Thu·Oct 9, 2025Thursday·October 9, 2025

1. 01*

   Perspectives and Questions: Toward an Expansive Agenda for Particle Physics

   Chris Quigg🇺🇸

   Global celebration greeted the 2012 discovery at CERN's Large Hadron Collider of a particle that matches the textbook description of the Higgs boson. That achievement validated a remarkable chain of theoretical reasoning that combined the prescriptive notion of electroweak gauge symmetry with a simple, but \emph{ad hoc}, embodiment of spontaneous symmetry breaking. It was made possible by generational triumphs of accelerator art and experimental technique, and by human resourcefulness and collaboration on a global scale, all sustained by the enlightened support of many governments and institutions. Some imagine that, once the keystone of the standard model of particle physics has been set, our subject is over. Others worry that we may be at an impasse because no comparable wonders have appeared, leaving us without well-defined clues to a more complete paradigm. I am neither so readily satisfied nor so {easily} discouraged: we have so much more to learn! This essay surveys many questions that, taken together, constitute an inspiring array of opportunities to enhance our understanding of the physical world.

   hep-ph0 citations
2. 02*

   Lepton flavor from a horizontal symmetry in a slice of AdS${}_5$

   Leandro Da Rold🇦🇷 · Franco A. Gigena🇦🇷 · Jaime S. Guzmán Guerrero🇦🇷

   We build a model of lepton flavor in a slice of AdS${}_5$. We add to the 5D SM fields a set of neutrino fields, as well as a horizontal U(1) symmetry and a flavon field, all propagating in the bulk. The electroweak and U(1) symmetries are spontaneously broken by a potential localized on the infrared boundary. We show that in a flavor anarchic scenario, by suitable choice of the 5D masses and the U(1) charges, the masses of the SM leptons and the PMNS matrix can be naturally generated. The neutrino masses are Dirac like, with a normal ordered hierarchical spectrum, $\Delta m_{32}^2\approx m_3^2$, $\Delta m_{21}^2\approx m_2^2\gg m_1^2$, and a suppressed ${\theta }_{13}$ mixing angle. We find configurations where the charged lepton mixing angles are suppressed by powers of the Cabibbo angle (${\lambda }_C$) relative to vanilla anarchic partial compositeness, consequently reducing CP and lepton flavor violation. Specifically, the Wilson coefficient for the electron electromagnetic dipole moment exhibits ${\lambda }_C^2$ suppression, while those governing $\mu \to e\gamma$ and $\mu -e$ vector operators are suppressed by ${\lambda }_C^{3/2}$ compared to the anarchic scenario without U(1) horizontal symmetry.

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

   On the role of cosmological constant in modeling hadrons

   Mathew Thomas Arun🇮🇳 · Nabeel Thahir🇮🇳

   Einsteins gravity with a cosmological constant $\Lambda$ in four dimensions can be reformulated as a $\lambda {\varphi }^4$ theory characterized solely by the dimensionless coupling $\lambda \propto G_N\Lambda$ ($G_N$ being Newton's constant). The quantum triviality of this theory drives $\lambda \to 0$, and a deviation from this behavior could be generated by matter couplings. Here, we study the significance of this conformal symmetry and its breaking in modeling non-perturbative QCD. The hadron spectra and correlation functions are studied holographically in an $Ad{S}_5$ geometry with induced cosmological constants on four-dimensional hypersurface. Our analysis shows that the experimentally measured spectra of the $\rho$ and $a_1$ mesons, including their excitations and decay constants, favour a non-vanishing induced cosmological constant in both hard-wall and soft-wall models. Although this behavior is not as sharp in the soft-wall model as in the hard-wall model, it remains consistent. Furthermore, we show that the correction to the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation has an inverse dependence on the induced cosmological constant, underscoring its significance in holographic descriptions of low-energy QCD.

   hep-phhep-th0 citations
4. 04*

   Impact of relativistic corrections to high-pT prompt-psi(2S) production at hadron colliders

   Valerio Bertone🇫🇷 · Jean-Philippe Lansberg🇫🇷 · Kate Lynch🇮🇪

   We study relativistic corrections to prompt psi(2S) production at high pT in hadron colliders. Our calculation employs leading-power factorization with Fragmentation Functions (FFs) computed in nonrelativistic QCD and evolved to next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy. Relativistic corrections increase the cross section significantly for the gluon channel, but moderately for charm. We perform a full analysis of uncertainties. We observe a good agreement with both ATLAS and CMS cross sections without the need of higher-order color-octet contributions. The polar anisotropy is found to be close to CMS data, partly due to charm fragmentation.

   hep-phhep-exhep-thnucl-th4 citations
5. 05*

   Classification of $g$-modes for neutron stars with a strong transition: Novel universal relation including slow stable hybrid stars

   M. C. Rodriguez🇧🇷 · José C. Jiménez🇧🇷 · Ignacio F. Ranea-Sandoval🇦🇷

   We investigate the behavior of the non-radial gravity-pulsation discontinuity $g$-mode in neutron stars with a strong first-order phase transition which give rise to hybrid-star configurations. These modes are of utmost relevance since they can be potentially excited in isolated as well as binary neutron star systems in the inspiral phase, thus allowing us to indirectly detect the presence of a deconfinement transition. In order to do this, we consider four categories of hybrid stars that present distinctive features in their equations of state. We employ the constant speed of sound parametrization, which accounts for a sharp phase transition between confined hadronic matter and deconfined quark matter. Then, working within the relativistic Cowling approximation to obtain the frequencies of non-radial oscillations, we find that, depending on the hybrid star category, the relations between discontinuity $g$-mode frequencies and masses as well as tidal deformabilities display a highly distinct behavior across the diverse hybrid star categories that appear in the slow hadron-quark conversion regime. This distinct phenomenology provides smoking-gun evidence to clearly distinguish and further classify hybrid stars with a strong transition from purely hadronic stars using upcoming gravitational-wave data. In addition, we present for each of the categories studied the relation between the $g$-mode frequency and the normalized energy density jump. Finally, we present a novel universal relation for the discontinuity $g$-mode able to encompass the four categories including long branches of slow stable hybrid stars and address its asteroseismological capability.

   hep-phastro-ph.HEgr-qcnucl-thPRD(2026)·4 citations
6. 06*

   A geometrical approach to neutrino oscillation parameters

   Mohammad Ful Hossain Seikh🇺🇸

   We propose a geometric hypothesis for neutrino mixing: twice the sum of the three mixing angles equals $180^{\circ }$, forming a Euclidean triangle. This condition leads to a predictive relation among the mixing angles and, through trigonometric constraints, enables reconstruction of the mass-squared splittings. The hypothesis offers a phenomenological resolution to the ${\theta }_{23}$ octant ambiguity, reproduces the known mass hierarchy patterns, and suggests a normalized geometric structure underlying the PMNS mixing. We show that while an order-of-magnitude scale mismatch remains (the absolute splittings are underestimated by $\sim 10\times$), the triangle reproduces mixing ratios with notable accuracy, hinting at deeper structural or symmetry-based origins. We emphasize that the triangle relation is advanced as an empirical, phenomenological organizing principle rather than a result derived from a specific underlying symmetry or dynamics. It is testable and falsifiable: current global-fit values already lie close to satisfying the condition, and improved precision will confirm or refute it. We also outline and implement a simple ${\chi }^2$ consistency check against global-fit inputs to quantify agreement within present uncertainties.

   hep-phhep-thAIP Adv.(2025)·1 citation
7. 07*

   Nuclear and electron scattering by neutrinos and dark matter in condensed systems

   James B. Dent🇺🇸 · Barry A. Friedman🇺🇸 · Jayden L. Newstead🇦🇺 · Subir Sabharwal🇺🇸

   Low-threshold dark matter detectors, in particular cryogenic detectors based on dielectric materials, are among the best tools for probing sub-GeV dark matter masses. In the coming years detectors of this type will become sensitive to solar neutrino scattering. Previous work has shown that, for dark matter scattering at very low recoil energies, one must include collective excitations of the electrons in the solid. In this work, we have computed the collective excitations due to neutrino scattering on electrons and nuclei. We find the full electron-scattering response at leading order is captured by 5 structure factors and identify the leading component with the electron energy-loss function. Then, using silicon and germanium detectors as an example, we perform a dark matter sensitivity study and compute their respective neutrino floors. Lastly, we show that these detectors are sensitive to unexplored scenarios of beyond-Standard Model neutrino physics, within the exposure required to reach the neutrino floor.

   hep-phPRD(2026)·8 citations
8. 08*

   Thermal photon emission from quark-gluon plasma: 1+1D magnetohydrodynamics results

   Jie Xiong🇨🇳 · Xiang Fan🇨🇳 · Jing Jing🇨🇳 · Weishan Yang🇨🇳 · Duan She🇨🇳 · Ze-Fang Jiang

   We investigate thermal photon production in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) under strong magnetic fields using a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) framework. Adopting the Bjorken flow model with power-law decaying magnetic fields $\mathbf{B}(\tau )={\mathbf{B}}_0({\tau }_0/\tau {)}^a$ (where $a$ controls the decay rate, $B_0=\sqrt{\sigma }{T}_0^2$, and $\sigma$ characterizes the initial field strength), we employ relativistic ideal fluid dynamics under the non-resistive approximation. The resulting QGP temperature evolution exhibits distinct $a$- and $\sigma$-dependent behaviors. Thermal photon production rates are calculated for three dominant processes: Compton scattering with $q\bar{q}$ annihilation (C+A), bremsstrahlung (Brems), and $q\bar{q}$ annihilation with additional scattering (A+S). These rates are integrated over the space-time volume to obtain the photon transverse momentum $(p_T)$ spectrum. Our results demonstrate that increasing $a$ enhances photon yields across all $p_T$, with $a\to \infty$ (super-fast decay) providing an upper bound. For $a=2/3$, larger $\sigma$ suppresses yields through accelerated cooling, whereas for $a\to \infty$, larger $\sigma$ enhances yields via prolonged thermal emission. Low-$p_T$ photons receive significant contributions from all QGP evolution stages, while high-$p_T$ photons originate predominantly from early times. The central rapidity region $(y=0)$ dominates the total yield. This work extends photon yield studies to the MHD regime under strong magnetic fields, elucidating magnetic field effects on QGP electromagnetic signatures and establishing foundations for future investigations of magnetization and dissipative phenomena.

   hep-phCPC(2026)·2 citations
9. 09*

   Latent Representation Learning in Heavy-Ion Collisions with MaskPoint Transformer

   Jing-Zong Zhang🇨🇳 · Shuang Guo🇨🇳 · Li-Lin Zhu🇨🇳 · Lingxiao Wang🇯🇵 · Guo-Liang Ma🇨🇳

   A central challenge in high-energy nuclear physics is to extract informative features from the high-dimensional final-state data of heavy-ion collisions (HIC) in order to enable reliable downstream analyses. Traditional approaches often rely on selected observables, which may miss subtle but physically relevant structures in the data. To address this, we introduce a Transformer-based autoencoder trained with a two-stage paradigm: self-supervised pre-training followed by supervised fine-tuning. The pretrained encoder learns latent representations directly from unlabeled HIC data, providing a compact and information-rich feature space that can be adapted to diverse physics tasks. As a case study, we apply the method to distinguish between large and small collision systems, where it achieves significantly higher classification accuracy than PointNet. Principal component analysis and SHAP interpretation further demonstrate that the autoencoder captures complex nonlinear correlations beyond individual observables, yielding features with strong discriminative and explanatory power. These results establish our two-stage framework as a general and robust foundation for feature learning in HIC, opening the door to more powerful analyses of quark--gluon plasma properties and other emergent phenomena. The implementation is publicly available at https://github.com/Giovanni-Sforza/MaskPoint-AMPT.

   hep-phcs.LG1 citation
10. 10*

    Dissecting the moat regime at low energies I: Renormalization and the phase structure

    Fabian Rennecke🇩🇪 · Shi Yin🇩🇪

    Dense QCD matter can feature a moat regime, where the static energy of mesons is minimal at nonzero momentum. Valuable insights into this regime can be gained using low-energy models. This, however, requires a careful assessment of model artifacts. We therefore study the effects of renormalization and in-medium modifications of quark-meson interaction on the moat regime. To capture the main effects, we use a two-flavor quark-meson model at finite temperature and baryon density in the random phase approximation. We put forward a convenient renormalization scheme to account for the nontrivial momentum dependence of meson self-energies and discuss the role of renormalization conditions for renormalization group consistent results on the moat regime. In addition, we demonstrate and that its extent in the phase diagram critically depends on the interaction of quarks and mesons.

    hep-phhep-thnucl-thPRD(2026)·5 citations
11. 11*

    A two scalar triplets model as common origin for dark matter, neutrino masses, baryon asymmetry and inflation

    Sin Kyu Kang🇰🇷 · Raymundo Ramos🇰🇷

    We propose an extension of the standard model (SM) by two SU(2) triplet scalars and an inert SU(2) doublet. We demonstrate that this setup can simultaneously produce an inflaton and baryon asymmetry in the early universe, provide a dark matter candidate and explain the smallness of neutrino masses. The two triplets are particularly important as they become mediators for the production of dark matter and the generation of lepton asymmetry, as well as contribute an inflaton. The inert doublet results in a dark matter candidate. The required CP-violation for lepton asymmetry is obtained by interference between the triplet mediators that communicate the dark sector to the SM sector. More precisely, the complex Breit-Wigner propagators of the triplets and their mixing, result in an asymmetric production of leptons and antileptons that is boosted before dark matter freeze-out. In this case, simultaneously achieving enough dark matter relic abundance and proper matter-antimatter asymmetry limits the available parameter space of the model. Moreover, the scalar triplets are coupled non-minimally to gravity and give rise to the inflaton. We calculate the inflationary parameters and check that we can obtain predictions consistent with Planck constraints from 2018. We also perform an analysis of the reheating for the inflaton decays/annihilations to relativistic SM particles.

    hep-ph0 citations
12. 12*

    FIRE 7: Automatic Reduction with Modular Approach

    Alexander V. Smirnov🇷🇺 · Mao Zeng🇬🇧

    FIRE7 is a major update to the FIRE program for integration-by-parts (IBP) reduction of Feynman integrals. A large part of improvements is related to the automatic reduction and reconstruction with the modular arithmetic approach, while the performance of the classical rational polynomial approach is also significantly increased. An improved presolve algorithm performs Gaussian elimination to simplify IBP identities before substituting numerical indices as in the Laporta algorithm. Various new command line tools are included to facilitate tasks such as applying an IBP reduction table to reduce a loop integrand as a linear combination of individual integrals.

    hep-ph34 citations
13. 13*

    Texture-zeros in minimal seesaw from non-invertible symmetry fusion rules

    Zheng Jiang🇨🇳 · Bu-Yao Qu🇨🇳 · Gui-Jun Ding🇨🇳

    The $Z_2$ gauging of $Z_N$ symmetry can enforce certain elements of the fermion Yukawa couplings to vanish. We have performed a systematical study of texture zero patterns of lepton mass matrices in the minimal seesaw model, and we present all the possible patterns of the charged lepton Yukawa coupling $Y_E$, neutrino Yukawa coupling $Y_{\nu }$, right-handed neutrino mass matrix $M_R$ and the light neutrino mass matrix $M_{\nu }$ which can be derived from the $Z_2$ gauging of $Z_N$ symmetry. The realization of the textures with the maximum number of zeros and the second maximum number of zeros from non-invertible symmetry is studied, and the phenomenological implications in neutrino oscillation are discussed.

    hep-phhep-thPRD(2025)·15 citations
14. 14*

    Muonium Hyperfine Splitting Uncertainty Revisited

    Michael I. Eides🇺🇸

    Uncertainty of the theoretical prediction for the hyperfine splitting in the ground state of muonium is considered. It is compared with the respective discussion in the two most recent CODATA adjustments of the fundamental physical constants.

    hep-phphysics.atom-phMod.Phys.Lett.A(2026)·2 citations
15. 15*

    Axion Quality Problem: Keep Calm and Baryon

    Prateek Agrawal🇬🇧 · Anson Hook🇺🇸 · Vazha Loladze🇬🇧 · Mario Reig🇬🇧

    Axion models generically suffer from a severe quality problem when coupled to gravity. In this article we provide a very simple model with a high quality axion. The axion is a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson of the baryon number symmetry, $U(1{)}_B$, of a new composite sector that breaks $U(1{)}_B$ spontaneously when it confines. A controlled example is a supersymmetric QCD (SQCD) with $N_c=N_f$. The axion shift symmetry is automatically protected due to the high dimension of the gauge-invariant baryon operator, with the Peccei-Quinn breaking operators arising at dimension $N_c+2$. The standard model gauge group is embedded as a subgroup of the flavor symmetry group of SQCD that has an anomaly with $U(1{)}_B$, generating the standard coupling with gluons.

    hep-phhep-thJHEP(2026)·14 citations
16. 16*

    Axion Perturbations: A General Analytical Treatment

    Itamar J. Allali🇺🇸 · Priyesh Chakraborty🇺🇸 · JiJi Fan🇺🇸 · Matthew Reece🇺🇸

    Cosmological data provides us two key constraints on dark matter (DM): it must have a particular abundance, and it must have an adiabatic spectrum of density perturbations in the early universe. Many different cosmological scenarios have been proposed that establish the abundance of axion DM in qualitatively different ways. In this paper we emphasize that, despite this variety of backgrounds, the perturbations in axion DM can be understood from universal principles. How does a feebly interacting axion field acquire perturbations proportional to those of photons? How do the isocurvature power spectrum and non-Gaussianity depend on the background evolution of the universe? We answer these questions for a completely general choice of cosmological background and temperature-dependent axion potential. We show that the most general solution to the axion field equation on super-horizon scales is entirely determined by the family of background solutions for different initial field values ${\theta }_{\mathrm{ini}}$. This holds for both the component in the field perturbation solution contributing to the DM isocurvature perturbation (enhanced at late times by the sensitivity of the DM abundance to the initial condition, $\partial {\Omega }_a/\partial {\theta }_{\mathrm{ini}}$, which can be large for initial conditions near the hilltop), and the other component that contributes to the DM curvature perturbation. In particular, we explain that an unperturbed axion field in the early universe evolving into one with nontrivial adiabatic perturbations is guaranteed by Weinberg's theorem on adiabatic modes. These results have been derived before with various assumptions, such as a radiation dominated background or a quadratic potential. Our aim is to give a clear, simple derivation that is manifestly independent of those assumptions, and thus can be applied to any cosmological axion scenario.

    hep-phastro-ph.COPRD(2026)·9 citations
17. 17*

    Probing Dark Matter Interactions with Stellar Motion near Sagittarius A*

    R. Andrew Gustafson🇺🇸 · Ian M. Shoemaker🇺🇸 · Volodymyr Takhistov🇯🇵

    Stars orbiting Sgr A* at the Milky Way's center provide a unique laboratory to test gravity and dark matter (DM). We demonstrate that DM interactions in stellar interiors induce a novel momentum transfer force, altering orbits beyond gravitational effects. Using S2's 2000-2019 orbital data we derive the first astrophysical constraints on DM-nucleon scattering, excluding new sub-GeV parameter space. Stellar lifetime constraints over Myr timescales complement these, surpassing some direct detection and cosmological limits. This establishes stellar dynamics as a novel probe of DM interactions.

    hep-phastro-ph.GAhep-ex6 citations
18. 18*

    Slepton pair production at next-to-leading power

    Lasse Lorentz Braseth🇳🇴 · Tore Klungland🇳🇴 · Are Raklev🇳🇴

    Near threshold, cross sections for the production of heavy particles are sensitive to large logarithmic terms, which must be resummed to all orders in perturbation theory. Current state-of-the art calculations for inclusive slepton pair production at hadron colliders has focused on higher-order logarithms in the leading power of the threshold variable. Here, we evaluate the next-to-leading power contribution in the threshold variable to leading logarithmic accuracy. We find that the next-to-leading power contributions can be significant compared to the next-to-leading logarithmic terms at leading power, and that existing calculations underestimate the scale error for large slepton masses. We include results for a potential future FCC-hh machine at $\sqrt{s}=85$ TeV.

    hep-phJHEP(2026)·0 citations
19. 19*

    Dynamics of Cosmic Superstrings and the Overshoot Problem

    Luca Brunelli🇮🇹 · Michele Cicoli🇮🇹 · Francisco Gil Pedro🇮🇹

    We exploit the techniques of dynamical systems to study the cosmological evolution of cosmic fundamental strings and effective strings arising from branes wrapped on internal cycles. We also include the whole potential of the volume modulus characterised by an early time run-away towards a late time minimum. We analyse the overshoot problem with and without radiation, and find that the presence of an initial population of strings arising from NS5-branes wrapped around 4-cycles is enough to ensure that the modulus stabilises in its late time minimum, even in the absence of radiation. The reason is the transfer of energy between the modulus and the effective strings caused by the fact that their tension depends on the volume modulus. Interestingly, we find that the energy density of cosmic superstrings is generically very large when the modulus is oscillating around its minimum, opening up the possibility of a detectable gravitational wave signal. We also find no evidence of an efficient resonant enhancement of cosmic superstrings due to an oscillating tension in the late time minimum.

    ↳ hep-thgr-qchep-phJCAP(2026)·7 citations
20. 20*

    Primordial Black Holes and their Mass Spectra: The Effects of Mergers and Accretion within Stasis Cosmologies

    Keith R. Dienes🇺🇸 · Lucien Heurtier🇬🇧 · Fei Huang🇮🇱 · Tim M.P. Tait🇺🇸 · Brooks Thomas🇺🇸

    A variety of processes in the very early universe can give rise to a population of primordial black holes (PBHs) with an extended mass spectrum. For certain mass spectra of this sort, it has been shown that the evaporation of these PBHs into radiation can drive the universe toward an epoch of cosmological stasis which can persist for a significant number of $e$-folds of cosmological expansion. However, in general, the initial mass spectrum which characterizes a population of PBHs at the time of production can subsequently be distorted by processes such as mergers and accretion. In this paper, we examine the effects that these processes have on the spectra that lead to a PBH-induced stasis. Within such stasis models, we find that mergers have only a negligible effect on these spectra within the regime of interest for stasis. We likewise find that the effect of accretion is negligible in many cases of interest. However, we find that the effect of accretion on the PBH mass spectrum is non-negligible in situations in which this spectrum is particularly broad. In such situations, the stasis epoch is abridged or, in extreme cases, does not occur at all. Thus accretion plays a non-trivial role in constraining the emergence of stasis within scenarios which lead to extended PBH mass spectra.

    ↳ astro-ph.COhep-phPRD(2025)·6 citations
21. 21*

    Diagnosing the Properties and Evolutionary Fates of Black Hole and Wolf-Rayet X-ray Binaries as Potential Gravitational Wave Sources for the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Network

    Zi-Yuan Wang · Ying Qin · Georges Meynet · Qing-Zhong Liu · Xin-Wen Shu · Ya-Wen Xue · Liang Yuan · Jun-Qian Li · Kun Jia · Han-Feng Song

    IC 10 X-1, NGC 300 X-1, and Cyg X-3 constitute a unique class of X-ray binaries in which a stellar-mass black hole (BH) accretes material from a Wolf-Rayet (WR). These systems are particularly intriguing because of their short orbital periods, which make them promising progenitors of gravitational-wave (GW) sources detectable by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) network. Adopting a revised accretion efficiency within the standard Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton framework, we perform detailed binary evolution calculations using \texttt{MESA} to characterize their properties at different evolutionary stages and to assess their ultimate fates as potential LVK-detectable GW sources. By applying additional constraints from the observed properties of IC 10 X-1 and NGC 300 X-1, we find that the upper limits on the BH masses in these systems ($M_{\mathrm{BH}}\lesssim 25M_{\odot }$ for IC 10 X-1 and $M_{\mathrm{BH}}\lesssim 15M_{\odot }$ for NGC 300 X-1) are significantly lower than previous estimates. Both systems are expected to form binary black holes (BBHs) that will merge within a Hubble time, except in the case where the BH in NGC 300 X-1 has a mass of $9M_{\odot }$, corresponding to the lower limit inferred in a previous study using the continuum-fitting method with a relativistic slim-disc model. For Cyg X-3, we find that the BH spin magnitude is constrained to be $\lesssim$ 0.6. Moreover, the WR star in Cyg X-3 is likely to form a lower-mass-gap BH, and the resulting BBH system is also expected to merge within a Hubble time.

    ↳ astro-ph.HEastro-ph.SRhep-phMNRAS(2026)·0 citations
22. 22*

    Transport-based initial conditions for heavy-ion collisions at finite densities

    H. Roch🇺🇸 · G. Pihan🇺🇸 · A. Monnai🇯🇵 · S. Ryu🇯🇵 · N. Senthilkumar🇺🇸 · J. Staudenmaier🇩🇪 · H. Elfner🇩🇪 · B. Schenke🇺🇸 · J. H. Putschke🇺🇸 · C. Shen🇺🇸 · S. A. Bass🇺🇸 · M. Chartier🇬🇧 and 44 other authors

    We employ the SMASH transport model to provide event-by-event initial conditions for the energy-momentum tensor and conserved charge currents in hydrodynamic simulations of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We study the fluctuations and dynamical evolution of three conserved charge currents (net baryon, net electric charges, and net strangeness) with a 4D lattice-QCD-based equation of state, NEOS-4D, in the hydrodynamic phase. Out-of-equilibrium corrections at the particlization are generalized to finite densities to ensure the conservation of energy, momentum, and the three types of charges. These theoretical developments are integrated within the X-SCAPE code as a unified framework for studying the nuclear matter properties in the Beam Energy Scan program.

    ↳ nucl-thhep-phPRC(2026)·5 citations
23. 23*

    Testing new-physics scenarios with the combined LHAASO and Carpet-3 fluence spectrum of GRB 221009A: axion-like particles and Lorentz-invariance violation

    P.S. Satunin🇷🇺 · S.V. Troitsky🇷🇺

    From gamma-ray burst (GRB) 221009A, very high-energy photons were detected: >10 TeV with LHAASO and >100 TeV with Carpet-3. Such energetic photons are expected to be absorbed via electron-positron pair production on their way to the Earth. Their observation might be explained by new physics, including Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) or photon mixing with axion-like particles (ALPs). Here, we construct a joint fluence spectrum by combining flux measurements from both experiments, and fit it under these hypotheses. While LIV can account for the Carpet-3 observation, it provides only a modest improvement over standard physics in the overall fit and requires parameters excluded by other constraints. ALP mixing improves the description of both LHAASO and Carpet-3 data, yielding a substantial enhancement in fit quality for a specific region of the ALP parameter space.

    ↳ astro-ph.HEhep-phJETP Lett.(2026)·5 citations
24. 24*

    Correlation Function/Wilson Loop Duality in Gauge Theory from EFT

    Hao Chen🇺🇸 · Pier Francesco Monni🇨🇭 · Zhaoyan Pang🇨🇳 · Gherardo Vita🇨🇭 · Hua Xing Zhu🇨🇳

    In this Letter, we initiate a systematic study of the $n$-point correlation functions (CF) in gauge theories in the sequential light-cone (SLC) limit. Focusing on QCD, we formulate a factorization theorem for the CF of four vector currents in this limit using tools from soft-collinear effective field theory (SCET). This result unveils a duality between CF and Wilson loops in non-conformal field theories, according to which the singular structure of the CF is described by a null polygonal Wilson loop dressed by universal jet functions and current form factors, directly related to well-known ingredients in collider physics. We employ this new factorization theorem to obtain the singular terms of the four-point CF in QCD in the SLC limit up to three loops. This constitutes the first determination of terms beyond one loop and in particular determines, for the first time, conformal-symmetry-breaking terms induced by the non-vanishing $\beta$-function of QCD. As a stringent check, we verify that our result satisfies the anomalous conformal Ward identities and its leading-transcendental term reproduces the known correlation function in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM to three loops. Our results are easily generalized to the multi-point case, offering a powerful tool for future applications of SCET to the study of the fundamental structure of gauge theories.

    ↳ hep-thhep-phPRL(2026)·9 citations
25. 25*

    Heterotic Footprints in Classical Gravity: PM dynamics from On-Shell soft amplitudes at one loop

    Arpan Bhattacharyya🇮🇳 · Saptaswa Ghosh🇮🇳 · Ankit Mishra🇮🇳 · Sounak Pal🇮🇳

    We study classical scattering of charged black holes in Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton (EMD) theory. Working in the classical (Post-Minkowskian) regime, we extract the conservative two-body potential by expanding the one loop amplitudes in the soft regime. We show explicitly that, as in GR, the relevant soft amplitudes are infrared (IR) finite once the long-range interactions are consistently treated via Lippmann-Schwinger equation and the associated IR subtraction. The scattering angle is then obtained from the eikonal exponentiation of the soft amplitude. Our results track the separate roles of electromagnetic and dilatonic charges in both the conservative dynamics and the eikonal phase, and they reduce smoothly to the GR limit when the charges and dilaton coupling are switched off. Where applicable, we compare with existing results in the literature and find agreement. These findings provide amplitude-based benchmarks for compact-object dynamics in EMD and furnish building blocks for waveform modeling in beyond-GR scenarios.

    ↳ hep-thgr-qchep-phJHEP(2026)·3 citations
26. 26*

    Neutrinos from stars in the Milky Way

    Pablo Martínez-Miravé🇩🇰 · Irene Tamborra🇩🇰

    Neutrinos are produced during stellar evolution by means of thermal and thermonuclear processes. We model the cumulative neutrino flux expected at Earth from all stars in the Milky Way: the Galactic stellar neutrino flux (GS$\nu$F). We account for the star formation history of our Galaxy and reconstruct the spatial distribution of Galactic stars by means of a random sampling procedure based on Gaia Data Release 2. We use the stellar evolution code $\text{MESA}$ to compute the neutrino emission for a suite of stellar models with solar metallicity and zero-age-main-sequence mass between $0.08M_{\odot }$ and $100M_{\odot }$, from their pre-main sequence phase to their final fates. We then reconstruct the evolution of the neutrino spectral energy distribution for each stellar model in our suite. The GS$\nu$F lies between $\mathcal{O}(1)$ keV and $\mathcal{O}(10)$ MeV, with thermal (thermonuclear) processes responsible for shaping neutrino emission at energies smaller (larger) than $0.1$ MeV. Stars with mass larger than $\mathcal{O}(1M_{\odot })$, located in the thin disk of the Galaxy, provide the largest contribution to the GS$\nu$F. Moreover, most of the GS$\nu$F originates from stars distant from Earth about $5-10$ kpc, implying that a large fraction of stellar neutrinos can reach us from the Galactic Center. Solar neutrinos and the diffuse supernova neutrino background have energies comparable to those of the GS$\nu$F, challenging the detection of the latter. However, directional information of solar neutrino and GS$\nu$F events, together with the annual modulation of the solar neutrino flux, could facilitate the GS$\nu$F detection; this will kick off a new era for low-energy neutrino astronomy, also providing a novel probe to discover New Physics.

    ↳ astro-ph.SRastro-ph.HEhep-exhep-phPRD(2026)·3 citations

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