Mon·Jul 14, 2025Monday·July 14, 2025

1. 01*

   Chiral and deconfinement transitions in spin-polarized quark matter

   Ricardo L. S. Farias🇧🇷 · William R. Tavares🇧🇷

   We investigate the influence of spin polarization in strongly interacting matter by introducing a finite spin potential, ${\mu }_{\Sigma }$, which effectively controls the spin density of the system without requiring rotation or specific boundary conditions. Inspired by recent lattice QCD simulations that incorporated such a potential, we implement this approach within an effective QCD framework. Our results show that increasing spin polarization leads to a simultaneous decrease in both the chiral and deconfinement restoration temperatures. The resulting phase structure is qualitatively consistent with lattice findings, and notably, we observe the emergence of a first-order chiral phase transition at low temperature. These results suggest that spin-polarized environments can significantly impact the QCD phase diagram and offer a controlled route for studying spin effects in hot and dense matter.

   hep-phhep-lathep-thnucl-thPRD(2025)·5 citations
2. 02*

   Large Relativistic Corrections to Nonrelativistic $M1$ Transitions in Heavy Quarkonium

   Su-Yan Pe · Wei Li · Wen-Yuan Ke🇨🇳 · Yi-Yi Rui🇨🇳 · Qiang Li · Guo-Li Wang🇨🇳

   As double heavy quarkonia, charmonium and bottomonium are generally considered to have small relativistic corrections and can be treated using nonrelativistic models. However, this is not always the case. In this paper, we employ the relativistic Bethe-Salpeter (BS) equation method to calculate the electromagnetic (EM) radiative decays of heavy quarkonium where the $M1$ transition provides the leading-order contribution. Compared to nonrelativistic method which only computes $M1$ transition, our calculations include $M1+E2+M3+E4$ transitions, where the higher-order multipoles, $E2$, $M3$, and $E4$, account for relativistic corrections. The study finds that relativistic effects are large in such transitions even for bottomonium. For instance: the relativistic corrections in the decays $\psi (nS)\to \gamma {\eta }_c(mS)$ ($n\ge m$) range from $68.1\%$ to $83.2\%$, while those for ${\rm Y}(nS)\to \gamma {\eta }_b(mS)$ range between $65.9\%$ and $75.2\%$.

   hep-phhep-exJHEP(2026)·0 citations
3. 03*

   Neutrino oscillations and PMNS matrix in gauge-Higgs unification

   Yutaka Hosotani🇯🇵

   In the $SO(5)\times U(1)\times SU(3)$ gauge-Higgs unification in the Randall-Sundrum (RS) warped space neutrino oscillations and the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata (PMNS) matrix in the $W$ couplings originate from Majorana mass terms on the ultraviolet brane in the RS space. Tiny neutrino masses are generated by an inverse seesaw mechanism. The PMNS matrix in the normal ordering with ${\delta }_{CP}=\pi$ naturally arises consistently with the NuFit-6.0 analysis of neutrino oscillation data.

   hep-phPRD(2026)·1 citation
4. 04*

   Hadron-Hadron Interactions from Lattice QCD: Theory meets Experiments

   Tetsuo Hatsuda🇯🇵

   We summarize recent developments in the study of hadron-hadron interactions using lattice QCD near the physical pion mass ($m_{\pi }\simeq 146$ MeV), based on the HAL QCD method and its connection to experimental data. In particular, we focus on several key interaction channels shown below. Also, we examine the two-pion exchange (TPE) mechanism, which governs the long-range behavior of interactions between flavor-singlet hadrons, as well as between nucleons and flavor-singlet hadrons.

   hep-phhep-latnucl-thPoS(2025)·3 citations
5. 05*

   Spectroscopic and femtoscopic insights into vector-baryon interactions in the strangeness $-1$ sector

   P. Encarnación🇪🇸 · M. Albaladejo🇪🇸 · A. Feijoo🇪🇸 · J. Nieves🇪🇸

   We revisit the strangeness $-1$ sector of the interaction between vector mesons of the $\rho -$nonet and $1/2^{+}$ ground state baryons ($VB$), within the unitary coupled-channel hidden gauge formalism. We adopt a renormalization scheme that induces a reasonable short-distance behavior of the two-hadron wave functions, which is the major limitation of femtoscopy techniques at this time. We perform an exhaustive spectroscopy study, implementing different improvements and considerations, and find compatibilities between the poles extracted from the present approach, and some of the states listed in the Review of Particle Physics. Finally, we predict several correlation functions (CFs) associated with various meson-baryon pairs in this sector, paying special attention to the distinctive and clear signatures produced by the dynamically generated states. To obtain realistic estimates for the CFs, we have calculated the production weights using the Thermal-FIST package. Such studies will shed light into the odd-parity ${\Lambda }^{\ast }$ and ${\Sigma }^{\ast }$ hadron spectra, up to 2 GeV, and will open the strategy to improve effective field theories by using low-energy constants fitted to femtoscopy data.

   hep-phnucl-thEPJC(2025)·5 citations
6. 06*

   NNLO+PS Double Higgs boson production with top-quark mass corrections in GENEVA

   Simone Alioli🇮🇹 · Giulia Marinelli🇩🇪 · Davide Napoletano🇮🇹

   We present the implementation of the NNLO QCD corrections to double Higgs boson production at hadron colliders in GENEVA, matched to the parton shower. We include all the known top-quark mass effects and the resummation of large logarithms of the zero-jettiness ${\mathcal{T}}_0$, up to NNLL${}^{\prime }$ accuracy. This work extends our previous study, which was performed in the $m_t\to \infty$ infinite top-quark mass approximation, providing a more realistic simulation framework for Higgs boson pair production. We validate our approach against NNLO predictions by MATRIX and assess the importance of mass effects comparing with our $m_t\to \infty$ previous implementation.

   hep-phhep-exJHEP(2025)·9 citations
7. 07*

   Implementation of full and simplified likelihoods in CheckMATE

   Iñaki Lara🇵🇱 · Krzysztof Rolbiecki🇵🇱

   We present the implementation of simplified and full likelihood models for multibin signal regions in CheckMATE. A total of 13 searches are included from ATLAS and CMS, and several methods are presented for the implementation and evaluation of likelihood functions. Statistical combinations increase the sensitivity of searches and open up the possibility of combining orthogonal search channels in the CheckMATE framework.

   hep-phEPJC(2026)·4 citations
8. 08*

   Minimal Multi-Majoron Model

   Bowen Fu🇨🇳 · Anish Ghoshal🇵🇱 · Stephen F. King🇬🇧

   In order to provide a natural framework for hierarchical right-handed neutrinos, we propose a realistic ultraviolet complete minimal multi-Majoron model (MMMM). We consider two right-handed neutrinos for simplicity, although the model is readily extendable to more. The minimal model introduces two complex scalar Majoron fields ${\varphi }_1$ and ${\varphi }_2$, whose couplings to the two respective right-handed neutrinos are controlled by an extra global $U(1{)}_N$ symmetry. We show that a flavon field is required to facilitate the effective Yukawa couplings, in order to implement the type I seesaw mechanism. We analyse the resulting phenomenology related to neutrino masses, flavour mixing and cosmological predictions concerning the formation and decay of topological defects like the global cosmic strings and the domain walls when the $U(1{)}_N\times U(1{)}_{B-L}$ symmetry is broken. The resulting gravitational wave spectrum is a distinctive combination of the spectrum from the global cosmic string and strong first-order phase transitions when the symmetries are broken, the strength of the latter being enhanced by the second Majoron field. The resulting characteristic spectrum determines the two right-handed neutrino mass scales within the considered framework.

   hep-phastro-ph.CO2 citations
9. 09*

   Searching for the neutral triple gauge couplings in the process ${\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}\to \gamma \nu \bar{\nu }$ at muon colliders

   Wei Xie🇨🇳 · Ji-Chong Yang🇨🇳

   We investigate the sensitivity of future high-energy muon colliders to neutral triple gauge couplings (nTGCs) through the process ${\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}\to \gamma \nu \bar{\nu }$ within the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) framework. Extending beyond previous studies, we consider a set of 14 dimension-8 operators, including both Higgs-related and pure gauge structures. By computing the cross sections and performing Monte Carlo simulations at multiple center-of-mass energies (3-30 TeV), we demonstrate that the annihilation process dominates over vector boson fusion (VBF) at TeV scales. We also explore the impact of beam polarization and show that the $(-+)$ polarization enhances sensitivity to several operators. After the study of the event selection strategies, we show that muon colliders can impose stronger expected constraints on nTGCs operators than current LHC bounds, with two of the pure gauge operators yielding the most stringent expected constraints. We also evaluate the contribution of CP-violating pure gauge operators to the electron electric dipole moment (EDM), finding that the expected constraints from muon colliders are stronger than those from EDM measurements.

   hep-phJHEP(2025)·3 citations
10. 10*

    Spirals, vortices, and helicity entanglements in dynamical Sauter-Schwinger pair creation

    M. M. Majczak🇵🇱 · K. Krajewska🇵🇱 · A. Bechler🇵🇱 · J. Z. Kamiński🇵🇱

    We study helicity correlations of electron-positron pairs created by a homogeneous time-dependent electric field in the Sauter-Schwinger scenario. Our analysis is based on solving the Dirac equation with the Feynman or anti-Feynman boundary conditions, which is equivalent to the scattering matrix approach widely used in high energy physics. Most importantly, both these methods allow to fully account for the helicity (or, more generally, spin) correlations of created particles. The influence of helicity correlations and the carrier-envelope phase of the electric pulse on the properties of topological structures (such as spirals and vortices) in momentum distributions of created particles is investigated. The generation of maximally entangled helicity states is discussed and the possibility of using a short electric pulse as a fast switch between them is indicated.

    hep-phquant-phPRA(2026)·7 citations
11. 11*

    Thermal Gravitons from Warm Inflation

    Gabriele Montefalcone🇺🇸 · Barmak Shams Es Haghi🇺🇸 · Tao Xu🇺🇸 · Katherine Freese🇺🇸

    In warm inflation (WI), the persistent thermal bath that is sustained by dissipative interactions with the inflaton field produces a stochastic background of gravitational waves (GWs). In this paper we study the production and evolution of these GWs. Specifically, we investigate the emission of thermal gravitons (gravitons emitted by a thermal bath) from particle scattering in the bath and the evolution of the corresponding GWs. We find that the bulk of thermal graviton production in WI occurs during the transition to radiation domination after inflation. Further, the energy density of thermal gravitons is enhanced by roughly one to two orders of magnitude compared to that in a radiation-dominated scenario with the same reheating temperature. We also calculate the spectrum of the resulting stochastic GW background and find that it has a distinctive shape, consisting of a peak at high frequencies ~100 GHz and an almost flat spectrum extending to low frequencies. The peak arises from emission of sub-horizon modes that follow the temperature of the bath. The flat part of the spectrum corresponds to the modes that exit the horizon during WI and re-enter during radiation domination. We show that the detection prospects for the high-frequency peak of the GW spectrum, while improved slightly compared to the radiation-dominated case, still remain challenging. The thermal spectrum's low-frequency plateau is typically subdominant to the amplitude of the standard vacuum tensor modes from inflation, although WI models can exist where the thermal graviton plateau surpasses the vacuum contribution without exceeding current observational limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio. Furthermore, we calculate the thermal graviton contribution from WI to dark radiation and show that WI models are generally expected to satisfy current observational bounds, including those from the cosmic microwave background.

    hep-phastro-ph.COgr-qcPRD(2025)·10 citations
12. 12*

    Renormalization-group equations of the LEFT at two loops: dimension-six operators

    Luca Naterop🇨🇭 · Peter Stoffer🇨🇭

    We present the third part of a systematic calculation of the two-loop anomalous dimensions for the low-energy effective field theory below the electroweak scale (LEFT): insertions of dimension-six operators that conserve baryon number. In line with our previous publications, we obtain the results in the algebraically consistent 't Hooft-Veltman scheme for ${\gamma }_5$, corrected for evanescent as well as chiral-symmetry-breaking effects through finite renormalizations. We compute the renormalization of the dimension-six four-fermion and three-gluon operators, as well as the power corrections to lower-dimension operators in the presence of masses, i.e., the down-mixing into dimension-five dipole operators, masses, gauge couplings, and theta terms. Our results are of interest for a broad range of low-energy precision searches for physics beyond the Standard Model.

    hep-phhep-exhep-latJHEP(2026)·26 citations
13. 13*

    Deciphering compressed electroweakino excesses with MadAnalysis 5

    Jack Y. Araz🇬🇧 · Benjamin Fuks🇫🇷 · Mark D. Goodsell🇫🇷 · Taylor Murphy🇺🇸

    We present version 1.11 of MadAnalysis 5, which extends the software package in several major ways to improve the handling of efficiency tables, the computation of observables in different reference frames and the calculation of statistical limits and/or significance. We detail how these improvements, whose development was motivated by the desire to implement two Run 2 LHC analyses targeting signatures with soft leptons and missing energy and exhibiting mild excesses (ATLAS-SUSY-2018-16 and ATLAS-SUSY-2019-09), have been implemented by both direct extensions of the code and integrations with third-party software. We then document the implementation and validation of these analyses, demonstrating their utility along with the improved statistics capabilities of MadAnalysis 5 through an investigation of the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model in the context of a larger set of overlapping excesses in channels with soft leptons/jets and missing transverse energy.

    hep-phEPJC(2026)·7 citations
14. 14*

    Out of the darkness: probing the inflationary era with dark photon dark matter

    Pierluca Carenza🇸🇪 · Tassia Ferreira🇬🇧 · Thong T. Q. Nguyen🇸🇪

    A recent hint reported by the TASEH haloscope suggests the possible detection of dark photon dark matter with mass $19.5\mu \mathrm{eV}$. Due to their production during inflation, dark photons act as unique messengers from this primordial epoch. We explore the implications that a confirmed detection would have in directly probing the inflationary era for the first time. To resolve the intrinsic degeneracy between the dark photon mixing parameter and its fractional relic abundance introduced by haloscope measurements, we motivate a next-generation light-shining-through-a-wall experiment. Combining these two experiences with cosmological data, particularly measurements of the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$, we propose an interdisciplinary approach to reconstruct dark photon properties. We delineate a coherent strategy for simultaneously determining the dark photon kinetic coupling, abundance, and properties of the inflationary era.

    hep-phastro-ph.COhep-th8 citations
15. 15*

    Constraining decaying dark matter models with gravitational lensing and cosmic voids

    Earl Lester🇦🇺 · Krzysztof Bolejko🇦🇺

    Despite overwhelming observational evidence for dark matter, we still have no evidence of direct detection. Consequently, our knowledge about dark matter is limited, for example, we do not know if dark matter is a stable particle or if it decays. Without a theoretical particle model, the parameter space of possible decay models is highly variable, and astrophysical or cosmological means of indirectly constraining the phenomenological models are required. This paper investigates a scenario in which a dark matter decays and the dark daughter particle moves with respect to the comoving mother particle. The model is parameterised by the decay rate and the injection velocity of the dark matter particles, which can be converted to the mass ratio. In previous work, a simpler model was used to investigate the evolution of cosmic voids typified as regions with low content of galaxies and non-baryonic matter. It was found that the growth of S-type voids is modified by the dark matter decay, leading to imprints at the present day. Here we extend our study and improve the method used to model the decay. We also study the gravitational weak-lensing signal that will be able to detect or constrain the parameter space of decaying dark matter. The results of this study suggest that future weak lensing surveys may provide unique probes of the phenomological parameters of dark matter.

    ↳ astro-ph.COgr-qchep-phPRD(2025)·4 citations
16. 16*

    Expanding the Pierre Auger Observatory Open Data program

    V. Scherini (for the Pierre Auger Collaboration)

    Since 2021, the Open Data Portal has provided access to the Pierre Auger Observatory's data for both the scientific community and the general public. The data release process has been in place since the Observatory's foundation. It continues to be strengthened as outlined in the approved policy and the Observatory's Data Management Plan. More than 80 000 cosmic-ray events above $10^{17}$ eV, detected with the surface and fluorescence detectors, have been released at various levels, from calibrated traces to high-level reconstruction parameters. Additionally, atmospheric data and low-energy particle counting rates have been made available for space weather studies. The Collaboration is committed to releasing FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data, along with accompanying software and detailed documentation, enabling users to perform their own queries and analyses for both research and educational purposes. These datasets have already served as a basis for several scientific papers and have been widely used in various outreach activities. After 20 years of stable data acquisition, the Pierre Auger Collaboration will disclose 30% of the cosmic ray events above $2.5\cdot 10^{18}$ eV collected with the main surface detector array between 2004 and 2022, corresponding to an exposure of about 24 000 km${}^2$ sr yr, together with events detected with the fluorescence detector and used for energy calibration. This release will provide an unprecedented public dataset for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, enabling in-depth studies of their properties. Together with the published catalog of the 100 most energetic events recorded, this initiative represents the Pierre Auger Collaboration's strong commitment to distributed and collective knowledge, sharing progress with the entire scientific community.

    ↳ astro-ph.IMhep-phPoS(2025)·1 citation
17. 17*

    Limits on WIMP-Scattering Cross Sections using Solar Neutrinos with Ten Years of IceCube Data

    Jeffrey Lazar (for the IceCube Collaboration)

    Although dark matter (DM) comprises 84\% of the matter content of the Universe, its nature remains unknown. One broad class of particle DM motivated by extensions of the Standard Model (SM) is weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). Generically, WIMPs will scatter off nuclei in large celestial bodies such as the Sun, thus becoming gravitationally bound. Subsequently, WIMPs can annihilate to stable SM particles, ultimately releasing most of their energy as high-energy neutrinos which escape from the Sun. Thus, an excess of neutrinos from the Sun's direction would be evidence for WIMPs. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is well-suited to such searches since it is sensitive to WIMPs with masses in the region preferred by supersymmetric extensions of the SM. I will present the results of IceCube's most recent solar WIMP search, which includes all neutrino flavors, covers the WIMP mass range from 20 GeV to 10 TeV, and has world-leading sensitivity over this entire range for most channels considered.

    ↳ astro-ph.HEhep-exhep-phPoS(2025)·2 citations
18. 18*

    Anisotropic Diffusion of $e^{\pm }$ in Pulsar Halos over Multiple Coherence of Magnetic Fields

    Kai Yan🇨🇳 · Sha Wu🇨🇳 · Ruo-Yu Liu🇨🇳

    The slow particle diffusion in pulsar halos, inferred from TeV gamma-ray surface brightness profiles, is attributed to cross-field diffusion under the anisotropic diffusion model. This model assumes sub-Alfvénic interstellar turbulence in the surrounding medium of the pulsar and a rough alignment of the line-of-sight of observers towards the pulsars with the local mean magnetic field direction in the halo. In this model, the expected morphology of a pulsar halo is highly dependent on the properties of the interstellar magnetic field. We investigate the anisotropic diffusion of electron-positron pairs across multiple coherence of magnetic fields in pulsar halos in this work. We focus particularly on their influences on the predicted gamma-ray surface brightness profile and the asymmetry of the halo's morphology, as well as the observational expectations by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). Our results indicate that the requirement of a specific magnetic field geometry can be alleviated when accounting for a limited (and realistic) coherence length of the magnetic field in the model. Also, the halo's morphology may appear less asymmetric, especially after being smoothed by the point spread function of instruments. It largely relaxes the tension between the asymmetric morphology of halos predicted by the model and lack of apparent asymmetric halos detected so far. Our findings demonstrate the important influence of the coherence length of interstellar magnetic field on the distribution of particles around their accelerators, and the consequence on the measured source morphology.

    ↳ astro-ph.HEhep-ph7 citations
19. 19*

    Update on the intermediate arrival-direction analyses of the Pierre Auger Observatory

    Lorenzo Apollonio (for the Pierre Auger Collaboration)

    We present an update on the arrival-direction analyses conducted on intermediate angular scales using the complete Phase I data of the Pierre Auger Observatory up to the end of $2022$ with a total exposure of $135,000{\text{km}}^2\text{sr}\text{yr}$. We show the arrival-direction distribution of the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays along the supergalactic plane above $20\text{EeV}$, and an update in the search for magnetically-induced signatures in the arrival directions. Furthermore, we present the potential of introducing estimators for the rigidity ordering of the events to enhance arrival-direction analyses on small to intermediate angular scales. To achieve this, we take advantage of two estimators working on the response of the surface detector: an analytical fit based on air-shower universality and a deep neural network.

    ↳ astro-ph.HEhep-phPoS(2025)·0 citations
20. 20*

    Event reconstruction with the Radio detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

    Simon Strähnz (for the Pierre Auger collaboration)

    The surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory has recently been upgraded with the addition of radio antennas, forming the radio detector (RD). This contribution outlines the standard methods for reconstructing extensive air showers using the RD, along with recent developments. The reconstruction pipeline is based on a robust understanding of the detector itself. The entire instrument, including the antenna pattern and analog chain, has been meticulously characterized within the Offline software framework, based on measurements in the laboratory as well as in the field. To ensure data integrity, stations identified as unreliable through monitoring are excluded before event reconstruction. Absolute calibration is achieved at the 5 percent level by analyzing the diffuse galactic radio emission. Next, the electric field that induced voltages in the antenna is calculated by unfolding the antenna response pattern. Key observables, such as the energy fluence (the energy deposited in the ground per unit area) and the arrival time of the pulse, are then determined. With these quantities, shower parameters can be reconstructed with very good accuracy in two chi-square-minimization fits: one to determine the shower's arrival direction via a spherical wavefront fit (predicted within 0.2 degree), and the other to estimate the distance to the shower maximum and the electromagnetic cascade energy (predicted within 5 percent) using a lateral density function

    ↳ astro-ph.IMhep-phPoS(2025)·1 citation
21. 21*

    Spectra for the Vacuum Cherenkov Effect in Astrophysical Electromagnetic Cascades with Lorentz Invariance Violation

    Andrey Saveliev🇷🇺 · Rafael Alves Batista🇫🇷 · Feodor Mishin🇬🇧

    Lorentz invariance violation is a feature of several quantum gravity models in which Lorentz symmetry is broken at high energies, possibly leading to changes in particle behavior and interactions. In this work, we investigate vacuum Cherenkov radiation, a reaction in which an electron spontaneously emits a photon. This process, forbidden when Lorentz symmetry is unbroken, is a phenomenological consequence of some quantum gravity models. We derive, for the first time, the spectra for the vacuum Cherenkov reaction, and confirm our results numerically. These results can be used to derive limits on Lorentz invariance violation.

    ↳ astro-ph.HEhep-phPoS(2025)·0 citations
22. 22*

    Growth of Cosmic Structures in generalized mass-to-horizon relation Entropic Cosmology

    Shafqat Ali🇵🇱 · Tomasz Denkiewicz🇵🇱

    We investigate the growth of cosmic structures in the thermodynamically consistent generalised mass-to-horizon entropic cosmology (MHEC). For the Bekenstein case the entropic energy density augments the Friedmann equations without modifying the Hawking temperature and automatically satisfies the Clausius relation, thereby avoiding the inconsistencies that afflicted earlier entropy-force models. We then derive the linear perturbation equations, emphasising the distinction between a fully perturbed interaction term and the common approximation in which the perturbation is neglected. Numerical solutions show that fully perturbed follows the LCDM matter-growth history within the current growth uncertainties. Our results demonstrate that MHEC matches both background and growth probes as well as LCDM without extra free parameters, providing a viable entropic explanation for recent accelerated expansion of the Universe.

    ↳ astro-ph.COgr-qchep-ph3 citations
23. 23*

    Interpreting the Hubble tension with a cascade decaying dark matter sector

    Quan Zhou🇨🇳 · Zixuan Xu🇨🇳 · Sibo Zheng🇨🇳

    Hubble tension can be alleviated by altering either early- or late-time $\Lambda$CDM. With only one of these effects introduced, early dark energy remains the only solution capable of reducing the tension to the $3\sigma$ level or below. In this work, we instead consider a modification of the dark matter sector that incorporates both the early- and late-time effects, with the goal of achieving the largest possible value of $H_0$ within this framework. As a realization of these two-fold effects, we study a cascade decaying dark matter model. By fitting the model to the latest datasets of Planck CMB+ DESI BAO+Pantheon (+SH0ES), we find that a 68$\%$ CL value of $H_0=68.76\pm 0.35(69.05_{-0.27}^{+0.31})$ km s${}^{-1}$ Mpc${}^{-1}$ with $\Delta \mathrm{AIC}=+22.0(18.4)$, and larger value of $H_0$ can be obtained by adjusting parameter priors but with a cost of significantly increased value of $\Delta \mathrm{AIC}$. These findings revise the earlier results on the tension level in the literature. For completeness, we show that the parameter regions favored by the cosmological datasets are compatible with complementary limits arising from the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, neutrino flux, and structure formation.

    ↳ astro-ph.COhep-ph4 citations
24. 24*

    Monitoring and performance of AugerPrime

    Belén Andrada (for the Pierre Auger Collaboration)

    The upgrade of Pierre Auger Observatory, AugerPrime, is a multi-hybrid system designed to improve the sensitivity and precision of ultra-high-energy cosmic ray measurements. It includes scintillator detectors positioned both atop the enhanced Water-Cherenkov detectors and buried nearby for direct muon measurements, along with radio and fluorescence detectors. In this contribution, we present an overview of the monitoring tools developed for all the components of AugerPrime, focusing on real-time performance assessment and long-term stability metrics. By continuously tracking key parameters, we can identify potential issues early, enabling timely interventions and improving overall data quality. These strategies are crucial for maintaining the long-term reliability of the measurements taken at the Auger Observatory and providing high-quality data for cosmic ray research in the coming decades.

    ↳ astro-ph.IMhep-phPoS(2025)·1 citation
25. 25*

    Quantum production of gravitational waves after inflation

    Alina Mierna🇮🇹 · Gabriele Perna🇮🇹 · Sabino Matarrese🇮🇹 · Nicola Bartolo🇮🇹 · Angelo Ricciardone🇮🇹

    A variety of mechanisms in the early Universe lead to the generation of gravitational waves (GWs). We introduce here a novel source of GWs generated by vacuum fluctuations after inflation. Given that gravitons are minimally coupled particles, their quantum creation takes place during inflation, but is absent in an unperturbed Universe during the radiation-dominated epoch, since they behave as conformally coupled particles. However, the presence of inhomogeneities breaks the conformal flatness of the metric, allowing scalar metric perturbations to induce the quantum production of gravitons. We compute the resulting GW spectrum from this mechanism for different models of the primordial scalar power spectrum. We find that this GW signal peaks around the GHz frequency range, distinguishing it from other astrophysical and cosmological backgrounds and underscoring the need for detectors sensitive to these high frequencies.

    ↳ gr-qcastro-ph.COhep-phhep-thJCAP(2026)·0 citations
26. 26*

    Performance and extensions of the central data acquisition system for Phase II of the Pierre Auger Observatory

    Paul Filip (for the Pierre Auger Collaboration)🇨🇿

    The Pierre Auger Observatory is a hybrid detector designed to observe and study ultra-high-energy particles of extraterrestrial origin. With its 27 fluorescence telescopes and over 1600 autonomously operating water-Cherenkov detectors spread over an area of 3000 km${}^2$, it is world-leading in terms of exposure to cosmic rays and offers an unparalleled window into the physical processes that happen at energy scales unattainable by particle accelerators on Earth. Measurement information of candidate air-shower events from all associated detectors and telescopes is collected at a central data-acquisition system located in the nearby town of Malargüe, and processed for higher-level physics analysis. On top of this, data for monitoring the long-term stability and operation of the observatory is forwarded to the central server as well. In this work, we briefly review the central data-acquisition system of the Pierre Auger Observatory. We examine the rates, efficiencies, and purity of detected events for Phase II of the Pierre Auger Observatory and compare them to performance parameters during Phase I. We detail challenges in the event detection up until now and present recent changes in the central data acquisition system and local station software that aim to streamline the data acquisition chain.

    ↳ astro-ph.IMhep-ph0 citations
27. 27*

    Angular momentum dynamics of vortex particles in accelerators

    D. Karlovets🇷🇺 · D. Grosman🇷🇺 · I. Pavlov🇷🇺

    While conventional experiments typically employ plane-wave states of particles with definite momenta, vortex states represent cylindrical waves carrying an orbital angular momentum (OAM) projection along the propagation direction. This projection can be arbitrarily large, granting charged particles magnetic moments orders of magnitude greater than those of plane-wave states. Consequently, vortex beams could complement or replace spin-polarized beams in high-energy collisions, accessing observables beyond the reach of conventional experiments. We investigate the radiative and non-radiative OAM dynamics for relativistic vortex particles in accelerators. Our results show that the timescale for OAM loss via photon emission significantly exceeds typical acceleration times. Non-radiative OAM dynamics is governed by precession at a frequency distinct from that of spin. Similar to spin tunes, this induces resonances that can disrupt OAM at much lower energies than for spin-polarized beams. Thus, we propose using linacs for acceleration of the vortex beams, while Siberian snakes can be adapted for OAM manipulations.

    ↳ physics.acc-phhep-phquant-phPRL(2026)·10 citations
28. 28*

    Non-relativistic effective theories for fields with general potentials and their implications for cosmology

    H.S. Modirzadeh🇮🇷 · R. Moti🇮🇷 · M.H. Namjoo🇮🇷

    Non-relativistic effective field theories (NREFTs) play a crucial role in various areas of physics, from cold atom experiments to cosmology. In this paper, we present a systematic framework for deriving NREFTs from relativistic theories with generic self-interactions. Our approach allows for (but is not limited to) non-power-law potentials (such as those arising from dilatons or axions) or potentials that are non-analytic around the classical vacuum (such as those with logarithmic radiative corrections). These are of theoretical and phenomenological interest but have largely been unexplored in the non-relativistic regime. NREFTs are typically viewed as approximations for systems with low velocities, weak couplings, and small field amplitudes. The latter assumption is relaxed in our approach, as long as the mass term remains dominant (ensuring the validity of the non-relativistic limit). Additionally, we establish an effective fluid description for the non-relativistic scalar field, identifying key quantities such as energy density, pressure, and sound speed. To enable cosmological applications, we extend our formalism to account for the expanding universe, providing a reliable tool for investigating ultra-light dark matter models with arbitrary self-interactions. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of our NREFT in analyzing solitons, which is also relevant to cosmology for studying celestial objects such as boson stars and the cores of dark matter halos.

    ↳ astro-ph.COgr-qchep-phhep-thJCAP(2026)·1 citation
29. 29*

    The Effective Field Theory of Large Scale Structure for Mixed Dark Matter Scenarios

    Francesco Verdiani🇮🇹 · Emanuele Castorina🇮🇹 · Ennio Salvioni🇬🇧 · Emiliano Sefusatti🇮🇹

    We initiate a systematic study of the perturbative nonlinear dynamics of cosmological fluctuations in dark sectors comprising a fraction of non-cold dark matter, for example ultra-light axions or light thermal relics. These mixed dark matter scenarios exhibit suppressed growth of perturbations below a characteristic, cosmologically relevant, scale associated with the microscopic nature of the non-cold species. As a consequence, the scale-free nonlinear solutions developed for pure cold dark matter and for massive neutrinos do not, in general, apply. We thus extend the Effective Field Theory of Large Scale Structure to model the coupled fluctuations of the cold and non-cold dark matter components, describing the latter as a perfect fluid with finite sound speed at linear level. We provide new analytical solutions wherever possible and devise an accurate and computationally tractable prescription for the evaluation of the one-loop galaxy power spectrum, which can be applied to probe mixed dark matter scenarios with current and upcoming galaxy survey data. As a first application of this framework, we derive updated constraints on the energy density in ultra-light axions using a combination of Planck and BOSS data. Our refined theoretical modeling leads to somewhat weaker bounds compared to previous analyses.

    ↳ astro-ph.COhep-phJCAP(2026)·16 citations
30. 30*

    Infra-red enhanced loops in quadratic gravity

    Alberto Salvio🇮🇹 · Alessandro Strumia🇮🇹 · Marco Vitti🇩🇪

    It has been suggested that logarithmically enhanced infra-red loop corrections arising in theories with four derivatives correspond to a physical running of couplings, rendering quadratic gravity asymptotically free. We find that these effects depend on the gauge and on the field parameterisation. We compute physical on-shell amplitudes and find genuine infra-red log-enhanced loop corrections, that are process-dependent and cannot be absorbed into running couplings. As a byproduct, we derive the effective action of quadratic gravity at tree level, showing that its ghost does not contribute to effective operators and thereby does not violate positivity bounds.

    ↳ hep-thgr-qchep-phJHEP(2026)·9 citations

* Reconstructed cohort: no mailing for this day survives in the archive. Papers are grouped by their submission times and arXiv's announcement cut-off, assuming announcement without delay; positions follow identifier order. Validated at ~91% exact-day agreement against the archived era.