\langle\lambda,\delta\rangle, \] where $\rho$ is any density operator on $\mathcal H$, $\Lambda(\mathcal H)$ is the set of highest weights $\lambda$ labeling those sectors, and $\delta$ is the Weyl vector. This demonstrates that the ultimate uncertainty is completely controlled by its intrinsic symmetry structure. As an application of the general theory, we confirm our previous conjecture [JPA 59, 155302 (2026)] that the total uncertainty floor of collective spin-$1/2$ systems depends only on the parity of the particle number. We further illustrate the framework for multipartite spin-$1$ systems, demonstrating that the same symmetry-sector mechanism persists beyond spin-$1/2$.

The insulating state of one-dimensional Josephson junction (JJ) arrays is governed by collective charge dynamics and disorder-induced pinning, resulting in a finite critical voltage under dc bias. Here, we investigate the influence of fabrication-induced structural defects on the critical-voltage scaling of small-capacitance Aluminium-Aluminium oxide-Aluminium (Al/AlOx/Al) JJ arrays. Controlled variation of the aluminium evaporation rate produces pronounced changes in grain morphology and room-temperature junction resistance. Despite these substantial structural modifications, the normalised critical-voltage scaling is preserved, demonstrating that the collective transport behaviour is remarkably robust against this class of fabrication-induced defects. In contrast, the deliberate introduction of nanoscale gaps into the junctions introduces additional junction-to-junction structural variations that systematically modify the normalised scaling behaviour. Likewise, in situ postfabrication oxidation alters the scaling coefficient while preserving the functional form of the scaling law, indicating that the collective transport is sensitive to specific classes of structural modifications. These results establish which fabrication-induced structural defects influence the collective transport in insulating Al/AlOx/Al Josephson junction arrays, providing new insight into the role of fabrication-induced structural disorder and practical guidance for the design of future Quantum Phase Slip (QPS) devices.

An error in the charged quark star literature \cite{Goncalves:2020joq} has resulted in erroneous solutions to the radial stability equations for charged interacting quark stars in \cite{zhang:2021}. In this article we recalculate the fundamental radial eigenfrequencies for charged, interacting quark stars in general relativity and discuss any departure from previous results \cite{zhang:2021}. Most of the qualitative trends persist, but the magnitudes of the separation between the maximum mass and stability points on a given branch can change significantly. We also note that all branches in \cite{zhang:2021} that contained no stable solutions now have stable solutions in their corrected counterparts. The net effect is that in all of the studied cases charged quark stars have a greater range of stability than originally predicted. We also compare four recent observational constraints not included in previous studies, and find that these constraints are satisfied by a subset of the mass-radius relations we obtain.

The construction of a grid-based potential energy surface (PES) can be prohibitively expensive as the number of grid points grows exponentially with molecular size. Molecular symmetry can reduce this cost by eliminating symmetry-equivalent points. We present an algebraic symmetry-based grid reduction method, ASyBGR, that is capable of handling non-Abelian and higher-order cyclic symmetry groups. Non-coordinate-mixing operations are encoded into a vector space bit-string, where Gaussian elimination and closure can identify all symmetry-valid sign change patterns and the coordinate axes whose grids can be halved about the origin. In the presence of degenerate subspaces, we optimize the coordinate basis to maximize reduction. The method was validated by comparing vibrational configuration interaction (VCI) energies calculated using the full and symmetry-reduced fourth-order HDMR PESs for molecules spanning a broad range of symmetries. The number of grid points required to construct the PES was reduced by as much as 81%, while VCI energies deviated below 1 1/cm for all test cases on average. The relative root-mean-square deviation (RRMSD) between the full and symmetry-reduced potential energy and dipole moment surfaces were at most on the order of 10$^{-3}$ and 10$^{-2}$, respectively.

In this study, we seek to improve our understanding of the competing roles of disk-driven and planet-planet dynamical migration in sculpting planetary system architecture in the inner $\lesssim 1.5$ au of protoplanetary disks. Over a range of host star masses, we compare the orbit semimajor axis values of transiting multi-planet and resonant systems to observationally-derived estimates of protoplanetary disk inner truncation radius $R_{i}$, corotation radius $R_{co}$, and dust sublimation radius $R_{dust}$. We find that disk-driven migration is primarily responsible for setting the inner edge of planetary systems near $R_{co}$ and that subsequent dynamical migration shapes the distribution of planetary semimajor axis values over the range $\approx 20-300$ $R_{\star}$. If multi-planet systems form in a way similar to the resonant chain systems, either a zone of highly efficient planet formation at $\gtrsim 100 R_{\star}$, followed by subsequent disk-driven migration, is implied, or a modified in-situ mechanism operating over a region from $\simeq 15-100 R_{\star}$ and incorporating disk-driven migration is needed. There are indications that after disk dispersal, dynamical migration causes a subset of planets to migrate to locations inside $R_{co}$.

We consider $(3+1)$-dimensional asymptotically locally (anti-)de Sitter ((A)dS$_4$) spacetimes with boundary conditions allowing for gravitational flux. We construct an infinite tower of higher-spin charges as perturbative solutions in the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ to a hierarchy of evolution equations resulting from an asymptotic expansion of the Einstein equations. We show that these charges canonically realize the $\Lambda$-deformed $w_{1+\infty}$ algebra ($L_{\Lambda} w_{1+\infty}$) on a restricted gravitational phase space, thereby extending the higher-spin symmetry structure of asymptotically flat spacetimes to asymptotically (A)dS spacetimes. We further construct the curved-space counterparts of conformally soft gravitons directly in terms of spacetime data. We show that they are primaries with respect to an $\mathfrak{sl}(2,\mathbb{R})$ subalgebra of the (A)dS$_4$ isometry algebra and that their Poisson brackets with the quadratic higher-spin charges reproduce the $\Lambda$-deformed celestial operator product expansion proposed by Taylor and Zhu. Our results establish the bulk gravitational origin of the $L_{\Lambda}w_{1+\infty}$ symmetry and extend the celestial bulk-boundary dictionary to asymptotically (A)dS$_4$ gravity.

In particle physics the virtual N$^3$LO contribution to gluon-fusion Higgs production in the Standard Model requires four-loop multi-scale QCD amplitudes that in dimensional regularization are dominated by singular integral reduction and difficult master-integral evaluations. In this note we show that a nonlocal UV completion makes each fixed-order four-loop Feynman diagram fully convergent in four dimensions while keeping the analytic structure needed for Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann (LSZ) reduction formula. For gluon-fusion $gg\!\to\!H$ we derive a closed form Schwinger-parameter representation where all loop-momentum integrals are performed analytically and thus leaving finite parameter integrals viable for direct numerical evaluation without needing the usual UV subtractions. This method heps to isolate the collider-hard contribution as a convergent four-loop form factor. The strong coupling then is defined by a finite normalization condition in the entire-function regularization scheme and it is related to the $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$ coupling by finite matching where after this matching, the regulator-dependent corrections decouple in the local limit $E_M\!\to\!\infty$.

Interpretability research increasingly asks when concepts emerge during training and whether linear probes recover real structure, but in language models these claims are hard to validate because language offers little ground-truth ordering of concepts or relationships among them. We propose the use of astronomical ground truth through AstroPT, a transformer trained on millions of galaxy images, as a calibration testbed. AstroPT is an LLM-like model trained within a domain where the difficulty ordering of concepts and the relations among them are known in advance. Probing frozen representations across checkpoints, layers, model sizes, and objective choices, we find that galaxy properties emerge in a fixed order that tracks their known difficulty—quantities written almost directly into the pixels (band magnitude) become decodable early in training and shallow in the network, while multiband/spectra based and inferred quantities (such as redshift and specific star formation rate) emerge later and deeper. This order is invariant to our tested training objectives, and scales in magnitude but not in sequence with capacity. Our linear probe directions further recover the known physical structure among galaxy properties. Our findings suggest that astronomy offers a controlled sandbox for calibrating mechanistic interpretability methods we otherwise apply to LLMs blind.

Stellar obliquity measurements provide a direct probe of planetary system dynamics, but remain sparse for Neptune-size planets, particularly at young ages. We present Rossiter-McLaughlin measurements for two young Neptune-size planets, TOI-560 b and TOI-5082 b, using time-resolved Keck Planet Finder (KPF) spectroscopy and joint modeling with TESS transit photometry. We measure sky-projected obliquities of $\lambda_b = -25 \pm 16^\circ$ for TOI-560 b and $\lambda_b = 19^{+17}_{-13}{}^\circ$ for TOI-5082 b. Combining these constraints with stellar rotation periods and spectroscopic estimates of $v\sin i_\star$, we obtain 95% upper limits of $\psi < 69.7^\circ$ and $\psi < 50.5^\circ$, respectively. Both systems are therefore consistent with low-to-moderate true obliquities and show no evidence of strong spin-orbit misalignment. With ages of $480 \pm 190$ Myr for TOI-560 b and $180 \pm 9$ Myr for TOI-5082 b (a likely member of the CRIUS197 stellar association), the systems are in a key evolutionary phase when post-disk dynamical processes such as secular interactions may begin to manifest. Nevertheless, both systems remain consistent with low obliquity. In the broader context of young systems with existing measurements, these results support an emerging picture in which Neptune-size planets at $\lesssim 1$ Gyr are commonly found in low-obliquity configurations.

In this work, we analyze the late-time two-point correlation function in Jackiw–Teitelboim gravity, focusing on the genus-two ($g=2$) contribution associated with two baby universes. Extending the analysis of the single-baby-universe ($g=1$) case, we formulate an amplitude describing the emission and absorption of two baby universes during the evolution of the Hartle–Hawking state. This formulation reduces the problem to a moduli-space integral involving the Weil–Petersson volume $V_{0,3}$. To evaluate this integral, we decompose $V_{0,3}$ into contributions from Kontsevich graphs and extend the no-shortcut condition to the relevant genus-two strip geometries. Combined with the strip approximation, this decomposition reorganizes the moduli-space integral into a finite sum of contributions associated with distinct geometric configurations. We then explicitly evaluate the strip-geometry contributions corresponding to the emission of two baby universes and determine their contribution to the genus-two late-time two-point correlation function. Our results suggest that the strip approximation, together with the no-shortcut condition, provides a useful analytic framework for studying higher-genus geometries containing multiple wormholes.

Recently, Wooltorton et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 210802 (2024)] and Farkas [Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 210803 (2024)] have exhibited the mismatch between Bell inequality violations and their cryptographic application in device-independent quantum key distribution, by showing that arbitrarily close to the set of local behaviours there exist quantum correlations guaranteeing a constant rate of secret key. While these results require correlations attaining the maximum quantum value of a suitable Bell observable (aka the Tsirelson bound) and rely on a kind of ideal self-testing of a maximally entangled state and associated Bell measurement, here we show that the effect is robust: for every one of the Bell inequalities considered by Wooltorton et al., a constant rate of secret key ensues if the observed Bell violation is sufficiently close to the respective Tsirelson bound. For these and also the Bell inequalities of Farkas, we furthermore present numerical results based on semidefinite relaxations of the minimum min-entropy consistent with a certain Bell violation, which demonstrate that small but nonzero key rates can be guaranteed (in principle) by practical and efficient means.

The canonical scenario for the formation of subdwarf B (sdB) stars involves the ejection of the progenitor's envelope near the tip of the Red Giant Branch (RGB), concurrent with the onset of core He-burning. While binary interactions are known to dominate sdB formation, the origin of apparently single sdB stars remains uncertain. We investigate the conditions under which an sdB progenitor can eject its envelope through the engulfment of a substellar companion, using an energy balance approach. We simulate the orbital evolution of substellar companions during the subgiant and RGB phases of their host stars (1.2-2.0 M_Sun) to determine the onset of engulfment and calculate the energy released during inspiral within the stellar envelope. By comparing this energy with the envelope binding energy and exploring different efficiencies for its deposition, we identify the conditions required for envelope ejection. We then estimate the occurrence of such events using observed population of substellar companions. The engulfment of substellar objects can lead to envelope ejection within a limited region of the mass-semi-major axis parameter space, whose extent depends on the host star's properties and energy transfer efficiency. The minimum companion mass required for ejection increases with decreasing efficiency and increasing stellar mass. As a result, the frequency of envelope ejection is strongly influenced by the distribution of substellar companions, particularly by the paucity of objects in the brown-dwarf desert. The engulfment of low-mass brown dwarfs and massive planets during the late RGB can provide sufficient energy to eject the stellar envelope, which could ultimately lead to the formation of sdB stars. Our results define the region of parameter space where this mechanism is energetically possible and provide a guide for future multidimensional hydrodynamical simulations.

Spatial correlation functions of quarkonia in the quark-gluon plasma are available from finite- temperature lattice-QCD with good precision. However, their interpretation in terms of microscopic spectral functions has been challenging due to a highly oscillating momentum integral in their Fourier transform and the need for a reliable evaluation of their 3-momentum dependence. Utilizing the thermodynamic T-matrix approach we first obtain a Lorentz-covariant scattering equation by taking advantage of a separable-potential approximation. Medium effects are included through state-of-the- art heavy-quark selfenergies and a potential screening which we constrain by euclidean correlators from lattice QCD. In addition to the usual two-particle cut in the scattering equation we also include particle-hole excitations, also referred to as zero mode. We find that both the increase of euclidean correlators with 3-momentum and the suppression of the spatial correlators found in lattice-QCD can be qualitatively reproduced, with the zero mode playing an essential role for the former but not for the latter.

Experimental constraints on the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) may imply strong-CP problem in QCD, or unnatural smallness of the QCD theta angle. In this work, we present a novel determination of the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) $d_n$ sensitivity to theta term from nonperturbative QCD on a lattice with background electric field. Using Feynman-Hellmann theorem, we compute nEDM from the matrix element of local topological charge density between nucleon ground states spatially polarized by an electric field. These states have mixed spatial parity, and we construct them using variational analysis. We obtain statistically significant signal for the theta induced nEDM from lattices with 2+1 dynamical domain wall fermions corresponding to pion masses of 340, 420, and 576 MeV and lattice spacing $a\approx 0.11~\text{fm}$. After extrapolating to the physical point, we obtain $d_n=-0.0050(4)(8)\bar{\theta}$ e$\cdot$fm. Comparison with the current experimental bound on nEDM implies constraint $|\bar{\theta}|\lesssim 10^{-11}$, which confirms existence of the strong-CP problem in QCD. Our pioneering work demonstrates that neutron EDM can be reliably determined from the local density of topological charge with robust control of systematic effects, and can be directly extended to other CP-violating interactions.

Multiwavelength observations of stellar flares trace the activity of different components of the stars' outer atmosphere, providing insight into their interactions. In the present paper, we report a superflare from BP Tau, simultaneously observed with the Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) on board the Einstein Probe (EP) satellite and TESS. While we attribute the X-ray flux increase to a magnetically powered flare, the optical light curve likely results from the superposition of the flare and an accretion burst. The X-ray flare has a mean flux of $(1.5^{+0.3}_{-0.4})\times10^{-11}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in the WXT energy band (0.5-4.0 keV), with e-folding times of $1.7\pm1.0$ ks and $14\pm5$ ks for the rise and decay phase, respectively. The corresponding time-integrated flare energy is $(1.0\pm 0.2)\times 10^{36}$ erg. The optical flare has an e-folding time of $0.33\pm0.04$ ks for the rise phase, but the data do not constrain the decay timescale. Assuming a decay phase equal to the rise phase, the resulting optical flare energy is $(2.8\pm0.4)\times10^{34}$ erg in the TESS band ($\sim6,000$-$\sim10,000$ Å), corresponding to a bolometric energy of $(1.9\pm0.3)\times10^{35}$ erg (assuming a blackbody at 11000 K). The Follow-up X-ray Telescope (FXT) on EP triggered an observation $\sim1.5$ day after the flare, with a flux of $(4.6^{+0.2}_{-0.5})\times10^{-13}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ (0.5-10.0 keV), indicating that BP Tau had returned to quiescence. This work demonstrates the potential of jointly analyzing EP and TESS data for superflares. WXT is expected to detect $\sim800$ superflares per year, with FXT capable of slewing to the flaring star within $\sim3$-5 minutes. The large field of view of both missions offers us the opportunity to study multiwavelength variability during energetic flares.

In a recent paper, a semiclassical Lyapunov exponent associated with a quantum Hamiltonian represented by a finite-dimensional Hermitian matrix was defined and placed on a mathematical foundation. The Lyapunov exponent characterizes the early stages of the evolution toward the ergodic state, while the late stages are characterized by the spectral gap of the corresponding Markov matrix. Here, we apply this formalism to five random-matrix ensembles. For each ensemble, we derive the mean Lyapunov exponent, its variance, and the spectral gap as functions of energy. We also present the corresponding thermal averages. Extensive numerical data are compared with the theoretical predictions.

Inspired by the classical Plateau-Douglas problem for soap films bounded by two closed curves, we solve an analogous problem for fluid interfaces with fixed surface area and resistance to out-of-plane bending. The boundaries are planar but need not be symmetric or concentric. The equilibrium surfaces minimize the Willmore bending energy and generalize minimal surfaces such as the catenoid while also exhibiting characteristic features of confined elastic interfaces such as buckling. We systematically classify all possible buckling modes and solution branches by performing a weakly nonlinear analysis and developing a fully nonlinear spectral solver. Our mathematical framework provides insight into the forces and torques required to stabilize cellular membranes and other soft materials and shows that physically relevant asymmetric states can arise even in symmetric systems.

We investigate the behavior of the singular spectrum of self-adjoint operators under families of Hermitian perturbations, even non-compact ones. Under mild assumptions we have the “shift” of the singular spectrum for almost all values of the parameter. Moreover, if we consider trace class perturbations, we observe the “shift” outside a countable set of the values of the parameter. While similar results were known for finite rank perturbations, the extensions to trace class perturbations are far from easy, and the proofs require significant new ideas. In addition, some of our results hold (surprisingly enough!) even for all positive and bounded perturbations. This is a consequence of our generalized Aleksandrov disintegration theorem established in this paper. We use some advanced techniques, involving Sz.-Nagy–Foia\c s theory and the operator ${\bf A}_2$ condition.

Ultra-high-energy (UHE) neutrinos, with energies above $100\,\mathrm{PeV}$, are powerful probes of fundamental physics, offering unique opportunities to test and constrain models beyond the Standard Model. A central challenge is achieving sensitivity to their flavor composition, which encodes information about production mechanisms at the source as well as potential new physics during propagation. We propose, for the first time, a three-technology strategy to measure the flavor composition of UHE neutrinos by leveraging the complementary strengths of planned and existing experiments. This approach integrates in-ice radio (ARA, ARIANNA, RNO-G, the IceCube-Gen2 radio array), Earth-skimming (TAMBO, POEMMA, Trinity, AUGER, GRAND200k), and in-ice optical Cherenkov detectors (the IceCube-Gen2 optical array). We demonstrate the potential to achieve unprecedented sensitivity to UHE neutrino flavors. The method can be used to probe an energy-dependent neutrino flavor transition at the source across energies ranging from TeV to EeV. As such, this article highlights the discovery potential of a coordinated, multi-technology program for advancing both high-energy and ultra-high-energy neutrino astrophysics.

Spectroastrometry is a powerful spectral-differential technique for probing angular scales below the resolution limit, but it is also well known to be susceptible to instrumental artifacts that can mimic or obscure real signals. In photonic lantern spectroastrometry, recently demonstrated on-sky with Subaru/FIRST-PL, the astrometric signal is encoded in relative flux variations between lantern outputs rather than in centroid shifts along a slit. This changes the artifact landscape: some slit-based spectroastrometric artifacts are avoided, but new artifact mechanisms emerge, including detector nonlinearity and spectral extraction errors, which can produce spurious features on emission or absorption lines. These lessons directly informed the design of PLred, an open source Python package for photonic lantern data reduction and instrument-agnostic spectral-differential image reconstruction. We describe the origin of these artifacts and the key pipeline design choices used to mitigate them.

The observable of the Talbot effect is the intensity behind the grating: the density of the evolving field, not the field itself. Its fractality was previously known only for step data with rational jumps. We prove the general case. For arbitrary real data of bounded variation with at least one jump, the density of the free Schrödinger evolution on the torus is fractal at almost every time, with graph of upper box dimension exactly three halves. Its critical Sobolev mass diverges logarithmically, at a rate given in closed form by Wiener's jump statistic of the datum and independent of the positions and phases of the jumps. The same rate is halved along time traces and doubled for the Airy flow, so the critical mass probes the dispersion relation. Transported by the rank calculus of derangetropy operators, the theory equips every probability law with a quantum carpet: Gauss-sum revivals on quantile cells at rational times, a universal fractal at almost every other. The spectral growth rate of a single measured intensity profile returns the jump content of the grating, a prediction open to test in optical and matter-wave interferometry.

Laser-induced plasmas are primarily characterized by their temporal density decay. Using time-resolved transverse optical diffractometry, we reveal their concurrent spatial evolution, demonstrating pronounced broadening and flattening during the first 200 ps following ionization. This non-self-similar evolution arises from the local density dependence of electron-ion recombination, without particle transport. Exploiting the continuum of initial densities within a single plasma disc, we experimentally reconstruct an effective, time-dependent local recombination law over a broad density range. Applied locally to independently measured initial plasma profiles, this kinetic map quantitatively predicts their subsequent evolution. These results are relevant to transient diffractive optics, plasma-based optical elements and waveguides, and the development of laser-induced plasmas as platforms for gas-phase THz plasmonics.

We introduce a natural class of hyperbolic surfaces called flippered surfaces that generalize crowned hyperbolic surfaces (i.e.: worldsheets for open strings). We develop their Teichmüller and moduli-space theory, construct generalized Weil-Petersson volume forms and Chekhov's action, and prove that the resulting generalized Mirzakhani volumes are finite. We establish three geometric recursion formulae-neck chopping, disk excision, and crown extraction-which express these volumes in terms of those of topologically simpler surfaces. For the fundamental polygonal and annular cases, we derive integral representations involving conical Legendre functions, as well as explicit formulae in terms of elliptic integrals and polylogarithms. We further describe the arithmetic structure of the Taylor coefficients of these volumes, show that suitable specializations are Kontsevich-Zagier periods, and prove identities at the imaginary boundary length $2\pi\sqrt{-1}$ that generalize the Do-Norbury paraphrasing of string and dilaton-type equations.

We consider the $2W\times 2W$ transfer matrices associated to the block Anderson model with GOE potential blocks. We make the classical Lyapunov exponent theory quantitative in two ways. First, we prove a quantitative limit theorem for the top Lyapunov exponent. Second, we prove every gap between Lyapunov exponents is at least $c/W$. As a corollary, this implies the localization length of this $1$d block Anderson model is at most $CW^2$. The proof uses Furstenberg type formulas for the Lyapunov exponents, and Malliavin calculus style arguments in the symplectic group to show the product of sufficiently many transfer matrices has a sufficiently smooth density. The main technical input for the latter is a least singular value estimate for a structured random matrix.