Nuclear Theory·nucl-th

Friday·November 15, 2024

12 papers—2 primary·10 cross-listed

01
Bottomonium Properties in QGP from a Lattice-QCD Informed T-Matrix Approach
Zhanduo Tang🇺🇸 · Swagato Mukherjee🇺🇸 · Peter Petreczky🇺🇸 · Ralf Rapp🇺🇸
Recent lattice quantum chromodynamics (lQCD) computations of bottomonium correlation functions with extended sources provide new insights into heavy-quark dynamics at distance scales which are of the order of the inverse temperature. We analyze these results employing the thermodynamic T-matrix approach, in a continued effort to interpret lQCD data for quarkonium correlation functions in a non-perturbative framework suitable for strongly coupled systems. Its key inputs are the in-medium driving kernel (potential) of the scattering equation and an interference function which implements 3-body effects in the quarkonium coupling to the thermal medium. A simultaneous description of lQCD results for the bottomonium correlators with extended operators and the previously analyzed Wilson line correlators only requires minor refinements of the potential but calls for stronger interference effects at larger separation of the bottom quark and antiquark. We then analyze the poles of the self-consistent T-matrices on the real axis to assess the survival of the various bound states. We estimate the pertinent temperatures where the poles disappear for the various bottomonium states and discuss the relation to the corresponding peaks in the bottomonium spectral functions. We also recalculate the spatial diffusion coefficient of the QGP and find it to be similar to that in our previous study.
nucl-thPRD(2025)·9 citations
02
Gravitational wave asteroseismology of neutron stars with unified EOS: on the role of high-order nuclear empirical parameters
Guilherme Grams🇧🇪 · César V. Flores🇧🇷 · César H. Lenzi🇧🇷
We analyze the sensitivity of non-radial fluid oscillation modes and tidal deformations in neutron stars to high-order nuclear empirical parameters (NEP). In particular, we study the impact of the curvature and skewness of the symmetry energy $K_{sym}$ , $Q_{sym}$ , and the skewness of the binding energy in symmetric nuclear matter $Q_{sat}$ . As we are interested in the possibility of gravitational wave detection by future interferometers, we consider that the tidal interaction is the driving force for the quadrupolar non-radial fluid oscillations. We have also studied the correlations between those quantities, which will be useful to understand the strong physics of gravitational wave phenomena. Our main results show that $K_{sym}$ impacts the frequencies of the fundamental mode mainly for low-mass neutron stars. The NEP $Q_{sym}$ and $Q_{sat}$ affect the fundamental modes of intermediate and heavy neutron stars, respectively. In the case of the first pressure mode, $K_{sym}$ shows a small effect, while $Q_{sat}$ shows a considerable decrease in this oscillation mode independent of the neutron star mass. Similarly, for tidal deformability, the NEP $Q_{sat}$ and $Q_{sym}$ show a bigger impact than $K_{sym}$ . Given the impact of the NEP on gravitational wave phenomena and the currently large uncertainties of these parameters, the prospect of higher sensitivity in future gravitational wave detectors promise a possible new tool to constrain high-order NEP.
nucl-thastro-ph.HEPRD(2025)·2 citations
03
Fault-tolerant fermionic quantum computing
Alexander Schuckert🇺🇸 · Eleanor Crane🇺🇸 · Alexey V. Gorshkov🇺🇸 · Mohammad Hafezi🇺🇸 · Michael J. Gullans🇺🇸
Simulating the dynamics of electrons and other fermionic particles in quantum chemistry, materials science, and high-energy physics is one of the most promising applications of fault-tolerant quantum computers. However, the overhead in mapping time evolution under fermionic Hamiltonians to qubit gates renders this endeavor challenging. We introduce fermionic fault-tolerant quantum computing, a framework which removes this overhead altogether. Using native fermionic operations we first construct a repetition code which corrects phase errors only. Within a fermionic color code, which corrects for both phase and loss errors, we then realize a universal fermionic gate set, including transversal fermionic Clifford gates. Interfacing with qubit color codes we introduce qubit-fermion fault-tolerant computation, which allows for qubit-controlled fermionic time evolution, a crucial subroutine in state-of-the-art quantum algorithms. As an application, we consider simulating crystalline materials, finding an exponential improvement in circuit depth for a single time step from $O (N)$ to $O (lo g (N))$ with respect to lattice site number $N$ while retaining a site count of $O ~ (N)$ , implying a linear-in- $N$ end-to-end gate depth for simulating materials, as opposed to quadratic in previous approaches. We also introduce a fermion-inspired qubit algorithm with $O (log (N)$ depth, but a prohibitive number of additional ancilla qubits. We show how our framework can be implemented in neutral atoms, overcoming the apparent inability of neutral atoms to implement non-number-conserving gates. Our work opens the door to fermion-qubit fault-tolerant quantum computation in platforms with native fermions such as neutral atoms, quantum dots and donors in silicon, with applications in quantum chemistry, material science, and high-energy physics.
↳ quant-phcond-mat.mtrl-scicond-mat.quant-gascond-mat.str-el+130 citations
04
Nuclear correlation functions using first-principle calculations of lattice quantum chromodynamics
Debsubhra Chakraborty🇮🇳 · Piyush Srivastava🇮🇳 · Arpith Kumar🇮🇳 · Nilmani Mathur🇮🇳
Exploring nuclear physics through the fundamental constituents of the strong force -- quarks and gluons -- is a formidable challenge. While numerical calculations using lattice quantum chromodynamics offer the most promising approach for this pursuit, practical implementation is arduous, especially due to the uncontrollable growth of quark-combinatorics, the so-called Wick-contraction problem of nuclei. We present here two novel methods providing a state-of-the-art solution to this problem. In the first, we exploit randomized algorithms inspired from computational number theory to detect and eliminate redundancies that arise in Wick contraction computations. Our second method explores facilities for automation of tensor computations -- in terms of efficient utilization of specialized hardware, algorithmic optimizations, as well as ease of programming and the potential for automatic code generation -- that are offered by new programming models inspired by applications in machine learning (e.g., TensorFlow). We demonstrate the efficacy of our methods by computing two-point correlation functions for Deuteron, Helium-3, Helium-4 and Lithium-7, achieving at least an order of magnitude improvement over existing algorithms with efficient implementation on GPU-accelerators. Additionally, we discover an intriguing characteristic shared by all the nuclei we study: specific spin-color combinations dominate the correlation functions, hinting at a potential connection to an as-yet-unidentified symmetry in nuclei. Moreover finding them beforehand can reduce the computing time further and substantially. Our results, with the efficiency that we achieved, suggest the possibility of extending the applicability of our methods for calculating properties of light nuclei, potentially up to A ~12 and beyond.
↳ hep-lathep-phnucl-thPRD(2024)·3 citations
05
Equation of State of Decompressed Quark Matter, and Observational Signatures of Quark-Star Mergers
Zhiqiang Miao🇨🇳 · Zhenyu Zhu🇨🇳 · Dong Lai🇨🇳
Quark stars are challenging to confirm or exclude observationally because they can have similar masses and radii as neutron stars. By performing the first calculation of the non-equilibrium equation of state of decompressed quark matter at finite temperature, we determine the properties of the ejecta from binary quark-star or quark star-black hole mergers. We account for all relevant physical processes during the ejecta evolution, including quark nugget evaporation and cooling, and weak interactions. We find that these merger ejecta can differ significantly from those in neutron star mergers, depending on the binding energy of quark matter. For relatively high binding energies, quark star mergers are unlikely to produce r-process elements and kilonova signals. We propose that future observations of binary mergers and kilonovae could impose stringent constraints on the binding energy of quark matter and the existence of quark stars.
↳ astro-ph.HEhep-phnucl-thPRL(2025)·11 citations
06
Probing the QCD Critical End Point with Finite-Size Scaling of Net-Baryon Cumulant Ratios
Roy A. Lacey (Department of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA)🇺🇸
Finite-size scaling (FSS) is applied to net-baryon cumulant ratios $C_{2} / C_{1}$ , $C_{3} / C_{2}$ , $C_{4} / C_{2}$ , $C_{3} / C_{1}$ , and $C_{4} / C_{1}$ measured in Au+Au collisions over the Beam Energy Scan Phase~I range $s_{N N} = 7.7$ -- $200$ ~GeV to constrain the location and universality class of the QCD critical end point (CEP). Although finite-size and finite-time effects suppress non-monotonic signatures in unscaled data, the FSS analysis reveals a collapse of measurements from different beam energies and centralities onto universal scaling functions. All cumulant ratios collapse under a single, common set of critical exponents and exhibit divergence patterns characteristic o 3D Ising critical behavior. The scaling results indicate a CEP at $s_{CEP} \approx 33.0$ ~GeV, corresponding to $μ_{B, CEP} \approx 130$ ~MeV and $T_{CEP} \approx 158.5$ ~MeV. These findings demonstrate that finite-size scaling provides a robust, model-independent framework for accessing critical behavior in finite, dynamically evolving systems, where non-equilibrium baryon-number transport can enhance the experimental visibility of susceptibility-driven fluctuations without modifying the underlying universality class.
↳ nucl-exhep-exhep-thnucl-th2 citations
07
Observation of partonic flow in proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions
ALICE Collaboration
Quantum Chromodynamics predicts a phase transition from ordinary hadronic matter to the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) at high temperatures and energy densities, where quarks and gluons (partons) are not confined within hadrons. The QGP is generated in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. Anisotropic flow coefficients, quantifying the anisotropic azimuthal expansion of the produced matter, provide a unique tool to unravel QGP properties. Flow measurements in high-energy heavy-ion collisions show a distinctive grouping of anisotropic flow for baryons and mesons at intermediate transverse momentum, a feature associated with flow being imparted at the quark level, confirming the existence of the QGP. The observation of QGP-like features in relativistic proton-proton and proton-ion collisions has sparked debate about possible QGP formation in smaller collision systems, which remains unresolved. In this article, we demonstrate for the first time the distinctive grouping of anisotropic flow for baryons and mesons in high-multiplicity proton-lead and proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). These results are described by a model that includes hydrodynamic flow followed by hadron formation via quark coalescence, replicating features observed in heavy-ion collisions. This observation is consistent with the formation of a partonic flowing system in proton-proton and proton-lead collisions at the LHC.
↳ nucl-exhep-exnucl-thNature Commun.(2026)·31 citations
08
The Three-Point Energy Correlator in the Coplanar Limit
Anjie Gao🇺🇸 · Tong-Zhi Yang🇨🇭 · Xiaoyuan Zhang🇺🇸
Energy correlators are a type of observables that measure how energy is distributed across multiple detectors as a function of the angles between pairs of detectors. In this paper, we study the three-point energy correlator (EEEC) at lepton colliders in the three-particle near-to-plane (coplanar) limit. The leading-power contribution in this limit is governed by the three-jet (trijet) configuration. We introduce a new approach by projecting the EEEC onto the volume of the parallelepiped formed by the unit vectors aligned with three detected final-state particles. Analogous to the back-to-back limit of the two-point energy correlator probing the dijet configuration, the small-volume limit of the EEEC probes the trijet configuration. We derive a transverse momentum dependent (TMD) based factorization theorem that captures the soft and collinear logarithms in the coplanar limit, which enables us to achieve the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithm (N $^{3}$ LL) resummation. To our knowledge, this is the first N $^{3}$ LL result for a trijet event shape. Additionally, we demonstrate that a similar factorization theorem can be applied to the fully differential EEEC in the three-particle coplanar limit, which provides a clean environment for studying different coplanar trijet shapes.
↳ hep-phhep-exnucl-thJHEP(2025)·13 citations
09
The lowest-radiation environments in the Solar System: new opportunities for underground rare-event searches
Xilin Zhang🇺🇸 · Jason Detwiler🇺🇸 · Clint Wiseman🇺🇸
We study neutrino, muon, and gamma-ray fluxes in extraterrestrial environments in our Solar System via semi-analytical estimates and Monte Carlo simulations. In sites with negligible atmosphere, we find a strong reduction in the cosmic-ray-induced neutrino and muon fluxes relative to their intensities on Earth. Neutrinos with energies between 50 MeV and 100 TeV show particularly strong suppression, by as much as 10 $^{3}$ , even at shallow depths. The solar neutrino suppression increases as the square of the site's distance from the Sun. Natural radiation due to nuclear decay is also expected to be lower in many of these locations and may be reduced to effectively negligible levels in the liquid water environments. The sites satisfying these characteristics represent an opportunity for greatly extending the physics reach of underground searches in fundamental physics, such as searches for WIMP Dark Matter, neutrinoless double-beta decay, the diffuse supernova neutrinos, and neutrinos from nearby supernova. As a potential near-term target, we propose a measurement of muon and gamma-ray fluxes in an accessible underground lunar site such as the Mare Tranquillitatis Pit to perform a first measurement of the prompt component in cosmic-ray-induced particle production, and to constrain lunar evolution models.
↳ hep-exastro-ph.EPhep-phnucl-ex+10 citations
10
A unified description of small, peripheral, and large system suppression data from pQCD
Coleridge Faraday🇿🇦 · W. A. Horowitz🇿🇦
We present quantitative predictions for the nuclear modification factor in both small and peripheral systems from a pQCD-based energy loss model that is constrained by light- and heavy-flavor suppression data from central heavy-ion collisions. We find nearly identical suppression for central $p / d + A$ collisions as for peripheral $A + A$ collisions, quantitatively consistent with the measured 20% suppression of neutral pions produced in $d + Au$ collisions by PHENIX, but dramatically inconsistent with the measured 20% enhancement of charged hadrons produced in $p + Pb$ collisions by ATLAS. We demonstrate that this equivalence of central small system suppression and peripheral large system suppression is insensitive to the underlying energy loss model.
↳ hep-phnucl-thPLB(2025)·9 citations
11
Effect of invisible neutrino decay on neutrino oscillation at long baselines
Animesh Chatterjee🇨🇭 · Srubabati Goswami🇮🇳 · Supriya Pan🇮🇳 · Paras Thacker🇮🇳
In this article, we study the effect of invisible neutrino decay of the third neutrino state for accelerator neutrino experiments at two different baselines, 1300 km with a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) detector (similar to DUNE) and 2588 km with a water Cherenkov detector (similar to P2O). For such baselines, the matter effect starts to become important. Our aim is to ascertain the sensitivity to mass hierarchy and octant of $θ_{23}$ in these two experiments in the presence of a decaying neutrino state. We compare and contrast the results of the two experimental setups. We find that, in general, hierarchy sensitivity decreases in the presence of decay. However, if we consider decay only in the opposite hierarchy (test scenario), in the 2588 km setup, the hierarchy sensitivity with the true hierarchy as IH is larger than the no decay case. We also study the dependence of hierarchy sensitivity with true $θ_{23}$ . We find that the dominant muon background in P2O plays an important role in how the hierarchy sensitivity depends on $θ_{23}$ . The octant sensitivity for both setups increases in the presence of decay except for the LArTPC setup in case true $θ_{23} = 4 9^{\circ}$ . To understand the octant sensitivity results in the two setups, we check the synergy in sensitivity between electron and muon channels as a function of test $θ_{23}$ . We also study the degeneracies in the test $θ_{23} - δ_{C P}$ plane and find that combined analysis of the two setups removes all the degeneracies in the test $θ_{23} - δ_{C P}$ plane at $5 σ$ significance.
↳ hep-phnucl-th1 citation
12
Reggeization in Color
Anjie Gao🇺🇸 · Ian Moult🇺🇸 · Sanjay Raman🇺🇸 · Gregory Ridgway🇺🇸 · Iain W. Stewart🇺🇸
In the high energy limit, $s ≫ - t$ , amplitudes in planar gauge theories Reggeize, with power law behavior $(\frac{s}{- t})^{α (t)}$ governed by the Regge trajectory $α (t)$ . Beyond the planar limit this simplicity is violated by "Regge cuts", for which practical organizational principles are still being developed. We use a top-down effective field theory organization based on color projection in the $t$ channel and rapidity evolution equations for collinear impact factors, to sum large $s ≫ - t$ logarithms for Regge cut contributions. The results are matrix equations which are closed within a given color channel. To illustrate the method we derive in QCD with $S U (N_{c})$ for the first time a closed 6 $\times$ 6 evolution equation for the "decupletons" in the $10 \oplus 10$ Regge color channel, a 2 $\times$ 2 evolution equation for the "triantapentons" in the $35 \oplus 35$ color channel, and a scalar evolution equation for the "tetrahexaconton" in the 64 color channel. More broadly, our approach allows us to describe generic Reggeization phenomena in non-planar gauge theories, providing valuable data for the all loop structure of amplitudes beyond the planar limit.
↳ hep-phhep-thnucl-th8 citations

Affiliations

first authorsco-authorsvia INSPIRE