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Showing votes from 2023-12-01 12:30 to 2023-12-05 11:30 | Next meeting is Tuesday Oct 29th, 10:30 am.
After decades of effort in a number of dark matter direct detection experiments, we still do not have any conclusive signal yet. Therefore it is high time we broaden our horizon by building experiments with increased sensitivity for light dark matter, specifically in the sub-MeV mass regime. In this paper, we propose a new detector material, a bilayer stack of graphene for this purpose. Its voltage-tunable low energy sub-eV electronic band gap makes it an excellent choice for the detector material of a light dark matter search experiment. We compute its dielectric function using the random phase approximation and estimate the projected sensitivity for sub-MeV dark matter-electron scattering and sub-eV dark matter absorption. We show that a bilayer graphene dark matter detector can have competitive sensitivity as other candidate target materials, like a superconductor, in this mass regime. The dark matter scattering rate in bilayer graphene is also characterized by a daily modulation from the rotation of the Earth which may help us mitigate the backgrounds in a future experiment.
We present Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) Ly$\alpha$ integral field spectroscopy of the fields surrounding 14 Damped Ly$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) at $z \approx 2$. Of these 14 DLAs, 9 have high metallicities ([M/H]$~> -0.3$), and 4 of those 9 feature a CO-emitting galaxy at an impact parameter $\lesssim 30$ kpc. Our search reaches median Ly$\alpha$ line flux sensitivities of $\sim 2 \times 10^{-17}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ over apertures of $\sim6$ kpc and out to impact parameters of $\sim50$ kpc. We recover the Ly$\alpha$ flux of three known Ly$\alpha$-emitting H I-selected galaxies in our sample. In addition, we find two Ly$\alpha$ emitters at impact parameters of $\approx 50-70$ kpc from the high metallicity DLA at $z \approx 1.96$ toward QSO B0551-366. This field also contains a massive CO-emitting galaxy at an impact parameter of $\approx 15$ kpc. Apart from the field with QSO B0551-366, we do not detect significant Ly$\alpha$ emission in any of the remaining 8 high-metallicity DLA fields. Considering the depth of our observations and our ability to recover previously known Ly$\alpha$ emitters, we conclude that H I-selected galaxies associated with high-metallicity DLAs at $z \approx 2$ are dusty, and therefore might feature low Ly$\alpha$ escape fractions. Our results indicate that complementary approaches -- using Ly$\alpha$, CO, H$\alpha$, and [C II] 158$\mu$m emission -- are necessary to identify the wide range of galaxy types associated with $z \approx 2$ DLAs.
As experiment charts new territory at the electroweak scale, the enterprise to characterise all possible theories becomes all the more necessary. In the absence of new particles, this ambitious enterprise is attainable and has led to the Higgs Effective Field Theory (HEFT) as the most general characterising framework, containing the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) as a subspace. The characterisation of this theory space led to the dichotomy SMEFT vs. HEFT\SMEFT as the two possible realisations of symmetry breaking. The criterion to distinguish these two possibilities is non-local in field space, and phenomena which explore field space beyond the neighbourhood of the vacuum manifold are in a singular position to tell them apart. Cosmology allows for such phenomena, and this work focuses on HEFT\SMEFT, the less explored of the two options, to find that first order phase transitions with detectable gravitational wave remnants, domain wall formation and vacuum decay in the far, far distant future can take place and single out HEFT\SMEFT. Results in cosmology are put against LHC constraints, and the potential of future ground- and space-based experiments to cover parameter space is discussed.
The Aether-Scalar-Tensor (AeST) theory is an extension of General Relativity (GR) which can support Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) behaviour in its static weak-field limit, and cosmological evolution resembling $\Lambda$CDM. We consider static spherically symmetric weak-field solutions in this theory and show that the resulting equations can be reduced to a single equation for the gravitational potential. The reduced equation has apparent isolated singularities when the derivative of the potential passes through zero and we show how these are removed by evolving, instead, the canonical momentum of the corresponding Hamiltonian system that we find. We construct solutions in three cases: (i) vacuum outside a bounded spherical object, (ii) within an extended prescribed source, and (iii) isothermal gas in hydrostatic equilibrium, serving as a simplified model for galaxy clusters. We show that the oscillatory regime that follows the Newtonian and MOND regimes, obtained in previous works in the vacuum case, also persists for isothermal spheres, and we show that the gas density profiles in AeST may become more compressed than their Newtonian or MOND counterparts. We construct the Radial Acceleration Relation (RAR) in AeST for isothermal spheres and find that it can display a peak, an enhancement with respect to the MOND RAR, at an acceleration range determined by the value of the AeST weak-field mass parameter, the mass of the system and the boundary value of the gravitational potential. For lower accelerations, the AeST RAR drops below the MOND expectation, as if there is a negative mass density. Similar observational features of the galaxy cluster RAR have been reported. This illustrates the potential of AeST to address the shortcomings of MOND in galaxy clusters, but a full quantitative comparison with observations will require going beyond the isothermal case.
The role of unresolved structures ("mini-halos") in determining the consumption of ionizing photons during cosmic reionization remains an unsolved problem in modeling cosmic reionization, despite recent extensive studies with small-box high-resolution simulations by Park et al. and Chan et al., because the small-box studies are not able to fully sample all environments. In this paper these simulations are combined with large-box simulations from the "Cosmic Reionization On Computers" (CROC) project, allowing one to account for the full range of environments and to produce an estimate for the number of recombinations per hydrogen atom that are missed in large-scale simulations like CROC or Thesan. I find that recombinations in unresolved mini-halos are completely negligible compared to recombinations produced in large-scale cosmic structures and inside more massive, fully resolved halos. Since both Park et al. and Chan et al. studies have severe limitations, the conclusions of this paper may need to be verified with more representative sets of small-box high-resolution simulations.
We present constraints on the extended Starobinsky and Weyl gravity model of inflation using updated available observational data. The data includes cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy measurements from Planck and BICEP/Keck 2018 (BK18), as well as large-scale structure data encompassing cosmic shear and galaxy autocorrelation and cross-correlation functions measurements from Dark Energy Survey (DES), baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements from 6dF, MGS and BOSS, and distance measurements from supernovae type Ia from Pantheon+ samples. By introducing a single additional parameter, each model extends the Starobinsky model to encompass larger region of parameter space while remaining consistent with all observational data. Specifically for higher number of $e$-folding, these models extend viable range of tensor-to-scalar ratio ($r$) to very small value $r<0.001$ in contrast to the original $R^2$ Starobinsky model. In addition, our results continue to emphasize the tension in $H_0$ and $S_8$ between early-time CMB measurements and late-time large-scale structure observations.
The Tianlai cylinder pathfinder is a radio interferometer array to test 21 cm intensity mapping techniques in the post-reionization era. It works in passive drift scan mode to survey the sky visible in the northern hemisphere. To deal with the large instantaneous field of view and the spherical sky, we decompose the drift scan data into m-modes, which are linearly related to the sky intensity. The sky map is reconstructed by solving the linear interferometer equations. Due to incomplete uv coverage of the interferometer baselines, this inverse problem is usually ill-posed, and regularization method is needed for its solution. In this paper, we use simulation to investigate two frequently used regularization methods, the Truncated Singular Value Decomposition (TSVD), and the Tikhonov regularization techniques. Choosing the regularization parameter is very important for its application. We employ the generalized cross validation (GCV) method and the L-curve method to determine the optimal value. We compare the resulting maps obtained with the different regularization methods, and for the different parameters derived using the different criteria. While both methods can yield good maps for a range of regularization parameters, in the Tikhonov method the suppression of noisy modes are more gradually applied, produce more smooth maps which avoids some visual artefacts in the maps generated with the TSVD method.
Recent radio observations with Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) discovered diffuse emission extending beyond the scale of classical radio halos. The presence of such mega halos indicates that the amplification of the magnetic field and acceleration of relativistic particles are working in the cluster outskirts, presumably due to the combination of shocks and turbulence that dissipate energy in these regions. Cosmological magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of galaxy clusters suggest that solenoidal turbulence has a significant energy budget in the outskirts of galaxy clusters. In this paper, we explore the possibility that this turbulence contributes to the emission observed in mega halos through second-order Fermi acceleration of relativistic particles and the magnetic field amplification by the dynamo. We focus on the case of Abell 2255 and find that this scenario can explain the basic properties of the diffuse emission component that is observed under assumptions that are used in previous literature. More specifically, we conduct a numerical follow-up, solving the Fokker--Planck equation using a snapshot of a MHD simulation and deducing the synchrotron brightness integrated along the lines of sight. We find that a volume-filling emission, ranging between 30 and almost 100% of the projected area depending on our assumptions on the particle diffusion and transport, can be detected at LOFAR sensitivities. Assuming a magnetic field $B\sim0.2\mu$G, as derived from a dynamo model applied to the emitting region, we find that the observed brightness can be matched when $\sim$1% level of the solenoidal turbulent energy flux is channeled into particle acceleration.
An accurate reconstruction of galaxy cluster masses is key to use this population of objects as a cosmological probe. In this work we present a study on the hydrostatic-to-lensing mass scaling relation for a sample of 53 clusters whose masses were reconstructed homogeneously in a redshift range between $z= 0.05$ and $1.07$. The $M_{500}$ mass for each cluster was indeed inferred from the mass profiles extracted from the X-ray and lensing data, without using a priori observable-mass scaling relations. We assessed the systematic dispersion of the masses estimated with our reference analyses with respect to other published mass estimates. Accounting for this systematic scatter does not change our main results, but enables the propagation of the uncertainties related to the mass reconstruction method or used dataset. Our analysis gives a hydrostatic-to-lensing mass bias of $(1-b) =0.739^{+0.075}_{-0.070}$ and no evidence of evolution with redshift. These results are robust against possible subsample differences.
We develop the recipe to separate the spectral counterparts of the AGN NGC 1275 from the emission of the Perseus cluster surrounding it in the spectra observed by Suzaku/XIS cameras with no usage of the spectral fitting models. The Perseus cluster emission reaches higher energies than is typical for the most AGN-situated dense surroundings (i.e. up to 9-10 keV). That is why the separation between the AGN and cluster spectra is especially important in this case. To avoid the degeneracy due to the huge quantity of the spectral fitting parameters such as abundances of elements the cluster consists of, thermal and Compton emission of the nucleus itself, and the jet SSC/IC emission spectral parameters as well we prefer to avoid the spectral fitting usage to perform this task. Instead, we use the spatial resolution of the components and double background subtracting. For this purpose we choose the following regions to collect all the photons from them: (1) circular or square-shaped region around the source (AGN); (2) ring-shaped (or non-overlapped square) region surrounding the AGN (for cluster); (3) remote empty circular region for the background. Having collected the photons from those regions we subtract the background (i.e. photons from the third region) from the source and cluster spectra. Next, we subtract the re-normalized cluster counts from the AGN spectrum; using the relation between the emission line amplitudes in the AGN and cluster spectra as the renormalization coefficient. We have performed this procedure on the whole set of the Suzaku/XIS observational data for NGC 1275 to obtain the cleaned spectra and light curve of the AGN emission in this system.
This study explores the impact of cosmic curvature on structure formation through general relativistic first-order perturbation theory, focusing on scalar fluctuations and excluding anisotropic stress sources. We analyze continuity and Euler equations, incorporating cosmic curvature into Einstein equations. Emphasizing late-time dynamics, we investigate matter density contrast evolution in the presence of cosmic curvature and dark energy perturbations, with a specific focus on sub-Hubble scales. Solving the evolution equation, we conduct data analysis using cosmic chronometers, baryon acoustic oscillations, type Ia supernova observations, and $f\sigma_8$ data. While constraints on certain parameters remain consistent, excluding cosmic curvature tightens constraints on $\Omega_{\rm m0}$ and $\sigma_{\rm 80}$ in $\Lambda$CDM and wCDM models. Intriguingly, the non-phantom behavior of dark energy proves more favorable in both wCDM and CPL models across diverse data combinations.
In this paper, we investigate the interaction between early dark energy (EDE) and cold dark matter, proposing a Yukawa-coupled dark sector model to mitigate cosmological tensions. We utilize the EDE component in the coupled model to relieve the Hubble tension, while leveraging the interaction between dark matter and dark energy to alleviate the large-scale structure tension. The interaction takes the form of Yukawa coupling, which describes the coupling between scalar field and fermion field. We employed various cosmological datasets, including cosmic microwave background radiation, baryon acoustic oscillations, Type Ia supernovae, the local distance-ladder data (SH0ES), and the Dark Energy Survey Year-3 data, to analyze our novel model. Using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, our findings reveal that the constrained value of $H_0$ obtained from our new model at a 68\% confidence level is $72.21^{+0.82}_{-0.69}$ km/s/Mpc, effectively resolving the Hubble tension. Similar to the EDE model, the coupled model yields the $S_8$ value that still surpasses the result of the $\Lambda$CDM model. Nevertheless, the best-fit value of $S_8$ obtained from our new model is 0.817, which is lower than the EDE model's result of 0.8316. Consequently, although our model fails to fully resolve the large-scale structure tension, it mitigates the adverse effect of the original EDE model.
Inflationary and bouncing scenarios are two frameworks that provide the mechanism to overcome the horizon problem as well as generate the primordial perturbations. In this work, we investigate the conservation of perturbations in single-field models of both inflationary and bouncing scenarios, where the quantity, $z = a \, \rm d \phi/{\rm d}\log a$, with $a$ representing the scale factor and $\phi$ denoting the scalar field, decreases with time. We observe that this behaviour occurs during the ultra-slow-roll phase in the context of inflation and the contracting phase in the context of bounce. We show that the conjugate momentum associated with the comoving curvature perturbation during both the ultra-slow-roll phase and the contracting phase of bouncing scenarios is conserved in the super-Hubble limit. We illustrate that, within the framework of inflation, this conservation of momentum allows for the evolution of perturbations across the ultra-slow-roll phase, enabling the calculation of the power spectrum for modes that exit the Hubble radius before the ultra-slow-roll phase begins. Similarly, in the context of a bounce, we can determine the power spectrum after the bounce using this method. We support our approach with both numerical and analytical arguments.
The epoch of hydrogen reionization is complete by $z=5$, but its progression at higher redshifts is uncertain. Measurements of Ly$\alpha$ forest opacity show large scatter at $z<6$, suggestive of spatial fluctuations in neutral fraction ($x_\mathrm{HI}$), temperature, or ionizing background, either individually or in combination. However, these effects are degenerate, necessitating modeling these physics in tandem in order to properly interpret the observations. We begin this process by developing a framework for modeling the reionization history and associated temperature fluctuations, with the intention of incorporating ionizing background fluctuations at a later time. To do this, we generate several reionization histories using semi-numerical code AMBER, selecting histories with volume-weighted neutral fractions that adhere to the observed CMB optical depth and dark pixel fractions. Implementing these histories in the \texttt{Nyx} cosmological hydrodynamics code, we examine the evolution of gas within the simulation, and the associated metrics of the Ly$\alpha$ forest opacity. We find that the pressure smoothing scale within the IGM is strongly correlated with the adiabatic index of the temperature-density relation. We find that while models with 20,000 K photoheating at reionization are better able to reproduce the shape of the observed $z=5$ 1D flux power spectrum than those with 10,000 K, they fail to match the highest wavenumbers. The simulated autocorrelation function and optical depth distributions are systematically low and narrow, respectively, compared to the observed values, but are in better agreement when the reionization history is longer in duration, more symmetric in its distribution of reionization redshifts, or if there are remaining neutral regions at $z<6$. The systematically low variance likely requires the addition of a fluctuating UVB.
Type-II seesaw leptogenesis is a model that integrates inflation, baryon number asymmetry, and neutrino mass simultaneously. It employs the Affleck-Dine mechanism to generate lepton asymmetry, with the Higgs bosons serving as the inflaton. Previous studies assumed inflation to occur in a valley of the potential, employing the single-field approximation. In this work, we explore an alternative scenario for the type-II seesaw leptogenesis, where the inflation takes place along a ridge of the potential. Firstly, we conduct a comprehensive numerical calculation in the canonical scenario, where inflation occurs in a valley, confirming the effectiveness of the single-field approximation. Then, we introduce a novel scenario wherein inflation initiates along the potential's ridge and transitions to the valley in the late stages. In this case, the single-field inflation approximation is no longer valid, yet leptogenesis is still successfully achieved. We find that this scenario can generate a significant non-Gaussianity signature, offering testable predictions for future experiments.
Recent observations from several pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations have unveiled compelling evidence for a stochastic signal in the nanohertz band. This signal aligns remarkably with a gravitational wave (GW) background, potentially originating from the first-order color charge confinement phase transition. Distinct quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matters, such as quarks or gluons, and diverse phase transition processes thereof can yield disparate GW energy density spectra. In this letter, employing the Bayesian analysis on the NANOGrav 15-year data set, we explore the compatibility with the observed PTA signal of the GW from phase transitions of various QCD matter scenarios in the framework of the holographic QCD. We find that the PTA signal can be effectively explained by the GW from the confinement-deconfinement phase transition of pure quark systems in a hard wall model of the holographic QCD where the bubble dynamics, one important source of the GWs, is of the Jouguet detonations. Notably, our analysis decisively rules out the plausibility of the pure gluon QCD-matter scenario and the non-runaway bubble dynamics model for the phase transition in explaining the observed PTA signal.
I briefly discuss the current state of the Planes of Satellite Galaxies Problem in light of some new observational data for satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, Andromeda, Centaurus A, and other systems beyond the Local Group. In particular, I present how a new proper motion measurment for Leo I enhances the overall orbital coherence among the MW's classical satellites and thus its tension with cosmological expectations.
We evaluate the effectiveness of Early Dark Energy (EDE) in addressing the Hubble tension using data from the completed eBOSS survey, focusing on luminous red galaxies (LRGs), quasars (QSOs), and emission line galaxies (ELGs). We perform cosmological parameter measurements based on full shape analysis of the power spectrum of all three tracers. We conduct this full shape analysis with the effective field theory of large-scale structure (EFTofLSS). EDE is known to strongly suffer from volume projection effects, which makes the interpretation of cosmological constraints challenging. To quantify the volume projection effects within an EDE full shape analysis, we explore the impact of different prior choices on the nuisance parameters of EFTofLSS through an extensive mock study. We compare classical Gaussian priors to the non-informative Jeffreys prior, known to mitigate volume projection effects in $\Lambda$CDM. Our full shape analysis combines eBOSS and BOSS data with Planck, external Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO), PantheonPlus, and SH0ES supernova data. EDE demonstrates to reduce the tension from $5.2\sigma$ to $3\sigma$ compared to $\Lambda$CDM. The derived values at a 68\% credible interval with Gaussian and Jeffreys priors are $H_0=71.73_{-0.86}^{+0.82}$ km/s/Mpc with $f_\mathrm{EDE} = 0.1179_{-0.022}^{+0.025}$ and $H_0=72.03_{-0.87}^{+0.82}$ km/s/Mpc with $f_\mathrm{EDE} = 0.1399_{-0.022}^{+0.023}$, respectively. Although the Hubble tension is mitigated compared to $\Lambda$CDM, the inclusion of eBOSS data amplifies the tension within EDE from $2\sigma$ to $3\sigma$, in contrast to the full shape analysis of BOSS data with Planck, external BAO, PantheonPlus, and SH0ES. This highlights the significance of incorporating additional large-scale structure data in discussions concerning models aiming to resolve the Hubble tension.
Following the first science results of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber operating from the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota, USA, we report the initial limits on a model-independent non-relativistic effective field theory describing the complete set of possible interactions of a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) with a nucleon. These results utilize the same 5.5 t fiducial mass and 60 live days of exposure collected for the LZ spin-independent and spin-dependent analyses while extending the upper limit of the energy region of interest by a factor of 7.5 to 270~keV$_\text{nr}$. No significant excess in this high energy region is observed. Using a profile-likelihood ratio analysis, we report 90% confidence level exclusion limits on the coupling of each individual non-relativistic WIMP-nucleon operators for both elastic and inelastic interactions in the isoscalar and isovector bases.
The latest improvements in the scale and calibration of Type Ia supernovae catalogues allow us to constrain the specific nature and evolution of dark energy through its effect on the expansion history of the universe. We present the results of Bayesian cosmological model comparison on the SNe~Ia catalogue Pantheon+, where Flat $\Lambda$CDM is preferred by the data over all other models and we find moderate evidence ($\Delta \log \mathcal{Z} \sim 2.5$) to reject a number of the alternate dark energy models. The effect of peculiar velocity corrections on model comparison is analysed, where we show that removing the peculiar velocity corrections results in a varying fit on non-$\Lambda$CDM parameters. As well as comparing cosmological models, the Bayesian methodology is extended to comparing the scatter model of the data, testing for non-gaussianity in the Pantheon+ Hubble residuals. We find that adding a scale parameter to the Pantheon+ covariances, or alternately using a multivariate Student's t-distribution fits the data better than the fiducial analysis, producing a cosmology independent evidence increase of $\Delta \log \mathcal{Z} = 2.29 $ and $2.46$ respectively. This improved treatment of the scatter decreases the uncertainty in the constraint on the Hubble constant, finding $H_0 = 73.67 \pm 0.99 $ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, in $ 5.7 \sigma$ tension with Planck. We also explore $M_B$ transition models as a potential solution for the Hubble tension, finding no evidence to support these models among the SNe data.
With the advent of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), extra-galactic source count studies were conducted down to sub-microJy in the mid-infrared (MIR), which is several tens of times fainter than what the previous-generation infrared (IR) telescopes achieved in the MIR. In this work, we aim to interpret the JWST source counts and constrain cosmic star-formation history (CSFH) and black hole accretion history (BHAH). We employ the backward evolution of local luminosity functions (LLFs) of galaxies to reproduce the observed source counts from sub-microJy to a few tens of mJy in the MIR bands of the JWST. The shapes of the LLFs at the MIR bands are determined using the model templates of the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for five representative galaxy types (star-forming galaxies, starbursts, composite, AGN type 2 and 1). By simultaneously fitting our model to all the source counts in the six MIR bands, along with the previous results, we determine the best-fit evolutions of MIR LFs for each of the five galaxy types, and subsequently estimate the CSFH and BHAH. Thanks to the JWST, our estimates are based on several tens of times fainter MIR sources, the existence of which was merely an extrapolation in previous studies.
We examine various exact solutions in "Cotton Gravity" (CG), a new gravity theory that provides an extension of General Relativity (GR) based on the Cotton tensor. Using an alternative formulation of the field equations in terms of a Codazzi tensor, we obtain various non-trivial CG exact solutions that generalize known GR solutions: FLRW cosmologies, Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) and Szekeres dust solutions, as well as static perfect fluid spheres and solutions with a shear-free 4 velocity. We show that CG modifies the spatial curvature of the nonstatic GR solutions. Demanding a well posed initial value formulation keeps the same dynamics of FLRW models of GR, but with the cosmological constant interpreted as constant spatial curvature. In other solutions the modification of spatial curvature allows for self-consistent significant changes in the dynamics, an time and spece dependent evolution from decelerated to accelerated expansion driven by negative spatial curvature and without necessarily assuming a dark energy source or imposing a cosmological constant. The $\Lambda$CDM model naturally emerges as the unique FLRW dust model of CG with constant negative spatial curvature. Static fluid spheres in the weak field regime of CG allow for modeling the flattening of rotation velocities in galactic systems without assuming dark matter. The methods we have presented can be improved to be able to obtain more general solutions that will facilitate the application of CG to current open problems in gravitational systems in general.
In this work, we reconstruct the cosmological unified dark fluid model proposed previously by Elkhateeb \cite{Elkhateeb:2017oqy} in the framework of $f(R)$ gravity. Utilizing the equivalence between the scalar-tensor theory and the $f(R)$ gravity theory, the scalar field for the dark fluid is obtained, whence the $f(R)$ function is extracted and its viability is discussed. The $f(R)$ functions and the scalar field potentials have then been extracted in the early and late times of asymptotically de Sitter spacetime. The ability of our function to describe early time inflation is also tested. The early time scalar field potential is used to derive the slow roll inflation parameters. Our results of the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ and the scalar spectral index $n_s$ are in good agreement with results from Planck-2018 TT+TE+EE+lowE data for the model parameter $m > 2$.
An enormous number of compact binary systems, spanning from stellar to supermassive levels, emit substantial gravitational waves during their final evolutionary stages, thereby creating a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB). We calculate the merger rates of stellar compact binaries and massive black hole binaries using a semi-analytic galaxy formation model -- Galaxy Assembly with Binary Evolution (GABE) in a unified and self-consistent approach, followed by an estimation of the multi-band SGWB contributed by those systems. We find that the amplitudes of the principal peaks of the SGWB energy density are within one order of magnitude $\Omega_{GW} \sim 10^{-9}- 10^{-8}$. This SGWB could easily be detected by the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), as well as planned interferometric detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope (ET) and the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The energy density of this background varies as $\Omega_{GW} \propto f^{2/3}$ in SKA band. The shape of the SGWB spectrum in the frequency range $\sim[10^{-4}$,$1]$Hz could allow the LISA to distinguish the black hole seed models. The amplitude of the SGWB from merging stellar binary black holes (BBHs) at $\sim 100$ Hz is approximately 10 and 100 times greater than those from merging binary neutron stars (BNSs) and neutron-star-black-hole (NSBH) mergers, respectively. Note that, since the cosmic star formation rate density predicted by GABE is somewhat lower than observational results by $\sim 0.2$ dex at z < $\sim 2$, the amplitude of the SGWB in the frequency range $\sim[1$, $10^{4}]$ Hz may be underestimated by a similar factor at most.
We investigate the relation between quantum nonlocality and gravity at the astrophysical scale, both in the classical and quantum regimes. Considering particle pairs orbiting in the strong gravitational field of ultra-compact objects, we find that the violation of Bell inequality acquires an angular modulation factor that strongly depends on the nature of the gravitational source. We show how such gravitationally-induced modulation of quantum nonlocality readily discriminates between black holes (both classical and inclusive of quantum corrections) and string fuzzballs, i.e., the true quantum description of ultra-compact objects according to string theory. These findings promote Bell nonlocality as a potentially key tool in comparing different models of classical and quantum gravity and putting them to the test.
In Khadka et al. (2023), a sample of X-ray-detected reverberation-mapped quasars was presented and applied for the comparison of cosmological constraints inferred using two well-established relations in AGN -- the X-ray/UV luminosity ($L_{X}-L_{UV}$) relation and the broad-line region radius-luminosity ($R-L$) relation. $L_{X}-L_{UV}$ and $R-L$ luminosity distances to the same quasars exhibit a distribution of their differences that is generally asymmetric and positively shifted for the six cosmological models we consider. We demonstrate that this behaviour can be interpreted qualitatively to arise as a result of the dust extinction of UV/X-ray quasar emission. We show that the extinction always contributes to the non-zero difference between $L_{X}-L_{UV}$-based and $R-L$-based luminosity distances and we derive a linear relationship between the X-ray/UV colour index $E_{X-UV}$ and the luminosity-distance difference, which also depends on the value of the $L_{X}-L_{UV}$ relation slope. Taking into account the median and the peak values of the luminosity-distance difference distributions, the average X-ray/UV colour index falls in the range of $\overline{E}_{X-UV}=0.03-0.28$ mag for the current sample of 58 sources. This amount of extinction is typical for the majority of quasars and it can be attributed to the circumnuclear and interstellar media of host galaxies. After applying the standard hard X-ray and far-UV extinction cuts, heavily extincted sources are removed but overall the shift towards positive values persists. The effect of extinction on luminosity distances is more pronounced for the $L_{X}-L_{UV}$ relation since the extinction of UV and X-ray emissions both contribute.
The determination of the mass of galaxy clusters from observations is subject to systematic uncertainties. Beyond the errors due to instrumental and observational systematic effects, in this work we investigate the bias introduced by modelling assumptions. In particular, we consider the reconstruction of the mass of galaxy clusters from convergence maps employing spherical mass density models. We made use of The Three Hundred simulations, selecting clusters in the same redshift and mass range as the NIKA2 Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Large Programme sample: $3 \leq M_{500}/ 10^{14} \mathrm{M}_{\odot} \leq 10$ and $0.5 \leq z \leq 0.9$. We studied different modelling and intrinsic uncertainties that should be accounted for when using the single cluster mass estimates for scaling relations. We confirm that the orientation of clusters and the radial ranges considered for the fit have an important impact on the mass bias. The effect of the projection adds uncertainties to the order of $10\%$ to $16\%$ to the mass estimates. We also find that the scatter from cluster to cluster in the mass bias when using spherical mass models is less than $9\%$ of the true mass of the clusters.
We present a new self-consistent semi-analytic model of the first stars and galaxies to explore the high-redshift ($z{>}15$) Population III (PopIII) and metal-enriched star formation histories. Our model includes the detailed merger history of dark matter halos generated with Monte Carlo merger trees. We calibrate the minimum halo mass for PopIII star formation from recent hydrodynamical cosmological simulations that simultaneously include the baryon-dark matter streaming velocity, Lyman-Werner (LW) feedback, and molecular hydrogen self-shielding. We find an overall increase in the resulting star formation rate density (SFRD) compared to calibrations based on previous simulations (e.g., the PopIII SFRD is over an order of magnitude higher at $z=35-15$). We evaluate the effect of the halo-to-halo scatter in this critical mass and find that it increases the PopIII stellar mass density by a factor of ${\sim}1.5$ at $z{>}15$. Additionally, we assess the impact of various semi-analytic/analytic prescriptions for halo assembly and star formation previously adopted in the literature. For example, we find that models assuming smooth halo growth computed via abundance matching predict SFRDs similar to the merger tree model for our fiducial model parameters, but that they may underestimate the PopIII SFRD in cases of strong LW feedback. Finally, we simulate sub-volumes of the Universe with our model both to quantify the reduction in total star formation in numerical simulations due to a lack of density fluctuations on spatial scales larger than the simulation box, and to determine spatial fluctuations in SFRD due to the diversity in halo abundances and merger histories.
A new and promising avenue was recently developed for analyzing large-scale structure data with a model-independent approach, in which the linear power spectrum shape is parametrized with a large number of freely varying wavebands rather than by assuming specific cosmological models. We call this method FreePower. Here we show, using a Fisher matrix approach, that precision of this method for the case of the one-loop power spectrum is greatly improved with the inclusion of the tree-level bispectrum. We also show that accuracy can be similarly improved by employing perturbation theory kernels whose structure is entirely determined by symmetries instead of evolution equations valid in particular models (like in the usual Einstein-deSitter approximation). The main result is that with the Euclid survey one can precisely measure the Hubble function, distance and ($k$-independent) growth rate $f(z)$ in seven redshift bins in the range $z\in [0.6,\, 2.0]$. The typical errors for the lowest $z$bins are around 1\% (for $H$), 0.5--1\% (for $D$), and 1--3\% (for $f$). The use of general perturbation theory allows us, for the first time, to study constraints on the nonlinear kernels of cosmological perturbations, that is, beyond the linear growth factor, showing that they can be probed at the 10--20\% level. We find that the combination of spectrum and bispectrum is particularly effective in constraining the perturbation parameters, both at linear and quadratic order.
We study the perturbations up to the 2nd-order for a power-law inflation driven by a scalar field in synchronous coordinates. We present the 1st-order solutions, and analytically solve the 2nd-order perturbed Einstein equation and scalar field equation, give the 2nd-order solutions for all the scalar, vector, and tensor metric perturbations, as well as the perturbed scalar field. During inflation, the 1st-order tensor perturbation is a wave and is decoupled from other perturbations, the scalar metric perturbation and the perturbed scalar field are coupled waves, propagating at the speed of light, differing from those in the dust and relativistic fluid models. The 1st-order vector perturbation is not wave and just decreases during inflation. The 2nd-order perturbed Einstein equation is similar in structure to the 1st-order one, but various products of the 1st-order perturbations occur as the effective source, among which the scalar-scalar coupling is considered in this paper. The solutions of all the 2nd-order perturbations consist of a homogeneous part similar to the 1st-order solutions, and an inhomogeneous part in a form of integrations of the effective source. The 2nd-order vector perturbation is also a wave since the effective source is composed of the 1st-order waves. We perform the residual gauge transformations between synchronous coordinates up to the 2nd-order, and identify the 1st-order and 2nd-order gauge modes.
In this study, we perform a halo-finder code comparison between Rockstar and CompaSO. Based on our previous analysis aiming at quantifying resolution of $N$-body simulations by exploiting large (up to $N=4096^3$) simulations of scale-free cosmologies run using Abacus, we focus on convergence of the HMF, 2PCF and mean radial pairwise velocities of halo centres selected with the aforementioned two algorithms. We establish convergence, for both Rockstar and CompaSO, of mass functions at the $1\%$ precision level and of the mean pairwise velocities (and also 2PCF) at the $2\%$ level. At small scales and small masses, we find that Rockstar exhibits greater self-similarity, and we also highlight the role played by the merger-tree post-processing of CompaSO halos on their convergence. Finally, we give resolution limits expressed as a minimum particle number per halo in a form that can be directly extrapolated to LCDM.
Fuzzy dark matter (FDM) has dynamical properties that differ significantly from cold dark matter (CDM). These dynamical differences are strongly manifested on the spatial scale of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs), which roughly corresponds to the de Broglie wavelength of a canonical mass FDM particle. We study simulations of a dSph satellite which is tidally perturbed by its host galaxy, in order to identify dynamical signatures that are unique to FDM, and to quantify the imprints of such perturbations on an observable stellar tracer population. We find that a perturbed FDM soliton develops a long-standing breathing mode, whereas for CDM such a breathing mode quickly phase-mixes and disappears. We also demonstrate that such signatures become imprinted on the dynamics of a stellar tracer population, making them observable with sufficiently precise astrometric measurements.
The recent launch of JWST has ushered in a new era of high-redshift astronomy by providing detailed insights into the gas and stellar populations of galaxies in the epoch of reionization. Interpreting these observations and translating them into constraints on the physics of early galaxy formation is a complex challenge that requires sophisticated models of star formation and the interstellar medium (ISM) in high-redshift galaxies. To this end, we present Version 1 of the Sphinx$^{20}$ public data release. Sphinx$^{20}$ is a full box cosmological radiation hydrodynamics simulation that simultaneously models the large-scale process of cosmic reionization and the detailed physics of a multiphase ISM, providing a statistical sample of galaxies akin to those currently being observed by JWST. The data set contains $\sim14,000$ mock images and spectra of the stellar continuum, nebular continuum, and 52 nebular emission lines, including Ly$\alpha$, for each galaxy in Sphinx$^{20}$ with a star formation rate $\geq0.3\ {\rm M_{\odot}\ yr^{-1}}$. All galaxy emission has been processed with dust radiative transfer and/or resonant line radiative transfer, and data is provided for ten viewing angles for each galaxy. Additionally, we provide a comprehensive set of intrinsic galaxy properties, including halo masses, stellar masses, star formation histories, and ISM characteristics (e.g., metallicity, ISM gas densities, LyC escape fractions). This paper outlines the data generation methods, presents a comparative analysis with JWST ERS and Cycle 1 observations, and addresses data set limitations. The Sphinx$^{20}$ data release can be downloaded at the following URL: https://github.com/HarleyKatz/SPHINX-20-data
We consider F-term hybrid inflation and supersymmetry breaking in the context of a model which largely respects a global U(1) R symmetry. The Kaehler potential parameterizes the Kaehler manifold with an enhanced U(1)x(SU(1,1)/U(1)) symmetry, where the scalar curvature of the second factor is determined by the achievement of a supersymmetry-breaking de Sitter vacuum without ugly tuning. The magnitude of the emergent soft tadpole term for the inflaton can be adjusted in the range (1.2-460) TeV -- increasing with the dimensionality of the representation of the waterfall fields -- so that the inflationary observables are in agreement with the observational requirements. The mass scale of the supersymmetric partners turns out to lie in the region (0.09-253) PeV which is compatible with high-scale supersymmetry and the results of LHC on the Higgs boson mass. The mu parameter can be generated by conveniently applying the Giudice-Masiero mechanism and assures the out-of-equilibrium decay of the R saxion at a low reheat temperature Trh<~163 GeV.
We provide a complementary nested sampling analysis for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope lensing data release 6. This allows the quantification of global consistency statistics between ACT lensing and alternative datasets. In the context of flat $\Lambda$CDM, we find no inconsistency between ACT, Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations, Planck anisotropies, weak lensing datasets, or NPIPE lensing. As part of our analysis, we also investigate the effect of the prior widths used in the ACT analysis and find that the headline results are quantitatively but not qualitatively affected by the chosen priors. We use both Bayes factors and the suspiciousness statistic to quantify the possibility of tension, and find suspiciousness unsuitable in the case of strong agreement between ACT DR6 and NPIPE. Nested sampling provides a competitive alternative to Metropolis Hastings and we recommend it be used alongside existing analyses. We release the chains and plotting source for the analysis using anesthetic.
We use JWST/MIRI MRS spectroscopy of a sample of six local obscured type 1.9/2 active galactic nuclei (AGN) to compare their nuclear mid-IR absorption bands with the level of nuclear obscuration traced by X-rays. This study is the first to use sub-arcsecond angular resolution data of local obscured AGN to investigate the nuclear mid-IR absorption bands with a wide wavelength coverage (4.9-28.1 $\mu$m). All the nuclei show the 9.7 $\mu$m silicate band in absorption. We compare the strength of the 9.7 and 18 $\mu$m silicate features with torus model predictions. The observed silicate features are generally well explained by clumpy and smooth torus models. We report the detection of the 6 $\mu$m dirty water ice band (i.e., a mix of water and other molecules such as CO and CO$_2$) at sub-arcsecond scales ($\sim$0.26 arcsec at 6 $\mu$m; inner $\sim$50 pc) in a sample of local AGN with different levels of nuclear obscuration in the range log N$_{\rm H}^{\rm X-Ray}$(cm$^{-2}$)$\sim22-25$. We find a good correlation between the 6 $\mu$m water ice optical depths and N$_{\rm H}^{\rm X-Ray}$. This result indicates that the water ice absorption might be a reliable tracer of the nuclear intrinsic obscuration in AGN. The weak water ice absorption in less obscured AGN (log N$_H^{X-ray}$ (cm$^{-2}$)$\lesssim$23.0 cm$^{-2}$) might be related to the hotter dust temperature ($>$T$_{sub}^{H_2O}\sim$110 K) expected to be reached in the outer layers of the torus due to their more inhomogeneous medium. Our results suggest it might be necessary to include the molecular content, such as, H$_2$O, aliphatic hydrocarbons (CH-) and more complex PAH molecules in torus models to better constrain key parameters such as the torus covering factor (i.e. nuclear obscuration).
Our work highlights the crucial role played by the equation of state (EoS) parameter $w$ within the context of single field inflation with Multiple Sharp Transitions (MSTs) to untangle the current state of the PBH overproduction issue. We examine the situation for a broad interval of EoS parameter that remains most favourable to explain the recent data released by the pulsar timing array (PTA) collaboration. Our analysis yields the interval, $0.2 \leq w \leq 1/3$, to be the most acceptable window from the SIGW interpretation of the PTA signal and where sizeable PBHs abundance, $f_{\rm PBH} \in (10^{-3},1)$, is observed. We also obtain $w=1/3$, radiation-dominated era, to be the best scenario to explain the early stages of the Universe and address the overproduction problem. Within the range of $1 \leq c_{s} \leq 1.17$, we construct a regularized-renormalized-resummed scalar power spectrum whose amplitude obeys the perturbativity criterion while being substantial enough to generate EoS dependent scalar induced gravitational waves ($w$-SIGWs) consistent with NANOGrav-15 data. Working for both $c_{s} = 1\;{\rm and}\;1.17$, we find the $c_{s}=1.17$ case more favourable for generating large mass PBHs, $M_{\rm PBH}\sim {\cal O}(10^{-6}-10^{-3})M_{\odot}$, as potential dark matter candidates with substantial abundance after constraints coming from microlensing experiments.
The standard cosmological model, the $\Lambda$CDM model, is the most suitable description for our universe. This framework can explain the accelerated expansion phase of the universe but still is not immune to open problems when it comes to the comparison with observations. One of the most critical issues is the so-called Hubble constant ($H_0$) tension, namely, the difference of about $5\sigma$ as an average between the value of $H_0$ estimated locally and the cosmological value measured from the Last Scattering Surface. The value of this tension changes from 4 to 6 $\sigma$ according to the data used. The current analysis explores the $H_0$ tension in the \textit{Pantheon} sample (PS) of SNe Ia. Through the division of the PS in 3 and 4 bins, the value of $H_0$ is estimated for each bin and all the values are fitted with a decreasing function of the redshift ($z$). Remarkably, $H_0$ undergoes a slow decreasing evolution with $z$, having an evolutionary coefficient compatible with zero up to $5.8\sigma$. If this trend is not caused by hidden astrophysical biases or $z$-selection effects, then the $f(R)$ modified theories of gravity represent a valid model for explaining such a trend.
The astrophysical formation channels of binary black hole systems predict correlations between their mass, spin, and redshift distributions, which can be probed with gravitational-wave observations. Population-level analysis of the latest LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA catalog of binary black hole mergers has identified evidence for such correlations assuming linear evolution of the mean and width of the effective spin distribution as a function of the binary mass ratio and merger redshift. However, the complex astrophysical processes at play in compact binary formation do not necessarily predict linear relationships between the distributions of these parameters. In this work, we relax the assumption of linearity and instead search for correlations using a more flexible cubic spline model. Our results suggest a nonlinear correlation between the width of the effective spin distribution and redshift. We also show that the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra collaborations may find convincing Bayesian evidence for nonlinear correlations by the end of the fourth observing run, O4. This highlights the valuable role of flexible models in population analyses of compact-object binaries in the era of growing catalogs.
GRB 230307A is the second brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever detected over 50 years of observations and has a long duration in the prompt emission. Two galaxies are found to be close to the position of GRB 230307A: 1) a distant ($z \sim 3.87$) star-forming galaxy, located at an offset of $\sim 0.2\operatorname{-}0.3$ arcsec from the GRB position (with a projected distance of $\sim 1\operatorname{-}2 \, \rm kpc$); 2) a nearby ($z= 0.065$) spiral galaxy, located at an offset of 30 arcsec (with a projected distance of $\sim 40 \, \rm kpc$). Though it has been found that the brightest GRBs are readily detected in GeV emission by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), we find no GeV afterglow emission from GRB 230307A. Combining this with the optical and X-ray afterglow data, we find that a circum-burst density as low as $\sim 10^{-5} \operatorname{-} 10^{-4}~{\rm cm^{-3}}$ is needed to explain the non-detection of GeV emission and the multi-wavelength afterglow data, regardless of the redshift of this GRB. Such a low-density disfavors the association of GRB 230307A with the high-redshift star-forming galaxy, since the proximity of the GRB position to this galaxy would imply a higher-density environment. Instead, the low-density medium is consistent with the circumgalactic medium, which agrees with the large offset between GRB 230307A and the low-redshift galaxy. This points to the compact stellar merger origin for GRB 230307A, consistent with the detection of an associated kilonova.
Variability is a prominent observational feature of blazars. The high-energy radiation mechanism of jets has always been important but still unclear. In this work, we performed a detailed analysis using Fermi-LAT data across 15 years and obtained GeV light curve information for 78 TeV blazars detected by Fermi. We provided annual GeV fluxes and corresponding spectral indices for the 78 TeV blazars and thorough monthly GeV fluxes for a subsample of 41 bright blazars. Our results suggest a strong correlation between the ${\gamma}$-ray photon index and $\log L_{\rm \gamma}$ for the flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and high-energy-peaked BL Lacs (HBLs). 14 sources in our sample show significant GeV outbursts/flares above the relatively stable, low-flux light curve, with 6 of them showing a clear sharp peak profile in their 5-day binned light curves. We quantified the variability utilizing the fractional variability parameter $F_{\mathrm{var}}$, and found that the flux of the FSRQs showed significantly stronger variability than that of the BL Lacs. The 41 bright blazars in this work are best fit by a log-normal flux distribution. We checked the spectral behavior and found 11 out of the 14 sources show a 'bluer-when-brighter (BWB)' trend, suggesting this spectral behavior for these TeV blazars at the GeV band arises from the mechanism that the synchrotron-self Compton (SSC) process dominates the GeV emission. Our research offers a systematic analysis of the GeV variability properties of TeV blazars and serves as a helpful resource for further associated blazar studies.
The energy spectra of particles produced from dark matter (DM) annihilation or decay are one of the fundamental ingredients to calculate the predicted fluxes of cosmic rays and radiation searched for in indirect DM detection. We revisit the calculation of the source spectra for annihilating and decaying DM using the Vincia shower algorithm in Pythia to include QED and QCD final state radiation and diagrams for the Electroweak (EW) corrections with massive bosons, not present in the default Pythia shower model. We take into account the spin information of the particles during the entire EW shower and the off-shell contributions from massive gauge bosons. Furthermore, we perform a dedicated tuning of the Vincia and Pythia parameters to LEP data on the production of pions, photons, and hyperons at the $Z$ resonance and discuss the underlying uncertainties. To enable the use of our results in DM studies, we provide the tabulated source spectra for the most relevant cosmic messenger particles, namely antiprotons, positrons, $\gamma$ rays and the three neutrino flavors, for all the fermionic and bosonic channels and DM masses between 5 GeV and 100 TeV, on https://github.com/ajueid/CosmiXs.git.
In the first three observation runs, ground-based gravitational wave (GW) detectors have observed close to 100 compact binary coalescence (CBC) events. The GW detection rates for CBCs are expected to increase with improvements in the sensitivity of the International Gravitational-Wave Observatory Network (IGWN). However, with improved sensitivity, non-Gaussian instrumental transients or ``glitches'' are expected to adversely affect GW searches and characterisation algorithms. The most detrimental effect is due to short-duration glitches, which mimic the morphology of short-duration GW transients, in particular Intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) binaries. They can be easily misidentified as astrophysical signals by current searches, and if included in astrophysical analyses, glitches mislabelled as IMBH binaries can affect IMBH population studies. In this work, we introduce a new similarity metric that quantifies the consistency of astrophysical parameters across the detector network and helps to distinguish between IMBH binaries and short-duration, loud glitches which mimic such binaries. We develop this method using a simulated set of IMBH binary signals and a collection of noise transients identified during the third observing run of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors.
We present results of the search for hard X-ray/soft $\gamma$-ray emission in coincidence with publicly reported (via Transient Name Server, TNS; this http URL) fast radio bursts (FRBs). The search was carried out using continuous Konus-Wind data with 2.944 s time resolution. We perform a targeted search for each individual burst from 581 FRBs, along with a stacking analysis of the bursts from 8 repeating sources in our sample and a separate stacking analysis of the bursts from the non-repeating FRBs. We find no significant associations in either case. We report upper bounds on the hard X-ray (20 - 1500 keV) flux assuming four spectral models, which generally describe spectra of short and long GRBs, magnetar giant flares, and the short burst, coincident with FRB 200428 from a Galactic magnetar. Depending on the spectral model, our upper bounds are in the range of $(0.1 - 2) \times10^{-6}$ erg cm$^{-2}$. For 18 FRBs with known distances we present upper bounds on the isotropic equivalent energy release and peak luminosity. For the nearest FRB 200120E, we derive the most stringent upper bounds of $E_{\text{iso}}\leq$2.0 $\times 10^{44}$ erg and $L_{\text{iso}}\leq$1.2 $\times 10^{44}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Furthermore, we report lower bounds on radio-to-gamma-ray fluence ratio $E_{\text{radio}}/E_{\text{iso}} \geq 10^{-11}-10^{-9}$ and compare our results with previously reported searches and theoretical predictions for high-energy counterparts to FRBs.
While the GeV $\gamma$-ray emission of starburst galaxies (SBG) is commonly thought to arise from hadronic interactions between accelerated cosmic rays and interstellar gas, the origin of the TeV $\gamma$-ray emission is more uncertain. One possibility is that a population of pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) in these galaxies could be responsible for the TeV $\gamma$-ray emission. In this work, we first synthesize a PWNe population in the Milky Way, and assessed their contribution to the $\gamma$-ray emission of the Galaxy, using a time-dependent model to calculate the evolution of the PWN population. Such synthetic PWN population can reproduce the flux distribution of identified PWNe in the Milky Way given a distribution of the initial state of the pulsar population. We then apply it to starburst galaxies and quantitatively calculate the spectral energy distribution of all PWNe in the SBG NGC 253 and M82. We propose that TeV $\gamma$-ray emission in starburst galaxies can be dominated by PWNe for a wide range of parameter space. The energetic argument requires that $\eta_e \times v_{\rm SN} > 0.01 {\rm yr}^{-1}$, where $\eta_e$ is the fraction the spin-down energy going to electrons and $v_{\rm SN}$ is the supernova rate. By requiring the synchrotron emission flux of all PWNe in the galaxy not exceeding the hard X-ray measurement of NGC 253, we constrain the initial magnetic field strength of PWNe to be $< 400 \mu$G. Future observations at higher energies with LHAASO or next-generation neutrino observatory IceCube-Gen2 will help us to understand better the origin of the TeV $\gamma$-ray emission in SBGs.
In this work, we study the impact of the environment around a black hole in detail. We introduce non-vanishing radial pressure in a manner analogous to compact stars. We examine both isotropic and anisotropic fluid configurations with and without radial pressure respectively. Our focus extends beyond just dark matter density to the vital role of the energy condition and sound speed in the spacetime of a black hole immersed in matter. In cases of anisotropic pressure with vanishing radial pressure, all profiles violate the dominant energy condition near the BH, and the tangential sound speed exceeds light speed for all dark matter profiles. In our second approach, without assuming vanishing radial pressure, we observe similar violations and superluminal sound speeds. To rectify this, we introduce a hard cutoff for the sound speed, ensuring it remains subluminal. As a consequence, the energy condition is also satisfied. However, this results in increased density and pressure near the BH. This raises questions about the sound speed and its impact on the density structure, as well as questions about the validity of the model itself. With the matter distribution, we also compute the metric for different configurations. It reveals sensitivity to the profile structure. The metric components point towards the horizon structure.
The TeV observations of GRB~221009A provided us with a unique opportunity to analyze the contemporaneous phase in which both prompt and afterglow emissions are seen simultaneously. To describe this initial phase of Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows, we suggest a model for a blast wave with an intermittent energy supply. We treat the blast wave as a two-element structure. The central engine supplies energy to the inner part (shocked ejecta material) via the reverse shock. As the shocked ejecta material expands, its internal energy is transferred to the shocked external matter. We take into account the inertia of the shocked external material so that the pressure difference across this region determines the derivative of the blast wave's Lorentz factor. Applied to GRB~221009A, the model yields a very good fit to the observations of the entire TeV lightcurve except for three regions where there are excesses in the data with respect to the model. Those are well correlated with the three largest episodes of the prompt activity, and thus, we interpret them as the reverse shock emission. Our best-fit solution for GRB~221009A is an extremely narrow jet with an opening angle theta_j approx 0.07^o (500/\Gamma_0) propagating into a wind-like external medium. This extremely narrow angle is consistent with the huge isotropic equivalent energy of this burst, and its inverse jet break explains the very rapid rise of the afterglow. Interestingly, photon-photon annihilation doesn't play a decisive role in the best-fit model.
With almost 15 years of data taken by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi satellite we discovered an extended source of GeV emission in the region of the very-high-energy (TeV) source 1LHAASO J1945+2424. This TeV source is more extended than the LAT source. The spectrum of the GeV emission is hard (with a photon spectral index ~1.5) and connects smoothly with that of the TeV source, indicating a likely common origin. In order to explain the origin of the gamma rays we explore scenarios which are typically used for supernova remnants (SNRs) and pulsar wind nebulae (PWN). For an SNR with a single particle population, a leptonic particle distribution in the form of a broken power-law with a break energy of ~3.7 TeV explains the spectrum well, while in the hadronic scenario a simple power-law with a hard spectral index of ~1.64 is necessary. In the PWN scenario, reasonable parameters are obtained for a source age of 10 kyr and current pulsar spin-down luminosity of 1e34 erg/s.
We present GeMS/GSAOI observations of five fast radio burst (FRB) host galaxies with sub-arcsecond localizations. We examine and quantify their spatial distributions and locations with respect to their host galaxy light distributions, finding a median host-normalized offset of 2.09 r_e and in fainter regions of the host. When combined with the FRB sample from Mannings et al. (2021), we find that FRBs are statistically distinct from Ca-rich transients in terms of light and from SGRBs and LGRBs in terms of host-normalized offset. We further find that most FRBs are in regions of elevated local stellar mass surface densities in comparison to the mean global values of their hosts. This, in combination with the combined FRB sample trace the distribution of stellar mass, points towards a possible similarity of the environments of CC-SNe and FRBs. We also find that 4/5 FRB hosts exhibit distinct spiral arm features, and the bursts originating from such hosts tend to appear on or close to the spiral structure of their hosts, with a median distance of 0.53 kpc. With many well-localized FRB detections looming on the horizon, we will be able to better characterize the properties of FRB environments relative to their host galaxies and other transient classes.
X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions(QPEs) from galactic nucleus have been found in several galaxies. Among them, GSN 069 is the only one with a tidal disruption event(TDE), which was recently found to have brightened again 9 years after the main outburst.However, the origin of this TDE is still unclear. By comparing the fallback time with observation, we found it can not be the disruption of the envelope of a single star in the tidal stripping model. Thus, we suggest that it is a disruption of a common envelope(CE).By calculating the fallback rate of such a model, we reproduce the second peak in the observational TDE. If this model is true, this TDE will be the closest one to a direct observation of CE.
By analyzing the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observational data, we report that the significant X-ray polarization variability is detected for 1ES 1959+650 and we also find the highest X-ray polarization so far in PKS 2155-304. The X-ray emission in 2-8 keV band of the high-energy peaked BL Lacertae objects (HBLs) is generally ascribed to the synchrotron radiation of relativistic electrons, and thus HBLs are also the main targets of IXPE to investigate the radiation and acceleration mechanisms of particles. In this paper, we report the first IXPE observations of two HBLs. Two times out of four IXPE observations for 1ES 1959+650 detect the significant polarization in 2-8 keV band, and one more in 2-4 keV band. The detected highest polarization degree is 12.4% with an electric vector polarization angle 19.7 degrees in 2-8 keV band. The X-ray polarization of 1ES 1959+650 exhibits the obvious variability, and is accompanied by the variations of polarization angle, flux, and spectrum. For PKS 2155-304, only one observation was performed by IXPE, at which point the X-ray flux of source is almost the historically low state. Interestingly, the detected highest X-ray polarization among blazars is measured in PKS 2155-304. We also find that the obvious variability along with the spectral variation is presented in the simultaneously monitoring Swift-XRT data of PKS 2155-304. We speculate that the dominant X-ray radiations during different IXPE observations are from separate regions in jets and the dominant acceleration mechanism of particles may be also different.
Many studies have recently documented the orbital response of eccentric binaries accreting from thin circumbinary disks, characterizing the change in binary semi-major axis and eccentricity. We extend these calculations to include the precession of the binary's longitude of periapse induced by the circumbinary disk, and we characterize this precession continuously with binary eccentricity $e_b$ for equal mass components. This disk-induced apsidal precession is prograde with a weak dependence on binary eccentricity when $e_b \lesssim 0.4$ and decreases approximately linearly for $e_b \gtrsim 0.4$; yet at all $e_b$ binary precession is faster than the rates of change to the semi-major axis and eccentricity by an order of magnitude. We estimate that such precession effects are likely most important for sub-parsec separated binaries with masses $\lesssim 10^7 M_\odot$, like LISA precursors. We find that accreting, equal-mass LISA binaries with $M < 10^6 M_\odot$ (and the most massive $M \sim 10^7 M_\odot$ binaries out to $z \sim 3$) may acquire a detectable phase offset due to the disk-induced precession. Moreover, disk-induced precession can compete with General Relativistic precession in vacuum, making it important for observer-dependent electromagnetic searches for accreting massive binaries -- like Doppler boost and binary self-lensing models -- after potentially only a few orbital periods.
High-precision pulsar timing observations are limited in their accuracy by the jitter noise that appears in the arrival time of pulses. Therefore, it is important to systematically characterise the amplitude of the jitter noise and its variation with frequency. In this paper, we provide jitter measurements from low-frequency wideband observations of PSR J0437$-$4715 using data obtained as part of the Indian Pulsar Timing Array experiment. We were able to detect jitter in both the 300 - 500 MHz and 1260 - 1460 MHz observations of the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT). The former is the first jitter measurement for this pulsar below 700 MHz, and the latter is in good agreement with results from previous studies. In addition, at 300 - 500 MHz, we investigated the frequency dependence of the jitter by calculating the jitter for each sub-banded arrival time of pulses. We found that the jitter amplitude increases with frequency. This trend is opposite as compared to previous studies, indicating that there is a turnover at intermediate frequencies. It will be possible to investigate this in more detail with uGMRT observations at 550 - 750 MHz and future high sensitive wideband observations from next generation telescopes, such as the Square Kilometre Array. We also explored the effect of jitter on the high precision dispersion measure (DM) measurements derived from short duration observations. We find that even though the DM precision will be better at lower frequencies due to the smaller amplitude of jitter noise, it will limit the DM precision for high signal-to-noise observations, which are of short durations. This limitation can be overcome by integrating for a long enough duration optimised for a given pulsar.
Future observations with next-generation large-area radio telescopes are expected to discover radio pulsars (PSRs) closely orbiting around Sagittarius~A* (Sgr~A*), the supermassive black hole (SMBH) dwelling at our Galactic Center (GC). Such a system can provide a unique laboratory for testing General Relativity (GR), as well as the astrophysics around the GC. In this paper, we provide a numerical timing model for PSR-SMBH systems based on the post-Newtonian (PN) equation of motion, and use it to explore the prospects of measuring the black hole (BH) properties with pulsar timing. We further consider the perturbation caused by the dark matter (DM) distribution around Sgr~A*, and the possibility of constraining DM models with PSR-SMBH systems. Assuming a 5-year observation of a normal pulsar in an eccentric ($e=0.8$) orbit with an orbital period $P_b = 0.5\,$yr, we find that -- with weekly recorded times of arrival (TOAs) and a timing precision of 1 ms -- the power-law index of DM density distribution near the GC can be constrained to about 20%. Such a measurement is comparable to those measurements at the Galactic length scale but can reveal small-scale properties of the DM.
We report on radio timing observations of PSR J0210+5845 which reveal large deviations from typical pulsar spin-down behaviour. We interpret these deviations as being due to binary motion around the $V=13.5$ star 2MASS J02105640$+$5845176, which is coincident in celestial position and distance with the pulsar. Archival observations and new optical spectroscopy identify this star as a B6V star with a temperature of $T_\mathrm{eff}\approx 14\,000$K and a mass of $M_\mathrm{c}= 3.5$ to $3.8$M$_\odot$, making it the lowest mass main-sequence star known orbiting a non-recycled pulsar. We found that the timing observations constrain the binary orbit to be wide and moderately eccentric, with an orbital period of $P_\mathrm{b}=47^{+40}_{-14}$yr and eccentricity $e=0.46^{+0.10}_{-0.07}$. We predict that the next periastron passage will occur between 2030 and 2034. Due to the low companion mass, we find that the probability for a system with the properties of PSR J0210+5845 and its binary companion to survive the supernova is low. We show that a low velocity and fortuitously directed natal kick is required for the binary to remain bound during the supernova explosion, and argue that an electron-capture supernova is a plausible formation scenario for the pulsar.
The early solar system contained short-lived radionuclides such as $^{26}$Al (its half-life time $t_{1/2} = 0.7$ Myr), and many hypotheses have been proposed for their origin. One of the possible hypotheses is that when the protoplanetary disk of the solar system had already formed, a very close $(<1\,\mathrm{pc})$ supernova (SN) injected radioactive material directly into the disk. Such a $^{26}$Al injection hypothesis has been tested so far with very limited setups for disk structure and supernova distance, and then by comparing disruption and injection conditions separately. We extend this problem to analytically investigate whether there are conditions under which the surviving disk radius can confine enough $^{26}$Al for planet formation while allowing some disk disruption. We also consider a variety of i) disk mass and structure, ii) $^{26}$Al yields from SNs, and iii) large dust mass fraction $\eta_\mathrm{d}$. We find that $^{26}$Al yields of SN are required as $\gtrsim 2.1\times10^{-3}M_\odot(\eta_\mathrm{d}/0.2)^{-1}$, which is difficult to reproduce given the diversity of ejected $^{26}$Al mass and large dust mass fractions from the supernovae. Furthermore, we find that even if the above conditions are met, the SN shock changes the disk temperature. Our results place a strong constraint on the 'disk injection scenario'; a scenario in which fresh $^{26}$Al of the early Solar System is injected from a supernova into an already formed protosolar nebula is quite challenging. Rather, we suggest that the fresh $^{26}$Al of the early solar system must have been synthesized/injected in other ways.
The study of jet launching in AGN is an important research method to better understand supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their immediate surroundings. The main theoretical jet launching scenarios invoke either magnetic field lines anchored to the black hole's (BH) accretion disc (Blandford & Payne 1982) or a magnetic field, which is directly connected to its rotating ergosphere (Blandford & Znajek 1977). The nearby and bright radio galaxy 3C84 (NGC1275) is a very suitable target for testing different jet launching mechanisms, as well as for the study of the innermost, sub-parsec scale AGN structure and the jet origin. Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) - specifically at millimetre wavelengths - offers an unparalleled view into the physical processes in action, in the close vicinity of SMBHs. Utilising such mm-VLBI observations of 3C84, we study the jet kinematics of the VLBI core region of 3C84 by employing all available, high sensitivity 3 mm-VLBI data sets of this source. As part of this analysis we associate the component ejection events with the variability light-curves at different radio frequencies and in the $\gamma$-rays. Furthermore, by cross-correlating these light-curves, we determine their time-lags and draw conclusions regarding the location of the high energy emission close to the jet base.
We investigate the extension to finite temperatures and neutrino chemical potentials of a recently developed nonlocal chiral quark model approach to the equation of state of neutron star matter. We consider two light quark flavors and current-current interactions in the scalar-pseudoscalar, vector, and diquark pairing channels, where the nonlocality of the currents is taken into account by a Gaussian form factor that depends on the spatial components of the 4-momentum. Within this framework, we analyze order parameters, critical temperatures, phase diagrams, equation of state, and mass-radius relations for different temperatures and neutrino chemical potentials. For parameters of the model that are constrained by recent multi-messenger observations of neutron stars, we find that the mass-radius diagram for isothermal hybrid star sequences exhibits the thermal twin phenomenon for temperatures above 30 MeV.
Electrons traveling along magnetic field lines from Jupiter to Io, driven by quasi-linear diffusion (QLD), emit synchrotron radiation. By using the small angle approximation, the kinematic equation for the particle distribution gives us the mean pitch angle value. We described how these ultrarelativistic electrons emit radiation in the GHz range when subjected to external forces.
Superbursts of neutron stars are rare but powerful events explained by the explosive burning of carbon in the deep layers of the outer envelope of the star. In this paper we perform a simulation of superbursts and propose a simple method for describing the neutrino stage of their cooling, as well as a method for describing the evolution of the burst energy on a scale of several months. We note a universal relation for the temperature distribution in the burnt layer at its neutrino cooling stage, as well as the unification of bolometric light curves and neutrino heat loss rates for deep and powerful bursts. We point out the possibility of long-term retention of the burst energy in the star's envelope. The results can be useful for interpretation of superburst observations.
We identify jet-shaped morphology in the core-collapse supernova remnant (SNR) CTB 1 that includes two opposite structural features. We identify these as the imprints of a pair of jets that were among the last jets to explode the massive stellar progenitor of CTB 1. We find the projected angle between the jets' axis and the direction of the pulsar velocity, which is the neutron star natal kick, to be 78 degrees. We tentatively identify possible signatures of a second pair of opposite jets along a different direction. If holds, SNR CTB 1 has a point-symmetric structure. The morphology and large angle of the jets' axis to kick velocity are the expectations of the jittering jets explosion mechanism (JJEM) of core-collapse supernovae.
We conduct a detailed analysis of quasinormal $f-$mode frequencies in neutron stars (NS), within the linearized General Relativistic formalism. From Bayesian inference, we derived approximately 9000 nuclear Equations of State (EOS) subject to various constraints including nuclear saturation properties, the pure neutron matter EOS constraint obtained within $\chi$EFT, and pQCD at densities relevant to NS cores. The composition and oscillatory dynamics of NS are then investigated using this set. The EOS are transformed into a spectral representation, aiding in the efficient computation of NS properties. The median frequency values of the $f-$mode for NS with masses ranging from 1.4$M_\odot$ to 2.0$M_{\odot}$ lie between 1.80 and 2.20 kHz for our entire EOS set. Our findings do not reveal a strong correlation between $f-$mode frequencies and individual nuclear saturation properties of the EOS. This suggests the need for more complex methods to unravel multiple-parameter relationships. We noticed a strong relationship between the radii and $f-$mode frequencies for different NS masses. Using this correlation along with NICER observations of PSR J0740+6620 and PSR 0030+0451, we obtained constraints that have minimal overlap in the radius domain and differ in the frequency domain from our entire nucleonic EOS set. This indicates that there may be a need to consider additional exotic particles or maybe a deconfined quark phase in the EOS relevant to the NS core. We argue that future observations of the radius or $f-$mode frequency for more than one NS mass, particularly at the extremes, are likely to settle the issue by either ruling out only nucleonic EOS or providing definitive evidence in its favour.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration recently published the first images of the supermassive black holes in the cores of the Messier 87 and Milky Way galaxies. These observations have provided a new means to study supermassive black holes and probe physical processes occurring in the strong-field regime. We review the prospects of future observations and theoretical studies of supermassive black hole systems with the next-generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT), which will greatly enhance the capabilities of the existing EHT array. These enhancements will open up several previously inaccessible avenues of investigation, thereby providing important new insights into the properties of supermassive black holes and their environments. This review describes the current state of knowledge for five key science cases, summarising the unique challenges and opportunities for fundamental physics investigations that the ngEHT will enable.
We report the observation of a possible optical counterpart to the recently discovered X-ray source NuSTAR J053449+2126.0 (J0534 in short). We observed the source location using the 1.5-m Telescope (RTT150) to search for an optical counterpart, and detected a possible optical counterpart and analysed its spectrum using the $B$, $V$, $R$, and $I$ images of J0534, and found that the possible optical counterpart of J0534 is likely to be a long-known optical source, namely PSO J083.7063+21.4333. However, this source has been misclassified as a star rather than being an extragalactic source. We determined the source distance accurately for the first time based on our spectral analysis. J0534 could be a high-redshift ($z\simeq2.2$) member of an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) sub-group identified as quasars. Our analysis favours an accreting black hole of mass $\sim 7\times 10^8 M_{\odot}$ as a power supply for the quasar. Further observations in optical and other wavelengths are needed to confirm its precise nature.
In recent years, machine learning has emerged as a powerful computational tool and novel problem-solving perspective for physics, offering new avenues for studying strongly interacting QCD matter properties under extreme conditions. This review article aims to provide an overview of the current state of this intersection of fields, focusing on the application of machine learning to theoretical studies in high energy nuclear physics. It covers diverse aspects, including heavy ion collisions, lattice field theory, and neutron stars, and discuss how machine learning can be used to explore and facilitate the physics goals of understanding QCD matter. The review also provides a commonality overview from a methodology perspective, from data-driven perspective to physics-driven perspective. We conclude by discussing the challenges and future prospects of machine learning applications in high energy nuclear physics, also underscoring the importance of incorporating physics priors into the purely data-driven learning toolbox. This review highlights the critical role of machine learning as a valuable computational paradigm for advancing physics exploration in high energy nuclear physics.
We explore the theoretical possibility of $^3P_0$ neutron superfluid in dilute spin-polarized neutron matter, which may be relevant to the crust region of a magnetized neutron star. In such a dilute regime where the neutron Fermi energy is less than 1 MeV, the $^1S_0$ neutron superfluid can be suppressed by a strong magnetic field of the compact star. In the low-energy limit relevant for dilute neutron matter, the $^3P_0$ interaction is stronger than the $^3P_2$ one which is believed to induce the triplet superfluid in the core. We present the ground-state phase diagram of dilute neutron matter with respect to the magnetic field and numerically estimate the critical temperature of the $^3P_0$ neutron superfluid, which is found to exceed $10^7$ K.
We present the first empirical constraints on the polymer scale describing polymer quantized GWs propagating on a classical background. These constraints are determined from the polymer-induced deviation from the classically predicted propagation speed of GWs. We leverage posterior information on the propagation speed of GWs from two previously reported sources: 1) inter-detector arrival time delays for signals from the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration's first gravitational-wave transient catalog, GWTC1, and 2) from arrival time delays between GW signal GW170817 and its associated gamma-ray burst GRB170817A. For pure-GW constraints, we find relatively uninformative combined constraints of $\nu = 0.96\substack{+0.15 \\ -0.21} \times 10^{-53} \, \rm{kg}^{1/2}$ and $\mu = 0.94\substack{+0.75 \\ -0.20} \times 10^{-48} \, \rm{kg}^{1/2} \cdot s$ at the $90\%$ credible level for the two polymer quantization schemes, where $\nu$ and $\mu$ refer to polymer parameters associated to the polymer quantization schemes of propagating gravitational degrees of freedom. For constraints from GW170817/GRB170817A, we report much more stringent constraints of $\nu_{\mathrm{low}} =2.66\substack{+0.60 \\ -0.10}\times 10^{-56}$, $\nu_{\mathrm{high}} = 2.66\substack{+0.45 \\ -0.10}\times 10^{-56} $ and $\mu_{\mathrm{low}} = 2.84\substack{+0.64 \\ -0.11}\times 10^{-52}$, $\mu_{\mathrm{high}} = 2.76\substack{+0.46 \\ -0.11}\times 10^{-52}$ for both representations of polymer quantization and two choices of spin prior indicated by the subscript. Additionally, we explore the effect of varying the lag between emission of the GW and EM signals in the multimessenger case.
Glitches, spin-up events in neutron stars, are of prime interest as they reveal properties of nuclear matter at subnuclear densities. We numerically investigate the glitch mechanism due to vortex unpinning using analogies between neutron stars and dipolar supersolids. We explore the vortex and crystal dynamics during a glitch and its dependence on the supersolid quality, providing a tool to study glitches from different radial depths of a neutron star. Benchmarking our theory against neutron star observations, our work will open a new avenue for the quantum simulation of stellar objects from Earth.
It has been long conjectured that a signature of Quantum Gravity will be Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) that could be observed at energies much lower than the Planck scale. One possible signature of LIV is an energy-dependent speed of photons. This can be tested with a distant transient source of very high-energy photons. We explore time-of-flight limits on LIV derived from LHAASO's observations of tens of thousands of TeV photons from GRB 221009A, the brightest gamma-ray burst of all time. For a linear (n=1) dependence of the photon velocity on energy, we find a lower limit on the LIV scale of 5.9 (6.2) E_pl for subluminal (superluminal) modes. These are comparable to the stringent limits obtained so far. For a quadratic model (n=2), the limits, which are currently the best available, are much lower, 5.8 (4.6) x 10^{-8} E_pl. Our analysis uses the publicly available LHAASO data which is only in the 0.2-7 TeV range. Higher energy data would enable us to improve these limits by a factor of 3 for $n=1$ and by an order of magnitude for $n=2$.
Neutrino Events Reconstruction has always been crucial for IceCube Neutrino Observatory. In the Kaggle competition "IceCube -- Neutrinos in Deep Ice", many solutions use Transformer. We present ISeeCube, a pure Transformer model based on TorchScale (the backbone of BEiT-3). When having relatively same amount of total trainable parameters, our model outperforms the 2nd place solution. By using TorchScale, the lines of code drop sharply by about 80% and a lot of new methods can be tested by simply adjusting configs. We compared two fundamental models for predictions on a continuous space, regression and classification, trained with MSE Loss and CE Loss respectively. We also propose a new metric, overlap ratio, to evaluate the performance of the model. Since the model is simple enough, it has the potential to be used for more purposes such as energy reconstruction, and many new methods such as combining it with GraphNeT can be tested more easily. The code and pretrained models are available at https://github.com/ChenLi2049/ISeeCube
Analysis of pulsar timing data have provided evidence for a stochastic gravitational wave background in the nHz frequency band. The most plausible source of such a background is the superposition of signals from millions of supermassive black hole binaries. The standard statistical techniques used to search for such a background and assess its significance make several simplifying assumptions, namely: i) Gaussianity; ii) isotropy; and most often iii) a power-law spectrum. However, a stochastic background from a finite collection of binaries does not exactly satisfy any of these assumptions. To understand the effect of these assumptions, we test standard analysis techniques on a large collection of realistic simulated datasets. The dataset length, observing schedule, and noise levels were chosen to emulate the NANOGrav 15-year dataset. Simulated signals from millions of binaries drawn from models based on the Illustris cosmological hydrodynamical simulation were added to the data. We find that the standard statistical methods perform remarkably well on these simulated datasets, despite their fundamental assumptions not being strictly met. They are able to achieve a confident detection of the background. However, even for a fixed set of astrophysical parameters, different realizations of the universe result in a large variance in the significance and recovered parameters of the background. We also find that the presence of loud individual binaries can bias the spectral recovery of the background if we do not account for them.
The core-collapse supernova (CCSN) is considered one of the most energetic astrophysical events in the universe. The early and prompt detection of neutrinos before (pre-SN) and during the supernova (SN) burst presents a unique opportunity for multi-messenger observations of CCSN events. In this study, we describe the monitoring concept and present the sensitivity of the system to pre-SN and SN neutrinos at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector currently under construction in South China. The real-time monitoring system is designed to ensure both prompt alert speed and comprehensive coverage of progenitor stars. It incorporates prompt monitors on the electronic board as well as online monitors at the data acquisition stage. Assuming a false alert rate of 1 per year, this monitoring system exhibits sensitivity to pre-SN neutrinos up to a distance of approximately 1.6 (0.9) kiloparsecs and SN neutrinos up to about 370 (360) kiloparsecs for a progenitor mass of 30 solar masses, considering both normal and inverted mass ordering scenarios. The pointing ability of the CCSN is evaluated by analyzing the accumulated event anisotropy of inverse beta decay interactions from pre-SN or SN neutrinos. This, along with the early alert, can play a crucial role in facilitating follow-up multi-messenger observations of the next galactic or nearby extragalactic CCSN.
Electrons densities in different locations of our galaxy are obtained in pulsar astronomy by dividing the dispersion measure (DM) by the distance of the pulsar to Earth. The properties of the interstellar plasma are related to its heating. Following the present analysis DM measurements are obtained with different properties for different temperatures in three regions:1)For relatively low temperatures the state of molecular, atomic and ionized Hydrogen was analyzed by the interstellar medium (ISM) model with partially ionized plasma. In this region various spectroscopic effects are obtained. 2) For temperatures approximately above 20000 (K) the interstellar gas was found to be completely ionized medium and this plasma is defined as warm ionized medium (WIM) where this plasma is transparent. This property is obtained from solution of Saha equation in which the index of refraction is real, but the plasma can be observed by dispersion measurements.3)For very high temperatures defined as hot ionized matter (HIM), X-rays are obtained by the plasma. We concentrate in the work on the analysis of the WIM plasma. We calculate the mass densities of such plasma and compare it with dark matter densities which are found to be larger. But some factors which can reduce this difference are discussed,
The tidal disruption event AT2018hyz was a regular optically detected one with no special prompt features. However, it suddenly displayed a fast-rising radio flare almost three years after the disruption. The flare is most naturally interpreted as arising from an off-axis relativistic jet. We didn't see the jet at early times as its emission was relativistically beamed away from us. However, we could see the radiation once the jet has slowed down due to interaction with the surrounding matter. Analysis of the radio data enabled estimates of the jet's kinetic energy and opening angle, as well as the conditions (size and magnetic field) within the radio-emitting region. We show here that such a jet satisfies the Hillas condition for the acceleration of UHECRs to the highest energies. We also show that the rate and total power of this event are consistent with the observed luminosity density of UHECRs. These results strongly support earlier suggestions that TDEs are the sources of UHECRs.
We present relativistic magnetohydrodynamic modelling of jets running into hydrostatic, spherically symmetric cluster atmospheres. For the first time in a numerical simulation, we present model cluster atmospheres based upon the Universal Pressure Profile (UPP), incorporating a temperature profile for a typical self-similar atmosphere described by only one parameter - $M_{500}$. We explore a comprehensive range of realistic atmospheres and jet powers and derive dynamic, energetic and polarimetric data which provide insight into what we should expect of future high-resolution studies of AGN outflows. From the simulated synchrotron emission maps which include Doppler beaming we find sidedness distributions that agree well with observations. We replicated a number of findings from our previous work, such as higher power jets inflating larger aspect-ratio lobes and the cluster environment impacting the distribution of energy between the lobe and shocked regions. Comparing UPP and $\beta$-profiles we find that the cluster model chosen results in a different morphology for the resultant lobes with the UPP more able to clear lobe material from the core; and that these different atmospheres influence the ratio between the various forms of energy in the fully developed lobes. This work also highlights the key role played by Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instabilities in the formation of realistic lobe aspect-ratios. Our simulations point to the need for additional lobe-widening mechanisms at high jet powers, for example jet precession. Given that the UPP is our most representative general cluster atmosphere, these numerical simulations represent the most realistic models yet for spherically symmetric atmospheres.
We present a novel implementation of a genuinely $4^{\rm th}$-order accurate finite volume scheme for multidimensional classical and special relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) based on the constrained transport (CT) formalism. The scheme introduces several novel aspects when compared to its predecessors yielding a more efficient computational tool. Among the most relevant ones, our scheme exploits pointwise to pointwise reconstructions (rather than one-dimensional finite volume ones), employs the generic upwind constrained transport averaging and sophisticated limiting strategies that include both a discontinuity detector and an order reduction procedure. Selected numerical benchmarks demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the method.
We propose a universal approximation of the equation of state of superdense matter in neutron star (NS) interiors. It contains only two parameters, the pressure and the density at the center of the maximally massive neutron star. We demonstrate the validity of this approximation for a wide range of different types of equations of state, including both baryonic and hybrid models. Combined with recently discovered correlations of internal (density, pressure, and speed of sound at the center) and external (mass, radius) properties of a maximally massive neutron star, this approximation turns out to be an effective tool for determining the equation of state of superdense matter using astrophysical observations.
Black holes (BHs) with masses between 100 to 100,000 times the mass of the Sun ($\rm{M}_{\odot}$) are classified as intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), potentially representing a crucial link between stellar-mass and supermassive BHs. Stellar-mass BHs are endpoints of the evolution of stars initially more massive than roughly 20 $\rm{M}_{\odot}$ and generally weigh about 10 to 100 $\rm{M}_{\odot}$. Supermassive BHs are found in the centre of many galaxies and weigh between $10^{6}$ to $10^{10} \ \rm{M}_{\odot}$. The origin of supermassive BHs remains an unresolved problem in astrophysics, with many viable pathways suggesting that they undergo an intermediate-mass phase. Whether IMBHs really stand as an independent category of BHs or rather they represent the heaviest stellar mass and the lightest supermassive BHs is still unclear, mostly owing to the lack of an observational smoking gun. The first part of this chapter discusses proposed formation channels of IMBHs and focuses on their formation and growth in dense stellar environments like globular and nuclear star clusters. It also highlights how the growth of IMBHs through mergers with other BHs is important from the point of view of gravitational waves and seeding of supermassive BHs in our Universe. The second part of the chapter focuses on the multi-wavelength observational constraints on IMBHs in dense star clusters and dwarf galactic nuclei. It also examines the potential insights that future gravitational wave detectors could offer in unraveling the mystery surrounding IMBHs.
We propose a method to determine the mass and spin of primordial black holes based on measuring the energy and emission rate at the dipolar and quadrupolar peaks in the primary photon Hawking spectrum, applicable for dimensionless spin parameters $\tilde{a}\gtrsim 0.6$. In particular, we show that the ratio between the energies of the two peaks is only a function of the black hole spin, while the ratio between their emission rates depends also on the line-of-sight inclination. The black hole mass and distance from the Earth may then be inferred from the absolute values of the peak energies and emission rates. This method is relevant for primordial black holes born with large spin parameters that are presently still in the early stages of their evaporation process.
We use the POLARIS radiative transfer code to produce simulated circular polarization Zeeman emission maps of the CN $J = 1 - 0$ molecular line transition for two types of protostellar envelope magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Our first model is a low mass disk envelope system (box length $L = 200\text{ au}$), and our second model is the envelope of a massive protostar ($L = 10^4\text{ au}$) with a protostellar wind and a CN enhanced outflow shell. We compute the velocity-integrated Stokes $I$ and $V$, as well as the implied $V/I$ polarization percentage, for each detector pixel location in our simulated emission maps. Our results show that both types of protostellar environment are in principle accessible with current circular polarization instruments, with each containing swaths of envelope area that yield percentage polarizations that exceed the 1.8\% nominal sensitivity limit for circular polarization experiments with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). In both systems, high polarization ($\gtrsim$1.8\%) pixels tend to lie at an intermediate distance away from the central star and where the line-center opacity of the CN emission is moderately optically thin ($\tau_{LC} \sim 0.1-1$). Furthermore, our computed $V/I$ values scale roughly with the density weighted mean line-of-sight magnetic field strength, indicating that Zeeman observations can effectively diagnose the strength of envelope-scale magnetic fields. We also find that pixels with large $V/I$ are preferentially co-located where the absolute value of the velocity-integrated $V$ is also large, suggesting that locations with favorable percentage polarization are also favorable in terms of raw signal.
The SPT0311-58 system resides in a massive dark matter halo at z ~ 6.9. It hosts two dusty galaxies (E and W) with a combined star formation rate (SFR) of ~3500 Msun/yr. Its surrounding field exhibits an overdensity of sub-mm sources, making it a candidate proto-cluster. We use spatially-resolved spectroscopy provided by the JWST/NIRSpec Integral Field Unit (IFU) to probe a field of view (FoV) ~ 17 x 17 kpc^2 around this object, with a spatial resolution ~ 0.5 kpc. These observations have revealed ten new galaxies at z ~ 6.9, characterised by dynamical masses spanning from ~10^9 to 10^10 Msun and a range in radial velocities of ~ 1500 km/s, in addition to the already known E and W galaxies. The implied large number density, and the wide spread in velocities, indicate that SPT0311-58 is at the core of a proto-cluster, immersed in a very massive dark matter halo of ~ 6 x 10^12 Msun. We study the dynamical stage of the system and find that it likely is not fully virialized, although most of the galaxies are gravitationally bound to the halo. The galaxies exhibit a great diversity of properties. We derive their ongoing Halpha-based unobscured SFR, and find that its contribution to the total SF varies significantly across the galaxies in the system. Their ionization conditions range from those typical of galaxies at similar redshift recently studied with JWST to those found in lower redshift objects. The metallicity spans more than 0.8 dex across the FoV, reaching in some cases nearly solar values. The detailed IFU spectroscopy of the E galaxy reveals that it is actively assembling its stellar mass, showing a metallicity gradient (~ 0.1 dex/kpc) that can be explained by accretion of low metallicity gas from the intergalactic medium. The kinematic maps indicate departures from regular rotation, high turbulence, and a possible pre-collision minor merger. (Abridged)
Gas accretion by a galaxy's central super massive black hole (SMBH) and the resultant energetic feedback by the accreting active galactic nucleus (AGN) on the gas in and around a galaxy, are two tightly intertwined but competing processes that play a crucial role in the evolution of galaxies. Observations of galaxy clusters have shown how the plasma jets emitted by the AGN heat the intra-cluster medium (ICM), preventing cooling of the cluster gas and thereby the infall of this gas onto the central galaxy. On the other hand, outflows of multi-phase gas, driven by the jets, can cool as they rise into the ICM, leading to filaments of colder gas. The fate of this cold gas is unclear, but it has been suggested it plays a role in feeding the central SMBH. We present the results of re-processed CO(2-1) ALMA observations of the cold molecular gas in the central regions of NGC 1275, the central galaxy of the Perseus cluster and hosting the radio-loud AGN 3C 84 (Perseus A). These data show, for the first time, in detail how kpc-sized cold gas filaments resulting from jet-induced cooling of cluster gas are flowing towards the galaxy centre and how they feed the circumnuclear accretion disc (100 pc diameter) of the SMBH. Thus, cooled gas can, in this way, play a role in feeding the AGN. These results complete our view of the feedback loop of how an AGN can impact on its surroundings and how the effects from this impact maintain the AGN activity.
We introduce the MUSE gAlaxy Groups in COSMOS (MAGIC) survey built to study the impact of environment on galaxy evolution over the last 8 Gyr. It consists of 17 MUSE fields targeting 14 massive structures at intermediate redshift ($0.3<z<0.8$) in the COSMOS area. We securely measure redshifts for 1419 sources and identify 76 galaxy pairs and 67 groups of at least 3 members using a friends-of-friends algorithm. The environment of galaxies is quantified from group properties, as well as from global and local density estimators, inferred from galaxy number density and dynamics within groups. The MAGIC survey increases the number of objects with a secure spectroscopic redshift over its footprint by a factor of $\sim 5$. Most of the new redshifts have apparent magnitudes in the $z^{++}$ band $z_{app}^{++}>21.5$. The spectroscopic redshift completeness is high: in the redshift range of [OII] emitters ($0.25 \le z < 1.5$), where most of the groups are found, it globally reaches a maximum of 80% down to $z_{app}^{++}=25.9$, and it locally decreases from $\sim 100$% to $\sim50$% in magnitude bins from $z_{app}^{++}=23-24$ to $z_{app}^{++}=25.5$. We find that the fraction of quiescent galaxies increases with local density and with the time spent in groups. A morphological dichotomy is also found between bulge-dominated quiescent and disk-dominated star-forming galaxies. As environment gets denser, the peak of the stellar mass distribution shifts towards $M_*>10^{10} M_\odot, the fraction of galaxies with $M_*<10^9 M_\odot$ decreasing significantly, even for star-forming galaxies. We also highlight peculiar features such as close groups, extended nebulae, and a gravitational arc. Our results suggest that galaxies are pre-processed in groups of increasing mass before entering rich groups and clusters. We publicly release two catalogs containing the properties of galaxies and groups, respectively.
We used 5487 star-forming galaxies at redshift z~0.63 extracted from the VIPERS and 143774 comparison galaxies in the local Universe from the GSWLC catalog. We employed two families of methods: parametric and non-parametric. In the former approaches, we compared the FMR projections plagued by observational biases on differently constructed control samples at various redshifts. Then, the metallicity difference between different redshifts in M*-SFR bins. In the latter approach, we related the metallicity and the normalized sSFR. The methodologies implemented to construct fair, complete samples for studying the MZR and the FMR produced consistent results showing a small, but still statistically significant evolution of both relations up to z~0.63. In particular, we observed a systematic trend where the median metallicity of the sample at z=0.63 is lower than that of the local sample at the same M* and SFR. The average difference in the metallicity of the low and intermediate redshifts is approximately 1.8 times the metallicity standard deviation of the median, of the intermediate redshift sample, in M*-SFR bins. We confirmed this result using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. When we applied the M*-completeness criterion to catalogs, the metallicity difference in redshifts decreased to approximately 0.96 times the metallicity standard deviation of the median, thus not statistically significant. This result may be dominated by the limited parameter space, being the lower M* galaxies where the difference is larger out from the analysis. A careful reading of the results, and their underlying selection criteria, are crucial in studies of the mass-metallicity and FMRs.
Strong gravitational lensing of quasars has the potential to unlock the poorly understood physics of these fascinating objects, as well as serve as a probe of the lensing mass distribution and of cosmological parameters. In particular, gravitational microlensing by compact bodies in the lensing galaxy can enable mapping of quasar structure to $\lt 10^{-6}$ arcsec scales. Some of this potential has been realized over the past few decades, however the upcoming era of large sky surveys promises to bring this to full fruition. Here we review the theoretical framework of this field, describe the prominent current methods for parameter inference from quasar microlensing data across different observing modalities, and discuss the constraints so far derived on the geometry and physics of quasar inner structure. We also review the application of strong lensing and microlensing to constraining the granularity of the lens potential, i.e. the contribution of the baryonic and dark matter components, and the local mass distribution in the lens, i.e. the stellar mass function. Finally, we discuss the future of the field, including the new possibilities that will be opened by the next generation of large surveys and by new analysis methods now being developed.
We present new spatially resolved astrometry and photometry of the CD-27 11535 system, a member of the $\beta$ Pictoris moving group consisting of two resolved K-type stars on a $\sim$20-year orbit. We fit an orbit to relative astrometry measured from NIRC2, GPI, and archival NaCo images, in addition to literature measurements. However, the total mass inferred from this orbit is significantly discrepant from that inferred from stellar evolutionary models using the luminosity of the two stars. We explore two hypotheses that could explain this discrepant mass sum; a discrepant parallax measurement from Gaia due to variability, and the presence of an additional unresolved companion to one of the two components. We find that the $\sim$20-year orbit could not bias the parallax measurement, but that variability of the components could produce a large amplitude astrometric motion, an effect which cannot be quantified exactly without the individual Gaia measurements. The discrepancy could also be explained by an additional star in the system. We jointly fit the astrometric and photometric measurements of the system to test different binary and triple architectures for the system. Depending on the set of evolutionary models used, we find an improved goodness of fit for a triple system architecture that includes a low-mass ($M=0.177\pm0.055$\,$M_{\odot}$) companion to the primary star. Further studies of this system will be required in order to resolve this discrepancy, either by refining the parallax measurement with a more complex treatment of variability-induced astrometric motion, or by detecting a third companion.
In this paper, we introduce a novel data augmentation methodology based on Conditional Progressive Generative Adversarial Networks (CPGAN) to generate diverse black hole (BH) images, accounting for variations in spin and electron temperature prescriptions. These generated images are valuable resources for training deep learning algorithms to accurately estimate black hole parameters from observational data. Our model can generate BH images for any spin value within the range of [-1, 1], given an electron temperature distribution. To validate the effectiveness of our approach, we employ a convolutional neural network to predict the BH spin using both the GRMHD images and the images generated by our proposed model. Our results demonstrate a significant performance improvement when training is conducted with the augmented dataset while testing is performed using GRMHD simulated data, as indicated by the high R2 score. Consequently, we propose that GANs can be employed as cost effective models for black hole image generation and reliably augment training datasets for other parameterization algorithms.
We investigate the effects of halo kinematics on the dynamics of stellar discs by simulating the evolution of isolated disc-halo systems from equilibrium initial conditions. Our main results come from four simulations where the initial disc is identical and the halo is either treated as a rigid potential or is live with isotropic orbits or orbits that preferentially rotate with or counter to the disc. We confirm previous results that bar formation is more vigorous in models with a live halo than a rigid one and is further enhanced when halo orbits preferentially rotate with the disc. We discuss two types of buckling events with different symmetries about the mid plane, one that occurs just as the bar is forming and the other well after the bar has been established. We also show that warps are most easily excited and maintained when the halo is counter-rotating with the disc, in agreement with theoretical predictions. Our most novel result is the discovery of a rotating halo instability, which causes the disc and halo cusp to spiral outward from the centre of mass of the system whether the halo rotates with the disc or counter to it and also occurs in a disc bulge halo system that does not form a bar. We provide a heuristic linear model that captures the essential dynamics of the instability.
Ionization cones and relativistic jets give us one of the most large-scale example of active galactic nuclei (AGN) influence on the surrounding gas environment in galaxies and beyond. The study of ionization cones makes it possible not only to test the predictions of the unified model of galactic activity, but also to probe galaxy gas environment and trace how the luminosity of the nucleus changes over time (a light echo). In the external galactic or even extragalactic gas ionization cones create Extended Emission-Line Regions (EELRs) which can span distances from several to hundreds kpc away a host galaxy. We review the recent results of studying the gas kinematics and its ionization properties in EELRs with a special attention to search of fading AGN radiation on the time scale $\mbox{few}\times(10^4-10^5)$ yr. The role of modern narrow-band and integral-field surveys in these researches is also considered.
Studying a centi-parsec supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) would allow us to explore a new parameter space in active galactic nuclei, and these objects are also potential sources of gravitational waves. We report evidence that an SMBHB with an orbital period of about 30 yr may be resident in the nearby galactic nucleus M81. This orbital period and the known mass of M81 imply an orbital separation of about 0.02 pc. The jet emanating from the primary black hole showed a short period of jet wobbling at about 16.7 yr, superposing a long-term precession at a timescale of several hundred years. Periodic radio and X-ray outbursts were also found two times per orbital period, which could be explained by a double-peaked mass accretion rate variation per binary orbit. If confirmed, M81 would be one of the closest SMBHB candidates, providing a rare opportunity to study the final parsec problem.
Accurate distances are key to obtaining intrinsic properties of astronomical objects such as luminosity or size. Globular clusters (GCs) follow a well-defined relation between their absolute magnitudes and internal stellar velocity dispersions ($\sigma$), offering an independent way to measure distances to their host galaxies via high-resolution spectroscopy. This is reminiscent of the "Faber-Jackson" for elliptical galaxies. However, unlike galaxies, GCs have a very narrow range of mass-to-light ratios and simple star formation histories. Here we show that the GC $M_V - \text{log}_{10}(\sigma)$ relation is linear, whose slope is identical for the Milky Way and M31 GC systems. Based on this, we use 94 Milky Way GCs which have distances from Gaia parallaxes, or proper-motion dispersion profiles to derive a "GC velocity dispersion" distance (GCVD) to M31, obtaining $(m-M)_0=24.51\pm0.08$ ($d=798\pm28$ kpc), in excellent agreement with independent measurements. Combining data for these two galaxies to create a fiducial relation using 296 GCs with high-quality measurements, we obtain a zeropoint uncertainty ($\pm 0.06$ mag) corresponding to a distance uncertainty of $\sim3\%$. We then use GCVD to obtain a distance to the giant elliptical galaxy NGC\,5128 (Centaurus A), finding $(m-M)_0= 27.95\pm0.09$ ($d=3.89\pm0.16$ Mpc). This is in excellent agreement with, and in some cases more precise than, literature estimates from the tip of the red giant branch or surface brightness fluctuations. We apply GCVD to Local Group galaxies with appropriate data and find good agreement with literature values even in cases with only one GC velocity dispersion measurement.
A total of 64 ATOMS sources at different evolutionary stages were selected to investigate the kinematics and dynamics of gas structures under feedback. We identified dense gas structures based on the integrated intensity map of H$^{13}$CO$^+$ J=1-0 emission, and then extracted the average spectra of all structures to investigate their velocity components and gas kinematics. For the scaling relations between velocity dispersion $\sigma$, effective radius $R$ and column density $N$ of all structures, $\sigma-N*R$ always has a stronger correlation compared to $\sigma-N$ and $\sigma-R$. There are significant correlations between velocity dispersion and column density, which may imply that the velocity dispersion originates from gravitational collapse, also revealed by the velocity gradients. The measured velocity gradients for dense gas structures in early-stage sources and late-stage sources are comparable, indicating gravitational collapse through all evolutionary stages. We quantitatively estimated the velocity dispersion generated by the outflows, inflows, ionized gas pressure and radiation pressure, and found that the ionized gas feedback is stronger than other feedback mechanisms. However, although feedback from HII regions is the strongest, it does not significantly affect the physical properties of the embedded dense gas structures. Combining with the conclusions in Zhou+2023 on cloud-clump scales, we suggest that although feedback from cloud to core scales will break up the original cloud complex, the substructures of the original complex can be reorganized into new gravitationally governed configurations around new gravitational centers. This process is accompanied by structural destruction and generation, and changes in gravitational centers, but gravitational collapse is always ongoing.
The radiation transfer equation is widely used for simulating such as heat transfer in engineering, diffuse optical tomography in healthcare, and radiation hydrodynamics in astrophysics. By combining the lattice Boltzmann method, we propose a quantum algorithm for radiative transfer. This algorithm encompasses all the essential physical processes of radiative transfer: absorption, scattering, and emission. Our quantum algorithm exponentially accelerates radiative transfer calculations compared to classical algorithms. In order to verify the quantum algorithm, we perform quantum circuit simulation using IBM Qiskit Aer and find good agreement between our numerical result and the exact solution. The algorithm opens new application of fault-tolerant quantum computers for plasma engineering, telecommunications, nuclear fusion technology, healthcare and astrophysics.
We present a study of the cool gas ($\approx 10^4$ K) traced by MgII absorptions around groups of galaxies in the MEGAFLOW survey. Using a combination of two algorithms we blindly identify 32 groups of more than 5 galaxies at $0.3 < z < 1.5$ with $10.7 < \log_{10}(M/\rm M_{\odot}) < 13.7$. Among them 26 can be used to study potential counterpart MgII absorptions. We report that 21 out of the total 120 MgII absorption systems present in MEGAFLOW are associated with groups. We observe that the MgII rest-frame equivalent width ($W^{2796}_r$) drops at an impact parameter of $\approx 150$ projected kpc from the closest galaxy and $\approx$ one virial radius from the identified group center indicating that MgII halos scale with the mass of the groups.The impact parameter where the covering fraction exceeds $50\%$ is $\log_{10}(b/\rm kpc) = 2.17 \pm 0.47$ $(2 \sigma)$ and $(b/R_{\rm vir}) = 1.67 \pm 0.98$, which is $\approx 3$ times larger than for field galaxies ($\log_{10}(b/\rm kpc)=1.67\pm0.15$). Finally, we estimate the cool gas column density profile in groups (from the $W^{2796}_r$) and show that its shape follows closely the typical dark matter column density profile for halos at similar redshift and masses.
We present, for the first time, a detailed abundance analysis of the carbon star HE 1104$-$0957 based on high resolution (R${\sim}$ 50\,000) spectra. Our analysis shows that the object is an extremely metal-poor star with [Fe/H] $\sim$ $-$2.96. We find that the object shows enhancement of carbon with [C/Fe] $\sim$ 1.82. However, it does not fall into any of the sub-groups of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars based on the characteristic elemental abundance ratios used for the classification of various CEMP sub-groups. HE 1104$-$0957 is also found to exhibit an enhancement of oxygen and nitrogen with [O/Fe], and [N/Fe] $\sim$ 1.54, and 2.54 respectively. In HE 1104$-$0957, $\alpha$-elements are found to be slightly enhanced with [$\alpha$/Fe] $\sim$ 0.46. Fe-peak elements are also moderately enhanced in HE 1104$-$0957 with a value 0.63 with respect to Fe. Our analysis shows that HE 1104$-$0957 exhibits enhancement of neutron-capture elements, particularly r-process elements. The low-resolution spectra of this object shows the spectral features characteristics of a typical C-R star. However, We find that the surface chemical compositions of this object is contradictory to that expected for a C-R star. It requires a detailed analysis to better understand the abundance anomalies exhibited by this object.
Magnetic fields of molecular clouds in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) have been relatively underobserved at sub-parsec resolution. Here we report JCMT/POL2 observations of polarized dust emission in the CMZ, which reveal magnetic field structures in dense gas at ~0.5 pc resolution. The eleven molecular clouds in our sample including two in the western part of the CMZ (Sgr C and a far-side cloud candidate), four around the Galactic longitude 0 (the 50 km s-1 cloud, CO0.02-0.02, the `Stone' and the `Sticks & Straw' among the Three Little Pigs), and five along the Dust Ridge (G0.253+0.016, clouds b, c, d, and e/f), for each of which we estimate the magnetic field strength using the angular dispersion function method. The morphologies of magnetic fields in the clouds suggest potential imprints of feedback from expanding H II regions and young massive star clusters. A moderate correlation between the total viral parameter versus the star formation rate and the dense gas fraction of the clouds is found. A weak correlation between the mass-to-flux ratio and the star formation rate, and a weak anti-correlation between the magnetic field and the dense gas fraction are also found. Comparisons between magnetic fields and other dynamic components in clouds suggest a more dominant role of self-gravity and turbulence in determining the dynamical states of the clouds and affecting star formation at the studied scales.
We introduce "Class Symbolic Regression" a first framework for automatically finding a single analytical functional form that accurately fits multiple datasets - each governed by its own (possibly) unique set of fitting parameters. This hierarchical framework leverages the common constraint that all the members of a single class of physical phenomena follow a common governing law. Our approach extends the capabilities of our earlier Physical Symbolic Optimization ($\Phi$-SO) framework for Symbolic Regression, which integrates dimensional analysis constraints and deep reinforcement learning for symbolic analytical function discovery from data. We demonstrate the efficacy of this novel approach by applying it to a panel of synthetic toy case datasets and showcase its practical utility for astrophysics by successfully extracting an analytic galaxy potential from a set of simulated orbits approximating stellar streams.
Acetic acid (CH3COOH) was detected in the gas toward interstellar clouds, hot cores, protostars and comets. Its formation in ice mantles was proposed and acetic acid awaits detection in the infrared spectra of the ice as most other COMs except methanol. The thermal annealing and UV-irradiation of acetic acid in the ice was simulated experimentally in this work under astrophysically relevant conditions. The experiments were performed under ultra-high vacuum conditions. An ice layer was formed by vapor deposition onto a cold substrate, and was warmed up or exposed to UV photons. The ice was monitored by infrared spectroscopy while the molecules desorbing to the gas phase were measured using a quadrupole mass spectrometer. The transformation of the CH3COOH monomers to cyclic dimers occurs at 120 K and the crystal form composed of chain polymers was observed above 160 K during warm-up of the ice. Ice sublimation proceeds at 189 K in our experiments. Upon UV-irradiation simpler species and radicals are formed, which lead to a residue made of complex molecules after warm-up to room temperature. The possible formation of oxalic acid needs to be confirmed. The photodestruction of acetic acid molecules is reduced when mixed with water in the ice. This work may serve to search for the acetic acid photoproducts in lines of sight where this species is detected. A comparison of the reported laboratory infrared spectra with current JWST observations allows to detect or set upper imits on the CH3COOH abundances in interstellar and circumstellar ice mantles.
Simulations from the scales of isolated galaxies to clouds have been instrumental in informing us about molecular cloud formation and evolution. Simulations are able to investigate the roles of gravity, feedback, turbulence, heating and cooling, and magnetic fields on the physics of the interstellar medium, and star formation. Compared to simulations of individual clouds, galactic and sub-galactic scale simulations can include larger galactic scale processes such as spiral arms, bars, and larger supernovae bubbles, which may influence star formation. Simulations show cloud properties and lifetimes in broad agreement with observations. Gravity and spiral arms are required to produce more massive GMCs, whilst stellar feedback, likely photoionisation, leads to relatively short cloud lifetimes. On larger scales, supernovae may be more dominant in driving the structure and dynamics, but photoionisation may still have a role. In terms of the dynamics, feedback is probably the main driver of velocity dispersions, but large scale processes such as gravity and spiral arms may also be significant. Magnetic fields are generally found to decrease star formation on galaxy or cloud scales, and simulations are ongoing to study whether clouds are sub or supercritical on different scales in galaxy scale simulations. Simulations on subgalactic scales, or zoom in simulations, allow better resolution of feedback processes, filamentary structure within clouds, and the study of stellar clusters.
We present literature on abundance determinations in planetary nebulae (PN) as well as public tools that can be used to derive them. Concerning direct methods to derive abundances we discuss in some depth such issues as reddening correction, use of proper densities and temperatures to compute the abundances, correction for unseen ionic stages, effect of stellar absorption on nebular spectra, and error analysis. Concerning photoionization model-fitting, we discuss the necessary ingredients of model stellar atmospheres, the problem of incomplete slit covering and the determination of the goodness of fit. A note on the use of IFU observations is given. The still unsolved problem of temperature fluctuations is briefly presented, with references to more detailed papers. The problem of abundance discrepancies is touched upon with reference to more extensive discussions in the present volume. Finally carbon footprint issues are mentioned in the context of extensive PN modeling and large databases.
The ESA space mission Euclid was launched on July 1st, 2023 and is undergoing its science verification phase. In this invited review we show that Euclid means a before and an after for our understanding of ultra-cool dwarfs and substellar-mass objects and their connections with stars, exoplanets and the Milky Way. Euclid enables the study with unprecedented statistical significance a very large ensemble of ultracool dwarfs, the identification of new types of substellar objects, and the determination of the substellar binary fraction and the Initial Mass Function (IMF) in diverse galactic environments from the nearest stellar nurseries to the ancient relics of Galactic formation.
We present a measurement of the mass-metallicity relation (MZR) at cosmic noon, using the JWST near-infrared wide-field slitless spectroscopy obtained by the GLASS-JWST Early Release Science program. By combining the power of JWST and the lensing magnification by the foreground cluster A2744, we extend the measurements of the MZR to the dwarf mass regime at high redshifts. A sample of 50 galaxies with several emission lines is identified across two wide redshift ranges of $z=1.8-2.3$ and $2.6-3.4$ in the stellar mass range of $\log{(M_*/M_\odot)}\in [6.9, 10.0]$. The observed slope of MZR is $0.223 \pm 0.017$ and $0.294 \pm 0.010$ at these two redshift ranges, respectively, consistent with the slopes measured in field galaxies with higher masses. In addition, we assess the impact of the morphological broadening on emission line measurement by comparing two methods of using 2D forward modeling and line profile fitting to 1D extracted spectra. We show that ignoring the morphological broadening effect when deriving line fluxes from grism spectra results in a systematic reduction of flux by $\sim30\%$ on average. This discrepancy appears to affect all the lines and thus does not lead to significant changes in flux ratio and metallicity measurements. This assessment of the morphological broadening effect using JWST data presents, for the first time, an important guideline for future work deriving galaxy line fluxes from wide-field slitless spectroscopy, such as Euclid, Roman, and the Chinese Space Station Telescope.
Spitzer spectral maps reveal a disk of highly luminous, warm (>150 K) H2 in the center of the massive spiral galaxy Messier 58, which hosts a radio-loud AGN. The inner 2.6 kpc of the galaxy appears to be overrun by shocks from the radio jet cocoon. Gemini NIRI imaging of the H2 1-0 S(1) emission line, ALMA CO 2-1, and HST multiband imagery indicate that much of the molecular gas is shocked in-situ, corresponding to lanes of dusty molecular gas that spiral towards the galaxy nucleus. The CO 2-1 and ionized gas kinematics are highly disturbed, with velocity dispersion up to 300 km/s. Dissipation of the associated kinetic energy and turbulence, likely injected into the ISM by radio-jet driven outflows, may power the observed molecular and ionized gas emission from the inner disk. The PAH fraction and composition in the inner disk appear to be normal, in spite of the jet and AGN activity. The PAH ratios are consistent with excitation by the interstellar radiation field from old stars in the bulge, with no contribution from star formation. The phenomenon of jet-shocked H2 may substantially reduce star formation and help to regulate the stellar mass of the inner disk and supermassive black hole in this otherwise normal spiral galaxy. Similarly strong H2 emission is found at the centers of several nearby spiral and lenticular galaxies with massive bulges and radio-loud AGN.
The enormous increase in mid-IR sensitivity and spatial and spectral resolution provided by the JWST spectrographs enables, for the first time, detailed extragalactic studies of molecular vibrational bands. This opens an entirely new window for the study of the molecular interstellar medium in luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs). We present a detailed analysis of rovibrational bands of gas-phase CO, H$_2$O, C$_2$H$_2$ and HCN towards the heavily-obscured eastern nucleus of the LIRG VV 114, as observed by NIRSpec and MIRI MRS. Spectra extracted from apertures of 130 pc in radius show a clear dichotomy between the obscured AGN and two intense starburst regions. We detect the 2.3 $\mu$m CO bandheads, characteristic of cool stellar atmospheres, in the star-forming regions, but not towards the AGN. Surprisingly, at 4.7 $\mathrm{\mu}$m we find highly-excited CO ($T_\mathrm{ex} \approx 700$ K; 1000 K out to at least rotational level $J = 27$) towards the star-forming regions, but only cooler gas ($T_\mathrm{ex} \approx 170$ K) towards the AGN. We conclude that only mid-infrared pumping through the rovibrational lines can account for the equilibrium conditions found for CO and H$_2$O in the deeply-embedded starbursts. Here the CO bands probe regions with an intense local radiation field inside dusty young massive star clusters or near the most massive young stars. The lack of high-excitation molecular gas towards the AGN is attributed to geometric dilution of the intense radiation from the bright point source. An overview of the relevant excitation and radiative transfer physics is provided in an appendix.
Aims: We report the discovery and analysis of a periodic methanol maser in the massive protostar IRAS 20216+4104. Methods: To obtain the light curve, we used the 6.7 GHz methanol maser spectra collected between 2000-2003 and 2009-2023 with the Hartebeesthoek and Torun radio telescopes, as well as spectra from the literature reported prior to 1992. Results: The velocity-integrated flux density shows sinusoidal-like variations with a period of 6.9 +/- 0.03 yr. All but one of the features show periodic changes with a relative amplitude of 2 up to >89. A slightly variable feature displays a moderate anti-correlation between the flux density and the other significantly variable features. The maser emission appears to follow the continuum emission of the red-shifted outflow cavity. A maximum emission of 3.4 and 4.6 mu m precedes the maser peak by 15 % of the period and the (infrared) IR light centroids show time-dependent displacement. The periodic behaviour of the maser and IR emission is likely due to the eclipsing effect from a wobbling inner disk.
Interpreting the scaling relations followed by galaxies is a fundamental tool for assessing how well we understand galaxy formation and evolution. Several scaling relations involving the galaxy metallicity have been discovered through the years, the foremost of which is the scaling with stellar mass. This so-called mass-metallicity relation is thought to be fundamental and has been subject to many studies in the literature. We study the dependence of the gas-phase metallicity on many different galaxy properties to assess which of them determines the metallicity of a galaxy. We applied a random forest regressor algorithm on a sample of more than 3000 nearby galaxies from the SDSS-IV MaNGA survey. Using this machine-learning technique, we explored the effect of 148 parameters on the global oxygen abundance as an indicator of the gas metallicity. $M_{\rm \star}$/$R_e$, as a proxy for the baryonic gravitational potential of the galaxy, is found to be the primary factor determining the average gas-phase metallicity of the galaxy ($Z_g$). It outweighs stellar mass. A subsequent analysis provides the strongest dependence of $Z_g$ on $M_\star / R_e^{\,0.6}$. We argue that this parameter traces the total gravitational potential, and the exponent $\alpha\simeq 0.6$ accounts for the inclusion of the dark matter component. Our results reveal the importance of the relation between the total gravitational potential of the galaxy and the gas metallicity. This relation is tighter and likely more primordial than the widely known mass-metallicity relation.
Extreme scattering events (ESEs) are observed as dramatic ($>50\%$) drops in flux density that occur over an extended period of weeks to months. Discrete plasma lensing structures are theorized to scatter the radio waves produced by distant sources such as pulsars, causing the signature decrease in flux density and characteristic caustic spikes in ESE light curves. While plasma lens models in the extant literature have reproduced key features of ESE light curves, they have all faced the problem of being highly over-dense and over-pressured relative to the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM) by orders of magnitude. We model ESEs by numerically ray-tracing through analytic, volumetric plasma lens models by solving the eikonal equation. Delaunay triangulation connecting the rays approximates the wavefront, generating a mapping from the observer plane to the source plane to account for multiple-imaging. This eikonal method of ray-tracing is tested against known analytic solutions and is then applied to a three-dimensional Gaussian-distributed electron volume density lens, and a filament model inspired by Grafton et al. (2023). We find convergence of our numerical results with established analytic solutions validating our numerical method, and reproduce ESE-like light curves. Our numerical ray-tracing method lends itself well to exploring the lensing effects of volumetric turbulence as well as sheet-like lenses, which is currently in progress.
Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) play a crucial role in ionisation, dissociation, and excitation processes within dense cloud regions where UV radiation is absorbed by dust grains and gas species. CRs regulate the abundance of ions and radicals, leading to the formation of more and more complex molecular species, and determine the charge distribution on dust grains. A quantitative analysis of these effects is essential for understanding the dynamical and chemical evolution of star-forming regions. The CR-induced photon flux has a significant impact on the evolution of the dense molecular medium in its gas and dust components. This study is intended to evaluate the flux of UV photons generated by CRs to calculate the photon-induced dissociation and ionisation rates of a vast number of atomic and molecular species, as well as the integrated UV photon flux. Our study takes advantage of recent developments in the determination of the spectra of secondary electrons, in the calculation of state-resolved excitation cross sections of H$_2$ by electron impact, and of photodissociation and photoionisation cross sections. We calculate the H$_2$ level population of each rovibrational level of the $X$, $B$, $C$, $B'$, $D$, $B''$, $D'$ and $a$ states. We then compute the UV photon spectrum of H$_2$ in its line and continuum components between 72 and 700 nm, with unprecedented accuracy as a function of the CR spectrum incident on a molecular cloud, the H$_2$ column density, the isomeric H$_2$ composition, and the dust properties. The resulting photodissociation and photoionisation rates are, on average, smaller than previous determinations by a factor of about 2, with deviations up to a factor of 5. A special focus is given to the photoionisation rates of H$_2$, HF, and H$_2$, as well as to the photodissociation of H$_2$, which we find to be orders of magnitude higher than previous estimates.
The discovery of the Eye of Horus (EoH), a rare double source-plane lens system ($z_{\rm lens}=$ 0.795; $z_{\rm src}=$ 1.302 and 1.988), has also led to the identification of two high-redshift ($z_{\rm phot}\sim$ 0.8) galaxy clusters in the same field based on the subsequent analysis of the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) optical and XMM-Newton X-ray data. The two brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), one of which is the lensing galaxy of the EoH, are separated by only $\sim$100$"$ ($=$ 0.75 Mpc $<$ $r_{200}$) on the sky, raising the possibility that these two clusters may be physically associated. Here, we present a follow-up optical spectroscopic survey of this EoH field, obtaining 218 secure redshifts using MMT/Binospec. We have confirmed that there indeed exist two massive ($M_{\rm dyn}$ $>$ $10^{14}$ M$_\odot$) clusters of galaxies at $z$ $=$ 0.795 (the main cluster) and at $z=0.769$ (the NE cluster). However, these clusters have a velocity offset of $\sim$4300 km s$^{-1}$, suggesting that this two-cluster system is likely a line-of-sight projection rather than a physically-related association (e.g., a cluster merger). In terms of the properties of cluster-member galaxies, these two $z\sim0.8$ clusters appear well-developed, each harboring an old (age $=$ 3.6-6.0 Gyr) and massive ($M_\mathrm{*}$ $=$ 4.2-9.5 $\times$ $10^{11}$ M$_\odot$) BCG and exhibiting a well-established red sequence (RS). This study underscores the importance of conducting a spectroscopic follow-up for high-redshift cluster candidates because RS-based cluster selections are susceptible to such a projection effect in general.
In the current JWST era, rest-frame UV spectra play a crucial role in enhancing our understanding of the interstellar medium (ISM) and stellar properties of the first galaxies in the epoch of reionization (EoR, $z>6$). Here, we compare well-known and reliable optical diagrams sensitive to the main ionization source (i.e., star formation, SF; active galactic nuclei, AGN; shocks) to UV counterparts proposed in the literature - the so-called ``UV-BPT diagrams'' - using the HST COS Legacy Archive Spectroscopic SurveY (CLASSY), the largest high-quality, high-resolution and broad-wavelength range atlas of far-UV spectra for 45 local star-forming galaxies. In particular, we explore where CLASSY UV line ratios are located in the different UV diagnostic plots, taking into account state-of-the-art photoionization and shock models and, for the first time, the measured ISM and stellar properties (e.g., gas-phase metallicity, ionization parameter, carbon abundance, stellar age). We find that the combination of C III] $\lambda\lambda$1907,9 He II $\lambda1640$ and O III] $\lambda$1666 can be a powerful tool to separate between SF, shocks and AGN at sub-solar metallicities. We also confirm that alternative diagrams without O III] $\lambda$1666 still allow us to define a SF-locus with some caveats. Diagrams including C IV $\lambda\lambda$1548,51 should be taken with caution given the complexity of this doublet profile. Finally, we present a discussion detailing the ISM conditions required to detect UV emission lines, visible only in low gas-phase metallicity (12+log(O/H) $\lesssim8.3$) and high ionization parameter (log($U$) $\gtrsim-2.5$) environments. Overall, CLASSY and our UV toolkit will be crucial in interpreting the spectra of the earliest galaxies that JWST is currently revealing.
We present chemical abundance ratios of 70 star-forming galaxies at $z\sim4$-10 observed by the JWST/NIRSpec ERO, GLASS, and CEERS programs. Among the 70 galaxies, we have pinpointed 2 galaxies, CEERS_01019 at $z=8.68$ and GLASS_150008 at $z=6.23$, with extremely low C/N ([C/N]$\lesssim -1$), evidenced with CIII]$\lambda\lambda$1907,1909, NIII]$\lambda$1750, and NIV]$\lambda\lambda$1483,1486, which show high N/O ratios ([N/O]$\gtrsim 0.5$) comparable with the one of GN-z11 regardless of whether stellar or AGN radiation is assumed. Such low C/N and high N/O ratios found in CEERS_01019 and GLASS_150008 (additionally identified in GN-z11) are largely biased towards the equilibrium of the CNO cycle, suggesting that these 3 galaxies are enriched by metals processed by the CNO cycle. On the C/N vs. O/H plane, these 3 galaxies do not coincide with Galactic HII regions, normal star-forming galaxies, and nitrogen-loud quasars with asymptotic giant branch stars, but globular-cluster (GC) stars, indicating a connection with GC formation. We compare C/O and N/O of these 3 galaxies with those of theoretical models, and find that these 3 galaxies are explained by scenarios with dominant CNO-cycle materials, i.e. Wolf-Rayet stars, supermassive ($10^{3}-10^{5}\ M_{\odot}$) stars, and tidal disruption events, interestingly with a requirement of frequent direct collapses. For all the 70 galaxies, we present measurements of Ne/O, S/O, and Ar/O, together with C/O and N/O. We identify 4 galaxies with very low Ne/O, $\log(\rm Ne/O)<-1.0$, indicating abundant massive ($\gtrsim30\ M_\odot$) stars.
Stratified disks with strong horizontal magnetic fields are susceptible to magnetic buoyancy instability (MBI). Modifying the magnetic field and gas distributions, this can play an important role in galactic evolution. The MBI and the Parker instability, in which cosmic rays exacerbate MBI, are often studied using an imposed magnetic field. However, in galaxies and accretion discs, the magnetic field is continuously replenished by a large-scale dynamo action. Using non-ideal MHD equations, we model a section of the galactic disc (we neglect rotation and cosmic rays considered elsewhere), in which the large-scale field is generated by an imposed $\alpha$-effect of variable intensity to explore the interplay between dynamo instability and MBI. The system evolves through three distinct phases: the linear (kinematic) dynamo stage, the onset of linear MBI when the magnetic field becomes sufficiently strong and the nonlinear, statistically steady state. Nonlinear effects associated with the MBI introduce oscillations which do not occur when the field is produced by the dynamo alone. The MBI initially accelerates the magnetic field amplification but the growth is quenched by the vertical motions produced by MBI. We construct a 1D model, which replicates all significant features of 3D simulations to confirm that magnetic buoyancy alone can quench the dynamo and is responsible for the magnetic field oscillations. Unlike with an imposed magnetic field (arXiv:2305.03318,arXiv:2212.03215), the nonlinear interactions do not reduce the gas scale height, so the consequences of the magnetic buoyancy depend on how the magnetic field is maintained.
A quarter of a century has passed since the observing technique of integral field spectroscopy (IFS) was first applied to planetary nebulae (PNe). Progress after the early experiments was relatively slow, mainly because of the limited field-of-view (FoV) of first generation instruments.With the advent of MUSE at the ESO Very Large Telescope, this situation has changed. MUSE is a wide field-of-view, high angular resolution, one-octave spanning optical integral field spectrograph with high throughput. Its major science mission has enabled an unprecedented sensitive search for Ly{\alpha} emitting galaxies at redshift up to z=6.5. This unique property can be utilized for faint objects at low redshift as well. It has been demonstrated that MUSE is an ideal instrument to detect and measure extragalactic PNe with high photometric accuracy down to very faint magnitudes out to distances of 30 Mpc, even within high surface brightness regions of their host galaxies. When coupled with a differential emission line filtering (DELF) technique, MUSE becomes far superior to conventional narrow-band imaging, and therefore MUSE is ideal for accurate Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function (PNLF) distance determinations. MUSE enables the PNLF to become a competitive tool for an independent measure of the Hubble constant, and stellar population studies of the host galaxies that present a sufficiently large number of PNe.
We present the identification of 42 narrow-line active galactic nuclei (type-2 AGN) candidates in the two deepest observations of the JADES spectroscopic survey with JWST/NIRSpec. The spectral coverage and the depth of our observations allow us to select narrow-line AGNs based on both rest-frame optical and UV emission lines up to z=10. Due to the metallicity decrease of galaxies, at $z>3$ the standard optical diagnostic diagrams (N2-BPT or S2-VO87) become unable to distinguish many AGN from other sources of photoionisation. Therefore, we also use high ionisation lines, such as HeII$\lambda$4686, HeII$\lambda$1640, NeIV$\lambda$2422, NeV$\lambda$3420, and NV$\lambda$1240, also in combination with other UV transitions, to trace the presence of AGN. Out of a parent sample of 209 galaxies, we identify 42 type-2 AGN (although 10 of them are tentative), giving a fraction of galaxies in JADES hosting type-2 AGN of about $20\pm3$\%, which does not evolve significantly in the redshift range between 2 and 10. The selected type-2 AGN have estimated bolometric luminosities of $10^{41.3-44.9}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and host-galaxy stellar masses of $10^{7.2-9.3}$ M$_{\odot}$. The star formation rates of the selected AGN host galaxies are consistent with those of the star-forming main sequence. The AGN host galaxies at z=4-6 contribute $\sim$8-30 \% to the UV luminosity function, slightly increasing with UV luminosity.
(Abridged) In this paper, we present a project of multi-channel wide-field optical sky monitoring system with high temporal resolution -- Small Aperture Imaging Network Telescope (SAINT) -- mostly built from off-the-shelf components and aimed towards searching and studying optical transient phenomena on the shortest time scales. The instrument consists of 12 channels each containing 30cm (F/1.5) objectives mounted on separate mounts with pointing speeds up to 50deg/s. Each channel is equipped with a 4128x4104 pixel, and a set of photometric $griz$ filters and linear polarizers. At the heart of every channel is a custom built reducer-collimator module allowing rapid switching of an effective focal length of the telescope -- due to it the system is capable to operate in either wide-field survey or narrow-field follow-up modes. In the first case, the field of view of the instrument is 470 square degrees and the detection limits (5$\sigma$ level at 5500$\AA$) are 12.5-21 mag for exposure times of 20 ms - 20 min correspondingly. In the second, follow-up regime, all telescopes are oriented towards the single target, and SAINT becomes an equivalent to a 1m telescope, with the field of view reduced to 11$'$ x 11$'$, and the exposure times decreased down to 0.6 ms. Different channels may then have different filters installed, thus allowing a detailed study -- acquiring both color and polarization information -- of a target object with highest possible temporal resolution. The operation of SAINT will allow acquiring an unprecedented amount of data on various classes of astrophysical phenomena, from near-Earth to extragalactic ones, while its multi-channel design and the use of commercially available components allows easy expansion of its scale, and thus performance and detection capabilities.
This study aims to improve the photometric calibration of astronomical photo plates. The Sonneberg Observatory's sky patrol was selected, comprising about 300,000 plates, and the digitization workflow is implemented using PyPlate. The challenge is to remove zero point offsets resulting from differences in color sensitivity in the photo plates' emulsion response. By utilizing the Gaia DR3 dataset and the GaiaXPy tool, we are able to obtain a consistent astrometric and photometric calibration of the Sonneberg plates and those of other archives such as APPLAUSE.
Consistent operation of adaptive optics (AO) systems requires the use of a wavefront sensor (WFS) with high sensitivity and low noise. The nonlinear curvature WFS (nlCWFS) has been shown both in simulations and lab experiments to be more sensitive than the industry-standard Shack-Hartmann WFS (SHWFS), but its noise characteristics have yet to be thoroughly explored. In this paper, we develop a spatial domain wavefront error budget for the nlCWFS that includes common sources of noise that introduce uncertainty into the reconstruction process (photon noise, finite bit depth, read noise, vibrations, non-common-path errors, servo lag, etc.). We find that the nlCWFS can out-perform the SHWFS in a variety of environmental conditions, and that the primary challenge involves overcoming speed limitations related to the wavefront reconstructor. The results of this work may be used to inform the design of nlCWFS systems for a broad range of AO applications.
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, Wright et al. 2010) and its follow-up Near-Earth Object (NEO) mission (NEOWISE, Mainzer et al. 2011) scan the mid-infrared sky twice a year. The spatial and temporal coverage of the resulting database is of utmost importance for variability studies, in particular of young stellar objects (YSOs) which have red $W1{-}W2$ colors. During such an effort, I noticed subarcsecond position offsets between subsequent visits. The offsets do not appear for targets with small $W1{-}W2$ colors, which points to a chromatic origin in the optics, caused by the spacecraft pointing alternating ``forward'' and ``backward'' from one visit to another. It amounts to 0\farcs1 for targets with $W1{-}W2\approx2$. Consideration of this chromatic offset will improve astrometry. This is of particular importance for NEOs that are generally red.
Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensors are a competitive choice for future X-ray astronomy missions. Typically, CMOS sensors on space astronomical telescopes are exposed to a high dose of irradiation. We investigate the impact of irradiation on the performance of two scientific CMOS (sCMOS) sensors between -30 to 20 degree at high gain mode (7.5 times), including the bias map, readout noise, dark current, conversion gain, and energy resolution. The two sensors are irradiated with 50 MeV protons with a total dose of 5.3*10^10 p/cm^2. After the exposure, the bias map, readout noise and conversion gain at various temperatures are not significantly degraded, nor is the energy resolution at -30 degree. However, after the exposure the dark current has increased by hundreds of times, and for every 20 degree increase in temperature, the dark current also increases by an order of magnitude. Therefore, at room temperature, the fluctuations of the dark currents dominate the noise and lead to a serious degradation of the energy resolution. Moreover, among the 4k * 4k pixels, there are about 100 pixels whose bias at 50 ms has changed by more than 10 DN (~18 e-), and about 10 pixels whose readout noise has increased by over 15 e- at -30 degree. Fortunately, the influence of the dark current can be reduced by decreasing the integration time, and the degraded pixels can be masked by regular analysis of the dark images. Some future X-ray missions will likely operate at -30 degree, under which the dark current is too small to significantly affect the X-ray performance. Our investigations show the high tolerance of the sCMOS sensors for proton radiation and prove their suitability for X-ray astronomy applications.
The sky-averaged cosmological 21 cm signal can improve our understanding of the evolution of the early Universe from the Dark Age to the end of the Epoch of Reionization. Although the EDGES experiment reported an absorption profile of this signal, there have been concerns about the plausibility of these results, motivating independent validation experiments. One of these initiatives is the Mapper of the IGM Spin Temperature (MIST), which is planned to be deployed at different remote locations around the world. One of its key features is that it seeks to comprehensively compensate for systematic uncertainties through detailed modeling and characterization of its different instrumental subsystems, particularly its antenna. Here we propose a novel optimizing scheme which can be used to design an antenna applied to MIST, improving bandwidth, return loss, and beam chromaticity. This new procedure combines the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm with a commercial electromagnetic simulation software (HFSS). We improved the performance of two antenna models: a rectangular blade antenna, similar to the one used in the EDGES experiment, and a trapezoidal bow-tie antenna. Although the performance of both antennas improved after applying our optimization method, we found that our bow-tie model outperforms the blade antenna by achieving lower reflection losses and beam chromaticity in the entire band of interest. To further validate the optimization process, we also built and characterized 1:20 scale models of both antenna types showing an excellent agreement with our simulations.
Polarisation is a powerful remote-sensing tool to study the nature of particles scattering the starlight. It is widely used to characterise interplanetary dust particles in the Solar System and increasingly employed to investigate extrasolar dust in debris discs' systems. We aim to measure the scattering properties of the dust from the debris ring around HD 181327 at near-infrared wavelengths. We obtained high-contrast polarimetric images of HD 181327 in the H band with the SPHERE / IRDIS instrument on the Very Large Telescope (ESO). We complemented them with archival data from HST / NICMOS in the F110W filter reprocessed in the context of the Archival Legacy Investigations of Circumstellar Environments (ALICE) project. We developed a combined forward-modelling framework to simultaneously retrieve the scattering phase function in polarisation and intensity. We detected the debris disc around HD 181327 in polarised light and total intensity. We measured the scattering phase function and the degree of linear polarisation of the dust at 1.6 micron in the birth ring. The maximum polarisation is 23.6% +/- 2.6% and occurs between a scattering angle of 70 deg and 82 deg. We show that compact spherical particles made of a highly refractive and relatively absorbing material in a differential power-law size distribution of exponent $-3.5$ can simultaneously reproduce the polarimetric and total intensity scattering properties of the dust. This type of material cannot be obtained with a mixture of silicates, amorphous carbon, water ice, and porosity, and requires a more refracting component such as iron-bearing minerals. We reveal a striking analogy between the near-infrared polarisation of comets and that of HD 181327. The methodology developed here combining VLT/SPHERE and HST/NICMOS may be applicable in the future to combine the polarimetric capabilities of SPHERE with the sensitivity of JWST.
Extreme adaptive optics instruments have revealed exquisite details on debris discs, allowing to extract the optical properties of the dust particles such as the phase function, the degree of polarisation and the spectral reflectance. These are three powerful diagnostic tools to understand the physical properties of the dust : the size, shape and composition of the dust particles. This can inform us on the population of parent bodies, also called planetesimals, which generate those particles through collisions. It is however very rare to be able to combine all those three observables for the same system, as this requires different high-contrast imaging techniques to suppress the starlight and reveal the faint scattered light emission from the dust. Due to its brightness, the ring detected around the A-type star HR 4796 is a notable exception, with both unpolarised and polarised images covering near-infrared wavelengths. Here, we show how measurements of dust particles in the laboratory can reproduce the observed near-infrared photo-polarimetric properties of the HR 4796 disc. Experimental characterisation of dust allows to bypass the current limitations of dust models to reproduce simultaneously the phase function, the degree of polarisation and the spectral reflectance.
This paper presents GPFC, a novel Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) Phase Folding and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) system to detect exoplanets using the transit method. We devise a fast folding algorithm parallelized on a GPU to amplify low signal-to-noise ratio transit signals, allowing a search at high precision and speed. A CNN trained on two million synthetic light curves reports a score indicating the likelihood of a planetary signal at each period. GPFC improves on speed by three orders of magnitude over the predominant Box-fitting Least Squares (BLS) method. Our simulation results show GPFC achieves 97% training accuracy, higher true positive rate at the same false positive rate of detection, and higher precision at the same recall rate when compared to BLS. GPFC recovers 100% of known ultra-short-period planets in Kepler light curves from a blind search. These results highlight the promise of GPFC as an alternative approach to the traditional BLS algorithm for finding new transiting exoplanets in data taken with Kepler and other space transit missions such as K2, TESS and future PLATO and Earth 2.0.
[Abridged abstract] Large Language Models (LLMs) can solve some undergraduate-level to graduate-level physics textbook problems and are proficient at coding. Combining these two capabilities could one day enable AI systems to simulate and predict the physical world. We present an evaluation of state-of-the-art (SOTA) LLMs on PhD-level to research-level computational physics problems. We condition LLM generation on the use of well-documented and widely-used packages to elicit coding capabilities in the physics and astrophysics domains. We contribute $\sim 50$ original and challenging problems in celestial mechanics (with REBOUND), stellar physics (with MESA), 1D fluid dynamics (with Dedalus) and non-linear dynamics (with SciPy). Since our problems do not admit unique solutions, we evaluate LLM performance on several soft metrics: counts of lines that contain different types of errors (coding, physics, necessity and sufficiency) as well as a more "educational" Pass-Fail metric focused on capturing the salient physical ingredients of the problem at hand. As expected, today's SOTA LLM (GPT4) zero-shot fails most of our problems, although about 40\% of the solutions could plausibly get a passing grade. About $70-90 \%$ of the code lines produced are necessary, sufficient and correct (coding \& physics). Physics and coding errors are the most common, with some unnecessary or insufficient lines. We observe significant variations across problem class and difficulty. We identify several failure modes of GPT4 in the computational physics domain. Our reconnaissance work provides a snapshot of current computational capabilities in classical physics and points to obvious improvement targets if AI systems are ever to reach a basic level of autonomy in physics simulation capabilities.
Light curves produced by wide-field exoplanet transit surveys such as CoRoT, Kepler, and TESS are affected by sensor-wide systematic noise which is correlated both spatiotemporally and with other instrumental parameters such as photometric magnitude. Robust and effective systematics mitigation is necessary to achieve the level of photometric accuracy required to detect exoplanet transits and to faithfully recover other forms of intrinsic astrophysical variability. We demonstrate the feasibility of a new exploratory algorithm to remove spatially-correlated systematic noise and detrend light curves obtained from wide-field transit surveys. This spatial systematics algorithm is data-driven and fits a low-rank linear model for the systematics conditioned on a total-variation spatial constraint. The total-variation constraint models spatial systematic structure across the sensor on a foundational level. The fit is performed using gradient descent applied to, a variable reduced least-squares penalty and a modified form of total-variation prior; both the systematics basis vectors and their weighting coefficients are iteratively varied. The algorithm was numerically evaluated against a reference principal component analysis, using both signal injection on a selected Kepler dataset, as well as full simulations within the same Kepler coordinate framework. We find our algorithm to reduce overfitting of astrophysical variability over longer signal timescales (days) while performing comparably relative to the reference method for exoplanet transit timescales. The algorithm performance and application is assessed and future development outlined.
For natural guide start adaptive optics (AO) systems, pyramid wavefront sensors (PWFSs) can provide significant increase in sensitivity over the traditional Shack-Hartmann, but at the cost of a reduced linear range. When using a linear reconstructor, non-linearities result in wavefront estimation errors, which can have a significant impact on the image quality delivered by the AO system. Here we simulate a wavefront passing through a PWFS under varying observing conditions to explore the possibility of using a non-linear machine learning model to estimate wavefront errors better than a linear reconstruction. We find significant improvement even with light-weight models, underscoring the need for further investigation of this approach.
We introduce spatiotemporal-graph models that concurrently process data from the twin advanced LIGO detectors and the advanced Virgo detector. We trained these AI classifiers with 2.4 million IMRPhenomXPHM waveforms that describe quasi-circular, spinning, non-precessing binary black hole mergers with component masses $m_{\{1,2\}}\in[3M_\odot, 50 M_\odot]$, and individual spins $s^z_{\{1,2\}}\in[-0.9, 0.9]$; and which include the $(\ell, |m|) = \{(2, 2), (2, 1), (3, 3), (3, 2), (4, 4)\}$ modes, and mode mixing effects in the $\ell = 3, |m| = 2$ harmonics. We trained these AI classifiers within 22 hours using distributed training over 96 NVIDIA V100 GPUs in the Summit supercomputer. We then used transfer learning to create AI predictors that estimate the total mass of potential binary black holes identified by all AI classifiers in the ensemble. We used this ensemble, 3 classifiers for signal detection and 2 total mass predictors, to process a year-long test set in which we injected 300,000 signals. This year-long test set was processed within 5.19 minutes using 1024 NVIDIA A100 GPUs in the Polaris supercomputer (for AI inference) and 128 CPU nodes in the ThetaKNL supercomputer (for post-processing of noise triggers), housed at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility. These studies indicate that our AI ensemble provides state-of-the-art signal detection accuracy, and reports 2 misclassifications for every year of searched data. This is the first AI ensemble designed to search for and find higher order gravitational wave mode signals.
In recent years, tremendous progress has been made on scientific Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (sCMOS) sensors, making them a promising device for future space X-ray missions. We have customized a large-format sCMOS sensor, G1516BI, dedicated for X-ray applications. In this work, a 200 nm thick aluminum layer is successfully sputtered on the surface of this sensor. This Al-coated sensor, named EP4K, shows consistent performance with the uncoated version. The readout noise of the EP4K sensor is around 2.5 e- and the dark current is less than 0.01 e-/pixel/s at -30 degree. The maximum frame rate is 20 Hz in the current design. The ratio of single pixel events of the sensor is 45.0%. The energy resolution can reach 153.2 eV at 4.51 keV and 174.2 eV at 5.90 keV at -30 degree. The optical transmittance of the aluminum layer is approximately 1e-8 to 1e-10 for optical lights from 365 to 880 nm, corresponding to an effective aluminum thickness of around 140 to 160 nm. The good X-ray performance and low optical transmittance of this Al-coated sCMOS sensor make it a good choice for space X-ray missions. The Lobster Eye Imager for Astronomy (LEIA), which has been working in orbit for about one year, is equipped with four pieces of EP4K sensors. Furthermore, 48 pieces of EP4K sensors are used on the Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) on the Einstein Probe (EP) satellite, which will be launched at the end of 2023.
In July 2021, faculty from the UAlbany Department of Physics participated in a week-long field expedition with the organization UAPx to collect data on UAPs in Avalon, California, located on Catalina Island, and nearby. This paper reviews both the hardware and software techniques which this collaboration employed, and contains a frank discussion of the successes and failures, with a section about how to apply lessons learned to future expeditions. Both observable-light and infrared cameras were deployed, as well as sensors for other (non-EM) emissions. A pixel-subtraction method was augmented with other similarly simple methods to provide initial identification of objects in the sky and/or the sea crossing the cameras' fields of view. The first results will be presented based upon approximately one hour in total of triggered visible/night-vision-mode video and over 600 hours of untriggered (far) IR video recorded, as well as 55 hours of (background) radiation measurements. Following multiple explanatory resolutions of several ambiguities that were potentially anomalous at first, we focus on the primary remaining ambiguity captured at approximately 4am Pacific Time on Friday, July 16: a dark spot in the visible/near-IR camera possibly coincident with ionizing radiation that has thus far resisted a prosaic explanation. We conclude with quantitative suggestions for serious researchers in this still-nascent field of hard-science-based UAP studies, with an ultimate goal of identifying UAPs without confirmation bias toward either mundane or speculative conclusions.
There is no proof that black holes contain singularities when they are generated by real physical bodies. Roger Penrose claimed sixty years ago that trapped surfaces inevitably lead to light rays of finite affine length (FALL's). Penrose and Stephen Hawking then asserted that these must end in actual singularities. When they could not prove this they decreed it to be self evident. It is shown that there are counterexamples through every point in the Kerr metric. These are asymptotic to at least one event horizon and do not end in singularities.
The Einstein equivalence principle in general relativity allows us to interpret accelerating black holes as a black hole immersed into the gravitational field of a larger companion black hole. Indeed it is demonstrated that C-metrics can be obtained as a limit of a binary system where one of the black holes grows indefinitely large, becoming a Rindler horizon. When the bigger black hole, before the limiting process, is of Schwarzschild type we recover usual accelerating black holes belonging to the Plebanski-Demianski class, thus type D. Whether the greater black hole carries some extra features, such as electric charges or rotations, we get generalised accelerating black holes which belongs to a more general class, the type I. In that case the background has a richer structure, reminiscent of the physical features of the inflated companion, with respect to the standard Rindler spacetime.
It is shown that in the presence of a nonvanishing cosmological constant, Strominger's infinite-dimensional $\mathrm{w_{1+\infty}}$ algebra of soft graviton symmetries is modified in a simple way. The deformed algebra contains a subalgebra generating $ SO(1,4)$ or $SO(2,3)$ symmetry groups of $\text{dS}_4$ or $\text{AdS}_4$, depending on the sign of the cosmological constant. The transformation properties of soft gauge symmetry currents under the deformed $\mathrm{w_{1+\infty}}$ are also discussed.
We prove there is a unique vacuum solution in split-signature spacetimes with Kleinian SO(2,1) spherical symmetry. We extend our analysis to accommodate a positive or negative cosmological constant and we prove the Kleinian spherically symmetric solutions to Einstein's equation are locally isomorphic to the split-signature analogues of Schwarzschild-(Anti)-de Sitter or Nariai spacetimes. Our analysis provides a Kleinian extension of Birkhoff's theorem to metrics with split-signature. Axisymmetric vacuum solutions are also considered, including (2,2) signature formulations of the Kerr and Taub-NUT metrics.
We show that, given any static spacetime whose spatial slices are asymptotically Euclidean (or, more generally, asymptotically conic) manifolds modeled on the large end of the Schwarzschild exterior, there exist stationary solutions to the Klein--Gordon equation having Schwartz initial data. In fact, there exist infinitely many independent such solutions. The proof is a variational argument based on the long range nature of the effective potential. We give two sets of test functions which serve to verify the hypothesis of the variational argument. One set consists of cutoff versions of the hydrogen bound states and is used to prove the existence of eigenvalues near the hydrogen spectrum.
Operator product expansions (OPEs) in quantum field theory (QFT) provide an asymptotic relation between products of local fields defined at points $x_1, \dots, x_n$ and local fields at point $y$ in the limit $x_1, \dots, x_n \to y$. They thereby capture in a precise way the singular behavior of products of quantum fields at a point as well as their ``finite trends.'' In this article, we shall review the fundamental properties of OPEs and their role in the formulation of interacting QFT in curved spacetime, the ``flow relations'' in coupling parameters satisfied by the OPE coefficients, the role of OPEs in conformal field theories, and the manner in which general theorems -- specifically, the PCT theorem -- can be formulated using OPEs in a curved spacetime setting.
We study the correlation between a part of the gravitational field at the common dynamical horizon in the strong field regime and the news of the gravitational radiation received from the system in the weak field regime, in the post-merger phase of quasi-circular, non-spinning binary black hole mergers using numerical relativity simulations. We find that, as in the inspiral phase Phys.Rev.Lett.125,121101, the shear of the common dynamical horizon formed late into the inspiral continues to be well correlated with the news of the outgoing gravitational radiation even at early times. We show by fitting that the shear contains certain quasi-normal frequencies and information about the masses and spins of the remnant and the parent black holes, providing evidence to support the horizon correlation conjecture holds for dynamical horizons in binary black hole mergers.
In this work, we consider the corrections to the cosmological models based on the teleparralel equivalent of general relativity and the scalar-torsion gravity implying non-minimal coupling between scalar field and torsion. To determine these corrections, we consider a power-law parameterization of the deviations between teleparralel equivalent of general relativity and the scalar-torsion gravity. The impact of these deviations on cosmological dynamics, scalar field potential and parameters of cosmological perturbations is considered for different inflationary models.
We consider the cosmological models based on the scalar-torsion gravity implying non-minimal coupling between torsion and the scalar field as modification of teleparallel equivalent of general relativity. Based on generalized exact solutions of the equations of cosmological dynamics, the type of scalar-torsion gravity was reconstructed. Also, based on observational restrictions on the values of the tensor-scalar ratio, the type of the coupling function was determined. It was noted that any models of cosmological inflation obtained on the basis of the proposed approach are verified by observational constraints on the parameters of cosmological perturbations.
The Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) describes the non-equilibrium dynamics and topological defect formation in systems undergoing second-order phase transitions. KZM has found applications in fields such as cosmology and condensed matter physics. However, it is generally not suitable for describing first-order phase transitions. It has been demonstrated that transitions in systems like superconductors or charged superfluids, typically classified as second-order, can exhibit weakly first-order characteristics when the influence of fluctuations is taken into account. Moreover, the order of the phase transition (i.e., the extent to which it becomes first rather than second order) can be tuned. We explore quench-induced formation of topological defects in such tunable phase transitions and propose that their density can be predicted by combining KZM with nucleation theory.
A protocol of quantum dense coding with gravitational cat states is proposed. We explore the effects of temperature and system parameters on the dense coding capacity and provide an efficient strategy to preserve the quantum advantage of dense coding for these states. Our results might open new opportunities for secure communication and possibly insights into the fundamental nature of gravity in the context of quantum information processing.
It is commonly believed that black holes are the smallest self-gravitating objects of the same mass in the Universe. Here, we demonstrate, in a subclass of higher-order pure gravities known as quasi-topological gravity, that by modifying general relativity (GR) to reduce the strength of gravity in strong-field regimes while keeping GR unchanged in weak-field regimes, it is possible for stars to collapse to radii less than $2M$ while still maintaining equilibrium between gravity and pressure gradients, leading to physically-reasonable neutron stars smaller in size than a black hole of the same mass. We present concrete solutions for such objects and discuss some of their observational consequences. These objects may furnish new avenues for understanding the nature of gravity in strong-field regimes and leave imprints on gravitational wave echoes from compact binary mergers. An observation of these imprints may constitute evidence for new physics beyond GR when effects of gravity in strong-field regimes are concerned.
We show that the spherically symmetric Einstein-scalar-field equations with potential for small wave-like decaying initial data at null infinity have unique global solutions when potential is dominated by four powers of scalar fields essentially.
We look for a classical double copy structure between gravity and electrodynamics by connecting the descriptions of the scattering of two point masses, and of two point charges, in terms of perturbative (post-Minkowskian or post-Lorentzian) expansions. We do so by recasting available analytical information within the effective-one-body formalism using Kerr-Schild gauges in both cases. Working at the third perturbative level, we find that the usual linear relation (holding in the probe limit) between the adimensionalized electric potential, $\tilde{\phi}= \frac{G M}{e_1 e_2} \phi^{\rm el}$, and the Schwarzschildlike gravitational one, $\Phi^{\rm grav}$, is deformed, in the comparable-mass, comparable-charge, case, into a {\it nonlinear relation} which becomes {\it universal in the high energy limit}: $\Phi^{\rm grav}= 2\tilde{\phi}-5\tilde{\phi}^2 + 18\tilde{\phi}^3$.
Although ordinary laboratory thermodynamic systems are known to be homogeneous systems, black holes are different and cannot be considered within this class. Using the formalism of geometrothermodynamics, we show that black holes should be considered as quasi-homogeneous systems. As a consequence, we argue that coupling constants in generalized gravity theories should be considered as thermodynamic variables, giving raise to extended versions of black hole thermodynamics.
Past studies have empirically demonstrated a surprising agreement between gravitational waveforms computed using adiabatic-driven-inspiral point-particle black hole perturbation theory (ppBHPT) and numerical relativity (NR) following a straightforward calibration step, sometimes referred to as $\alpha$-$\beta$ scaling. Specifically focusing on the quadrupole mode, this calibration technique necessitates only two time-independent parameters to scale the overall amplitude and time coordinate. In this article, part of a special issue, we investigate this scaling for non-spinning binaries at the equal mass limit. Even without calibration, NR and ppBHPT waveforms exhibit an unexpected degree of similarity after accounting for different mass scale definitions. Post-calibration, good agreement between ppBHPT and NR waveforms extends nearly up to the point of the merger. We also assess the breakdown of the time-independent assumption of the scaling parameters, shedding light on current limitations and suggesting potential generalizations for the $\alpha$-$\beta$ scaling technique.
In general relativity, the asymptotically flat space-time of a charged, spherically symmetric (non-rotating) body is described by the Reissner-Nordstr\"om metric. This metric corresponds to a naked singularity when the absolute value of charge, $Q$, exceeds the mass, $M$. For all Reissner-Nordstr\"om naked singularities, there exists a zero gravity sphere where a test particle can remain at rest. Outside that sphere gravity is attractive, inside it gravity is repulsive. For values of $Q/M>\sqrt{9/8}$ the angular frequency of circular test-particle orbits has a maximum at radius $r=(4/3)\,Q^2/M$. We construct polytropic tori with uniform values of specific angular momentum in the naked singularity regime of the Reissner-Nordstr\"om metric, $(Q/M>1)$.
In this work we make use of the generalized zeta function technique to investigate the vacuum energy, temperature corrections and heat kernel coefficients associated with a scalar field under a quasiperiodic condition in a $(D+1)$-dimensional conical spacetime. In this scenario we find that the renormalized vacuum energy, as well as the temperature corrections, are both zero. The nonzero heat kernel coefficients are the ones related to the usual Euclidean divergence, and also to the nontrivial aspects of the quaisperiodically identified conical spacetime topology. An interesting result that arises in this configuration is that for some values of the quasiperiodic parameter, the heat kernel coefficient associated with the nontrivial topology vanishes. In addition, we also consider the scalar field in a $(D+1)$-dimensional spacetime formed by the combination of a conical and screw dislocation topological defects. In this case, we obtain a nonzero renormalized vacuum energy density and its corresponding temperature corrections. Again, the nonzero heat kernel coefficients found are the ones related to the Euclidean and nontrivial topology divergences. For $D=3$ we explicitly show, in the massless scalar field case, the limits of low and high temperatures for the free energy. In the latter, we show that the free energy presents a classical contribution.
In the present article, we review the classical covariant formulation of Yang-Mills theory and general relativity in the presence of spacetime boundaries, focusing mainly on the derivation of the presymplectic forms and their properties. We further revisit the introduction of the edge modes and the conditions which justify them, in the context where only field-independent gauge transformations are considered. We particularly show that the presence of edge modes is not justified by gauge invariance of the presymplectic form, but rather by the condition that the presymplectic form is degenerate on the initial field space, which allows to relate this presymplectic form to the symplectic form on the gauge reduced field space via pullback.
Impulsive gravitational waves are theoretical models of short but violent bursts of gravitational radiation. They are commonly described by two distinct spacetime metrics, one of local Lipschitz regularity, the other one even distributional. These two metrics are thought to be `physically equivalent' since they can be formally related by a `discontinuous coordinate transformation'. In this paper we provide a mathematical analysis of this issue for the entire class of nonexpanding impulsive gravitational waves propagating in a background spacetime of constant curvature. We devise a natural geometric regularisation procedure to show that the notorious change of variables arises as the distributional limit of a family of smooth coordinate transformations. In other words, we establish that both spacetimes arise as distributional limits of a smooth sandwich wave taken in different coordinate systems which are diffeomorphically related.
We investigate the Casimir effect of a rough membrane within the framework of the Horava-Lifshitz theory in 2+1 dimensions. Quantum fluctuations are induced by an anisotropic scalar field subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions. We implement a coordinate transformation to render the membrane completely flat, treating the remaining terms associated with roughness as a potential. The spectrum is obtained through perturbation theory and regularized using the $\zeta$--function method. We present an explicit example of a membrane with periodic border. Additionally, we consider the effect of temperature. Our findings reveal that the Casimir energy and force depend on roughness, the anisotropic scaling factor and temperature.
Effective models of gravitational collapse in loop quantum gravity for the Lema\^itre-Tolman-Bondi spacetime predict that collapsing matter reaches a maximum finite density, bounces, and then expands outwards. We show that in the marginally trapped case, shell-crossing singularities commonly occur for inhomogeneous initial profiles of the dust energy density; this is the case in particular for all profiles that are continuous and of compact support, including configurations arbitrarily close to the Oppenheimer-Snyder model. When a shell-crossing singularity occurs, it is necessary to seek weak solutions to the dynamics; we argue that weak solutions typically contain shock waves.
We calculate the gravitational-electromagnetic phase for a charged particle in the Kerr-Newman spacetime. The result is applied to an interference experiment, in which the phase differences and the fringe shifts are derived. We find that both the charge of the particle and the charge of the black hole contribute to the gravitational phase difference, for which we give some qualitative explanations. Finally, we extend the results to the case of dyonic particles in the spacetime of a dyonic Kerr-Newman black hole.
The nature of dark matter is a problem with too many potential solutions. We investigate whether a consistent embedding into quantum gravity can decimate the number of solutions to the dark-matter problem. Concretely, we focus on a hidden sector composed of a gauge field and a charged scalar, with gauge group U(1)$_{\textmd{D}}$ or SU(2)$_\textmd{D}$. The gauge field is the dark-matter candidate, if the gauge symmetry is broken spontaneously. Phenomenological constraints on the couplings in this model arise from requiring that the correct dark matter relic density is produced via thermal freeze-out and that recent bounds from direct-detection experiments are respected. We find that the consistent embedding into asymptotically safe quantum gravity gives rise to additional constraints on the couplings at the Planck scale, from which we calculate corresponding constraints at low energy scales. We discover that phenomenological constraints cannot be satisfied simultaneously with theoretical constraints from asymptotically safe quantum gravity, ruling out these dark-matter models.
In this paper, we explore correlators of a series of theories in anti-de Sitter space: we present comprehensive results for interactions involving scalars, gluons, and gravitons in multiple dimensions. One aspect of our investigation is the establishment of an intriguing connection between the kinematic factors of these theories; indeed, such a connection directly relates these theories among themselves and with other theories of higher spin fields. Besides providing several explicit results throughout the paper, we also highlight the interconnections and relationships between these different theories, providing valuable insights into their similarities and distinctions.
To the first post-Newtonian order, if two test particles revolve in opposite directions about a massive, spinning body along two circular and equatorial orbits with the same radius, they take different times to return to the reference direction relative to which their motion is measured: it is the so-called gravitomagnetic clock effect. The satellite moving in the same sense of the rotation of the primary is slower, and experiences a retardation with respect to the case when the latter does not spin, while the one circling in the opposite sense of the rotation of the source is faster, and its orbital period is shorter than it would be in the static case. The resulting time difference due to the stationary gravitomagnetic field of the central spinning body is proportional to the angular momentum per unit mass of the latter through a numerical factor which so far has been found to be $4\pi$. A numerical integration of the equations of motion of a fictitious test particle moving along a circular path lying in the equatorial plane of a hypothetical rotating object by including the gravitomagnetic acceleration to the first post-Newtonian order shows that, actually, the gravitomagnetic corrections to the orbital periods are larger by a factor of $4$ in both the prograde and retrograde cases. Such an outcome, which makes the proportionality coefficient of the gravitomagnetic difference in the orbital periods of the two counter-revolving orbiters equal to $16\pi$, confirms an analytical calculation recently published in the literature by the present author.
This paper explores the effect of an extra spatial dimension on a Morris-Thorne wormhole. After proposing a suitable model, it is shown that under certain conditions, the throat of the wormhole can be threaded with ordinary matter, while the unavoidable violation of the null energy condition can be attributed to the existence of the extra dimension.
Two remarkable facts about JT two-dimensional dilaton-gravity have been recently uncovered: this theory is dual to an ensemble of quantum mechanical theories; and such ensemble is described by a random matrix model which itself may be regarded as a special (large matter-central-charge) limit of minimal string theory. This work addresses this limit, putting it in its broader matrix-model context; comparing results between multicritical models and minimal strings (i.e., changing in-between multicritical and conformal backgrounds); and in both cases making the limit of large matter-central-charge precise (as such limit can also be defined for the multicritical series). These analyses are first done via spectral geometry, at both perturbative and nonperturbative levels, addressing the resurgent large-order growth of perturbation theory, alongside a calculation of nonperturbative instanton-actions and corresponding Stokes data. This calculation requires an algorithm to reach large-order, which is valid for arbitrary two-dimensional topological gravity. String equations -- as derived from the GD construction of the resolvent -- are analyzed in both multicritical and minimal string theoretic contexts, and studied both perturbatively and nonperturbatively (always matching against the earlier spectral-geometry computations). The resulting solutions, as described by resurgent transseries, are shown to be resonant. The large matter-central-charge limit is addressed -- in the string-equation context -- and, in particular, the string equation for JT gravity is obtained to next derivative-orders, beyond the known genus-zero case (its possible exact-form is also discussed). Finally, a discussion of gravitational perturbations to Schwarzschild-like black hole solutions in these minimal-string models, regarded as deformations of JT gravity, is included - alongside a brief discussion of quasinormal modes.
The theory of gauge-fixed Maxwell equations in linear isotropic dielectrics is developed using a generalisation of the standard $R_\xi$ gauge-fixing term. In static space-times, the theory can be quantised using the Gupta-Bleuler method, which is worked out explicitly for optical fibres either in flat space-time or at a constant gravitational potential. This yields a consistent first-principles description of gravitational fibre-optic interferometry at the single-photon level within the framework of quantum field theory in curved space-times.
Several rapid parameter estimation methods have recently been advanced to deal with the computational challenges of the problem of Bayesian inference of the properties of compact binary sources detected in the upcoming science runs of the terrestrial network of gravitational wave detectors. Some of these methods are well-optimized to reconstruct gravitational wave signals in nearly real-time necessary for multi-messenger astronomy. In this context, this work presents a new, computationally efficient algorithm for fast evaluation of the likelihood function using a combination of numerical linear algebra and mesh-free interpolation methods. The proposed method can rapidly evaluate the likelihood function at any arbitrary point of the sample space at a negligible loss of accuracy and is an alternative to the grid-based parameter estimation schemes. We obtain posterior samples over model parameters for a canonical binary neutron star system by interfacing our fast likelihood evaluation method with the nested sampling algorithm. The marginalized posterior distributions obtained from these samples are statistically identical to those obtained by brute force calculations. We find that such Bayesian posteriors can be determined within a few minutes of detecting such transient compact binary sources, thereby improving the chances of their prompt follow-up observations with telescopes at different wavelengths. It may be possible to apply the blueprint of the meshfree technique presented in this study to Bayesian inference problems in other domains.
According to the nonuniqueness principle, the homogeneous scalar field Lagrangian can be expressed in various forms both standard and nonstandard ones. Therefore, the standard and all possible nonstandard Lagrangians can be linearly combined while the Klein-Gordon equation is still intact. This linear combination of Lagrangians is used to demonstrate that the energy density of homogeneous phantom field can possibly be bounded from below. The applications of this new Lagrangian in the nature of the ghost condensate and the equation of state with $w<-1$ are discussed.
We define a quasilocal energy of a compact manifold-with-boundary, relative to a background manifold. The construction uses spinors on one manifold and the pullback of dual spinors from the other manifold. We prove positivity results for the quasilocal energy, in both the Riemannian and Lorentzian settings.
It is well known that in quantum gravity, the very geometry of space and time is subject to continual fluctuation. The mathematical formulation for this old theory is still lacking. This article formulates this more than forty-year-old theory of quantum gravity. On the other hand, recent attention has been paid to fractional gravity. Although this type of gravity leads to brilliant results, we have no deep reason for applying it other than that it works. In this paper, it is demonstrated that quantum gravity equations become fractional when space-time fluctuations are taken into account. Therefore, here a reasonable root and argument for applying fractional gravity are found: ``Fractional quantum gravity is generated by stochastic fluctuations of space-time''. For clarification, Einstein-Hilbert theory along with a scalar field is investigated in deformed and non-deformed minisuperspaces. The results illustrate a transition from decelerated to accelerated expansion (late-time-accelerated expansion).
It is well-known that the mass of a non-asymptotically flat spacetime cannot be uniquely defined. Some mass formulas for the Kerr-AdS black hole have been found and used in studying black hole thermodynamics. However, the derivations usually need a background subtraction to eliminate the divergence at infinity. It is also unknown whether the mass depends on the choice of coordinates. In this paper, we provide a more straightforward derivation for the mass formula, only demanding that the first law of black hole thermodynamics and Smarr formula are satisfied. We first make use of the Iyer-Wald formalism to derive a first law which avoids the divergence at infinity. Then we apply this formula to charged Kerr-AdS black hole expressed in the coordinates rotating at infinity. However, the first law associated with the timelike Killing vector field $\frac{\partial}{\partial t}$ is not integrable. Then, by making use of the gauge freedom of $t$, we find a favorite parameter $t'$ which just makes the mass integrable. Applying the scaling argument, we show that the mass satisfies the Smarr formula and takes the form $M/\Xi^{3/2}$. Moreover, applying the conformal method with the same time $t'$, we obtain the same mass. By applying the first law to the coordinates which is not rotating at infinity, we find a preferred time $T$ that makes the first law integrable and the mass is just the familiar mass $M/\Xi^2$ in the literature. This mass is also confirmed by the conformal method. We find that the two mass formulas correspond to different families of observers and the preferred Killing times. So our work clarifies the origins of masses in Kerr-AdS spacetimes.
We reconsider the problem of a slowly rotating homogeneous star, or Schwarzschild star, when its compactness goes beyond the Buchdahl bound and approaches the gravastar limit $R\to 2M$. We compute surface and integral properties of such configuration by integrating the Hartle-Thorne structure equations for slowly rotating relativistic masses, at second order in angular velocity. In the gravastar limit, we show that the metric of a slowly rotating Schwarzschild star agrees with the Kerr metric, thus, within this approximation, it is not possible to tell a gravastar from a Kerr black hole by any observations from the spacetime exterior to the horizon.
We study the charges and first law of thermodynamics for accelerating, non-rotating black holes with dyonic charges in AdS$_4$ using the covariant phase space formalism. In order to apply the formalism to these solutions (which are asymptotically locally AdS and admit a non-smooth conformal boundary $\mathscr{I}$) we make two key improvements: 1) We relax the requirement to impose Dirichlet boundary conditions and demand merely a well-posed variational problem. 2) We keep careful track of the codimension-2 corner term induced by the holographic counterterms, a necessary requirement due to the presence of "cosmic strings" piercing $\mathscr{I}$. Using these improvements we are able to match the holographic Noether charges to the Wald Hamiltonians of the covariant phase space and derive the first law of black hole thermodynamics with the correct "thermodynamic length" terms arising from the strings. We investigate the relationship between the charges imposed by supersymmetry and show that our first law can be consistently applied to various classes of non-supersymmetric solutions for which the cross-sections of the horizon are spindles.
Binary boson stars can be used to model the nonlinear dynamics and gravitational wave signals of merging ultracompact, but horizonless, objects. However, doing so requires initial data satisfying the Hamiltonian and momentum constraints of the Einstein equations, something that has not yet been addressed. In this work, we construct constraint-satisfying initial data for a variety of binary boson star configurations. We do this using the conformal thin-sandwich formulation of the constraint equations, together with a specific choice for the matter terms appropriate for scalar fields. The free data is chosen based upon a superposition of isolated boson star solutions, but with several modifications designed to suppress the spurious oscillations in the stars that such an approach can lead to. We show that the standard approach to reducing orbital eccentricity can be applied to construct quasi-circular binary boson star initial data, reducing the eccentricity of selected binaries to the $\sim 10^{-3}$ level. Using these methods, we construct initial data for quasi-circular binaries with different mass-ratios and spins, including a configuration where the spin is misaligned with the orbital angular momentum, and where the dimensionless spins of the boson stars exceeds the Kerr bound. We evolve these to produce the first such inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational waveforms for constraint-satisfying binary boson stars. Finally, we comment on how equilibrium equations for the scalar matter could be used to improve the construction of binary initial data, analogous to the approach used for quasi-equilibrium binary neutron stars.
The correspondence principle between strings and black holes is a general framework for matching black holes and massive states of fundamental strings at a point where their physical properties (such as mass, entropy and temperature) smoothly agree with each other. This correspondence becomes puzzling when attempting to include rotation: At large enough spins, there exist degenerate string states that seemingly cannot be matched to any black hole. Conversely, there exist black holes with arbitrarily large spins that cannot correspond to any single-string state. We discuss in detail the properties of both types of objects and find that a correspondence that resolves the puzzles is possible by adding dynamical features and non-stationary configurations to the picture. Our scheme incorporates all black hole and string phases as part of the correspondence, save for one outlier which remains enigmatic: the near-extremal Kerr black hole. Along the way, we elaborate on general aspects of the correspondence that have not been emphasized before.
The $SO(N)$ Yang-Mills gauge theory is concerned since it can be used to explore the new theory beyond the standard model of particle physics and the higher dimensional loop quantum gravity. The canonical formulation and loop quantization of $SO(N)$ Yang-Mills theory suggest a discrete $SO(N)$ holonomy-flux phase space, and the properties of the critical quantum algebras in the loop quantized $SO(N)$ Yang-Mills theory are encoded in the symplectic structure of this $SO(N)$ holonomy-flux phase space. With the $SO(D+1)$ loop quantum gravity as an exemplification of loop quantized $SO(N)$ Yang-Mills gauge theory, we introduce a new parametrization of the $SO(D+1)$ holonomy-flux phase space in this paper. Moreover, the symplectic structure of the $SO(D+1)$ holonomy-flux phase space are analyzed in terms of the parametrization variables. Comparing to the Poisson algebras among the $SO(D+1)$ holonomy-flux variables, it is shown that the Poisson algebras among the parametrization variables take a clearer formulation, i.e., the Lie algebras of $so(D+1)$ and the Poisson algebras between angle-length pairs.
This paper investigates charged black holes within the framework of quintic quasi-topological gravity, focusing on their thermodynamics, conserved quantities, and stability. We construct numerical solutions and explore their thermodynamic properties, supplemented by the study of analytically solvable special cases. By verifying the first law of thermodynamics, we validate our approach and compare our findings to those of Einstein gravity. The physical properties of the solutions are examined across anti-de Sitter, de Sitter, and flat spacetime backgrounds. Our analysis reveals that anti-de Sitter solutions demonstrate thermal stability, while de Sitter and flat solutions lack this property. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results and propose potential avenues for future research in this field.
A model is proposed for the interior of a neutral non-rotating black hole. It consists of an ideal fluid with density $\r$ and a negative pressure $p$, obeying an equation of state $p=-\xi\r$. In order to have a solution, $\xi$ must lie in the narrow range between 0.1429 and 0.1716.
This study focuses on investigating a regular black hole within the framework of Verlinde's emergent gravity. In particular, we explore the main aspects of the modified Simpson--Visser solution. Our analysis reveals the presence of a unique physical event horizon under certain conditions. Moreover, we study the thermodynamic properties, including the Hawking temperature, the entropy, and the heat capacity. Based on these quantities, our results indicate several phase transitions. Geodesic trajectories for photon-like particles, encompassing photon spheres and the formation of black hole shadows, are also calculated to comprehend the behavior of light in the vicinity of the black hole. Additionally, we also provide the calculation of the time delay and the deflection angle. Corroborating our results, we include an additional application in the context of high-energy astrophysical phenomena: neutrino energy deposition. Finally, we investigate the quasinormal modes using third-order WKB approximation.
Several terrestrial detectors for gravitational waves and dark matter based on long-baseline atom interferometry are currently in the final planning stages or already under construction. These upcoming vertical sensors are inherently subject to gravity and thus feature gradiometer or multi-gradiometer configurations using single-photon transitions for large momentum transfer. While there has been significant progress on optimizing these experiments against detrimental noise sources and for deployment at their projected sites, finding optimal configurations that make the best use of the available resources are still an open issue. Even more, the fundamental limit of the device's sensitivity is still missing. Here we fill this gap and show that (a) resonant-mode detectors based on multi-diamond fountain gradiometers achieve the optimal, shot-noise limited, sensitivity if their height constitutes 20% of the available baseline; (b) this limit is independent of the dark-matter oscillation frequency; and (c) doubling the baseline decreases the ultimate measurement uncertainty by approximately 65%. Moreover, we propose a multi-diamond scheme with less mirror pulses where the leading-order gravitational phase contribution is suppressed, compare it to established geometries, and demonstrate that both configurations saturate the same fundamental limit.
We investigate scalarized black holes in new massive gravity dressed by a nonminimally coupled scalar. For this purpose, we find the Gregory-Laflamme (GL) and tachyonic instability bounds of bald BTZ black hole expressed in terms of $ m^2$ a massive spin-2 parameter and $\alpha$ a scalar coupling parameter to Ricci scalar by making use of the linearized theory around black hole. On the other hand, we obtain a solution bound of $0.161<\alpha <3/16$ for achieving non-BTZ black holes with scalar hair analytically and a thermodynamic bound of $1/8<\alpha <13/80$ for obtaining consistent thermodynamic quantities. Without imposing the GL instability bound ($m^2<1/2\ell^2$), we find a very narrow bound of $0.161<\alpha<0.1625$ which is located inside tachyonic instability bound of $\alpha>1/8+m^2_\Phi \ell^2/6$ for obtaining scalarized black holes where $m^2_\Phi$ is a scalar mass parameter.
We study the thermodynamics of charged AdS black holes in deformed Jackiw-Teitelboim (dJT) gravity and their phase structures. In this regard, we will find some critical values for the temperature, entropy and charge of the corresponding black holes. We also compute the heat capacities, expansion coefficient and isothermal compressibility as thermodynamic response functions and study their behaviors at the critical points. It will be shown that these variables satisfy the Ehrenfest's equations in the case of second-order phase transition. We employ different formalisms to investigate thermodynamic geometry, such as Weinhold, Ruppeiner and new thermodynamic geometry, then analyze the singularities of the thermodynamic curvatures in this context. We show that these singularities are also correspond to the divergences of the response functions which indicating the critical points of phase transitions.
The equations of motion of an isospin-carrying particle in a Yang-Mills and gravitational field were first proposed in 1968 by Kerner, who considered geodesics in a Kaluza-Klein-type framework. Two years later the flat space Kerner equations were completed by considering also the motion of the isospin by Wong, who used a field-theoretical approach. Their groundbreaking work was then followed by a long series of rediscoveries whose history is reviewed. The concept of isospin charge and the physical meaning of its motion are discussed. Conserved quantities are studied for Wu-Yang monopoles and for diatomic molecules by using van Holten's algorithm.
We derive Friedman-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) models as non-trivial solutions of "Cotton Gravity" (CG), a recently proposed gravity theory alternative to General Relativity (GR) based on the Cotton tensor. Using an equivalent formulation, we show that CG leads to FLRW models with a modified expression for spatial curvature in terms of the Ricci scalar of hypersurfaces orthonormal to the 4-velocity. Considering models compatible with a well posed initial value formulation leads to operationally the same FLRW models in GR, but endowed with a precise covariant characterization of the positive/negative cosmological constant as the case with constant negative/positive spatial curvature. Under CG, the $\Lambda$CDM model becomes the unique FLRW dust model with constant negative spatial curvature.
The backwards-forwards map, introduced as a generalization of the non-isometric holographic maps of the black hole interior of Akers, Engelhardt, Harlow, Penington, and Vardhan to include non-trivial dynamics in the effective description, has two possible formulations differing in when the post-selection is performed. While these two forms are equivalent on the set of dynamically generated states -- states formed from unitary time evolution acting on well-defined initial configurations of infalling matter -- they differ on the generic set of states necessary to describe the apparent world of the infalling observer. We show that while both versions successfully reproduce the Page curve, the version involving post-selection as the final step, dubbed the backwards-forwards-post-selection (BFP) map, has the desirable properties of being non-isometric but isometric on average and providing state-dependent reconstruction of bulk operators, while the other version does not. Thus the BFP map is a suitable non-isometric code describing the black hole interior including interior interactions.
Affine linking numbers are the generalization of linking numbers to the case of nonzero homologous linked submanifolds. They were introduced by Rudyak and the first author who used them to study causality in globally hyperbolic spacetimes. In this paper we use affine linking numbers to estimate the number of times an observer sees light from a star, that is how many copies of the star do they see on the sky due to gravitational lensing.
This paper describes a method that seeks to find the fully separated wave equations for all the metric components over the Kerr background directly. Unfortunately, the solution found in the original version is purely gauge. The main text has not been corrected, as a follow up updated is hoped for and the correct solution is still being searched with the method.
We present an strategy for measuring the off-diagonal elements of the third row of CKM matrix $|V_{tq}|$ through the branching fractions of top quark decays $t\to q W$, where $q$ is a light quark jet. This strategy is an extension of existing measurements, with the improvement rooted in the use of orthogonal $b$- and $q$-taggers that add a new observable, the number of light-quark-tagged jets, to the already commonly used observable, the fraction of $b$-tagged jets in an event. Careful inclusion of the additional complementary observable significantly increases the expected statistical power of the analysis, with the possibility of excluding a null $|V_{td}|^2+|V_{ts}|^2$ at $95\%$ C.L. at the HL-LHC.
We discuss results from our global QCD analyses including nuclear data off deuterium from various measurements, as well as off $^3$H and $^3$He targets from the MARATHON experiment. We simultaneously determine the parton distribution functions of the proton, the higher-twist terms, and the nucleon off-shell correction functions responsible for the modifications of the partonic structure in bound protons and neutrons. In particular, we study the neutron-proton asymmetry of the off-shell correction and its interplay with the treatment of the higher-twist terms. We observe that the data on the $^3$He/$^3$H cross section ratio are consistent with a single isoscalar off-shell function. We also provide our predictions on the ratio $F_2^n/F_2^p$ and on the $d$ and $u$ quark distributions in the proton and in the $^3$H and $^3$He nuclei.
Subterrestrial neutron spectra show weak but consistent anomalies at multiplicities ~100 and above [1-3]. The data of the available measurements are of low statistical significance [4] but indicate an excess of events not correlated with the muon flux. The origin of the anomalies remains ambiguous but could be a signature of WIMP annihilation-like interaction with a Pb target. In this paper, we outline a model consistent with this hypothesis, the extended Standard Model (SM) approach called the Radiation Gauge Model (RGM) [5]. The RGM identifies scalar neutrino-antineutrino wave function components of WIMP Dark Matter (DM) responsible for the weak interaction leading to annihilation with ordinary matter. The model assigns neutrino-nucleon(target) charged current (CC) transitions to the observed anomalies. If the existence of the anomalies is confirmed and the model interpretation is positively verified, this will be the first terrestrial indirect detection of DM.
Left Right Symmetric Model (LRSM) being an extension of the Standard model of particle physics incorporates within itself Type-I and Type-II seesaw mass terms naturally. Both the mass terms can have significant amount of contribution to the resulting light neutrino mass within the model and hence on the different phenomenology associated within. In this paper, we have thoroughly analyzed and discussed the implications of specifying different weightages to the type-I and type-II mass terms and also the study has been carried out for different values of $M_{W_R}$ which is mass of the right-handed gauge boson. This paper also gives a deeper insight into the new physics contributions of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay $(0\nu\beta\beta)$ and their variations with the net baryon asymmetry arising out of the model. Therefore, the main objective of the present paper rests on investigating the implications of imposing different weightage to the type-I and type-II seesaw terms and different values of $M_{W_R}$ on the new physics contributions of $0\nu\beta\beta$ and net baryon asymmetry arising out as a result of resonant leptogenesis. LRSM in this work has been realized using modular group of level 3, $\Gamma(3)$ which is isomorphic to non-abelian discrete symmetry group $A_4$, the advantage being the non-requirement of flavons within the model and hence maintaining the minimality of the model.
We study higher-order QCD corrections for the associated production of a top-antitop quark pair and a $W$ boson ($t{\bar t}W$ production) in proton-proton collisions. We calculate approximate NNLO (aNNLO) and approximate N$^3$LO (aN$^3$LO) cross sections, with second-order and third-order soft-gluon corrections added to the exact NLO QCD result, and we also include electroweak (EW) corrections through NLO. We calculate uncertainties from scale dependence, which are reduced at higher orders, and from parton distributions, and we also provide separate results for $t{\bar t}W^+$ and $t{\bar t}W^-$. We compare our results to recent measurements from the LHC, and we find that the aN$^3$LO QCD + NLO EW predictions provide improved agreement with the data. We also calculate differential distributions in top-quark transverse momentum and rapidity and find significant enhancements from the higher-order corrections.
We present an in-depth analysis of axions and axion-like particles in top-pair production at the LHC. Our main goal is to probe the axion coupling to top quarks at high energies. To this end, we calculate the top-antitop cross section and differential distributions including ALP effects up to one-loop level. By comparing these predictions with LHC precision measurements, we constrain the top coupling of axion-like particles with masses below the top-antitop threshold. Our results apply to all UV completions of the ALP effective theory with dominant couplings to top quarks, in particular to DFSZ-like axion models.
The Two-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM) is a well-motivated theoretical framework that provides additional sources of CP Violation (CPV) beyond the Standard Model (SM). After studying the vacuum topology of the general 2HDM potential, we unambiguously identify three origins of CPV: (I) Spontaneous CPV (SCPV), (ii) Explicit CPV (ECPV) and (iii) Mixed Spontaneous and Explicit CPV (MCPV). In all these scenarios, only two CPV phases can be made independent, as any third CPV parameter will always be constrained via the CP-odd tadpole condition. Since ECPV vanishes in 2HDMs where SM Higgs alignment is achieved naturally through accidental continuous symmetries, we analyse the possibility of maximising CPV through soft and explicit breaking of these symmetries. We derive upper limits on key CPV parameters that quantify the degree of SM misalignment from constraints due to the non-observation of an electron Electric Dipole Moment (EDM). Finally, we delineate the CP-violating parameter space of the so-constrained naturally aligned 2HDMs that can further be probed at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The Belle II experiment recently observed the decay $B^+ \to K^+ \nu \nu$ for the first time, with a measured value for the branching ratio of $ (2.3 \pm 0.7) \times 10^{-5}$. This result exhibits a $\sim 3\sigma$ deviation from the Standard Model (SM) prediction. The observed enhancement with respect to the Standard Model could indicate the presence of invisible light new physics. In this paper, we investigate whether this result can be accommodated in a minimal Higgs portal model, where the SM is extended by a singlet Higgs scalar that decays invisibly to dark sector states. We find that current and future bounds on invisible decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson completely exclude a new scalar with a mass $\gtrsim 10$ GeV. On the other hand, the Belle II results can be successfully accommodated if the new scalar is lighter than $B$ mesons but heavier than kaons. We also investigate the cosmological implications of the new states and explore the possibility that they are part of an abelian Higgs extension of the SM. Future Higgs factories are expected to place stringent bounds on the invisible branching ratio of the 125 GeV Higgs boson, and will be able to definitively test the region of parameter space favored by the Belle II results.
We investigate the correlation of di-hadron productions between the current fragmentation region (CFR) and target fragmentation region (TFR) in deep inelastic scattering as a probe of the nucleon tomography. The QCD factorization and powering counting method are applied to compute the relevant diffractive parton distribution functions in the valence region. In particular, we show that the final state interaction effects lead to a nonzero longitudinal polarized quark distribution associated with the unpolarized nucleon target. This explains the observed beam single spin asymmetry (BSA) from a recent Jefferson Lab experiment. We further show that the BSA in the single diffractive hadron productions in the TFR, although kinematically suppressed, also exists because of the final state interaction effects.
Based on the one-boson-exchange framework that the $\sigma$ meson serves as an effective parameterization for the correlated scalar-isoscalar $\pi\pi$ interaction, we calculate the coupling constants of the $\sigma$ to the $\frac{1}{2}^+$ ground state light baryon octet ${\mathbb B}$ by matching the amplitude of ${\mathbb B}\bar{{\mathbb B}}\to\pi\pi\to\bar{{\mathbb B}}{\mathbb B}$ to that of ${\mathbb B}\bar{\mathbb B}\to\sigma\to\bar{{\mathbb B}}{\mathbb B}$. The former is calculated using a dispersion relation, supplemented with chiral perturbation theory results for the ${\mathbb B}{\mathbb B}\pi\pi$ couplings and the Muskhelishvili-Omn\`es representation for the $\pi\pi$ rescattering. Explicitly, the coupling constants are obtained as $g_{NN\sigma}=8.7_{-1.1-1.3}^{+1.3+1.1}$, $g_{\Sigma\Sigma\sigma}=3.6_{-1.1-0.4}^{+1.8+0.4}$, $g_{\Xi\Xi\sigma}=2.5_{-1.3-0.6}^{+1.4+0.5}$, and $g_{\Lambda\Lambda\sigma}=6.8_{-1.0-1.4}^{+1.0+1.1}$. These coupling constants can be used in the one-boson-exchange model calculations of the interaction of light baryons with other hadrons.
We investigate the $P$-wave states $T^-_{bb}$ in the isospin singlet and three excited modes (excitation occurring in the diquark $[bb]^{s_1}_{c_1}$ ($\rho_1$-mode), antidiquark $[\bar{u}\bar{d}]^{s_2}_{c_2}$ ($\rho_2$-mode) or between them ($\lambda$-mode)) from diquarks in a quark model. We analyse the dynamical behaviors of the diquark $[bb]^{s_1}_{c_1}$, antidiquark $[\bar{u}\bar{d}]^{s_2}_{c_2}$ and their correlations in the states $T^-_{bb}$ by decomposing the interactions from various sources in the model. The absolute dominant color-spin configuration, more than $99\%$, in the $\rho_1$-mode with $1^1P_1$ is $[bb]^0_{\bar{\mathbf{3}}}[\bar{u}\bar{d}]^0_{\mathbf{3}}$. Its energy is lower about $18$ MeV than the threshold $\bar{B}\bar{B}$ so that it can establish a compact bound state. The chromomagnetic and meson-exchange interactions in the antidiquark $[\bar{u}\bar{d}]^0_{\mathbf{3}}$ are responsible for its binding mechanism. Other two excited modes are higher than their respective threshold.
We propose to extract quark orbital angular momentum (OAM) through exclusive $\pi^0$ production in electron-(longitudinally-polarized) proton collisions. Our analysis demonstrates that the $\sin 2\phi$ azimuthal angular correlation between the transverse momentum of the scattered electron and the recoil proton serves as a sensitive probe of quark OAM. Additionally, we present a numerical estimate of the asymmetry associated with this correlation for the kinematics accessible at EIC and EicC. This study aims to pave the way for the first measurement of quark OAM in relation to the Jaffe-Manohar spin sum rule.
In this work, we discuss the electromagnetic properties of the $S$-wave and $D$-wave $T^+_{cc}$ molecular states, which include the magnetic moments, transition magnetic moments and radiative decay widths. According to our results, the magnetic moment of $T^+_{cc}$ state observed experimentally is $-0.09\mu_N$. Meanwhile, we also discuss the relations between the transition magnetic moments of the $S$-wave $T^+_{cc}$ molecular states and the radiative decay widths, and we analyze the proportionality between the magnetic moments of the $T^+_{cc}$ molecular states. These results provide further information on the inner structure of $T^+_{cc}$ molecular states and deepen the understanding of electromagnetic properties of doubly charmed tetraquarks.
We investigate the chemical potential effects of the equation of state and the chiral transition in an Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton-scalar system, which is obtained from an improved soft-wall AdS/QCD model coupled with an Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton system. The equations of state obtained from the model are in quantitative agreement with the lattice results at both zero and nonzero chemical potentials. The sensible chiral transition behaviors can be realized in the model. The QCD phase diagram with a CEP has also been obtained from the model.
The Witten effect implies the dynamics of axion and magnetic monopole. The Cho-Maison monopole is a realistic electroweak monopole arisen in the Weinberg-Salam theory. This monopole of TeV scale mass motivates the dedicated search for electroweak monopole at colliders. In this work we investigate the implication of KSVZ axion to the electroweak magnetic monopole. We use the spherically symmetric ansatz for the electroweak dyon and introduce the spherically symmetric function for the axion field. The effective Lagrangian is then shown in terms of the electroweak monopole part, the axion kinetic energy as well as the axion interaction term. We derive the consequent equations of motion in the presence of the axion-photon coupling and show the numerical results of the topological solutions. We then calculate the changed characteristics of the electroweak monopole such as the monopole mass and the electromagnetic charges, as well as the axion potential energy.
The s-wave pion-pion scattering lengths $ a_0 $ and $ a_2 $ are studied at finite temperature and in finite spatial volume under the framework of the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. With the proper time regularization, the behavior beyond the pseudo transition temperature is presented. The scattering length $ a_0$ shows singularity near the Mott temperature and $ a_2$ is a continuous but non-monotonic function of temperature. We present the finite volume effect on the scattering length and have found that $a_0$ can be negative and its singularity disappears at small volume size which may hint the existence of chiral phase transition as volume decreases.
The precision and predictive power of perturbative QCD (pQCD) prediction depends on both a precise, convergent fixed-order series and a reliable way of estimating the contributions of unknown higher-order (UHO) terms. It has been shown that by applying the Principal of Maximum Conformality (PMC), which applies the renormalization group equation recursively to set the effective magnitude of $\alpha_s$ of the process, the remaining conformal coefficients will be well matched with the corresponding $\alpha_s$ at each orders, leading to a scheme-and-scale invariant and convergent perturbative series. Thus different from conventional scheme-and-scale dependent fixed-order series, the PMC series will provide a more reliable platform for estimating UHO contributions. In this paper, by using the total decay width $\Gamma(H\to\gamma\gamma)$ which has been calculated up to N$^4$LO QCD corrections, we derive its PMC series by using the PMC single-scale setting approach and estimate its unknown N$^5$LO contributions by using the Bayesian analysis. The Bayesian-based approach estimates the magnitude of the UHO contributions based on an optimized analysis of probability density distribution, and the predicted UHO contribution becomes more accurate when more loop terms have been known to tame the probability density function. Using the top-quark pole mass $M_t$=172.69 GeV and the Higgs mass $M_H$=125.25 GeV as inputs, we obtain $\Gamma(H\to\gamma\gamma) =9.56504~{\rm keV}$ and the estimated N$^5$LO contribution to the total decay width is $\Delta\Gamma_H=\pm1.65\times10^{-4}~{\rm keV}$ for the smallest credible interval of $95.5\%$ degree-of-belief.
As an extension of the Standard Model (SM), the 3HDM (Three-Higgs-Doublet Model) defines additional relationships among the fermions. In the visible leptonic Yukawa sector of a minimal 3HDM, we determine and classify the existing flavor symmetries under discrete non-abelian groups up to order 1032. The three Higgs doublets form a flavor triplet, and the admission of unfaithful representations enriches the set of candidate flavor transformations greatly. The many existing symmetries give rise (after EWSB) to a large number of inequivalent mass matrices that imply lepton properties, which in turn are evaluated against experimental data. In the 3HDM the mass hierarchy of the charged leptons leads to a too small $\Delta m^2_{21} / \Delta m^2_{32}$ ratio of the neutrinos. More generally, it is proven that the lepton mass matrices implied by discrete flavor symmetries are in disagreement with the observed data for all groups investigated, both when it is assumed that the neutrinos have the Dirac or Majorana nature.
The Standard Model of elementary particles and their interactions does not include the gravitational interaction and faces problems in understanding of the dark matter, dark energy, strong CP violation etc. In continuing attempts to solve these problems, many predictions of new light elementary particles and hypothetical interactions beyond the Standard Model have been made. These predictions can be constrained by many means and, specifically, by measuring the Casimir force arising between two closely spaced bodies due to the zero-point and thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. After a brief survey in the theory of the Casimir effect, the strongest constraints on the power-type and Yukawa-type corrections to Newtonian gravity, following from measuring the Casimir force at short distances, are considered. Next,the problems of dark matter, dark energy and their probable constituents are discussed. This is followed by an analysis of constraints on the dark matter particles, and, specifically, on axions and axionlike particles, obtained from the Casimir effect. The question of whether the Casimir effect can be used for constraining the spin-dependent interactions is also considered. Then the constraints on the dark energy particles, like chameleons and symmetrons, are examined. In all cases the subject of our treatment is not only measurements of the Casimir force but some other relevant table-top experiments as well. In conclusion, the prospects of the Casimir effect for constraining theoretical predictions beyond the Standard Model at short distances are summarized.
Recent studies show that $D_{s0}^{\ast}(2317)$ and $D_{s1}(2460)$ contain large molecular components. In this work, we employ the naive factorization approach to calculate the production rates of $D_{s0}^{\ast}(2317)$ and $D_{s1}(2460)$ as hadronic molecules in $B_{(s)}$ and $\Lambda_b(\Xi_b)$ decays, where their decay constants are estimated in the effective Lagrangian approach. With the so-obtained decay constants $f_{D_{s0}^{\ast}(2317)}$ and $f_{D_{s1}(2460)}$, we calculate the branching fractions of the $b$-meson decays $B_{(s)}\to \bar{D}_{(s)}^{(*)}D_{s0}^*$ and $B_{(s)}\to \bar{D}_{(s)}^{(*)}D_{s1}$ and the $b$-baryon decays $\Lambda_b(\Xi_{b}) \to \Lambda_c(\Xi_{c}) D_{s0}^*$ and $\Lambda_b(\Xi_{b}) \to \Lambda_c(\Xi_c) D_{s1}$. Our results show that the production rates of $D_{s0}^{\ast}(2317)$ and $D_{s1}(2460)$ in the $B_s$, $\Lambda_b$ and $\Xi_b$ decays are rather large that future experiments could observe them. In particular, we demonstrate that one can extract the decay constants of hadronic molecules via the triangle mechanism because of the equivalence of the triangle mechanism to the tree diagram established in calculating the decays $B \to \bar{D}^{(*)}D_{s0}^{\ast}(2317)$ and $B \to \bar{D}^{(*)}D_{s1}(2460)$.
ATLAS found that none of their Standard Model simulations can describe the measured differential lepton distributions in their $t \bar{t}$ analysis reasonably well. Therefore, we study the possibility that this measurement has a new physics contamination. We consider a benchmark model motivated by the indications for di-photon resonances: A heavy scalar decays into two lighter Higgs bosons with masses of 152\,GeV and 95\,GeV, with subsequent decay to $WW$ and $bb$, respectively. In this setup, the description of data is improved by at least $5.6 \sigma$.
The Flux-Tube Breaking Model in ee$\in$MC is expanded to include the residual QCD potential between the Final-State mesons, within the non-relativistic limit. These residual QCD potentials have been predicted in the context of the Flux-Tube Breaking Models to generate meson-meson molecular states for the $f_{0}(500)$, $f_{0}(980)$, $a_{0}(980)$, through the colour hyper-fine spin-spin interaction. These residual potentials are also found to have an important impact on the $S_{1}$ decay of the $a_{1}$ and $K_{1}$ axial-vector mesons due to the colour hyper-fine spin-spin interaction. It is found that in the low mass regions, the $\rho(770)$ and $K^{*}(892)$ are sensitive to the linear-confining potential and colour-Coulomb potential suggesting that with the high statistics at the B-Factories, it may be possible to probe the linear-confining potential and colour-Coulomb potential through a model dependent description of the resonance shape or by exploiting multiple production process.
We formulate a light-front spectator model for the proton that incorporates the presence of light sea quarks. In this particular model, the sea quarks are seen as active partons, whereas the remaining components of the proton are treated as spectators. The proposed model relies on the formulation of the light-front wave function constructed by the soft wall AdS/QCD. The model wave functions are parameterized by fitting the unpolarized parton distribution functions of light sea quarks from the CTEQ18 global analysis. We then employ the light-front wave functions to obtain the sea quarks generalized parton distribution functions, transverse momentum dependent parton distributions, and their asymmetries, which are accessible in the upcoming Electron-Ion-Colliders. We investigate sea quarks' spin and orbital angular momentum contributions to the proton spin.
The ALICE detector at the LHC was upgraded in the long shutdown of 2019-2021 in order to take data at much-increased Run 3 and 4 rates. The various challenges of this upgrade are presented, and the first results of strangeness production in double gap events collected in 2022 are shown by presenting distributions of kaon pairs.
We develop for the CKM and PMNS matrices a new representation with special properties. It is obtained by splitting each of these matrices into two rotations by the angle ${\sim}2\pi/3$ and a universal diagonal matrix with elements, which are cubic roots of~1. Such a representation of the CKM and PMNS matrices may indicate the $Z_{3}$ symmetry to be present in the Yukawa sector of the~SM. Identical mathematical structure of the CKM and PMNS matrices is also an extension of the quark-lepton universality. In this approach the CP violation is a natural consequence of the structure of the Yukawa couplings. The CP violating phase is not a fitted parameter and its value is governed by the parameters of two rotations. The parameters of the diagonalizing matrices of the bi-unitary transformation do not exhibit a hierarchy, which means that the origins of the hierarchy of quark masses and of the CKM matrix elements are not the same.
Taking the bino-dominated dark matter (DM) as an example, through approximate analytical formulas and numerical results, this paper analyzes impact of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment on DM phenomenology and naturalness in Minimal Super-symmetric Standard Model(MSSM). It concluded that under the limitation of the latest LZ experiment, MSSM suffers unattractive fine-tunings. The reason is that the latest LZ experiment results improve $\mu$ bounds, e.g., for the cases of the Z- or h-mediated resonant annihilations to achieve the measured dark matter density, the LZ experiment require $\mu$ should be larger than about $500~{\rm GeV}$ or TeV magnitude, which imply a tuning to predict the $Z$-boson mass and simultaneously worsen the naturalness of the $Z$- and $h$-mediated resonant annihilations to achieve the measured dark matter density.
A simple L\'evy-$\alpha$ stable (SL) model is used to describe the data on elastic $pp$ and $p\bar p$ scattering at low-$|t|$ from SPS energies up to LHC energies. The SL model is demonstrated to describe the data with a strong non-exponential feature in a statistically acceptable manner. The energy dependence of the parameters of the model is determined and analyzed. The L\'evy $\alpha$ parameter of the model has an energy-independent value of 1.959 $\pm$ 0.002 following from the strong non-exponential behavior of the data. We strengthen the conclusion that the discrepancy between TOTEM and ATLAS elastic $pp$ differential cross section measurements shows up only in the normalization and not in the shape of the distribution of the data as a function of $t$. We find that the slope parameter has different values for $pp$ and $p\bar p$ elastic scattering at LHC energies. This may be the effect of the odderon exchange or the jump in the energy dependence of the slope parameter in the energy interval 3 GeV $\lesssim \sqrt s \lesssim$ 4 GeV.
In this paper, we evaluate the (second) lightest mass $M_{1,2}$ of right-handed neutrino $\nu_{R1,2}$ in grand unified theories with the type-I seesaw mechanism that predicts an almost massless neutrino $m_{1 \, \rm or \, 3} \sim 0$. By chiral perturbative treatment, the masses $M_{1,2}$ are expressed as $M_{1} = m_{D1}^{2}/m_{11} , \, M_{2} = m_{D2}^{2} m_{11} / (m_{11} m_{22} - m_{12}^{2})$ with the mass matrix of left-handed neutrinos $m$ in the diagonal basis of the Dirac mass matrix $m_{D}$. Assuming $m_{Di}$ and the unitary matrix $V$ in the singular value decomposition $(m_{D})_{ij} = V_{ik} m_{D k} U^{\dagger}_{kj}$ are close to observed fermion masses and the CKM matrix, $M_{1,2}$ and their allowed regions are expressed by parameters in the low energy and unknown phases. As a result, for $m_{D1} \simeq 0.5$ MeV and $m_{D2} \simeq 100$ MeV, we obtain $M_{1}^{\rm NH} \simeq 3 \times 10^{4 - 6}$ GeV and $M_{2}^{\rm NH} \simeq 3 \times 10^{6-8}$ GeV in the NH, $M_{1}^{\rm IH} \simeq 5 \times 10^{3 - 4}$ GeV and $M_{2}^{\rm IH} \simeq 4 \times 10^{8-9}$ GeV in the IH. These upper and lower bounds are proportional to $m_{Di}^{2}$ or $m_{D1} m_{D2}$.
We consider an experiment to search for dark sector particles in dark photon kinetic mixing model by analyze invisible and semi-invisible decays of neutral mesons $M^0 = \pi^0$, $\eta$, $\eta'$, $\omega$, $f_2(1270)$, produced in the NA64 experiment at the CERN SPS. The approach proposed in Ref.~\cite{Gninenko:2014sxa} is to use the charge-exchange reactions $\pi^- + (A, Z) \to M^0 + (A,Z-1); M^0 \to$ invisible or semi-invisible of high-energy pions (or kaons) at a nuclei target as a source of $M^0$s, which subsequently decay invisibly into dark sector. This reaction chain would lead to a striking signature of the signal event - the complete disappearance of the beam energy in the setup. Using data obtained from the study of charge-exchange reactions at IHEP (Protvino) and Fermilab (Batavia) we show that the integral cross sections $\sigma$ for production of the neutral mesons $M^0$ are slightly deviate from phenomenological formula $\sigma \sim Z^{2/3}$, where $Z$ is the nuclei charge. In particular, we present the formulas for the differential and integral sections that explicitly depend on the Mandelstam and $Z$ variables. Derived formulas are used to predict the cross sections as a function of beam energy for several target nuclei, and to estimate the projection sensitivity for the proposed search for the $M^0\to$ semi-invisible and $M^0\to$ invisible decays through the vector portal to dark sector. Sensitivity to different semi-invisible decay modes of neutral pseudoscalar mesons is studied.
Understanding the polarization property of $J/\psi$ is critical to constrain its production mechanism. In addition, the polarization of $J/\psi$ can reveal the impact of strong electromagnetic and vorticity fields in relativistic heavy ion collisions. In this study, we analyzed the yield and polarization of $J/\psi$ in relativistic heavy ion collisions at different centrality and transverse momentum regions, using three different reference frames: the Collins-Soper frame, the helicity frame, and the event plane frame. The polarization of initially produced $J/\psi$ is determined by the NRQCD calculation and is similar to that of $pp$ collisions. However, both unpolarization and transverse polarization are considered for the regenerated $J/\psi$. Our results indicate that the polarization at high $p_T$ is similar to that observed in $pp$ collisions. However, at low $p_T$, where regenerated $J/\psi$ dominates, it is likely that the polarized charm quarks in the rotational QGP medium are responsible for this phenomenon. Our study supplies a baseline for future research on the effects of strong electromagnetic and vorticity fields on $J/\psi$ polarization.
In this work, we study mass and other static properties of triply heavy tetraquarks in the unified framework of the MIT bag which incorporates chromomagnetic interactions and enhanced binding energy. The masses, magnetic moments and charge radii of all strange and nonstrange (ground) states of triply heavy tetraquarks are computed, suggesting that all of triply heavy tetraquarks are above the respective two-meson thresholds. We also estimate relative decay widths of main decay channels of two-heavy mesons for these tetraquarks.
A novel effective-field-theory-based approach is implemented for extracting two-body scattering information from finite volume energies, serving as an alternative to L\"uscher's method. By explicitly incorporating one-pion exchange, the approach quantitatively accounts for effects related to left-hand cuts and range corrections from the longest-range interactions. The method utilizes the plane wave basis instead of the conventional partial wave expansion, thereby also naturally including partial wave mixing effects resulting from rotational symmetry breaking in a cubic box. Applied to the lattice data for $DD^*$ scattering at a pion mass of 280 MeV, it reveals the significant impact of the one-pion exchange on P-wave and S-wave phase shifts. The pole position of the $T_{cc}(3875)^+$ state, extracted from the finite-volume energy levels while taking into account left-hand cut effects, range corrections, and partial-wave mixing, appears to be consistent with a near-threshold resonance.
Recent LHCb data for $B^-\to J/\psi\Lambda\bar{p}$ show a clear peak structure at the $\Xi_c\bar{D}$ threshold in the $J/\psi\Lambda$ invariant mass ($M_{J/\psi\Lambda}$) distribution. The LHCb's amplitude analysis identified the peak with the first hidden-charm pentaquark with strangeness $P_{\psi s}^\Lambda(4338)$. We conduct a coupled-channel amplitude analysis of the LHCb data by simultaneously fitting the $M_{J/\psi\Lambda}$, $M_{J/\psi\bar{p}}$, $M_{\Lambda\bar{p}}$, and $\cos\theta_{K^*}$ distributions. Rather than the Breit-Wigner fit employed in the LHCb analysis, we consider relevant threshold effects and a unitary $\Xi_c\bar{D}$-$\Lambda_c\bar{D}_s$ coupled-channel scattering amplitude from which $P_{\psi s}^\Lambda$ poles are extracted for the first time. In our default fit, the $P_{\psi s}^\Lambda(4338)$ pole is almost a $\Xi_c \bar{D}$ bound state at $( 4338.2\pm 1.4)-( 1.9\pm 0.5 )\,i$ MeV. Our default model also fits a large fluctuation at the $\Lambda_c\bar{D}_s$ threshold, giving a $\Lambda_c\bar{D}_s$ virtual state, $P_{\psi s}^\Lambda(4255)$, at $4254.7\pm 0.4$ MeV. We also found that the $P_{\psi s}^\Lambda(4338)$ peak cannot solely be a kinematical effect, and a nearby pole is needed.
The accuracy and precision of models are key issues for the design and development of new applications and experiments. We present a method of optimisation for a large variety of models. This approach is designed in order both to improve the accuracy of models through the modification of free parameters of these models, which results in a better reproduction of experimental data, and to estimate the uncertainties of these parameters and, by extension, their impacts on the model output. We discuss the method in detail and present a proof-of-concept for Monte Carlo models.
We propose a method for remotely detecting backward reflection via induced decay of cold dark matter such as axion in the background of a propagating coherent photon field. This method can be particularly useful for probing concentrated dark matter streams by Earth's gravitational lensing effect. Formulae for the stimulated reflection process and the expected sensitivities in local and remote experimental approaches are provided for testing eV scale axion models using broad band lasers. The generic axion-photon coupling is expected to be explorable up to ${\cal O}(10^{-12})$ GeV${}^{-1}$ and ${\cal O}(10^{-22})$ GeV${}^{-1}$ for the idealized local and remote setups, respectively.
In this proceedings contribution, we summarize recent findings concerning the presence of early- and late-time attractors in non-conformal kinetic theory. We study the effects of varying both the initial momentum-space anisotropy and initialization times using an exact solution of the 0+1D boost-invariant Boltzmann equation with a mass- and temperature-dependent relaxation time. Our findings support the existence of a longitudinal pressure attractor, but they do not support the existence of distinct attractors for the bulk viscous and shear pressures. Considering a large set of integral moments, we show that for moments with greater than one power of longitudinal momentum squared, both early- and late-time attractors are present.
The situation of the experimental data used in the dispersive evaluation of the hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon is assessed in view of two recent measurements: $e^+e^- \to \pi^+\pi^-$ cross sections in the $\rho$ resonance region by CMD-3 and a study of higher-order radiative effects in the initial-state-radiation processes $e^+e^- \to \mu^+\mu^-\gamma$ and $e^+e^- \to \pi^+\pi^-\gamma$ by BABAR. The impact of the latter study on the KLOE and BESIII cross-section measurements is evaluated and found to be indicative of larger systematic effects than uncertainties assigned. The new situation also warrants a reappraisal of the independent information provided by hadronic $\tau$ decays, including state-of-the-art isospin-breaking corrections. The findings cast a new light on the longstanding deviation between the muon $g-2$ measurement and the Standard Model prediction using the data-driven dispersive approach, and the comparison with lattice QCD calculations.
We present a new approach for evaluating Feynman integrals numerically. We apply the recently-proposed framework of physics-informed deep learning to train neural networks to approximate the solution to the differential equations satisfied by the Feynman integrals. This approach relies neither on a canonical form of the differential equations, which is often a bottleneck for the analytical techniques, nor on the availability of a large dataset, and after training yields essentially instantaneous evaluation times. We provide a proof-of-concept implementation within the PyTorch framework, and apply it to a number of one- and two-loop examples, achieving a mean magnitude of relative difference of around 1% at two loops in the physical phase space with network training times on the order of an hour on a laptop GPU.
In this study, we explore the impact of an additional dimension, as proposed in Kaluza-Klein's theory, on the Casimir effect within the context of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV), which is represented by the aether field. We demonstrate that the Casimir energy is directly influenced by the presence of the fifth dimension, as well as by the aether parameter. Consequently, the force between the plates is also subject to variations of these parameters. Furthermore, we examine constraints on both the size of the extra dimension and the aether field parameter based on experimental data. The LIV parameter can provide insights into addressing the size-related challenges in Kaluza-Klein's theory and offers a mean to establish an upper limit on the size of the extra dimension. This helps to rationalize the difficulties associated with its detection in current experiments.
This paper examines the transverse momentum spectra of hadrons in the multiparticle production at LHC in the framework of the Quark-Gluon String Model (QGSM). It discusses the dependence of average pt on the masses of mesons and baryons at the LHC energy 7 TeV. The QGSM description of the experimental spectra of various hadrons led to the number of conclusions. I. The average transverse momenta of baryons and mesons are growing with the hadron mass, so for beauty hadrons, they are almost equal to the mass. II. By the product of research, a regularity has been detected in the mass gaps between hadron generations. This hypothesis suggests some hidden symmetrical (neither-meson-nor-baryon) neutral hadron states with the masses: 0.251,0.682,1.85,5.04,13.7,37.2,101.,275.,748.... GeV, which is produced by geometrical progression with the mass factor $\delta(M)$= 2.721828 III. The baryon-meson symmetry seems broken until the mass of beauty hadrons, then the hidden states should be more and more stable with the growth of the mass, so the suggested sequence of hadronic states is a proper candidate for the Dark Matter that, you know, contributes the valuable part to the mass of Universe. The growing average transverse momenta are extrapolated with a similar function, as for energy dependence of average baryon $p_t$, $<p_t> \propto M^{0.1}$.
Heavy quark expansion can nicely explain the lifetime of $\Lambda_{b}$. However, there still exist sizable uncertainties from the four-quark operator matrix elements of $\Lambda_{b}$ in $1/m_{b}^{3}$ corrections, which describe the spectator effects. In this work, these four-quark operator matrix elements are investigated using full QCD sum rules for the first time. At the QCD level, contributions from up to dimension-6 four-quark operators are considered. Our method of calculating high-dimensional operator matrix elements is promising to be used to resolve the $\Omega_{c}$ lifetime puzzle.
There exists a significant deviation between the most recent Lattice QCD simulation and experimental measurement by Belle for $\Xi_{c}^{0}\to\Xi^{-}\ell^{+}\nu_{\ell}$. In this work, we investigate the $\Xi_{c}\to\Xi$ form factors in QCD sum rules. To this end, the two-point correlation functions of $\Xi_{c}$ and $\Xi$, and the three-point correlation functions of $\Xi_{c}\to\Xi$ are calculated. At the QCD level, contributions from up to dimension-6 four-quark operators are considered, and the leading order results of the Wilson coefficients are obtained. For the form factors, relatively stable Borel windows can be found. Our form factors are comparable with those of Lattice QCD, except for $f_{\perp}$. The obtained form factors are then used to predict the branching ratios of $\Xi_{c}\to\Xi \ell^{+}\nu_{\ell}$, and our predictions are consistent with the most recent data of ALICE and Belle, and those of Lattice QCD within error. Given that the branching ratios only contain limited information, we suggest the experimentalists directly measure the form factors of $\Xi_{c}\to\Xi$.
We investigate possible evidence from Extended Theories of Electro-Magnetism by looking for deviations from the Amp\`ere-Maxwell law. The photon, main messenger for interpreting the universe, is the only free massless particle in the Standard-Model (SM). Indeed, the deviations may be due to a photon mass for the de Broglie-Proca (dBP) theory or the Lorentz-Poincar\'e Symmetry Violation (LSV) in the SM Extension (SME), but also to non-linearities from theories as of Born-Infeld, Heisenberg-Euler. With this aim, we have analysed six years of data of the Magnetospheric Multi-Scale mission, which is a four-satellite constellation, crossing mostly turbulent regions of magnetic reconnection and collecting about 95\% of the downloaded data, outside the solar wind. We examined 3.8 million data points from the solar wind, magnetosheath, and magnetosphere regions. In a minority of cases, for the highest time resolution burst data and optimal tetrahedron configurations drawn by the four spacecraft, deviations have been found ($2.2\%$ in modulus and $4.8\%$ in Cartesian components for all regions, but raising up in the solar wind alone to $20.8\%$ in modulus and $29.7\%$ in Cartesian components and up to 45.2\% in the extreme low-mass range). The deviations might be due to unaccounted experimental errors or, less likely, to non-Maxwellian contributions, for which we have inferred the related parameters for the dBP and SME cases. Possibly, we are at the boundaries of measurability for non-dedicated missions. We discuss our experimental results (upper limit of photon mass of $2.1 \times 10^{-51}$ kg, and of the LSV parameter $|\vec{k}^{\rm AF}|$ of $6 \times 10^{-9}$ m$^{-1}$), as the deviations in the solar wind, versus more stringent but model-dependent limits.
During the early development of Quantum Chromodynamics, it was proposed that baryon number could be carried by a non-perturbative Y-shaped topology of gluon fields, called the gluon junction, rather than by the valence quarks as in the QCD standard model. A puzzling feature of ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is the apparent substantial baryon excess in the midrapidity region that could not be adequately accounted for in most conventional models of quark and diquark transport. The transport of baryonic gluon junctions is predicted to lead to a characteristic exponential distribution of net-baryon density with rapidity and could resolve the puzzle. In this context we point out that the rapidity density of net-baryons near midrapidity indeed follows an exponential distribution with a slope of $-0.61\pm0.03$ as a function of beam rapidity in the existing global data from A+A collisions at AGS, SPS and RHIC energies. To further test if quarks or gluon junctions carry the baryon quantum number, we propose to study the absolute magnitude of the baryon vs. charge stopping in isobar collisions at RHIC. We also argue that semi-inclusive photon-induced processes ($\gamma+p$/A) at RHIC kinematics provide an opportunity to search for the signatures of the baryon junction and to shed light onto the mechanisms of observed baryon excess in the mid-rapidity region in ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions. Such measurements can be further validated in A+A collisions at the LHC and $e+p$/A collisions at the EIC.
In this paper, we apply the QCD sum rules to study the vector fully-light tetraquark states with an explicit P-wave between the diquark and antidiquark pair. We observed that the $C\gamma_\alpha\otimes\stackrel{\leftrightarrow}{\partial}_\mu\otimes\gamma^\alpha C$ (or $C\gamma_\alpha\otimes\stackrel{\leftrightarrow}D_\mu\otimes\gamma^\alpha C$) type current with fully-strange quarks couples potentially to a tetraquark state with the mass $2.16 \pm 0.14 \,\rm{GeV}$, which supports assigning the $Y/\phi(2175)$ as the diquark-antidiquark type tetraquark state with the $J^{PC}=1^{--}$. The $qs\bar{q}\bar{s}$ and $ss\bar{s}\bar{s}$ vector tetraquark states with the structure $C\gamma_\mu\otimes \stackrel{\leftrightarrow}{\partial}_\alpha \otimes\gamma^\alpha C + C\gamma^\alpha \otimes\stackrel{\leftrightarrow}{\partial}_\alpha \otimes\gamma_\mu$ (or $C\gamma_\mu\otimes \stackrel{\leftrightarrow}D_\alpha \otimes\gamma^\alpha C + C\gamma^\alpha \otimes\stackrel{\leftrightarrow}D_\alpha \otimes\gamma_\mu$) are consistent with the $X(2200)$ and $X(2400)$ respectively, which lie in the region $2.20$ to $2.40\,\rm{GeV}$. The central values of the masses of the fully-strange vector tetraquark states with an explicit P-wave are about $2.16-3.13\,\rm{GeV}$ (or $2.16-3.16\,\rm{GeV}$), and the predictions for other fully-light vector tetraquark states with and without hidden-strange are also presented.
We develop a mean-field theory of a novel Kondo effect emerging in systems without a Fermi surface, which instead emerges under strong magnetic fields. We determine the magnitude of the Kondo condensate which is a particle pairing composed of conducting Dirac fermions and localized impurities. We focus on the competition between the Kondo effect and the energy gap formation that stems from the pairing among the Dirac fermions leading to the dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. We find that this competition induces a quantum critical point. We also investigate finite-temperature effects. This system at vanishing fermion density can be studied with Monte Carlo lattice simulations which do not suffer from the sign problem.
Studies of scattering amplitudes for electric and magnetic charges have identified previously overlooked multiparticle representations of the Poincar\'e group in four dimensions. Such representations associate nontrivial quantum numbers (known as pairwise helicities) with asymptotically separated pairs of particles, and thus cannot be described as tensor products of one-particle states. We extend this construction to sources and spacetimes of higher dimension. We first establish the dynamical origin of pairwise helicity in $p$-form electrodynamics coupled to mutually nonlocal branes. We then interpret this pairwise helicity as a quantum number under an $SO(2)$ pairwise little group associated with pairs of distinct branes. We further characterize the "higher" little groups that could in principle be used to induce multiparticle or multi-brane representations of the Lorentz group.
We demonstrate that in a two component dark matter (DM) set up, when DM$_1$ is equilibrated with the thermal bath, the other DM$_2$, in spite of having feeble or negligible interaction with the SM particles, can be brought to equilibrium just by having sizeable interaction with DM$_1$. We propose that such DM candidates (DM$_2$) should be classified into a category called pseudo-FIMP (pFIMP) having unique freeze-out characteristics which depend on the thermal DM partner. The draft elaborates upon the pFIMP properties from a generic coupled Boltzmann Equations (cBEQ) in a model independent way, followed by a concrete model illustration.
Lepton flavour violation (LFV) is one of the most trending topics to probe new physics (NP). The powerful accelerators have enhanced their intensities to observe the LFV decays very precisely. In this situation, the theorists are also interested to study these decays in various NP models and in model independent way to get precise results. Motivated by these results we have studied B decays into K2^star(1430)l1 l2 in non-universal Z^' model. Here, we have structured the two-fold angular distribution of the decays in terms of transversity amplitudes and the transversity amplitudes are formed with NP Wilson coefficients. The variation of the branching ratios and forward backward asymmetries show the sensitivity of NP. The observables calculated in this work are very interesting and might provide a new way towards NP.
The 2021-22 High-Energy Physics Community Planning Exercise (a.k.a. ``Snowmass 2021'') was organized by the Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society. Snowmass 2021 was a scientific study that provided an opportunity for the entire U.S. particle physics community, along with its international partners, to identify the most important scientific questions in High Energy Physics for the following decade, with an eye to the decade after that, and the experiments, facilities, infrastructure, and R&D needed to pursue them. This Snowmass summary report synthesizes the lessons learned and the main conclusions of the Community Planning Exercise as a whole and presents a community-informed synopsis of U.S. particle physics at the beginning of 2023. This document, along with the Snowmass reports from the various subfields, will provide input to the 2023 Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) subpanel of the U.S. High-Energy Physics Advisory Panel (HEPAP), and will help to guide and inform the activity of the U.S. particle physics community during the next decade and beyond.
We assign $X(4500)$ as a D-wave tetraquark state and study the decay of $X(4500)$ $\to$ $J/\psi \phi$. The mass and the decay constant of $X(4500)$ are calculated by using the SVZ sum rules. For the decay width of $X(4500)$ $\to$ $J/\psi \phi$, we present the calculation within the framework of both the three-point sum rules and the light-cone sum rules. The strong coupling $g_{X J/\psi \phi}$ is obtained by considering the soft-meson approximation when we use the light-cone sum rules calculation. Both calculations show that the decay of $X(4500)$ $\to$ $J/\psi\phi$ close to the total width of $X(4500)$ if we assign $X$(4500) as a D-wave tetraquark. In this paper, only the hidden-charm decay channel is considered. With these results and those from the open-charm decay channel, we are able to give a more rational conclusion when comparing with the total width of $X(4500)$. In the future, experiments will be more helpful in determining whether or not this structure of $X(4500)$ is appropriate.
The Standard Model (SM) has no flavor-changing neutral current (FCNC) processes at the tree level. Therefore, processes featuring FCNC in new physics are tightly constrained by data. Typically, the lower bounds on the scale of new physics obtained from $K-\bar{K}$ or $B-\bar{B}$ mixing lie well above 10 TeV, surpassing the reach of current and future colliders. In this paper, we demonstrate, using a specific Z' model, that such limits can be severely weakened by applying certain parametrizations of the quark mixing matrices with no prejudice while maintaining the CKM matrix in agreement with the data. We highlight the valuable role of the often-overlooked D0 mixing in deriving robust FCNC limits and show that the LHC and HL-LHC are promising probes for flavor-changing interactions mediated by a Z' boson.
In the article, we study the associated production of prompt $J/\psi$ mesons and $Z(W)$ bosons in the improved color evaporation model using the high-energy factorization as it is formulated in the parton Reggeization approach. The last one is based on the modified Kimber-Martin-Ryskin-Watt model for unintegrated parton distribution functions and the effective field theory of Reggezied gluons and quarks, suggested by L.N.~Lipatov. We predict cross section for associated $J/\psi$ and $Z ( W)$ hadroproduction via the single and double parton scattering mechanisms using the set of model parameters that have been obtained early for the description of single and double prompt $J/\psi$ production at the LHC energies. The numerical calculations are realized using the Monte-Carlo event generator KaTie. The calculation results are compared with the data at the energies $\sqrt{s} = 7 \mbox{ and } 8$ TeV and we make predictions for the energy $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV for $J/\psi$ plus $Z(W)$ and $\Upsilon$ plus $Z/W$ at the $\sqrt{s} = 8 \mbox{ and } 13$ TeV associated productions.
In this work, a three-quark picture is constructed using a bottom-up approach for baryons in light-front quark model. The shape parameters, which characterize the momentum distribution inside a baryon, are determined with the help of the pole residue of the baryon. The relation between the three-quark picture and the diquark picture is clarified. When building the model, we find that Lorentz boost plays a crucial role, and the bottom-up modeling approach can be generalized to multiquark states. Based on this, a unified theoretical framework for describing multiquark states may be established. As a by-product of model construction, we can easily obtain a newly improved definition of baryon interpolating current. The hadron interpolating currents are the starting point of Lattice QCD and QCD sum rules, and therefore are of great importance.
In this work, we perform a QCD sum rules analysis on the $\Xi_{Q}-\Xi_{Q}^{\prime}$ mixing. Contributions from up to dimension-6 four-quark operators are considered. However, it turns out that, only dimension-4 and dimension-5 operators contribute, which reveals the non-perturbative nature of mixing. Especially we notice that only the diagrams with the two light quarks participating in gluon exchange contribute to the mixing. Our results indicate that the mixing angle $\theta_{c}=(1.2\sim2.8)^{\circ}$ for the $Q=c$ case and $\theta_{b}=(0.28\sim0.34)^{\circ}$ for the $Q=b$ case. Our prediction of $\theta_{c}$ is consistent with the most recent Lattice QCD result within error. Such a small mixing angle seems unlikely to resolve the tension between the recent experimental measurement from Belle and Lattice QCD calculation for the semileptonic decay $\Xi_{c}^{0}\to\Xi^{-} e^{+}\nu_{e}$.
We show that the present-day dark matter abundance can be produced through a novel mechanism that involves a very rapid thermal freeze-out caused by inhomogeneous heating and successive fast cooling of small fireballs in the early Universe. The fireballs can be produced from energy deposited in small scale structure growth induced by Yukawa interactions in certain particle species. Yukawa interactions are known to cause growth of halos even during a radiation dominated era, and the same interactions facilitate cooling and collapse of the halos by the emission of scalars. Energy deposited in the Standard Model plasma at the locations of the halo collapse can heat the plasma, re-establishing thermal equilibrium. The subsequent expansion and cooling of plasma fireballs leads to freeze-out of dark matter on timescales much shorter than the Hubble time. This mechanism can produce the right abundance of dark matter for masses and annihilation cross sections previously thought to be ruled out.
In this work, we assign the tetraquark state for $Y(4230)$ resonance, and investigate the mass and decay constant of $Y(4230)$ in the framework of SVZ sum rules through a different calculation technique. Then we calculate the strong coupling $g_{Y J/\psi f_0}$ by considering soft-meson approximation techniques, within the framework of light cone sum rules. And we use strong coupling $g_{Y J/\psi f_0}$ to obtain the width of the decay $Y(4230)\to J/\psi f_0(980)$. Our prediction for the mass is in agreement with the experimental measurement, and that for the decay width of $Y(4230)\to J/\psi f_0(980)$ is within the upper limit.
Within the Two Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM) with $\mathcal{CP}$ conservation and a softly broken $Z_2$ symmetry, we analyze the flavor changing Higgs decays $h\to bs$ ($bs$ refers jointly to the two decay channels $b\bar s$ and $\bar b s$), where $h$ is identified with the SM-like Higgs boson discovered at the LHC. We provide a comprehensive study of the decay width $\Gamma (h \to bs)$ with particular focus on the most relevant effects from the triple Higgs coupling $\lambda_{hH^+H^-}$. Furthermore, we consider all the relevant theoretical and experimental constraints to determine which predictions for the $\mathrm{BR}\left(h\to bs\right)$ are still allowed by the current data. We find that the predictions for $\mathrm{BR}\left(h\to bs\right)$ in types II and III can be several orders of magnitude smaller compared to the SM value. In contrast, in type I and IV we find that the predicted enhancements in the decay rates with respect to the SM of up to about 70% and 50%, respectively, are still allowed. We discuss how these deviations from the SM are caused by interference effects controlled by the coupling $\lambda_{hH^+H^-}$ which can be large for very heavy $H^\pm$. To better understand the role of $\lambda_{hH^+H^-}$ in the $h \to bs$ decay we derive and analyze here the analytical results for the $hbs$ one-loop effective vertex that is generated by integrating out the heavy $H^\pm$.
Neutrino experiments in a Forward Physics Facility at the Large Hadron Collider can measure neutrino and antineutrino cross sections for energies up to a few TeV. For neutrino energies below 100 GeV, the inelastic cross section evaluations have contributions from weak structure functions at low momentum transfers and low hadronic final state invariant mass. To evaluate the size of these contributions to the neutrino cross section, we use a parametrization of the electron-proton structure function, adapted for neutrino scattering, augmented with a correction to account for the partial conservation of the axial vector current, and normalized to structure functions evaluated at next-to-leading order in QCD, with target mass corrections and heavy quark corrections. We compare our results with other approaches to account for this kinematic region in neutrino cross section for energies between 10--1000 GeV on isoscalar nucleon and iron targets.
The one- and two-boson momentum spectra are derived in the quantum local-equilibrium canonical ensemble of noninteracting bosons with a fixed particle number constraint. We define the canonical ensemble as a subensemble of events associated with the grand-canonical ensemble. Applying simple hydro-inspired parametrization with parameter values that correspond roughly to the values at the system's breakup in $p+p$ collisions at the LHC energies, we compare our findings with the treatment which is based on the grand-canonical ensembles where mean particle numbers coincide with fixed particle numbers in the canonical ensembles. We observe a significantly greater sensitivity of the two-particle momentum correlation functions to fixed multiplicity constraint compared to one-particle momentum spectra. The results of our analysis may be useful for interpretation of multiplicity-dependent measurements of $p+p$ collision events.
We present a detailed study of the production of dark matter in the form of a sterile neutrino via freeze-in from decays of heavy right-handed neutrinos. Our treatment accounts for thermal effects in the effective couplings, generated via neutrino mixing, of the new heavy neutrinos with the Standard Model gauge and Higgs bosons and can be applied to several low-energy fermion seesaw scenarios featuring heavy neutrinos in thermal equilibrium with the primordial plasma. We find that the production of dark matter is not as suppressed as to what is found when considering only Standard Model gauge interactions. Our study shows that the freeze-in dark matter production could be efficient.
Inclusive differential cross sections for various $e A$ and $\nu A$ reactions are analyzed within the GiBUU theoretical framework and code. The treatment of electron-nuclus reactions has been significantly improved by implementing a parametrized description of electron-nucleon interactions for a nucleon. Using the momentum of a nucleon inside the Fermi sea the electron-nucleon cross sections are then Lorentz-boosted to obtain the electron structure functions for nuclei. The neutrino structure functions are obtained from the ones for electrons by a transformation that involves the axial formfactors and kinematical factors that account for the difference of vector and axial currents. Special emphasis is put on analyzing data from various different experiments in different neutrino energy regimes with one and the same theoretical input.
We consider the dipole portal to sterile neutrinos, also called heavy neutral leptons (HNLs). The dipole interaction with the photon leads to HNL production in meson decays, as well as triggers the HNL decay into an active neutrino and a photon. HNLs with masses of order of 0.01-1 GeV are naturally long-lived if the dipole coupling is sufficiently small. We perform Monte-Carlo simulations and derive the sensitivities of the proposed FASER2 and FACET long-lived particle experiments to HNLs produced via the dipole operator in meson decays at the high-luminosity LHC. Our findings show that these future detectors will be complementary to each other, as well as to existing experiments, and will be able to probe new parts of the parameter space, especially in the case of the dipole operator coupled to the tau neutrino.
We present the first application of QCD light-cone sum rules (LCSRs) with $B_{(s)}$-meson distribution amplitudes to the $B_{(s)}\!\to\! D_{(s)0}^*$ form factors, where $D_{(s)0}^*$ is a charmed scalar meson. We consider two scenarios for the $D_0^*$ spectrum. In the first one, we follow the Particle Data Group and consider a single broad resonance $D_0^*(2300)$. In the second one, we assume the existence of two scalar resonances, $D_0^*(2105)$ and $D_0^*(2451)$, as follows from a recent theoretically motivated analysis of $B\to D\pi\pi$ decays. The $B\!\to\! D_0^*$ form factors are calculated in both scenarios, also taking into account the large total width of $D_0^*(2300)$. Furthermore, we calculate the $B_s\!\to\! D_{s0}^*$ form factors, considering in this case only the one-resonance scenario with $D_{s0}(2317)$. In this LCSRs calculation, the $c$-quark mass is kept finite and the $s$-quark mass is taken into account. We also include contributions of the two- and three-particle distribution amplitudes up to twist-four. Our predictions for semileptonic $B\!\to\! D_0^*\ell\nu_\ell$ and $B_s\!\to\! D_{s0}^*\ell\nu_\ell$ branching ratios are compared with the available data and HQET-based predictions. As a byproduct, we also obtain the $D_0^*$- and $D_{s0}^*$-meson decay constants and predict the lepton flavour universality ratios $R(D_0^*)$ and $R(D_{s0}^*)$.
We compute the large-$N$ limit of the QCD chiral condensate on the lattice using twisted reduced models, and performing controlled continuum and chiral extrapolations. We perform two different calculations: one consists in extracting the chiral condensate from the quark mass dependence of the pion mass, and the other consists in extracting the chiral condensate from the behaviour of the mode number of the Wilson-Dirac operator for small eigenvalues. We find consistency between the results of the two methods, giving a joint estimate of $\lim_{N\to\infty}\Sigma(N)/N=[184(13)$ MeV$]^3$ ($\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$, $\mu=2$ GeV, taking the square root of the string tension $\sqrt{\sigma}=440$ MeV to set the scale), in remarkable agreement with the $\mathrm{SU}(3)$ 2-flavor FLAG result.
The $W$ boson mass $m_W$ in the GUT inspired $SO(5) \times U(1) \times SU(3)$ gauge-Higgs unification in the Randall-Sundrum (RS) warped space is evaluated. The muon decay $\mu^- \rightarrow e^- \bar{\nu}_e \nu_\mu$ proceeds by the exchange of not only the zero mode of the $W$ boson $(W^{(0)}$) but also Kaluza-Klein (KK) excited modes $W^{(n)}$ and $W_R^{(n)}$ ($n \ge 1$) at the tree level. The anti-de Sitter curvature of the RS space also affects the relationship among the gauge couplings and the ratio of $m_W$ to the $Z$ boson mass $m_Z$. The $W$ couplings of leptons and quarks also change. With the given KK mass scale $m_{\rm KK}$ the range of the Aharonov-Bohm phase $\theta_H$ in the fifth dimension is constrained. For $m_{\rm KK} = 13\,$TeV, $0.085 \lesssim \theta_H \lesssim 0.11$ and $80.381\,{\rm GeV} \lesssim m_W \lesssim 80.407\,{\rm GeV}$. The predicted value of $m_W$ for $13\, {\rm TeV} \le m_{\rm KK} \le 20\, {\rm TeV}$ lies between $m_W^{\rm SM} = 80.354 \pm 0.007\,$GeV in the standard model and $m_W^{\rm CDF} = 80.4335 \pm 0.0094\,$GeV, the value reported by the CDF collaboration in 2022.
We attempt to present an unified description of the light meson spectra and the light diquark spectra by applying the Regge trajectory approach. However, we find that the direct application of the linear Regge trajectory formula for the light mesons and baryons fails. To address this issue, we fit the experimental data of light meson spectra and the light diquark spectra obtained by other theoretical approaches. By considering the light quark mass and the parameter $C$ in the Cornell potential, we provide a provisional Regge trajectory formula. We also crudely estimate the masses of the light diquarks $(ud)$, $(us)$, and $(ss)$, and find that they agree with other theoretical results. The diquark Regge trajectory not only becomes a new and very simple approach for estimating the spectra of the light diquarks, but also can explicitly show the behavior of the masses with respect to $l$ or $n_r$. Moreover, it is expected that the diquark Regge trajectory can provide a simple method for investigating the $\rho$-mode excitations of baryons, tetraquarks and pentaquarks containing diquarks.
We extend our relativistic theory of gravitational structure of composite hadrons to obtain the pion gravitational form factors at large momentum transfers. The approach was used in the case of intermediate region of the variable in our preceding works arXiv:2010.11640 and arXiv:2201.04991. The calculation is carried out in the framework of a relativistic composite-particle model complemented by the special relativistic form of impulse approximation. It is found that in the limit of massless and pointlike quarks, the obtained asymptotic expansion coincides with the predictions of perturbative QCD for gravitational pion form factors. The principal contribution to the asymptotics, coinciding with the predictions of QCD, is given by the relativistic effect of spin rotation. In particular, the asymptotics of the D form factor is completely determined by this kinematic effect. Several constraints on the allowed form of gravitational form factors of quarks are derived.
While the Standard Model remains the prevailing description of natural phenomena, several observed phenomena continue to elude its explanation. To address these challenges, we investigate the Minimal Left-Right Symmetric Model, an immediate extension of the Standard Model. This model adeptly resolves issues related to parity violation and neutrino mass smallness by incorporating the seesaw mechanism. Our investigation focuses on assessing the Parity Manifest Minimal Left-Right Symmetric Model's contributions to specific phenomena, namely the anomalous magnetic moment (AMM) and CP violation of charged leptons. First, the model's coupling parameter space is derived from the experimental bounds of charged lepton flavor-violating $l_i \rightarrow l_j\gamma$ and $l_i \rightarrow 3l_j$ channels. These bounds emanate from the extended Higgs sector of the model. Subsequently, we evaluate the one-loop contributions of the model to magnetic dipole moment (MDM) and electric dipole moment (EDM), which provide insights into the model's estimations for AMM and CP violation of charged leptons based on the experimental bounds of the aforementioned processes. The outcomes of this analysis will shed light on whether the Parity Manifest Minimal Left-Right Symmetric Model stands as a highly promising candidate for physics beyond the Standard Model.
We present a comprehensive analysis of electroweak, flavor, and collider bounds on the complete set of dimension-six SMEFT operators in the $U(2)^5$-symmetric limit. This operator basis provides a consistent framework to describe a wide class of new physics models and, in particular, the motivated class of models where the new degrees of freedom couple mostly to the third generation. By analyzing observables from all three sectors, and consistently including renormalization group evolution, we provide bounds on the effective scale of all 124 $U(2)^5$-invariant operators. The relation between flavor-conserving and flavor-violating observables is analyzed taking into account the leading $U(2)^5$ breaking in the Yukawa sector, which is responsible for heavy-light quark mixing. We show that under simple, motivated, and non-tuned hypotheses for the parametric size of the Wilson coefficients at the high scale, all present bounds are consistent with an effective scale as low as 1.5 TeV. We also show that a future circular $e^+ e^-$ collider program such as FCC-ee would push most of these bounds by an order of magnitude. This would rule out or provide clear evidence for a wide class of compelling new physics models that are fully compatible with present data.
The present study entails the augmentation of the $\Delta$(54) flavor symmetry model by including the ISS mechanism by two Standard Model Higgs particles, achieved by the inclusion of different flavons. The matrices are discussed numerically in the framework of the $\Delta(54)$ flavor model with the ISS mechanism for Majorana neutrinos. We introduced Vector like (VL) fermions and a Weyl fermion, which are gauge singlets in the Standard Model. We restrict the undesirable terms in our Lagrangian using additional symmetry. Due to the addition of additional flavons, the precise tribimaximal neutrino mixing pattern deviates, resulting in the creation of a non-zero reactor angle $\theta_{13}$. We found that the atmospheric oscillation parameter ($\theta_{23}$) occupies the upper octant under the normal hierarchy situation. We also study the CP violation ($\delta_{CP}$) , Jarlskog invariant parameter ($J$), and Neutrinoless double-beta decay parameter ($m_{ee}$) in the parameter space of the normal hierarchy model to see whether they accord with the most recent neutrino observations.
We show that even $\zeta$-functions may be removed from the $\beta$-functions of general multi-coupling theories up to high loop order by means of coupling redefinitions. For theories whose $\beta$-function is determined by the anomalous dimensions of the fields, such as supersymmetric theories, this corresponds to a renormalisation scheme change to a momentum subtraction scheme.
In this work we compare the predictions for the scattering length and effective range of the channels $K^0 \Sigma^+, K^+ \Sigma^0 , K^+ \Lambda$ and $\eta p$, assuming the $N^*(1535)$ state as a molecular state of these channels, or an original genuine state, made for instance from three quarks. Looking at very different scenarios, what we conclude is that the predictions of these two pictures are drastically different, to the point that we advise the measurement of these magnitudes, accessible for instance by measuring correlation functions, in order to gain much valuable information concerning the nature of this state.
An axion cosmic string is known to be a chiral superconductor when the axion couples to an electrically charged fermion. After the QCD phase transition, a QCD axion string is attached by $N$ domain walls. We would like to elucidate the fate of massless fermions on a global string after domain walls attached not only in the axion model but also in general models having string-wall composites. We investigate the Dirac equation under various string-wall composite backgrounds both in the axion(-like) models and in the ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetry inspired Abelian-Higgs models. We give an answer to the elementary question of whether massless fermions exist, and if so, where they are localized. The answer depends on fermion/boson masses in the models, and the massless fermion can be localized either on the string, on one of the domain walls, or in one of the vacua. We find analytic solutions for the fermion zero mode function by which we prove the existence of the massless fermion on the string-wall composites. We also show supercurrents flowing along the string-wall composites and anomalous electric currents flowing in from outside.
At the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC), the Polarized Atomic Hydrogen Gas Jet Target polarimeter (HJET) is employed for the precise measurement of the absolute transverse (vertical) polarization of proton beams, achieving low systematic uncertainties of approximately $\sigma^\text{syst}_P/P\leq0.5\%$. The acquired experimental data not only facilitated the determination of single $A_\text{N}(t)$ and double $A_\text{NN}(t)$ spin analyzing powers for 100 and 255 GeV proton beams but also revealed a non-zero Pomeron spin-flip contribution through a Regge fit. Preliminary results obtained for forward inelastic $p^{\uparrow}p$ and elastic $p^{\uparrow}A$ analyzing powers will be discussed. The success of HJET at RHIC suggests its potential application for proton beam polarimetry at the upcoming Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), aiming for an accuracy of 1\%. Moreover, the provided analysis indicates that the RHIC HJET target can serve as a tool for the precision calibration, with the required accuracy, of the $^3$He beam polarization at the EIC.
We present an efficient method to compute the modular extension of both fermionic topological orders and $\mathbb{Z}_2$-symmetric bosonic topological orders in two spatial dimensions, basing on congruence representations of $\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ and its subgroups. To demonstrate the validity of our approach, we provide explicit calculations for topological orders with rank up to 10 for the fermionic cases and up to 6 for the bosonic cases. Along the way, we clarify the relation between fermionic rational conformal field theories, which live on the boundary of the corresponding fermionic topological orders, and modular extensions. In particular, we show that the $\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ representation of the R-R sector can be determined from the NS-NS sector using the modular extensions.
We present a new holographic duality between q-Schwarzian quantum mechanics and Liouville gravity. The q-Schwarzian is a one parameter deformation of the Schwarzian, which is dual to JT gravity and describes the low energy sector of SYK. We show that the q-Schwarzian in turn is dual to sinh dilaton gravity. This one parameter deformation of JT gravity can be rewritten as Liouville gravity. We match the thermodynamics and classical two point function between q-Schwarzian and Liouville gravity. We further prove the duality on the quantum level by rewriting sinh dilaton gravity as a topological gauge theory, and showing that the latter equals the q-Schwarzian. As the q-Schwarzian can be quantized exactly, this duality can be viewed as an exact solution of sinh dilaton gravity on the disk topology. For real q, this q-Schwarzian corresponds to double-scaled SYK and is dual to a sine dilaton gravity.
We compute the two-point function of matter operators in double-scaled SYK (DSSYK) model, where the two matter operators are inserted at each ends of the cylindrical wormhole. We find that the wormhole amplitude in DSSYK is written as a trace over the chord Hilbert space. We also show that the length of the wormhole is stabilized in the semi-classical limit, by the same mechanism worked for the JT gravity case.
The differential scattering cross section for charged relativistic particles moving parallel close to the crystalline plane of atoms was obtained. The rainbow scattering effect in the approximation of continuous potential was demonstrated. The problem was considered on the basis of the eikonal approximation of quantum electrodynamics.
We build a setup for path integral quantization through the Faddeev-Jackiw approach, extending it to include Grassmannian degrees of freedom, to be later implemented in a model of generalized electrodynamics that involves fourth-order derivatives in the components of a massive vector field being endowed with gauge freedom, due to an additional scalar field. Namely, the generalized Stueckelberg electrodynamics. In the first instance, we work on the free case to gain some familiarity with the program and, subsequently, we add the interaction with fermionic matter fields to complete our aim. In addition to deriving the correct classical brackets for such a model, we get the full expression for the associated generating functional and its associated integration measure.
The classical doubly copy provides relations between classical solutions in gravitational theories and solutions in gauge theories. In this paper, we consider the cosmological horizons in the gravity side from the perspective of gauge theories in the classical double copy paradigm. We give several examples to show how to locate the cosmological horizons by using only the single- and zeroth-copy data on the base spacetime. It is found that the proposed double copy procedure holds not only for cases with flat base spacetime but also for certain case with curved base spacetime.
The physics of individual Q-balls and interactions between multiple Q-balls are well-studied in classical numerical simulations. Interesting properties and phenomena have been discovered, involving stability, forces, collisions and swapping of charge between different components of multi-Q-ball systems. We investigate these phenomena in quantum field theory, including quantum corrections to leading order in a 2PI coupling expansion, the inhomogeneous Hartree approximation. The presence of quantum modes and new decay channels allows the mean-field Q-ball to exchange charge with the quantum modes, and also alters the charge swapping frequencies of the composite Q-balls. It is also observed that the periodic exchanges between the mean-field and quantum modes tend to be quenched by collisions between Q-balls. We illustrate how the classical limit arises through a scaling of the Q-ball potential, making quantum corrections negligible for large-amplitude Q-balls.
We derive the equations of motion that arise from the one-loop effective action for the geometry of 3+1 dimensional quantum branes in the IKKT matrix model. These equations are cast into the form of generalized Einstein equations, with extra contributions from dilaton and axionic fields, as well as a novel anharmonicity tensor C_{\mu\nu} capturing the classical Yang-Mills-type action. The resulting gravity theory approximately reduces to general relativity in some regime, but differs significantly at cosmic scales, leading to an asymptotically flat FLWR cosmological evolution governed by the classical action.
The bound state of one NS5 brane (wrapped on a $\mathbb{T}^4$) and $N$ NS1-branes has two dual descriptions: its low-energy dynamics is described by the symmetric orbifold of $\mathbb{T}^4$, while the near horizon geometry is captured by string theory on ${\rm AdS}_3 \times {\rm S}^3\times \mathbb{T}^4$ with one unit of NS flux. The latter theory is exactly solvable in the hybrid formalism, and this allows one to prove the equivalence of the two descriptions. In this paper we extend this duality to $\mathbb{Z}_k$ orbifolds of this ${\rm AdS}_3 \times {\rm S}^3$ background. In particular, we show that the corresponding worldsheet spectrum reproduces exactly the perturbative excitations on top of a certain non-perturbative state in the dual symmetric orbifold theory. Since the ${\rm AdS}/{\rm CFT}$ duality map is exact for these models, we obtain an interesting picture of how the duality relates boundary and bulk descriptions.
I show how chiral fermions with an exact gauge symmetry in any representation can appear on the d-dimensional boundary of a finite volume (d + 1)-dimensional manifold, without any light mirror partners. The condition for it to look like a local d-dimensional theory is that gauge anomalies cancel, and that the volume be large. This provides a new paradigm for the lattice regularization of chiral gauge theories.
We introduce a novel approach for deriving one-loop Bern-Carrasco-Johansson (BCJ) numerators and reveal the worldsheet origin of the one-loop double copy. Our work shows that expanding Cachazo-He-Yuan half-integrands into generalized Parke-Taylor factors intrinsically generates BCJ numerators on quadratic propagators satisfying Jacobi identities. We validate our methodology by successfully reproducing one-loop BCJ numerators for Non-Linear Sigma Model as well as those of pure Yang-Mills in four dimensions with all-plus or single-minus helicities.
The free massless superparticle is reanalysed, in particular by performing the Gupta-Bleuler quantization, using the first and second class constraints of the model, and obtaining, as a result, the Weyl equation for the spinorial component of the chiral superfield. Then we construct a superconformal model of two interacting massless superparticles from the free case by the introduction of an invariant interaction. The interaction introduces an effective mass for each particle by modifying the structure of fermionic constraints, all becoming second class. The quantization of the model produces a bilocal chiral superfield. We also generalise the model by considering a system of superconformal interacting particles and its continuum limit.
In this article, we analyse the pole-skipping phenomena of finite temperature Yang-Mills theory with quark flavors which is dual to D3-D7 brane system in the bulk. We also consider the external electric field in the boundary field theory which is dual to the world volume electric field on the D7 brane. We will work in the probe limit where the D7 branes do not back-react to the D3 brane background. In this scenario, we decode the characteristic parameters of the chaos namely, Lyapunov exponent $\lambda_{L}$ and butterfly velocity $v_b$ from the pole-skipping points by performing the near-horizon analysis of the linearised Einstein equations. Unlike pure Yang-Mills, once charged quarks with a background electric field are added into the system, the characteristic parameters of the chaos show non-trivial dependence on the quark mass and external electric field. We have observed that $\lambda_{L}$ and $v_b$ decreases with increasing electric field. This suggests the existence of a critical electric field at which chaos parameters vanish. In the presence of a strong electric field, therefore, the dual system of Yang-Mills gauge fields along with dissociated quarks shows non-chaotic behaviour. We further perform the pole-skipping analysis for the gauge invariant sound, shear, and tensor modes of the perturbation in the bulk and discuss their physical importance in the holographic context.
N=2 conformal supergravity in five dimensions is constructed via a systematic off-shell reduction scheme from maximal conformal supergravity in six dimensions which is (2,0). The dimensional reduction of the (2,0) Weyl multiplet in six dimensions gives us the Weyl multiplet in five dimensions which is a dilaton Weyl multiplet as it has a dilaton scalar. The dimensional reduction of the (2,0) tensor multiplet in six dimensions gives us the N=2 vector multiplet in five dimensions coupled to conformal supergravity. We also comment on Nahm's classification regarding the non-existence of an N=2 superconformal algebra in five dimensions and why it does not contradict the existence of N=2 conformal supergravity in five dimensions that is constructed in this paper.
We consider the renormalization group flow equation for the two-dimensional sigma models with the K\"ahler target space. The first-order formulation allows us to treat perturbations in these models as current-current deformations. We demonstrate, however, that the conventional first-order formalism misses certain anomalies in the measure, and should be amended. We reconcile beta functions obtained within the conformal perturbation theory for the current-current deformations with traditional ``geometric" results obtained in the background field methods, in this way resolving the peculiarities pointed out in [JHEP10(2023)097]. The result is achieved by the supersymmetric completion of the first-order sigma model.
It was shown in arXiv:2309.10786 that the leading non-perturbative contribution to the large $N$ expansion of superconformal index of (2,0) 6d theory (which describes low-energy dynamics of $N$ coincident M5 branes) is reproduced by the semiclassical partition function of quantum M2 brane wrapped on $S^{1}\times S^{2}$ in a twisted version of AdS$_{7}\times S^{4}$ background. Here we demonstrate an analogous relation for the leading non-perturbative contribution to the large $N$ expansion of the superconformal index of the ${n}=8$ supersymmetric level-one $U(N) \times U(N)$ ABJM theory (which describes low-energy dynamics of $N$ coincident M2 branes). The roles of M2 and M5 branes get effectively interchanged. Namely, the large $N$ correction to the ABJM index is found to be given by the semiclassical partition function of quantum M5 brane wrapped on $S^1 \times S^5$ in a twisted version of AdS$_{4}\times S^{7}$ background. This effectively confirms the suggestion for the "M5 brane index" made in arXiv:2007.05213 on the basis of indirect superconformal algebra considerations.
This paper represents the completion of our work on the ODE/IM correspondence for the generalised quantum Drinfeld-Sokolov models. We present a unified and general mathematical theory, encompassing all particular cases that we had already addressed, and we fill important analytic and algebraic gaps in the literature on the ODE/IM correspondence. For every affine Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$ -- whose Langlands dual $\mathfrak{g}'$ is the untwisted affinisation of a simple Lie algebra -- we study a class of affine twisted parabolic Miura $\mathfrak{g}$-opers, introduced by Feigin, Frenkel and Hernandez. The Feigin-Frenkel-Hernandez opers are defined by fixing the singularity structure at $0$ and $\infty$, and by allowing a finite number of additional singular terms with trivial monodromy. We define the central connection matrix and Stokes matrix for these opers, and prove that the coefficients of the former satisfy the the $QQ$ system of the quantum $\mathfrak{g}'$-Drinfeld-Sokolov (or quantum $\mathfrak{g}'$-KdV) model. If $\mathfrak{g}$ is untwisted, it is known that the trivial monodromy conditions are equivalent to a complete system of algebraic equations for the additional singularities. We prove a suprising negative result in the case $\mathfrak{g}$ is twisted: in this case, the trivial monodromy conditions have no non-trivial solutions.
We present methods to constrain fermionic condensates on the level of the path integral, which grant access to the quantum effective potential in the infinite volume limit. In the case of a spontaneously broken symmetry, this potential possesses a manifestly flat region, which is inaccessible to the standard approach on the lattice. However, by constraining the appropriate order parameters such as the chiral condensate, one is then able to probe the flat region. We demonstrate our method of constraining fermionic condensates in the 2-dimensional Gross-Neveu model, which exhibits a spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. We show how the potential flattens for increasing volume and that the flat region is dominated by inhomogeneous field configurations.
In this note we use the Matsuo-Cherednik duality between the solutions to KZ equations and eigenfunctions of Calogero-Moser Hamiltonians to get the polynomial $p^s$-truncation of the Calogero-Moser eigenfunctions at a rational coupling constant. The truncation procedure uses the integral representation for the hypergeometric solutions to KZ equations. The $s\rightarrow \infty$ limit to the pure $p$-adic case has been analyzed in the $n=2$ case
In this paper, we investigate new integrable extensions of two-center Coulomb systems. We study the most general $n$-dimensional deformation of the two-center problem by adding arbitrary functions supporting second order commuting conserved quantities. The system is superintegrable for $n>4$ and, for certain choices of the arbitrary functions, reduces to known models previously discovered. Then, based on this extended system, we introduce an additional integrable generalisation involving Calogero interactions for $n=3$. In all examples, including the two-center problem, we explicitly present the complete list of Liouville integrals in terms of second-order integrals of motion.
Quantum Markov chains generalize classical Markov chains for random variables to the quantum realm and exhibit unique inherent properties, making them an important feature in quantum information theory. In this work, we propose the concept of virtual quantum Markov chains (VQMCs), focusing on scenarios where subsystems retain classical information about global systems from measurement statistics. As a generalization of quantum Markov chains, VQMCs characterize states where arbitrary global shadow information can be recovered from subsystems through local quantum operations and measurements. We present an algebraic characterization for virtual quantum Markov chains and show that the virtual quantum recovery is fully determined by the block matrices of a quantum state on its subsystems. Notably, we find a distinction between two classes of tripartite entanglement by showing that the W state is a VQMC while the GHZ state is not. Furthermore, we establish semidefinite programs to determine the optimal sampling overhead and the robustness of virtual quantum Markov chains. We demonstrate the optimal sampling overhead is additive, indicating no free lunch to further reduce the sampling cost of recovery from parallel calls of the VQMC states. Our findings elucidate distinctions between quantum Markov chains and virtual quantum Markov chains, extending our understanding of quantum recovery to scenarios prioritizing classical information from measurement statistics.
We compute celestial amplitudes corresponding to the exact S-matrix of the 2d O(N)-symmetric nonlinear sigma model. Celestial amplitudes for two-dimensional integrable S-matrices simplify to Fourier transforms. Due to the connection between Fourier and Mellin transforms, celestial amplitudes for O(N) model are Mejer G-functions. We also prove crossing symmetry for obtained results and review simplifications for O(3) symmetry case.
We compute tree level scattering amplitudes involving more than one highly excited states and tachyons in bosonic string theory. We use these amplitudes to understand chaotic and thermal aspects of the excited string states lending support to the Susskind-Horowitz-Polchinski correspondence principle. The unaveraged amplitudes exhibit chaos in the resonance distribution as a function of kinematic parameters, which can be described by random matrix theory. Upon coarse-graining these amplitudes are shown to exponentiate, and capture various thermal features, including features of a stringy version of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis as well as notions of typicality. Further, we compute the effective string form factor corresponding to the highly excited states, and argue for the random walk behaviour of the long strings.
In this short note, we present a simple and elementary proof that meromorphic conformal field theories (CFTs) have central charges of the form: $c=8N$ with $N\in\mathbb{N}$ (the set of natural numbers) using the modular linear differential equations (MLDEs) approach. We first set up the 1-character MLDE for arbitrary value of the Wronskian index: $\ell$. From this we get the general form of the meromorphic CFT's character. We then study its modular transformations and the asymptotic value of it's Fourier coefficients to conclude that odd values of $\ell$ make the character in-admissible implying that the central charge for admissible character has to be a multiple of 8.
We consider string/M-theory reductions on a compact space $X=X^\text{loc} \cup X^\circ$, where $X^\text{loc}$ contains the singular locus, and $X^\circ$ its complement. For the resulting supergravity theories, we construct a suitable Symmetry Topological Field Theory (SymTFT) associated with the boundary $\partial X^\text{loc} \coprod \partial X^\circ$. We propose that boundary conditions for different BPS branes wrapping the same boundary cycles must be correlated for the SymTFT to yield an absolute theory consistent with quantum gravity. Using heterotic/M-theory duality, this constraint can be translated into a field theoretic statement, which restricts the global structure of $d\geq 7$, $\mathcal{N}=1$ supergravity theories to reproduce precisely the landscape of untwisted toroidal heterotic compactifications. Furthermore, for 6d $(2,0)$ theories, we utilize a subtle interplay between gauged 0-, 2-, and 4-form symmetries to provide a bottom-up explanation of the correlated boundary conditions in K3 compactifications of type IIB.
The chiral algebra of a 4D $N\geq2$ superconformal field theory is a vertex operator algebra generated by the Schur subsector of the 4D theory and its rigid (yet rich) structure has been useful in constraining and classifying 4D N=2 SCFTs. We study how the chiral algebra arises from the worldsheet perspective. In the worldsheet CFT dual of 4D N=4 SYM at the free point, we extract the subsector that corresponds to the spacetime Schur operators at generic coupling, and show how they generate the chiral algebra. The result can be easily generalized to 4D N=2 superconformal field theories that arise as orbifolds of 4D N=4 SYM.
We study the twisted (co)homology of a family of genus-one integrals -- the so called Riemann-Wirtinger integrals. These integrals are closely related to one-loop string amplitudes in chiral splitting where one leaves the loop-momentum, modulus and all but one puncture un-integrated. While not actual one-loop string integrals, they share many properties and are simple enough that the associated twisted (co)homologies have been completely characterized [Goto2022]. Using intersection numbers -- an inner product on the vector space of allowed differential forms -- we derive the Gauss-Manin connection for two bases of the twisted cohomology providing an independent check of [Mano&Watanabe2012]. We also use the intersection index -- an inner product on the vector space of allowed contours -- to derive a double-copy formula for complex genus-one integrals over a torus. Similar to the celebrated KLT formula between open- and closed-string tree-level amplitudes, the intersection indices form a genus-one KLT kernel defining bilinears in meromorphic Riemann-Wirtinger integrals that are equal to their complex counterparts.
Phase transitions with spontaneous symmetry breaking are expected for group field theories as a basic feature of the geometogenesis scenario. The following paper aims to investigate the equilibrium phase for group field theory by using the ergodic hypothesis on which the Gibbs-Boltzmann distributions must break down. The breaking of the ergodicity can be considered dynamically, by introducing a fictitious time inducing a stochastic process described through a Langevin equation, from which the randomness of the tensor field will be a consequence. This type of equation is considered particularly for complex just-renormalizable Abelian model of rank $d=5$, and we study some of their properties by using a renormalization group considering a coarse-graining both in time and space.
We study the dual constructions of quantum loop groups and Feigin-Odesskii type shuffle algebras for an arbitrary quiver, for which the arrow parameters are arbitrary non-zero elements of any field. Examples of our setup include $K$-theoretic Hall algebras of quivers with 0 potential, quantum loop groups of Kac-Moody type and quiver quantum toroidal algebras.
We study quantum information scrambling in a random unitary circuit that exchanges qubits with an environment at a rate $p$. As a result, initially localized quantum information not only spreads within the system, but also spills into the environment. Using the out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC) to characterize scrambling, we find a nonequilibrium phase transition in the directed percolation universality class at a critical swap rate $p_c$: for $p < p_c$ the ensemble-averaged OTOC exhibits ballistic growth with a tunable light cone velocity, while for $p > p_c$ the OTOC fails to percolate within the system and vanishes uniformly within a finite timescale, indicating that all local operators are rapidly swapped into the environment. To elucidate its information-theoretic consequences, we demonstrate that the transition in operator spreading coincides with a transition in an observer's ability to decode the system's initial quantum information from the swapped-out, or "radiated," qubits. We present a simple decoding scheme which recovers the system's initial information with perfect fidelity in the nonpercolating phase, and with continuously decreasing fidelity with decreasing swap rate in the percolating phase. Depending on the initial state of the swapped-in qubits, we further observe a corresponding entanglement transition in the coherent information from the system into the radiated qubits.
We introduce a family of quantum field theories for fields carrying monopole and dipole charges. In contrast to previous realizations, fields have quadratic two-derivative kinetic terms. The dipole symmetry algebra is realized in a discretized internal space and connected to the physical space through a background gauge field. We study spontaneous symmetry breaking of dipole symmetry in 1+1 dimensions in a large-$N$ limit. The trivial classical vacuum is lifted by quantum corrections into a vacuum which breaks dipole symmetry while preserving monopole charge. By means of a Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation, heat-kernel and large-$N$ techniques, we compute the effective action for the low-energy modes. We encounter a fractonic immobile Nambu-Goldstone mode whose dispersion characteristics avoid Coleman-Hohenberg-Mermin-Wagner theorem independently of the large-$N$ limit.
We give the first numerical calculation of the spectrum of the Laplacian acting on bundle-valued forms on a Calabi-Yau three-fold. Specifically, we show how to compute the approximate eigenvalues and eigenmodes of the Dolbeault Laplacian acting on bundle-valued $(p,q)$-forms on K\"ahler manifolds. We restrict our attention to line bundles over complex projective space and Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces therein. We give three examples. For two of these, $\mathbb{P}^3$ and a Calabi-Yau one-fold (a torus), we compare our numerics with exact results available in the literature and find complete agreement. For the third example, the Fermat quintic three-fold, there are no known analytic results, so our numerical calculations are the first of their kind. The resulting spectra pass a number of non-trivial checks that arise from Serre duality and the Hodge decomposition. The outputs of our algorithm include all the ingredients one needs to compute physical Yukawa couplings in string compactifications.
As basic quantum mechanical models, anharmonic oscillators are recently revisited by bootstrap methods. An effective approach is to make use of the positivity constraints in Hermitian theories. There exists an alternative avenue based on the null state condition, which applies to both Hermitian and non-Hermitian theories. In this work, we carry out an analytic bootstrap study of the quartic oscillator based on the small coupling expansion. In the Hamiltonian formalism, we obtain the anharmonic generalization of Dirac's ladder operators. Furthermore, the Schrodinger equation can be interpreted as a null state condition generated by an anharmonic ladder operator. This provides an explicit example in which dynamics is incorporated into the principle of nullness. In the Lagrangian formalism, we show that the existence of null states can effectively eliminate the indeterminacy of the Dyson-Schwinger equations and systematically determine $n$-point Green's functions.
Using the covariant phase space formalism, we construct the phase space for non-Abelian gauge theories in $(d+2)$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime for any $d \geq 2$, including the edge modes that symplectically pair to the low energy degrees of freedom of the gauge field. Despite the fact that the symplectic form in odd and even-dimensional spacetimes appear ostensibly different, we demonstrate that both cases can be treated in a unified manner by utilizing the shadow transform. Upon quantization, we recover the algebra of the vacuum sector of the Hilbert space and derive a Ward identity that implies the leading soft gluon theorem in $(d+2)$-dimensional spacetime.
We construct Seiberg-Witten curves for 5d $\mathcal{N}=1$ gauge theories whose Type IIB 5-brane configuration involves an O7-plane and discuss an intriguing relation between theories with an O7$^+$-plane and those with an O7$^-$-plane and 8 D7-branes. We claim that 5-brane configurations with an O7$^+$-plane can be effectively understood as 5-brane configurations with a set of an O7$^-$-plane and eight D7-branes with some special tuning of their masses such that the D7-branes are frozen at the O7$^-$-plane. We check this equivalence between SU($N$) gauge theory with a symmetric hypermultiplet and SU($N$) gauge theory with an antisymmetric with 8 fundamentals, and also between SO($2N$) gauge theory and Sp($N$) gauge theory with eight fundamentals. We also compute the Seiberg-Witten curves for non-Lagrangian theories with a symmetric hypermultiplet, which includes the local $\mathbb{P}^2$ theory with an adjoint.
The Inozemtsev chain is an exactly solvable interpolation between the short-range Heisenberg and long-range Haldane-Shastry (HS) chains. In order to unlock its potential to study spin interactions with tunable interaction range using the powerful tools of integrability, the model's mathematical properties require better understanding. As a major step in this direction, we present a new generalisation of the Inozemtsev chain with spin symmetry reduced to U(1), interpolating between a Heisenberg xxz chain and the xxz-type HS chain, and integrable throughout. Underlying it is a new quantum many-body system that extends the elliptic Ruijsenaars system by including spins, contains the trigonometric spin-Ruijsenaars-Macdonald system as a special case, and yields our spin chain by 'freezing'. Our models have potential applications from condensed-matter to high-energy theory, and provide a crucial step towards a general theory for long-range integrability.
Kaluza-Klein reductions of low energy string effective actions possess a continuous $O(d,d) $ symmetry. The non-geometric elements of this group, parameterized by a bi-vector $\beta$, are not inherited from the symmetries of the higher-dimensional theory, but constitute instead a symmetry enhancement produced by the isometries of the background. The realization of this enhancement in the parent theory was recently defined as $\beta$ symmetry, a powerful tool that allows to avoid the field reparameterizations of the Kaluza-Klein procedure. In this paper we further explore this symmetry and its impact on the first order $\alpha'$-corrections. We derive the $\beta$ transformation rules from the frame formulation of Double Field Theory (DFT), and connect them to the corresponding rules in the Metsaev-Tseytlin and Bergshoeff-de Roo supergravity schemes. It follows from our results that $\beta$ symmetry is a necessary condition for the uplift of string $\alpha'$-expansions to DFT.
In the last decade, motivated by the concept of Planckian relaxation and the possible existence of a quantum critical point in cuprate materials, holographic techniques have been extensively used to tackle the problem of strange metals and high-$T_c$ superconductors. Among the various setups, the linear axion Gubser-Rocha model has often been considered as a promising holographic model for strange metals since endowed with the famous linear in $T$ resistivity property. As fiercely advocated by Phil Anderson, beyond $T$-linear resistivity, there are several additional anomalies unique to the strange metal phase, as for example a Fermi liquid like Hall angle -- the famous problem of the two relaxation scales. In this short note, we show that the linear axion holographic Gubser-Rocha model, which presents a single momentum relaxation time, fails in this respect and therefore is not able to capture the transport phenomenology of strange metals. We prove our statement by means of a direct numerical computation, a previously demonstrated scaling analysis and also a hydrodynamic argument. Finally, we conclude with an optimistic discussion on the possible improvements and generalizations which could lead to a holographic model for strange metals in all their glory.
The complex Fourier transform of the two-point correlator of the energy spectrum of a quantum system is known as the spectral form factor (SFF). It constitutes an essential diagnostic tool for phases of matter and quantum chaos. In black hole physics, it describes the survival probability (fidelity) of a thermofield double state under unitary time evolution. However, detailed properties of the SFF of isolated quantum systems with generic spectra are smeared out by large temporal fluctuations, whose minimization requires disorder or time averages. This requirement holds for any system size, that is, the SFF is non-self averaging. Exploiting the fidelity-based interpretation of this quantity, we prove that using filters, disorder and time averages of the SFF involve unitarity breaking, i.e., open quantum dynamics described by a quantum channel that suppresses quantum noise. Specifically, averaging over Hamiltonian ensembles, time averaging, and frequency filters can be described by the class of mixed-unitary quantum channels in which information loss can be recovered. Frequency filters are associated with a time-continuous master equation generalizing energy dephasing. We also discuss the use of eigenvalue filters. They are linked to non-Hermitian Hamiltonian evolution without quantum jumps, whose long-time behavior is described by a Hamiltonian deformation. We show that frequency and energy filters make the SFF self-averaging at long times.
We present the connections between the behaviors of string scattering amplitudes and mutual information, in several holographic confining backgrounds. We lay down the analogies between the logarithmic branch cut behavior of the string scattering amplitude in $4d$, $ \mathcal{A}_4 $, at low and medium Mandelstam variable $s$ observed in \cite{Bianchi:2021sug}, which is due to the dependence of the string tension on the holographic coordinate, and the branch cut behavior observed in mutual information and critical distance $D_c$ at low-cut-off variable $u_{KK}$ studied in our previous work \cite{Ghodrati:2021ozc}. It can also be seen that in both cases, as $s$ or $u_{KK}$ increases, the peaks in the branch cuts fade away in the form of $\text{Re}\lbrack \mathcal{A}_4 \rbrack \propto s^{-1}$. Then, we used modular flow and modular Hamiltonian as intermediary concept to further clarify the observed connection. Next, we discuss how mutual information itself can detect chaos in various scenarios. In addition, we considered two examples of Compton scattering between two photons and also the decay of a highly excited string into two tachyons and scrutinized the pattern of entanglement entropy and the change in the mutual information in these examples. Finally, the kink-kink and kink-antikink scatterings as simple models of scattering in confining geometries have been used to examine the fractal structures in the scatterings of topological defects. These observed connections can further establish the ER$=$EPR conjecture and the general interdependence between the scattering amplitudes and entanglement entropy.
We examine the complexity of quasi-static chaotic open quantum systems. As a prototypical example, we analytically compute the Krylov complexity of a slowly leaking hard-sphere gas using Berry's conjecture. We then connect it to the holographic complexity of a $d+1$-dimensional evaporating black hole using the Complexity=Volume proposal. We model the black hole spacetime by stitching together a sequence of static Schwarzschild patches across incoming negative energy null shock waves. Under certain identification of parameters, we find the late time complexity growth rate during each quasi-static equilibrium to be the same in both systems.
This paper investigates the transverse Ising model on a discretization of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter space. We use classical and quantum algorithms to simulate real-time evolution and measure out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOC). The latter can probe thermalization and scrambling of quantum information under time evolution. We compared tensor network-based methods both with simulation on gated-based superconducting quantum devices and analog quantum simulation using Rydberg arrays. While studying this system's thermalization properties, we observed different regimes depending on the radius of curvature of the space. In particular, we find a region of parameter space where the thermalization time depends only logarithmically on the number of degrees of freedom.
In this work we analytically explain the origin of the mobility edge in the ensemble of random regular graphs (RRG), with the connectivity $d$ and the fraction $\beta$ of disordered nodes, the location of which is under control. It is shown that the mobility edge in the spectrum survives in a certain range of parameters $(d,\beta)$ at infinitely large uniformly distributed disorder. The critical curve separating extended and localized states is derived analytically and confirmed numerically. The duality in the localization properties between the sparse and extremely dense RRG has been found and understood. The mobility edge physics has been analyzed numerically for the above partially disordered RRG, perturbed by the non-reciprocity parameter of node as well as by the enhanced number of short cycles, usually almost absent on RRG.
We revisit the 3d GLSM computation of the equivariant quantum K-theory ring of the complex Grassmannian from the perspective of line defects. The 3d GLSM onto $X={\rm Gr}(N_c, n_f)$ is a circle compactification of the 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theory with gauge group $U(N_c)_{k, k+l N_c}$ and $n_f$ fundamental chiral multiplets, for any choice of the Chern-Simons levels $(k,l)$ in the `geometric window'. For $k=N_c-\frac{n_f}{2}$ and $l=-1$, the twisted chiral ring generated by the half-BPS lines wrapping the circle has been previously identified with the quantum K-theory ring QK$_T(X)$. We identify new half-BPS line defects in the UV gauge theory, dubbed Grothendieck lines, which flow to the structure sheaves of the (equivariant) Schubert varieties of $X$. They are defined by coupling $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauged quantum mechanics of quiver type to the 3d GLSM. We explicitly show that the 1d Witten index of the defect worldline reproduces the Chern characters for the Schubert classes, which are written in terms of double Grothendieck polynomials. This gives us a physical realisation of the Schubert-class basis for QK$_T(X)$. We then use 3d $A$-model techniques to explicitly compute QK$_T(X)$ as well as other K-theoretic enumerative invariants such as the topological metric. We also consider the 2d/0d limit of our 3d/1d construction, which gives us local defects in the 2d GLSM, the Schubert defects, that realise equivariant quantum cohomology classes.
We study the $N$-point Coon amplitude discovered first by Baker and Coon in the 1970s and then again independently by Romans in the 1980s. This Baker-Coon-Romans (BCR) amplitude retains several properties of tree-level string amplitudes, namely duality and factorization, with a $q$-deformed version of the string spectrum. Although the formula for the $N$-point BCR amplitude is only valid for ${q > 1}$, the four-point case admits a straightforward extension to all ${q \geq 0}$ which reproduces the usual expression for the four-point Coon amplitude. At five points, there are inconsistencies with factorization when pushing ${q < 1}$. Despite these issues, we find a new relation between the five-point BCR amplitude and Cheung and Remmen's four-point basic hypergeometric amplitude, placing the latter within the broader family of Coon amplitudes. Finally, we compute the $q \to \infty$ limit of the $N$-point BCR amplitudes and discover an exact correspondence between these amplitudes and the field theory amplitudes of a scalar transforming in the adjoint representation of a global symmetry group with an infinite set of non-derivative single-trace interaction terms. This correspondence at $q = \infty$ is the first definitive realization of the Coon amplitude (in any limit) from a field theory described by an explicit Lagrangian.
Entanglement in quantum many-body systems can exhibit universal phenomena governed by long-distance properties. We study universality and phase transitions of the entanglement inherent to open many-body systems, namely, the entanglement between a system of interest and its environment. Specifically, we consider the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL) under a local measurement and analyze its unconditioned nonunitary evolution, where the measurement outcomes are averaged over. We quantify the system-environment entanglement by the R\'enyi entropy of the post-measurement density matrix, whose size-independent term encodes the universal low-energy physics. We develop a field-theoretical description to relate the universal term to the $g$ function in a boundary conformal field theory (CFT), and use the renormalization group (RG) method and the boundary CFT techniques to determine its value. We show that the universal contribution is determined by the TLL parameter $K$ and can exhibit singularity signifying an entanglement phase transition. Surprisingly, in certain cases the size-independent contribution can increase as a function of the measurement strength in contrast to what is na\"ively expected from the $g$-theorem. We argue that this unconventional behavior could be attributed to the dangerously irrelevant term which has been found in studies of the resistively shunted Josephson junction. We also check these results by numerical calculations in the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ XXZ chain subject to a site-resolved measurement. Possible experimental realization in ultracold gases, which requires no postselections, is discussed.
We provide a formula for computing the overlap between two Generalized Coherent States of any rank one simple Lie algebra. Then, we apply our formula to spin coherent states (i.e. $\mathfrak{su}(2)$ algebra), pseudo-spin coherent states (i.e. $\mathfrak{su}(1,1)$ algebra), and the $\mathfrak{sl}(2,\mathbb{R})$ subalgebras of Virasoro. In all these examples, we show the emergence of a semi-classical behaviour from the set of coherent states and verify that it always happens when some parameter, depending on the algebra and its representation, becomes large.
The Schwinger model is one of the simplest gauge theories. It is known that a topological term of the model leads to the infamous sign problem in the classical Monte Carlo method. In contrast to this, recently, quantum computing in Hamiltonian formalism has gained attention. In this work, we estimate the resources needed for quantum computers to compute physical quantities that are challenging to compute on classical computers. Specifically, we propose an efficient implementation of block-encoding of the Schwinger model Hamiltonian. Considering the structure of the Hamiltonian, this block-encoding with a normalization factor of $\mathcal{O}(N^3)$ can be implemented using $\mathcal{O}(N+\log^2(N/\varepsilon))$ T gates. As an end-to-end application, we compute the vacuum persistence amplitude. As a result, we found that for a system size $N=100$ and an additive error $\varepsilon=0.01$, with an evolution time $t$ and a lattice spacing a satisfying $t/2a=10$, the vacuum persistence amplitude can be calculated using about $10^{13}$ T gates. Our results provide insights into predictions about the performance of quantum computers in the FTQC and early FTQC era, clarifying the challenges in solving meaningful problems within a realistic timeframe.
This report summarizes recent results of inclusive and differential $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ cross section measurements from the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations at the LHC. Measurements at $\sqrt{s}=7,\ 8,\ 13$, and $13.6\,$TeV are compared to state-of-the-art theory predictions, using different PDF sets, matrix element calculations, or parton shower models. No significant disagreement of a single inclusive measurement is found, with an overall trend towards lower values. For the differential measurements, no theory model is able to describe the data across all bins.
The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 2, EUSO SPB2, mission was designed to take optical measurements of extensive air showers, EASs, from suborbital space. The EUSO SPB2 payload includes an optical Cherenkov Telescope, CT, which searches above and below the Earth's limb. Above the limb, the CT measures Cherenkov light from PeV scale EASs induced by cosmic rays. Below the limb, the CT searches for upwards going Cherenkov emission from PeV scale EASs induced by tau neutrinos, to follow up on astrophysical Targets of Opportunity, ToO. Target candidates include gamma ray bursts, tidal disruption events, and, after the start of the O4 obervation run from Ligo, Virgo, Kagra, binary neutron star mergers. Reported here is the selection and prioritization of relevant ToOs from alert networks such as the General Coordinates Network, Transient Name Server, and Astronomer Telegrams, and the translation to a viewing schedule for EUSO SPB2. EUSO SPB2 launched on a NASA super pressure balloon in May of 2023 from Wanaka, NZ.
Water Cherenov detector is a vital part in most of neutrino or cosmic ray research. As detectors grow in size, the water attenuation length (WAL) becomes increasingly essential for detector performance. It is essential to measure or monitor the WAL. While many experiments have measured WAL in the lab or detector, only the Super-Kamiokande experiment has achieved values exceeding 50 meters in the detector with a moving light source. However, it is impractical for many experiments to place a moving light source inside the detector, necessitating an alternative method for investigating long WAL. A novel system has been proposed to address the challenge of investigating long WAL. This system focuses on ample water Cherenkov detectors and features a fixed light source and photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) at varying distances, eliminating the need for moving parts. The static setup demands high precision for accurate measurement of long WAL. Each component, including LED, diffuse ball, PMTs, and fibers, is introduced to explain uncertainty control. Based on lab tests, the system's uncertainty has been controlled within 5\%. Additionally, camera technology is also used during the evaluation of the system uncertainty, which has the potential to replace PMTs in the future for this measurement. Monte Carlo simulations have shown that the system can achieve a 5\% measurement uncertainty at WAL of 80 meters and 8\% at WAL of 100 meters. This system can be used in experiments with large Cherenkov detectors such as JUNO water veto and Hyper-K.
This study presents a Monte Carlo simulation tool for modeling the transportation processes of thermal electrons in noble liquids, specifically focusing on liquid argon and liquid xenon. The study aims to elucidate the microscopical mechanisms governing the drift and diffusion of electrons within the context of time projection chambers (TPCs), with detailed considerations of coherent electron-atom scattering and electric field force. The simulation tool is implemented in the Geant4 framework, allowing for the exploration of electron transport parameters, including drift velocity, longitudinal diffusion coefficient, and transverse diffusion coefficient. The simulation is validated by comparing its results for drift velocity and diffusion coefficients with experimental measurements, revealing good agreement in the low to moderate electric field ranges. Discrepancies in high electric field regions are discussed, highlighting the impact of impurities and the need for improved cross-section calculations. Despite some limitations, the simulation tool provides valuable insights into electron transport in noble liquids, offering a foundation for future enhancements and applications in diverse research areas.
For accurate determination of particle masses accurate knowledge of the momentum scale of the detectors is crucial. The procedure used to calibrate the momentum scale of the LHCb spectrometer is described and illustrated using the performance obtained with an integrated luminosity of $1.6~ fb^{-1}$ collected during 2016 in $pp$ running. The procedure uses large samples of $J/\psi \rightarrow \mu^+ \mu^-$ and $B^+ \rightarrow J/\psi K^+$ decays and leads to a relative accuracy of $3 \times 10^{-4}$ on the momentum scale.
A search for the decay of the Higgs boson to a $Z$ boson and a light, pseudoscalar particle, $a$, decaying respectively to two leptons and to two photons is reported. The search uses the full LHC Run 2 proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, corresponding to 139 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector. This is one of the first searches for this specific decay mode of the Higgs boson, and it probes unexplored parameter space in models with axion-like particles (ALPs) and extended scalar sectors. The mass of the $a$ particle is assumed to be in the range 0.1-33 GeV. The data are analysed in two categories: a merged category where the photons from the $a$ decay are reconstructed in the ATLAS calorimeter as a single cluster, and a resolved category in which two separate photons are detected. The main background processes are from Standard Model $Z$ boson production in association with photons or jets. The data are in agreement with the background predictions, and upper limits on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson decay to $Za$ times the branching ratio $a\to\gamma\gamma$ are derived at the 95% confidence level and they range from 0.08% to 2% depending on the mass of the $a$ particle. The results are also interpreted in the context of ALP models.
In this study, we use Rational-Quadratic Neural Spline Flows, a sophisticated parametrization of Normalizing Flows, for inferring posterior probability distributions in scenarios where direct evaluation of the likelihood is challenging at inference time. We exemplify this approach using the T2K near detector as a working example, focusing on learning the posterior probability distribution of neutrino flux binned in neutrino energy. The predictions of the trained model are conditioned at inference time by the momentum and angle of the outgoing muons released after neutrino-nuclei interaction. This conditioning allows for the generation of personalized posterior distributions, tailored to the muon observables, all without necessitating a full retraining of the model for each new dataset. The performances of the model are studied for different shapes of the posterior distributions.
Particle IDentification (PID) is fundamental to particle physics experiments. This paper reviews PID strategies and methods used by the large LHC experiments, which provide outstanding examples of the state-of-the-art. The first part focuses on the general design of these experiments with respect to PID and the technologies used. Three PID techniques are discussed in more detail: ionization measurements, time-of-flight measurements and Cherenkov imaging. Four examples of the implementation of these techniques at the LHC are given, together with selections of relevant examples from other experiments and short overviews on new developments. Finally, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS 02) experiment is briefly described as an impressive example of a space-based experiment using a number of familiar PID techniques.
We report on a search for a heavy neutrino in the decays $\tau^- \to \pi^- \nu_h$, $\nu_h \to \pi^\pm \ell-+$, $\ell = e, \mu$. The results are obtained using the full data sample collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy $e^+e^-$ collider. We observe no significant signal and set 90% CL upper limits on the couplings of the heavy right-handed neutrinos to the conventional SM left-handed neutrinos in the mass range 0.2-1.6 GeV/c$^2$.
Observing nuclear neutrinoless double beta (0vbb) decay would be a revolutionary result in particle physics. Observing such a decay would prove that the neutrinos are their own antiparticles, help to study the absolute mass of neutrinos, explore the origin of their mass, and may explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry in our universe by lepton number violation. We propose developing a time projection chamber (TPC) using high-pressure 82SeF6 gas and top-metal silicon sensors for read-out in the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) to search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 82Se, called the NvDEx experiment. Besides being located at CJPL with the world's thickest rock shielding, NvDEx combines the advantages of the high Qbb (2.996 MeV) of 82Se and the TPC's ability to distinguish signal and background events using their different topological characteristics. This makes NvDEx unique, with great potential for low-background and high-sensitivity 0vbb searches. NvDEx-100, a NvDEx experiment phase with 100 kg of SeF6 gas, is being built, with plans to complete installation at CJPL by 2025. This report introduces 0vbb physics, the NvDEx concept and its advantages, and the schematic design of NvDEx-100, its subsystems, and background and sensitivity estimation.
Oscura is a planned light-dark matter search experiment using Skipper-CCDs with a total active mass of 10 kg. As part of the detector development, the collaboration plans to build the Oscura Integration Test (OIT), an engineering test with 10% of the total mass. Here we discuss the early science opportunities with the OIT to search for millicharged particles (mCPs) using the NuMI beam at Fermilab. mCPs would be produced at low energies through photon-mediated processes from decays of scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector mesons, or direct Drell-Yan productions. Estimates show that the OIT would be a world-leading probe for mCPs in the MeV mass range.
We determine the CKM matrix-element magnitude $|V_{cb}|$ using $\overline{B}^0\to D^{*+}\ell^-\bar\nu_\ell$ decays reconstructed in $189 \, \mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of collision data collected by the Belle II experiment, located at the SuperKEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. Partial decay rates are reported as functions of the recoil parameter $w$ and three decay angles separately for electron and muon final states. We obtain $|V_{cb}|$ using the Boyd-Grinstein-Lebed and Caprini-Lellouch-Neubert parametrizations, and find $|V_{cb}|_\mathrm{BGL}=(40.57\pm 0.31 \pm 0.95\pm 0.58)\times 10^{-3}$ and $|V_{cb}|_\mathrm{CLN}=(40.13 \pm 0.27 \pm 0.93\pm 0.58 )\times 10^{-3}$ with the uncertainties denoting statistical components, systematic components, and components from the lattice QCD input, respectively. The branching fraction is measured to be ${\cal B}(\overline{B}^0\to D^{*+}\ell^-\bar\nu_\ell)=(4.922 \pm 0.023 \pm 0.220)\%$. The ratio of branching fractions for electron and muon final states is found to be $0.998 \pm 0.009 \pm 0.020$. In addition, we determine the forward-backward angular asymmetry and the $D^{*+}$ longitudinal polarization fractions. All results are compatible with lepton-flavor universality in the Standard Model.
The interaction of a high-current $O$(100~\textmu A), medium energy $O$(10\,GeV) electron beam with a thick target $O$(1m) produces an overwhelming shower of standard matter particles in addition to hypothetical Light Dark Matter particles. While most of the radiation (gamma, electron/positron, and neutron) is contained in the thick target, deep penetrating particles (muons, neutrinos, and light dark matter particles) propagate over a long distance, producing high-intense secondary beams. Using sophisticated Monte Carlo simulations based on FLUKA and GEANT4, we explored the characteristics of secondary muons and neutrinos and (hypothetical) dark scalar particles produced by the interaction of Jefferson Lab 11 GeV intense electron beam with the experimental Hall-A beam dump. Considering the possible beam energy upgrade, this study was repeated for a 20 GeV CEBAF beam.
The HL-LHC run is anticipated to start at the end of this decade and will pose a significant challenge for the scale of the HEP software and computing infrastructure. The mission of the U.S. CMS Software & Computing Operations Program is to develop and operate the software and computing resources necessary to process CMS data expeditiously and to enable U.S. physicists to fully participate in the physics of CMS. We have developed a strategic plan to prioritize R&D efforts to reach this goal for the HL-LHC. This plan includes four grand challenges: modernizing physics software and improving algorithms, building infrastructure for exabyte-scale datasets, transforming the scientific data analysis process and transitioning from R&D to operations. We are involved in a variety of R&D projects that fall within these grand challenges. In this talk, we will introduce our four grand challenges and outline the R&D program of the U.S. CMS Software & Computing Operations Program.
Quantum algorithms for unstructured search problems rely on the preparation of a uniform superposition, traditionally achieved through Hadamard gates. However, this incidentally creates an auxiliary search space consisting of nonsensical answers that do not belong in the search space and reduce the efficiency of the algorithm due to the need to neglect, un-compute, or destructively interfere with them. Previous approaches to removing this auxiliary search space yielded large circuit depth and required the use of ancillary qubits. We have developed an optimized general solver for a circuit that prepares a uniform superposition of any N states while minimizing depth and without the use of ancillary qubits. We show that this algorithm is efficient, especially in its use of two wire gates, and that it has been verified on an IonQ quantum computer and through application to a quantum unstructured search algorithm.
Recent research has developed the Ising model from physics, especially statistical mechanics, and it plays an important role in quantum computing, especially quantum annealing and quantum Monte Carlo methods. The model has also been used in opinion dynamics as a powerful tool for simulating social interactions and opinion formation processes. Individual opinions and preferences correspond to spin states, and social pressure and communication dynamics are modeled through interactions between spins. Quantum computing makes it possible to efficiently simulate these interactions and analyze more complex social networks.Recent research has incorporated concepts from quantum information theory such as Graph State, Stabilizer State, and Surface Code (or Toric Code) into models of opinion dynamics. The incorporation of these concepts allows for a more detailed analysis of the process of opinion formation and the dynamics of social networks. The concepts lie at the intersection of graph theory and quantum theory, and the use of Graph State in opinion dynamics can represent the interdependence of opinions and networks of influence among individuals. It helps to represent the local stability of opinions and the mechanisms for correcting misunderstandings within a social network. It allows us to understand how individual opinions are subject to social pressures and cultural influences and how they change over time.Incorporating these quantum theory concepts into opinion dynamics allows for a deeper understanding of social interactions and opinion formation processes. Moreover, these concepts can provide new insights not only in the social sciences, but also in fields as diverse as political science, economics, marketing, and urban planning.
The speed limit provides an upper bound of the dynamical evolution time of a quantum system. Here, we introduce the notion of quantum acceleration limit for unitary time evolution of quantum systems under time-dependent Hamiltonian. We prove that the quantum acceleration is upper bounded by the fluctuation in the derivative of the Hamiltonian. We illustrate the quantum acceleration limit for a two-level quantum system. This notion can have important applications in quantum computing, quantum control and quantum thermodynamics.
It is an outstanding goal to unveil the key features of quantum dynamics at eigenstate transitions. Focusing on quadratic fermionic Hamiltonians that exhibit localization transitions, we identify physical observables that exhibit scale-invariant critical dynamics at the transition when quenched from the initially localized states. The identification is based on two ingredients: (a) A relationship between the time evolution of observables in a many-body state and the transition probabilities of single-particle states, and (b) scale invariance of transition probabilities, which generalizes a corresponding recent result for survival probabilities [Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 060404 (2023) and arXiv:2309.16005]. These properties suggest that there is also critical behavior in the quantum-quench dynamics of observables, which share the common eigenbasis with the Hamiltonian before the quench. Focusing on experimentally relevant observables such as site occupations and the particle imbalance we numerically demonstrate their critical behavior at the eigenstate transitions in the three-dimensional Anderson model and the one-dimensional Aubry-Andr\'e model.
Despite the recent advancements by deep learning methods such as AlphaFold2, \textit{in silico} protein structure prediction remains a challenging problem in biomedical research. With the rapid evolution of quantum computing, it is natural to ask whether quantum computers can offer some meaningful benefits for approaching this problem. Yet, identifying specific problem instances amenable to quantum advantage, and estimating quantum resources required are equally challenging tasks. Here, we share our perspective on how to create a framework for systematically selecting protein structure prediction problems that are amenable for quantum advantage, and estimate quantum resources for such problems on a utility-scale quantum computer. As a proof-of-concept, we validate our problem selection framework by accurately predicting the structure of a catalytic loop of the Zika Virus NS3 Helicase, on quantum hardware.
In this work, we demonstrate a practical application of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) algorithms to enhance subroutines in the Black-Litterman (BL) portfolio optimization model. As a proof of concept, we implement a 12-qubit example for selecting 6 assets out of a 12-asset pool. Our approach involves predicting investor views with quantum machine learning (QML) and addressing the subsequent optimization problem using the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE). The solutions obtained from VQE exhibit a high approximation ratio behavior, and consistently outperform several common portfolio models in backtesting over a long period of time. A unique aspect of our VQE scheme is that after the quantum circuit is optimized, only a minimal number of samplings is required to give a high approximation ratio result since the probability distribution should be concentrated on high-quality solutions. We further emphasize the importance of employing only a small number of final samplings in our scheme by comparing the cost with those obtained from an exhaustive search and random sampling. The power of quantum computing can be anticipated when dealing with a larger-size problem due to the linear growth of the required qubit resources with the problem size. This is in contrast to classical computing where the search space grows exponentially with the problem size and would quickly reach the limit of classical computers.
Two perfectly conducting, infinite parallel plates will restrict the electromagnetic vacuum, producing an attractive force. This phenomenon is known as the Casimir effect. Here we use electromagnetic field correlators to define the local interaction between the plates and the vacuum, which gives rise to a renormalized stress-energy tensor. We then show that a Lorentz boost of the underlying electric and magnetic fields that comprise the correlators will produce the correct stress-energy tensor in the boosted frame. The infinite surface divergences of the field correlators will transform appropriately, such that they cancel out in the boosted frame and produce the desired finite result.
As CMOS structures are envisioned to host silicon spin qubits, and for co-integrating quantum systems with their classical control blocks, the cryogenic behaviour of such structures need to be investigated. In this paper we characterize the electrical properties of Gate-All-Around (GAA) n-MOSFETs Si nanowires (NWs) from room temperature down to 1.7 K. We demonstrate that those devices can operate both as transistor and host quantum dots at cryogenic temperature. In the classical regime of the transistor we show improved performances of the devices and in the quantum regime we show systematic quantum dots formation in GAA devices.
An analytical construction of a wave function with localization in classical periodic orbits in an elliptic billiard has been achieved by appropriately superposing nearly coherent states expressed as products of Mathieu functions. We analyze and discuss the rotational and librational regimes of motion in the elliptic billiard. Simplified line equations corresponding to the classical trajectories can be extracted from the quantum coherent state as an integral equation involving angular Mathieu functions. The phase factors appearing in the integrals are connected to classical initial positions and velocity components. We analyze the probability current density, the phase maps, and the vortex distributions of the coherent states for both rotational and librational motions. The coherent state may represent traveling and standing trajectories inside the elliptic billiard.
Periodic driving can tune the quasistatic properties of quantum matter. A well-known example is the dynamical modification of tunneling by an oscillating electric field. Here we show experimentally that driving the phasonic degree of freedom of a cold-atom quasicrystal can continuously tune the effective quasi-disorder strength, reversibly toggling a localization-delocalization quantum phase transition. Measurements agree with fit-parameter-free theoretical predictions, and illuminate a fundamental connection between Aubry-Andr\'e localization in one dimension and dynamic localization in the associated two-dimensional Harper-Hofstadter model. These results open up new experimental possibilities for dynamical coherent control of quantum phase transitions.
We show through numerical simulation that the Quantum Alternating Operator Ansatz (QAOA) for higher-order, random-coefficient, heavy-hex compatible spin glass Ising models has strong parameter concentration across problem sizes from $16$ up to $127$ qubits for $p=1$ up to $p=5$, which allows for straight-forward transfer learning of QAOA angles on instance sizes where exhaustive grid-search is prohibitive even for $p>1$. We use Matrix Product State (MPS) simulation at different bond dimensions to obtain confidence in these results, and we obtain the optimal solutions to these combinatorial optimization problems using CPLEX. In order to assess the ability of current noisy quantum hardware to exploit such parameter concentration, we execute short-depth QAOA circuits (with a CNOT depth of 6 per $p$, resulting in circuits which contain $1420$ two qubit gates for $127$ qubit $p=5$ QAOA) on $100$ higher-order (cubic term) Ising models on IBM quantum superconducting processors with $16, 27, 127$ qubits using QAOA angles learned from a single $16$-qubit instance. We show that (i) the best quantum processors generally find lower energy solutions up to $p=3$ for 27 qubit systems and up to $p=2$ for 127 qubit systems and are overcome by noise at higher values of $p$, (ii) the best quantum processors find mean energies that are about a factor of two off from the noise-free numerical simulation results. Additional insights from our experiments are that large performance differences exist among different quantum processors even of the same generation and that dynamical decoupling significantly improve performance for some, but decrease performance for other quantum processors. Lastly we show $p=1$ QAOA angle mean energy landscapes computed using up to a $414$ qubit quantum computer, showing that the mean QAOA energy landscapes remain very similar as the problem size changes.
Variational quantum eigensolvers (VQEs) are considered one of the main applications of quantum computers in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era. Here, we propose a simple strategy to improve VQEs by reducing the classical overhead of evaluating Hamiltonian expectation values. Observing the fact that $\left< b \middle| G \middle| b \right>$ is fixed for a measurement outcome bit string b in the corresponding basis of a mutually commuting observable group G in a given Hamiltonian, we create a measurement memory (MM) dictionary for every commuting operator group G in a Hamiltonian and store $b$ and $\left< b \middle| G \middle| b \right>$ as key and value. The first time a measurement outcome bit string b appears, $\left< b \middle| G \middle| b \right>$ is calculated and stored. The next time the same bit string appears, we can retrieve $\left< b \middle| G \middle| b \right>$ from the memory, rather than evaluating it once again. We further analyze the complexity of MM and compare it with commonly employed post-processing procedure, finding that MM is always more efficient in terms of time complexity. We implement this procedure on the task of minimizing a fully connected Ising Hamiltonians up to 20 qubits, and $H_{2}$, $H_{4}$, LiH, and $H_{2}O$ molecular Hamiltonians with different grouping methods. For Ising Hamiltonian, where all $O(N^2)$ terms commute, our method offers an $O(N^2)$ speedup in terms of the percentage of time saved. In the case of molecular Hamiltonians, we achieved over $O(N)$ percentage time saved, depending on the grouping method.
The research explores the potential of quantum deep learning models to address challenging machine learning problems that classical deep learning models find difficult to tackle. We introduce a novel model architecture that combines classical convolutional layers with a quantum neural network, aiming to surpass state-of-the-art accuracy while maintaining a compact model size. The experiment is to classify high-dimensional audio data from the Bird-CLEF 2021 dataset. Our evaluation focuses on key metrics, including training duration, model accuracy, and total model size. This research demonstrates the promising potential of quantum machine learning in enhancing machine learning tasks and solving practical machine learning challenges available today.
The overhead to construct a logical qubit from physical qubits rapidly increases with the decoherence rate. Current superconducting qubits reduce dissipation due to two-level systems (TLSs) by using large device footprints. However, this approach provides partial protection, and results in a trade-off between qubit footprint and dissipation. This work introduces a new platform using phononics to engineer superconducting qubit-TLS interactions. We realize a superconducting qubit on a phononic bandgap metamaterial that suppresses TLS-mediated phonon emission. We use the qubit to probe its thermalization dynamics with the phonon-engineered TLS bath. Inside the phononic bandgap, we observe the emergence of non-Markovian qubit dynamics due to the Purcell-engineered TLS lifetime of 34 $\mu s$. We discuss the implications of these observations for extending qubit relaxation times through simultaneous phonon protection and miniaturization.
Evaluating quantum circuits is currently very noisy. Therefore, developing classical bootstraps that help minimize the number of times quantum circuits have to be executed on noisy quantum devices is a powerful technique for improving the practicality of Variational Quantum Algorithms. CAFQA is a previously proposed classical bootstrap for VQAs that uses an initial ansatz that reduces to Clifford operators. CAFQA has been shown to produce fairly accurate initialization for VQA applied to molecular chemistry Hamiltonians. Motivated by this result, in this paper we seek to analyze the Clifford states that optimize the cost function for a new type of Hamiltonian, namely Transverse Field Ising Hamiltonians. Our primary result connects the problem of finding the optimal CAFQA initialization to a submodular minimization problem which in turn can be solved in polynomial time.
Non-Hermitian systems have been discussed mostly in the context of open systems and nonequilibrium. Recent experimental progress is much from optical, cold-atomic, and classical platforms due to the vast tunability and clear identification of observables. However, their counterpart in solid-state electronic systems in equilibrium remains unmasked although highly desired, where a variety of materials are available, calculations are solidly founded, and accurate spectroscopic techniques can be applied. We demonstrate that, in the surface state of a topological insulator with spin-dependent relaxation due to magnetic impurities, highly nontrivial topological soliton spin textures appear in momentum space. Such spin-channel phenomena are delicately related to the type of non-Hermiticity and correctly reveal the most robust non-Hermitian features detectable spectroscopically. Moreover, the distinct topological soliton objects can be deformed to each other, mediated by topological transitions driven by tuning across a critical direction of doped magnetism. These results not only open a solid-state avenue to exotic spin patterns via spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, but also inspire non-Hermitian dissipation engineering of spins in solids.
Quantum coherence is a fundamental property in quantum information science. Recent developments have provided valuable insights into its distillability and its relationship with nonlocal quantum correlations, such as quantum discord and entanglement. In this work, we focus on quantum steering and the local distillable coherence for a steered subsystem. We propose a steering inequality based on collaborative coherence distillation. Notably, we prove that the proposed steering witness can detect one-way steerable and all pure entangled states. Through linear optical experiments, we corroborate our theoretical efficacy in detecting pure entangled states. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the violation of the steering inequality can be employed as a quantifier of measurement incompatibility. Our work provides a clear quantitative and operational connection between coherence and entanglement, two landmark manifestations of quantum theory and both key enablers for quantum technologies.
We consider the model of a single-mode quantum nonlinear oscillator with the fourth (Kerr) and sixth (over-Kerr) orders of nonlinearity in the presence of fluctuations of the driving field. We demonstrate that the presence of the amplitude noise does not significantly affect the multi-photon Rabi transitions for the Kerr oscillator, and, in contrast, suppresses these oscillations for the over- Kerr oscillator. We explain the suppression of multi-photon transitions in the over-Kerr oscillator by quasienergy fluctuations caused by noise in field amplitude. In contrast, for the Kerr oscillator, these fluctuations cancel each other for two resonant levels due to the symmetry in the oscillator quasienergy spectrum.
The non-relativistic Pauli equation is used to study the interaction of slow neutrons with a short magnetic pulse. In the extreme limit, the pulse is acting on the magnetic moment of the neutron only at one instant of time. We obtain the scattering amplitude by deriving the junction conditions for the Pauli wave function across the pulse. Explicit expressions are given for a beam of polarized plane wave neutrons subjected to a pulse of spatially constant magnetic field strength. Assuming that the magnetic field is generated by an ultrashort laser pulse, we provide crude numerical estimates.
Quantum advantage requires overcoming noise-induced degradation of quantum systems. Conventional methods for reducing noise such as error mitigation face scalability issues in deep circuits. Specifically, noise hampers the extraction of amplitude and observable information from quantum systems. In this work, we present a novel algorithm that enhances the estimation of amplitude and observable under noise. Remarkably, our algorithm exhibits robustness against noise that varies across different depths of the quantum circuits. We assess the accuracy of amplitude and observable using numerical analysis and theoretically analyze the impact of gate-dependent noise on the results. This algorithm is a potential candidate for noise-resilient approaches that have high computational accuracy.
The quantum geometric tensor (QGT) characterizes the complete geometric properties of quantum states, with the symmetric part being the quantum metric, and the antisymmetric part being the Berry curvature. We propose a generic Hamiltonian with global degenerate ground states, and give a general relation between the corresponding non-Abelian quantum metric and unit Bloch vector. This enables us to construct the relation between the non-Abelian quantum metric and Berry or Euler curvature. To be concrete, we present and study two topological semimetal models with global degenerate bands under CP and $C_2T$ symmetries, respectively. The topological invariants of these two degenerate topological semimetals are the Chern number and Euler class, respectively, which are calculated from the non-Abelian quantum metric with our constructed relations. Based on the adiabatic perturbation theory, we further obtain the relation between the non-Abelian quantum metric and the energy fluctuation. Such a non-adiabatic effect can be used to extract the non-Abelian quantum metric, which is numerically demonstrated for the two models of degenerate topological semimetals. Finally, we discuss the quantum simulation of the model Hamiltonians with cold atoms.
In this work, we show the ability to restore states of quantum systems from evolution induced by quantum dynamical semigroups perturbed by covariant measures. Our procedure describes reconstruction of quantum states transmitted via quantum channels and as a particular example can be applied to reconstruction of photonic states transmitted via optical fibers. For this, the concept of perturbation by covariant operator-valued measure in a Banach space is introduced and integral representation of the perturbed semigroup is explicitly constructed. Various physically meaningful examples are provided. In particular, a model of the perturbed dynamics in the symmetric (boson) Fock space is developed as covariant measure for a semiflow of shifts and its perturbation in the symmetric Fock space, and its properties are investigated. Another example may correspond to the Koopman-von Neumann description of a classical oscillator with bounded phase space.
Magnus expansion provides a general way to expand the real time propagator of a time dependent Hamiltonian within the exponential such that the unitarity is satisfied at any order. We use this property and explicit integration of Lagrange interpolation formulas for the time dependent Hamiltonian within each time interval and derive approximations that preserve unitarity for the differential time evolution operators of general time dependent Hamiltonians. The resulting second order approximation is the same as using the average of Hamiltonians for two end points of time. We identify three fourth order approximations involving commutators of Hamiltonians at different times, and also derive a sixth order expression. Test of these approximations along with other available expressions for a two state time dependent Hamiltonian with sinusoidal time dependences provide information on relative performance of these approximations, and suggest that the derived expressions can serve as useful numerical tools for time evolution for time resolved spectroscopy, quantum control, quantum sensing, and open system quantum dynamics.
NP-hard problems regularly come up in video games, with interesting connections to real-world problems. In the game Minecraft, players place torches on the ground to light up dark areas. Placing them in a way that minimizes the total number of torches to save resources is far from trivial. In this paper, we use Quantum Computing to approach this problem. To this end, we derive a QUBO formulation of the torch placement problem, which we uncover to be very similar to another NP-hard problem. We employ a solution strategy that involves learning Lagrangian weights in an iterative process, adding to the ever growing toolbox of QUBO formulations. Finally, we perform experiments on real quantum hardware using real game data to demonstrate that our approach yields good torch placements.
Classical dissipative adaptation is a hypothetical non-equilibrium thermodynamic principle of self-organization in driven matter, relating transition probabilities with the non-equilibrium work performed by an external drive on dissipative matter. Recently, the dissipative adaptation hypothesis was extended to a quantum regime, with a theoretical model where only one single-photon pulse drives each atom of an ensemble. Here, we further generalize that quantum model by analytically showing that N cascaded single-photon pulses driving each atom still fulfills a quantum dissipative adaptation. Interestingly, we find that the level of self-organization achieved with two pulses can be matched with a single effective pulse only up to a threshold, above which the presence of more photons provide unparalleled degrees of self-organization.
We study a class of conformal metric deformations in the quasi-radial coordinate parameterizing the 3-sphere in the conformally compactified Minkowski spacetime $S^1\times S^3$. After reduction of the associated Laplace-Beltrami operators to a Schr\"odinger form, a corresponding class of exactly solvable potentials (each one containing a scalar and a gradient term) is found. In particular, the scalar piece of these potentials can be exactly or quasi-exactly solvable, and among them we find the finite range confining trigonometric potentials of P\"oschl-Teller, Scarf and Rosen-Morse. As an application of the results developed in the paper, the large compactification radius limit of the interaction described by some of these potentials is studied, and this regime is shown to be relevant to a quantum mechanical quark deconfinement mechanism.
We propose a new approach to simulate the decoherence of a central spin coupled to an interacting dissipative spin bath with cluster-correlation expansion techniques. We benchmark the approach on generic 1D and 2D spin baths and find excellent agreement with numerically exact simulations. Our calculations show a complex interplay between dissipation and coherent spin exchange, leading to increased central spin coherence in the presence of fast dissipation. Finally, we model near-surface NV centers in diamond and show that accounting for bath dissipation is crucial to understanding their decoherence. Our method can be applied to a variety of systems and provides a powerful tool to investigate spin dynamics in dissipative environments.
Facilitating the ability to achieve logical qubit error rates below physical qubit error rates, error correction is anticipated to play an important role in scaling quantum computers. While many algorithms require millions of physical qubits to be executed with error correction, current superconducting qubit systems contain only hundreds of physical qubits. One of the most promising codes on the superconducting qubit platform is the surface code, requiring a realistically attainable error threshold and the ability to perform universal fault-tolerant quantum computing with local operations via lattice surgery and magic state injection. Surface code architectures easily generalize to single-chip planar layouts, however space and control hardware constraints point to limits on the number of qubits that can fit on one chip. Additionally, the planar routing on single-chip architectures leads to serialization of commuting gates and strain on classical decoding caused by large ancilla patches. A distributed multi-chip architecture utilizing the surface code can potentially solve these problems if one can optimize inter-chip gates, manage collisions in networking between chips, and minimize routing hardware costs. We propose QuIRC, a superconducting Quantum Interface Routing Card for Lattice Surgery between surface code modules inside of a single dilution refrigerator. QuIRC improves scaling by allowing connection of many modules, increases ancilla connectivity of surface code lattices, and offers improved transpilation of Pauli-based surface code circuits. QuIRC employs in-situ Entangled Pair (EP) generation protocols for communication. We explore potential topological layouts of QuIRC based on superconducting hardware fabrication constraints, and demonstrate reductions in ancilla patch size by up to 77.8%, and in layer transpilation size by 51.9% when compared to the single-chip case.
We extend the translationally invariant quantum East model to an inhomogeneous chain with East/West heterojunction structure. In analogy to the quantum diffusion of substantial particles, we observe a cyclic entanglement entropy spreading in the heterojunction during time evolution, which can be regarded as continuous cycles in a quantum heat engine. In order to figure out the possibility of manipulating the entanglement entropy as a quantum resource, the entropy growth is shown to be determined by the initial occupation and the site-dependent chemical potential, and the former is equivalent to an effective temperature. Through fine adjustment of these parameters, we discover the entanglement flow is simply superposed with those from two sources of the chain. An intriguing relation between our model and the traditional heat engines is subsequently established.
In this paper, we introduce a noiselessly amplified thermal state (ATS), by operating the noiseless amplification operator ($g^{\hat{n}}$) on the thermal state (TS) with corresponding mean photon number (MPN) $\bar{n}$. Actually, the ATS is an new TS with MPN $\bar{N}=g^{2}\bar{n}/[1-\bar{n}\left(g^{2}-1\right)]$. Furthermore, we introduce photon-added-ATS (PAATS) and photon-subtracted-ATS (PSATS) by operating $m$-photon addition ($\hat{a}^{\dag m}$) and $m$-photon subtraction ($\hat{a}^{m}$) on the ATS, respectively. We study photon number distributions (PNDs), purities, and Wigner functions (WFs) for all these states.
We propose a non-convex optimization algorithm, based on the Burer-Monteiro (BM) factorization, for the quantum process tomography problem, in order to estimate a low-rank process matrix $\chi$ for near-unitary quantum gates. In this work, we compare our approach against state of the art convex optimization approaches based on gradient descent. We use a reduced set of initial states and measurement operators that require $2 \cdot 8^n$ circuit settings, as well as $\mathcal{O}(4^n)$ measurements for an underdetermined setting. We find our algorithm converges faster and achieves higher fidelities than state of the art, both in terms of measurement settings, as well as in terms of noise tolerance, in the cases of depolarizing and Gaussian noise models.
We put forward a feasible scheme to spatially separate the wave and particle properties of two entangled photons by properly choosing the pre- and post-selection of path states. Our scheme, which implements the quantum Cheshire cat phenomenon for two-photon states, also guarantees that the observation of wave and particle properties of the two entangled photons always obey the Bohr's complementarity principle.
In recent years, due to its formidable potential in computational theory, quantum computing has become a very popular research topic. However, the implementation of practical quantum algorithms, which hold the potential to solve real-world problems, is often hindered by the significant error rates associated with quantum gates and the limited availability of qubits. In this study, we propose a practical approach to simulate the dynamics of an open quantum system on a noisy computer, which encompasses general and valuable characteristics. Notably, our method leverages gate noises on the IBM-Q real device, enabling us to perform calculations using only two qubits. The results generated by our method performed on IBM-Q Jakarta aligned with the those calculated by hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM), which is a classical numerically-exact method, while our simulation method runs with a much better computing complexity. In the last, to deal with the increasing depth of quantum circuits when doing Trotter expansion, we introduced the transfer tensor method(TTM) to extend our short-term dynamics simulation. Based on quantum simulator, we show the extending ability of TTM, which allows us to get a longer simulation using a relatively short quantum circuits.
Multiproposal Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms choose from multiple proposals at each iteration in order to sample from challenging target distributions more efficiently. Recent work demonstrates the possibility of quadratic quantum speedups for one such multiproposal MCMC algorithm. Using $P$ proposals, this quantum parallel MCMC (\QP) algorithm requires only $\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{P})$ target evaluations at each step. Here, we present a fast new quantum multiproposal MCMC strategy, \QPP, that only requires $\mathcal{O}(1)$ target evaluations and $\mathcal{O}(\log P)$ qubits. Unlike its slower predecessor, the \QPP\ Markov kernel (\textcolor{red}{1}) maintains detailed balance exactly and (\textcolor{red}{2}) is fully explicit for a large class of graphical models. We demonstrate this flexibility by applying \QPP\ to novel Ising-type models built on bacterial evolutionary networks and obtain significant speedups for Bayesian ancestral trait reconstruction for 248 observed salmonella bacteria.
In this paper, we discuss the concept of quantum graphs with transparent vertices by considering the case where the graph interacts with an external time-independent field. In particular, we address the problem of transparent boundary conditions for quantum graphs, building on previous work on transparent boundary conditions for the stationary Schrodinger equation on a line. Physically relevant constraints making the vertex transparent under boundary conditions in the form of (weight) continuity and Kirchhoff rules are derived using two methods, the scattering approach and transparent boundary conditions for the time-independent Schrodinger equation. The latter is derived by extending the transparent boundary condition concept to the time-independent Schrodinger equation on driven quantum graphs. We also discuss how the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of a quantum graph are influenced not only by its topology, but also by the shape(type) of a potential when an external field is involved.
The present paper aims to understand separability and entanglement in tensor cones, in the sense of Namioka and Phelps, that arise from the base cones of operator system tensor products. Of particular interest here are the Toeplitz and Fej\'er-Riesz operator systems, which are, respectively, operator systems of Toeplitz matrices and Laurent polynomials (that is, trigonometric polynomials), and which are related in the operator system category through duality. Some notable categorical relationships established in this paper are the C$^*$-nuclearity of Toeplitz and Fej\'er-Riesz operator systems, as well as their unique operator system structures when tensoring with injective operator systems. Among the results of this study are two of independent interest: (i) a matrix criterion, similar to the one involving the Choi matrix, for a linear map of the Fej\'er-Riesz operator system to be completely positive; (ii) a completely positive extension theorem for positive linear maps of $n\times n$ Toeplitz matrices into arbritary von Neumann algebras, thereby showing that a similar extension theorem of Haagerup for $2\times 2$ Toeplitz matrices holds for Toeplitz matrices of higher dimension.
Two-photon interference is an indispensable resource of quantum photonics, nevertheless, not straightforward to achieve. The cascaded generation of photon pairs intrinsically contain temporal correlations, which negatively affect the ability of such sources to perform two-photon interference, hence hindering applications. We report on how such correlation interplays with decoherence and temporal postselection, and under which conditions the temporal postselection could improve the two-photon interference visibility. Our study identifies crucial parameters of the performance and indicates the path towards achieving a source with optimal performance.
The manipulation of quantum many-body systems is a frontier challenge in quantum science. Entangled quantum states that are symmetric to permutation between qubits are of growing interest. Yet, the creation and control of symmetric states has remained a challenge. Here, we find a way to universally control symmetric states, proposing a scheme that relies solely on coherent rotations and spin squeezing. We present protocols for the creation of different symmetric states including Schrodinger cat and Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill states. The obtained symmetric states can be transferred to traveling photonic states via spontaneous emission, providing a powerful mechanism for the creation of desired quantum light states.
Generating entanglement between distributed network nodes is a prerequisite for the quantum internet. Entanglement distribution protocols based on high-dimensional photonic qudits enable the simultaneous generation of multiple entangled pairs, which can significantly reduce the required coherence time of the qubit registers. However, current schemes require fast optical switching, which is experimentally challenging. In addition, the higher degree of error correlation between the generated entangled pairs in qudit protocols compared to qubit protocols has not been studied in detail. We propose a qudit-mediated entangling protocol that completely circumvents the need for optical switches, making it more accessible for current experimental systems. Furthermore, we quantify the amount of error correlation between the simultaneously generated entangled pairs and analyze the effect on entanglement purification algorithms and teleportation-based quantum error correction. We find that optimized purification schemes can efficiently correct the correlated errors, while the quantum error correction codes studied here perform worse than for uncorrelated error models.
Non-Gaussian entangled states play a crucial role in harnessing quantum advantage in continuous-variable quantum information. However, how to fully characterize N-partite (N > 3) non-Gaussian entanglement without quantum state tomography remains elusive, leading to a very limited understanding of the underlying entanglement mechanism. Here, we propose several necessary and sufficient conditions for the positive-partial-transposition separability of multimode nonlinear quantum states resulting from high-order Hamiltonians and successive beam splitting operations. When applied to the initial state, the beam-splitter operations induce the emergence of different types of entanglement mechanisms, including pairwise high-order entanglement, collective high-order entanglement and the crossover between the two. We show numerically that for the four-mode scenario, the threshold for the existence of entanglement for any bipartition does not exceed the entanglement of the original state at fixed high-order moments. These results provide a new perspective for understanding multipartite nonlinear entanglement and will promote their application in quantum information processing.
This paper develops a general method to construct Ehrenfest-like relations for Lagrangian field theories when an external, coordinate-dependent scalar potential is applied. To do so, we derive continuity equations in which the spatial and temporal derivatives of the potential can be interpreted as a source of field momentum and field energy, respectively. For a non-relativistic Schr\"odinger field theory, these continuity equations yield Ehrenfest's theorem for energy, linear momentum, and angular momentum. We then derive a relativistic counterpart for these relations using complex Klein-Gordon fields coupled with an electric potential.
The data encoding circuits used in quantum support vector machine (QSVM) kernels play a crucial role in their classification accuracy. However, manually designing these circuits poses significant challenges in terms of time and performance. To address this, we leverage the GASP (Genetic Algorithm for State Preparation) framework for gate sequence selection in QSVM kernel circuits. We explore supervised and unsupervised kernel loss functions' impact on encoding circuit optimisation and evaluate them on diverse datasets for binary and multiple-class scenarios. Benchmarking against classical and quantum kernels reveals GA-generated circuits matching or surpassing standard techniques. We analyse the relationship between test accuracy and quantum kernel entropy, with results indicating a positive correlation. Our automated framework reduces trial and error, and enables improved QSVM based machine learning performance for finance, healthcare, and materials science applications.
In this work, we address the problem of automating quantum variational machine learning. We develop a multi-locality parallelizable search algorithm, called MUSE, to find the initial points and the sets of parameters that achieve the best performance for quantum variational circuit learning. Simulations with five real-world classification datasets indicate that on average, MUSE improves the detection accuracy of quantum variational classifiers 2.3 times with respect to the observed lowest scores. Moreover, when applied to two real-world regression datasets, MUSE improves the quality of the predictions from negative coefficients of determination to positive ones. Furthermore, the classification and regression scores of the quantum variational models trained with MUSE are on par with the classical counterparts.
Recent technological advancements show promise in leveraging quantum mechanical phenomena for computation. This brings substantial speed-ups to problems that are once considered to be intractable in the classical world. However, the physical realization of quantum computers is still far away from us, and a majority of research work is done using quantum simulators running on classical computers. Classical computers face a critical obstacle in simulating quantum algorithms. Quantum states reside in a Hilbert space whose size grows exponentially to the number of subsystems, i.e., qubits. As a result, the straightforward statevector approach does not scale due to the exponential growth of the memory requirement. Decision diagrams have gained attention in recent years for representing quantum states and operations in quantum simulations. The main advantage of this approach is its ability to exploit redundancy. However, mainstream quantum simulators still rely on statevectors or tensor networks. We consider the absence of decision diagrams due to the lack of parallelization strategies. This work explores several strategies for parallelizing decision diagram operations, specifically for quantum simulations. We propose optimal parallelization strategies. Based on the experiment results, our parallelization strategy achieves a 2-3 times faster simulation of Grover's algorithm and random circuits than the state-of-the-art single-thread DD-based simulator DDSIM.
We investigate the persistent orientation of asymmetric-top molecules induced by time-delayed THz pulses that are either collinearly or cross polarized. Our theoretical and numerical results demonstrate that the orthogonal configuration outperforms the collinear one, and a significant degree of persistent orientation - approximately 10% at 5 K and nearly 3% at room temperature - may be achieved through parameter optimization. The dependence of the persistent orientation factor on temperature and field parameters is studied in detail. The proposed application of two orthogonally polarized THz pulses is both practical and efficient. Its applicability under standard laboratory conditions lays a solid foundation for future experimental realization of THz-induced persistent molecular orientation.
The Grover algorithm stands as a pivotal solution for unstructured search problems and has become a fundamental quantum subroutine in numerous complex algorithms. This study delves into Grover's search methodology within non-uniformly distributed databases, a scenario more commonly encountered in real-world problems. We uncover that in such cases, the Grover evolution displays distinct behavior compared to uniform or 'unstructured databases'. The search enabled by this evolution doesn't consistently yield a speed-up, and we establish criteria for such occurrences. Additionally, we apply this theory to databases whose distributions relate to coherent states, substantiating the speed-up via Grover evolution through numerical verification. Overall, our findings offer an effective extension of the original Grover algorithm, enriching implementation strategies and widening its application scope.
This article presents a quantum computing approach to the design of similarity measures and kernels for classification of stochastic symbol time series. The similarity is estimated through a quantum generative model of the time series. We consider classification tasks where the class of each sequence depends on its future evolution. In this case a stochastic generative model provides natural notions of equivalence and distance between the sequences. The kernel functions are derived from the generative model, exploiting its information about the sequences evolution.We assume that the stochastic process generating the sequences is Markovian and model it by a Quantum Hidden Markov Model (QHMM). The model defines the generation of each sequence through a path of mixed quantum states in its Hilbert space. The observed symbols are emitted by application of measurement operators at each state. The generative model defines the feature space for the kernel. The kernel maps each sequence to the final state of its generation path. The Markovian assumption about the process and the fact that the quantum operations are contractive, guarantee that the similarity of the states implies (probabilistic) similarity of the distributions defined by the states and the processes originating from these states. This is the heuristic we use in order to propose this class of kernels for classification of sequences, based on their future behavior. The proposed approach is applied for classification of high frequency symbolic time series in the financial industry.
Nonclassical phenomena tied to entangled states are focuses of foundational studies and powerful resources in many applications. By contrast, the counterparts on quantum measurements are still poorly understood. Notably, genuine multipartite nonclassicality is barely discussed, not to say experimental realization. Here we experimentally demonstrate the power of genuine tripartite nonclassicality in quantum measurements based on a simple estimation problem. To this end we realize an optimal genuine three-copy collective measurement via a nine-step two-dimensional photonic quantum walk with 30 elaborately designed coin operators. Then we realize an optimal estimation protocol and achieve an unprecedented high estimation fidelity, which can beat all strategies based on restricted collective measurements by more than 11 standard deviations. These results clearly demonstrate that genuine collective measurements can extract more information than local measurements and restricted collective measurements. Our work opens the door for exploring genuine multipartite nonclassical measurements and their power in quantum information processing.
Deep metric learning has recently shown extremely promising results in the classical data domain, creating well-separated feature spaces. This idea was also adapted to quantum computers via Quantum Metric Learning(QMeL). QMeL consists of a 2 step process with a classical model to compress the data to fit into the limited number of qubits, then train a Parameterized Quantum Circuit(PQC) to create better separation in Hilbert Space. However, on Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices. QMeL solutions result in high circuit width and depth, both of which limit scalability. We propose Quantum Polar Metric Learning (QPMeL) that uses a classical model to learn the parameters of the polar form of a qubit. We then utilize a shallow PQC with $R_y$ and $R_z$ gates to create the state and a trainable layer of $ZZ(\theta)$-gates to learn entanglement. The circuit also computes fidelity via a SWAP Test for our proposed Fidelity Triplet Loss function, used to train both classical and quantum components. When compared to QMeL approaches, QPMeL achieves 3X better multi-class separation, while using only 1/2 the number of gates and depth. We also demonstrate that QPMeL outperforms classical networks with similar configurations, presenting a promising avenue for future research on fully classical models with quantum loss functions.
Levitated systems in vacuum have many potential applications ranging from new types of inertial and magnetic sensors through to fundamental issues in quantum science, the generation of massive Schrodinger cats, and the connections between gravity and quantum physics. In this work, we demonstrate the passive, diamagnetic levitation of a centimeter-sized massive oscillator which is fabricated using a novel method that ensures that the material, though highly diamagnetic, is an electrical insulator. By chemically coating a powder of microscopic graphite beads with silica and embedding the coated powder in high-vacuum compatible wax, we form a centimeter-sized thin square plate which magnetically levitates over a checkerboard magnet array. The insulating coating reduces eddy damping by almost an order of magnitude compared to uncoated graphite with the same particle size. These plates exhibit a different equilibrium orientation to pyrolytic graphite due to their isotropic magnetic susceptibility. We measure the motional quality factor to be Q~1.58*10^5 for an approximately centimeter-sized composite resonator with a mean particle size of 12 microns. Further, we apply delayed feedback to cool the vertical motion of frequency ~19 Hz from room temperature to 320 millikelvin.
This study investigates the use of orbital angular momentum (OAM) to enhance phase estimation in Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) by employing non-Gaussian states as input resources in the presence of noise. Our research demonstrates that non-Gaussian states, particularly the photonsubtraction-then-addition (PSA) state, exhibit the best sensitivity in the presence of symmetric noise. Additionally, higher-order of Bose operator of non-Gaussian states provide better sensitivity for symmetric noise. OAM can mitigate the deterioration of noise, making it possible to estimate small phase shifts theta close to 0. OAM enhances the resolution and sensitivity of all input states and mitigating the deterioration caused by photon loss. Additionally, OAM enhances the resolution and sensitivity of all input states, enabling the sensitivity to approach the 1/N limit even under significant photon loss (e.g.,50% symmetric photon loss). These results hold promise for enhancing the sensitivity and robustness of quantum metrology, particularly in the presence of significant photon loss.
The Yang-Lee edge singularity was originally studied from the standpoint of mathematical foundations of phase transitions, and its physical demonstration has been of active interest both theoretically and experimentally. However, the presence of an imaginary magnetic field in the Yang-Lee edge singularity has made it challenging to develop a direct observation of the anomalous scaling with negative scaling dimension associated with this critical phenomenon. We experimentally implement an imaginary magnetic field and demonstrate the Yang-Lee edge singularity through a nonunitary evolution governed by a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian in an open quantum system, where a classical system is mapped to a quantum system via the equivalent canonical partition function. In particular, we directly observe the partition function in our experiment using heralded single photons. The nonunitary quantum criticality is identified with the singularity at an exceptional point. We also demonstrate unconventional scaling laws for the finite-temperature dynamics unique to quantum systems.
We consider a finite time quantum heat engine analogous to finite time classical Carnot heat engine with a working substance of spin half particles. We study the efficiency at maximum $\dot{\Omega}$ figure of merit of the quantum heat engine of spin half particles as a working substance in the presence of external magnetic field. The efficiency of this engine at maximum $\dot{\Omega}$ figure of merit shows anomalous behavior in certain region of particles population levels. Further, we find that the efficiency at maximum $\dot{\Omega}$ figure exceeds all the known bounds and even approaches the Carnot efficiency at finite time. Our study indicates that the population of spin half particles plays a crucial role in quantum heat engine whose collective effect in the quantum regime can provide superior engine performance with higher efficiency.
We predict a stable density-waves-type supersolid phase of a dilute gas of tilted dipolar bosons in a two-dimensional (2D) geometry. This many-body phase is manifested by the formation of the stripe pattern and elasticity coexisting together with the Bose-Einstein condensation and superfluidity at zero temperature. With the increasing the tilting angle the type of the gas-supersolid transition changes from the first order to the second one despite the 2D character of the system, whereas the anisotropy and many-body stabilizing interactions play crucial role. Our approach is based on the numerical analysis of the phase diagram using the simulated annealing method for a free-energy functional. The predicted supersolid effect can be realized in a variety of experimental setups ranging from excitons in heterostructures to cold atoms and polar molecules in optical potentials.
Quantum many-body chaos concerns the scrambling of quantum information among large numbers of degrees of freedom. It rests on the prediction that out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOCs) of the form $\langle [A(t),B]^2\rangle$ can be connected to classical symplectic dynamics. We rigorously prove a variant of this correspondence principle for mean-field bosons. We show that the $N\to\infty$ limit of the OTOC $\langle [A(t),B]^2\rangle$ is explicitly given by a suitable symplectic Bogoliubov dynamics. The proof uses Bogoliubov theory and extends to higher-order correlators of observables at different times. For these, it yields an out-of-time-ordered analog of the Wick rule. Our result spotlights a new problem in nonlinear dispersive PDE with implications for quantum many-body chaos.
We respond to the recent article by S. Goldstein, R. Tumulka, and N. Zangh\`i [arXiv:2309.11835] concerning the spin-dependent arrival-time distributions reported in [S. Das and D. D\"urr, Sci. Rep. 9: 2242 (2019)].
Quantum teleportation is a concept that fascinates and confuses many people, in particular given that it combines quantum physics and the concept of teleportation. With quantum teleportation likely to play a key role in several communication technologies and the quantum internet in the future, it is imperative to create learning tools and approaches that can accurately and effectively communicate the concept. Recent research has indicated the importance of teachers enthusing students about the topic of quantum physics. Therefore, educators at both high school and early university level need to find engaging and perhaps unorthodox ways of teaching complex, yet interesting topics such as quantum teleportation. In this paper, we present a paradigm to teach about the concept of quantum teleportation using the Christmas gift-bringer Santa Claus. Using the example of Santa Claus, we use an unusual context to explore the key aspects of quantum teleportation, and all without being overly abstract. In addition, we outline a worksheet designed for use in the classroom setting which is based on common misconceptions from quantum physics.
We show that hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), a two-dimensional insulator, when subjected to an external superlattice potential forms a new paradigm for electrostatically tunable excitons in the near- and mid-ultraviolet (UV). The imposed potential has three consequences: (i) it renormalizes the effective mass tensor, leading to anisotropic effective masses; (ii) it renormalizes the band gap, eventually reducing it; (iii) it reduces the exciton binding energies. All these consequences depend on a single dimensionless parameter, which includes the product of strength of the external potential with its period. In addition to the excitonic energy levels, we compute the optical conductivity along two orthogonal directions, and from it the absorption spectrum. The results for the latter show that our system is able to mimic a grid polarizer. These characteristics make one-dimensional hBN superlattices a viable and unexplored platform for fine-tuned polaritonics in the UV to visible spectral range.
We formulate and implement the Variational Quantum Eigensolver Self Consistent Field (VQE-SCF) algorithm in combination with polarizable embedding (PE), thereby extending PE to the regime of quantum computing. We test the resulting algorithm, PE-VQE-SCF, on quantum simulators and demonstrate that the computational stress on the quantum device is only slightly increased in terms of gate counts compared to regular VQE-SCF. On the other hand, no increase in shot noise was observed. We illustrate how PE-VQE-SCF may lead to the modeling of real chemical systems using a simulation of the reaction barrier of the Diels-Alder reaction between furan and ethene as an example.
In the noisy intermediate-scale quantum era, variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) have emerged as a promising avenue to obtain quantum advantage. However, the success of VQAs depends on the expressive power of parameterised quantum circuits, which is constrained by the limited gate number and the presence of barren plateaus. In this work, we propose and numerically demonstrate a novel approach for VQAs, utilizing randomised quantum circuits to generate the variational wavefunction. We parameterize the distribution function of these random circuits using artificial neural networks and optimize it to find the solution. This random-circuit approach presents a trade-off between the expressive power of the variational wavefunction and time cost, in terms of the sampling cost of quantum circuits. Given a fixed gate number, we can systematically increase the expressive power by extending the quantum-computing time. With a sufficiently large permissible time cost, the variational wavefunction can approximate any quantum state with arbitrary accuracy. Furthermore, we establish explicit relationships between expressive power, time cost, and gate number for variational quantum eigensolvers. These results highlight the promising potential of the random-circuit approach in achieving a high expressive power in quantum computing.
Phase estimation is a major mission in quantum metrology. In the finite-dimensional Fock space the NOON state ceases to be optimal when the particle number is fixed yet not equal to the space dimension minus one, and what is the true optimal state in this case is still undiscovered. Hereby we present three theorems to answer this question and provide a complete optimal scheme to realize the ultimate precision limit in practice. These optimal states reveal an important fact that the space dimension could be treated as a metrological resource, and the given scheme is particularly useful in scenarios where weak light or limited particle number is demanded.
Spontaneous emission is one of the most fundamental out-of-equilibrium processes in which an excited quantum emitter relaxes to the ground state due to quantum fluctuations. In this process, a photon is emitted that can interact with other nearby emitters and establish quantum correlations between them, e.g., via super and subradiance effects. One way to modify these photon-mediated interactions is to alter the dipole radiation patterns of the emitter, e.g., by placing photonic crystals near them. One recent example is the generation of strong directional emission patterns-key to enhancing super and subradiance effects-in two dimensions by employing photonic crystals with band structures characterized by linear isofrequency contours and saddle-points. However, these studies have predominantly used oversimplified toy models, overlooking the electromagnetic field's intricacies in actual materials, including aspects like geometrical dependencies, emitter positions, and polarization. Our study delves into the interaction between these directional emission patterns and the aforementioned variables, revealing the untapped potential to fine-tune collective quantum optical phenomena.
We investigate the Autler-Townes splitting for Rydberg atoms dressed with linearly polarized microwave radiation, resonant with generic $S_{1/2}\leftrightarrow{P}_{1/2}$ and $S_{1/2}\leftrightarrow{P}_{3/2}$ transitions. The splitting is probed using laser light via electromagnetically-induced transparency measurements, where transmission of probe laser light reveals a two-peak pattern. In particular, this pattern is invariant under rotation of the microwave field polarization. In consequence, we establish $S \leftrightarrow P$ Rydberg transitions as ideally suited for polarization-insensitive electrometry, contrary to recent findings [A. Chopinaud and J.D. Pritchard, Phys. Rev. Appl. $\mathbf{16}$, 024008 (2021)].
In this work, we review and extend a version of the old attempt made by Louis de broglie for interpreting quantum mechanics in realistic terms, namely the double solution. In this theory quantum particles are localized waves, i.e, solitons, that are solutions of relativistic nonlinear field equations. The theory that we present here is the natural extension of this old work and relies on a strong time-symmetry requiring the presence of advanced and retarded waves converging on particles. Using this method, we are able to justify wave-particle duality and to explain the violations of Bell's inequalities. Moreover, the theory recovers the predictions of the pilot-wave theory of de Borglie and Bohm, often known as Bohmian mechanics. As a direct consequence, we reinterpret the nonlocal action at a distance presents in the pilot-wave theory. In the double solution developed here there is fundamentally no action at a distance but the theory requires a form of superdeterminism driven by time-symmetry.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides a method of ensuring security using the laws of physics, avoiding the risks inherent in cryptosystems protected by computational complexity. Here we investigate the feasibility of satellite-based quantum key exchange using low-cost compact nano-satellites. This paper demonstrates the first prototype of system level quantum key distribution aimed at the Cube satellite scenario. It consists of a transmitter payload, a ground receiver and simulated free space channel to verify the timing and synchronisation (T&S) scheme designed for QKD and the required high loss tolerance of both QKD and T&S channels. The transmitter is designed to be deployed on various up-coming nano-satellite missions in the UK and internationally. The effects of channel loss, background noise, gate width and mean photon number on the secure key rate (SKR) and quantum bit error rate (QBER) are discussed. We also analyse the source of QBER and establish the relationship between effective signal noise ratio (ESNR) and noise level, signal strength, gating window and other parameters as a reference for SKR optimization. The experiment shows that it can tolerate the 40 dB loss expected in space to ground QKD and with small adjustment decoy states can be achieved. The discussion offers valuable insight not only for the design and optimization of miniature low-cost satellite-based QKD systems but also any other short or long range free space QKD on the ground or in the air.
When studying the geometry of quantum states, it is acknowledged that mixed states can be distinguished by infinitely many metrics. Unfortunately, this freedom causes metric-dependent interpretations of physically significant geometric quantities such as complexity and volume of quantum states. In this paper, we present an insightful discussion on the differences between the Bures and the Sj\"oqvist metrics inside a Bloch sphere. First, we begin with a formal comparative analysis between the two metrics by critically discussing three alternative interpretations for each metric. Second, we illustrate explicitly the distinct behaviors of the geodesic paths on each one of the two metric manifolds. Third, we compare the finite distances between an initial and final mixed state when calculated with the two metrics. Interestingly, in analogy to what happens when studying topological aspects of real Euclidean spaces equipped with distinct metric functions (for instance, the usual Euclidean metric and the taxicab metric), we observe that the relative ranking based on the concept of finite distance among mixed quantum states is not preserved when comparing distances determined with the Bures and the Sj\"oqvist metrics. Finally, we conclude with a brief discussion on the consequences of this violation of a metric-based relative ranking on the concept of complexity and volume of mixed quantum states.
Chiral excitation flows have drawn a lot of attention for their unique unidirectionality. Such flows have been studied in three-node networks with synthetic gauge fields (SGFs), while they are barely realized as the number of nodes increases. In this work, we propose a scheme to achieve chiral flows in $n$-node networks, where an auxiliary node is introduced to govern the system. This auxiliary node is coupled to all the network nodes, forming sub-triangle structures with interference paths in these networks. We find the implicit chiral symmetry behind the perfect chiral flow and propose the universal criteria that incorporate previous models, facilitating the implementation of chiral transmission in various networks. By investigating the symmetries within these models, we present different features of the chiral flow in bosonic and spin networks. Furthermore, we extend the four-node model into a ladder network, which is promising for remote state transfer in practical systems with less complexity. Our scheme can be realized in state-of-the-art experimental systems, such as superconducting circuits and magnetic photonic lattices, thereby opening up new possibilities for future quantum networks.
H\"uckel molecular orbital (HMO) theory provides a semi-empirical treatment of the electronic structure in conjugated {\pi}-electronic systems. A scalable system-agnostic execution of HMO theory on a quantum computer is reported here based on a variational quantum deflation (VQD) algorithm for excited state quantum simulation. A compact encoding scheme is proposed here that provides an exponential advantage over direct mapping and allows quantum simulation of the HMO model for systems with up to 2^N conjugated centers in N qubits. The transformation of the H\"uckel Hamiltonian to qubit space is achieved by two different strategies: a machine-learning-assisted transformation and the Frobenius-inner-product-based transformation. These methods are tested on a series of linear, cyclic, and hetero-nuclear conjugated {\pi}-electronic systems. The molecular orbital energy levels and wavefunctions from the quantum simulation are in excellent agreement with the exact classical results. The higher excited states of large systems, however, are found to suffer from error accumulation in the VQD simulation. This is mitigated by formulating a variant of VQD that exploits the symmetry of the Hamiltonian. This strategy has been successfully demonstrated for the quantum simulation of C_{60} fullerene containing 680 Pauli strings encoded on six qubits. The methods developed in this work are system-agnostic and hence are easily adaptable to similar problems of different complexity in other fields of research.
We extend the notion of the Fisher information measurement noise susceptibility to the multiparameter quantum estimation scenario. After giving its mathematical definition, we derive an upper and a lower bound to the susceptibility. We then apply these techniques to two paradigmatic examples of multiparameter estimation: the joint estimation of phase and phase-diffusion and the estimation of the different parameters describing the incoherent mixture of optical point sources. Our figure provides clear indications on conditions allowing or hampering robustness of multiparameter measurements.
Magic describes the distance of a quantum state to its closest stabilizer state. It is -- like entanglement -- a necessary resource for a potential quantum advantage over classical computing. We study magic, quantified by stabilizer entropy, in a hybrid quantum circuit with projective measurements and a controlled injection of non-Clifford resources. We discover a phase transition between a (sub)-extensive and area law scaling of magic controlled by the rate of measurements. The same circuit also exhibits a phase transition in entanglement that appears, however, at a different critical measurement rate. This mechanism shows how, from the viewpoint of a potential quantum advantage, hybrid circuits can host multiple distinct transitions where not only entanglement, but also other non-linear properties of the density matrix come into play.
From the perspective of majorization theory, we study how to enhance the entanglement of a two-mode squeezed vacuum (TMSV) state by using local filtration operations. We present several schemes achieving entanglement enhancement with photon addition and subtraction, and then consider filtration as a general probabilistic procedure consisting in acting with local (non-unitary) operators on each mode. From this, we identify a sufficient set of two conditions on filtration operators for successfully enhancing the entanglement of a TMSV state, namely the operators must be Fock-orthogonal (i.e., preserving the orthogonality of Fock states) and Fock-amplifying (i.e., giving larger amplitudes to larger Fock states). Our results notably prove that ideal photon addition, subtraction, and any concatenation thereof always enhance the entanglement of a TMSV state in the sense of majorization theory. We further investigate the case of realistic photon addition (subtraction) and are able to upper bound the distance between a realistic photon-added (-subtracted) TMSV state and a nearby state that is provably more entangled than the TMSV, thus extending entanglement enhancement to practical schemes via the use of a notion of approximate majorization. Finally, we consider the state resulting from $k$-photon addition (on each of the two modes) on a TMSV state. We prove analytically that the state corresponding to $k=1$ majorizes any state corresponding to $2\leq k \leq 8$ and we conjecture the validity of the statement for all $k\geq 9$.
In classical physics, clocks are open dissipative systems driven from thermal equilibrium and necessarily subject to thermal noise. We describe a quantum clock driven by entropy reduction through measurement. The mechanism consists of a superconducting transmon qubit coupled to an open co-planar resonator. The cavity and qubit are driven by coherent fields and the cavity output is monitored with homodyne detection. We show that the measurement itself induces coherent oscillations, with fluctuating period, in the conditional moments. The clock signal can be extracted from the observed measurement currents and analysed to determine the noise performance. The model demonstrates a fundamental principle of clocks at zero temperature: good clocks require high rates of energy dissipation and consequently entropy generation.
In this work, we apply the advantage distillation method to improve the performance of a practical twin-field quantum key distribution system under collective attack. Compared with the previous analysis result given by Maeda, Sasaki and Koashi [Nature Communication 10, 3140 (2019)], the maximal transmission distance obtained by our analysis method will be increased from 420 km to 470 km. By increasing the loss-independent misalignment error to 12%, the previous analysis method can not overcome the rate-distance bound. However, our analysis method can still overcome the rate-distance bound when the misalignment error is 16%. More surprisingly, we prove that twin-field quantum key distribution can generate positive secure key even if the misalignment error is close to 50%, thus our analysis method can significantly improve the performance of a practical twin-field quantum key distribution system.
In this work, we study the detailed structure of quantum control landscape for the problem of single-qubit phase shift gate generation on the fast time scale. In previous works, the absence of traps for this problem was proven on various time scales. A special critical point which was known to exist in quantum control landscapes was shown to be either a saddle or a global extremum, depending on the parameters of the control system. However, in the case of saddle the numbers of negative and positive eigenvalues of Hessian at this point and their magnitudes have not been studied. At the same time, these numbers and magnitudes determine the relative ease or difficulty for practical optimization in a vicinity of the critical point. In this work, we compute the numbers of negative and positive eigenvalues of Hessian at this saddle point and moreover, give estimates on magnitude of these eigenvalues. We also significantly simplify our previous proof of the theorem about this saddle point of the Hessian [Theorem~3 in B.O.~Volkov, O.V.~Morzhin, A.N.~Pechen, J.~Phys.~A: Math. Theor. {\bf 54}, 215303 (2021)].
Contemporary methods for benchmarking noisy quantum processors typically measure average error rates or process infidelities. However, thresholds for fault-tolerant quantum error correction are given in terms of worst-case error rates -- defined via the diamond norm -- which can differ from average error rates by orders of magnitude. One method for resolving this discrepancy is to randomize the physical implementation of quantum gates, using techniques like randomized compiling (RC). In this work, we use gate set tomography to perform precision characterization of a set of two-qubit logic gates to study RC on a superconducting quantum processor. We find that, under RC, gate errors are accurately described by a stochastic Pauli noise model without coherent errors, and that spatially-correlated coherent errors and non-Markovian errors are strongly suppressed. We further show that the average and worst-case error rates are equal for randomly compiled gates, and measure a maximum worst-case error of 0.0197(3) for our gate set. Our results show that randomized benchmarks are a viable route to both verifying that a quantum processor's error rates are below a fault-tolerance threshold, and to bounding the failure rates of near-term algorithms, if -- and only if -- gates are implemented via randomization methods which tailor noise.
In research concerning quantum networks, it is often assumed that the parties can classically communicate with each other. However, classical communication might introduce a substantial delay to the network, especially if it is large. As the latency of a network is one of its most important characteristics, it is interesting to consider quantum networks in which parties cannot communicate classically and ask what limitations this assumption imposes on the possibility of preparing multipartite states in such networks. We show that graph states of an arbitrary prime local dimension known for their numerous applications in quantum information cannot be generated in a quantum network in which parties are connected via sources of bipartite quantum states and the classical communication is replaced by some pre-shared classical correlations. We then generalise our result to arbitrary quantum states that are sufficiently close to graph states.
The Wigner-Araki-Yanase (WAY) theorem states that additive conservation laws imply the commutativity of exactly implementable projective measurements and the conserved observables of the system. Known proofs of this theorem are only restricted to bounded or discrete-spectrum conserved observables of the system and are not applicable to unbounded and continuous observables like a momentum operator. In this Letter, we present the WAY theorem for possibly unbounded and continuous conserved observables under the Yanase condition, which requires that the probe positive operator-valued measure should commute with the conserved observable of the probe system. As a result of this WAY theorem, we show that exact implementations of the projective measurement of the position under momentum conservation and of the quadrature amplitude using linear optical instruments and photon counters are impossible. We also consider implementations of unitary channels under conservation laws and find that the conserved observable $L_S$ of the system commute with the implemented unitary $U_S$ if $L_S$ is semi-bounded, while $U_S^\dagger L_S U_S$ can shift up to possibly non-zero constant factor if the spectrum of $L_S$ is upper and lower unbounded. We give simple examples of the latter case, where $L_S$ is a momentum operator.
We report the existence of entangled steady-states in bipartite quantum magnonic systems at elevated temperatures. We consider dissipative dynamics of two magnon modes in a bipartite antiferromagnet, subjected to interaction with a phonon mode and an external rotating magnetic field. To quantify the bipartite magnon-magnon entanglement, we use entanglement negativity and compute its dependence on temperature and magnetic field. We provide evidence that the coupling between magnon and phonon modes is necessary for the entanglement, and that, for any given phonon frequency and magnon-phonon coupling rate, there are always ranges of the magnetic field amplitudes and frequencies for which magnon-magnon entanglement persists at room temperature.
Multipartite entanglement is an indispensable resource in quantum communication and computation, however, it is a challenging task to faithfully quantify this global property of multipartite quantum systems. In this work, we study the concurrence fill, which admits a geometric interpretation to measure genuine tripartite entanglement for the three-qubit system in [S. Xie {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{127}. 040403 (2021)]. First, we use the well-known three-tangle and bipartite concurrence to reformulate this quantifier for all pure states. We then construct an explicit example to conclusively show the concurrence fill can be increased under local operation and classical communications (LOCCs) {\it on average}, implying it is not an entanglement monotone. Moreover, we give a simple proof of the LOCC-monotonicity of three-tangle and find that the bipartite concurrence and the squared can have distinct performances under the same LOCCs. Finally, we propose a reliable monotone to quantify genuine tripartite entanglement, which can also be easily generalised to the multipartite system. Our results shed light on studying genuine entanglement and also reveal the complex structure of multipartite systems.
TThe problem of finding the resource free, closest local unitary, to any bipartite unitary gate $U$ is addressed. Previously discussed as a measure of nonlocality, the distance $K_D(U)$ to the nearest product unitary has implications for circuit complexity and related quantities. Dual unitaries, currently of great interest in models of complex quantum many-body systems, are shown to have a preferred role as these are maximally and equally away from the set of local unitaries. This is proved here for the case of qubits and we present strong numerical and analytical evidence that it is true in general. An analytical evaluation of $K_D(U)$ is presented for general two-qubit gates. For arbitrary local dimensions, that $K_D(U)$ is largest for dual unitaries, is substantiated by its analytical evaluations for an important family of dual-unitary and for certain non-dual gates. A closely allied result concerns, for any bipartite unitary, the existence of a pair of maximally entangled states that it connects. We give efficient numerical algorithms to find such states and to find $K_D(U)$ in general.
Giovannetti, Lloyd, and Maccone [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 160501] proposed a quantum random access memory (QRAM) architecture to retrieve arbitrary superpositions of $N$ (quantum) memory cells via $O(\log(N))$ quantum switches and $O(\log(N))$ address qubits. Towards physical QRAM implementations, Chen et al. [PRX Quantum 2, 030319] recently showed that QRAM maps natively onto optically connected quantum networks with $O(\log(N))$ overhead and built-in error detection. However, modeling QRAM on large networks has been stymied by exponentially rising classical compute requirements. Here, we address this bottleneck by: (i) introducing a resource-efficient method for simulating large-scale noisy entanglement, allowing us to evaluate hundreds and even thousands of qubits under various noise channels; and (ii) analyzing Chen et al.'s network-based QRAM as an application at the scale of quantum data centers or near-term quantum internet; and (iii) introducing a modified network-based QRAM architecture to improve quantum fidelity and access rate. We conclude that network-based QRAM could be built with existing or near-term technologies leveraging photonic integrated circuits and atomic or atom-like quantum memories.
A distributed quantum computing system requires a quantum communication channel between spatially separated processing units. In superconducting circuits, such a channel can be realized by using propagating microwave photons to encode and transfer quantum information between an emitter and a receiver node. Here we experimentally demonstrate a superconducting circuit that deterministically transfers the state of a data qubit into a propagating microwave mode, with a process fidelity of 94.5%. We use a time-varying parametric drive to shape the temporal profile of the propagating mode to be time-symmetric and with constant phase, so that reabsorption by the receiving processor can be implemented as a time-reversed version of the emission. We demonstrate a self-calibrating routine to correct for time-dependent shifts of the emitted frequencies due to the modulation of the parametric drive. Our work provides a reliable method to implement high-fidelity quantum state transfer and remote entanglement operations in a distributed quantum computing network.
Quantum error correction (QEC) plays an essential role in fault-tolerantly realizing quantum algorithms of practical interest. Among different approaches to QEC, encoding logical quantum information in harmonic oscillator modes has been shown to be promising and hardware efficient. In this work, we study multimode Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) codes, encoding a qubit in many oscillators, through a lattice perspective. In particular, we implement a closest point decoding strategy for correcting random Gaussian shift errors. For decoding a generic multimode GKP code, we first identify its corresponding lattice followed by finding the closest lattice point in its symplectic dual lattice to a candidate shift error compatible with the error syndrome. We use this method to characterize the error correction capabilities of several known multimode GKP codes, including their code distances and fidelities. We also perform numerical optimization of multimode GKP codes up to ten modes and find three instances (with three, seven and nine modes) with better code distances and fidelities compared to the known GKP codes with the same number of modes. While exact closest point decoding incurs exponential time cost in the number of modes for general unstructured GKP codes, we give several examples of structured GKP codes (i.e., of the repetition-rectangular GKP code types) where the closest point decoding can be performed exactly in linear time. For the surface-GKP code, we show that the closest point decoding can be performed exactly in polynomial time with the help of a minimum-weight-perfect-matching algorithm (MWPM). We show that this MWPM closest point decoder improves both the fidelity and the noise threshold of the surface-GKP code to 0.602 compared to the previously studied MWPM decoder assisted by log-likelihood analog information which yields a noise threshold of 0.599.
The postulates of quantum mechanics impose only unitary transformations on quantum states, which is a severe limitation for quantum machine learning algorithms. Quantum Splines (QSplines) have recently been proposed to approximate quantum activation functions to introduce non-linearity in quantum algorithms. However, QSplines make use of the HHL as a subroutine and require a fault-tolerant quantum computer to be correctly implemented. This work proposes the Generalised Hybrid Quantum Splines (GHQSplines), a novel method for approximating non-linear quantum activation functions using hybrid quantum-classical computation. The GHQSplines overcome the highly demanding requirements of the original QSplines in terms of quantum hardware and can be implemented using near-term quantum computers. Furthermore, the proposed method relies on a flexible problem representation for non-linear approximation and it is suitable to be embedded in existing quantum neural network architectures. In addition, we provide a practical implementation of the GHQSplines using Pennylane and show that our model outperforms the original QSplines in terms of quality of fitting.
A formalism for quantum many-body systems is proposed through a semiclassical treatment in phase space, allowing us to establish a stochastic thermodynamics incorporating quantum statistics. Specifically, we utilize a stochastic Fokker-Planck equation as the dynamics at the mesoscopic level. Here, the noise term characterizing the fluctuation of the flux density accounts for the finite-$N$ effects of random collisions between the system and the reservoir. Accordingly, the stationary solution is a quasi-equilibrium state in a canonical system. We define stochastic thermodynamic quantities based on the trajectories of the phase-space distribution. The conservation law of energy, $H$ theorem and fluctuation theorems are therefore obtained. Our work sets an alternative formalism of quantum stochastic thermodynamics that is independent of the two-point measurement scheme. The numerous projective measurements of quantum systems are replaced by the sampling of the phase-space distribution, offering hope for experimental verifications in the future.
We develop an analytical approach to the study of one-dimensional free fermions subject to random projective measurements of local site occupation numbers, based on the Keldysh path-integral formalism and replica trick. In the limit of rare measurements, $\gamma / J \ll 1$ (where $\gamma$ is measurement rate per site and $J$ is hopping constant in the tight-binding model), we derive a non-linear sigma model (NLSM) as an effective field theory of the problem. Its replica-symmetric sector is described by a $U(2) / U(1) \times U(1) \simeq S_2$ sigma model with diffusive behavior, and the replica-asymmetric sector is a two-dimensional NLSM defined on $SU(R)$ manifold with the replica limit $R \to 1$. On the Gaussian level, valid in the limit $\gamma / J \to 0$, this model predicts a logarithmic behavior for the second cumulant of number of particles in a subsystem and for the entanglement entropy. However, the one-loop renormalization group analysis allows us to demonstrate that this logarithmic growth saturates at a finite value $\sim (J / \gamma)^2$ even for rare measurements, which corresponds to the area-law phase. This implies the absence of a measurement-induced entanglement phase transition for free fermions. The crossover between logarithmic growth and saturation, however, happens at exponentially large scale, $\ln l_\text{corr} \sim J / \gamma$. This makes this crossover very sharp as a function of the measurement frequency $\gamma / J$, which can be easily confused with a transition from the logarithmic to area law in finite-size numerical calculations. We have performed a careful numerical analysis, which supports our analytical predictions.
Quantum control is necessary for a variety of modern quantum technologies as it allows to optimally manipulate quantum systems. An important problem in quantum control is to establish whether the control objective functional has trapping behaviour or no, namely if it has or no traps -- controls from which it is difficult to escape by local search optimization methods. Higher order traps were previously introduced in [A. N. Pechen, D. J. Tannor, "Are there traps in quantum control landscapes?", Phys. Rev. Lett., 106 (2011), 120402], where 3-rd order traps were found. In this note we show that traps of arbitrarily high order exist for controllable quantum systems with special symmetry in the Hamiltonian.
We propose a general scheme to generate entanglement encoded in the photon-number basis, via a sequential resonant two-photon excitation of a three-level system. We apply it to the specific case of a quantum dot three-level system, which can emit a photon pair through a biexciton-exciton cascade. The state generated in our scheme constitutes a tool for secure communication, as the multipartite correlations present in the produced state may provide an enhanced rate of secret communication with respect to a perfect GHZ state.
Quantum computing holds great potential for advancing the limitations of machine learning algorithms to handle higher dimensions of data and reduce overall training parameters in deep learning (DL) models. This study uses a trainable variational quantum circuit (VQC) on a gate-based quantum computing model to investigate the potential for quantum benefit in a model-free reinforcement learning problem. Through a comprehensive investigation and evaluation of the current model and capabilities of quantum computers, we designed and trained a novel hybrid quantum neural network based on the latest Qiskit and PyTorch framework. We compared its performance with a full-classical CNN with and without an incorporated VQC. Our research provides insights into the potential of deep quantum learning to solve a maze problem and, potentially, other reinforcement learning problems. We conclude that reinforcement learning problems can be practical with reasonable training epochs. Moreover, a comparative study of full-classical and hybrid quantum neural networks is discussed to understand these two approaches' performance, advantages, and disadvantages to deep-Q learning problems, especially on larger-scale maze problems larger than 4x4.
Graph states are versatile resources for various quantum information processing tasks, including measurement-based quantum computing and quantum repeaters. Although the type-II fusion gate enables all-optical generation of graph states by combining small graph states, its non-deterministic nature hinders the efficient generation of large graph states. In this work, we present a graph-theoretical strategy to effectively optimize fusion-based generation of any given graph state, along with a Python package OptGraphState. Our strategy comprises three stages: simplifying the target graph state, building a fusion network, and determining the order of fusions. Utilizing this proposed method, we evaluate the resource overheads of random graphs and various well-known graphs. Additionally, we investigate the success probability of graph state generation given a restricted number of available resource states. We expect that our strategy and software will assist researchers in developing and assessing experimentally viable schemes that use photonic graph states.
This paper explores the phenomenon of avoided level crossings in quantum annealing, a promising framework for quantum computing that may provide a quantum advantage for certain tasks. Quantum annealing involves letting a quantum system evolve according to the Schr\"odinger equation, with the goal of obtaining the optimal solution to an optimization problem through measurements of the final state. However, the continuous nature of quantum annealing makes analytical analysis challenging, particularly with regard to the instantaneous eigenenergies. The adiabatic theorem provides a theoretical result for the annealing time required to obtain the optimal solution with high probability, which is inversely proportional to the square of the minimum spectral gap. Avoided level crossings can create exponentially closing gaps, which can lead to exponentially long running times for optimization problems. In this paper, we use a perturbative expansion to derive a condition for the occurrence of an avoided level crossing during the annealing process. We then apply this condition to the MaxCut problem on bipartite graphs. We show that no exponentially small gaps arise for regular bipartite graphs, implying that QA can efficiently solve MaxCut in that case. On the other hand, we show that irregularities in the vertex degrees can lead to the satisfaction of the avoided level crossing occurrence condition. We provide numerical evidence to support this theoretical development, and discuss the relation between the presence of exponentially closing gaps and the failure of quantum annealing.
One of the key features of non-Hermitian systems is the occurrence of exceptional points (EPs), spectral degeneracies where the eigenvalues and eigenvectors merge. In this work, we propose applying neural networks to characterize EPs by introducing a new feature -- summed phase rigidity (SPR). We consider different models with varying degrees of complexity to illustrate our approach, and show how to predict EPs for two-site and four-site gain and loss models. Further, we demonstrate an accurate EP prediction in the paradigmatic Hatano-Nelson model for a variable number of sites. Remarkably, we show how SPR enables a prediction of EPs of orders completely unseen by the training data. Our method can be useful to characterize EPs in an automated manner using machine learning approaches.
We propose a new method called decoupling representation to represent Pauli operators as vectors over $GF(2)$, based on which we propose partially decoupled belief propagation and fully decoupled belief propagation decoding algorithm for quantum low density parity-check codes. These two algorithms have the capability to deal with the correlations between the $X$ part and the $Z$ part of the vectors in symplectic representation, which are introduced by Pauli $Y$ errors. Hence, they can not only apply to CSS codes, but also to non-CSS codes. Under the assumption that there is no measurement error, compared with traditional belief propagation algorithm in symplectic representation over $GF(2)$, within the same number of iterations, the decoding accuracy of partially decoupled belief propagation and fully decoupled belief propagation algorithm is significantly improved in pure $Y$ noise and depolarizing noise, which supports that decoding algorithms of quantum error correcting codes might have better performance in decoupling representation than in symplectic representation. The impressive performance of fully decoupled belief propagation algorithm might promote the realization of quantum error correcting codes in engineering.
We study the entanglement dynamics of quantum automaton (QA) circuits in the presence of U(1) symmetry. We find that the second R\'enyi entropy grows diffusively with a logarithmic correction as $\sqrt{t\ln{t}}$, saturating the bound established by Huang [IOP SciNotes 1, 035205 (2020)]. Thanks to the special feature of QA circuits, we understand the entanglement dynamics in terms of a classical bit string model. Specifically, we argue that the diffusive dynamics stems from the rare slow modes containing extensively long domains of spin 0s or 1s. Additionally, we investigate the entanglement dynamics of monitored QA circuits by introducing a composite measurement that preserves both the U(1) symmetry and properties of QA circuits. We find that as the measurement rate increases, there is a transition from a volume-law phase where the second R\'enyi entropy persists the diffusive growth (up to a logarithmic correction) to a critical phase where it grows logarithmically in time. This interesting phenomenon distinguishes QA circuits from non-automaton circuits such as U(1)-symmetric Haar random circuits, where a volume-law to an area-law phase transition exists, and any non-zero rate of projective measurements in the volume-law phase leads to a ballistic growth of the R\'enyi entropy.
Excess micromotion is detrimental to accurate qubit control of trapped ions, thus measuring and minimizing it is crucial. In this paper, we present a simple approach for measuring and suppressing excess micromotion of trapped ions by leveraging the existing laser-driven qubit transition scheme combined with direct scanning of dc voltages. The compensation voltage is deduced by analyzing the Bessel expansion of a scanned qubit transition rate. The method provides a fair level of sensitivity for practical quantum computing applications, while demanding minimal deviation of trap condition. By accomplishing compensation of excess micromotion in the qubit momentum-excitation direction, the scheme offers an additional avenue for excess micromotion compensation, complementing existing compensation schemes.
Hyperbolic lattices are starting to be explored in search of novel phases of matter. At the same time, non-Hermitian physics has come to the forefront in photonic, optical, phononic, and condensed matter systems. In this work, we introduce non-Hermitian hyperbolic matter and elucidate its exceptional properties in depth. We use hyperbolic Bloch theory to investigate band structures of hyperbolic lattices in the presence of non-Hermitian on-site gain and loss as well as non-reciprocal hopping. Using various analytical and numerical approaches we demonstrate widely accessible and tunable exceptional points and contours in {10,5} tessellations, which we characterize using phase rigidity, energy scaling, and vorticity. We further demonstrate the occurrence of higher-order exceptional points and contours in the {8,4} tessellations using the method of Newton polygons, supported by vorticity and phase rigidity computations. Finally, we investigate the open boundary spectra and densities of states to compare with results from band theory, along with a demonstration of boundary localisation. Our results unveil an abundance of exceptional degeneracies in hyperbolic non-Hermitian matter.
The quantum phase estimation (QPE) is one of the fundamental algorithms based on the quantum Fourier transform. It has applications in order-finding, factoring, and finding the eigenvalues of unitary operators. The major challenge in running QPE and other quantum algorithms is the noise in quantum computers. In the present work, we study the impact of incoherent noise on QPE, modeled as trace-preserving and completely positive quantum channels. Different noise models such as depolarizing, phase flip, bit flip, and bit-phase flip are taken to understand the performance of the QPE in the presence of noise. The simulation results indicate that the standard deviation of the eigenvalue of the unitary operator has strong exponential dependence upon the error probability of individual qubits. However, the standard deviation increases only linearly with the number of qubits for fixed error probability when that error probability is small.
Discrete-variable (DV) and continuous-variable (CV) schemes constitute the two major families of quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols. Unfortunately, since the setup elements required by these schemes are quite different, making a fair comparison of their potential performance in particular applications is often troublesome, limiting the experimenters' capability to choose an optimal solution. In this work we perform a general comparison of the major entanglement-based DV and CV QKD protocols in terms of their resistance to the channel noise, with the otherwise perfect setup, showing the definite superiority of the DV family. We analytically derive fundamental bounds on the tolerable channel noise and attenuation for entanglement-based CV QKD protocols. We also investigate the influence of DV QKD setup imperfections on the obtained results in order to determine benchmarks for the parameters of realistic photon sources and detectors, allowing the realistic DV protocols to outperform even the ideal CV QKD analogs. Our results indicate the realistic advantage of DV entanglement-based schemes over their CV counterparts and suggests the practical efforts for maximizing this advantage.
This paper introduces a new quantum game called Quantum Tapsilou that is inspired by the classical traditional Greek coin tossing game tapsilou. The new quantum game, despite its increased complexity and scope, retains the most important characteristic of the traditional game. In the classical game, both players have $\frac { 1 } { 4 }$ probability to win. The quantum version retains this characteristic feature, that is both players have the same probability to win, only now this probability varies considerably and depends on previous moves and choices. The two most important novelties of Quantum Tapsilou can be attributed to its implementation of entanglement via the use of rotation gates instead of Hadamard gates, which generates Bell-like states with unequal probability amplitudes, and the integral use of groups. In Quantum Tapsilou both players agree on a specific cyclic rotation group of order $n$, for some sufficiently large $n$. The game is based on the chosen group, in the sense that both players will draw their moves from its elements. More specifically, both players will pick rotations from this group to realize their actions using the corresponding $R_{ y }$ rotation gates. In the Quantum Tapsilou game, it is equally probable for both players to win. This fact is in accordance with a previous result in the literature showing that quantum games where both players choose their actions from the same group, exhibit perfect symmetry by providing each player with the possibility to pick the move that counteracts the other player's action.
All quantum systems are subject to noise from the environment or external controls. This noise is a major obstacle to the realization of quantum technology. For example, noise limits the fidelity of quantum gates. Employing optimal control theory, we study the generation of quantum single and two-qubit gates. Specifically, we explore a Markovian model of phase and amplitude noise, leading to the degradation of the gate fidelity. We show that optimal control with such noise models generates control solutions to mitigate the loss of gate fidelity. The problem is formulated in Liouville space employing an extremely accurate numerical solver and the Krotov algorithm for solving the optimal control equations.
Motivated by the recent development of quantum technology using quantum annealing technique and the recent works on the static properties of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (SK) spin glass model, we study quantum annealing of the spin glass model by tuning both transverse and longitudinal fields. We numerically solve the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation of the total Hamiltonian when both the fields are made time-dependent and eventually vanish at the same time. We have computed the time-evolution of the probability of finding the system in one of two degenerate ground states of the classical spin glass. At the end of annealing, using the configuration averaged probability, we have shown a clear advantage while the longitudinal field is annealed rather than keeping it constant throughout the process of quantum annealing. We further investigate the order parameter distribution of a quantum SK spin glass in presence of a small longitudinal field and find, from our exact diaginalization results for small system sizes, evidence for quantum tunneling induced disappearance of the classical Almeida-Thouless phase boundary separating the replica symmetry broken (nonergodic) and replica symmetric (ergodic) spin glass phase (reported already in $2022$). We believe that this longitudinal field induced ergodicity in quantum SK model to be responsible for the observed enhancement of quantum annealing (reported earlier for smaller systems by us in $2014$).
We present measurements of X-ray Parametric Down Conversion at the Advanced Photon Source synchrotron facility. Using an incoming pump beam at 22 keV, we observe the simultaneous, elastic emission of down-converted photon pairs generated in a diamond crystal. The pairs are detected using high count rate silicon drift detectors with low noise. Production by down-conversion is confirmed by measuring time-energy correlations in the detector signal, where photon pairs within an energy window ranging from 10 to 12 keV are only observed at short time differences. By systematically varying the crystal misalignment and detector positions, we obtain results that are consistent with the constant total of the down-converted signal. Our maximum rate of observed pairs was 130 /hour, corresponding to a conversion efficiency for the down-conversion process of $5.3 \pm 0.5 \times 10^{-13}$.
In neutron-proton (n-p) scattering experiments, gas targets have been used to measure scattering length by detecting neutrons and recoil protons. Changes in electron dynamics within the gas target have a negligible effect on dynamics of neutrons and protons. However, electron dynamics are sensitive to the specific form of the n-p interaction during the scattering process, providing additional information to derive parameters in nuclear interaction models. We propose a theoretical approach to obtain these parameters from the momentum spectrum of ionized electrons within a hydrogen atomic gas target. This approach is based on a three-body scattering involving a neutron, a proton and an electron. We model the n-p interaction as the Yukawa potential and obtain the momentum spectrum of ionized electrons through the solution of the Time-Dependent Schr\"odinger Equation. Electron dynamics exhibit significant differences at various potential parameters. These parameters can be determined by comparing numerical calculations with experimental results. Moreover, this approach offers insights into detecting ultrafast scattering processes.
Introductory courses on quantum mechanics usually include lectures on uncertainty relations, typically the inequality derived by Robertson and, perhaps, other statements. For the benefit of the lecturers, we present a unified approach -- well suited for undergraduate teaching -- for deriving all standard uncertainty relations: those for products of variances by Kennard, Robertson, and Schr\"odinger, as well as those for sums of variances by Maccone and Pati. We also give a brief review of the early history of this topic and try to answer why the use of variances for quantifying uncertainty is so widespread, while alternatives are available that can be more natural and more fitting. It is common to regard the states that saturate the Robertson inequality as "minimum uncertainty states" although they do not minimize the variance of one observable, given the variance of another, incompatible observable. The states that achieve this objective are different and can be found systematically.
The conductance at the band edges of one-dimensional fermionic wires, with $N$ sites, has been shown to have subdiffusive $(1/N^2)$ behavior. We investigate this issue in two-dimensional fermionic wires described by a hopping model on an $N_x\times N_y$ rectangular lattice comprised of vertical chains with a Hermitian intra-chain and inter-chain hopping matrices given by $H_0$ and $H_1$, respectively. We study particle transport using the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism, and show that the asymptotic behavior of the conductance, $T(\omega)$, at the Fermi level $\omega$, is controlled by the spectrum of a dimensionless matrix $A(\omega)=(-\omega+H_0)H_1^{-1}$. This gives three simple conditions on the spectrum of $A(\omega)$ for observing ballistic, subdiffusive, and exponentially decaying $T(\omega)$ with respect to $N_x$. We show that certain eigenvalues of $A(\omega)$ give rise to subdiffusive contributions in the conductance, and correspond to the band edges of the isolated wire. We demonstrate that the condition for observing the subdiffusive behavior can be satisfied if $A(\omega)$ has nontrivial topology. In that case, a transition from ballistic behavior to subdiffusive behavior of the conductance is observed as the hopping parameters are tuned within the topological regime. We argue that at the transition point, different behaviors of the conductance can arise as the trivial bulk bands of $A(\omega)$ also contribute subdiffusively. We illustrate our findings in a simple model by numerically computing the variation of the conductance with $N_x$. Our numerical results indicate a different subdiffusive behavior ($1/N_x^3$) of the conductance at the transition point. We find the numerical results in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.
We present a framework for the unification and standardization of quantum network protocols, making their realization easier and expanding their use cases to a broader range of communities interested in quantum technologies. Our framework is available as an open-source repository, the Quantum Protocol Zoo. We follow a modular approach by identifying two key components: Functionality, which connects real-world applications; and Protocol, which is a set of instructions between two or many parties, at least one of which has a quantum device. Based on the different stages of the quantum internet and use-case in the commercialization of quantum communication, our framework classifies quantum cryptographic functionalities and the various protocol designs implementing these functionalities. Towards this classification, we introduce a novel concept of resource visualization for quantum protocols, which includes two interfaces: one to identify the building blocks for implementing a given protocol and another to identify accessible protocols when certain physical resources or functionalities are available. Such classification provides a hierarchy of quantum protocols based on their use-case and resource allocation. We have identified various valuable tools to improve its representation with a range of techniques, from abstract cryptography to graphical visualizations of the resource hierarchy in quantum networks. We elucidate the structure of the zoo and its primary features in this article to a broader class of quantum information scientists, physicists, computer science theorists and end-users. Since its introduction in 2018, the quantum protocol zoo has been a cornerstone in serving the quantum networks community in its ability to establish the use cases of emerging quantum internet networks. In that spirit we also provide some of the applications of our framework from different perspectives.
The Hohenberg--Mermin--Wagner theorem states that there is no spontaneous breaking of continuous symmetries in spatial dimensions $d\leq2$ at finite temperature. At zero temperature, the classical/quantum mapping further implies the absence of continuous symmetry breaking in one dimension, which is also known as Coleman's theorem in the context of relativistic quantum field theories. Except for the classic example of the Heisenberg ferromagnet and its variations, there has been no known counterexample to the theorem. In this Letter, we discuss new examples that display spontaneous breaking of a U(1) symmetry at zero temperature, although the order parameter does not commute with the Hamiltonian unlike the Heisenberg ferromagnet. We argue that a more general condition for this behavior is that the Hamiltonian is frustration-free.
KS-contextuality is a crucial feature of quantum theory. Previous research demonstrated the vanishing of $N$-cycle KS-contextuality in setups where multiple independent observers measure sequentially on the same system, which we call Public Systems. This phenomenon can be explained as the additional observers' measurements degrading the state and depleting the quantum resource. This explanation would imply that state-independent contextuality should survive in such a system. In this paper, we show that this is not the case. We achieved this result by simulating an observer trying to violate the Peres-Mermin noncontextuality inequality in a Public System. Additionally, we provide an analytical description of our setup, explaining the loss of contextuality even in the state-independent case. Ultimately, these results show that state-independent contextuality is not independent of what happens to the system in-between the measurements of a context.
Quantum error-correcting codes are crucial for quantum computing and communication. Currently, these codes are mainly categorized into additive, non-additive, and surface codes. Additive and non-additive codes utilize one or more invariant subspaces of the stabilizer G to construct quantum codes. Therefore, the selection of these invariant subspaces is a key issue. In this paper, we propose a solution to this problem by introducing quotient space codes and a construction method for quotient space quantum codes. This new framework unifies additive and non-additive quantum codes. We demonstrate the codeword stabilizer codes as a special case within this framework and supplement its error-correction distance. Furthermore, we provide a simple proof of the Singleton bound for this quantum code by establishing the code bound of quotient space codes and discuss the code bounds for pure and impure codes. The quotient space approach offers a concise and clear mathematical form for the study of quantum codes.
Quantum networks can enable various applications such as distributed quantum computing, long-distance quantum communication, and network-based quantum sensing with unprecedented performances. One of the most important building blocks for a quantum network is a photonic quantum memory which serves as the interface between the communication channel and the local functional unit. A programmable quantum memory which can process a large stream of flying qubits and fulfill the requirements of multiple core functions in a quantum network is still to-be-realized. Here we report a high-performance quantum memory which can simultaneously store 72 optical qubits carried by 144 spatially separated atomic ensembles and support up to a thousand consecutive write or read operations in a random access way, two orders of magnitude larger than the previous record. Due to the built-in programmability, this quantum memory can be adapted on-demand for several functions. As example applications, we realize quantum queue, stack, and buffer which closely resemble the counterpart devices for classical information processing. We further demonstrate the synchronization and reshuffle of 4 entangled pairs of photonic pulses with probabilistic arrival time and arbitrary release order via the memory, which is an essential requirement for the realization of quantum repeaters and efficient routing in quantum networks. Realization of this multi-purpose programmable quantum memory thus constitutes a key enabling building block for future large-scale fully-functional quantum networks.
Current quantum key distribution (QKD) networks focus almost exclusively on transporting secret keys with the highest possible rate. Consequently, they are built as mostly fixed, ad hoc, logically, and physically isolated infrastructures designed to avoid any penalty to the quantum channel. This architecture is neither scalable nor cost-effective and future, real-world deployments will differ considerably. The structure of the MadQCI QKD network presented here is based on disaggregated components and modern paradigms especially designed for flexibility, upgradability, and facilitating the integration of QKD in the security and telecommunications-networks ecosystem. These underlying ideas have been tested by deploying many QKD systems from several manufacturers in a real-world, multi-tenant telecommunications network, installed in production facilities and sharing the infrastructure with commercial traffic. Different technologies have been used in different links to address the variety of situations and needs that arise in real networks, exploring a wide range of possibilities. Finally, a set of realistic use cases have been implemented to demonstrate the validity and performance of the network. The testing took place during a period close to three years, where most of the nodes were continuously active.
Temperature estimation of interacting quantum many-body systems is both a challenging task and topic of interest in quantum metrology, given that critical behavior at phase transitions can boost the metrological sensitivity. Here we study non-invasive quantum thermometry of a finite, two-dimensional Ising spin lattice based on measuring the non-Markovian dephasing dynamics of a spin probe coupled to the lattice. We demonstrate a strong critical enhancement of the achievable precision in terms of the quantum Fisher information, which depends on the coupling range and the interrogation time. Our numerical simulations are compared to instructive analytic results for the critical scaling of the sensitivity in the Curie-Weiss model of a fully connected lattice and to the mean-field description in the thermodynamic limit, both of which fail to describe the critical spin fluctuations on the lattice the spin probe is sensitive to. Phase metrology could thus help to investigate the critical behaviour of finite many-body systems beyond the validity of mean-field models.
We analyze the generation of spin-squeezed states by coupling three-level atoms to an optical cavity and continuously measuring the cavity transmission in order to monitor the evolution of the atomic ensemble. Using analytical treatment and microscopic simulations of the dynamics, we show that one can achieve significant spin squeezing even without the continuous feedback that is proposed in optimal approaches. In the adiabatic cavity removal approximation and large number of atoms $N$ limit, we find the scaling exponents $N^{-2/3}$ for spin squeezing and $N^{-1/3}$ for the corresponding protocol duration, which are crucially impacted by the collective Bloch sphere curvature. With full simulations, we characterize how spin-squeezing generation depends on the system parameters and departs from the bad cavity regime, by gradually mixing with cavity-filling dynamics until metrological advantage is lost. Finally, we discuss the relevance of this spin-squeezing protocol to state-of-the-art optical clocks.
We study the universal real-time relaxation behaviors of a long-range quantum XY chain following a quench. Our research includes both the noncritical and critical quench. In the case of noncritical quench, i.e., neither the initial state nor the postquench Hamiltonian is at a critical point of equilibrium phase transition, a quench to the commensurate phase or incommensurate phase gives a scaling of $t^{-3/2}$ or $t^{-1/2}$, respectively, which is the same as the counterpart of the short-range XY model. However, for a quench to the boundary line between the commensurate and incommensurate phases, the scaling law $t^{-\mu}$ may be different from the $t^{-3/4}$ law of the counterpart of the short-range model. More interestingly, the decaying exponent $\mu$ may depend on the choice of the parameters of the postquench Hamiltonian because of the different asymptotic behaviors of the energy spectrum. Furthermore, in certain cases, the scaling behavior may be outside the range of predictions made by the stationary phase approximation, because an inflection point emerges in the energy spectrum. For the critical quench, i.e., the initial state or the postquench Hamiltonian is at a critical point of equilibrium phase transition, the aforementioned scaling law $t^{-\mu}$ may be changed because of the gap-closing property of the energy spectrum of the critical point.
We study whether a discrete quantum walk can get arbitrarily close to a state whose entries have the same absolute value over all the arcs, given that the walk starts with a uniform superposition of the outgoing arcs of some vertex. We characterize this phenomenon on non-bipartite graphs using the adjacency spectrum of the graph; in particular, if this happens in some association scheme and the state we get arbitrarily close to ``respects the neighborhood", then it happens regardless of the initial vertex, and the adjacency algebra of the graph contains a real (regular) Hadamard matrix. We then find infinite families of primitive strongly regular graphs that admit this phenomenon. We also derive some results on a strengthening of this phenomenon called simultaneous $\epsilon$-uniform mixing, which enables local $\epsilon$-uniform mixing at every vertex.