PaperPanorama

HEP Phenomenology·hep-ph

Fri·Jun 12, 2026

35 papers20 primary·15 cross-listed·reconstructed*

  1. 01*

    Are Primordial Black Holes a Natural Dark Matter Candidate?

    Stefano Profumo🇺🇸

    Primordial black holes (PBHs) in the asteroid-mass window (- g) can account for all of the dark matter without violating any observational constraint, yet are routinely dismissed as fine-tuned. I put that dismissal to the test by applying three complementary fine-tuning measures uniformly across a broad landscape: three non-inflationary PBH production mechanisms, six classes of inflationary PBH models, and seven particle dark matter benchmarks, all evaluated against the same observable target. Three distinct naturalness universality classes emerge, determined entirely by the analytic structure of the abundance map rather than by the nature of the dark matter candidate. Biased-domain-wall PBHs are as natural as off-resonance weakly interacting massive particles and freeze-in particles; early-matter-domination and first-order phase transition PBH mechanisms occupy an intermediate tier alongside coannihilating WIMPs, unified by a structural identity in which the fine-tuning measure equals the logarithm of the ratio of the formation scale to the matter-radiation equality scale; and single-field ultra-slow-roll inflationary collapse is severely tuned for a distinct reason: a double exponential in which the power spectrum amplitude is itself exponentially sensitive to the inflaton potential coefficients, on top of the exponential collapse sensitivity of the abundance map. My main conclusion is that {\em the claim that PBH dark matter is generically fine-tuned conflates the worst case with a landscape spanning every naturalness tier}. The three-measure protocol also resolves a tension in the recent literature: the Barbieri-Giudice and Iovino-Riotto fine-tuning measures answer complementary questions and are reconciled within the two-layer decomposition developed here.

    hep-phastro-ph.COastro-ph.GAastro-ph.HE+16 citations
  2. 02*

    A simple solution to the monopole problem: SU(5) GUT with symmetry breaking into special subgroup

    Yu Hamada🇯🇵 · Naoki Yamatsu🇯🇵

    Grand unified theories (GUTs) predict the overproduction of magnetic monopoles, leading to the so-called monopole problem, which is often addressed by cosmological inflation that dilutes their abundance. However, if inflation occurs before the GUT symmetry breaking, monopoles are produced afterwards and the problem persists. This motivates the exploration of alternative mechanisms. We propose a simple solution based on the Langacker--Pi mechanism within an GUT framework with symmetry breaking into its special subgroup. In particular, after the gauge symmetry is broken to the Standard Model (SM) gauge group by the vacuum expectation value of an adjoint scalar, it is further broken to . This structure is naturally realized by introducing a symmetric tensor scalar, a singlet scalar, and multiple singlet fermions. During this intermediate phase, the monopoles become connected to antimonopoles by cosmic strings, which enhances their pair annihilation and reduces their abundance. Subsequently, the symmetry is restored to the SM gauge group. The restoration transition can be either first-order or second-order, depending on the model parameters. In the case of a first-order phase transition, a stochastic gravitational-wave (GW) signal is generated. For a certain region of the parameter space, the resulting signal can lie within the sensitivity of future GW experiments.

    hep-phastro-ph.CO1 citation
  3. 03*

    Mass Varying Neutrino Oscillation in Teleparallel Gravity

    H. Mohseni Sadjadi🇮🇷 · H. Yazdani Ahmadabadi🇮🇷

    In the Cartan teleparallel formulation of gravity, a scalar field coupled to the torsion tensor can acquire an environment dependent effective mass. This gives rise to a screening effect: Inside dense bodies such as the Sun, the scalar field is suppressed, causing the mass varying neutrino mass to vary with local density. We investigate the impact of this torsion-induced screening on solar neutrino oscillations. The mechanism modifies the standard MSW resonance condition in a distinct way, leading to detectable shift in the flavor conversion probability. Using data from solar neutrino experiments (Super-Kamiokande, Borexino, SNO), we place constraints on the torsion-scalar coupling parameters. Our work provides concrete test of teleparallel gravity through mass varying neutrino oscillations.

    hep-phgr-qchep-th0 citations
  4. 04*

    Nucleon matrix elements of axial anomaly, axial currents and pseudoscalar currents in the QCD sum rule

    Janardan Prasad Singh🇮🇳

    We have analyzed one-nucleon matrix elements of current-current correlators; the currents consist of pseudoscalar octet, isovector and isoscalar currents, axial anomaly, and axial isovector and isoscalar currents. Using QCD sum rules, the coupling constants of nucleon with each of these currents have been expressed in terms of nucleon matrix elements of quark, gluon and quark-gluon composite operators and moments of parton distribution function. On the phenomenological side, contribution from the non-diagonal matrix elements of operators between nucleon and its excited states or continuum states have also been accounted for. For the pseudoscalar coupling constants of the nucleon two expressions have been obtained in which one of them consists of only moments of parton distribution function but yielding approximately same numerical result as the other one. Of particular interest is the nucleon matrix element of axial anomaly which has been largely ignored in the current literature.

    hep-phnucl-th0 citations
  5. 05*

    A generalised- jet algorithm for Deep Inelastic Scattering

    Melissa van Beekveld🇳🇱 · Silvia Ferrario Ravasio🇮🇹 · Alexander Karlberg🇨🇭 · Darcy Peake🇬🇧

    We introduce an inclusive generalised- jet algorithm for Deep Inelastic Scattering, defined in the Breit frame and implemented in fjcontrib. The family of algorithms is governed by the usual parameter , which controls the transverse-momentum dependence of the algorithm, as well as by a jet radius parameter . The angular-ordered () version of the algorithm was already presented by some of us, and can be used to formulate observables with simple all-order structures. In this article we investigate phenomenological applications of the algorithms related to the identification of the jet associated with the struck quark, and assess their sensitivity to non-perturbative effects, such as hadronisation. We also perform comparisons with the recent Centauro algorithm.

    hep-ph1 citation
  6. 06*

    Mass spectra and electromagnetic characteristics of the and molecular tetraquarks from the coupled-channel dynamics

    Jia-Ning Cui🇨🇳 · Fu-Lai Wang🇨🇳

    Motivated by the observation of numerous charmed-strange hadrons lying close to the and thresholds, we systematically investigate their mass spectra and electromagnetic characteristics, explicitly incorporating the - wave mixing and coupled-channel effects. For the mass spectra, we employ the one-boson-exchange model and obtain several promising and molecular candidates awaiting future experimental confirmation. The coupled-channel dynamics is found to play an essential role: it not only enhances binding in existing channels but also generates new loosely bound states that are absent in the single-channel approximation. Regarding the electromagnetic characteristics, we discuss the M1 radiative decay widths and magnetic moments of these charmed-strange molecular tetraquarks based on our obtained mass spectra and spatial wave functions within the constituent quark model. Our results demonstrate that the electromagnetic observables serve as valuable discriminants for clarifying the nature of these hadronic molecules. We encourage experimental collaborations to focus on such predicted charmed-strange molecular tetraquark candidates, especially the genuinely exotic states comprising four different flavors with valence quark content .

    hep-phhep-ex0 citations
  7. 07*

    Correlation Between Proton Decay Channels and the Axion Mass in an Extended SU(5) GUT

    Naoyuki Haba🇯🇵 · Keisuke Nagano🇯🇵 · Yasuhiro Shimizu🇯🇵 · Toshifumi Yamada🇯🇵

    We study a renormalizable SU(5) grand unified theory (GUT) supplemented by a 45-dimensional Higgs field and a DFSZ axion sector, imposing a Georgi--Jarlskog flavor structure at the unification scale. We perform a one-loop gauge coupling unification analysis, explicitly including the threshold masses of the light multiplets arising from the 45-dimensional Higgs field. This analysis identifies the viable region in the parameter space. Through the relation between the unification and PQ scales, this region yields correlated predictions for the QCD axion mass. The Georgi--Jarlskog assumption substantially reduces the flavor ambiguity of the dimension-six baryon-violating operators, enabling robust constraints and predictions not only for antineutrino modes but also for charged-lepton proton decay modes such as . We present the combined implications for proton decay and axion searches, showing how the GUT-selected parameter region maps onto the axion mass, the axion-photon coupling, and the axion-induced EDM coupling.

    hep-ph0 citations
  8. 08*

    Electroweak precision physics via angular distributions in hadronic decays

    E. Estrada🇲🇽 · E. Passemar🇪🇸 · S. Paz🇪🇸 · A. Rodríguez-Sánchez🇪🇸 · P. Roig🇲🇽

    Hadronic tau decays provide a unique low-energy laboratory for the charged-current interaction between quarks and leptons. Their use as an electroweak precision sector is, however, limited by nonperturbative QCD dynamics in the resonance region, encoded in hadronic form factors. In this work we show that angular information in two-hadron tau decays can be used to construct observables in which these form factors cancel, leading to first-principles Standard Model predictions up to light-quark-mass and radiative corrections. We derive the fully differential distributions for arbitrary two-pseudoscalar final states, including tau polarization, and extend them to the Weak Effective Field Theory at linear order in new-physics couplings. We then illustrate our strategy with several benchmark observables, for both unpolarized and polarized taus, whose Standard Model predictions can be obtained without modelling the dominant hadronic form factors and which receive characteristic beyond-the-Standard-Model corrections, in particular from tensor currents. These results provide concrete targets for Belle II, polarized-tau proposals such as Chiral Belle, and future high-statistics facilities, including super-tau-charm factories and FCC-ee, to test the electroweak structure of hadronic tau decays.

    hep-phhep-ex0 citations
  9. 09*

    Resolving the CP Asymmetry Puzzle in Decays with Unitarized Final-State Interactions

    Xin-Yue Hu🇨🇳 · Pengyu Niu🇨🇳 · Qian Wang🇨🇳 · Wei Wang🇨🇳

    A reliable description of direct CP asymmetries in hadronic decays, among the most sensitive probes of the CKM mechanism and of physics beyond the Standard Model, remains unresolved. Conventional factorization approaches adopt distinct treatments for the strong phases originating from long-distance QCD interactions, leading to predictions that differ by factors of several for identical decay channels. Existing final-state interaction (FSI) models are limited to one-loop approximations that break unitarity and rely on channel-specific phenomenological cutoffs, severely restricting the predictive capability. We introduce a unitarized FSI framework based on the Lippmann-Schwinger equation solved to all orders, restoring unitarity that is manifestly broken in one-loop treatments. Using the coupled system, we show that the interaction kernel can be derived from chiral effective field theory constrained by heavy-quark spin symmetry, and low-energy constants are fixed by the cross-section data from BaBar, leaving no adjustable parameter in the FSI sector when applied to decays. The resulting predictions for CP asymmetries and branching fractions show excellent agreement with the available experimental data. A defining consequence is that CP asymmetries in the pure-annihilation channels and , identically zero in any short-distance treatment, are dramatically enhanced by FSI, and a measured nonzero asymmetry in these modes is therefore a direct experimental signature of long-distance dynamics. We present definite predictions for the partial widths and CP asymmetries of all yet-unmeasured channels, establishing final-state interactions as a predictive, data-driven ingredient of the Standard Model with direct implications for CKM parameter extraction and BSM searches.

    hep-ph0 citations
  10. 10*

    Exploring Exotic Spin-Dependent Interactions Beyond the Standard Model: Theoretical Foundations and Experimental Investigations

    L. Y. Wu🇨🇳 · H. Yan🇨🇳

    New interactions mediated by novel particles propose solutions to several important questions in modern physics. Axions serve as examples of such particles; they are lightweight and interact weakly with ordinary matter. This category of particles, including those similar to axions-termed Axion-Like Particles (ALPs)-arises from diverse theoretical frameworks, such as the Peccei-Quinn mechanism addressing the strong CP problem, string theory, and spontaneous supersymmetry breaking. Given their light mass and weak coupling, ALPs are also possible candidates for cold dark matter. Introducing these new interactions mediated by novel particles not only tackles several challenges in modern physics but also raises a crucial question: Are there undiscovered interactions beyond the Standard Model? Many of the interactions predicted by these theories are spin-dependent, which is the primary focus of this review. In this review, we first outline the theoretical foundations for investigating exotic spin-dependent interactions, highlighting their importance in various models beyond the Standard Model. We examine the potential roles of new lightweight particles in mediating these interactions, which may enhance our understanding of dark matter. Relevant formulas derived from theoretical models are included to support experimental investigations. Following this theoretical framework, we conduct a detailed review of recent experimental efforts to detect these exotic interactions. A systematic review of current constraints on these interactions is presented, along with an assessment of various detection approaches.

    hep-phphysics.atom-phquant-phRept.Prog.Phys.(2026)·2 citations
  11. 11*

    Probing damping effects in neutrino oscillations with the first JUNO data

    Martina Beccaria🇮🇹 · Christoph A. Ternes🇮🇹

    We consider different scenarios which lead to a damping of the neutrino oscillation probability and investigate their impact on the first JUNO results. First, we study decoherence effects due to wave packet separation. In addition, we consider an open quantum system framework and adopt a phenomenological approach which allows us to parameterize the energy dependence of the decoherence effects more freely. Finally, we study the effect of invisible neutrino decay. In all cases with the first data JUNO can already place competitive bounds on the parameter space of the scenarios under consideration, while also maintaining a robust measurement of the standard neutrino oscillation parameters.

    hep-phhep-ex3 citations
  12. 12*

    Transport coefficients of strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma including elastic and inelastic scattering within the dynamical quasiparticle model

    Gaia Ingrosso🇩🇪 · Olga Soloveva🇩🇪 · Ilia Grishmanovskii🇩🇪 · Taesoo Song🇩🇪 · Elena Bratkovskaya🇩🇪

    We study the impact of inelastic gluon-radiation and absorption processes on the transport coefficients of the quark-gluon plasma within the dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM) in the temperature--baryon-chemical-potential plane . Extending the baseline established in previous DQPM calculations, we include gluon-radiation and the inverse gluon-absorption scattering channels with massive partons and effective DQPM propagators and vertices. The corresponding momentum-dependent interaction rates and relaxation times are used to calculate the shear viscosity, bulk viscosity, electric conductivity, and baryon diffusion coefficient as functions of temperature and baryon chemical potential . Within the relaxation time approximation, we find that contributions systematically reduce all considered transport coefficients relative to the only results, in accordance with the decrease of the relaxation times. In the thermal regime explored here, however, this reduction remains moderate, since the investigated inelastic rates stay below the ones over the considered range. The inelastic channels become more relevant mainly for partonic scatterings at large momenta, which are thermally suppressed in the strongly interacting QGP. At , the resulting , , and are compatible with available lattice-QCD estimates within uncertainties. At finite , our results provide predictions for the transport properties of QCD matter relevant for beam-energy-scan programs.

    hep-phnucl-thPRD(2026)·0 citations
  13. 13*

    Decays of heavy scalars in the Grimus-Neufeld model

    Aurimas Vitkus🇱🇹 · Simonas Draukšas🇱🇹 · Thomas Gajdosik🇱🇹

    We consider an extension of the Standard Model by an additional Higgs doublet and a Majorana neutrino, which we call the Grimus-Neufeld Model (GNM). For certain parameter choices the GNM can be compared to the Inert Doublet Model (IDM), which has a scalar dark matter candidate. This motivates that the scalars of the GNM could possibly contribute to dark matter. To check this, we present the tree-level two-body decays of the heavy scalars of the GNM and compute the lifetime of the pseudoscalar in the IDM limit.

    hep-phUniverse(2026)·0 citations
  14. 14*

    Subtraction of infrared divergences in light-quark QCD sum rules

    Ding-Kun Lian🇨🇳 · Jin-Peng Zhang🇨🇳 · Zi-Xi Ou-Yang🇨🇳 · Qi-Nan Wang🇨🇳 · Hua-Xing Chen🇨🇳 · Wei Chen🇨🇳 · Jia-Jun Wu🇨🇳

    In QCD sum rules for light-quark systems, infrared (IR) divergences can appear in the Wilson coefficients of certain condensates. These divergences manifest explicitly in the coordinate-space expressions of the light-quark propagators. We propose an improved method to eliminate these IR divergences at the propagator level and present a subtraction formula that implements this procedure. Compared to the existing methods that rely on the mixing between quark and gluon condensates of the same dimension to eliminate IR divergences, this method is more intuitive and easier to apply in practical QCD sum rule calculations.

    hep-phhep-th1 citation
  15. 15*

    Electroweak First-Order Phase Transition Triggered by Non-Gaussian Fluctuations of a -Symmetric Spectator Scalar

    Bo-Qiang Lu🇨🇳

    We propose a novel mechanism to trigger a first-order cosmological electroweak phase transition using non-Gaussian primordial fluctuations of a -symmetric spectator scalar field. We show that the large fluctuations of the spectator field can modify the Higgs thermal mass and enhance the thermal barrier, thereby enabling a strong first-order phase transition. Non-Gaussianities in the primordial fluctuation spectrum significantly increase the probability of large-amplitude fluctuations, allowing a substantial fraction of the Universe to undergo the transition. The spectator field also naturally serves as a cold dark matter candidate through its coherent oscillations, reproducing the observed relic abundance. The resulting stochastic gravitational wave background peaks in the - Hz band, making it detectable by future space-based interferometers.

    hep-phgr-qc1 citation
  16. 16*

    Interplay between inhomogeneous chiral and crystalline color-superconducting phases in the two-flavor NJL model

    Chengfu Mu🇨🇳 · Hosein Gholami🇩🇪 · Michael Buballa🇩🇪

    We study the interplay between the chiral density wave (CDW) and the single-plane-wave Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell (LOFF) phase of color-superconducting matter in two-flavor quark matter at vanishing and non-vanishing temperature , quark number chemical potential and isospin chemical potential . The analysis is performed within the two-flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model in the chiral limit, using a three-momentum cutoff scheme. Treating the CDW wave vector and the LOFF pair momentum as independent variational parameters, we minimize the mean-field effective potential with respect to both amplitudes and both wave vectors, without constraining their relative orientation, and map out the - and - phase diagrams for a range of diquark couplings . Our central result is that and are never simultaneously nonzero: inhomogeneous chiral and diquark condensates do not coexist across the entire parameter range.

    hep-ph0 citations
  17. 17*

    Probing Axion Dark Matter via the Chiral Magnetic Effect in Zero-Bias Weyl Semimetals

    Debajit Bose🇮🇳 · Prataya Chandra🇮🇳 · Sudhansu S. Mandal🇮🇳 · Tirtha Sankar Ray🇮🇳

    Sub-eV axion dark matter behaves as a coherent classical field that can induce macroscopic current in quantum materials. We explore the possibility of axion detection via the chiral magnetic effect in zero-bias Weyl semimetals under a static external magnetic field. We demonstrate that for a sample in a realistic magnetic field, the signal remains in the observable femto-ampere range. Utilizing state-of-the-art SQUID-based current readout, the setup can probe axion-electron couplings below existing stellar cooling bounds across a broad range of axion masses.

    hep-ph0 citations
  18. 18*

    Natural Supercooling and Reheating along Supersymmetric Flat Directions and Observable Gravitational Waves at the Einstein Telescope and the Cosmic Explorer

    Jinzheng Li🇺🇸 · Pran Nath🇺🇸

    We study supercooled first-order phase transitions in a supersymmetric hidden sector with a spontaneously broken , focusing on the frequency range of the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer. Along the D-flat direction the tree-level quartic vanishes, so the barrier is generated radiatively by soft SUSY-breaking splittings. In the scheme the gaugino mass sets the barrier depth, while the soft scalar mass stabilizes the broken vacuum. For --, the predicted signal reaches near the percolation boundary. The observable amplitude depends sensitively on the portal coupling through the hidden-to-visible temperature ratio at percolation: for a cold initial hidden sector the signal rises from the ET floor at to as the sectors approach thermal contact at , while a hotter initial hidden sector gives a large signal already for weak portal coupling. We follow this evolution with an 11-variable Boltzmann system that separates the cold nucleating exterior from the reheated true-vacuum interior; reheating mainly enters through the energy budget and redshift factors. The same hidden sector can reproduce through relativistic dark-quark freeze-out followed by entropy dilution from hidden-Higgs decay, with --keV and .

    hep-phastro-ph.HE1 citation
  19. 19*

    Dynamical Mass Growing of Fermion with Bare Mass in Two Dimensions

    Toyoki Matsuyama🇯🇵

    We study dynamical mass generation of a fermion with and without a bare mass by coupling with a massive vector field in two-dimensional space-time. To estimate a non-perturbative effect on the fermion mass, we employ the Schwinger-Dyson equations in the lowest-ladder approximation, which are solved by an approximated analytical method and also by a numerical method. We define a purely dynamical mass as a remnant after subtracting the bare mass from a total dynamical mass. We clarify dependence of the purely dynamical mass on the bare mass of the fermion in various region of a coupling constant. Especially we find that the purely dynamical masses growing from the different bare masses coincide with each other at a specific value of the coupling constant where a kind of a duality relation on the bare masses is satisfied.

    hep-phhep-th0 citations
  20. 20*

    Conformal calibration and look-elsewhere effect in anomaly detection for new-physics searches

    Jack Y. Araz🇬🇧 · Michael Spannowsky🇩🇪

    Machine-learned anomaly detection is reshaping searches for new physics, but it has outrun the statistics used to interpret it. A raw anomaly score has no calibrated meaning, a model that scans many regions inflates the look-elsewhere effect, and the asymptotic significances the field relies on are blind to the background mismodelling that anomaly detectors are especially prone to. We propose a calibration layer, built on conformal prediction, that turns any anomaly score into a defensible significance with distribution-free, finite-sample guarantees. Conformal prediction converts scores into valid local p-values, weighted and Mondrian variants repair the sideband-to-signal-region exchangeability failures that resonant searches suffer, and a Gross-Vitells step carries the result through to a look-elsewhere-aware global significance. The layer does two things at once. It exposes miscalibration that the standard pipeline cannot see, and it corrects it without retraining the detector. On public LHC Olympics data, a classifier develops a substructure-mass correlation that makes sideband-calibrated background p-values anti-conservative. Taken at face value, this manufactures a excess from background sculpting alone, which the label-free weighted correction removes, restoring an honest null. When run as a blind wide-mass bump hunt, the standard asymptotic and unweighted procedures fabricate excesses and excesses even in signal-free windows, while the conformal layer raises no false alarms and its global false-positive rate is verified on background-only pseudoexperiments. The result is an auditable, detector-agnostic path from an uncalibrated score to a trials-factor-aware significance, ready to be folded into experimental anomaly searches.

    hep-phcs.LGhep-exstat.ML2 citations
  21. 21*

    Vacuum photon emission and mean electromagnetic field in pair-creating external backgrounds

    I. A. Aleksandrov🇷🇺 · E. V. Perelygin🇷🇺 · D. V. Chubukov🇷🇺

    We develop a perturbative description of vacuum radiative processes in quantum electrodynamics with a prescribed external electromagnetic background capable of producing electron-positron pairs. Since the initial vacuum is then unstable and the in- and out-vacua are inequivalent, radiative observables require a real-time formulation beyond the ordinary in-out approach of vacuum-stable QED. Using the Keldysh-Schwinger-Fradkin nonequilibrium technique, we derive the mean number density of emitted photons through the second nonvanishing order in the fine-structure constant. The leading term, of order , reproduces the known vertex and tadpole mechanisms, while the complete order- correction contains interference, loop, and induced-current contributions. We also give an independent derivation based on the spectral decomposition of the identity operator in the in-Fock space, where the photon number density is represented as a sum of squared transition amplitudes and vacuum-disconnected terms are canceled by the optical theorem generalized to an unstable vacuum. In addition, we compute the mean electromagnetic field through order , including the electromagnetic dressing of the induced vacuum current, and verify it using the corresponding Schwinger-Dyson equations. The final formulas are expressed in terms of exact solutions and propagators of the Dirac equation in the external background and apply to general spacetime-dependent field configurations.

    hep-thhep-phquant-phPRD(2026)·0 citations
  22. 22*

    Tachyonic Encore: A universal shift of inflationary observables

    Diogo S. Gorgulho🇳🇱 · Margherita Putti🇳🇱 · Rodrigo Gonzalez Quaglia🇳🇱 · Ema Dimastrogiovanni🇳🇱 · Matteo Fasiello🇪🇸 · Diederik Roest🇳🇱

    We propose a generic, largely inflaton-potential-independent mechanism in which a light axion spectator, initialized near the hilltop of its potential, reshapes inflationary observables through purely gravitational multi-field dynamics. During inflation the axion is frozen and the background follows an effectively single-field trajectory. After inflation ends, the axion rolls, inducing a turn in field space and transient tachyonic phases of the isocurvature mode. The resulting ``tachyonic encore'' occurs entirely on super-horizon scales. These phases generate a nearly scale-invariant enhancement of the curvature power spectrum, suppressing the tensor-to-scalar ratio and shifting the scalar tilt to a weighted combination of adiabatic and entropic tilts at horizon crossing. We show that these effects can reconcile otherwise disfavored inflaton potentials with current CMB constraints. The same dynamics predict local non-Gaussianity, , within reach of upcoming surveys.

    hep-thastro-ph.COgr-qchep-ph1 citation
  23. 23*

    Higher Dimensional Loop Quantum Black hole in de Sitter Spacetime: Quasinormal Modes and Shadow Signatures

    Sara Saghafi🇮🇷 · Kourosh Nozari🇮🇷 · Ali Mohammadpour🇮🇷

    We investigate the dynamical and optical properties of a higher-dimensional loop-quantum-corrected black hole in a de Sitter background. We first analyze the horizon structure and identify the admissible nonextremal black-hole domain bounded by the extremal and Nariai configurations, ensuring the existence of distinct inner, event, and cosmological horizons for the parameter sets considered. We then examine the scalar effective potential and show that the loop-quantum correction deforms the classical scattering barrier primarily in the strong-field region while preserving its characteristic single-barrier structure. The quasinormal modes of massless scalar perturbations are computed using time-domain evolution with Prony extraction, the matrix method, and the WKB approximation, showing good agreement among the three approaches. The time-domain waveform and its Prony and matrix-frequency reconstructions provide an additional direct consistency check of the extracted ringdown spectrum. We find that loop quantum corrections induce moderate shifts in the quasinormal spectrum, whereas the spacetime dimensionality has a much stronger impact, leading to higher oscillation frequencies and damping rates. The negative imaginary parts of all modes indicate dynamical stability against massless scalar perturbations within the explored parameter range. Comparison with the corresponding classical black-hole backgrounds shows that the quantum-corrected quasinormal spectrum remains continuously connected to the classical photon-sphere branch, with the loop correction producing quantitative rather than qualitative changes.

    gr-qchep-phhep-th1 citation
  24. 24*

    SIDM and CDM interpretations of the million-solar-mass lensing perturber JVAS B1938+666-

    Xingyu Zhang🇨🇳 · Hai-Bo Yu🇺🇸

    A object has recently been inferred from gravitational imaging of the strong-lensing system JVAS B1938+666, exhibiting an unusually dense inner region embedded within an extended envelope, far exceeding expectations for cold dark matter (CDM) halos. Using gravothermal fluid simulations, we show that such a structure arises naturally in self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) halos evolving into a deep core-collapse phase, where a secondary dense central core forms within an extended profile. The resulting density structure closely matches the inferred properties of the lensing object. We also demonstrate that a similar profile could be reproduced in CDM in the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole, but this requires an early-forming progenitor that subsequently loses orders of magnitude in mass through tidal stripping by the lens galaxy. Whether such a scenario can be realized in realistic cosmological environments remains an open question.

    astro-ph.GAhep-ph3 citations
  25. 25*

    The leading nuclear-structure electrostatic correction in arbitrary decays

    Daniel Benatar🇮🇱 · Ayala Glick-Magid🇮🇱 · Doron Gazit🇮🇱

    We develop a systematic theoretical framework to improve theoretical predictions for nuclear decays of arbitrary angular momentum , leading to a model-independent nuclear-structure electrostatic correction to the Coulomb interaction between the emitted lepton and the nuclear charge distribution, useful for ongoing and future precision searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. The formalism is based on nuclear matrix elements expanded in multipole operators, as commonly used in \emph{ab initio} calculations. First-order Coulomb corrections are derived from one-photon exchange preserving the full multipole and angular structure of the decay rate, and are subsequently expanded in the relevant small parameters of the nuclear problem, suppressing the leading nuclear structure correction to a few per-mills for medium mass nuclei with natural beta decay properties. We show that within this formalism, the leading Coulomb correction originates from three modifications of the original weak-only interaction: a modification of the nuclear charge form factor, which yields a correction similar to the known Fermi function, a shift of the momentum transfer within the lepton traces, and the same shift but inside the nuclear multipole operators. We additionally provide explicit results for allowed Gamow--Teller and unique first-forbidden transitions.

    nucl-thhep-phnucl-ex1 citation
  26. 26*

    Towards imaging Earth's large-scale structures by directional geoneutrino detection with Ocean Bottom Detector

    Zhihao Xu🇯🇵 · Takumi Araki · Simran Chauhan · Brian C. Crow · Max A. A. Dornfest · Stephen T. Dye🇺🇸 · John Graham · Misaki Hosoya🇯🇵 · Kunio Inoue · John G. Learned🇺🇸 · Viacheslav A. Li🇺🇸 · William F. McDonough🇨🇳 and 8 other authors

    Geoneutrinos, electron antineutrinos produced by radioactive decays of heat-producing elements (HPEs) within the Earth, provide unique insights into Earth's interior and heat budget since their first detection in 2005 by KamLAND. Conventional geoneutrino detectors currently provide integrated global information and lack the capability to spatially resolve structures deep within the Earth. Here, we evaluate the ability of angular-sensitive geoneutrino detectors to distinguish between homogeneous and heterogeneous mantle models, focusing on Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs). Our results show that LLSVPs enriched in Th and U yield a distinct flux of geoneutrinos with distinctive angular patterns. An oceanic site above the Pacific LLSVP is considered a particularly favorable detector location. The Ocean Bottom Detector (OBD) project aims to leverage this spatial resolving advantage by deploying a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector directly on the ocean floor, enabling unprecedented sensitivity for mantle geoneutrino detection. These findings demonstrate the critical role of combining geophysical and geochemical data to guide detector site selection, ultimately improving constraints on Earth's internal heat and the HPE distribution.

    physics.geo-phastro-ph.EPhep-exhep-phPoS(TAUP2025)315·2 citations
  27. 27*

    Numerical Hints for Dyon Condensation at via Wilson-'t Hooft Loops in Yang-Mills Theory

    Hiromasa Watanabe🇯🇵 · Issaku Kanamori🇯🇵 · Okuto Morikawa🇯🇵 · Yuki Nagai🇯🇵 · Yuya Tanizaki🇯🇵 · Akio Tomiya🇯🇵

    Yang-Mills theories at and are unitarily equivalent, but their periodicity has a nontrivial realization. Recent developments in generalized symmetries rigorously prove that confinement vacua at and should belong to different symmetry-protected topological (SPT) states with the -form center symmetry. For its examination, we measure the Wilson-'t Hooft loop operators at for the Wilson lattice gauge action and discuss their long-distance behaviors. This requires us to identify the gauge topological charge in the presence of defects, and we employ the -form covariant DBW2 gradient flow to smear lattice gauge fields. We find a clear perimeter-law signal for the dyonic Wilson-'t Hooft loop at , providing numerical evidence in the pure Yang-Mills theory for the theoretically expected dyon condensation at .

    hep-latcond-mat.str-elhep-phhep-th0 citations
  28. 28*

    Simulations of 3-Dimensional Recoil Response to Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering Events in Directional Direct Dark Matter Detectors

    Kwang-Chang Lai🇹🇼 · Chung-Lin Shan🇹🇼

    Following our earlier work on studying 3-dimensional nuclear recoil response to Galactic Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) in directional direct Dark Matter detectors, in this paper, we simulate 3-D coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) events induced by Solar B-8 neutrinos. Our numerical results show that, in contrast to the approximately fixed patterns of the WIMP-induced signals, the characteristic ring-like angular distributions of the nuclear recoil flux/energy of CEvNS events show clearly annual variations along the trajectories of the moving direction of incident Solar neutrinos in different celestial coordinate systems without experimentally distinguishable target dependence.

    astro-ph.HEhep-exhep-ph0 citations
  29. 29*

    AgentRivet: an automated system for producing Rivet routines from journal publications

    Antonio J. Costa🇬🇧 · Caterina Doglioni🇬🇧 · Christian Gütschow🇬🇧 · Andrew D. Pilkington🇬🇧 · Sukanya Sinha🇬🇧

    Particle physics collider experiments provide Rivet routines as part of the analysis preservation strategy for model-independent measurements. Rivet is a C++ toolkit that allow new theoretical models to be compared to the measurements, thus aiding the development and tuning of Monte Carlo event generators as well as searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. However, analysis coverage is known to be incomplete, with only 39% of measurements having documented and publicly available Rivet routines. In this article, we design and implement an automated workflow based on Large Language Models with the goal of providing the missing routines. This multi-step workflow, referred to as AgentRivet, extracts the physics analysis information from published papers and writes the missing Rivet routines, with intermediate code- and physics- reviews as part of an autonomous quality control. We report the results obtained using commercial Large Language Models, provided by OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, for two recent measurements from the ATLAS and CMS experiments. We find that AgentRivet produces competent Rivet routines with few syntax errors. The physics fidelity of the routines is reasonable and follows the explanations given in the relevant publications. Nevertheless, physics-implementation issues do arise and are investigated using the artefacts produced by AgentRivet. The majority of physics implementation issues arise from subtle-but-ambiguous definitions in the given publication, although some models struggle to implement complex observables even when clear definitions are given.

    hep-excs.AIhep-ph6 citations
  30. 30*

    Cosmological Dynamics of the Thermal Scalar Near the Hagedorn Temperature

    Arnab Pradhan🇨🇦 · Luis Rufino🇺🇸 · Scott Watson🇺🇸

    We study the cosmological dynamics of the thermal scalar the winding string mode that becomes massless at the Hagedorn transition by coupling it to the string-frame gravi dilaton effective action. This provides a field-theoretic framework for investigating winding mode dynamics near the Hagedorn temperature and their role in string cosmology. Below the Hagedorn temperature, the phase space contains static configurations in which the thermal scalar balances the shifted dilaton evolution. These configurations are boundary states rather than attractors, and when the thermal scalar mass depends on the scale factor, winding mode back reaction opposes expansion and can reverse it. Above the Hagedorn temperature, the tachyonic thermal scalar generates negative effective energy density while preserving the null energy condition, enabling branch changes of the Brustein Veneziano type. These transitions do not provide the graceful exit required to connect the Hagedorn phase to standard cosmological evolution. At the Hagedorn temperature itself, the quadratic effective theory breaks down and higher order interactions become essential. Because the thermal scalar originates as a Euclidean order parameter, our Lorentzian treatment should be viewed as an effective dynamical model of the Hagedorn transition. Within this framework, the thermal scalar clarifies the dynamical structure surrounding the Hagedorn transition and shows how the Hagedorn exit problem cannot be resolved within the quadratic effective theory alone.

    hep-thastro-ph.COhep-ph0 citations
  31. 31*

    Search for High-Frequency Gravitational Waves via Geomagnetic Conversion with Radio Telescopes

    Hongliang Tian🇨🇳 · Lei Wu🇨🇳 · Xiaolong Yang🇨🇳 · Qiang Yuan🇨🇳 · Bin Zhu🇨🇳

    The detection of high-frequency gravitational waves (HFGWs) above 10 kHz provides a crucial probe of exotic astrophysical phenomena and new physics. We report the first search for HFGWs via their conversion to electromagnetic radiation through the inverse Gertsenshtein effect in Earth's magnetic field, utilizing radio telescopes including the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Since no statistically significant signal is observed, we obtain new upper limits on the characteristic strain across the 1 GHz -- 1 THz band, with the most stringent constraint reaching , improving upon existing bounds by up to three orders of magnitude. These results significantly advance the exploration of uncharted parameter space for exotic gravitational-wave sources, paving the way for future discoveries with next-generation facilities such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

    gr-qcastro-ph.IMhep-ph0 citations
  32. 32*

    Observable Dependence of Viscous Corrections in QGP: Heavy Quarks and Dileptons in Chapman--Enskog Theory

    Lakshmi J. Naik🇮🇳 · P. Parvathi · Nachiketa Sarkar🇮🇳 · V. Sreekanth🇮🇳

    We calculate, for the first time, heavy quark transport and thermal dilepton production from QGP using viscous correction up to second order in gradients. We use the form of viscous correction obtained from Chapman-Enskog like expansion of the Boltzmann transport equation in relaxation time approximation, and compare our results with that of Grad's 14-moment approximation. By employing the temperature and shear stress evolution profiles of QGP obtained from second-order causal relativistic viscous hydrodynamics, we study the heavy quark transport coefficients and thermal dilepton production from an evolving QGP. In the case of HQ transport, the CE corrections suppress the drag force substantially, induce a non-trivial momentum dependence in transverse momentum diffusion, and result in a comparatively less modification in longitudinal momentum diffusion. Whereas, for thermal dileptons, the CE corrections result in an enhanced early-time contribution which decreases and become converging to the first-order CE correction with the evolution of QGP, and remain well behaved compared to that of Grad's correction. Our results indicate that the modification of the observable due to viscous corrections is governed by the magnitude of the corrections as well as the interplay between their momentum dependence and momentum weighting of the transport and emission kernels. We demonstrate that the momentum structure of the various viscous corrections at the level of distribution function is not directly translated to the observables since the different observables are sensitive to distinct regions of momentum space.

    nucl-thhep-ph0 citations
  33. 33*

    On the survival of dark matter spikes: Stellar and compact-object perturbations

    Theophanes K. Karydas🇳🇱 · Francesca Scarcella🇪🇸 · Bradley J. Kavanagh🇪🇸 · Gianfranco Bertone🇳🇱

    Establishing realistic expectations for the dark matter (DM) distribution near a supermassive black hole (BH) is essential for assessing environmental imprints on gravitational wave (GW) signals. Using the Galactic Center as an observationally constrained case study, we investigate the evolution of DM density spikes under gravitational perturbations from the nuclear stellar and black hole populations surrounding the central BH. We find that scattering of DM particles by the nuclear star cluster depletes the DM distribution at radii , far outside the region where the relevant GW signals are produced. At smaller radii, at , the closest known stellar perturbers, S2 and S38, induce only negligible changes to the density profile. At still smaller radii, where no stellar perturbers are currently known, we assess the cumulative impact of past EMRIs by modelling successive mergers with stellar-mass BHs of mass , in numbers consistent with the expected rate over . We find that these events do not erase the central overdensity, reducing the density only to approximately of its initial value at . Our results indicate that, at least at the Galactic Center, DM overdensities around the central BH are expected to remain largely intact under stellar perturbations and plausible stellar-BH merger histories.

    astro-ph.GAastro-ph.HEgr-qchep-ph2 citations
  34. 34*

    Resurgence of the Thermal Transition between Bounce and Sphaleron

    Shaun D. Hampton🇰🇷 · Kyungsun Lee🇰🇷 · Sungjay Lee🇰🇷

    We study the thermal transition between the bounce and the sphaleron in quantum mechanics with a metastable vacuum from the viewpoint of Borel resurgence. For two models representing a second-order and a first-order transition, we compute the perturbative expansion of the thermal free energy to high orders and extract the leading Borel singularity data as functions of temperature. The Borel singularity location reproduces the on-shell action of the dominant saddle on both sides of the transition, joining smoothly in the second-order case and developing a kink in the first-order case. The characteristic exponent jumps between and across the transition, counting the zero modes of the corresponding saddle. The Stokes constant matches the one-loop determinant around the saddle. The perturbative expansion around the false vacuum thus determines the transition temperature, the order of the transition, and the decay rate including the one-loop prefactor without relying on semiclassical inputs.

    hep-thcond-mat.stat-mechhep-phquant-ph1 citation
  35. 35*

    Experimental exploration of the QCD phase diagram

    A. Andronic🇩🇪 · P. Braun-Munzinger🇩🇪 · K. Redlich🇵🇱 · J. Stachel🇩🇪

    The different phases of strongly interacting matter are governed by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). At high temperature and/or density a deconfined, chirally symmetric phase of quarks and gluons is expected to govern the nature of strongly interacting matter, the so-called quark-gluon plasma. Here we review what is known about the existence of this exotic form of matter from an experimental point of view and confront the results with QCD predictions based on 'Lattice QCD', where QCD is discretized on a space-time lattice and solved numerically in a Monte Carlo approach. The form of the presentation is explicitly pedagogical but the results include even very recent developments. Our research is based on the interpretation of hadron production data from relativistic nucleus--nucleus collisions over a wide energy range, with the aim to make progress in the understanding of the QCD phase, and of phenomena like deconfinement and hadronization.

    nucl-exhep-phnucl-th0 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.