Nuclear Theory·nucl-th

Friday·December 19, 2025

20 papers—9 primary·11 cross-listed

10
Towards First Detection of the Solar MSW Transition With JUNO
Obada Nairat🇺🇸 · John F. Beacom🇺🇸 · Kevin J. Kelly🇺🇸 · Shirley Weishi Li🇺🇸
Matter-induced neutrino flavor mixing (the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein, or MSW, effect) is a central prediction of the neutrino mixing framework, but it has not been conclusively observed. Direct observation of the energy-dependent MSW transition in the solar electron-neutrino survival probability would solve this, but backgrounds have been prohibitive. We show that our new technique for suppressing muon-induced spallation backgrounds will allow JUNO to measure the MSW transition at $>$ 4 $σ$ significance in 10 years. This would strongly support upcoming multi-\$1B next-generation experiments and their goals in cementing the neutrino mixing framework.
↳ hep-phastro-ph.HEhep-exnucl-ex+1PRL(2026)·1 citation
11
Weak Charge Form Factor Determination at the Electron-Ion Collider
Hooman Davoudiasl🇺🇸 · Hongkai Liu🇺🇸 · Sonny Mantry🇺🇸 · Ethan T. Neil🇺🇸
Determining the weak charge form factor, $F_{W} (Q^{2})$ , of nuclei over a continuous range of momentum transfers, $0 ≲ Q^{2} ≲ 0.1$ GeV $^{2}$ , is essential for mapping out the distribution of neutrons in nuclei. The neutron density distribution has significant implications for a broad range of areas, including studies of nuclear structure, neutron stars, and physics beyond the Standard Model. Currently, our knowledge of $F_{W} (Q^{2})$ comes primarily from fixed target experiments that measure the parity-violating asymmetry in coherent elastic electron-ion scattering. Fixed target experiments, such as CREX and PREX-1,2, have provided high-precision weak charge form factor extractions for the $^{48} Ca$ and $^{208} Pb$ nuclei, respectively. However, a major limitation of fixed target experiments is that they each provide data only at a single value of $Q^{2}$ . With the proposed Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) on the horizon, we explore its potential to impact the determination of the weak charge form factor. While it cannot compete with the precision of fixed target experiments, it can provide data over a wide and continuous range of $Q^{2}$ values, and for a wide variety of nuclei. We show that with data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $L \sim$ 500/ $A$ fb $^{- 1}$ , where $A$ is the nucleus atomic weight, the EIC can significantly impact constraints by lifting degeneracies in theoretical models of the neutron density distribution. Ensuring EIC detector coverage at low $Q^{2}$ and large negative pseudorapidities will be essential for such $F_{W} (Q^{2})$ measurements.
↳ hep-phhep-exnucl-exnucl-thPRD(2026)·2 citations
12
Energy-Energy Correlators in $e^{+} e^{-}$ and Deep Inelastic Scattering
Yuxun Guo🇺🇸 · Werner Vogelsang🇩🇪 · Feng Yuan🇺🇸 · Wenbin Zhao🇺🇸
We study energy-energy correlators (EECs) in $e^{+} e^{-}$ annihilation and deep inelastic lepton-hadron scattering (DIS), focusing on aspects of nonperturbative physics in these observables. We introduce the EEC jet functions and investigate the infrared (IR) behavior of both small-angle EECs and angle-integrated EECs by performing explicit one-loop calculations. The factorization and universality of the EECs in these processes are demonstrated. A matching scheme is proposed to smoothly connect kinematic regions where different scaling behaviors with jet energy are observed. In combination with the next-to-leading order correction, this matching provides a good description of the EEC data and PYTHIA simulations in high-energy $e^{+} e^{-}$ annihilation. Predictions for DIS processes for future electron-ion collider kinematics are also presented.
↳ hep-phhep-exnucl-thPRD(2026)·7 citations
13
Hadron Physics Opportunities at FAIR
J. G. Messchendorp🇩🇪 · F. Nerling🇩🇪 · P. Achenbach🇺🇸 · J. Aichelin🇫🇷 · M. Albaladejo🇪🇸 · L. An🇨🇳 · K. Aoki🇯🇵 · G. Appagere🇸🇪 · V. Baru🇩🇪 · M. Bashkanov🇬🇧 · A. Bauswein🇩🇪 · A. Belias🇩🇪 and 94 other authors
This White Paper outlines a coordinated, decade-spanning programme of hadron and QCD studies anchored at the GSI/FAIR accelerator complex. Profiting from intense deuteron, proton and pion beams coupled with high-rate capable detectors and an international theory effort, the initiative addresses fundamental questions related to the strong interaction featuring confinement and dynamical mass generation. This includes our understanding of hadron-hadron interactions and the composition of hadrons through mapping the baryon and meson spectra, including exotic states, and quantifying hadron structure. This interdisciplinary research connects topics in the fields of nuclear, heavy-ion, and (nuclear) astro (particle) physics, linking, for example, terrestrial data to constraints on neutron star structure. A phased roadmap with SIS100 accelerator start-up and envisaged detector upgrades will yield precision cross sections, transition form factors, in-medium spectral functions, and validated theory inputs. Synergies with external programmes at international accelerator facilities worldwide are anticipated. The programme is expected to deliver decisive advances in our understanding of non-perturbative (strong) QCD and astrophysics, and high-rate detector and data-science technology.
↳ hep-exhep-thnucl-exnucl-th18 citations
14
Investigation of Nuclear Modification Factor from RHIC to LHC energies using Boltzmann Transport equation in conjunction with q-Weibull distribution
Rohit Gupta🇮🇳
The study of nuclear modification factor is crucial in advancing our knowledge of the hot and dense nuclear matter created during high energy heavy-ion collision. In this direction, we have developed a theoretical model for the nuclear modification factor using the Boltzmann Transport equation in relaxation time approximation with the q-Weibull distribution as the final state distribution and studied the experimental data of nuclear modification factor of charged hadrons as well as identified particles at various energies ranging from 7.7 GeV measured at RHIC upto the maximum value of 5.44 TeV studied in LHC. We observed a good agreement between the model and the experimental data as can be quantified using the $χ^{2}$ /NDF values. We have also studied the mass dependence of different fit parameters that appears in the theoretical model and observe a linear mass dependence of some parameters.
↳ hep-phnucl-thPRD(2026)·0 citations
15
Antisymmetrization of composite fermionic states for quantum simulations of nuclear reactions in first-quantization mapping
Ionel Stetcu🇺🇸
I present a first-quantization deterministic algorithm for antisymmetrizing a spatially separated target-projectile system containing $N_{T}$ and $N_{p}$ identical fermions, respectively. The method constructs a fully antisymmetric wavefunction from the product of two independently antisymmetrized many-body states, each of which may be a superposition of Slater determinants. The algorithm uses a Dicke-state ancilla register that coherently encodes all one-particle exchange channels between the two subsystems, and, crucially, requires only single-particle swaps to generate the full antisymmetric structure. A total of $O (N_{T} N_{p})$ single-particle exchanges are needed, with up to $N_{p}$ of them implemented in parallel, if an additional $N_{p}$ ancillae are used. The correct fermionic phase is incorporated through application of $Z$ gates on $N_{T}$ ancillae, after which the ancilla register is efficiently uncomputed using a compact sequence of controlled operations. This construction provides a nontrivial and scalable protocol for preparing fully antisymmetric states in reaction and scattering simulations, significantly expanding the range of systems that can be addressed with first-quantized quantum algorithms.
↳ quant-phnucl-th2 citations
16
Probing neutron star interiors and the properties of cold ultra-dense matter with the SKAO
Avishek Basu · Vanessa Graber · Marcus E. Lower · Marco Antonelli · Danai Antonopoulou · Manjari Bagchi · Prasanta Char · Paulo C. C. Freire · Brynmor Haskell · Huanchen Hu · David I. Jones · Banibrata Mukhopadhyay and 10 other authors
Matter inside neutron stars is compressed to densities several times greater than nuclear saturation density, while maintaining low temperatures and large asymmetries between neutrons and protons. Neutron stars, therefore, provide a unique laboratory for testing physics in environments that cannot be recreated on Earth. To uncover the highly uncertain nature of cold, ultra-dense matter, discovering and monitoring pulsars is essential, and the SKA will play a crucial role in this endeavour. In this paper, we will present the current state-of-the-art in dense matter physics and dense matter superfluidity, and discuss recent advances in measuring global neutron star properties (masses, moments of inertia, and maximum rotation frequencies) as well as non-global observables (pulsar glitches and free precession). We will specifically highlight how radio observations of isolated neutron stars and those in binaries -- such as those performed with the SKA in the near future -- inform our understanding of ultra-dense physics and address in detail how SKAO's telescopes unprecedented sensitivity, large-scale survey and sub-arraying capabilities will enable novel dense matter constraints. We will also address the potential impact of dark matter and modified gravity models on these constraints and emphasise the role of synergies between the SKA and other facilities, specifically X-ray telescopes and next-generation gravitational wave observatories.
↳ astro-ph.HEastro-ph.IMgr-qchep-ph+12 citations
17
Unveiling Light-Quark Yukawa Flavor Structure via Dihadron Fragmentation at Lepton Colliders
Qing-Hong Cao🇨🇳 · Xin-Kai Wen🇨🇳 · Bin Yan🇨🇳 · Shu-Tao Zhang🇨🇳
Directly probing light-quark Yukawa couplings and their flavor structure remains a major challenge due to their smallness and overwhelming QCD backgrounds. In this Letter, we propose a theoretical framework to access these couplings at lepton colliders through transverse spin dependent azimuthal modulations in dihadron fragmentation. These modulations arise from the interference between Higgs mediated and standard model amplitudes in $e^{-} e^{+} \to q q ˉ Z$ , producing angular structures that are linearly sensitive to the Yukawa couplings $y_{q}$ , in contrast to conventional observables that scale as $y_{q}^{2}$ . By combining channels with an identified accompanying single hadron, $h^{'} = π^{\pm}, K^{\pm}$ , and $p / p ˉ$ , this approach cleanly disentangles the up- and down-quark Yukawa contributions, yielding typical limits at the $O (1 0^{- 4} \sim 1 0^{- 3})$ level and establishing fragmentation dynamics as a novel and complementary probe of the Higgs flavor structure.
↳ hep-phhep-exnucl-exnucl-thPRL(2026)·5 citations
18
A finite temperature framework for quark matter with color-superconducting phases
Hosein Gholami🇩🇪 · Marco Hofmann🇩🇪 · Débora Mroczek🇺🇸 · Jacquelyn Noronha-Hostler🇺🇸
Current observations of neutron stars and measurements of gravitational waves only provide constraints on the zero temperature ( $T = 0$ ) equation of state (EoS) of dense matter. The detection of the post-merger gravitational-wave signal from a binary neutron star merger would additionally provide access to finite-temperature properties of the EoS which contain more information about the composition and the interactions of dense matter than the cold EoS alone. In particular deconfined quark matter may be probed by its characteristic finite temperature effects. This is especially the case for color-superconducting phases, in which the quasiparticle contribution to the thermal pressure is exponentially suppressed at low temperatures. Here we develop a new finite $T$ framework to model the thermal EoS for dense quark matter based on the cold quark matter EoS which is useful for numerical relativity simulations. We test the validity of the framework against a three-flavor NJL mean-field calculation, both with and without diquark pairing. We find that even for the complicated phase diagram of the NJL model including multiple different phases the framework is accurate to the few percent level for temperatures up to $T \sim 50$ MeV.
↳ astro-ph.HEgr-qchep-phnucl-th5 citations
19
Comparing invariant-mass spectroscopy of 8B with ab initio predictions
R.J. Charity · G.H. Sargsyan · K.D. Launey · T.B. Webb · K.W. Brown · L.G. Sobotka
Levels in 8B have been investigated experimentally using the invariant-mass technique and compared to ab initio calculations. Data sets obtained using E/A=69-MeV 9C and 13O beams on a Be target have been further analyzed to extend the level scheme of 8B for Ex<10 MeV. New levels were observed in the 2p+6Li, p+3He+alpha, and the p+7Be+gamma exit channels. Momentum correlations between the decay fragments were also investigated in order to deduce the decay pathways and whether the decays are prompt or sequential. This nucleus and its mirror were also investigated in the ab initio symmetry-adapted no-core shell model. Correspondence between the newly observed and predicted levels were made based on the level energy and the decay modes. For positive parity levels with J<=3, all predicted levels can be connected to an experimental counter part (as least tentatively) for Ex<8.4 MeV.
↳ nucl-exnucl-thPRC(2026)·2 citations
20
Exploring nuclear modification using one-point energy correlator at the electron-ion collider
Yu Fu🇺🇸 · Zhong-Bo Kang🇺🇸 · Jani Penttala🇺🇸 · Yiyu Zhou🇺🇸
We study the one-point energy correlator (OPEC) at both the back-to-back and collinear limits in electron-proton and electron-nucleus collisions. We provide the factorization formalism for the two types of OPEC and present phenomenological predictions in the kinematic region relevant for the future Electron-Ion Collider. Focusing on cold nuclear matter effects in electron-nucleus scattering, we demonstrate that the OPEC serves as a powerful probe of the transverse momentum dependent (TMD) physics and in characterizing the medium-induced transverse momentum broadening in cold nuclear matter.
↳ hep-phnucl-thJHEP(2026)·3 citations

Affiliations

first authorsco-authorsvia INSPIRE