Wed·Feb 25, 2026Wednesday·February 25, 2026

1. 01*

   Probing $D_s^{+}\to {\eta }^{(\prime )}{\ell }^{+}{\nu }_{\ell }$ semileptonic decay within LCSR under chiral heavy quark effective field theory

   Ruiyu Zhou🇨🇳 · Hai-Bing Fu🇨🇳 · Yi Zhang🇨🇳 · Wei Cheng🇨🇳

   Motivated by the successful application of Heavy Quark Effective Field Theory in describing decays from heavy to light mesons, this work explores its applicability to the semileptonic decays of charmed mesons. So in this paper we investigate the $D_s^{+}\to {\eta }^{(\prime )}{\ell }^{+}{\nu }_{\ell }$ transition form factors using the light-cone sum rules approach within the framework of heavy-quark effective field theory. To address the large uncertainties arsing from the ${\eta }^{(\prime )}$-meson twist-3 distribution amplitudes, we employ the right-handed chiral correlation function. By applying the converging simplified series expansion method, we extrapolate the form factors to the entire physical $q^2$-region. Our analysis yields the branching fractions precise predictions for semi-leptonic decays $D_s^{+}\to {\eta }^{(\prime )}{\ell }^{+}{\nu }_{\ell }$ with : $\mathcal{B}(D_s^{+}\to \eta {\ell }^{+}{\nu }_{\ell })=2.300_{-0.227}^{+0.230}\%$ ($\ell =e$) and $2.249_{-0.206}^{+0.209}\%$ ($\ell =\mu$); $\mathcal{B}(D_s^{+}\to {\eta }^{\prime }{\ell }^{+}{\nu }_{\ell })=0.861_{-0.093}^{+0.095}\%$ ($\ell =e$) and $0.821_{-0.080}^{+0.082}\%$ ($\ell =\mu$). The derived lepton flavor universality ratios $R_{\mu ,e}^{\eta }=0.977_{-0.006}^{+0.008}$ and $R_{\mu ,e}^{{\eta }^{\prime }}=0.953_{-0.009}^{+0.011}$ are consistent with lasted BESIII experimental measurements. Additionally, the forward-backward asymmetry parameters $⟨{\mathcal{A}}_{\mathrm{FB}}^{\eta }⟩=-0.034_{-0.003}^{+0.003}$ and $⟨{\mathcal{A}}_{\mathrm{FB}}^{{\eta }^{\prime }}⟩=-0.073_{-0.008}^{+0.007}$ suggest that no significant violation of lepton flavor universality in this decay process.

   hep-phPLB(2026)·1 citation
2. 02*

   Is a covariant virtual tachyon viable?

   Krzysztof Jodłowski🇰🇷

   Sidney Coleman has noted that superluminal particles or observers would be able to go back in time and have no definite trajectory according to subluminal observers, while not violating Lorentz invariance [1]. Recently, Dragan and Ekert have significantly developed similar ideas even further, which lead to formulation of ``quantum principle of relativity'' that intimately links the two theories [2]. However, field theory descriptions of an on-shell tachyon, described by scalar field $\varphi$ with negative mass squared parameter, lead to violation of basic principles of relativity or quantum mechanics. In this work, we investigate whether purely virtual tachyons can be consistent within the fakeon framework-the only known viable formulation of purely virtual particles. We show that the supports of the real part of the tachyon Feynman propagator and the Wheeler propagator intersect only on the light cone, preventing application of both the fakeon prescription and Wheeler-Feynman absorber mechanism. Interactions with stable Standard Model fields violate the equivalence principle, and we provide quantitative limit on coupling strength of such scenario. Our analysis identifies obstacles to formulating covariant quantum field theory of interacting virtual tachyons.

   hep-phgr-qchep-thquant-phPRD(2026)·2 citations
3. 03*

   Update analysis of $\psi (3686)\to p\bar{p}$

   Zhi Gao🇨🇳 · Ronggang Ping🇨🇳 · Minggang Zhao🇨🇳

   We present an updated analysis of the angular distribution for $\psi (3686)\to p\bar{p}$ decay, taking into account transverse beam polarization, to investigate potential sources of forward-backward asymmetry and azimuthal modulation beyond the simple $1+\alpha {\cos }^2\theta$ form. We focus on the interference between the $\psi (3686)$ resonance and the two-photon exchange continuum process, as well as the background from initial-state-final-state radiation interference. A maximum-likelihood fit to the $\cos \theta$ distribution of $\psi (3686)\to p\bar{p}$ yields $\alpha =1.00\pm 0.03$, consistent with previous results. Our model predicts a significant $\sin (2\varphi )$ modulation in the azimuthal angle, indicating the influence of transverse beam polarization. These findings motivate future two-dimensional angular analyses to fully disentangle the polarization and interference dynamics in charmonium decays to baryon pairs.

   hep-ph0 citations
4. 04*

   Sterile Neutrino as an Asymmetric Dark Matter

   S. Peyman Zakeri🇮🇷

   We propose a minimal and predictive framework for asymmetric sterile neutrino dark matter (DM) produced via freeze-in. The standard model (SM) is extended by a gauge-singlet Dirac sterile neutrino carrying a conserved dark charge, a real scalar mediator, and an auxiliary singlet fermion. DM is generated through the out-of-equilibrium decay of the mediator, which simultaneously produces a particle{antiparticle asymmetry in the sterile sector controlled by a CP-violating parameter. We show that the observed relic abundance can be naturally reproduced without thermal equilibration with the SM plasma. The resulting non-thermal momentum distribution is colder than a thermal Fermi{Dirac spectrum, ensuring consistency with structure formation constraints. Combining relic density, Lyman-{\alpha}, Higgs invisible decay, and big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) bounds, we identify correlated and predictive regions of the parameter space characterized by non-trivial relations among the sterile neutrino mass and the decay parameters. This scenario provides a self-consistent realization of Dirac asymmetric sterile neutrino DM within an asymmetric freeze-in (AFI) framework, offering a constrained and testable alternative to conventional production mechanisms.

   hep-ph1 citation
5. 05*

   Structure of near-threshold states in systems with Coulomb and short-range interactions

   Tomona Kinugawa🇯🇵 · Tetsuo Hyodo🇯🇵

   We study the nature of near-threshold eigenstates in systems with the attractive Coulomb plus short-range interactions. Using a model providing the Coulomb-modified effective range expansion, we analyze pole trajectories and the internal structure of near-threshold states characterized by the compositeness. We find that bound state and resonance poles are disconnected in the presence of the attractive Coulomb interaction, in contrast to the repulsive Coulomb force. Near the threshold, bound states become almost purely composite, while the behavior of the compositeness near unityis controlled by the competition between the Coulomb and short-range interactions, characterized by the Bohr radius and the Coulomb effective range.

   hep-ph0 citations
6. 06*

   Atomic Spectroscopy Probes of New Physics

   Cédric Delaunay🇫🇷 · Jean-Philippe Karr🇫🇷 · Yotam Soreq🇮🇱

   Precision spectroscopy has long played a central role in testing the foundations of physics, from the early insights that led to the development of quantum mechanics to the validation of quantum electrodynamics and the determination of fundamental constants. Today, advances in atomic and molecular spectroscopy enable sensitive searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. A broad class of well-motivated extensions predicts new light degrees of freedom with feeble couplings to electrons, muons, and nucleons, giving rise to tiny spin-independent interactions that can be probed at low energies. In this review, we present a unified overview of spectroscopic searches for such interactions. We discuss the effective theoretical framework connecting fundamental interactions to atomic and nuclear observables, survey the key experimental and theoretical strategies, and review the atomic and molecular systems providing the strongest sensitivity. We conclude with updated spectroscopic constraints on representative benchmark models, highlighting the unique and complementary role of precision spectroscopy in exploring new fundamental interactions.

   hep-phAnn.Rev.Nucl.Part.Sci.(2026)·3 citations
7. 07*

   Dark Temperature Hierarchies and Gravitational Waves from the Electroweak Phase Transition

   Arnab Chaudhuri🇮🇳

   We investigate the impact of a semi-decoupled dark sector with a temperature hierarchy relative to the Standard Model plasma on the electroweak phase transition and its associated gravitational wave signal. Working within a minimal Higgs-portal extension, we allow the dark sector to possess a higher temperature at the electroweak epoch while remaining consistent with cosmological bounds on additional relativistic degrees of freedom. The temperature hierarchy modifies the thermal structure of the effective potential and alters nucleation dynamics without requiring large portal couplings or extreme supercooling. Within the cosmologically allowed window, we find a monotonic enhancement of the gravitational wave amplitude by more than an order of magnitude compared to the standard thermal case, accompanied by a shift of the peak frequency within the millihertz regime. The resulting stochastic background moves substantially closer to the projected sensitivity of future space-based interferometers. Our results demonstrate that hidden-sector temperature hierarchies can leave observable imprints on electroweak-scale phase transitions even in minimal and perturbative frameworks.

   hep-ph1 citation
8. 08*

   GOOFy -- a systematic approach

   Bohdan Grzadkowski🇵🇱 · Odd Magne Ogreid🇳🇴

   We investigate in detail a new class (GOOFy) of transformations for bosonic and fermionic fields that leave the Lagrangian density unchanged. The transformations act upon complex scalar fields \Phi and \Phi^\dagger employing generalized charge conjugation (C) transformation in a non-consistent manner, i.e. allowing for \Phi\dagger \to (\Phi\dagger)^\prime \neq (\Phi^\prime)^\dagger. Requiring invariance of the kinetic terms under such transformations specifies the form of (\Phi\dagger)^\prime. An analogous strategy is also adopted for fermionic fields. This offers a systematic way to construct new GOOFy-invariant field-theoretical models. It turns out that theories which are invariant with respect these GOOFy transformations satisfy relations among parameters that are found to be RGE-stable up to two and three loop orders, thus constituting fixed-points under running of the RGE. This has been verified for various theories containing different numbers of bosonic and fermionic fields. In particular it has been shown that the Standard Model (SM) can not be a viable electroweak theory if demanding invariance under GOOFy transformations. However, the two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM) may be invariant under GOOFy transformations (Yukawa couplings included), providing an interesting phenomenological example of physics beyond the SM. The most striking aspect of this study is the RGE stability of new relations between model parameters in a wide class of field theories. We also present a set of new relations between 2HDM potential parameters that constitute a fixed point under the running of the RGE up to at least three loop order.

   hep-phJHEP(2026)·5 citations
9. 09*

   Experimental probe of quantum coherence in top-quark pair production

   Saeed Haddadi🇮🇷 · Majid Azizi🇮🇷 · Artur Czerwinski🇵🇱 · Hamid Arian Zad🇨🇿

   We investigate quantum coherence in top--antitop spin states produced at the LHC using the $l_1$-norm of coherence applied to the reconstructed spin density matrix. Combining Standard Model predictions with recent CMS measurements of spin-correlation coefficients, we study the dependence of coherence on the invariant mass $M_{t\bar{t}}$ and the scattering angle. We find that coherence is large both near the production threshold and in boosted central events, whereas an intermediate-mass region exhibits reduced interference strength and enhanced sensitivity to radiative effects. This non-monotonic kinematic behavior originates from the helicity-interference structure of the underlying QCD production amplitudes. Recasting the CMS measurements in terms of quantum coherence yields values that are broadly consistent with Standard Model expectations. Our results establish quantum coherence as an experimentally accessible probe of spin dynamics in top-quark pair production and demonstrate its potential as a precision observable for studies of the top-quark spin-density matrix at hadron colliders.

   hep-phquant-ph2 citations
10. 10*

    Scalar Lie point symmetries of the Standard Model with one or two real gauge singlets

    M. Aa. Solberg🇳🇴

    We present a classification of all scalar Lie point symmetries of the Standard Model with one or two real gauge-singlet scalars (SM+S and SM+2S). By analyzing the associated field equations, we identify all realizable and inequivalent Lie point symmetry algebras of these models, distinguishing strict variational, variational (including divergence symmetries), and Euler--Lagrange cases. In addition, we devise efficient algorithms that, for any given numerical instance of the models, determine the Lie point symmetry algebra in each of the three categories by a parameter-based decision procedure using affine reparametrizations and simple parameter tests, thereby avoiding explicit symmetry analysis and the need to derive and solve the determining equations. Finally, we prove several relevant general results, including a characterization of the three disjoint types of Lie point symmetry generators -- strict variational, divergence, and non-variational -- for a broad class of Lagrangians with potentials, including the SM+S and SM+2S.

    hep-phhep-thmath-phmath.MPJHEP(2026)·0 citations
11. 11*

    Extending the Kinetic Mass to Higher Orders in $1/m_Q$

    Thomas Mannel🇩🇪 · Ilija S. Milutin🇩🇪 · Rens Verkade🇳🇱 · K. Keri Vos🇳🇱

    Currently, the kinetic mass is defined in terms of the pole mass and operators at order $1/m_Q^2$, which are known to N${}^3$LO accuracy in ${\alpha }_s$. At the same time, the Heavy Quark Expansion (HQE) for inclusive semileptonic decays is known up to and including terms of order $1/m_Q^5$. Therefore, it is desirable to extend the definition of the kinetic mass to higher orders in $1/m_Q$. The original kinetic mass is based on the hadron-mass formula in Heavy Quark Effective Theory (HQET). However, the HQE is formulated in terms of matrix elements defined in full QCD to avoid the appearance of non-local matrix elements. To avoid this, we develop a definition of the kinetic mass rooted in full QCD. Starting from the hadron-mass formula derived from the energy-momentum tensor of full QCD, we define a relation between a general mass and the pole mass. Using a simple cut-off scheme, we compute a generalized kinetic mass at one loop to all powers of $1/m_Q$, which reproduces the well-known results for the kinetic mass up to $1/m_Q^2$. Our approach opens the road to a consistent use of the kinetic mass at higher-orders in the heavy quark expansion.

    hep-phhep-th0 citations
12. 12*

    CP Violation in $D\to KK$ Decays: A Comparative Analysis of Triplet and Sextet Diquarks

    David Delepine🇲🇽 · Shaaban Khalil🇪🇬 · Carlos A. Ramirez🇨🇴

    Recent measurements of the CP asymmetry in the decay $D^0\to K_S^0{K}_S^0$ by the CMS collaboration, $A_{CP}(K_S^0{K}_S^0)=(6.2\pm 3.0\pm 0.2\pm 0.8)\%$, and by LHCb, $A_{CP}(D^0\to K_S^0{K}_S^0)=(1.86\pm 1.04\pm 0.41)\%$, suggest possible deviations from Standard Model (SM) expectations, which predict asymmetries below the percent level. This singly Cabibbo-suppressed decay is particularly sensitive to new physics, as the leading amplitudes vanish in the exact U-spin symmetry limit and the process is dominated by W-exchange topologies. We investigate scalar diquark contributions to this decay, comparing color-sextet and color-triplet representations. We find that the color-sextet diquark, characterized by a symmetric color structure $(C_1^{\mathrm{NP}}=C_2^{\mathrm{NP}})$, avoids color suppression and can generate CP asymmetries in the range $0.5\%$--$1.5\%$ for a diquark mass of order 1~TeV. In contrast, the color-triplet contribution is strongly suppressed due to destructive interference from its antisymmetric color structure. We further show that a flavor hierarchy in the sextet couplings, with ${\lambda }_{ud}>{\lambda }_{us}$, can simultaneously account for the observed deviation from the U-spin sum rule in $D^0\to K^{+}{K}^{-}$ and $D^0\to {\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}$ and the measured CP asymmetry in $D^0\to K_S^0{K}_S^0$. These results identify color-sextet scalar diquarks as viable candidates for explaining enhanced CP violation in charm decays.

    hep-phhep-exPRD(2026)·0 citations
13. 13*

    Lepton asymmetry leading to baryogenesis by primordial black holes

    Mriganka Dutta (IISc)🇮🇳 · Banibrata Mukhopadhyay (IISc)🇮🇳 · Abhishek Kumar Jha (IISc)🇮🇳 · Mayank Pathak (IISc)🇮🇳 · Siba Prasad Das (Shivaji University)🇮🇳

    Baryogenesis remains an unresolved problem in cosmology, with existing mechanisms facing significant caveats. We show that the effects of primordial black holes (PBHs) on neutrinos produce the lepton asymmetry $\sim 10^{-10}$ which subsequently produces the baryon asymmetry. We consider the Dirac Lagrangian in curved spacetime in local coordinates exhibiting Hermitian pseudo-vector and non-Hermitian vector terms. These terms lead to energy splitting between weakly interacting neutrinos and antineutrinos, resulting in their unequal number densities and hence a lepton asymmetry. While the non-Hermitian effect leads to a non-conserved total probability of neutrinos, the leptogenesis due to gravitational effects of a PBH could be significant until the nucleosynthesis era. This in turn produces baryon asymmetry from the symmetry of lepton and baryon numbers via the sphaleron process in the electro-weak era. We show that in the most conservative scenario, the PBHs of mass $\sim 10^{12}$ g and spin $\sim 0.01$ produce the observed baryogenesis at temperature 130 GeV, when such PBHs are available abundantly. However, massive PBHs also could produce the observed asymmetry, assuming the non/anti-Hermitian vector couplings for neutrino and anti-neutrino get canceled from the Lagrangian, leading the system to be Hermitian.

    hep-phastro-ph.COgr-qc0 citations
14. 14*

    A Two-Point Hologram for Everything

    Tamra Nebabu🇺🇸 · Xiao-Liang Qi🇺🇸 · Haifeng Tang🇺🇸 · Huaijin Wang🇺🇸

    Known holographic dictionaries, especially AdS/CFT, rely on symmetry matching between the bulk and the boundary. We take a step toward a holographic dictionary with no symmetry requirement and without assuming the geometry being asymptotically AdS. Starting from any interacting Majorana generalized free field on a $(0+1)$d boundary and its two-point function data, we derive a concise analytic formula for the dual $(1+1)$d bulk geometry, borrowing techniques from unitary matrix integral and inverse scattering. Using this formula, we compute the near-horizon curvature, give conditions for positive versus negative curvature, and identify simple boundary models with de Sitter or anti-de Sitter near-horizon duals. We also study the large-$q$ SYK model, finding an unusual temperature dependence of the near-horizon curvature, related to the discrepancy between physical temperature and the ``fake disk'' temperature. We also construct, directly from boundary operators, approximate algebras generated by null translations and boost that become exact at the bifurcate horizon.

    ↳ hep-thcond-mat.str-elhep-ph2 citations
15. 15*

    Exploring differential two-particle correlations in $\gamma p$ and low-multiplicity pp collisions using PYTHIA8

    Subash Chandra Behera🇮🇹 · Dukhishyam Mallick🇮🇹

    A study of two-particle differential number ($B$) and transverse momentum ($P_2^{\mathrm{CD}}$) balance functions in photon-proton ($\gamma p$) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 5.36 TeV is presented. The analysis focuses on inclusive charged hadrons within the pseudorapidity coverage $|\eta |<2.4$ and the transverse momentum interval $0.3<p_{\mathrm{T}}<3.0$ GeV and examines their correlations in terms of relative pseudorapidity ($\Delta \eta$) and relative azimuthal angle ($\Delta \varphi$). The correlation functions are evaluated for same- and opposite-sign pairs, and their combinations are used to extract charge-dependent (CD) and charge-independent (CI) components. The evolution of the near-side peak of the CD correlations is investigated in terms of $\Delta \eta$ and $\Delta \varphi$ as a function of charged-particle multiplicity ($N_{\mathrm{ch}}$) for $\gamma p$ collisions and compared to pp collisions at a similar multiplicity range. A clear multiplicity dependence of the balance function width is obtained. The width is found systematically lower in $\gamma p$ events than in pp collisions. This study provides valuable information on particle correlations and production mechanisms in low-$N_{\mathrm{ch}}$ regimes for upcoming measurements in small systems.

    ↳ nucl-exhep-exhep-ph0 citations
16. 16*

    Cosmological Constraints on Neutrino Masses in Quintessential Inflation

    Jamerson Rodrigues🇧🇷 · Gabriel Rodrigues🇧🇷 · Felipe B. M. dos Santos🇧🇷 · Simony Santos da Costa🇮🇹 · Jailson Alcaniz🇧🇷

    Quintessential inflation provides a unified description of the early and late accelerated phases of the Universe, linking the inflationary epoch to the present-day dark energy-dominated era through a single scalar degree of freedom. In this work, we explore the implications of this unification for cosmological constraints on the sum of neutrino masses. Focusing on the $\alpha$-attractor scenario, we implement the model in a modified version of the Boltzmann solver CLASS to compute the relevant cosmological observables and perform a Bayesian parameter estimation analysis using data from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs), and Type Ia supernovae. The model naturally breaks the degeneracy between the dark energy equation of state and the total neutrino mass, yielding tight upper bounds of $\sum m_{\nu }<0.067$ eV for flat spatial geometry and $\sum m_{\nu }<0.116$ eV when curvature is included. We also provide forecasts for future probes, showing that the Simons Observatory, LiteBIRD, and Euclid configurations may reduce the uncertainty on $\sum m_{\nu }$ by $\approx 9\%$, while the precision on the quintessential parameter ${\alpha }_{QI}$ is improved by $\approx 72\%$. These results highlight the importance of consistently accounting for neutrino mass when assessing the viability of extensions to the standard cosmological model.

    ↳ astro-ph.COhep-phPRD(2026)·1 citation
17. 17*

    Spatial confinement-deconfinement transition in accelerated gluodynamics within lattice simulation

    Victor V. Braguta🇷🇺 · Vladimir A. Goy🇷🇺 · Jayanta Dey🇷🇺 · Artem A. Roenko🇷🇺

    In this work we investigate the influence of weak acceleration on the confinement-deconfinement phase transition in gluodynamics. Our study is carried out within lattice simulation in the comoving reference frame of accelerated observer which is parameterized by the Rindler coordinates. We find that finite temperature confinement-deconfinement phase transition turns into spatial crossover in the Rindler spacetime. In other words, spatially separated confinement and deconfinement phases can coexist in the Rindler spacetime within certain intervals of temperature and acceleration. We determine the position of the boundary between the phases as a function of temperature for several accelerations and find that it can be described by the Tolman-Ehrenfest law with rather good accuracy although a minor deviation takes place. Moreover, the critical temperature of the system in the weak acceleration regime is found to remain unchanged as that of the standard homogeneous gluodynamics. Our results imply that the spatial confinement-deconfinement transition might take place in the vicinity of the Schwarzschild black hole horizon.

    ↳ hep-latgr-qchep-phhep-th+1PRD(2026)·8 citations
18. 18*

    Self-duality of massless scalar three-point amplitudes

    Oliver Schnetz🇩🇪

    We prove that off-shell massless scalar three-point Feynman integrals are self-dual under Fourier transformation. This implies that a momentum space integral can be expressed as the position space integral of the same Feynman graph with transformed edge-weights (not the dual graph) if external vertices are labeled accordingly. In particular, any off-shell massless scalar three-point Feynman integral can be expressed as a graphical function. The result follows immediately from a theorem by M. Golz, E. Panzer and the author on parametric representations of position space integrals (2015), but it was only observed by X. Jiang in 2025 in the context of four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ Super-Yang-Mills theory. We generalize Jiang's result and discuss the consequences of the self-duality in the context of graphical functions. In particular, we derive a new identity for graphical functions and a new twist relation for scalar integrals (Feynman periods) in ${\varphi }^4$ theory.

    ↳ hep-thhep-phJHEP(2026)·1 citation
19. 19*

    Empirical formula for total inelastic cross-section of proton-nucleus scattering

    Hemant Kumar🇮🇳 · Tanmay Maji🇮🇳 · Deepa Gupta🇺🇸 · Ashavani Kumar

    We propose a generic empirical formula for total inelastic cross-sections for various target nuclei scattered by a proton at different energies, which is applicable over a wide range of energy from $15MeV$ to $1TeV$. The proposed model is parameterized based on the fitting of extensively studied experimental cross-section data for the Aluminium and Carbon nucleus targets, considering factorization over high-energy and low-energy regimes. The parameters in high-energy formula are determined by the fitting of the high-energy saturation value of the inelastic scattering cross-section data with mass numbers. The universality of the empirical formula is investigated by comparing the model prediction with the experimental data of inelastic proton-nucleus scattering over a wide range from light elements such as Deuterium to heavy elements such as Uranium. A detailed comparison with the existing models and GEANT4 simulation is also presented.

    ↳ nucl-thhep-phnucl-exPRC(2026)·0 citations
20. 20*

    Shock-induced chiral magnetic effect

    Steven P. Harris🇺🇸 · Srimoyee Sen🇺🇸

    Weak-interaction-mediated chiral imbalance generation in idealized massless electrons during core-collapse supernovae was once proposed to be the source of strong magnetic fields found in neutron stars. The effect goes by the name of chiral plasma instability (CPI). However, it was found that a finite electron mass damps out this process, inactivating the instability and preventing magnetic field growth. In this work we show that the instability can survive in the presence of abrupt density and temperature perturbation that drives the system sufficiently far out of weak equilibrium. As an example, we work with such perturbations generated by shockwaves which are common during both core collapse as well as neutron star mergers. We find that the chiral imbalance resulting from shock waves, under the right conditions of density and temperature, can sustain the chiral plasma instability despite the damping from the electron mass. Additionally, in an already magnetized medium, the chiral magnetic effect resulting from shock wave density and temperature perturbation can generate substantial ohmic heating. Our results imply that shockwaves generated in core-collapse supernovae and merging neutron stars can act as a source of strong heating in a magnetized medium as well as CPI.

    ↳ astro-ph.HEhep-phnucl-thPRD(2026)·0 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.