Tuesdays 10:30 - 11:30 | Fridays 11:30 - 12:30
Showing votes from 2023-12-08 12:30 to 2023-12-12 11:30 | Next meeting is Tuesday Oct 29th, 10:30 am.
We investigate the scalar induced gravitational waves which propagate with a speed different from the speed of light. First, we analytically calculate the expression of the power spectrum of the scalar induced gravitational waves which is based on the speed and the spectrum of the primordial curvature perturbations. Then, we discuss several scalar power spectra and obtain corresponding fractional energy density, such as the monochromatic power spectrum, the scale invariant power spectrum and the power-law power spectrum. Finally, we constrain the scalar induced gravitational waves and evaluate the signatures of the speed from the combination of CMB+BAO and gravitational waves observations. The numerical results are obvious to reveal the influence of speed of scalar induced gravitational waves.
Strongly-lensed supernovae are rare and valuable probes of cosmology and astrophysics. Upcoming wide-field time-domain surveys, such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), are expected to discover an order-of-magnitude more lensed supernovae than have previously been observed. In this work, we investigate the cosmological prospects of lensed type Ia supernovae (SNIa) in LSST by quantifying the expected annual number of detections, the impact of stellar microlensing, follow-up feasibility, and how to best separate lensed and unlensed SNIa. We simulate SNIa lensed by galaxies, using the current LSST baseline v3.0 cadence, and find an expected number of 44 lensed SNIa detections per year. Microlensing effects by stars in the lens galaxy are predicted to lower the lensed SNIa detections by $\sim 8 \%$. The lensed events can be separated from the unlensed ones by jointly considering their colours and peak magnitudes. We define a `gold sample' of $\sim 10$ lensed SNIa per year with time delay $> 10$ days, $> 5$ detections before light-curve peak, and sufficiently bright ($m_i < 22.5$ mag) for follow-up observations. In three years of LSST operations, such a sample is expected to yield a $1.5\%$ measurement of the Hubble constant.
Theories with more than one scalar field often exhibit phase transitions producing potentially detectable gravitational wave (GW) signal. In this work we study the semi-annihilating $\mathbb{Z}_3$ dark matter model, whose dark sector comprises an inert doublet and a complex singlet, and assess its prospects in future GW detectors. Without imposing limits from requirement of providing a viable dark matter candidate, i.e. taking into account only other experimental and theoretical constraints, we find that the first order phase transition in this model can be strong enough to lead to a detectable signal. However, direct detection and the dark matter thermal relic density constraint calculated with the state-of-the-art method including the impact of early kinetic decoupling, very strongly limit the parameter space of the model explaining all of dark matter and providing observable GW peak amplitude. Extending the analysis to underabundant dark matter thus reveals region with detectable GWs from a single-step or multi-step phase transition.
An explicit realistic model featuring a supercool phase transition, which allows us to explain the background of gravitational waves recently detected by pulsar timing arrays, is constructed. In this model the phase transition corresponds to radiative symmetry breaking (and mass generation) in a dark sector featuring a dark photon associated with the broken symmetry. The completion of the transition is ensured by a non-minimal coupling between gravity and the order parameter and fast reheating occurs thanks to a preheating phase. Finally, it is also shown that the model leads to primordial black hole production.
One of the primary scientific objectives of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is to probe the expansion of the Universe using gravitational wave observations. Indeed, as gravitational waves from the coalescence of a massive black hole binary (MBHB) carry direct information of the luminosity distances, an accompanying electromagnetic (EM) counterpart can be used to determine the redshift. This method of $bright$ $sirens$ enables one to build a gravitational Hubble diagram to high redshift when applied to LISA. In this work, we forecast the ability of LISA-detected MBHB bright sirens to constrain cosmological models. As the expected EM emission from MBHBs can be detected up to redshift $z\sim 7$ with future astronomical facilities, we focus on the ability of LISA to constrain the expansion of the Universe at $z\sim 2-3$, a poorly charted epoch in cosmography. We find that a model-independent approach to cosmology based on a spline interpolation of the luminosity distance-redshift relation, can constrain the Hubble parameter at $z\sim2-3$ with a relative precision of at least $10\%$.
We simulate galaxy properties and redshift estimation for SPHEREx, the next NASA Medium Class Explorer. To make robust models of the galaxy population and test spectro-photometric redshift performance for SPHEREx, we develop a set of synthetic spectral energy distributions based on detailed fits to COSMOS2020 photometry spanning 0.1-8 micron. Given that SPHEREx obtains low-resolution spectra, emission lines will be important for some fraction of galaxies. Here we expand on previous work, using better photometry and photometric redshifts from COSMOS2020, and tight empirical relations to predict robust emission line strengths and ratios. A second galaxy catalog derived from the GAMA survey is generated to ensure the bright ($m_{AB}<18$ in the i-band) sample is representative over larger areas. Using template fitting to estimate photometric continuum redshifts, we forecast redshift recovery of 19 million galaxies over 30000 sq. deg. with $\sigma_z<0.003(1+z)$, 445 million with $\sigma_z<0.1(1+z)$ and 810 million with $\sigma_z<0.2(1+z)$. We also find through idealized tests that emission line information from spectrally dithered flux measurements can yield redshifts with accuracy beyond that implied by the naive SPHEREx channel resolution, motivating the development of a hybrid continuum-line redshift estimation approach.
Highly magnified stars residing in caustic crossing lensed galaxies at z ~ 0.7-1.5 in galaxy cluster lensing fields inevitably exhibit recurrent brightening events as they traverse a micro caustic network cast down by foreground intracluster stars. The detectable ones belong to Nature's most massive and luminous class of stars, with evolved blue supergiants being the brightest ones at optical wavelengths. Considering single stars in this work, we study to what extent intrinsic stellar parameters are measurable from multi-filter lightcurves, which can be obtained with optical/near-IR space telescopes during one or multiple caustic crossing events. We adopt a realistic model for the axisymmetric surface brightness profiles of rotating O/B stars and develop a numerical lensing code that treats finite-source-size effects. With a single micro caustic crossing, the ratio of the surface rotation velocity to the breakup value is measurable to an precision of ~ 0.1-0.2 for feasible observation parameters with current space telescopes, with all unknown intrinsic and extrinsic parameters marginalized over and without a degeneracy with inclination. Equatorial radius and bolometric luminosity can be measured to 1/3 and 2/3 of the fractional uncertainty in the micro caustic strength, for which the value is not known at each crossing but an informative prior can be obtained from theory. Parameter inference precision may be further improved if multiple caustic crossing events for the same lensed star are jointly analyzed. Our results imply new opportunities to survey individual massive stars in star-formation sites at z ~ 0.7-1.5 or beyond.
Orphan galaxies that have lost a large fraction of the dark matter subhaloes have often been invoked in semi-analytical as well as empirical models of galaxy formation. We run a mock cluster finder that mimics the optical cluster finding technique of the redMaPPer algorithm on a catalogue of galaxies with quenched star formation from one such empirical model, the UniverseMachine, and obtain the prevalence of orphan galaxies in these clusters as a function of their cluster-centric distance. We compare the fraction of orphan galaxies with the upper limits derived based on our prior observations of the weak lensing signals around satellite galaxies from SDSS redMaPPer clusters. Although the orphan fraction from the UniverseMachine is marginally consistent with the upper limits in the innermost regions of galaxy clusters spanning [0.1, 0.3] $h^{-1}$ Mpc, we observe that the orphan fractions substantially violate the upper limits in the outer regions of galaxy clusters beyond 0.3 $h^{-1}$ Mpc. We discuss the reasons, plausible improvements to the model and how observations can be used to constrain such models further.
Known for their efficiency in analyzing large data sets, machine learning classifiers are widely used in wide-field sky surveys. The upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy of Time and Space Survey (LSST) will generate millions of alerts every night, enabling the discovery of large samples of rare events. Identifying such objects soon after explosion will be essential to study their evolution. This requires a machine learning framework that makes use of all available transient and contextual information. Using $\sim5400$ transients from the ZTF Bright Transient Survey as input data, we develop NEEDLE, a novel hybrid classifier to select for two rare classes with strong environmental preferences: superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) preferring dwarf galaxies, and tidal disruption events (TDEs) occurring in the centres of nucleated galaxies. The input data includes detection and reference images, photometric information from the alert packets, and host galaxy magnitudes from Pan-STARRS. Despite having only a few tens of examples of the rare classes, our average (best) completeness on an unseen test set reaches 77% (93%) for SLSNe and 72% (87%) for TDEs. This may still result in a large fraction of false positives for the rare transients, given the large class imbalance in real surveys. However, the goal of NEEDLE is to find good candidates for spectroscopic classification, rather than to select pure photometric samples. Our network is designed with LSST in mind and we expect performance to improve further with the higher resolution images and more accurate transient and host photometry that will be available from Rubin. Our system will be deployed as an annotator on the UK alert broker, Lasair, to provide predictions to the community in real time.
This short contributions summarizes a couple of recent results to test dark matter properties with galactic dynamics. First, I will present the impact in rotation curves from solitonic structures expected at the center of galaxies for ultralight bosonic dark matter. As a result, one can claim that masses of the order $m_{\rm DM}\lesssim 10^{-21}$eV are in tension with data. Second, I will discuss how the dark matter medium properties change the way a `probe' interacts with the halo. I will focus on dynamical friction and show how it is modified in the case of degenerate fermions. This result may be used to address the Fornax timing problem. I hope that this contribution represents an inspiration to continue exploring other ideas in this direction of using galactic dynamics to tell apart different dark matter models.
Redshift space distortions are an important probe of the growth of large-scale structure and for constraining cosmological parameters in general. As galaxy redshift surveys approach percent level precision in their observations of the two point clustering statistics, it is timely to review what effects baryons and associated processes such as feedback may have on small-scale clustering in redshift space. Contrary to previous studies in the literature, we show using the large-volume BAHAMAS hydrodynamic simulations that the effect of baryons can be as much as 1% in the k ~ 0.1 h/Mpc range for the monopole and 5% for quadrupole, and that this could rise to as much as 10% at k~10 h/Mpc in both measurements. For the halo power spectra, this difference can be as much 3-4% in the monopole on scales of 0.05 < k < 0.3 h/Mpc for 10^{13} M_sun/h haloes. We find that these deviations can be mitigated to the sub-percent level in the both the monopole and quadrupole up to k ~ 0.3 h/Mpc if the baryon corrected halo masses are used to calculate the redshift space power spectra. Finally, we use the cosmo-OWLS simulation suite to explore the changes in the redshift space power spectra with different feedback prescriptions, finding that there is a maximum of 15-20% difference between the redshift space monopole and quadrupole with and without baryons at k ~1-2 h/Mpc within these models.
Weak gravitational lensing simulations serve as indispensable tools for obtaining precise cosmological constraints. In particular, it is crucial to address the systematic uncertainties in theoretical predictions, given the rapid increase in galaxy numbers and the reduction in observational noise. Both on-the-fly and post-processing methods for constructing lensing light-cones encounter limitations due to the finite simulated volume, necessitating the replication of the simulation box to encompass the volume to high redshifts. To address this issue, our primary focus lies on investigating and quantifying the impact of box replication on the convergence power spectrum and higher-order moments of lensing fields. By combining the KS test with these statistics, we confirm that there is a probability exceeding 99\% to observe the significant statistical deviation from the correct measurements for all investigated special line-of-sight directions, e.g., x-axis direction. Additionally, we have developed a code that facilitates the identification of optimal viewing angles for the light-cone construction. This code has been made publicly accessible.
The splashback radius, coinciding with the minimum in the dark matter radial density gradient, is thought to be a universal definition of the edge of a dark matter halo. Observational methods to detect it have traced the dark matter using weak gravitational lensing or galaxy number counts. Recent attempts have also claimed the detection of a similar feature in Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) observations of the hot intracluster gas. Here, we use the FLAMINGO simulations to investigate whether a reflection of the splashback feature is predicted to occur in the cluster gas profiles. We find that the minimum in the gradient of the stacked 3D gas density and pressure profiles, and the maximum in the entropy profile, broadly align with the splashback feature though there are significant differences. While the dark matter splashback radius varies with specific mass accretion rate, in agreement with previous work, the radial position of the feature in the gas density is more sensitive to halo mass. In addition, we show that the feature is also present in projected 2D pseudo-observable profiles: emission measure (X-ray); Compton-$y$ (SZ) and surface mass density (weak lensing). We find that the latter traces the dark matter results reasonably well albeit the feature occurs at a slightly smaller radius. While results for the gas profiles are largely insensitive to accretion rate and various observable proxies for dynamical state, they do depend on the strength of the feedback processes.
In this paper, we revisit the experimental constraints on the multipolar dark matter that has derivative coupling to the visible sector mediated by the Standard Model photon. The momentum dependent interaction enables them to be captured efficiently within massive celestial bodies boosted by their steep gravitational potential. This phenomena makes compact celestial bodies as an efficient target to probe such type of dark matter candidates. We demonstrate that a synergy of the updated direct detection results from DarkSide-50 and LUX-ZEPLIN together with IceCube bounds on high energy solar neutrinos from dark matter capture disfavour the viable parameter space of the dipolar dark matter scenario. Whereas, for the anapole dark matter scenario, a narrow window survives that lies within the reach of prospective heating signals due to the capture of dark matter at cold neutron stars.
We study the robustness of the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) analysis to the underlying cosmological model. We focus on testing the standard BAO analysis that relies on the use of a template. These templates are constructed assuming a fixed fiducial cosmological model and used to extract the location of the acoustic peaks. Such ``compressed analysis'' had been shown to be unbiased when applied to the $\Lambda$CDM model and some of its extensions. However, it has not been known whether this type of analysis introduces biases in a wider range of cosmological models where the template may not fully capture relevant features in the BAO signal. In this study, we apply the compressed analysis to noiseless mock power spectra that are based on Horndeski models, a broad class of modified-gravity theories specified with eight additional free parameters. We study the precision and accuracy of the BAO peak-location extraction assuming DESI, DESI II, and MegaMapper survey specifications. We find that the bias in the extracted peak locations is negligible; for example, it is less than 10% of the statistical error for even the proposed future MegaMapper survey. Our findings indicate that the compressed BAO analysis is remarkably robust to the underlying cosmological model.
We explore the capability of measuring lensing signals in $LiteBIRD$ full-sky polarization maps. With a $30$ arcmin beam width and an impressively low polarization noise of $2.16\,\mu$K-arcmin, $LiteBIRD$ will be able to measure the full-sky polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) very precisely. This unique sensitivity also enables the reconstruction of a nearly full-sky lensing map using only polarization data, even considering its limited capability to capture small-scale CMB anisotropies. In this paper, we investigate the ability to construct a full-sky lensing measurement in the presence of Galactic foregrounds, finding that several possible biases from Galactic foregrounds should be negligible after component separation by harmonic-space internal linear combination. We find that the signal-to-noise ratio of the lensing is approximately $40$ using only polarization data measured over $90\%$ of the sky. This achievement is comparable to $Planck$'s recent lensing measurement with both temperature and polarization and represents a four-fold improvement over $Planck$'s polarization-only lensing measurement. The $LiteBIRD$ lensing map will complement the $Planck$ lensing map and provide several opportunities for cross-correlation science, especially in the northern hemisphere.
We estimate the efficiency of mitigating the lensing $B$-mode polarization, the so-called delensing, for the $LiteBIRD$ experiment with multiple external data sets of lensing-mass tracers. The current best bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, is limited by lensing rather than Galactic foregrounds. Delensing will be a critical step to improve sensitivity to $r$ as measurements of $r$ become more and more limited by lensing. In this paper, we extend the analysis of the recent $LiteBIRD$ forecast paper to include multiple mass tracers, i.e., the CMB lensing maps from $LiteBIRD$ and CMB-S4-like experiment, cosmic infrared background, and galaxy number density from $Euclid$- and LSST-like survey. We find that multi-tracer delensing will further improve the constraint on $r$ by about $20\%$. In $LiteBIRD$, the residual Galactic foregrounds also significantly contribute to uncertainties of the $B$-modes, and delensing becomes more important if the residual foregrounds are further reduced by an improved component separation method.
We consider a simple system consisting of matter, radiation and vacuum components to model the impact of thermal inflation on the evolution of primordial perturbations. The vacuum energy magnifies the primordial modes entering the horizon before its domination, making them potentially observable, and the resulting transfer function reflects the phase changes and energy contents. To determine the transfer function, we follow the curvature perturbation from well outside the horizon during radiation domination to well outside the horizon during vacuum domination and evaluate it on a constant radiation density hypersurface, as is appropriate for the case of thermal inflation. The shape of the transfer function is determined by the ratio of vacuum energy to radiation at matter-radiation equality, which we denote by $\upsilon$, and has two characteristic scales, $k_{\rm a}$ and $k_{\rm b}$, corresponding to the horizon sizes at matter radiation equality and the beginning of the inflation, respectively. If $\upsilon \ll 1$, the universe experiences radiation, matter and vacuum domination eras and the transfer function is flat for $k \ll k_{\rm b}$, oscillates with amplitude $1/5$ for $ k_{\rm b} \ll k \ll k_{\rm a}$ and oscillates with amplitude $1$ for $k \gg k_{\rm a}$. For $\upsilon \gg 1$, the matter domination era disappears, and the transfer function reduces to being flat for $k \ll k_{\rm b}$ and oscillating with amplitude $1$ for $k \gg k_{\rm b}$.
The simultaneous observation of gravitational waves (GW) and prompt electromagnetic counterparts from the merger of two neutron stars can help reveal the properties of extreme matter and gravity during and immediately after the final plunge. Rapid sky localization of these sources is crucial to facilitate such multi-messenger observations. Since GWs from binary neutron star (BNS) mergers can spend up to 10-15 mins in the frequency bands of the detectors at design sensitivity, early warning alerts and pre-merger sky localization can be achieved for sufficiently bright sources, as demonstrated in recent studies. In this work, we present pre-merger BNS sky localization results using CBC-SkyNet, a deep learning model capable of inferring sky location posterior distributions of GW sources at orders of magnitude faster speeds than standard Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. We test our model's performance on a catalog of simulated injections from Sachdev et al. (2020), recovered at 0-60 secs before merger, and obtain comparable sky localization areas to the rapid localization tool BAYESTAR. These results show the feasibility of our model for rapid pre-merger sky localization and the possibility of follow-up observations for precursor emissions from BNS mergers.
We examine the possibility of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) formation in single-field models of inflation. Using the adiabatic or wave function renormalization scheme in the short-range modes, we show that one-loop correction to the power spectrum is free from quadratic UV divergence. We consider a framework in which PBHs are produced during the transition from Slow Roll (SR) to Ultra Slow Roll (USR) followed by the end of inflation. We demonstrate that the renormalized power spectrum softens the contribution of the logarithmic IR divergence and severely restricts the possible mass range of produced PBHs in the said transition, namely, $M_{\rm PBH}\sim 10^{2}{\rm gm}$ ala a no-go theorem. In particular, we find that the produced PBHs are short-lived ($t^{\rm evap}_{\rm PBH}\sim 10^{-20}{\rm sec}$) and the corresponding number of e-folds in the USR region is restricted to $\Delta N_{\rm USR}\approx 2$.
The fraction of ionizing photons that escape their host galaxies to ionize hydrogen in the inter-galactic medium (IGM) is a critical parameter in analyses of the reionization era. In this paper we use the Meraxes semi-analytic galaxy formation model to infer the mean ionizing photon escape fraction and its dependence on galaxy properties through joint modelling of the observed high redshift galaxy population and existing constraints on the reionization history. Using a Bayesian framework, and under the assumption that escape fraction is primarily related to halo mass, we find that the joint constraints of the UV luminosity function, CMB optical depth, and the Ly$\alpha$ forest require an escape fraction of $(18\pm5)\%$ for galaxies within haloes of $M\lesssim10^{9}$M$_\odot$ and $(5\pm2)\%$ for more massive haloes. In terms of galaxy properties, this transition in escape fraction occurs at stellar masses of $M_\star\sim10^7$M$_\odot$, nearly independent of redshift. As a function of redshift, reionization is dominated by the smaller $M_\star\lesssim10^7$M$_\odot$ galaxies with high escape fractions at $z\gtrsim6$ and by the larger $M_\star\gtrsim10^7$M$_\odot$ galaxies with lower escape fractions at $z\lesssim6$. Galaxies with star formation rates of $10^{-2.5}$M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ to $10^{-1.5}$M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ provide the dominant source of ionizing photons throughout reionization. Our results are consistent with recent direct measurements of a $\sim5\%$ escape fraction from massive galaxies at the end of reionization and support the picture of low mass galaxies being the dominant sources of ionizing photons during reionization.
We discuss cosmic domain walls described by a tension red-shifting with the expansion of the Universe. These melting domain walls emit gravitational waves with the low-frequency spectral shape $\Omega_{gw}\propto f^{2}$ corresponding to the spectral index $\gamma=3$ favoured by the recent NANOGrav 15 yrs data. We discuss a concrete high-energy physics scenario leading to such a melting domain wall network in the early Universe. This scenario involves a feebly coupled scalar field, which can serve as a promising dark matter candidate. We identify parameters of the model matching the gravitational wave characteristics observed in the NANOGrav data. The dark matter mass is pushed to the ultra-light range below $10^{-11}-10^{-12}\,\text{eV}$ which is accessible through planned observations thanks to the effects of superradiance of rotating black holes.
The overlap of galaxy surveys and CMB experiments presents an ideal opportunity for joint cosmological dataset analyses. In this paper we develop a halo-model-based method for the first joint analysis combining these two experiments using 10 correlated two-point functions (10x2pt) derived from galaxy position, galaxy shear, CMB lensing convergence, and Compton-y fields. We explore this method using the Vera Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) and the Simons Observatory (SO) as examples. We find such LSSxCMB joint analyses lead to significant improvement in Figure-of-Merit of $\Omega_m$ and $S_8$ over the constraints from using LSS-only probes within $\Lambda$CDM. We identify that the shear-$y$ and $y$-$y$ correlations are the most valuable additions when tSZ is included. We further identify the dominant sources of halo model uncertainties in the small-scale modelling, and investigate the impact of halo self-calibration due to the inclusion of small-scale tSZ information.
By tracking trajectories of dark matter (DM) particles accreting onto haloes in cosmological $N$-body simulations, we investigate the radial phase-space distribution of cold dark matter (CDM) haloes, paying attention to their inner regions deep inside the halo boundary called the splashback radius, where the particles undergo multi-stream flows. Improving the analysis by Sugiura et al., we classify DM particles by the number of apocenter passages, $p$, and count it up to $p=40$ for each halo over a wide mass range. Quantifying the radial density profile for particles having the same value of $p$, we find that it generally exhibits a double-power law feature, whose indices of inner and outer slopes are well-described by $-1$ and $-8$, respectively. Its characteristic scale and density are given as a simple fitting function of $p$, with a weak halo mass dependence. Interestingly, summing up these double-power law profiles beyond $p=40$ reproduces well the total density profile of simulated haloes. The double-power law nature is persistent and generic not only in mass-selected haloes but also in haloes selected in different criteria. Our results are compared with self-similar solutions that describe the stationary and spherical accretion of DM. We find that even when introducing a non-zero angular momentum, none of them explain the radial multi-stream structure. The analysis with particle trajectories tracing back to higher redshifts suggests that the double-power law nature has been established during an early accretion phase and remains stable.
The neutrinos in the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB) travel over cosmological distances and this provides them with an excellent opportunity to interact with dark relics. We show that a cosmologically-significant relic population of keV-mass sterile neutrinos with strong self-interactions could imprint their presence in the DSNB. The signatures of the self-interactions would be ``dips" in the otherwise smooth DSNB spectrum. Upcoming large-scale neutrino detectors, for example Hyper-Kamiokande, have a good chance of detecting the DSNB and these dips. If no dips are detected, this method serves as an independent constraint on the sterile neutrino self-interaction strength and mixing with active neutrinos. We show that relic sterile neutrino parameters that evade X-ray and structure bounds may nevertheless be testable by future detectors like TRISTAN, but may also produce dips in the DSNB which could be detectable. Such a detection would suggest the existence of a cosmologically-significant, strongly self-interacting sterile neutrino background, likely embedded in a richer dark sector.
The era of precision cosmology allows us to test the composition of the dark matter. Mixed ultralight or fuzzy dark matter (FDM) is a cosmological model with dark matter composed of a combination of particles of mass $m\leq 10^{-20}\;\mathrm{eV}$, with an astrophysical de Broglie wavelength, and particles with a negligible wavelength sharing the properties of cold dark matter (CDM). In this work, we simulate cosmological volumes with a dark matter wave function for the ultralight component coupled gravitationally to CDM particles. We investigate the impact of a mixture of CDM and FDM in various proportions $(0\%,\;1\%,\;10\%,\;50\%,\;100\%)$ and for ultralight particle masses ranging over five orders of magnitude $(2.5\times 10^{-25}\;\mathrm{eV}-2.5\times 10^{-21}\;\mathrm{eV})$. To track the evolution of density perturbations in the non-linear regime, we adapt the simulation code AxioNyx to solve the CDM dynamics coupled to a FDM wave function obeying the Schr\"odinger-Poisson equations. We obtain the non-linear power spectrum and study the impact of the wave effects on the growth of structure on different scales. We confirm that the steady-state solution of the Schr\"odinger-Poisson system holds at the center of halos in the presence of a CDM component when it composes $50\%$ or less of the dark matter but find no stable density core when the FDM accounts for $10\%$ or less of the dark matter. We implement a modified friends-of-friends halo finder and find good agreement between the observed halo abundance and the predictions from the adapted halo model axionHMCode.
Scale-invariant extensions of the electroweak theory are not only attractive because they can dynamically generate the weak scale, but also due to their role in facilitating supercooled first-order phase transitions. We study the minimal scale-invariant $U(1)_{\rm D}$ extension of the standard model and show that Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) can be abundantly produced. The mass of these PBHs is bounded from above by that of the moon due to QCD catalysis limiting the amount of supercooling. Lunar-mass PBHs, which are produced for dark Higgs vev $v_\phi\simeq 20~\rm TeV$, correspond to the best likelihood to explain the HSC lensing anomaly. For $v_\phi\gtrsim 400~\rm TeV$, the model can explain hundred per cent of dark matter. At even larger hierarchy of scales, it can contribute to the $511~\rm keV$ excess. While the gravitational wave (GW) signal produced by the HSC anomaly interpretation is large and detectable by LISA above astrophysical foreground, the dark matter interpretation in terms of PBHs can not be entirely probed by future GW detection. This is due to the dilution of the signal by the entropy injected during the decay of the long-lived $U(1)_{\rm D}$ scalar. This extended lifetime is a natural consequence of the large hierarchy of scales.
Magnetized plasma columns and extended magnetic structures with both foot points anchored to a surface layer are an important building block of astrophysical dissipation models. Current loops shining in X-rays during the growth of plasma instabilities are observed in the corona of the Sun and are expected to exist in highly magnetized neutron star magnetospheres and accretion disk coronae. For varying twist and system sizes, we investigate the stability of line-tied force-free flux tubes and the dissipation of twist energy during instabilities using linear analysis and time-dependent force-free electrodynamics simulations. Kink modes ($m=1$) and efficient magnetic energy dissipation develop for plasma safety factors $q\lesssim 1$, where $q$ is the inverse of the number of magnetic field line windings per column length. Higher order fluting modes ($m>1$) can distort equilibrium flux tubes for $q>1$ but induce significantly less dissipation. In our analysis, the characteristic pitch $p_0$ of flux tube field lines determines the growth rate ($\propto p_0^3$) and minimum wavelength of the kink instability ($\propto p_0^{-1}$). We use these scalings to determine a minimum flux tube length for the growth of the kink instability for any given $p_0$. By drawing analogies to idealized magnetar magnetospheres with varying regimes of boundary shearing rates, we discuss the expected impact of the pitch-dependent growth rates for magnetospheric dissipation in magnetar conditions.
Simulations and indirect observational evidence have suggested that, in addition to the mergers of compact objects, there exists a secondary source of heavy element ($r$-process) nucleosynthesis with a short delay from star formation: the core-collapse of rapidly-rotating and/or highly-magnetized massive stars. Here, we probe a predicted signature of $r$-process enrichment, a late-time ($\gtrsim 40$~days post-burst) distinct red color, in observations of gamma-ray burst supernovae (GRB-SNe) which are linked to these massive star progenitors. We present optical to near-IR color measurements of four GRB-SNe at $z < 0.4$, extending out to $>$ 500 days post-burst, obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope and large-aperture ground-based telescopes. Comparison of our observations to models indicates that GRB 190829A favors little ($\leq 0.01 M_{\odot}$) $r$-process enrichment whereas GRB 100316D is consistent with producing $0.03 - 0.15 M_{\odot}$ of $r$-process material. Observations of GRBs 030329 and 130427A are not on sufficient timescales to robustly constrain enrichment, although taken together the sample of GRB-SNe indicates color diversity at late times. Our sample also disfavors large amounts of mixing between the inner $r$-process ejecta and outer SN layers. Our derived yields from GRB-SNe may be underestimated due to $r$-process material hidden in the SN ejecta (potentially due to low mixing fractions) or the limits of current models in measuring $r$-process mass. We conclude with recommendations for future search strategies to observe and probe the full distribution of $r$-process produced by GRB-SNe.
The gravitational waves emitted (some time) after two black holes merge are well described by the theory of linear perturbations on a spacetime characterized by the mass and spin of the remnant. However, in the very early stages right after merger, both the mass and spin are changing. In this work we explore, in a set up based on Vaidya's spacetime, the dynamical consequences of a change of mass in the spacetime due to the accretion of null matter (for example, gravitational waves). We show that accretion imprints time-dependent frequencies and amplitude to a ringdown waveform, and we show how to model accurately this effect in certain regimes. We also comment on the direct emission of gravitational waves due to perturbations in the in--falling matter, which is of relevance for black holes embedded in astrophysical environments.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) provides an avenue to study black hole accretion flows on event-horizon scales. Fitting a semi-analytical model to EHT observations requires the construction of synthetic images, which is computationally expensive. This study presents an image generation tool in the form of a generative machine learning model, which extends the capabilities of a variational autoencoder. This tool can rapidly and continuously interpolate between a training set of images and can retrieve the defining parameters of those images. Trained on a set of synthetic black hole images, our tool showcases success in both interpolating black hole images and their associated physical parameters. By reducing the computational cost of generating an image, this tool facilitates parameter estimation and model validation for observations of black hole system.
The High Energy X-ray Probe is a proposed NASA probe-class mission that combines the power of high angular resolution with a broad X-ray bandpass to provide the necessary leap in capabilities to address the important astrophysical questions of the next decade. HEX-P achieves breakthrough performance by combining technologies developed by experienced international partners. HEX-P will be launched into L1 to enable high observing efficiency. To meet the science goals, the payload consists of a suite of co-aligned X-ray telescopes designed to cover the 0.2 - 80 keV bandpass. The High Energy Telescope (HET) has an effective bandpass of 2 - 80 keV, and the Low Energy Telescope (LET) has an effective bandpass of 0.2 - 20 keV. The combination of bandpass and high observing efficiency delivers a powerful platform for broad science to serve a wide community. The baseline mission is five years, with 30% of the observing time dedicated to the PI-led program and 70% to a General Observer (GO) program. The GO program will be executed along with the PI-led program.
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 221009A produced the highest flux of gigaelectronvolt-teraelectronvolt ($\rm GeV-TeV$) photons ever observed, allowing the construction of a detailed $\rm TeV$ light curve. We focus on explaining the noticeable dip in the light curve around $2$-$5\ \rm s$ after the onset of $\rm TeV$ emission. We propose that Megaelectronvolt (MeV) photons from the prompt emission annihilate with $\rm TeV$ photons from the afterglow, producing an optical depth that obscures the $\rm TeV$ emission during this period. We develop a two-zone model accounting for the angles of MeV photons that can successfully reproduce the time delay between MeV and $\rm TeV$ photons, the peak optical depth over 3, and the rapid decline in optical depth. Our model supports $\rm MeV-TeV$ annihilation as the cause of the dip and provides reasonable constraints on the emission region parameters.
We study sub-GeV dark matter (DM) particles that may annihilate or decay into Standard Model (SM) particles producing an electron-positron cascade that results in positronium bound state formation after energy losses. This comprises an exotic injection component in the Milky Way that leaves an imprint in the 511 keV photon line due to the decay of positronium into two photons. In this work, we use $\sim16$~yr of SPI spectrometer data from the INTEGRAL satellite to constrain DM properties. We include three major novelties in our study: i) we account for positron diffusion and propagation, as well as positron losses due to annihilation in flight and other energy losses, ii) we include the free electron density suppression away from the Galactic plane and iii) we derive limits for decaying DM for the first time with SPI data. We show that the predicted longitude and latitude profiles change significantly for different DM masses, contrary to what has previously been assumed. In addition, we find that the limits derived from this new set of SPI data are the strongest on sub-GeV DM to date across almost the entire DM mass range considered (from MeV to a few GeV), excluding cross-sections down to $10^{-32}$ cm$^3$ s$^{-1} \, \, (\text{for} \,\, m_{\chi}\sim1 \,\text{MeV}) \lesssim \langle \sigma v\rangle \lesssim10^{-26}$ cm$^3$ s$^{-1} \, \, (m_{\chi}\sim5\,\text{GeV})$ and lifetimes up to $10^{29}\, \textrm{s} \, (m_{\chi}\sim1\,\text{MeV})\lesssim \tau \lesssim 10^{27}\,\textrm{s}$ ($m_{\chi}\sim5$~GeV), whilst considering best-fit cosmic ray (CR) propagation and diffusion parameters. These limits surpass even the most stringent complementary cosmological and astrophysical limits over most of the mass range considered.
3C 273 is one of the nearest high-luminosity quasars. Although classified as a blazar, 3C 273 also has some features in Seyferts, whose X-ray may originate from the corona. Since both jet and corona produce power-law spectra in X-ray, the spectrum cannot completely distinguish their contributions to 3C 273 in the low state. X-ray polarimetric observations provide the chance to constrain the X-ray radiation origin of 3C 273 in the low state. We perform general relativistic radiative transfer simulations with the code MONK to compute the X-ray polarization in 2-10 keV from the jets, sphere coronae, and slab coronae for 3C 273. We find that the radiation from the jet in 2-10 keV has a larger polarization degree than that of the corona: the polarization degree in 2-10 keV from the corona is unpolarized, while these are 4.1%-15.8% for the jet with a vertical or radial magnetic field and $\leq$5.0% for the jet with toroidal magnetic field. The X-ray polarization of the corona and jet is sensitive to optical depth and geometry, and the main driver for this dependence is the number of scatterings. These results show that X-ray polarization can effectively constrain the X-ray radiation origin of 3C 273 in the low state.
KASCADE-Grande, the extension of the multi-detector setup of KASCADE, was devoted to measure the properties of extensive air showers initiated by high-energy cosmic rays in the primary energy range of 1 PeV up to 1 EeV. The observations of the energy spectrum and mass composition of cosmic rays contribute with great detail to the understanding of the transition from galactic to extragalactic origin of cosmic rays, and furthermore to validate the properties of hadronic interaction models in the air shower development. Although the experiment is fully dismantled, the analysis of the entire KASCADE-Grande data set continues. We have recently investigated the impact of different post-LHC hadronic interaction models, QGSJETII-04, EPOS-LHC, Sibyll 2.3d, on air shower predictions in terms of the reconstructed spectra of heavy and light primary masses, including systematic uncertainties. In addition, the conversely discussed evolution of the muon content of high-energy air showers in the atmosphere is compared with the predictions of different interaction models. In this contribution, the latest results from the KASCADE-Grande measurements will be discussed.
We analyze a single-epoch Global mm-VLBI Array (GMVA) observation of the blazar BL Lacertae (BL Lac) at 86 GHz from April 2021. The participation of the upgraded, phased Northern Extended Millimetre Array (NOEMA) adds additional sensitivity to the GMVA, which has facilitated the imaging of BL Lac during an unprecedentedly strong $\gamma$-ray flare. We aim to explore the nature of the inner subparsec jet of BL Lac and the impact of the NOEMA participation in the observation. For the data reduction, we employed two advanced automatic pipelines: rPICARD for the flux density calibration as well as the model-agnostic signal stabilization and GPCAL for the antenna leakage calibration. The conventional hybrid imaging (CLEAN + amplitude and phase self-calibration) was applied to the calibrated visibilities to generate final VLBI images. We performed a ridge-line analysis and Gaussian model-fits on the final jet image to derive the jet parameters. In our data, the presence of NOEMA improves the image sensitivity by a factor of 2.5. The jet shows a clear wiggling structure within 0.4 mas from the core. Our ridge-line analysis suggests the presence of a helical jet structure (i.e., a sinusoidal pattern). Six circular Gaussian components were fitted to the inner jet region. We estimated an apparent brightness temperature of $\sim$3 $\times$ 10$^{12}$ K in the two innermost components. They are likely to be highly boosted by relativistic beaming effect. We find four significant polarized knots in the jet. Interestingly, two of them are located in the core region. Finally, we suggest a number of physical scenarios to interpret our results.
Relativistic electron-positron plasmas are ubiquitous in extreme astrophysical environments such as black holes and neutron star magnetospheres, where accretion-powered jets and pulsar winds are expected to be enriched with such pair plasmas. Their behaviour is quite different from typical electron-ion plasmas due to the matter-antimatter symmetry of the charged components and their role in the dynamics of such compact objects is believed to be fundamental. So far, our experimental inability to produce large yields of positrons in quasi-neutral beams has restricted the understanding of electron-positron pair plasmas to simple numerical and analytical studies which are rather limited. We present first experimental results confirming the generation of high-density, quasi-neutral, relativistic electron-positron pair beams using the 440 GeV/c beam at CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) accelerator. The produced pair beams have a volume that fills multiple Debye spheres and are thus able to sustain collective plasma oscillations. Our work opens up the possibility of directly probing the microphysics of pair plasmas beyond quasi-linear evolution into regimes that are challenging to simulate or measure via astronomical observations.
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) span a range of luminosities and timescales, from rapidly evolving subluminous to slowly evolving overluminous subtypes. Previous theoretical work has, for the most part, been unable to match the entire breadth of observed SNe Ia with one progenitor scenario. Here, for the first time, we apply non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiative transfer calculations to a range of accurate explosion models of sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf detonations. The resulting photometry and spectra are in excellent agreement with the range of observed non-peculiar SNe Ia through 15 d after the time of B-band maximum, yielding one of the first examples of a quantitative match to the entire Phillips (1993) relation. The intermediate-mass element velocities inferred from theoretical spectra at maximum light for the more massive white dwarf explosions are higher than those of bright observed SNe Ia, but these and other discrepancies likely stem from the one-dimensional nature of our explosion models and will be improved upon by future non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiation transport calculations of multi-dimensional sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf detonations.
Almost a hundred compact binary mergers have been detected via gravitational waves by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration in the past few years providing us with a significant amount of new information on black holes and neutron stars. In addition to observations, numerical simulations using newly developed modern codes in the field of gravitational wave physics will guide us to understand the nature of single and binary degenerate systems and highly energetic astrophysical processes. We here presented a set of new fully general relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of high-mass binary neutron star systems using the open-source Einstein Toolkit and LORENE codes. We considered systems with total baryonic masses ranging from 2.8 $M_\odot$ to 4.0 $M_\odot$ and used the SLy equation of state. We analyzed the gravitational wave signal for all models and reported potential indicators of systems undergoing rapid collapse into a black hole that could be observed by future detectors like the Einstein Telescope and the Cosmic Explorer. The properties of the post-merger black hole, the disk and ejecta masses, and their dependence on the binary parameters were also extracted. We also compared our numerical results with recent analytical fits presented in the literature and provided parameter-dependent semi-analytical relations between the total mass and mass ratio of the systems and the resulting black hole masses and spins, merger frequency, BH formation time, ejected mass, disk mass, and radiated gravitational wave energy.
A non-perturbative framework is provided to connect QCD with nuclear phenomenology in the intermediate and high density regime. Using QCD Sum Rules, in-medium scalar and vector self-energies of nucleons are calculated as functions of the density of an infinite nuclear medium. The self-energies are used in the relativistic mean field theory lagrangian of a high-density nuclear medium to find the binding energy of in-medium nucleons and the value of light quark condensate, $\langle \bar{q} q \rangle_{\rm{vac}} = -~(0.288 ~\rm{GeV})^3$, in the Borel-improved resummation scheme. The critical mass of an ideal neutron star is obtained by coupling a uniform saturation energy density of cold, dense nuclear matter to Einstein equation in hydrostatic equilibrium. Since it is less likely for a neutron star core to avoid deconfinement and enter the rigid vector repulsion phase where the speed of sound can smoothly approach from conformal to causal limit, a gap should exist in the stellar mass spectrum, $[3.48M_\odot, 5.47M_\odot]$, where it would be rare to find any isolated, cold, non-rotating neutron star or a black hole.
We perform high-resolution three-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations with neutrino transport of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers resulting in a long-lived remnant neutron star, with properties typical of galactic BNS and consistent with those inferred for the first observed BNS merger GW170817. We demonstrate self-consistently that within $\lesssim\!30$ ms post-merger magnetized ($\sigma\sim 5-10$) twin polar jets emerge with asymptotic Lorentz factor $\Gamma\sim 5-10$, which successfully break out from the merger debris within $\lesssim\!20$ ms. A fast ($v\lesssim 0.6c$), magnetized ($\sigma\sim 0.1$) wind surrounds the jet core and generates a UV/blue kilonova precursor on timescales of hours, similar to the precursor signal due to free neutron decay in fast dynamical ejecta. Post-merger ejecta are quickly dominated by MHD-driven outflows from an accretion disk. We demonstrate that within only 50 ms post-merger, $\gtrsim 2\times 10^{-2}M_\odot$ of lanthanide-free, quasi-spherical ejecta with velocity $\sim\!0.1c$ is launched, yielding a kilonova signal consistent with GW170817 on timescales of $\lesssim\!5$\,d.
Axions and axion-like-particles (ALPs) are characterised by their two-photon coupling, which entails so-called photon-ALP oscillations as photons propagate through a magnetic field. These oscillations lead to distinctive signatures in the energy spectrum of high-energy photons from astrophysical sources, allowing one to probe the existence of ALPs. In particular, photon-ALP oscillations will induce energy dependent oscillatory features, or "ALP wiggles", in the photon spectra. We propose to use the discrete power spectrum to search for ALP wiggles and present a model-independent statistical test. By using PKS 2155-304 as an example, we show that the method has the potential to significantly improve the experimental sensitivities for ALP wiggles, and that the ALP wiggles may be detected using the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) for optimistic values of the photon-ALP coupling constant and the magnetic field. Moreover, we discuss how these sensitivities depend on the modelling of the magnetic field. We find that the use of realistic magnetic field models, due to their larger cosmic variance, substantially enhances detection prospects compared to the use of simplified models.
Detecting fast radio bursts (FRBs) with frequency-dependent intensity remains a challenge, as existing search algorithms do not account for the spectral shape, potentially leading to non-detections. We propose a novel detection statistic, which we call the Kalman detector, that improves the sensitivity of FRB signal detection by incorporating spectral shape information. The detection statistic is based on an optimal matched filter, marginalizing over all possible intensity functions, weighted by a random walk probability distribution, considering some decorrelation bandwidth. Our analysis of previously detected FRBs demonstrates that the Kalman score provides a comparable yet independent source of information for bursts with significant spectral structure, and the sensitivity improvement is of the order 0%--200% with a median improvement of 20%. We also applied the Kalman detector to existing data from FRB 20201124A and detected two new repeat bursts that were previously missed. Furthermore, we suggest a practical implementation for real-time surveys by employing a low significance soft-trigger from initial flux integration-based detection algorithms. The Kalman detector has the potential to significantly enhance FRB detection capabilities and enable new insights into the spectral properties of these enigmatic astrophysical phenomena.
We study the long-term evolution of the Milky Way (MW) over cosmic time by modeling the star formation, cosmic rays, metallicity, stellar dynamics, outflows and inflows of the galactic system to obtain various insights into the galactic evolution. The mass accretion is modeled by the results of cosmological N-body simulations for the cold dark matter. We find that the star formation rate is about half the mass accretion rate of the disk, given the consistency between observed Galactic Diffuse X-ray Emissions (GDXEs) and possible conditions driving the Galactic wind. Our model simultaneously reproduces the quantities of star formation rate, cosmic rays, metals, and the rotation curve of the current MW. The most important predictions of the model are that there is an unidentified accretion flow with a possible number density of $\sim10^{-2}$ cm$^{-3}$ and the part of the GDXEs originates from a hot, diffuse plasma which is formed by consuming about 10 % of supernova explosion energy. The latter is the science case for future X-ray missions; XRISM, Athena, and so on. We also discuss further implications of our results for the planet formation and observations of externalgalaxies in terms of the multimessenger astronomy.
The ASSESS project aims to determine the role of episodic mass-loss in the evolution of massive stars. As a first step, we construct a catalog of spectroscopically identified dusty, evolved massive stars in ten southern galaxies for which Spitzer point-source catalogs are available. We conducted multi-object spectroscopy of dusty massive star candidates in these galaxies (spanning Z = 0.06-1.6 Zo) using the VLT. We obtained 763 spectra in WLM, NGC 55, NGC 247, NGC 253, NGC 300, NGC 1313, NGC 3109, Sextans A, M83 and NGC 7793. The targets were selected using their Spitzer photometry, by prioritizing targets with a strong infrared excess. We determined a spectral classification for each target. Additionally, we used archival images from the HST to provide a visual classification for 80 targets, as a star, cluster, or galaxy. We provide a catalog of 541 spectroscopically classified sources including 185 massive stars, of which 154 are newly classified massive stars. The catalog contains 129 red supergiants, 27 blue supergiants, 10 yellow supergiants, four luminous blue variable candidates, seven supergiant B[e] stars and eight emission line objects. Evidence for circumstellar dust is found in 24% of these massive stars, based on their infrared colors. We report a success rate of 28% for identifying massive stars among our observed spectra, while the average success rate of our priority system in selecting evolved massive stars was 36%. Additionally, the catalog contains 21 background galaxies (including AGN and quasars), 10 carbon stars and 99 HII regions. We measured the line ratios [NII]/Ha and [SII]/Ha for 76 HII regions and 36 other spectra with nebular emission-lines, thereby identifying eight sources with shocked emission. We present the largest catalog of evolved massive stars and in particular of red supergiants in nearby galaxies at low Z beyond the Local Group.
We present six spectroscopically confirmed massive protostructures, spanning a redshift range of $2.5<z<4.5$ in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS) field discovered as part of the Charting Cluster Construction in VUDS and ORELSE (C3VO) survey. We identify and characterize these remarkable systems by applying an overdensity measurement technique on an extensive data compilation of public and proprietary spectroscopic and photometric observations in this highly studied extragalactic field. Each of these six protostructures, i.e., a large scale overdensity (volume $>9000$\thinspace cMpc$^3$) of more than $2.5\sigma_{\delta}$ above the field density levels at these redshifts, have a total mass $M_{tot}\ge10^{14.8}M_\odot$ and one or more highly overdense (overdensity$\thinspace>5\sigma_{\delta}$) peaks. One of the most complex protostructures discovered is a massive ($M_{tot}=10^{15.1}M_\odot$) system at $z\sim3.47$ that contains six peaks and 55 spectroscopic members. We also discover protostructures at $z\sim3.30$ and $z\sim3.70$ that appear to at least partially overlap on sky with the protostructure at $z\sim3.47$, suggesting a possible connection. We additionally report on the discovery of three massive protostructures at $z=2.67$, 2.80, and 4.14 and discuss their properties. Finally, we discuss the relationship between star formation rate and environment in the richest of these protostructures, finding an enhancement of star formation activity in the densest regions. The diversity of the protostructures reported here provide an opportunity to study the complex effects of dense environments on galaxy evolution over a large redshift range in the early universe.
Using a set of clusters in dark matter only cosmological simulations, we study the consequences of merging of clusters and groups of galaxies (with mass ratio larger than 5:1) to investigate the tidal impact of mergers on the satellite halos. We compare our results to a control sample of clusters that have had no major mergers over the same time period. Clusters that undergo major mergers are found to have a significant enhancement in destruction of their subhalos of ~10-30%, depending on how major the merger is. Those with mass ratios less than 7:1 showed no significant enhancement. The number of destroyed subhalos are measured for the cluster members that were inside the virial radius of clusters before the merger begins. This means preprocessed galaxies brought in by the merger are deliberately excluded, allowing us to clearly see the enhanced destruction purely as a result of the distorted and disturbed tidal field of the cluster during the merger. We also consider secondary parameters affecting the destruction of those satellites but find that the major mergers are the dominant factor. These results highlight how major mergers can significantly impact the cluster population, with likely consequences for the formation of intracluster light, and enhancement of tidal features in the remaining satellites.
The recently observed population of 540 free-floating Jupiter-mass objects, including 40 dynamically soft pairs in the Trapezium cluster have raised interesting questions on their formation and evolution. We test various scenarios for the origin and survivability of these free floating Jupiter-mass objects and Jupiter-mass Binary Objects (JuMBOs) in the Trapezium cluster. The numerical calculations are performed by direct N-body integration of the stars and planets in the Trapezium cluster starting with a wide variety of planets in various configurations. We discuss four models: SPP, in which selected stars have two outer orbiting Jupiter-mass planets; SPM, where selected stars are orbited by Jupiter-mass planet-moon pairs; ISF in which JuMBOs form in situ with the stars, and FFC, where we introduce a population of free-floating single Jupiter-mass objects, but no initialized binaries. Models FFC and SPP fail to produce enough JuMBOs. Models SPM can produce sufficient JuMBOs, but requires unusually wide orbits for the planet-moon system around the star. The observed JuMBOs and free-floating Jupiter-mass objects in the Trapezium cluster are best reproduced if they formed in pairs and as free-floaters together with the other stars in a smooth (Plummer) density profile with a virial radius of 0.5pc. A fractal stellar distribution also works, but requires relatively recent formations (>0.2Myr after the other stars formed) or a high (50%) initial binary fraction. This would make the primordial binary fraction of JuMBOs even higher than the already large observation fraction of 8%. The fraction of JuMBOs will continue to drop with time, and the lack of JuMBOs in Upper Scorpius could then result in its higher age, causing more JuMBOs to be ionized. We then also predict that the interstellar density of Jupiter-mass objects (mostly singles with 2% lucky surviving binaries) is 0.05/pc$^{3}$.
The Gaia-ESO Survey (GES) is a large public spectroscopic survey which acquired spectra for more than 100000 stars across all major components of the Milky Way. In addition to atmospheric parameters and stellar abundances that have been derived in previous papers of this series, the GES spectra allow us to detect spectroscopic binaries with one (SB1), two (SB2) or more (SBn $\ge$ 3) components. Cross-correlation functions (CCFs) have been re-computed thanks to a dozen spectral masks probing a range of effective temperatures, surface gravities and metallicities. By optimising the mask choice for a given spectrum, the new computed so-called Nacre (Narrow cross-correlation experiment) CCFs are narrower and allow to unblend more stellar components than standard masks. The Doe (Detection of Extrema) extremum-finding code then selects the individual components and provides their radial velocities. From the sample of HR10 and HR21 spectra corresponding to 37565 objects, the present study leads to the detection of 322 SB2, ten (three of them being tentative) SB3, and two tentative SB4. In particular, compared to our previous study, the Nacre CCFs allow us to multiply the number of SB2 candidates by $\approx$ 1.5. The colour-magnitude diagram reveals, as expected, the shifted location of the SB2 main sequence. A comparison between the SB identified in Gaia DR3 and the ones detected in the present work is performed and the complementarity of the two censuses is discussed. An application to mass-ratio determination is presented, and the mass-ratio distribution of the GES SB2 is discussed. When accounting for the SB2 detection rate, an SB2 frequency of $\approx$ 1.4% is derived within the present stellar sample of mainly FGK-type stars. As primary outliers identified within the GES data, SBn spectra produce a wealth of information and useful constraints for the binary population synthesis studies.
We present the kinematic anaylsis of $246$ stars within $4^\prime$ from the center of Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), the closest massive star cluster with active star formation across the full mass range, which provides valuable insights in the the formation and evolution of star cluster on an individual-star basis. High-precision radial velocities and surface temperatures are retrieved from spectra acquired by the NIRSPEC instrument used with adaptive optics (NIRSPAO) on the Keck II 10-m telescope. A three-dimensional kinematic map is then constructed by combining with the proper motions previously measured by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ACS/WFPC2/WFC3IR and Keck II NIRC2. The measured root-mean-squared velocity dispersion is $2.26\pm0.08~\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}$, significantly higher than the virial equilibrium's requirement of $1.73~\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}$, suggesting that the ONC core is supervirial, consistent with previous findings. Energy equipartition is not detected in the cluster. Most notably, the velocity of each star relative to its neighbors is found to be negatively correlated with stellar mass. Low-mass stars moving faster than their surrounding stars in a supervirial cluster suggests that the initial masses of forming stars may be related to their initial kinematic states. Additionally, a clockwise rotation preference is detected. A weak sign of inverse mass segregation is also identified among stars excluding the Trapezium stars, though it could be a sample bias. Finally, this study reports the discovery of four new candidate spectroscopic binary systems.
Since its launch in 2013, the Gaia space telescope has provided precise measurements of the positions and magnitudes of over 1 billion stars. This has enabled extensive searches for stellar and sub-stellar companions through astrometric and radial velocity measurements. However, these surveys require a prior knowledge of any unresolved companion affecting the results which can be identified using photometry. In this work, Gaia's magnitude measurements are combined with near-infrared observations from 2MASS and WISE and simulation-based inference is applied to constrain astrophysical parameters and search for hidden companions. This method is first tested on simulated sets of binary stars before expanding to Gaia's non-single star catalogue. Using this test, a region is identified on the H-R diagram in which the method is the most accurate and all Gaia sources within that region are analysed. This analysis reproduces a known anti-correlation between metallicity and binary fraction. Finally, the method is applied to the nearby star cluster M67 and, using previous studies of the metallicity distribution, it is possible to improve constraints on binary fraction. From this the binary fraction in the cluster is calculated to vary from 30% in the outer cluster to 45% near the core. This is found to be significantly higher the 23% binary fraction calculated for the wider stellar neighbourhood.
We study a sample of 14 spectroscopically confirmed Ly$\alpha$ Emitters (LAEs) in the late era of reionization (at redshift $z\approx6$) based on the JWST/NIRCam imaging dataset. These LAEs with high Ly$\alpha$ luminosity of $L$(Ly$\alpha$) $\sim10^{42.4-43.4}$ erg s$^{-1}$ have been covered by the (ongoing) COSMOS-Web survey (Kartaltepe et al. 2021; Casey et al. 2022) over $0.28$ deg$^2$ in four NIRCam bands (F115W, F150W, F277W, and F444W). With deep JWST imaging, we determine the UV continua with $M_{\rm UV}$ ranging from ${-}20.5$ to ${-}18.5$ mag. The UV slopes have a median value of $\beta \approx-2.1$, and the steepest slope may reach $\beta<-3$. Under an excellent spatial resolution of JWST, we identify three out of the sample as potential merging/interacting systems. The 14 LAEs (and their components) are compact in morphology residing substantially below the mass-size relation of high-$z$ galaxies. We further investigate the stellar mass ($M_*$) and star-formation rates (SFRs). About half of the LAEs lie on the SFR-$M_*$ main-sequence relation while two are either star-burst galaxies or likely to host active galactic nuclei (AGN), recently referred as "little red dots", implying a ${\sim}10\%$ AGN fraction. Moreover, we reveal that a new correlation may exist between Ly$\alpha$ equivalent width and the offset between Ly$\alpha$ and UV emission ($\Delta d_{\rm Ly\alpha}$) with a median $\Delta d_{\rm Ly\alpha} \sim 1$ kpc. This could be explained by Ly$\alpha$ radiative transfer process in both ISM and CGM. The results usher a new era of detailed analysis on high-$z$ LAEs with the JWST capability.
The SiO emissions are usually used to trace high-velocity outflow shocks in star-forming regions. However, several studies have found low-velocity and widespread SiO emissions not associated with outflows in molecular clouds. We aim to detect and characterize the SiO emissions in massive dense cores (MDCs), and explore the properties of the central sources of SiO emission. We present high-angular-resolution ($\sim$1.5$^{\prime\prime}$) observations of the SiO (5$-$4) line made with the Submillimeter Array towards a sample of 48 MDCs in the Cygnus-X star-forming complex. We studied the SiO emission structures, including their morphologies, kinematics, and energetics, and investigated their relationship with the evolution of the central sources. The SiO (5$-$4) emission is detected in 16 out of 48 MDCs. We identify 14 bipolar and 18 unipolar SiO (5$-$4) outflows associated with 29 dust condensations. Most outflows (24 out of 32) are associated with excess Spitzer 4.5 $\mu$m emissions. We also find diffuse low-velocity ($\Delta{v}$ $\le$ 1.2 km s$^{-1}$) SiO (5$-$4) emission closely surrounding the dust condensations in two MDCs, and suggest that it may originate from decelerated outflow shocks or large-scale shocks from global cloud collapse. We find that the SMA SiO (5$-$4) emission in MDCs is mostly associated with outflows. Probably due to the relatively high excitation of SiO (5$-$4) compared to SiO (2$-$1) and due to the spatial filtering effect, we do not detect large-scale low-velocity SiO (5$-$4) emission, but detect more compact low-velocity emission in close proximity to the dust condensations. We group the sources into different evolutionary stages based on the infrared emission, radio continuum emission, and gas temperature properties of the outflow central sources, and find that the 24 $\mu$m luminosity tends to increase with evolution.
A recent study from the Horizon Run (HR5) cosmological simulation has predicted that galaxies with ${\rm log}~M_{\ast}/M_{\odot}\lesssim 10$ in the cosmic morning ($10\gtrsim z\gtrsim 4$) dominantly have disk-like morphology in the $\Lambda$CDM universe, which is driven by the tidal torque in the initial matter fluctuations. For a direct comparison with observation we identify a total of about $18,000$ James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) galaxies with ${\rm log}~M_{\ast}/M_{\odot}>9$ at $z=0.6-8.0$ utilizing deep JWST/NIRCam images of publicly released fields, including NEP-TDF, NGDEEP, CEERS, COSMOS, UDS, and SMACS J0723$-$7327. We estimate their stellar masses and photometric redshifts with the dispersion of $\sigma_{\rm NMAD}=0.007$ and outlier fraction of only about 5\%. We classify galaxies into three morphological types, `disks', `spheroids', and `irregulars', applying the same criteria used in the HR5 study. The morphological distribution of the JWST galaxies shows that disk galaxies account for $60-70\%$ at all redshift ranges. However, in the high-mass regime (${\rm log}~M_{\ast}/M_{\odot}\gtrsim11$), spheroidal morphology becomes the dominant type. This implies that mass growth of galaxies is accompanied with morphological transition from disks to spheroids. The fraction of irregulars is about 20\% or less at all mass and redshifts. All the trends in the morphology distribution are consistently found in the six JWST fields. These results are in close agreement with the results from the HR5 simulation, particularly confirming the prevalence of disk galaxies at small masses in the cosmic morning and noon.
Mid-infrared (mid-IR) gas-phase molecular bands are powerful diagnostics of the warm interstellar medium. We report the James Webb Space Telescope detection of the CO v=1-0 (4.4-5.0 um) and H2O nu2=1-0 (5.0-7.8um) ro-vibrational bands, both in absorption, toward the ``s2'' core in the southwest nucleus of the merging galaxy VV 114 E. All ro-vibrational CO lines up to J_low=33 (E_low~3000 K) are detected, as well as a forest of H2O lines up to 13_{0,13} (E_low~2600 K). The highest-excitation lines are blueshifted by ~180 km s^{-1} relative to the extended molecular cloud, which is traced by the rotational CO J=3-2 346 GHz line observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The bands also show absorption in a low-velocity component (blueshifted by ~30 km s^{-1}) with lower excitation. The analysis shows that the bands are observed against a continuum with effective temperature of T_bck~550 K extinguished with tau_6um^ext~ 2.5-3 (A_k~6.9-8.3 mag). The high-excitation CO and H2O lines are consistent with v=0 thermalization with T_rot~450 K and column densities of N_CO~(1.7-3.5)x10^{19} cm^{-2} and N_H2O~(1.5-3.0)x10^{19} cm$^{-2}$. Thermalization of the v=0 levels of H2O requires either an extreme density of n_H2>~10^9 cm^{-3}, or radiative excitation by the mid-IR field in a very compact (<1 pc) optically thick source emitting ~10^{10} L_sun. The latter alternative is favored, implying that the observed absorption probes the very early stages of a fully enshrouded active black hole (BH). On the basis of a simple model for BH growth and applying a lifetime constraint to the s2 core, an intermediate-mass BH (IMBH, M_BH~4.5x10^4 M_sun) accreting at super-Eddington rates is suggested, where the observed feedback has not yet been able to break through the natal cocoon.
We undertook a search for new nearby dwarf galaxies outside the known groups in the Local Volume using the data on DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. In a wide sky area of $\sim$5000 square degrees directed toward the Local Void, we found only 12 candidates to nearby low mass galaxies. Almost all of them are classified as irregular or transition type dwarfs. Additionally, we examined areas of the sky exposed with the Hyper Suprime Camera of the Subaru telescope ($\sim$700 square degrees) and found nine more candidates to nearby dwarfs. Finally, nine candidates to the Local Volume were selected by us from the Zaritsky's SMUDG catalog that contains 7070 ultra-diffuse objects automatically detected in the whole area of the DESI surveys. We estimated a fraction of quiescent dSph galaxies in the general cosmic field to be less than 10 percent.
The Chinese Space Station Telescope (abbreviated as CSST) is a future advanced space telescope. Real-time identification of galaxy and nebula/star cluster (abbreviated as NSC) images is of great value during CSST survey. While recent research on celestial object recognition has progressed, the rapid and efficient identification of high-resolution local celestial images remains challenging. In this study, we conducted galaxy and NSC image classification research using deep learning methods based on data from the Hubble Space Telescope. We built a Local Celestial Image Dataset and designed a deep learning model named HR-CelestialNet for classifying images of the galaxy and NSC. HR-CelestialNet achieved an accuracy of 89.09% on the testing set, outperforming models such as AlexNet, VGGNet and ResNet, while demonstrating faster recognition speeds. Furthermore, we investigated the factors influencing CSST image quality and evaluated the generalization ability of HR-CelestialNet on the blurry image dataset, demonstrating its robustness to low image quality. The proposed method can enable real-time identification of celestial images during CSST survey mission.
As the primary fuel for star formation, molecular gas plays a key role in galaxy evolution. A number of techniques have been used for deriving the mass of molecular reservoirs in the early Universe (e.g., [CII]158$\mu$m, [CI], dust continuum), but the standard approach of CO-based estimates has been limited to a small number of galaxies due to the intrinsic faintness of the line. We present Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) observations of the $z\sim8.31$ galaxy MACS0416_Y1, targeting CO(2-1) and rest-frame radio continuum emission, which result in upper limits on both quantities. Adding our continuum limit to the published far-infrared (FIR) spectral energy distribution (SED), we find a small non-thermal contribution to the FIR emission, a low dust mass ($\rm\log_{10}(M_D/M_{\odot})\sim5$), and an abnormally high dust temperature ($\rm T_D\gtrsim90K$) that may indicate a recent starburst. Assuming a low metallicity ($Z/Z_{\odot}\sim0.25$), we find evidence for $M_{\rm H_2,CO}\lesssim10^{10}$M$_{\odot}$, in agreement with previous [CII] investigations ($M_{\rm H_2,[CII]}\sim10^{9.6}$M$_{\odot}$). Upcoming JWST observations of this source will result in a precise determination of $Z$, enabling better constraints and an unprecedented view of the gaseous reservoir in this primordial starburst galaxy.
The presence of $Gaia$ DR3 provides a large sample of stars with complete 6D information, offering a fertile ground for the exploration of stellar objects that were accreted to the Milky Way through ancient merger events. In this study, we developed a deep learning methodology to identify ex-situ stars within the $Gaia$ DR3 catalogue. After two phases of training, our neural network (NN) model was capable of performing binary classification of stars based on input data consisting of 3D position and velocity, as well as actions. From the target sample of 27 085 748 stars, our NN model managed to identify 160 146 ex-situ stars. The metallicity distribution suggests that this ex-situ sample comprises multiple components but appears to be predominated by the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus. We identified member stars of the Magellanic Clouds, Sagittarius, and 20 globular clusters throughout our examination. Furthermore, an extensive group of member stars from Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus, Thamnos, Sequoia, Helmi streams, Wukong, and Pontus were meticulously selected, constituting an ideal sample for the comprehensive study of substructures. Finally, we conducted a preliminary estimation to determine the proportions of ex-situ stars in the thin disc, thick disc, and halo, which resulted in percentages of 0.1%, 1.6%, and 63.2%, respectively. As the vertical height from the Galactic disc and distance from the Galactic centre increased, there was a corresponding upward trend in the ex-situ fraction of the target sample.
Over the past year, JWST has uncovered galaxies at record-breaking distances up to $z \sim 13$. The JWST UNCOVER (ultra-deep NIRSpec and NIRcam observations before the epoch of reionization) program has obtained ultra-deep multiwavelength NIRCam imaging of the massive galaxy cluster Abell 2744 over $\sim 45$ arcmin$^{2}$ down to $\sim 29.5$ AB mag. Here, we present a robust ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function derived through lensing clusters at $9<z<12$. Using comprehensive end-to-end simulations, we account for all lensing effects and systematic uncertainties in deriving both the amplification factors and the effective survey volume. Our results confirm the intriguing excess of UV-bright galaxies ($M_{UV} < -20$ AB mag) previously reported at $z>9$ in recent JWST studies. In particular, a double power-law (DPL) describes better the bright-end of the luminosity function compared to the classical Schechter form. The number density of these bright galaxies is 10-100 times larger than theoretical predictions and previous findings based on Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations. Additionally, we measure a star formation rate density of $\rho_{\rm SFR} = 10^{-2.64}$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$ at these redshifts, which is 4 to 10 times higher than galaxy formation models that assume a constant star formation efficiency. Future wide-area surveys and accurate modeling of lensing-assisted observations will reliably constrain both the bright and the dim end of the UV luminosity function at $z>9$, which will provide key benchmarks for galaxy formation models.
Sequential ionization of fullerene cluster ions (C$_{60}$)$_{n}^{+}$ within multiply-charged helium nanodroplets leads to the intriguing phenomenon of forming and stabilizing doubly- and triply-charged fullerene oligomers. Surprisingly, we have detected (C$_{60}$)$_{2}^{2+}$ and (C$_{60}$)$_{2}^{3+}$, indicating that dimers, rather than the previously established pentamers and dodecamers, are the smallest fullerene cluster sizes capable of stabilizing two and even three charges. This remarkable resilience against Coulomb explosion is achieved through efficient cooling within the superfluid environment of helium nanodroplets, and a sequential ionization scheme that populates covalently bound or physisorbed fullerene dimers. Calculations support the stability of four differently bonded (C$_{60}$)$_{2}^{2+}$ and (C$_{60}$)$_{2}^{3+}$ isomers and predict a low Coulomb barrier (<0.4 eV) preventing even dissociation of cold van der Waals complexes.
Galactic outflows are believed to play a critical role in the evolution of galaxies by regulating their mass build-up and star formation. Theoretical models assumes bipolar shapes for the outflows that extends well into the circumgalctic medium (CGM), up to tens of kpc perpendicular to the galaxies. They have been directly observed in the local Universe in several individual galaxies, e.g., around the Milky Way and M82. At higher redshifts, cosmological simulations of galaxy formation predict an increase in the frequency and efficiency of galactic outflows due to the increasing star formation activity. Outflows are responsible for removing potential fuel for star formation from the galaxy, while at the same enriching the CGM and the intergalactic medium. These feedback processes, although incorporated as key elements of cosmological simulations, are still poorly constrained on CGM scales. Here we present an ultra-deep MUSE image of the mean MgII emission surrounding a sample of galaxies at z~1 that strongly suggests the presence of outflowing gas on physical scales of more than 10kpc. We find a strong dependence of the detected signal on the inclination of the central galaxy, with edge-on galaxies clearly showing enhanced MgII emission along the minor axis, while face-on galaxies display much weaker and more isotropic emission. We interpret these findings as supporting the idea that outflows typically have a bipolar cone geometry perpendicular to the galactic disk. We demonstrate that the signal is not dominated by a few outliers. After dividing the galaxy sample in subsamples by mass, the bipolar emission is only detected in galaxies with stellar mass $\mathrm{M_* \gtrsim 10^{9.5} M_\odot}$.
The Local Void is one of the nearest large voids, located at a distance of 23 Mpc. It lies largely behind the Galactic Bulge and is therefore extremely difficult to observe. We use HI 21 cm emission observations from the SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey (SMGPS) to study the Local Void and its surroundings over the Galactic longitude range 329$^{\circ}< \ell <$ 55$^{\circ}$, Galactic latitude $|b| <$ 1.5$^{\circ}$, and redshift $cz <$ 7500 km/s. We have detected 291 galaxies to median rms sensitivity of 0.44 mJy per beam per 44 km/s channel. We find 17 galaxies deep inside the Void, 96 at the border of the Void, while the remaining 178 galaxies are in average density environments. The extent of the Void is ~ 58 Mpc. It is severely under-dense for the longitude range 350$^{\circ}< \ell <$ 35$^{\circ}$ up to redshift $z <$ 4500 km/s. The galaxies in the Void tend to have \HI masses that are lower (by approximately 0.25 dex) than their average density counterparts. We find several potential candidates for small groups of galaxies, of which two groups (with 3 members and 5 members) in the Void show signs of filamentary substructure within the Void.
Molecular abundances in protoplanetary disks are highly sensitive to the local physical conditions, including gas temperature, gas density, radiation field, and dust properties. Often multiple factors are intertwined, impacting the abundances of both simple and complex species. We present a new approach to understanding these chemical and physical interdependencies using machine learning. Specifically we explore the case of CO modeled under the conditions of a generic disk and build an explanatory regression model to study the dependence of CO spatial density on the gas density, gas temperature, cosmic ray ionization rate, X-ray ionization rate, and UV flux. Our findings indicate that combinations of parameters play a surprisingly powerful role in regulating CO compared to any singular physical parameter. Moreover, in general, we find the conditions in the disk are destructive toward CO. CO depletion is further enhanced in an increased cosmic ray environment and in disks with higher initial C/O ratios. These dependencies uncovered by our new approach are consistent with previous studies, which are more modeling intensive and computationally expensive. Our work thus shows that machine learning can be a powerful tool not only for creating efficient predictive models, but also for enabling a deeper understanding of complex chemical processes.
We present a catalogue of 507 cataclysmic variables (CVs) observed in SDSS I to IV including 70 new classifications collated from multiple archival data sets. This represents the largest sample of CVs with high-quality and homogeneous optical spectroscopy. We have used this sample to derive unbiased space densities and period distributions for the major sub-types of CVs. We also report on some peculiar CVs, period bouncers and also CVs exhibiting large changes in accretion rates. We report 70 new CVs, 59 new periods, 178 unpublished spectra and 262 new or updated classifications. From the SDSS spectroscopy, we also identified 18 systems incorrectly identified as CVs in the literature. We discuss the observed properties of 13 peculiar CVS, and we identify a small set of eight CVs that defy the standard classification scheme. We use this sample to investigate the distribution of different CV sub-types, and we estimate their individual space densities, as well as that of the entire CV population. The SDSS I to IV sample includes 14 period bounce CVs or candidates. We discuss the variability of CVs across the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, highlighting selection biases of variability-based CV detection. Finally, we searched for, and found eight tertiary companions to the SDSS CVs. We anticipate that this catalogue and the extensive material included in the Supplementary Data will be useful for a range of observational population studies of CVs.
Galaxies comprise intricate networks of interdependent processes which together govern their evolution. Central among these are the multiplicity of feedback channels, which remain incompletely understood. One outstanding problem is the understanding and modeling of the multiphase nature of galactic winds, which play a crucial role in galaxy formation and evolution. We present the results of three dimensional magnetohydrodynamical tall box interstellar medium patch simulations with clustered supernova driven outflows. Fragmentation of the interstellar medium during superbubble breakout seeds the resulting hot outflow with a population of cool clouds. We focus on analyzing and modeling the origin and properties of these clouds. Their presence induces large scale turbulence, which in turn leads to complex cloud morphologies. Cloud sizes are well described by a power law distribution and mass growth rates can be modelled using turbulent radiative mixing layer theory. Turbulence provides significant pressure support in the clouds, while magnetic fields only play a minor role. We conclude that many of the physical insights and analytic scalings derived from idealized small scale simulations translate well to larger scale, more realistic turbulent magnetized winds, thus paving a path towards their necessary yet challenging inclusion in global-scale galaxy models.
When a detailed model of a stellar population is unavailable, it is most common to assume that stellar masses are independently and identically distributed according to some distribution: the universal initial mass function (IMF). However, stellar masses resulting from causal, long-ranged physics cannot be truly random and independent, and the IMF may vary with environment. To compare stochastic sampling with a physical model, we run a suite of 100 STARFORGE radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of low-mass star cluster formation in $2000M_\odot$ clouds that form $\sim 200$ stars each on average. The stacked IMF from the simulated clouds has a sharp truncation at $\sim 28 M_\odot$, well below the typically-assumed maximum stellar mass $M_{\rm up} \sim 100-150M_\odot$ and the total cluster mass. The sequence of star formation is not totally random: massive stars tend to start accreting sooner and finish later than the average star. However, final cluster properties such as maximum stellar mass and total luminosity have a similar amount of cloud-to-cloud scatter to random sampling. Therefore stochastic sampling does not generally model the stellar demographics of a star cluster as it is forming, but may describe the end result fairly well, if the correct IMF -- and its environment-dependent upper cutoff -- are known.
The element abundance pattern found in Milky Way disk stars is close to two-dimensional, dominated by production from one prompt process and one delayed process. This simplicity is remarkable, since the elements are produced by a multitude of nucleosynthesis mechanisms operating in stars with a wide range of progenitor masses. We fit the abundances of 14 elements for 48,659 red-giant stars from APOGEE DR17 using a flexible, data-driven K-process model -- dubbed KPM. In our fiducial model, with $K=2$, each abundance in each star is described as the sum of a prompt and a delayed process contribution. We find that KPM with $K=2$ is able to explain the abundances well, recover the observed abundance bimodality, and detect the bimodality over a greater range in metallicity than previously has been possible. We compare to prior work by Weinberg et al. (2022), finding that KPM produces similar results, but that KPM better predicts stellar abundances, especially for elements C+N and Mn and for stars at super-solar metallicities. The model fixes the relative contribution of the prompt and delayed process to two elements to break degeneracies and improve interpretability; we find that some of the nucleosynthetic implications are dependent upon these detailed choices. We find that moving to four processes adds flexibility and improves the model's ability to predict the stellar abundances, but doesn't qualitatively change the story. The results of KPM will help us to interpret and constrain the formation of the Galaxy disk, the relationship between abundances and ages, and the physics of nucleosynthesis.
Supernovae (SN) explosions are thought to be an important source of dust in galaxies. At the same time strong shocks from SNe are known as an efficient mechanism of dust destruction via thermal and kinetic sputtering. A critically important question of how these two hypotheses of SNe activity control the dust budget in galaxies is still not quite clearly understood. In this paper we address this question within 3D multi-fluid hydrodynamical simulations, treating separately the SNe injected dust and the dust pre-existed in ambient interstellar gas. We focus primarily on how the injected and the pre-existing dust is destroyed by shock waves and hot gas in the SN bubble depending on the density of ambient gas. Within our model we estimate an upper limit of the SN-produced dust mass which can be supplied into interstellar medium. For a SN progenitor mass of 30 $M_\odot$ and the ejected dust mass $M_d=1~M_\odot$ we constrain the dust mass that can be delivered into the ISM as $\geq 0.13~M_\odot$, provided that the SN has injected large dust particles with $a\geq 0.1~\mu$m.
Understanding the evolution of satellite galaxies of the Milky Way (MW) and M31 requires modeling their orbital histories across cosmic time. Many works that model satellite orbits incorrectly assume or approximate that the host halo gravitational potential is fixed in time and is spherically symmetric or axisymmetric. We rigorously benchmark the accuracy of such models against the FIRE-2 cosmological baryonic simulations of MW/M31-mass halos. When a typical surviving satellite fell in ($3.4-9.7$ Gyr ago), the host halo mass and radius were typically $26-86$ per cent of their values today, respectively. Most of this mass growth of the host occurred at small distances, $r\lesssim50$ kpc, opposite to dark-matter-only simulations, which experience almost no growth at small radii. We fit a near-exact axisymmetric gravitational potential to each host at $z=0$ and backward integrate the orbits of satellites in this static potential, comparing against the true orbit histories in the simulations. Orbital energy and angular momentum are not well conserved throughout an orbital history, varying by 25 per cent from their current values already $1.6-4.7$ Gyr ago. Most orbital properties are minimally biased, $\lesssim10$ per cent, when averaged across the satellite population as a whole. However, for a single satellite, the uncertainties are large: recent orbital properties, like the most recent pericentre distance, typically are $\approx20$ per cent uncertain, while earlier events, like the minimum pericentre or the infall time, are $\approx40-80$ per cent uncertain. Furthermore, these biases and uncertainties are lower limits, given that we use near-exact host mass profiles at $z=0$.
The iMaNGA project uses a forward-modelling approach to compare the predictions of cosmological simulations with observations from SDSS-IV/MaNGA. We investigate the dependency of age and metallicity radial gradients on galaxy morphology, stellar mass, stellar surface mass density ($\Sigma_*$), and environment. The key of our analysis is that observational biases affecting the interpretation of MaNGA data are emulated in the theoretical iMaNGA sample. The simulations reproduce the observed global stellar population scaling relations with positive correlations between galaxy mass and age/metallicity quite well and also produce younger stellar populations in late-type in agreement with observations. We do find interesting discrepancies, though, that can inform the physics and further development of the simulations. Ages of spiral galaxies and low-mass ellipticals are overestimated by about 2-4 Gyr. Radial metallicity gradients are steeper in iMaNGA than in MaNGA, a discrepancy most prominent in spiral and lenticular galaxies. Also, the observed steepening of metallicity gradients with increasing galaxy mass is not well matched by the simulations. We find that the theoretical radial profiles of surface mass density $\Sigma_*$ are steeper than in observations except for the most massive galaxies. In both MaNGA and iMaNGA [Z/H] correlates with $\Sigma_*$, however, the simulations systematically predict lower [Z/H] by almost a factor of 2 at any $\Sigma_*$. Most interestingly, for galaxies with stellar mass $\log M_*\leq 10.80 M_\odot$ the MaNGA data reveal a positive correlation between galaxy radius and [Z/H] at fixed $\Sigma_*$, which is not recovered in iMaNGA. Finally, the dependence on environmental density is negligible in both the theoretical iMaNGA and the observed MaNGA data.
We use VLT-MUSE integral field unit data to study the ionized gas physical properties and kinematics as well as the stellar populations of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC\,232 as an opportunity to understand the role of AGN feedback on star formation. The data cover a field of view of 60$\times$60 arcsec$^{2}$ at a spatial resolution of $\sim$\,850\,pc. The emission-line profiles have been fitted with two Gaussian components, one associated to the emission of the gas in the disc and the other due to a bi-conical outflow. The spectral synthesis suggests a predominantly old stellar population with ages exceeding 2\,Gyr, with the largest contributions seen at the nucleus and decreasing outwards. Meanwhile, the young and intermediate age stellar populations exhibit a positive gradient with increasing radius and a circum-nuclear star forming ring with radius of $\sim$0.5\,kpc traced by stars younger than 20 Myr, is observed. This, along with the fact that AGN and SF dominated regions present similar gaseous oxygen abundances, suggests a shared reservoir feeding both star formation and the AGN. We have estimated a maximum outflow rate in ionized gas of $\sim$1.26\,M${\odot}$\,yr$^{-1}$ observed at a distance of $\sim$560 pc from the nucleus. The corresponding maximum kinetic power of the outflow is $\sim3.4\times10^{41}$ erg\,s$^{-1}$. This released energy could be sufficient to suppress star formation within the ionization cone, as evidenced by the lower star formation rates observed in this region.
We present a study of molecular gas, traced via CO (3-2) from ALMA data, of four z< 0.2, `radio quiet', type 2 quasars (log [L(bol)/(erg/s)] = 45.3 - 46.2; log [L(1.4 GHz)/(W/Hz)] = 23.7 - 24.3). Targets were selected to have extended radio lobes (>= 10 kpc), and compact, moderate-power jets (1 - 10 kpc; log [Pjet/(erg/s)]= 43.2 - 43.7). All targets show evidence of central molecular outflows, or injected turbulence, within the gas disks (traced via high-velocity wing components in CO emission-line profiles). The inferred velocities (Vout = 250 - 440 km/s) and spatial scales (0.6 - 1.6 kpc), are consistent with those of other samples of luminous low-redshift AGN. In two targets, we observe extended molecular gas structures beyond the central disks, containing 9 - 53 % of the total molecular gas mass. These structures tend to be elongated, extending from the core, and wrap-around (or along) the radio lobes. Their properties are similar to the molecular gas filaments observed around radio lobes of, mostly `radio loud', Brightest Cluster Galaxies. They have: projected distances of 5 - 13 kpc; bulk velocities of 100 - 340 km/s; velocity dispersion of 30 - 130 km/s; inferred mass outflow rates of 4 - 20 Msolar/yr; and estimated kinetic powers of log [Ekin/(erg/s)]= 40.3 - 41.7. Our observations are consistent with simulations that suggest moderate-power jets can have a direct (but modest) impact on molecular gas on small scales, through direct jet-cloud interactions. Then, on larger scales, jet-cocoons can push gas aside. Both processes could contribute to the long-term regulation of star formation.
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.
We present archive Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) Band 6 observations of the $^{13}$CO (J=2-1) and $^{12}$CO (J=2-1) molecular line emission of the protostellar system associated with HH 30. The $^{13}$CO molecular line shows the accretion disk while the molecular outflow is traced by the emission of the $^{12}$CO molecular line. We estimated a dynamical mass for the central object of $0.45\pm0.14$ M$_\odot$, and a mass for the molecular outflow of $1.83\pm0.19\times10^{-4}$ M$_\odot$. The molecular outflow presents an internal cavity as well as multiple outflowing shell structures. We distinguish three different shells with constant expansion ($\sim4-6$ km s$^{-1}$) and possible rotation signatures ($\leq0.5$ km s$^{-1}$). We find that the shells can be explained by magnetocentrifugal disk winds with launching radii $R_\mathrm{launch}\lesssim4$ au and a small magnetic lever arm $\lambda\sim1.6-1.9$. The multiple shell structure may be the result of episodic ejections of the material from the accretion disk associated with three different epochs with dynamical ages of $497\pm15$ yr, $310\pm9$ yr, and $262\pm11$ yr for the first, second, and third shells, respectively. The outermost shell was ejected $187\pm17$ yr before the medium shell, while the medium shell was launched $48\pm14$ yr before the innermost shell. Our estimations of the linear and angular momentum rates of the outflow as well as the accretion luminosity are consistent with the expected values if the outflow of HH 30 is produced by a wide-angle disk wind.
Recent advancements in gravitational wave astronomy have seen the application of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in signal detection from compact binary coalescences. This study presents a comparative analysis of two CNN architectures: one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) along with an ensemble model combining both. We trained these models to detect gravitational wave signals from binary black hole (BBH) mergers, neutron star-black hole (NSBH) mergers, and binary neutron star (BNS) mergers within real detector noise. Our investigation entailed a comprehensive evaluation of the detection performance of each model type across different signal classes. To understand the models' decision-making processes, we employed feature map visualization and attribution analysis. The findings revealed that while the 1D model showed superior performance in detecting BBH signals, the 2D model excelled in identifying NSBH and BNS signals. Notably, the ensemble model outperformed both individual models across all signal types, demonstrating enhanced detection capabilities. Additionally, input feature visualization indicated distinct areas of focus in the data for the 1D and 2D models, emphasizing the effectiveness of their combination.
Direct imaging searches for exoplanets around stars detect many spurious candidates that are in fact background field stars. To help distinguish these from genuine companions, multi-epoch astrometry can be used to identify a common proper motion with the host star. Although this is frequently done, many approaches lack an appropriate model for the motions of the background population, or do not use a statistical framework to properly quantify the results. Here we use Gaia astrometry combined with 2MASS photometry to model the parallax and proper motion distributions of field stars around exoplanet host stars as a function of candidate magnitude. We develop a likelihood-based method that compares the positions of a candidate at multiple epochs with the positions expected under both this field star model and a co-moving companion model. Our method propagates the covariances in the Gaia astrometry and the candidate positions. True companions are assumed to have long periods compared to the observational baseline, so we currently neglect orbital motion. We apply our method to a sample of 23 host stars with 263 candidates identified in the B-Star Exoplanet Abundance Study (BEAST) survey on VLT/SPHERE. We identify seven candidates in which the odds ratio favours the co-moving companion model by a factor of 100 or more. Most of these detections are based on only two or three epochs separated by less than three years, so further epochs should be obtained to reassess the companion probabilities. Our method is publicly available as an open-source python package from https://github.com/herzphi/compass to use with any data.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will produce an unprecedented astronomical data set for studies of the deep and dynamic universe. Its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will image the entire southern sky every three to four days and produce tens of petabytes of raw image data and associated calibration data over the course of the experiment's run. More than 20 terabytes of data must be stored every night, and annual campaigns to reprocess the entire dataset since the beginning of the survey will be conducted over ten years. The Production and Distributed Analysis (PanDA) system was evaluated by the Rubin Observatory Data Management team and selected to serve the Observatory's needs due to its demonstrated scalability and flexibility over the years, for its Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) support, its support for multi-site processing, and its highly scalable complex workflows via the intelligent Data Delivery Service (iDDS). PanDA is also being evaluated for prompt processing where data must be processed within 60 seconds after image capture. This paper will briefly describe the Rubin Data Management system and its Data Facilities (DFs). Finally, it will describe in depth the work performed in order to integrate the PanDA system with the Rubin Observatory to be able to run the Rubin Science Pipelines using PanDA.
Astrochemical simulations are a powerful tool for revealing chemical evolution in the interstellar medium. Astrochemical calculations require efficient processing of large matrices for the chemical networks. The large chemical reaction networks often present bottlenecks for computation because of time derivatives of chemical abundances. We propose an efficient algorithm using a stoichiometry matrix approach in which this time-consuming part is expressed as a loop, unlike the algorithm used in previous studies. Since stoichiometry matrices are sparse in general, the performances of simulations with our algorithm depend on which sparse-matrix storage format is used. We conducted a performance comparison experiment using the common storage formats, including the coordinate (COO) format, the compressed column storage (CCS) format, the compressed row storage (CRS) format, and the Sliced ELLPACK (SELL) format. Experimental results showed that the simulations with the CRS format are the most suitable for astrochemical simulations and about three times faster than those with the algorithm used in previous studies. In addition, our algorithm significantly reduces not only the computation time but also the compilation time. We also explore the beneficial effects of parallelization and sparse-matrix reordering in these algorithms.
Single-photon avalanche detectors (SPADs) are well-suited for satellite-based quantum communication because of their advantageous operating characteristics as well as their relatively straightforward and robust integration into satellite payloads. However, space-borne SPADs will encounter damage from space radiation, which usually manifests itself in the form of elevated dark counts. Methods for mitigating this radiation damage have been previously explored, such as thermal and optical (laser) annealing. Here we investigate in a lab, using a CubeSat payload, laser annealing protocols in terms of annealing laser power and annealing duration, for their possible later use in orbit. Four Si SPADs (Excelitas SLiK) irradiated to an equivalent of 10 years in low Earth orbit exhibit very high dark count rates (>300 kcps at -22 C operating temperature) and significant saturation effects. We show that annealing them with optical power between 1 and 2 W yields reduction in dark count rate by a factor of up to 48, as well as regaining SPAD sensitivity to a very faint optical signal (on the order of single photon) and alleviation of saturation effects. Our results suggest that an annealing duration as short as 10 seconds can reduce dark counts, which can be beneficial for power-limited small-satellite quantum communication missions. Overall, annealing power appears to be more critical than annealing duration and number of annealing exposures.
The recent announcement of strong evidence for a stochastic gravitational-wave background (SGWB) by various pulsar timing array collaborations has highlighted this signal as a promising candidate for future observations. Despite its non-detection by ground-based detectors such as Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, Callister \textit{et al.}~\cite{tom_nongr_method} developed a Bayesian formalism to search for an isotropic SGWB with non-tensorial polarizations, imposing constraints on signal amplitude in those components that violate general relativity using LIGO's data. Since our ultimate aim is to estimate the spatial distribution of gravitational-wave sources, we have extended this existing method to allow for anisotropic components in signal models. We then examined the potential benefits from including these additional components. Using injection campaigns, we found that introducing anisotropic components into a signal model led to more significant identification of the signal itself and violations of general relativity. Moreover, the results of our Bayesian parameter estimation suggested that anisotropic components aid in breaking down degeneracies between different polarization components, allowing us to infer model parameters more precisely than through an isotropic analysis. In contrast, constraints on signal amplitude remained comparable in the absence of such a signal. Although these results might depend on the assumed source distribution on the sky, such as the Galactic plane, the formalism presented in this work has laid a foundation for establishing a generalized Bayesian analysis for an SGWB, including its anisotropies and non-tensorial polarizations.
We propose a new formula for computing holographic Renyi entropies in the presence of multiple extremal surfaces. Our proposal is based on computing the wave function in the basis of fixed-area states and assuming a diagonal approximation for the Renyi entropy. For Renyi index $n\geq1$, our proposal agrees with the existing cosmic brane proposal for holographic Renyi entropy. For $n<1$, however, our proposal predicts a new phase with leading order (in Newton's constant $G$) corrections to the cosmic brane proposal, even far from entanglement phase transitions and when bulk quantum corrections are unimportant. Recast in terms of optimization over fixed-area states, the difference between the two proposals can be understood to come from the order of optimization: for $n<1$, the cosmic brane proposal is a minimax prescription whereas our proposal is a maximin prescription. We demonstrate the presence of such leading order corrections using illustrative examples. In particular, our proposal reproduces existing results in the literature for the PSSY model and high-energy eigenstates, providing a universal explanation for previously found leading order corrections to the $n<1$ Renyi entropies.
We present a non-local generalization of three-dimensional New Massive Gravity. This ``Non Local Massive Gravity'' is obtained from a top-down construction as the gravitational theory induced by Einstein gravity on a brane inserted in Anti-de Sitter space modified by an overall minus sign. The theory involves an infinite series of increasingly complicated higher-derivative corrections to the Einstein-Hilbert action. We obtain an analytic formula for the quadratic action of NLMG and show that its linearized spectrum consists of an infinite tower of positive-energy massive spin-2 modes. We compute the Newtonian potential and show that the introduction of the infinite series of terms makes it behave as $\sim 1/r$ at short distances, as opposed to the logarithmic behavior encountered when the series is truncated at any finite order. We use this and input from brane-world holography to argue that the theory may contain asymptotically flat black hole solutions.
The simplest anisotropic model of the early Universe is the one with two conformal factors, which can be identified as Kantowski-Sachs metric, or the reduced version of the Bianchi-I metric. To fit the existing observational data, it is important that the anisotropy is washed out in the early stage of the evolution. We explore the possible effect of the running cosmological constant (RCC) on the dynamics of isotropy, in the case of the space filled by radiation.
This work studies mode stability of an STU black hole with four pairwise equal $\rm{U(1)}$ charges in four spacetime dimensions. We investigate bosonic perturbations for probe fields of different spins through the transformation technique devised by Whiting in 1989. Finally, we introduce connection relations inspired by the work of ~Duzta\c{s} (2016) to prove the absence of unstable modes that solve the torsion-modified Dirac equation appropriate for this black hole background.
This paper explains the significance of neutrino mass in the cosmic progression from the radiation-dominated phase to matter and subsequently to the dark energy-dominated era. We have put a constraint on the total mass of neutrinos by coupling them with quintessence. For the combination of full data(Pantheon+CMB+BAO+CC), we find $ \sum m_{\nu}<0.101$eV \ \ (95$\% $CL.) and for the relativistic to non-relativistic phase transition redshif ${z_{\rm nr}} = 180$ which is in the matter-dominated era. Our findings confirm that when neutrinos become non-relativistic, the universe transitions from a radiation-dominated era to a matter-dominated era. Coupled neutrinos with quintessence (CQ) have also a significant impact on transitions from a matter-dominated era to a dark energy era. We have shown this effect by investigating the impact of neutrino mass on the bulk flow direction and amplitude of bulk velocity. Moreover, we have discussed the impact of this coupling on the CMB power spectrum to show the anisotropy in the universe. Finally, we have established a link between the quintessence field coupled with neutrinos and the bulk flow, which allowed us to demonstrate that the mass of neutrinos could be the cause of anisotropy in the universe.
We describe embeddings of $n$-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds, including Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker spaces, in $\mathbb{R}^{n+2}$ such that the metrics of the submanifolds are inherited by a restriction from that of $\mathbb{R}^{n+2}$, and the action of the linear group SO$(2, n)$ of the ambient space reduces to conformal transformations on the submanifolds.
It is well known that asymptotically flat Schwarzschild black holes in general relativity in four spacetime dimensions have vanishing induced linear tidal response. We extend this result beyond linear order for the polar sector, by solving the static nonlinear Einstein equations for the perturbations of the Schwarzschild metric and computing the quadratic corrections to the electric-type tidal Love numbers. After explicitly performing the matching with the point-particle effective theory at leading order in the derivative expansion, we show that the Love number couplings remain zero at higher order in perturbation theory.
Recently, there has been a proposal to test the quantum nature of gravity in the laboratory by witnessing the growth of entanglement between two masses in spatial quantum superpositions. The required superpositions can be created via Stern-Gerlach interferometers, which couple an embedded spin qubit quantum state to the spatial dynamics of each mass. The masses would entangle only if gravity is quantum in nature. Here, we generalise the experiment to an arbitrary spin $j$ or equivalently to an ensemble of uniformly coupled spins. We first exemplify how to create a generalized Stern-Gerlach interferometer, which splits the mass into $2j+1$ trajectories. This shows that a controlled protocol can be formulated to encode the amplitudes of any spin state to a spatial superposition. Secondly, two masses in spatial superpositions of the above form are left to interact via gravity, and the entanglement is computed. Different families of initial spin states are varied to find the optimal spin state that maximizes the entanglement. We conclude that larger spins can offer a modest advantage in enhancing gravity-induced entanglement.
Entertaining the possibility of time travel will invariably challenge dearly held concepts of fundamental physics. It becomes relatively easy to construct multiple logical contradictions using differing starting points from various well-established fields of physics. Sometimes, the interpretation is that only a full theory of quantum gravity will be able to settle these logical contradictions. Even then, it remains unclear if the multitude of problems could be overcome. Yet as definitive as this seems to the notion of time travel in physics, such a recourse to quantum gravity comes with its own, long-standing challenge to most of these counter-arguments to time travel: These arguments rely on time, while quantum gravity is (in)famously stuck with and dealing with the problem of time. One attempt to answer this problem within the canonical framework resulted in the Page-Wootters formalism, and its recent gauge-theoretic re-interpretation - as an emergent notion of time. Herein, we will begin a programme to study toy models implementing the Hamiltonian constraint in quantum theory, with an aim towards understanding what an emergent notion of time can tell us about the (im)possibility of time travel.
This work outlines a straightforward mechanism for endorsing primary hair into Schwarzschild black holes, resulting in a unique modification within the framework of a special scalar-tensor theory, the so-called beyond Horndeski type. The derived solutions are exact, showcase primary hair with an everywhere regular scalar field profile, and continuously connect with the vacuum geometry. Initially devised to introduce primary hair in spherically symmetric solutions within General Relativity in any dimension, our investigation also explores the conditions under which spherically symmetric black holes in alternative gravitational theories become amenable to the endorsement of primary hair through a similar pattern. As a preliminary exploration, we embark on the process of endorsing primary hair to the Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole. Subsequently, we extend our analysis to encompass spherically symmetric solutions within Lovelock and cubic quasitopological gravity theories.
We study relative differential and integral forms and their cohomology on families of supermanifolds, and prove a relative version of Poincar\'e duality relating the cohomology of differential and integral forms in different geometric categories. In the algebraic category, this is a byproduct of Grothendieck-Verdier duality. In the smooth category, we complement Poincar\'e duality by proving the compactly supported Poincar\'e lemmas for both differential and integral forms, filling a gap in the literature. In the relevant case of integral forms, this makes apparent the algebraic nature of the Berezin integration in the odd directions. We then use our results to study supergravity. In particular, we describe supergravity in dimension three via higher Cartan structures, which can be regarded as certain classes of connections taking values in $L_\infty$-superalgebras. We then use relative Poincar\'e duality to state a general form of the action principle in a mathematically rigorous manner. This interpolates in a unified fashion between two equivalent formulations of supergravity, one based on the superspace approach and the other on the group manifold approach in the physics literature.
In this paper, infrared regularization of semi-infinite entangling regions and island formation for regions of finite size in the eternal Schwarzschild black hole are considered. We analyze whether the complementarity property and pure state condition of entanglement entropy can be preserved in the given approximation. We propose a special regularization that satisfies these two properties. With regard to entangling regions of finite size, we derive two fundamental types of them, which we call "mirror-symmetric" (MS) and "asymmetric" (AS). For MS regions, we discover a discontinuous evolution of the entanglement entropy of Hawking radiation due to finite lifetime of the island. The entanglement entropy of matter for semi-infinite regions in two-sided Schwarzschild black hole does not follow the Page curve. The lifetime of AS regions is bounded from above due to the phenomenon that we call "Cauchy surface breaking". Shortly before this breaking, the island configuration becomes non-symmetric. For both types of finite regions, there is a critical size, below which the island never dominates. For regions smaller than some other critical size, the island does not emerge. Finally, we show that the island prescription does not help to solve the information paradox for certain finite regions.
We find a $(1+1)$-dimensional metric solution for a background hosting various supersymmetric field theories with a single non-chiral real supercharge. This supersymmetric background is globally hyperbolic even though it contains a naked null singularity. In this regard, we show that scalar wave propagation on the background is well-defined and so the curvature singularity is a {\it mild} one. Taking inspiration from our previous work, we relate the field theory on this curved background to some classes of $(1+1)$-dimensional inhomogeneous field theory in the supersymmetric setup. Utilizing our supersymmetric background, we elucidate the limitations of canonical quantization and highlight the conceptual advantages of the algebraic approach to quantization.
Classical gravity coupled to a CFT$_4$ (matter) is considered. The effect of the quantum dynamics of matter on gravity is studied around maximally symmetric spaces (flat, de Sitter and Anti de Sitter). The structure of the graviton propagator is modified and non-trivial poles appear due to matter quantum effects. The position and residues of such poles are mapped as a function of the relevant parameters, the central charge of the CFT$_4$, the two $R^2$ couplings of gravity as well as the curvature of the background space-time. The instabilities induced are determined. Such instabilities can be important in cosmology as they trigger the departure from de Sitter space and in some regions of parameters are more important than the well-known scalar instabilities. It is also determined when the presence of such instabilities is unreliable if the associated scales are larger than the ``species" cutoff of the gravitational theory.
No experimental evidence of the quantum nature of gravity has been observed yet and a realistic setup with improved sensitivity is eagerly awaited. We find two effects, which can substantially enhance the signal of gravity-induced quantum entanglement, by examining an optomechanical system in which two oscillators gravitationally couple and one composes an optical cavity. The first effect comes from a higher-order term of the optomechanical interaction and generates the signal at the first order of the gravitational coupling in contrast to the second order results in previous works. The second effect is the resonance between the two oscillators. If their frequencies are close enough, the weak gravitational coupling effectively strengthens. Combining these two effects, the signal in the interference visibility could be amplified by a factor of $10^{24}$ for our optimistic parameters. The two effects would be useful in seeking feasible experimental setups to probe quantum gravity signals.
Precise measurement of stellar properties through the observation of continuous gravitational waves from spinning non-axisymmetric neutron stars can shed light onto new physics beyond terrestrial laboratories. Although hitherto undetected, prospects for detecting continuous gravitational waves improve with longer observation periods and more sensitive gravitational wave detectors. We study the capability of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, and the Einstein Telescope to measure the physical properties of neutron stars through continuous gravitational wave observations. We simulate a population of Galactic neutron stars, assume continuous gravitational waves from the stars have been detected, and perform parameter estimation of the detected signals. Using the estimated parameters, we infer the stars' moments of inertia, ellipticities, and the components of the magnetic dipole moment perpendicular to the rotation axis. The estimation of the braking index proved challenging and is responsible for the majority of the uncertainties in the inferred parameters. Using the Einstein Telescope with an observation period of 5 yrs, point estimates using median can be made on the moments of inertia with error of ~ 10 - 100% and on the ellipticities with error of ~ 5 - 50%, subject to the inference of the braking index. The perpendicular magnetic dipole moment could not be accurately inferred for neutron stars that emit mainly gravitational waves.
Static black holes contain regions of spacetime which not even light can escape from. In the centre of mass frame, these blocks are separated from each other by event horizons. Unlike pointlike particles, fields can spread and interact non-causally across the horizons. The microlocal theory of this is somewhat incomplete however. For instance, the theory of real principal type operators does not apply on the horizon. In this article, we address this issue for the extremal rotating black hole. Namely, we show that null covectors on the horizon of the extremal Kerr spacetime form an involutive double characteristic manifold and then extend the construction of parametrix across the event horizon. This provides a mathematical basis for the asymptotic oscillatory solutions in the region. Such approximations are central in quantum mechanics. In contrast to the real principal case, solutions near the horizon admit two channels for propagation of singularities. Indeed, there is additional propagation along the double characteristic variety.
I re-examined the notion of the thermodynamic force constructed from the first law of black hole thermodynamics. In general relativity, the value of the charge (or angular momentum) at which the thermodynamic force equals the conjectured maximum force $F=1/4$ is found to correspond to $Q^2/M^2=8/9$ (respectively, $a^2/M^2=8/9$), which is known in the literature to exhibit some special properties. This provides a possible characterization of near-extremality. In addition, taking the maximum force conjecture seriously amounts to introducing a pressure term in the first law of black hole thermodynamics. This resolves the factor of two problem between the proposed maximum value $F=1/4$ and the thermodynamic force of Schwarzschild spacetime $F=1/2$. Surprisingly it also provides another indication for the instability of the inner horizon. For a Schwarzschild black hole, under some reasonable assumptions, this pressure can be interpreted as being induced by the quantum fluctuation of the horizon position, effectively giving rise to a diffused "shell" of characteristic width $\sqrt{M}$. The maximum force can therefore, in some contexts, be associated with inherently quantum phenomena. Some implications are discussed as more questions are raised.
Using the BPS Lagrangian method, we show that gravity theory coupled to matter in various dimensions may possess Bogomol'nyi-like equations, which are first-order differential equations, satisfying the Einstein equations and the Euler-Lagrange equations of classical fields ($U(1)$ gauge and scalar fields). In particular we consider static and spherically symmetric solutions by taking proper ansatzes and then we find an effective Lagrangian density that can reproduce the Einstein equations and the Euler-Lagrange equations of the classical fields. We consider the BPS Lagrangian density to be linear function of first-order derivative of all the fields. From these two Lagrangian desities we are able to obtain the Bogomol'nyi-like equations whose some of solutions are well-known such as Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m, Tangherlini black holes, and the recent black holes with scalar hair in three dimensions [Phys. Rev. D 107, 124047]. Using these Bogomol'nyi-like equations, we are also able to find new solutions for scalar hair black holes in three and four dimensional spacetime. Furthermore we show that the BPS Lagrangian method can provide a simple alternative proof of black holes uniqueness theorems in any dimension.
This paper considered a set of equations describing the static isotropic gravity field of a macroscopic body within the framework of the theory of gravity with a constraint. A general approximate solution of these equations is obtained. The solution exists only at certain values for the three integration constants. The out-of-body metric coincides with the Schwarzschild metric; however, unlike the general relativity theory (GR), the curvature tensor invariants have a certain finite value everywhere.
Ultracentral heavy ion collisions due to their exceptionally large multiplicity probe an interesting regime of quark-gluon plasma where the size is (mostly) fixed and fluctuations in the initial condition dominate. Spurred by the recent measurement of the CMS collaboration we investigate the driving factors of the increase of transverse momentum, including a complete analysis of the influence of the QCD equation of state. Particularly interesting is the influence of the centrality selection as well as the initial energy deposition.
Experimental information on the trilinear Higgs boson self-coupling $\kappa_3$ and the quartic self-coupling $\kappa_4$ will be crucial for gaining insight into the shape of the Higgs potential and the nature of the electroweak phase transition. While Higgs pair production processes provide access to $\kappa_3$, triple Higgs production processes, despite their small cross sections, will provide valuable complementary information on $\kappa_3$ and first experimental constraints on $\kappa_4$. We investigate triple Higgs boson production at the HL-LHC, employing efficient Graph Neural Network methodologies to maximise the statistical yield. We show that it will be possible to establish bounds on the variation of both couplings from the HL-LHC analyses that significantly go beyond the constraints from perturbative unitarity. We also discuss the prospects for the analysis of triple Higgs production at future high-energy lepton colliders operating at the TeV scale.
In the effective field theory (EFT), the positivity bound on dim-8 effective operators tells us that the $s^2$ contribution in the scattering amplitude of 2-to-2 process geometrically corresponds to the convex cone composed of the ultraviolet (UV) states as the external rays. The J-Basis method can provide a complete group theory decomposition of the scattering amplitude on the direct product of the gauge group and the Lorentz group, thus to search for all UV states. Compared to previous methods, which can only perform direct product decomposition on the gauge groups, the J-Basis method greatly improves the strictness of the restrictions and also provides a systematic scheme for calculating the positivity bounds of the dim-8 operators.
In this work, an unquenched quark model is proposed for describing the heavy-light mesons by taking into account the coupled-channel effects induced by chiral dynamics. After including a relativistic correction term for the strong transition amplitudes, both the mass spectra and decay widths of the observed heavy-light mesons can be successfully described simultaneously in a unified framework, several long-standing puzzles related to the small masses and broad widths are overcome naturally. We also provide valuable guidance in searching new heavy-light mesons by the detailed predictions of their masses, widths, and branching ratios. The success of the unquenched quark model presented in this work indicates it may be an important step for understanding the hadron spectrum.
We investigate the nonmonotonic behavior observed in the time-like nucleon electromagnetic form factors. Using a phenomenological extending vector meson dominance model, where the ground states $\rho$ and $\omega$ and their excited states $\rho(2D)$, $\omega(3D)$, and $\omega(5S)$ are taken into account, we have successfully reproduced the cross sections of $e^+ e^- \to p \bar{p}$ and $e^+ e^- \to n \bar{n}$ reactions. Furthermore, we have derived the nucleon electromagnetic form factors in the time-like region, and it is found that the so-called periodic behaviour of the nucleon effective form factors is not confirmed. However, there are indeed nonmonotonic structures in the line shape of nucleon effective form factors, which can be naturally reproduced by considering the contributions from the low-lying excited vector states.
Manifestation of the heavy 3/2-spin lepton $(h^\pm)$, as possible virtual intermediate state in Feynmann diagrams, have been searched in the $e^+\,e^-\to \gamma\,\gamma$ reaction at high energies and large photon angles. The spin-vector field $\Psi_\alpha$ of the 3/2-lepton is described by the Rarita-Schwinger one and phenomenological Lagrangian of $h^\pm\, e^\pm \, \gamma$-interaction is chosen similarly to interaction of $\Delta$ isobar with nucleon and $\gamma$ quant. It is described by two constants with dimension $[M^{-1}]$ and $[M^{-2}].$ The differential cross section and polarization asymmetries have been calculated for the case when both beams are polarized longitudinally along their directions, as well transversally, in the reaction plane, and normally, perpendicularly to it. Numerical estimations are performed in wide diapason of the collision energy and parameters entering phenomenological Lagrangian.
We continue previous investigations of the (inhomogeneous) phase structure of the Gross-Neveu model in a noninteger number of spatial dimensions ($1 \leq d < 3$) in the limit of an infinite number of fermion species ($N \to \infty$) at (non)zero chemical potential $\mu$. In this work, we extend the analysis from zero to nonzero temperature $T$. The phase diagram of the Gross-Neveu model in $1 \leq d < 3$ spatial dimensions is well known under the assumption of spatially homogeneous condensation with both a symmetry broken and a symmetric phase present for all spatial dimensions. In $d = 1$ one additionally finds an inhomogeneous phase, where the order parameter, the condensate, is varying in space. Similarly, phases of spatially varying condensates are also found in the Gross-Neveu model in $d = 2$ and $d = 3$, as long as the theory is not fully renormalized, i.e., in the presence of a regulator. For $d = 2$, one observes that the inhomogeneous phase vanishes, when the regulator is properly removed (which is not possible for $d = 3$ without introducing additional parameters). In the present work, we use the stability analysis of the symmetric phase to study the presence (for $1 \leq d < 2$) and absence (for $2 \leq d < 3$) of these inhomogeneous phases and the related moat regimes in the fully renormalized Gross-Neveu model in the $\mu, T$-plane. We also discuss the relation between "the number of spatial dimensions" and "studying the model with a finite regulator" as well as the possible consequences for the limit $d \to 3$.
Prompted by the recent discoveries of $T_{c\bar{s}0}(2900)^{++}$ in the $D_s^+\pi^+$ invariant mass distribution of $B^+\to D^-D_s^+\pi^+$ process, we present a model that hopes to help us investigate the nature of $T_{c\bar{s}0}(2900)^{++}$ by reproducing the mass distribution of $D^-\pi^+, D_s^+\pi^+$ and $D^-D_s^+$ in $B^+ \to D^-D_s^+\pi^+$ decays. The structure of the triangular singularity peak generated from the $\chi_{c1}D^{*+}K^{*+}$ loop near the $D^{*+}K^{*+}$ threshold is considered in our model may be the experimentally discovered resonance-like state structure $T_{c\bar{s}0}(2900)^{++}$. In addition, we employ a coupled-channel approach to describe the dominant contribution of the $D\pi$ $S\text{-wave}$ amplitude, and also consider other excitations. Our model provides a well fit to the invariant mass distributions of $D^-\pi^+, D_s^+\pi^+$ and $D^-D_s^+$ simultaneously.
We develop a new approach to RG flows and show that one-loop flows in multiscalar theories can be described by commutative but non-associative Euclidean algebras. As an example related to $D$-brane field theories and tensor models, we study the algebra of a theory with $M$ $SU(N)$ adjoint scalars and its large $N$ limits. A block diagonal decomposition of the RG flow into independent sets of couplings is achieved by a complete decomposition of the algebra into a sum of simple ideals, permitted by its Euclidean metric. The algebraic concepts of idempotents and Peirce numbers/Kowalevski exponents are used to further characterise the RG flows. We classify and describe all large N limits of algebras of multiadjoint scalar models: the standard `t Hooft matrix theory limit, a `multi-matrix' limit, each with one free parameter, and an intermediate case with extra symmetry and no free parameter of the algebra, but an emergent free parameter from a line of one-loop fixed points. The algebra identifies these limits without diagrammatic or combinatorial analysis.
We study nonequilibrium dynamics of relativistic $N$-component scalar field theories in Minkowski space-time in a classical-statistical regime, where typical occupation numbers of modes are much larger than unity. In this strongly correlated system far from equilibrium, the role of different phenomena such as nonlinear wave propagation and defect dynamics remains to be clarified. We employ persistent homology to infer topological features of the nonequilibrium many-body system for different numbers of field components $N$ via a hierarchy of cubical complexes. Specifically, we show that the persistent homology of local energy density fluctuations can give rise to signatures of self-similar scaling associated with topological defects, distinct from the scaling behaviour of nonlinear wave modes. This contributes to the systematic understanding of the role of topological defects for far-from-equilibrium time evolutions of nonlinear many-body systems.
Inspired by the observation of hidden-charm pentaquark $P_c$ and $P_{cs}$ states by the LHCb Collaboration, we explore the $qqc\bar{c}c$ ($q~=~u$ or $d$) pentaquark systems in the quark delocalization color screening model. The interaction between baryons and mesons and the influence of channel coupling are studied in this work. Three compact $qqc\bar{c}c$ pentaquark states are obtained, whose masses are 5259 MeV with $I(J^P)$ = $0(1/2^-)$, 5396 MeV with $I(J^P)$ = $1(1/2^-)$, and 5465 MeV with $I(J^P)$ = $1(3/2^-)$. Two molecular states are obtained, which are $I(J^P)$ = $0(1/2^-)$ $\Lambda_c J/\psi$ with 5367 MeV and $I(J^P)$ = $0(5/2^-)$ $\Xi_{cc}^* \bar{D}^*$ with 5690 MeV. These predicted states may provide important information for future experimental search.
The purpose of this work is to study the effect of exchanging initial condition models in a modular hybrid approach. The focus lies on the event-by-event correlations of elliptic and triangular flow. This study is performed in the hybrid approach SMASH-vHLLE, composed of the hadronic transport approach SMASH and the (3+1)d viscous hydrodynamic code vHLLE. The initial condition models investigated are SMASH IC, Trento and IP-Glasma. Correlations are calculated on an event-by-event basis between the eccentricities and momentum anisotropies of the initial state as well as the momentum anisotropies in the final state, both for ultra-central and off-central collisions for AuAu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV. This work demonstrates that, although averaged values for the eccentricities of these models are very similar, substantial differences exist both in the distributions of eccentricities, the correlations amongst the initial state properties as well as in the correlations between initial state and final state properties. Notably, whereas initial state momentum anisotropy is shown to not affect the final state flow, the presence of radial flow affects the emergence of final state momentum anisotropies. Inclusion of radial flow in the linear fit improves the prediction of final state flow from initial state properties. The presence of momentum in the initial state has an effect on the emergence of flow and is therefore a relevant part of initial state models, challenging the common understanding of final state momentum anisotropies being a linear response to initial state eccentricity only.
Off-lightcone Wilson-line operators are constructed using local operators connected by time-like or space-like Wilson lines, which ensure gauge invariance. Off-lightcone Wilson-line operators have broad applications in various contexts. For instance, space-like Wilson-line operators play a crucial role in determining quasi-distribution functions (quasi-PDFs), while time-like Wilson-line operators are essential for understanding quarkonium decay and production within the potential non-relativistic QCD (pNRQCD) framework. In this work, we establish a systematic approach for calculating the matching from the gradient-flow scheme to the $\overline{\rm MS}$ scheme in the limit of small flow time for off-lightcone Wilson-line operators. By employing the one-dimensional auxiliary-field formalism, we simplify the matching procedure, reducing it to the matching of local current operators. We provide one-loop level matching coefficients for these local current operators. For the case of hadronic matrix element related to the quark quasi-PDFs, we show at one-loop level that the finite flow time effect is very small as long as the flow radius is smaller than the physical distance $z$, which is usually satisfied in lattice gradient flow computations. Applications include lattice gradient flow computations of quark/gluon quasi-PDFs, gluonic correlators related to quarkonium decay and production in pNRQCD, and spin-dependent potentials in terms of chromoelectric and chromomagnetic field insertions into a Wilson loop.
We give a prescription how high energy physics tools can be used to perform scalar dark matter analysis. We also present the analysis results of scalar dark matter in the context of 6 dimensional Effective Field Theory.
Positron creation probabilities as well as energy and angular distributions of outgoing positrons in slow collisions of two identical heavy nuclei are obtained within the two-center approach beyond the monopole approximation. The time-dependent Dirac equation for positron wave functions is solved with the help of the generalized pseudospectral method in modified prolate spheroidal coordinates adapted for variable internuclear separation. Depending on the nuclear charge, the results are obtained for both subcritical and supercritical regimes of the positron creation. The signatures of transition to the supercritical regime in the total positron creation probabilities and energy spectra are discussed. The angular distributions of emitted positrons demonstrate a high degree of isotropy.
Charged lepton flavor violation (cLFV) processes, potentially important for various Beyond the Standard Model Physics scenarios are analyzed in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) framework. We consider the most relevant 2 quark-2 lepton $(2q2\ell)$ operators for the leptonic and semi-leptonic LFV B-decay (LFVBD) processes $B_s\to \mu^+e^- , B^+\to K^+\mu^+e^-, B^0\to K^{*0}\mu^+ e^-, {\rm and}~ B_s\to \phi\mu^-e^+$. We analyse the interplay among the Wilson coefficients responsible for these LFVBDs and other cLFV processes like $\rm CR (\mu\to e)$, $\ell_i \to \ell_j \gamma$, $\ell_i \to\ell_j\ell_k\ell_m$ and $Z \to \ell_i \ell_j$, to find the maximal possible LFV effects in $B$-meson decays. We probe the scale of new physics in relation to the constraints imposed by both classes of the LFV decays while considering both the present bounds and future expectations. In view of proposed experiments at LHCb-II and Belle II to study charged LFV processes, we have also provided the upper limits on the indirect constraints on such LFVBDs. For the processes where $B$ meson is decaying to $\mu^{\pm}$ and $e^{\mp}$, we show that new physics can be constrained by an enhancement of 2-4 orders of magnitude on the current sensitivities of the BRs of $B^+\to K^+\mu^+e^-, B^0\to K^{*0}\mu^+ e^- {\rm and}~ B_s\to\phi\mu^{\pm}e^{\mp}$.
We propose an approach for measuring the moments of the hadronic invariant mass distribution in semileptonic $B_{s}^{0}$ meson decays using a sum-of-exclusive technique. Using the present and foreseen knowledge about exclusive semileptonic $B_{s}^{0}$ decays, we estimate the uncertainties on the hadronic mass moments. Semileptonic $B_{s}^{0}$ decays can be described, as their $B^{0}$ counterpart, using the Heavy Quark Expansion (HQE), with the only difference between the $B_{s}^{0}$ and $B^{0}$ mesons being the $SU(3)_F$ breaking effects that change the numerical values of the non-perturbative HQE parameters. We extract the HQE parameters for the $B_{s}^{0}$ decays from our estimates of the moments, showing the potential of the proposed method. We identify a set of required measurements for a future precision measurement.
The possible appearance of the effects of local parity breaking in the QCD medium formed in heavy ion collisions due to violation of chiral symmetry can be quantified by corresponding chiral chemical potential $\mu_5$. The experimental observables sensitive to the effects of local parity violation in strong interaction include search for polarisation splitting of the $\rho_0$ and $\omega_0$ mesons via angular dependence of spectral functions in their decay to leptons. In this paper we study the space-time evolution and fluctuations of $\mu_5$ using relativistic hydrodynamics and estimate their effect on the light vector meson polarization splitting in Pb-Pb collisions at LHC energy.
The idea of feebly interacting particles (FIPs) has emerged as an important approach to address challenges beyond the Standard Model. The next generation of Intensity Frontier experiments is set to explore these particles in greater depth. While many experiments may detect FIP signals in unexplored regions of masses and couplings, interpretation of the properties of particles behind these signals is typically neglected. In this paper, we present a novel framework designed to systematically determine the models behind a potential signal. Our approach allows us to assess the scientific reach of experiments beyond the concept of sensitivity to the smallest coupling constant leading to a detectable signal. We clarify the potential impact such signals could have on particle physics models. This paper is complemented by a Python package for the presented framework, available at omikulen/modeltesting.
A new release of the Monte Carlo event generator Herwig (version 7.3) has been launched. This iteration encompasses several enhancements over its predecessor, version 7.2. Noteworthy upgrades include: the implementation of a process-independent electroweak angular-ordered parton shower integrated with QCD and QED radiation; a new recoil scheme for initial-state radiation improving the behaviour of the angular-ordered parton shower; the incorporation of the heavy quark effective theory to refine the hadronization and decay of excited heavy mesons and heavy baryons; a dynamic strategy to regulate the kinematic threshold of cluster splittings within the cluster hadronization model; several improvements to the structure of the cluster hadronization model allowing for refined models; the possibility to extract event-by-event hadronization corrections in a well-defined way; the possibility of using the string model, with a dedicated tune. Additionally, a new tuning of the parton shower and hadronization parameters has been executed. This article discusses the novel features introduced in version 7.3.0.
The gravitational form factors of the transition from the proton to the $\Delta^+$ resonance are calculated to leading one-loop order using a manifestly Lorentz-invariant formulation of chiral perturbation theory. We take into account the leading electromagnetic and strong isospin-violating effects. The loop contributions to the transition form factors are found to be free of power-counting violating pieces, which is consistent with the absence of tree-level diagrams at the considered order. In this sense, our results can be regarded as predictions of chiral perturbation theory.
Measurements of quarkonia isolation in jets at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have been shown to disagree with fixed-order non-relativistic quantum chromodynamics (NRQCD) calculations, even at higher orders. Calculations using the fragmenting jet function formalism are able to better describe data but cannot provide full event-level predictions. In this work we provide an alternative model via NRQCD production of quarkonia in a timelike parton shower. We include this model in the Pythia 8 event generator and validate our parton-shower implementation against analytic forms of the relevant fragmentation functions. Finally, we make inclusive predictions of quarkonia production for the decay of the standard-model Higgs boson.
We elaborate on the application of on-shell and unitarity-based methods for evaluating renormalization group coefficients, and generalize this framework to account for the mixing of operators with different dimensions and leading mass effects. We derive a master formula for anomalous dimensions stemming from the general structure of operator mixings, up to two-loop order, and show how the Higgs low-energy theorem can be exploited to include leading mass effects. A few applications on the renormalization properties of popular effective field theories showcase the strength of the proposed approach, which drastically reduces the complexity of standard loop calculations. Our results provide a powerful tool to interpret experimental measurements of low-energy observables, such as flavor violating processes or electric and magnetic dipole moments, as induced by new physics emerging above the electroweak scale.
In this paper we investigate how well the nature of heavy neutral leptons can be determined at a future lepton collider, after its potential discovery. Considered in a simplified model are prompt decays of the neutrino in the mass range from 100 GeV to 10 TeV. We study event selection and application of multivariate analyses to determine whether such a newly discovered particle is of the Dirac or Majorana nature. Combining lepton charge and kinematic event variables, we find that the nature of a heavy neutrino, whether it is a Dirac or a Majorana particle, can be determined at 95% C.L. almost in the whole discovery range. We will briefly speculate about other than the studied channels and the robustness of this statement in more general models of heavy neutral leptons, particularly on the complementarity of high-energy electron-positron vs. muon colliders on resolving the flavor structure of heavy neutrinos.
In light of recent experimental progress in determining the pressure and shear distributions in the proton, these quantities are calculated in a model with confined quarks supplemented by the pion field required by chiral symmetry. The incorporation of the pion contributions is shown to account for the long-range distributions, in general agreement with the experimentally extracted quark contributions. The results of the model are also compared with lattice QCD results at unphysically large quark mass.
The relation between the polar and running heavy quark masses to order $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_{s}^{4})$ in perturbative quantum chromodynamics (pQCD) can be obtained with the help of the Principle of Maximum Conformity (PMC), which is a formalism that provides a rigorous method for eliminating renormalization scale and scheme ambiguities for observables in pQCD. Using PMC, an optimal renormalization scale for the heavy quark mass ratio is determined, independent of the renormalization scale and scheme. Precise values are then obtained for the PMC masses of the heavy quarks $M_b^{\text{PMC}}=4.86^{+0.03}_{-0.02}$ GeV, $M_t^{\text{PMC}}=172.3\pm 0.6$ GeV, and $\overline{m}_t^{\text{PMC}}=162.6 \pm 0.7$ GeV.
According to general understanding, the proton as one of the main ingredients of the nucleus is composed of one down and two up quarks bound together by gluons, described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). In this view, heavy quarks do not contribute to the primary wave function of the proton. Heavy quarks arise in the proton perturbatively by gluon splitting and the probability gradually increases as $Q^2$ increases (extrinsic heavy quarks). In addition, the existence of non-perturbative intrinsic charm quarks in the proton has also been predicted by QCD. In this picture, the heavy quarks also exist in the proton's wave function. In fact, the wave function has a five-quark structure $ \vert u u d c \bar{c}\rangle $ in addition to the three-quark bound state $ \vert u u d\rangle $. So far, many studies have been done to confirm or reject this additional component. One of the recent studies has been done by the NNPDF collaboration. They established the existence of an intrinsic charm component at the 3-standard-deviation level in the proton from the structure function measurements. Most of the studies performed to calculate the contribution of the intrinsic charm so far have been based on the global analyses of the experimental data. In this article, for the first time we directly calculate this contribution by an analytic method. We estimate a $x^{c\bar{c}} = (1.36 \pm 0.67)\% $ contribution for the $ \vert u u d c \bar{c}\rangle $ component of the proton.
Well-trained classifiers and their complete weight distributions provide us with a well-motivated and practicable method to test generative networks in particle physics. We illustrate their benefits for distribution-shifted jets, calorimeter showers, and reconstruction-level events. In all cases, the classifier weights make for a powerful test of the generative network, identify potential problems in the density estimation, relate them to the underlying physics, and tie in with a comprehensive precision and uncertainty treatment for generative networks.
We cure the perturbative instability of the total-inclusive-photoproduction cross sections of vector $S$-wave quarkonia observed at high photon-proton-collision energies ($\sqrt{s_{\gamma p}}$) in Next-to-Leading Order (NLO) Collinear-Factorisation (CF) computations. This is achieved using High-Energy Factorisation (HEF) in the Doubly-Logarithmic Approximation (DLA), which is a subset of the Leading-Logarithmic Approximation (LLA) of HEF which resums higher-order QCD corrections proportional to $\alpha_s^n \ln^{n-1} (\hat{s}/M^2)$ in the Regge limit $\hat{s}\gg M^2$ with $M^2$ being the quarkonium mass and $\hat{s}$ is the squared partonic-center-of-mass energy. Such a DLA is strictly consistent with the NLO and NNLO DGLAP evolutions of the Parton Distribution Functions. By improving the treatment of the large-$\hat{s}$ asymptotics of the CF coefficient function, the resummation cures the unphysical results of the NLO CF calculation. The matching is directly performed in $\hat{s}$ space using the Inverse-Error Weighting matching procedure which avoids any possible double counting. The obtained cross sections are in good agreement with data. In addition, the scale-variation uncertainty of the matched result is significantly reduced compared to the LO results. Our calculations also yield closed-form analytic limits for $\hat{s}\gg M^2$ of the NLO partonic CF and numerical limits for contributions to those at NNLO scaling like $\alpha_s^2 \ln(\hat{s}/M^2)$.
The equivalent representations for the hadronic vacuum polarization contributions to the muon anomalous magnetic moment $a^{\text{HVP}}_{\mu}$ in the presence of the quark flavour thresholds are studied. Specifically, the explicit relations between the contributions given by the integration over a finite kinematic interval to $a^{\text{HVP}}_{\mu}$ expressed in terms of the hadronic vacuum polarization function, Adler function, and the $R$-ratio of electron-positron annihilation into hadrons are derived. It is shown that the quark flavour thresholds of the hadronic vacuum polarization function generate additional contributions to $a^{\text{HVP}}_{\mu}$ expressed in terms of the Adler function and the $R$-ratio and the explicit expressions for such contributions are obtained. The commonly employed dispersion relations, which bind together hadronic vacuum polarization function, Adler function, and $R$-ratio, are extended to account for the effects due to the quark flavour thresholds. The examined additional contributions due to the heavy quark thresholds to $a^{\text{HVP}}_{\mu}$ expressed in terms of the $R$-ratio appear to be quite sizable, that can be of a particular relevance for the data-driven method of assessment of the hadronic part of the muon anomalous magnetic moment.
The polarization of recoil photon ($\gamma'$) in the non-linear Compton process $e + \vec L \to \vec \gamma' +e'$ in the interaction of a relativistic electron with a linearly polarized laser beam ($\vec L$) is studied within the Furry picture in the lowest-order, tree-level S matrix element. In particular, we consider the asymmetry of differential cross sections ${\cal A}$ for two independent axes describing the Compton process equal to the intrinsic spin variable ${\xi}^f_3$, that determines the polarization properties of $\gamma'$. The sign and absolute value of the asymmetry determine the direction and degree of $\gamma'$ polarization. We have analyzed the process in a wide range of laser intensity that covers existing and future experiments. Our results provide additional knowledge for studying nonlinear multi-photon effects in quantum electrodynamics and can be used in planning experiments at envisaged laser facilities.
We investigate the hyperon polarization and its relation with the directed flow of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in non-central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} = 27$ GeV. A modified 3-dimensional (3D) Glauber model is developed and coupled to a (3+1)-D viscous hydrodynamic evolution of the QGP. Within this framework, we obtain a satisfactory simultaneous description of the directed flow of identified particles and $\Lambda$ polarization, and show sensitivity of polarization to both the tilted geometry and the longitudinal flow profile of the QGP. A non-monotonic transverse momentum dependence of the $\Lambda$ polarization is found in our calculation, which is absent from hydrodynamic simulation using other initialization methods and can be tested by future experimental data with higher precision. The relation between the global polarization and directed flow of $\Lambda$ is explored as the longitudinal flow field or the medium deformation varies. Due to the common origin of these two observables, their combination may provide a more stringent constraint on the initial condition of the QGP.
The interpretation of LHC data, and the assessment of possible hints of new physics, require the precise knowledge of the proton structure in terms of parton distribution functions (PDFs). We present a systematic methodology designed to determine whether and how global PDF fits might inadvertently 'fit away' signs of new physics in the high-energy tails of the distributions. We showcase a scenario for the High-Luminosity LHC, in which the PDFs may completely absorb such signs of new physics, thus biasing theoretical predictions and interpretations. We discuss strategies to single out the effects in this scenario, and disentangle the inconsistencies that stem from them. Our study brings to light the synergy between the high luminosity programme at the LHC and future low-energy non-LHC measurements of large-$x$ sea quark distributions. The analysis code used in this work is made public so that any users can test the robustness of the signal associated to a given BSM model against absorption by the PDFs.
According to the conventional studies, the lattice SU(2) gauge-scalar model with a single scalar field in the fundamental representation of the gauge group has a single confinement-Higgs phase where Confinement and Higgs regions are subregions of an analytically continued single phase and there are no thermodynamic phase transitions, which is a well-known consequence of the Osterwalder-Seiler-Fradkin-Shenker theorem. In this paper, however, we show that we can define new type of gauge-invariant operators by combining the original fundamental scalar field and the so-called color-direction field which is obtained by change of field variables based on the gauge-covariant decomposition of the gauge field due to Cho-Duan-Ge-Shabanov and Faddeev-Niemi. By performing the numerical simulations on the lattice without any gauge fixing, we find a new transition line detected by the new gauge-invariant operators which completely separate the confinement-Higgs phase into two parts, confinement phase and the Higgs phase, in the strong gauge coupling, while it agrees with the conventional thermodynamic transition line in the weak gauge coupling. All results are obtained in the gauge-independent way, since no gauge fixing has been imposed in the numerical simulations. Moreover, we give a physical interpretation for the new transition from the viewpoint of the realization of a global symmetry.
We explore a scenario of high scale supersymmetry where all supersymmetric particles except gauginos stay at a high energy scale $M_{\rm SUSY}$ which is much larger than the reheating temperature $T_\text{RH}$. The dark matter is dominated by bino component with mass around the electroweak scale and the observed relic abundance is mainly generated by the freeze-in process during the early universe. Considering the various constraints, we identify two available scenarios in which the supersymmetric sector at an energy scale below $T_\text{RH}$ consists of: a) bino; b) bino and wino. Typically, for a bino mass around 0.1-1 TeV and a wino mass around 2 TeV, we find that $M_{\rm SUSY}$ should be around $10^{12-14}$ GeV with $T_\text{RH}$ around $10^{4-6}$ GeV.
We develop a hybrid scheme to renormalize quasi distribution amplitudes of a light baryon on the lattice, which combines the self-renormalization and ratio scheme. By employing self-renormalization, the UV divergences and linear divergence at large spatial separations in quasi distribution amplitudes are removed without introducing extra nonperturbative effects, while making a ratio with respect to the zero-momentum matrix element can properly remove the UV divergences in small spatial separations. As a specific application, distribution amplitudes of the $\Lambda$ baryon made of $uds$ are investigated, and the requisite equal-time correlators, which define quasi distribution amplitudes in coordinate space, are perturbatively calculated up to the next-to-leading order in strong coupling constant $\alpha_s$. These perturbative equal-time correlators are used to convert lattice QCD matrix elements to the continuum space during the renormalization process. Subsequently, quasi distribution amplitudes are matched onto lightcone distribution amplitudes by integrating out hard modes and the corresponding hard kernels are derived up to next-to-leading order in $\alpha_s$ including the hybrid counterterms. These results are valuable in the lattice-based investigation of the lightcone distribution amplitudes of a light baryon from the first principles of QCD.
We propose that the cascade decay $\Lambda_b \to D(\to K^+\pi^-) N(\to p\pi^-)$ may serve as the discovery channel for baryonic CP violation. This decay chain is contributed by, dominantly, the amplitudes with the intermediate $D$ state as $D^0$ or $\bar{D}^0$. The large weak phase between the two kinds of amplitudes suggests the possibility of significant CP violation. While the presence of undetermined strong phases may complicate the dependence of CP asymmetry, our phenomenological analysis demonstrates that CP violation remains prominent across a broad range of strong phases. The mechanism also applies to similar decay modes such as $\Lambda_b \rightarrow D(\rightarrow K^+ K^-) \Lambda$. Considering the anticipated luminosity of LHCb, we conclude that these decay channels offer a promising opportunity to uncover CP violation in the baryon sector.
We compute three-loop vertex corrections to $b\to s\gamma$ induced by current-current operators. The results are presented as expansions in $m_c/m_b$ with numerical coefficients which allow to cover all relevant values for the heavy quark masses in different renormalization schemes. Moreover we provide for the first time analytic results for the next-to-leading order contribution. Our results present an important building block to the next-to-next-to-leading order interference contributions of the current-current operators $Q_1$ and $Q_2$ with the electric dipole operator $Q_7$.
The B -> X_s gamma branching ratio is currently measured with around 5% accuracy. Further improvement is expected from Belle II. To match such a precision on the theoretical side, evaluation of O(alpha_s^2) corrections to the partonic decay b -> X_s^part gamma are necessary, which includes the b -> s gamma, b -> s g gamma, b -> s g g gamma, b -> s qbar q gamma decay channels. Here, we evaluate the unrenormalized contribution to b -> s gamma that stems from the interference of the photonic dipole operator Q_7 and the current-current operators Q_1 and Q_2. Our results, obtained in the cut propagator approach at the 4-loop level, agree with those found in parallel by Fael et al. who have applied the amplitude approach at the 3-loop level. Partial results for the same quantities recently determined by Greub et al. agree with our findings, too.
We study interacting electromagnetic fields in the framework of effective QED action, implementing the everlasting nature of the photon interaction with electron-positron loop fluctuations in the vacuum state. We develop a polarization summation based on the requirement that the always-interacting (dressed) photons are the asymptotic states. We show that as result the interaction-picture-based Schwinger-Dyson summation is extended in the strong coupling limit to a continuous fraction, for which there is no Landau pole.
We prove a set of sum rules needed for KK-graviton pair production from matter in orbifolded extra-dimensional models. The sum rules can be found in full generality by considering the properties of solutions to the Sturm-Liouville problem, which describes the wave functions and the masses of the KK-gravitons in four dimensions. They ensure cancellations in the amplitudes of the processes mentioned above which considerably reduce their growth with $s$ in the high-energy limit. This protects extra-dimensional theories from the low-scale unitarity problems that plague other theories with massive spin-2 particles. We argue that such relations are valid for a broader category of models thus generalizing our previous results that were limited to the large $\mu$ limit of the Randall-Sundrum model.
The TMD soft function can be obtained by formulating the Wilson line in terms of auxiliary 1-dimensional fermion fields on the lattice. In this formulation, the directional vector of the auxiliary field in Euclidean space has the form $\tilde n = (in^0, \vec 0_\perp, n^3)$, where the time component is purely imaginary. The components of these complex directional vectors in the Euclidean space can be mapped directly to the rapidities of the Minkowski space soft function. We present the results of the one-loop calculation of the Euclidean space analog to the soft function using these complex directional vectors. As a result, we show that the calculation is valid only when the directional vectors obey the relation: $|r| = |n^3/n^0| > 1$, and that this result corresponds to a computation in Minkowski space with space-like directed Wilson lines. Finally, we show that a lattice calculable object can be constructed that has the desired properties of the soft function.
The bulk-boundary correspondence is a hallmark feature of topological phases of matter. Nonetheless, our understanding of the correspondence remains incomplete for phases with intrinsic topological order, and is nearly entirely lacking for more exotic phases, such as fractons. Intriguingly, for the former, recent work suggests that bulk topological order manifests in a non-local structure in the boundary Hilbert space; however, a concrete understanding of how and where this perspective applies remains limited. Here, we provide an explicit and general framework for understanding the bulk-boundary correspondence in Pauli topological stabilizer codes. We show -- for any boundary termination of any two-dimensional topological stabilizer code -- that the boundary Hilbert space cannot be realized via local degrees of freedom, in a manner precisely determined by the anyon data of the bulk topological order. We provide a simple method to compute this "obstruction" using a well-known mapping to polynomials over finite fields. Leveraging this mapping, we generalize our framework to fracton models in three-dimensions, including both the X-Cube model and Haah's code. An important consequence of our results is that the boundaries of topological phases can exhibit emergent symmetries that are impossible to otherwise achieve without an unrealistic degree of fine tuning. For instance, we show how linear and fractal subsystem symmetries naturally arise at the boundaries of fracton phases.
We examine the minimal constraints imposed by the Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC) on the particle spectrum of a quantum gravity theory. Towers of super-extremal states have previously been argued to be required for consistency of the WGC under circle reduction. At the same time, there exist classes of theories where no tower of super-extremal particle states below the black hole threshold has been established with current techniques. We resolve this tension by arguing for the existence of a minimal radius for circle reductions of generic quantum gravity theories. Below this threshold, the notion of a circle compactification breaks down, bypassing the need for a tower of super-extremal states to satisfy the WGC after circle reduction. Based on this we propose that if a theory satisfies the WGC at the particle level below the black hole threshold, these states are sufficient for consistency under dimensional reduction, even in absence of a tower of super-extremal particles. Apart from general arguments, we provide independent evidence for this main result in F-, M- and string theory compactifications. According to the Emergent String Conjecture the only exception to the appearance of a minimal radius arises in asymptotically weak-coupling limits for heterotic strings, which aligns with the appearance of a weakly coupled super-extremal tower of particle states. This observation motivates a Minimal Weak Gravity Conjecture which states that towers of super-extremal particles occur if and only if they are required by consistency of the WGC under dimensional reduction.
We revisit the minimal tension ($k=1$) string theory on $\text{AdS}_3\times\text{S}^3\times\mathbb{T}^4$. We propose a new free-field description of the worldsheet theory and show how localization of string amplitudes emerges from the path integral. We exemplify our proposal by reproducing the worldsheet partition function of the $\mathfrak{psu}(1,1|2)_1$ WZW model and providing explicit expressions for spectrally-flowed vertex operators and DDF operators. We compute string correlators in the path integral formalism and obtain a precise tree-level match with correlation functions of the boundary symmetric orbifold.
We consider the algebra of massive fermions restricted to a diamond in two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, and in the Minkowski vacuum state. While the massless modular Hamiltonian is known for this setting, the derivation of the massive one is an open problem. We compute the small-mass corrections to the modular Hamiltonian in a perturbative approach, finding some terms which were previously overlooked. Our approach can in principle be extended to all orders in the mass, even though it becomes computationally challenging.
Non-trivial gravitational saddles have played a key role in the island proposal for the black hole information paradox. It is worth asking if non-trivial saddles exist in microscopic descriptions of black holes. We show this to be the case for 1/8 BPS black holes in N = 8 String Theory in a duality frame, where all charges are Ramond Ramond. The saddles are in the Coulomb branch, where they describe marginally stable bound states of the constituent branes, and correspond to vacua of the BFSS model. The non-perturbative suppression scale is determined by the binding energy.
In this work we present the $\alpha'$-exact background equations of motion of the bosonic chiral string (also known as Hohm-Siegel-Zwiebach model), with the spin two ghost fields integrated out. This is the first instance of a worldsheet model in which all corrections are fully determined in a generic curved spacetime. As a concrete cross-check, we find complete agreement between all three-point and a sample of four-point tree level scattering amplitudes computed using field theory methods and the chiral string prescription. These equations of motion provide a field theoretical shortcut to compute worldsheet correlators in conventional bosonic strings (with arbitrary number of massless and mass level one states), and outline a new perspective on massive resonances in string theory.
We compute the potential energy for the dilaton, complex structure and Kahler moduli and search of realistic vacua of heterotic M-theory compactified on Calabi-Yau threefolds. We present a protocol for deriving the potential that combines the non-perturbative complex structure, gaugino condensate and worldsheet instanton superpotentials in theories in which the hidden sector contains an anomalous $U(1)$ structure group. The Green-Schwarz anomaly cancellation induces inhomogeneous axion transformations for the imaginary components of the dilaton and Kahler modulus. Using this protocol we obtain explicit examples in which potential has a global minimum at negative or zero vacuum density or a metastable minimum with positive vacuum density. In all three cases, the dilaton, Kahler modulus and associated axion moduli are completely stabilized. Finally, we show that, for any of these vacua, the potential energy satisfies the large scalar field Swampland conjecture.
We set up the Kosower, Maybee, O'Connell formalism for generic spin following a previous field theory construction and use it to extract a next-to-leading order eikonal formula for the linear-in-spin momentum impulse, $\Delta p^{\mu}$, and spin kick, $\Delta S^{\mu \nu}$. We explicitly test the formalism for the case of electrodynamics and find agreement with previous QFT and worldline results. This includes the case where multiple spins propagate with allowed spin transitions, or equivalently where no spin supplementary condition is imposed on the worldline equations of motion.
We consider 't Hooft anomalies of four-dimensional gauge theories whose fermion matter content admits $Spin_G(4)$ generalized spin structure, with $G$ either gauged or a global symmetry. We discuss methods to directly compute $w_2\cup w_3$ 't Hooft anomalies involving Steifel Whitney classes of gauge and flavor symmetry bundles that such theories can have on non-spin manifolds, e.g. $M_4=\mathbb{CP}^2$. Such anomalies have been discussed for $SU(2)$ gauge theory with adjoint fermions, where they were shown to give an effect that was originally found in the Donaldson-Witten topological twist of ${\cal N}=2$ SYM theory. We directly compute these anomalies for a variety of theories, including general $G$ gauge theories with adjoint fermions, $SU(2)$ gauge theory with fermions in general representations, and $Spin(N)$ gauge theories with fundamental matter. We discuss aspects of matching these and other 't Hooft anomalies in the IR phase where global symmetries are spontaneously broken, in particular for general $G_{\rm gauge}$ theory with $N_f$ adjoint Weyl fermions. For example, in the case of $N_f=2$ we discuss anomaly matching in the IR phase consisting of $h^\vee _{G_{\rm gauge}}$ copies of a $\mathbb{CP}^1$ non-linear sigma model, including for the $w_2w_3$ anomalies when formulated with $Spin_{SU(2)_{\rm global}}(4)$ structure.
We report the explicit solution for the vacuum state of the two-dimensional $SU(N)$ Principal Chiral Model at large-$N$ for an arbitrary set of chemical potentials and any interaction strength, a unique result of such kind for an asymptotically free QFT. The solution matches one-loop perturbative calculation at weak coupling, and in the opposite strong-coupling regime exhibits an emergent spacial dimension from the continuum limit of the $SU(N)$ Dynkin diagram.
We non-perturbatively study two-dimensional SU($N$) supersymmetric Yang--Mills theory with four supercharges and large $12 \leq N \leq 20$. Although this theory has no known holographic dual, we conduct numerical investigations to check for features similar to the sixteen-supercharge theory, which has a well-defined gravity dual. We carry out lattice field theory calculations to determine the phase diagram, observing a spatial deconfinement transition, similar to the maximally supersymmetric case. However, the transition does not continue to strong couplings, implying the absence of a holographic interpretation for this four-supercharge theory.
In this note, we review some new results we recently obtained about the infrared physics of 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ SQCD with a unitary gauge group, in particular in the presence of a non-zero Fayet-Iliopoulos parameter and with generic values of the Chern-Simons levels. We review the 3d GLSM (also known as 3d A-model) approach to the computation of the 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ twisted chiral ring of half-BPS lines. For particular values of the Chern-Simons levels, this twisted chiral ring has a neat interpretation in terms of the quantum K-theory (QK) of the Grassmannian manifold. We propose a new set of line defects of the 3d gauge theory, dubbed Grothendieck lines, which represent equivariant Schubert classes in the QK ring. In particular, we show that double Grothendieck polynomials, which represent the equivariant Chern characters of the Schubert classes, arise physically as Witten indices of certain quiver supersymmetric quantum mechanics. We also explain two distinct ways how to compute K-theoretic enumerative invariants using the 3d GLSM approach. \textit{This review article is a contribution to the proceedings of the GLSM@30 conference, which was held in May 2023 at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics.}
We study the $O(3)$ critical model and the free theory of a scalar triplet in the presence of a magnetic impurity. We use analytic bootstrap techniques to extract results in the $\varepsilon$-expansion. First, we extend by one order in perturbation theory the computation of the beta function for the defect coupling in the free theory. Then, we analyze in detail the low-lying spectrum of defect operators, focusing on their perturbative realization when the defect is constructed as a path-ordered exponential. After this, we consider two different bulk two-point functions and we compute them using the defect dispersion relation. For a free bulk theory, we are able to fix the form of the correlator at all orders in $\varepsilon$, while for an interacting bulk we compute it up to second order in $\varepsilon$. Expanding these results in the bulk and defect block expansions, we are able to extract an infinite set of defect CFT data. We discuss low-spin ambiguities that affect every result computed through the dispersion relation and we use a combination of consistency conditions and explicit diagrammatic calculations to fix this ambiguity.
Quantum error correction (QEC) is a key concept in quantum computation as well as many areas of physics. There are fundamental tensions between continuous symmetries and QEC. One vital situation is unfolded by the Eastin--Knill theorem, which forbids the existence of QEC codes that admit transversal continuous symmetry actions (transformations). Here, we systematically study the competition between continuous symmetries and QEC in a quantitative manner. We first define a series of meaningful measures of approximate symmetries motivated from different perspectives, and then establish a series of trade-off bounds between them and QEC accuracy utilizing multiple different methods. Remarkably, the results allow us to derive general quantitative limitations of transversally implementable logical gates, an important topic in fault-tolerant quantum computation. As concrete examples, we showcase two explicit types of quantum codes, obtained from quantum Reed--Muller codes and thermodynamic codes, respectively, that nearly saturate our bounds. Finally, we discuss several potential applications of our results in physics.
A new quantum link microstructure was proposed for the lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) Hamiltonian, replacing the Wilson gauge links with a bilinear of fermionic qubits, later generalized to D-theory. This formalism provides a general framework for building lattice field theory algorithms for quantum computing. We focus mostly on the simplest case of a quantum rotor for a single compact $U(1)$ field. We also make some progress for non-Abelian setups, making it clear that the ideas developed in the $U(1)$ case extend to other groups. These in turn are building blocks for $1 + 0$-dimensional ($1 + 0$-D) matrix models, $1 + 1$-D sigma models and non-Abelian gauge theories in $2+1$ and $3+1$ dimensions. By introducing multiple flavors for the $U(1)$ field, where the flavor symmetry is gauged, we can efficiently approach the infinite-dimensional Hilbert space of the quantum $O(2)$ rotor with increasing flavors. The emphasis of the method is on preserving the symplectic algebra exchanging fermionic qubits by sigma matrices (or hard bosons) and developing a formal strategy capable of generalization to $SU(3)$ field for lattice QCD and other non-Abelian $1 + 1$-D sigma models or $3 +3$-D gauge theories. For $U(1)$, we discuss briefly the qubit algorithms for the study of the discrete $1+1$-D Sine-Gordon equation.
In this work we present the construction of a renormalized symplectic form on an extended phases space where the higher order large gauge transformations act canonically. The expressions of the sub$^n$-leading electric charges associated to each $O(r^n)$ LGT are then obtained, in agreement with the expressions previously proposed in arXiv:1810.04619 by means of the tree-level sub$^n$-leading formulas. We also present the duality extension of the extended phase space, computing the full electromagnetic charge algebra, showing a tower of central extensions.
The presence of gauge symmetry in 1+1D is known to be redundant, since it does not imply the existence of dynamical gauge bosons. As a consequence, in the continuum, the Abelian-Higgs model, the theory of bosonic matter interacting with photons, just possesses a single phase, as the higher dimensional Higgs and Coulomb phases are connected via non-perturbative effects. However, recent research published in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 090601 (2022)] has revealed an unexpected phase transition when the system is discretized on the lattice. This transition is described by a conformal field theory with a central charge of $c=3/2$. In this paper, we aim to characterize the two components of this $c=3/2$ theory -- namely the free Majorana fermionic and bosonic parts -- through equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium spectral analyses.
We study the Hilbert space of the Class 5 model described in arXiv:1904.12005. Despite being integrable, neither its transfer matrix nor its Hamiltonian are diagonalisable, meaning that the usual Algebraic Bethe Ansatz does not provide the full Hilbert space. Instead, we make use of the symmetries of the model to construct the Jordan blocks of the transfer matrix. We also show that the Hamiltonian and the transfer matrix, despite commuting, do not have the same Jordan block structure.
In this paper, we explore the string theory landscape obtained from type IIB and F-theory flux compactifications. We first give a comprehensive introduction to a number of mathematical finiteness theorems, indicate how they have been obtained, and clarify their implications for the structure of the locus of flux vacua. Subsequently, in order to address finer details of the locus of flux vacua, we propose three mathematically precise conjectures on the expected number of connected components, geometric complexity, and dimensionality of the vacuum locus. With the recent breakthroughs on the tameness of Hodge theory, we believe that they are attainable to rigorous mathematical tools and can be successfully addressed in the near future. The remainder of the paper is concerned with more technical aspects of the finiteness theorems. In particular, we investigate their local implications and explain how infinite tails of disconnected vacua approaching the boundaries of the moduli space are forbidden. To make this precise, we present new results on asymptotic expansions of Hodge inner products near arbitrary boundaries of the complex structure moduli space.
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.
With the Open Science approach becoming important for research, the evolution towards open scientific-paper reviews is making an impact on the scientific community. However, there is a lack of publicly available resources for conducting research activities related to this subject, as only a limited number of journals and conferences currently allow access to their review process for interested parties. In this paper, we introduce the new comprehensive Open Review-Based dataset (ORB); it includes a curated list of more than 36,000 scientific papers with their more than 89,000 reviews and final decisions. We gather this information from two sources: the OpenReview.net and SciPost.org websites. However, given the volatile nature of this domain, the software infrastructure that we introduce to supplement the ORB dataset is designed to accommodate additional resources in the future. The ORB deliverables include (1) Python code (interfaces and implementations) to translate document data and metadata into a structured and high-level representation, (2) an ETL process (Extract, Transform, Load) to facilitate the automatic updates from defined sources and (3) data files representing the structured data. The paper presents our data architecture and an overview of the collected data along with relevant statistics. For illustration purposes, we also discuss preliminary Natural-Language-Processing-based experiments that aim to predict (1) papers' acceptance based on their textual embeddings, and (2) grading statistics inferred from embeddings as well. We believe ORB provides a valuable resource for researchers interested in open science and review, with our implementation easing the use of this data for further analysis and experimentation. We plan to update ORB as the field matures as well as introduce new resources even more fitted to dedicated scientific domains such as High-Energy Physics.
Plastic-scintillator detectors are among the most common devices used for the detection of elementary particles. They provide good particle identification combined with excellent time resolution, whilst being inexpensive due to the affordability of plastic materials. Particle tracking is achieved by segmenting the scintillator into smaller, independent, optically-isolated voxels. Enhancing the performance of future particle detectors necessitates larger total volumes, possibly combined with even finer segmentation. However, manufacturing such designs with current production strategies is challenging. These strategies involve a variety of time-consuming and costly fabrication processes, followed by the assembly of millions of individual parts. The difficulty in scaling up such a complex workflow underscores the need for technological advancements, which can be met by additive manufacturing. This method enables the construction of complex, monolithic geometries in a single operation. These geometries consist of fine three-dimensional granular sub-structures and require the integration of multiple types of plastic materials, as well as space to accommodate optical fibers, all within a compact volume of several cubic meters. This article presents the fabrication and performance evaluation of the first additive manufactured single-block plastic scintillator detector. To achieve this, a new method called Fused Injection Modeling has been specially developed. The detector is capable of three-dimensional tracking of elementary particles and accurately measuring their stopping power. Its performance is comparable to the current state of the art of plastic scintillator detectors. This work paves the way towards a new feasible, time and cost-effective process for the production of future scintillator detectors, regardless their size and difficulty in geometry.
In high energy physics (HEP), machine learning methods have emerged as an effective way to accurately simulate particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The message-passing generative adversarial network (MPGAN) was the first model to simulate collisions as point, or ``particle'', clouds, with state-of-the-art results, but suffered from quadratic time complexity. Recently, generative adversarial particle transformers (GAPTs) were introduced to address this drawback; however, results did not surpass MPGAN. We introduce induced GAPT (iGAPT) which, by integrating ``induced particle-attention blocks'' and conditioning on global jet attributes, not only offers linear time complexity but is also able to capture intricate jet substructure, surpassing MPGAN in many metrics. Our experiments demonstrate the potential of iGAPT to simulate complex HEP data accurately and efficiently.
The FAMU experiment aims at an indirect measurement of the Zemach radius of the proton. The measurement is carried out on muonic hydrogen atoms produced through the low-momentum (50-60 MeV/c) muon beam a the RIKEN-RAL negative muon facility. The particle flux plays an important role in this measurement, as it is proportional to the number of muonic hydrogen atoms produced, which is the target of the FAMU experimental method. The beam monitor calibration technique and results, presented here, are meant to extract a reliable estimation of the muon flux during the FAMU data taking. These measurements were carried out at the CNAO synchrotron in Pavia, Italy, using proton beams and supported by Monte Carlo simulation of the detector in Geant4.
This contribution outlines the HALHF concept, which combines the high gradients achievable in plasma-wakefield acceleration with conventional radio-frequency acceleration. In HALHF, beam-driven plasma-wakefield cells are used to accelerate electrons to high energy. Because plasma-based acceleration of positrons is problematic, conventional RF acceleration is used but to much lower energy. The HALHF concept utilises not only asymmetric energies but also asymmetric bunch charges and asymmetric transverse emittances, leading to comparable luminosity to conventional facilities but much lower capital cost. Possible upgrades to the HALHF facility are discussed, in particular to the $\rm{t\bar{t}}$ threshold and to 550 GeV, where the Higgs self-coupling and $\rm{t\bar{t}}H$ coupling can be measured. Other upgrades include the provision of two interaction points, to implement a $\gamma$$\unicode{x2013}$$\gamma$ collider of two possible types and finally a symmetric high-energy collider if the problem of plasma-based positron acceleration can be solved.
The FAMU experiment at RIKEN-RAL is a muonic atom experiment with the aim to determine the Zemach radius of the proton by measuring the 1s hyperfine splitting in muonic hydrogen. The activity of the FAMU Collaboration in the years 2015-2023 enabled the final optimisation of the detector-target setup as well as the gas working condition in terms of temperature, pressure and gas mixture composition. The experiment has started its data taking in July 2023. The status of the detector setup for the 2023 experimental runs, for the beam characterisation and muonic X-ray detection in the 100-200 keV energy range, is presented and discussed.
The reconstruction of particle trajectories is a key challenge of particle physics experiments, as it directly impacts particle identification and physics performances while also representing one of the main CPU consumers of many high-energy physics experiments. As the luminosity of particle colliders increases, this reconstruction will become more challenging and resource-intensive. New algorithms are thus needed to address these challenges efficiently. One potential step of track reconstruction is ambiguity resolution. In this step, performed at the end of the tracking chain, we select which tracks candidates should be kept and which must be discarded. The speed of this algorithm is directly driven by the number of track candidates, which can be reduced at the cost of some physics performance. Since this problem is fundamentally an issue of comparison and classification, we propose to use a machine learning-based approach to the Ambiguity Resolution. Using a shared-hits-based clustering algorithm, we can efficiently determine which candidates belong to the same truth particle. Afterwards, we can apply a Neural Network (NN) to compare those tracks and decide which ones are duplicates and which ones should be kept. This approach is implemented within A Common Tracking Software (ACTS) framework and tested on the Open Data Detector (ODD), a realistic virtual detector similar to a future ATLAS one. This new approach was shown to be 15 times faster than the default ACTS algorithm while removing 32 times more duplicates down to less than one duplicated track per event.
The first measurement of two-particle angular correlations for charged particles produced in $e^+e^-$ annihilation up to $\sqrt{s} = 209$ GeV with LEP-II data is presented. Hadronic $e^+e^-$ data, archived at center-of-mass energies ranging from 183 to 209 GeV, were collected using the ALEPH detector at LEP. The angular correlation functions have been measured across a wide range of pseudorapidities and the full azimuth in bins of charged particle multiplicity. Results for $e^+e^-$ data at high energies, which allow for higher event multiplicities reaching approximately 50 than LEP-I at Z pole energy, are presented for the first time. A long-range near-side excess in the correlation function has been identified in the analysis when calculating particle kinematic variables with respect to the thrust axis. Moreover, the two-particle correlation functions were decomposed using a Fourier series, and the resulting Fourier coefficients $v_n$ were compared with event generator outputs. In events with high multiplicity featuring more than 50 particles, the extracted $v_2$ magnitude from the data are compared to those from the Monte Carlo reference.
Recent years have shown an increased use of silicon photo-multipliers (SiPM) in experiments as they are of reasonable cost, have relatively low power consumption and are easily available in a variety of form factors allowing for a large number of readout channels. At the same time, experiments are generating data at increasingly high rates requiring the use of more efficient readout systems. In this work, the dead time, efficiency, dynamic range, coincidence time resolution and energy resolution of five different readout systems at various stages of maturity are evaluated to determine the best system for acquiring data from a detector in a high rate experiment. Additional functionalities of the systems are also discussed.
The reconstruction of charged particle trajectories is a crucial challenge of particle physics experiments as it directly impacts particle reconstruction and physics performances. To reconstruct these trajectories, different reconstruction algorithms are used sequentially. Each of these algorithms uses many configuration parameters that must be fine-tuned to properly account for the detector/experimental setup, the available CPU budget and the desired physics performance. Examples of such parameters are cut values limiting the algorithm's search space, approximations accounting for complex phenomenons, or parameters controlling algorithm performance. Until now, these parameters had to be optimised by human experts, which is inefficient and raises issues for the long-term maintainability of such algorithms. Previous experience using machine learning for particle reconstruction (such as the TrackML challenge) has shown that they can be easily adapted to different experiments by learning directly from the data. We propose to bring the same approach to the classic track reconstruction algorithms by connecting them to an agent-driven optimiser, allowing us to find the best input parameters using an iterative tuning approach. We have so far demonstrated this method on different track reconstruction algorithms within A Common Tracking Software (ACTS) framework using the Open Data Detector (ODD). These algorithms include the trajectory seed reconstruction and selection, the particle vertex reconstruction and the generation of simplified material maps used for trajectory reconstruction.
Measurements of the production cross-sections of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson ($H$) decaying into a pair of $\tau$-leptons are presented. The measurements use data collected with the ATLAS detector from $pp$ collisions produced at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13\,\text{TeV}$, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $139\,\text{fb}^{-1}$. Leptonic ($\tau\to\ell\nu_{\ell}\nu_{\tau}$) and hadronic ($\tau\to\text{hadrons}~\nu_{\tau}$) decays of the $\tau$-lepton are considered. All measurements account for the branching ratio of $H\to\tau\tau$ and are performed with a requirement $|y_H|<2.5$, where $y_H$ is the true Higgs boson rapidity. The cross-section of the $pp\to H\to\tau\tau$ process is measured to be $2.94 \pm 0.21 \text{(stat)} ^{+\,0.37}_{-\,0.32} \text{(syst)}$ pb, in agreement with the SM prediction of $3.17\pm0.09~ \mbox{pb}$. Inclusive cross-sections are determined separately for the four dominant production modes: $2.65 \pm 0.41 \text{(stat)} ^{+\,0.91}_{-\,0.67} \text{(syst)}$ pb for gluon$-$gluon fusion, $0.197 \pm 0.028 \text{(stat)} ^{+\,0.032}_{-\,0.026} \text{(syst)}$ pb for vector-boson fusion, $0.115 \pm 0.058 \text{(stat)} ^{+\,0.042}_{-\,0.040} \text{(syst)}$ pb for vector-boson associated production, and $0.033 \pm 0.031 \text{(stat)} ^{+\,0.022}_{-\,0.017} \text{(syst)}$ pb for top-quark pair associated production. Measurements in exclusive regions of the phase space, using the simplified template cross-section framework, are also performed. All results are in agreement with the SM predictions.
We discuss the use of Gaussian random fields to estimate the look-elsewhere effect correction. We show that Gaussian random fields can be used to model the null-hypothesis significance maps from a large set of statistical problems commonly encountered in physics, such as template matching and likelihood ratio tests. Some specific examples are searches for dark matter using pixel arrays, searches for astronomical transients, and searches for fast-radio bursts. Gaussian random fields can be sampled efficiently in the frequency domain, and the excursion probability can be fitted with these samples to extend any estimation of the look-elsewhere effect to lower $p$-values. We demonstrate this using two example template matching problems. Finally, we apply this to estimate the trial factor of a $4^3$ accelerometer array for the detection of dark matter tracks in the Windchime project. When a global significance of $3\sigma$ is required, the estimated trial factor for such an accelerometer array is $10^{14}$ for a one-second search, and $10^{22}$ for a one-year search.
We are studying the use of deep neural networks (DNNs) to identify and locate primary vertices (PVs) in proton-proton collisions at the LHC. Earlier work focused on finding primary vertices in simulated LHCb data using a hybrid approach that started with kernel density estimators (KDEs) derived heuristically from the ensemble of charged track parameters and predicted "target histogram" proxies, from which the actual PV positions are extracted. We have recently demonstrated that using a UNet architecture performs indistinguishably from a "flat" convolutional neural network model. We have developed an "end-to-end" tracks-to-hist DNN that predicts target histograms directly from track parameters using simulated LHCb data that provides better performance (a lower false positive rate for the same high efficiency) than the best KDE-to-hists model studied. This DNN also provides better efficiency than the default heuristic algorithm for the same low false positive rate. "Quantization" of this model, using FP16 rather than FP32 arithmetic, degrades its performance minimally. Reducing the number of UNet channels degrades performance more substantially. We have demonstrated that the KDE-to-hists algorithm developed for LHCb data can be adapted to ATLAS and ACTS data using two variations of the UNet architecture. Within ATLAS/ACTS, these algorithms have been validated against the standard vertex finder algorithm. Both variations produce PV-finding efficiencies similar to that of the standard algorithm and vertex-vertex separation resolutions that are significantly better.
Particle tracking is among the most sophisticated and complex part of the full event reconstruction chain. A number of reconstruction algorithms work in a sequence to build these trajectories from detector hits. These algorithms use many configuration parameters that need to be fine-tuned to properly account for the detector/experimental setup, the available CPU budget and the desired physics performance. The most popular method to tune these parameters is hand-tuning using brute-force techniques. These techniques can be inefficient and raise issues for the long-term maintainability of such algorithms. The open-source track reconstruction software framework known as "A Common Tracking Framework (ACTS)" offers an alternative solution to these parameter tuning techniques through the use of automatic parameter optimization algorithms. ACTS comes equipped with an auto-tuning suite that provides necessary setup for performing optimization of input parameters belonging to track reconstruction algorithms. The user can choose the tunable parameters in a flexible way and define a cost/benefit function for optimizing the full reconstruction chain. The fast execution speed of ACTS allows the user to run several iterations of optimization within a reasonable time bracket. The performance of these optimizers has been demonstrated on different track reconstruction algorithms such as trajectory seed reconstruction and selection, particle vertex reconstruction and generation of simplified material map, and on different detector geometries such as Generic Detector and Open Data Detector (ODD). We aim to bring this approach to all aspects of trajectory reconstruction by having a more flexible integration of tunable parameters within ACTS.
Plastic scintillators are a versatile and inexpensive option for particle detection, which is why the largest particle physics experiments, CMS and ATLAS, use them extensively in their calorimeters. One of their challenging aspects, however, is their relatively low radiation hardness, which might be inadequate for very high luminosity future projects like the FCC-hh. In this study, results on the effects of ionizing radiation on the optical properties of plastic scintillator samples are presented. The samples are made from two different matrix materials, polystyrene and polyvinyltoluene, and have been irradiated at dose rates ranging from $2.2\,$Gy/h up to $3.4\,$kGy/h at room temperature. An internal boundary that separates two regions of different indices of refraction is visible in the samples depending on the dose rate, and it is compatible with the expected oxygen penetration depth during irradiation. The dose rate dependence of the oxygen penetration depth for the two matrix materials suggests that the oxygen penetration coefficient differs for PS and PVT. The values of the refractive index for the internal regions are elevated compared to those of the outer regions, which are compatible with the indices of unirradiated samples.
We introduce a class of quantum non-Markovian processes -- dubbed process trees -- that exhibit polynomially decaying temporal correlations and memory distributed across time scales. This class of processes is described by a tensor network with tree-like geometry whose component tensors are (1) {causality-preserving} maps (superprocesses) and (2) {locality-preserving} temporal change of scale transformations. We show that the long-range correlations in this class of processes tends to originate almost entirely from memory effects, and can accommodate genuinely quantum power-law correlations in time. Importantly, this class allows efficient computation of multi-time correlation functions. To showcase the potential utility of this model-agnostic class for numerical simulation of physical models, we show how it can approximate the strong memory dynamics of the paradigmatic spin-boson model, in term of arbitrary multitime features. In contrast to an equivalently costly matrix product operator (MPO) representation, the ansatz produces a fiducial characterization of the relevant physics. Our work lays the foundation for the development of more efficient numerical techniques in the field of strongly interacting open quantum systems, as well as the theoretical development of a temporal renormalization group scheme.
Quantum information transfer is fundamental for scalable quantum computing in any potential platform and architecture. Hole spin qubits, owing to their intrinsic spin-orbit interaction (SOI), promise fast quantum operations which are fundamental for the implementation of quantum gates. Yet, the influence of SOI in quantum transfer protocols remains an open question. Here, we investigate, using Shortcuts to Adiabaticity, the long-range transfer of hole spin states and quantum distribution of entangled pairs in a semiconductor quantum dot array. We demonstrate that electric field manipulation allows dynamical control of the SOI, enabling simultaneous implementation of quantum gates during the transfer, with the potential to significantly accelerate quantum algorithms. By harnessing the ability to perform quantum gates in parallel with the transfer, we employ dynamical decoupling schemes to focus and preserve the spin state, leading to higher transfer fidelity.
We explore the decoherence of the gapless/critical boundary of a topological order, through interactions with the bulk reservoir of "ancilla anyons." We take the critical boundary of the $2d$ toric code as an example. The intrinsic nonlocal nature of the anyons demands the strong and weak symmetry condition for the ordinary decoherence problem be extended to the strong or weak gauge invariance conditions. We demonstrate that in the $\textit{doubled}$ Hilbert space, the partition function of the boundary is mapped to two layers of the $2d$ critical Ising model with an inter-layer line defect that depends on the species of the anyons causing the decoherence. The line defects associated with the tunneling of bosonic $e$ and $m$ anyons are relevant, and result in long-range correlations for either the $e$ or $m$ anyon respectively on the boundary in the doubled Hilbert space. In contrast, the defect of the $f$ anyon is marginal and leads to a line of fixed points with varying effective central charges, and power-law correlations having continuously varying scaling dimensions. We also demonstrate that decoherence-analogues of Majorana zero modes are localized at the spatial interface of the relevant $e$ and $m$ anyon decoherence channels, which leads to a universal logarithmic scaling of the R\'enyi entropy of the boundary.
The study of percolation phenomena has various applications in natural sciences and, therefore, efficient algorithms have been developed to estimate the corresponding percolation thresholds. For instance, this applies to the widely-used bond-site percolation model for which the Newman-Ziff algorithm enables an efficient simulation. Here, we consider several non-standard percolation models that have applications in measurement-based photonic quantum computing with graph states. We focus on prominent architectures where large-scale graph states are created by fusion networks connecting many small resource states. We investigate percolation models that provide an estimate of the tolerance to photon loss in such systems and we develop efficient algorithms to analyze them through modifications of the Newman-Ziff algorithm. We consider non-adaptive fusion networks with all fusions being performed at once, and adaptive ones where fusions are repeated conditioned on the outcome of previous fusion attempts. We demonstrate our algorithms by using them to characterize several fusion networks and provide the corresponding source code.
Two-way microwave-optical quantum transduction is an essential capability to connect distant superconducting qubits via optical fiber, and to enable quantum networking at a large scale. In Bl\'esin, Tian, Bhave, and Kippenberg's article, ``Quantum coherent microwave-optical transduction using high overtone bulk acoustic resonances" (Phys. Rev. A, 104, 052601 (2021)), they lay out a quantum transduction system that accomplishes this by combining a piezoelectric interaction to convert microwave photons to GHz-scale phonons, and an optomechanical interaction to up-convert those phonons into telecom-band photons using a pump laser set to an adjacent telecom-band tone. In this work, we discuss these coupling interactions from first principles in order to discover what device parameters matter most in determining the transduction efficiency of this new platform, and to discuss strategies toward system optimization for near-unity transduction efficiency, as well as how noise impacts the transduction process. In addition, we address the post-transduction challenge of separating single photons of the transduced light from a classically bright pump only a few GHz away in frequency by proposing a novel optomechanical coupling mechanism using phonon-photon four-wave mixing via stress-induced optical nonlinearity and its thermodynamic connection to higher-orders of electrostriction. Where this process drives transduction by consuming pairs instead of individual pump photons, it will allow a clean separation of the transduced light from the classically bright pump driving the transduction process.
We explain how the so-called Einstein locality is to be understood in the Schr\"odinger picture of quantum mechanics. This notion is perfectly compatible with the Bell non-locality exhibited by entangled states. Contrary to some beliefs that quantum mechanics is incomplete, it is, in fact, its overcompleteness as exemplified by different pictures of quantum physics, that points to the same underlying reality.
The possibility of using the generator coordinate method (GCM) using hybrid quantum-classical algorithms with reduced quantum resources is discussed. The task of preparing the basis states and calculating the various kernels involved in the GCM is assigned to the quantum computer, while the remaining tasks, such as finding the eigenvalues of a many-body problem, are delegated to classical computers for post-processing the generated kernels. This strategy reduces the quantum resources required to treat a quantum many-body problem. We apply the method to the Lipkin model. Using the permutation symmetry of the Hamiltonian, we show that, ultimately, only two qubits is enough to solve the problem regardless of the particle number. The classical computing post-processing leading to the full energy spectrum can be made using standard generalized eigenvalues techniques by diagonalizing the so-called Hill-Wheeler equation. As an alternative to this technique, we also explored how the quantum state deflation method can be adapted to the GCM problem. In this method, variational principles are iteratively designed to access the different excited states with increasing energies. The methodology proposed here is successfully applied to the Lipkin model with a minimal size of two qubits for the quantum register. The performances of the two classical post-processing approaches with respect to the statistical noise induced by the finite number of measurements and quantum devices noise are analyzed. Very satisfactory results for the full energy spectra are obtained once noise correction techniques are employed.
Microwave quantum information networks require reliable transmission of single photon propagating modes over lossy channels. In this article we propose a microwave noise-less linear amplifier (NLA) suitable to circumvent the losses incurred by a flying photon undergoing an amplitude damping channel (ADC). The proposed model is constructed by engineering a simple one-dimensional four node cluster state. Contrary to conventional NLAs based on quantum scissors (QS), single photon amplification is realized without the need for photon number resolving detectors (PNRDs). Entanglement between nodes comprising the device's cluster is achieved by means of a controlled phase gate (CPHASE). Furthermore, photon measurements are implemented by quantum non demolition detectors (QNDs), which are currently available as a part of circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED) toolbox. We analyze the performance of our device practically by considering detection inefficiency and dark count probability. We further examine the potential usage of our device in low power quantum sensing applications and remote secret key generation (SKG). Specifically, we demonstrate the device's ability to prepare loss-free resources offline, and its capacity to overcome the repeater-less bound of SKG. We compare the performance of our device against a QS-NLA for the aforementioned applications, and highlight explicitly the operating conditions under which our device can outperform a QS-NLA. The proposed device is also suitable for applications in the optical domain.
Quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) has attracted much attention as an algorithm that has the potential to efficiently solve combinatorial optimization problems. Among them, a fermionic QAOA (FQAOA) for solving constrained optimization problems has been developed [Yoshioka, Sasada, Nakano, and Fujii, Phys. Rev. Research vol. 5, 023071, 2023]. In this algorithm, the constraints are essentially imposed as fermion number conservation at arbitrary approximation level. We take the portfolio optimization problem as an application example and propose a new driver Hamiltonian on an one-dimensional cyclic lattice. Our FQAOA with the new driver Hamiltonian reduce the number of gate operations in quantum circuits. Experiments on a trapped-ion quantum computer using 16 qubits on Amazon Braket demonstrates that the proposed driver Hamiltonian effectively suppresses noise effects compared to the previous FQAOA.
Simulation of the single-particle tunneling problem by means of the Suzuki-Trotter approximation (STA) is analyzed. Considered is a particle hopping across a chain of sites in presence of a smooth position-dependent potential profile with several local minima that arrange a tunneling problem between the localized states in different minima. The STA error is found to manifest itself in three ways: i) perturbative energy shifts, ii) nonperturbartive renormalization of the tunneling rates, and iii) perturbative leakage of the total probability to other states. Generally, the first type of error is the most essential, as detuning of the tunneling resonance has to be compared with exponentially small tunneling rates. In absence of detuning (e.g. if the resonance is protected by symmetry), STA leads to exponential enhancement of the tunneling rates. The last type of error classifies the overall defect in the wave function and delineates the region of sufficiently weak distortion of the wave function due to STA. The conducted analysis confirms the naive criteria of applicability $\max\{T,P\}\ll\delta t^{-1}$ (with $T,P$ being the typical scales of kinetic and potential terms, respectively), while also revealing the structure of error and its behavior with system parameters. Analysis of the case of large Trotter step is also performed, with the main result being the reconstruction of low-energy spectrum due to coupling between states with energy difference close to $2\pi/\delta t$. The connection of the obtained results with rigorous upper error bounds on the STA error is discussed, with particular emphasis on why these rigorous bounds are not always saturated. We also point out that the proposed problem can be directly implemented on existing quantum devices [arXiv:2012.00921]. In particular, we give a detailed description of an experimental design that demonstrates the described physics.
We simulate the dynamics of systems with $N$ = 1-20 qubits coupled to a cavity in order to assess their potential for quantum metrology of a parameter in the open systems limit. The qubits and the cavity are both allowed to have losses and the system is studied under various coupling strength regimes. The focus is primarily on the coupling between the qubits using the quantum Fisher information as the measured parameter. Some results on estimating the qubit-cavity detuning parameter are also presented. We investigate the scaling of the uncertainty in the estimate of the qubit-cavity coupling with the number of qubits and for different initial states of the qubits that act as the quantum probe. As initial probe states, we consider Dicke states with varying excitation numbers, the GHZ state, and separable X-polarized states. It is shown that in the strong coupling regime, i.e., when the coupling between the qubits and the cavity is greater than the decay parameters of both the qubits and the cavity, Dicke states with a large excitation number can achieve the Heisenberg limit, with the precision scaling improving as the excitation number increases. A particularly intriguing finding of our study is that in the weak coupling regime, as well as in situations where either the qubit or cavity decay parameters exceed the coupling, the separable $X$-polarized state is the best in terms of scaling and is even able to achieve the Heisenberg limit in these lossy regimes for the range of $N$ considered.
Liouville theorem (LT) reveals robust incompressibility of distribution function in phase space, given arbitrary potentials. However, its quantum generalization, Wigner flow, is compressible, i.e., LT is only conditionally true (e.g., for perfect Harmonic potential). We develop quantum Liouville theorem (rigorous incompressibility) for arbitrary potentials (interacting or not) in Hamiltonians. Haar measure, instead of symplectic measure dp^dq used in Wigner's scheme, plays a central role. The argument is based on general measure theory, independent of specific spaces or coordinates. Comparison of classical and quantum is made: for instance, we address why Haar measure and metric preservation do not work in the classical case. Applications of theorems in statistics, topological phase transition, ergodic theory, etc. are discussed.
The Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is widely recognized as an efficient algorithm for simulating fluid flows in both single-phase and multi-phase scenarios. In this research, a quantum Carleman Linearization formulation of the Lattice Boltzmann equation is described, employing the Bhatnagar Gross and Krook equilibrium function. Our approach addresses the treatment of boundary conditions with the commonly used bounce back scheme. The accuracy of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by simulating flow past a rectangular prism, achieving agreement with respect to fluid velocity In comparison to classical LBM simulations. This improved formulation showcases the potential to provide computational speed-ups in a wide range of fluid flow applications. Additionally, we provide details on read in and read out techniques.
The optimization of system parameters is a ubiquitous problem in science and engineering. The traditional approach involves setting to zero the partial derivatives of the objective function with respect to each parameter, in order to extract the optimal solution. However, the system parameters often take the form of complex matrices. In such situations, conventional methods become unwieldy. The `Wirtinger Calculus' provides a relatively simple methodology for such optimization problems. In this tutorial, we provide a pedagogical introduction to Wirtinger Calculus. To illustrate the utility of this framework in quantum information theory, we also discuss a few example applications.
Near-concentric cavities are excellent tools for enhancing atom--light interaction as they combine a small mode volume with a large optical access for atom manipulation. However, they are sensitive to longitudinal and transverse misalignment. To address this sensitivity, we present a compact near-concentric optical cavity system with a residual cavity length variation $\delta L_{C, rms}$=36(9) pm. A key part of this system is a cage-like tensegrity mirror support structure that allows to correct for longitudinal and transverse misalignment. The system is stable enough to allow the use of mirrors with higher cavity finesse to enhance the atom--light coupling strength in cavity-QED applications.
The Ponderomotive force is a static second order force that a particle feels in an oscillating field, whose static potential may be called the Ponderomotive potential. We generalize this notion to that for generic degrees of freedom in periodically driven quantum many-body systems, and propose it as a convenient tool to engineer the non-equilibrium steady states beyond the single particle level. Applied to materials driven by light, the Ponderomotive potential is intimately related to the optical conductivity, which is enhanced close to resonances. We show that the Ponderomotive potential from the incident light may be used to induce exciton condensates in semiconductors, to generate attractive interactions leading to superconductivity in certain electron-phonon systems, and to create additional free energy minima in systems with charge/spin/excitonic orders. These effects are shown for realistic parameters such that they can be readily verified in ultrafast experiments.
We present an approach to estimate the operational distinguishability between an entangled state and any separable state directly from measuring an entanglement witness. We show that this estimation also implies bounds on a variety of other well-known entanglement quantifiers. This approach for entanglement estimation is then extended to to both the measurement-device-independent scenario and the fully device-independent scenario, where we obtain non-trivial but sub-optimal bounds. The procedure requires no numerical optimization and is easy to compute. It offers ways for experimenters to not only detect, but also quantify, entanglement from the standard entanglement witness procedure.
Cavity magnonics, which studies the interaction of light with magnetic systems in a cavity, is a promising platform for quantum transducers, quantum memories, and devices with non-reciprocal behaviour. At microwave frequencies, the coupling between a cavity photon and a magnon, the quasi-particle of a spin wave excitation, is a consequence of the Zeeman interaction between the cavity's magnetic field and the magnet's macroscopic spin. For each photon/magnon interaction, a coupling phase factor exists, but is often neglected in simple systems. However, in "loop-coupled" systems, where there are at least as many couplings as modes, the coupling phases become relevant for the physics and lead to synthetic gauge fields. We present experimental evidence of the existence of such coupling phases by considering two spheres made of Yttrium-Iron-Garnet and two different re-entrant cavities. We predict numerically the values of the coupling phases, and we find good agreement between theory and the experimental data. Theses results show that in cavity magnonics, one can engineer synthetic gauge fields, which can be useful for building nonreciprocal devices.
The inertia bound and ratio bound (also known as the Cvetkovi\'c bound and Hoffman bound) are two fundamental inequalities in spectral graph theory, giving upper bounds on the independence number $\alpha(G)$ of a graph $G$ in terms of spectral information about a weighted adjacency matrix of $G$. For both inequalities, given a graph $G$, one needs to make a judicious choice of weighted adjacency matrix to obtain as strong a bound as possible. While there is a well-established theory surrounding the ratio bound, the inertia bound is much more mysterious, and its limits are rather unclear. In fact, only recently did Sinkovic find the first example of a graph for which the inertia bound is not tight (for any weighted adjacency matrix), answering a longstanding question of Godsil. We show that the inertia bound can be extremely far from tight, and in fact can significantly underperform the ratio bound: for example, one of our results is that for infinitely many $n$, there is an $n$-vertex graph for which even the unweighted ratio bound can prove $\alpha(G)\leq 4n^{3/4}$, but the inertia bound is always at least $n/4$. In particular, these results address questions of Rooney, Sinkovic, and Wocjan--Elphick--Abiad.
A strategy for the orchestration of hybrid classical-quantum workloads on supercomputers featuring quantum devices is proposed. The method makes use of heterogeneous job launches with Slurm to interleave classical and quantum computation, thereby reducing idle time of the quantum components. To better understand the possible shortcomings and bottlenecks of such a workload, an example application is investigated that offloads parts of the computation to a quantum device. It executes on a classical HPC system, with a server mimicking the quantum device, within the MPMD paradigm in Slurm. Quantum circuits are synthesized by means of the Classiq software suite according to the needs of the scientific application, and the Qiskit Aer circuit simulator computes the state vectors. The HHL quantum algorithm for linear systems of equations is used to solve the algebraic problem from the discretization of a linear differential equation. Communication takes place over the MPI, which is broadly employed in the HPC community. Extraction of state vectors and circuit synthesis are the most time consuming, while communication is negligible in this setup. The present test bed serves as a basis for more advanced hybrid workloads eventually involving a real quantum device.
Quantum steering displays an inherent asymmetric property that differs from entanglement and Bell nonlocality. Besides being of fundamental interest, steering is relevant to many asymmetric quantum information tasks. Here, we propose a scheme to generate and manipulate Gaussian quantum steering between two spatially distant mechanical modes of two optomechanical cavities coupled via an optical fiber, and driven by blue detuned lasers. In the unresolved sideband regime, we show, under realistic experimental conditions, that strong asymmetric steering can be generated between the two considered modes. Also, we show that one-way steering can be achieved and practically manipulated through the lasers drive powers and the temperatures of the cavities. Further, we reveal that the direction of one-way steering depends on the sign of the difference between the energies of the mechanical modes. Finally, we discuss how to access the generated steering. This work opens up new perspectives for the distribution of long-distance trust which is of great interest in secure quantum communication.
Steering is a type of nonseparable quantum correlation, where its inherent asymmetric feature makes it distinct from Bell-nonlocality and entanglement. In this paper, we investigate quantum steering in a two-mode Gaussian state $% \hat{\varrho}_{c_{1}c_{2}}$ coupled to a two-mode vacuum reservoir. The mode $c_{1}$($c_{2}$) is emitted during the first(second) transition of a nondegenerate three-level cascade laser. By means of the master equation of the state $\hat{\varrho}_{c_{1}c_{2}}$, we derive analytical expression of the steady-state covariance matrix of the modes $c_{1}$ and $c_{2}$. Using realistic experimental parameters, we show that the state $\hat{\varrho}% _{c_{1}c_{2}}$ can exhibit asymmetric steering. Furthermore, by an appropriate choice of the physical parameters of the state $\hat{\varrho}% _{c_{1}c_{2}}$, we show that one-way steering can be achieved. Essentially, we demonstrate that one-way steering can, in general, occur only from $% c_{1}\rightarrow c_{2}$. Besides, we perform a comparative study between the steering of the two laser modes and their Gaussian R\'{e}nyi-2 entanglement. As results, we found that the entanglement and steering behave similarly in the same circumstances, i.e., both of them decay under dissipation effect, moreover, they can be well enhanced by inducing more and more quantum coherence in the state $\hat{\varrho}_{c_{1}c_{2}}$% . In particular, we found that the steering remains always less than the Gaussian R\'{e}nyi-2 entanglement.
This paper analyzes the adverse impact of white noise on collective quantum measurements and argues that such noise poses a significant obstacle to the otherwise straightforward deployment of collective measurements in quantum communications. The paper then suggests addressing this issue by correlating the outcomes of these measurements with quantum state purity. To test the concept, a support vector machine is employed to boost the performance of several collective entanglement witnesses by incorporating state purity into the classification task of distinguishing entangled states from separable ones. Furthermore, the application of machine learning allows to optimize selectivity of entanglement detection given a target value of sensitivity. A response operating characteristic curve is reconstructed based on this optimization and the area under curve calculated to assess the efficacy of the proposed model.
We perform a systematic comparison between photoelectron momentum distributions computed with the rescattered-quantum orbit strong-field approximation (RQSFA) and the Coulomb-quantum orbit strong-field approximation (CQSFA). We exclude direct, hybrid, and multiple scattered CQSFA trajectories, and focus on the contributions of trajectories that undergo a single act of rescattering. For this orbit subset, one may establish a one-to-one correspondence between the RQSFA and CQSFA contributions for backscattered and forward-scattered trajectory pairs. We assess the influence of the Coulomb potential on the ionization and rescattering times of specific trajectory pairs, kinematic constraints determined by rescattering, and quantum interference between specific pairs of trajectories. We analyze how the Coulomb potential alters their ionization and return times, and their interference in photoelectron momentum distributions. We show that Coulomb effects are not significant for high or medium photoelectron energies and shorter orbits, while, for lower momentum ranges or longer electron excursion times in the continuum, the residual Coulomb potential is more important.
Attosecond physics enables the study of ultrafast coherent electron dynamics in matter upon photoexcitation and photoionization, revealing spectacular effects such as hole migration and coherent Auger dynamics in molecules. In the photoionization scenario, there has been a strong focus on probing the physical manifestations of the internal quantum coherence within the individual parent ion and photoelectron systems. However, quantum correlations between these two subsystems emerging from the attosecond photoionization event have thus far remained much more elusive. In this work, we design theoretically and model numerically a direct probe of quantum entanglement in attosecond photoionization in the form of a Bell test. We simulate from first principles a Bell test protocol for the case of noble gas atoms photoionized by ultrashort, circularly polarized infrared laser pulses in the strong-field regime predicting robust violation of the Bell inequality. This theoretical result paves the way to the direct observation of entanglement in the context of ultrafast photoionization of many-electron systems. Our work provides a different perspective on attosecond physics directed towards the detection of quantum correlations between systems born during attosecond photoionization and unravelling the signatures of entanglement in the ultrafast coherent molecular dynamics, including in the chemical decomposition pathways of molecular ions.
Constraints on the quantum decoherence of entangled $\gamma$ quanta at the MeV scale, such as those produced following positron annihilation, have remained elusive for many decades. We present the first accurate, large acceptance experimental data for triple Compton scattering (TCS) of such entangled $\gamma$. An entanglement witness, the enhancement ($R$) of the azimuthal correlation between the final CS planes, is obtained where one of the $\gamma$ underwent intermediate Compton scattering (CS). $R$ is found to exceed the classical limit for scatter angles up to $\sim$40$^{\circ}$. The extracted $R$, over the range of the data ($0-70^{\circ}$), are better described by simple models in which entanglement is conserved or decohered proportional to the visibility of the scatter process. The work will help guide the development of a first theoretical description of decoherence at the MeV scale, a crucial next step for fundamental physics and entangled PET medical imaging.
We propose a scheme to enhance the sensitivity of Non-Hermitian optomechanical mass-sensors. The benchmark system consists of two coupled optomechanical systems where the mechanical resonators are mechanically coupled. The optical cavities are driven either by a blue or red detuned laser to produce gain and loss, respectively. Moreover, the mechanical resonators are parametrically driven through the modulation of their spring constant. For a specific strength of the optical driving field and without parametric driving, the system features an Exceptional Point (EP). Any perturbation to the mechanical frequency (dissipation) induces a splitting (shifting) of the EP, which scales as the square root of the perturbation strength, resulting in a sensitivity-factor enhancement compared with conventional optomechanical sensors. The sensitivity enhancement induced by the shifting scenario is weak as compared to the one based on the splitting phenomenon. By switching on parametric driving, the sensitivity of both sensing schemes is greatly improved, yielding to a better performance of the sensor. We have also confirmed these results through an analysis of the output spectra and the transmissions of the optical cavities. In addition to enhancing EP sensitivity, our scheme also reveals nonlinear effects on sensing under splitting and shifting scenarios. This work sheds light on new mechanisms of enhancing the sensitivity of Non-Hermitian mass sensors, paving a way to improve sensors performance for better nanoparticles or pollutants detection, and for water treatment.
We introduce a simple, experimentally realizable protocol that can prepare any specific superposition of permutationally invariant qubit states, also known as Dicke states. The protocol is comprised entirely of global rotations and globally applied non-linear phase gates -- it does not require local addressability or ancilla qubits -- and hence can be readily implemented in a variety of experimental platforms, including trapped-ion quantum simulators and cavity QED systems. We demonstrate the utility of our protocol by numerically preparing several states with theoretical infidelities $1-\mathcal{F}<10^{-4}$: (i) metrologically useful $N$-qubit Dicke states in $\mathcal{O}(1)$ gate steps, (ii) the $N = 9$ qubit codewords of the Ruskai code with $P = 4$ gate steps, and (iii) the $N = 13$ qubit Gross codewords in $P = 7$ gate steps. Focusing on trapped-ion platforms, we estimate that the protocol achieves fidelities $\gtrsim 95\%$ in the presence of typical experimental noise levels, thus providing a pathway to the preparation of a variety of useful highly-entangled quantum states.
Isometric tensor networks (isoTNS) form a subclass of tensor network states that have an additional isometric condition, which implies that they can be efficiently prepared with a linear-depth sequential quantum circuit. In this work, we introduce a procedure to construct isoTNS-solvable models in 2D. By continuously tuning a parameter in the isoTNS, the many-body ground state undergoes quantum phase transitions, exhibiting distinct 2D quantum phases. We illustrate this by constructing an isoTNS path with bond dimension $D = 2$ interpolating between distinct symmetry-enriched topological (SET) phases. At the transition point, the isoTNS wavefunction is related to a gapless point in the classical six-vertex model. Furthermore, the critical wavefunction supports a power-law correlation along one spatial direction while remains long-range ordered in the other spatial direction. We provide an exact linear-depth parametrized local quantum circuit that realizes the path and therefore it can be efficiently realized on a programmable quantum device.
We investigate whether it is possible to generate bound-states from resonances or virtual states through first-order perturbation theory. Using contact-type potentials as those appeared in pionless effective field theory, we show that it is possible to obtain negative-energy states by sandwiching a next-to-leading order (NLO) interaction with the leading-order (LO) wavefunctions, under the presence of LO resonances or virtual states. However, at least under the framework of time-independent Schr\"odinger equation and Hermitian Hamiltonian, there is an inability to create bound-states with structure similar to those formed by the non-perturbative treatments.
Quantum entanglement is the essential resource for quantum communication and distributed information processing in a quantum network. However, the remote generation over a network suffers from inevitable transmission loss and other technical difficulties. This paper introduces the concept of entanglement buffers as a potential primitive for preparing long-distance entanglement. We investigate the filling of entanglement buffers with either one Bell state or a stream of Bell states. We illustrate their resilience to non-ideal interactions and transmission loss, making them sometimes more advantageous than other entanglement generation approaches in the quantum network scenario. Additionally, larger entanglement buffers can always enhance these benefits.
We revisit the seminal 1968 proof of the absence of crystalline order in two dimensions and analyze the importance played in the quantum theorem by the assumption of local pair potentials. We relax the assumption of local potentials and consider instead nonlocal pair potentials. We show that the 1/k2-singularity that occurs in the Bogoliubov inequality, which leads to no crystalline order in two dimensions for local potentials and nonzero temperatures, does not occur for nonlocal potentials. Accordingly, crystalline order in one and two dimensions cannot be ruled out for nonlocal pair potentials at finite temperatures.
We present a systematic investigation of the quantum games, constructed using a novel repeated game protocol, when played repeatedly ad infinitum. We focus on establishing that such repeated games -- by virtue of inherent quantum-mechanical randomness -- can be mapped to the paradigm of stochastic games. Subsequently, using the setup of two-player--two-action games, we explore the pure reactive strategies belonging to the set of reactive strategies, whose support in the quantum games is no longer countably finite but rather non-denumerably infinite. We find that how two pure strategies fare against each other is crucially dependent on the discount factor (the probability of occurrence of every subsequent round) and how much entangled the quantum states of the players are. We contrast the results obtained with the corresponding results in the classical setup and find fundamental differences between them: e.g, when the underlying game is the prisoner's dilemma, in the quantum game setup, always-defect strategy can be beaten by the tit-for-tat strategy for high enough discount factor.
Single crystal calcium tungstate (CaWO$_4$) is an interesting material for investigating spins in solids using microwave quantum electrodynamics (QED). We construct a dielectrically loaded microwave cavity resonator from a cylindrical single crystal of CaWO$_4$ and perform whispering gallery multi-mode spectroscopy at 30 mK. This study found many high-$Q$ modes, indicating a low dielectric loss tangent ($\tan\delta<10^{-7}$) which enables high sensitivity analysis of photon-spin interactions. Measurements of spin $g_L$ factors and zero field splittings (ZFS) allow for identification and characterization of spins that arise from the presence of paramagnetic impurities. We found Gd$^{3+}$ concentrations of $\mathcal{O}(10^{13})$ cm$^{-3}$ and lower bounds on the spin concentration could be placed on the order of ppb. Additionally, we observe the presence of unknown rare\hyp{}earth metal impurities at much lower concentrations.
Cat states are a valuable resource for quantum metrology applications, promising to enable sensitivity down to the Heisenberg limit. Moreover, Schr\"odinger cat states, based on a coherent superposition of coherent states, show robustness against phase-flip errors making them a promising candidate for bosonic quantum codes. A pathway to realize cat states is via utilizing single Kerr-type anharmonicities as found in superconducting devices as well as in Rydberg atoms. Such platforms nevertheless utilize only the second order anharmonicity, which limits the time it takes for a cat state to be prepared. Here we show how proper tuning of multiple higher order nonlinear interactions leads to shorter cat state preparation time. We also discuss practical aspects including an optimal control scheme which allows us to start the state preparation from the vacuum state under standard single mode driving. Lastly, we propose an ensemble of Rydberg atoms that exhibits higher order nonlinearities as a platform to prepare cat states in the laboratory.
The coherent excitation of an optically active spin system is one of the key elements in the engineering of a spin-photon interface. In this work, we use the novel SUPER scheme, employing nonresonant ultrashort optical pulses, to coherently control the main optical transition of a tin-vacancy color center in diamond, a promising emitter that can both be utilized as a quantum memory and a single-photon source. Furthermore, we implement a subpicosecond control scheme using resonant pulses for achieving record short quantum gates applied to diamond color centers. The employed ultrafast quantum gates open up a new regime of quantum information processing with solid-state color centers, eventually enabling multi-gate operations with the optical qubit and efficient spectral filtering of the excitation laser from deterministically prepared coherent photons.
We present the first leveled fully homomorphic encryption scheme for quantum circuits with classical keys. The scheme allows a classical client to blindly delegate a quantum computation to a quantum server: an honest server is able to run the computation while a malicious server is unable to learn any information about the computation. We show that it is possible to construct such a scheme directly from a quantum secure classical homomorphic encryption scheme with certain properties. Finally, we show that a classical homomorphic encryption scheme with the required properties can be constructed from the learning with errors problem.
We present the first protocol allowing a classical computer to interactively verify the result of an efficient quantum computation. We achieve this by constructing a measurement protocol, which enables a classical verifier to use a quantum prover as a trusted measurement device. The protocol forces the prover to behave as follows: the prover must construct an n qubit state of his choice, measure each qubit in the Hadamard or standard basis as directed by the verifier, and report the measurement results to the verifier. The soundness of this protocol is enforced based on the assumption that the learning with errors problem is computationally intractable for efficient quantum machines.
Observational entropy is interpreted as the uncertainty an observer making measurements associates with a system. So far, properties that make such an interpretation possible rely on the assumption of ideal projective measurements. We show that the same properties hold even when considering generalized measurements. Thus, the interpretation still holds: Observational entropy is a well-defined quantifier determining how influential a given series of measurements is in information extraction. This generalized framework allows for the study of the performance of indirect measurement schemes, which are those using a probe. Using this framework, we first analyze the limitations of a finite-dimensional probe. Then we study several scenarios of the von Neumann measurement scheme, in which the probe is a classical particle characterized by its position. Finally, we discuss observational entropy as a tool for quantum state inference. Further developed, this framework could find applications in quantum information processing. For example, it could help in determining the best read-out procedures from quantum memories and to provide adaptive measurement strategies alternative to quantum state tomography.
We systematically study the fundamental competition between quantum error correction (QEC) and continuous symmetries, two key notions in quantum information and physics, in a quantitative manner. Three meaningful measures of approximate symmetries in quantum channels and in particular QEC codes, respectively based on the violation of covariance conditions over the entire symmetry group or at a local point, and the violation of charge conservation, are introduced and studied. Each measure induces a corresponding characterization of approximately covariant codes. We explicate a host of different ideas and techniques that enable us to derive various forms of trade-off relations between the QEC inaccuracy and all symmetry violation measures. More specifically, we introduce two frameworks for understanding and establishing the trade-offs respectively based on the notions of charge fluctuation and gate implementation error, and employ methods including the Knill--Laflamme conditions as well as quantum metrology and quantum resource theory for the derivation. From the perspective of fault-tolerant quantum computing, our bounds on symmetry violation indicate limitations on the precision or density of transversally implementable logical gates for general QEC codes, refining the Eastin--Knill theorem. To exemplify nontrivial approximately covariant codes and understand the achievability of the above fundamental limits, we analyze the behaviors of two explicit types of codes: a parametrized extension of the thermodynamic code (which gives a construction of a code family that continuously interpolates between exact QEC and exact symmetry), and the quantum Reed--Muller codes. We show that both codes can saturate the scaling of the bounds for group-global covariance and charge conservation asymptotically, indicating the near-optimality of these bounds and codes.
We show how coupling an ensemble of bistable systems to a common cavity field affects the collective stochastic behavior of this ensemble. In particular, the cavity provides an effective interaction between the systems, and parametrically modifies the transition rates between the metastable states. We predict that the cavity induces a collective phase transition at a critical temperature which depends linearly on the number of systems. It shows up as a spontaneous symmetry breaking where the stationary states of the bistable system bifurcate. We observe that the transition rates slow down independently of the phase transition, but the rate modification vanishes for alternating signs of the system-cavity couplings, corresponding to a disordered ensemble of dipoles. Our results are of particular relevance in polaritonic chemistry where the presence of a cavity has been suggested to affect chemical reactions.
We give a novel procedure for approximating general single-qubit unitaries from a finite universal gate set by reducing the problem to a novel magnitude approximation problem, achieving an immediate improvement in sequence length by a factor of 7/9. Extending the works arXiv:1612.01011 and arXiv:1612.02689, we show that taking probabilistic mixtures of channels to solve fallback (arXiv:1409.3552) and magnitude approximation problems saves factor of two in approximation costs. In particular, over the Clifford+$\sqrt{\mathrm{T}}$ gate set we achieve an average non-Clifford gate count of $0.23\log_2(1/\varepsilon)+2.13$ and T-count $0.56\log_2(1/\varepsilon)+5.3$ with mixed fallback approximations for diamond norm accuracy $\varepsilon$. This paper provides a holistic overview of gate approximation, in addition to these new insights. We give an end-to-end procedure for gate approximation for general gate sets related to some quaternion algebras, providing pedagogical examples using common fault-tolerant gate sets (V, Clifford+T and Clifford+$\sqrt{\mathrm{T}}$). We also provide detailed numerical results for Clifford+T and Clifford+$\sqrt{\mathrm{T}}$ gate sets. In an effort to keep the paper self-contained, we include an overview of the relevant algorithms for integer point enumeration and relative norm equation solving. We provide a number of further applications of the magnitude approximation problems, as well as improved algorithms for exact synthesis, in the Appendices.
A quantitative quantum field approach for a very weakly interacting, dilute Bose gas is presented. Within the presented model, which assumes the constraint of particle number conservation at constant average energy in the canonical ensemble, both coherent oscillations, as well as decay times of quantum coherence for a quantum field created by the atomic cloud of a Bose-Einstein condensate, are modeled simultaneously by a unique complex time variable and two different characteristic frequencies for the oscillation and decoherence of the field. Within the present theory, it is illustrated that the occurrence of coherence and a macroscopic ground state population has its origin in finite coherence times of the ensemble of quantum particles in the Bose gas, which - in contrast to the incoherent interactions between the different particles - leads to the preparation of a thermodynamically stable many-body quantum state with coherent superpositions of discrete and quantized condensate and non-condensate atom number states at constant total atom number.
Recently, a theory has been proposed that classifies cyclic processes of symmetry protected topological (SPT) quantum states. For the case of spin chains, i.e.\ one-dimensional bosonic SPT's, this theory implies that cyclic processes are classified by zero-dimensional SPT's. This is often described as a generalization of Thouless pumps, with the original Thouless pump corresponding to the case where the symmetry group is $U(1)$ and pumps are classified by an integer that corresponds to the charge pumped per cycle. In this paper, we review this one-dimensional theory in an explicit and rigorous setting and we provide a proof for the completeness of the proposed classification for compact symmetry groups $G$.
Quantum control is a ubiquitous research field that has enabled physicists to delve into the dynamics and features of quantum systems, delivering powerful applications for various atomic, optical, mechanical, and solid-state systems. In recent years, traditional control techniques based on optimization processes have been translated into efficient artificial intelligence algorithms. Here, we introduce a computational method for optimal quantum control problems via physics-informed neural networks (PINNs). We apply our methodology to open quantum systems by efficiently solving the state-to-state transfer problem with high probabilities, short-time evolution, and using low-energy consumption controls. Furthermore, we illustrate the flexibility of PINNs to solve the same problem under changes in physical parameters and initial conditions, showing advantages in comparison with standard control techniques.
Photons are the physical system of choice for performing experimental tests of the foundations of quantum mechanics. Furthermore, photonic quantum technology is a main player in the second quantum revolution, promising the development of better sensors, secure communications, and quantum-enhanced computation. These endeavors require generating specific quantum states or efficiently performing quantum tasks. The design of the corresponding optical experiments was historically powered by human creativity but is recently being automated with advanced computer algorithms and artificial intelligence. While several computer-designed experiments have been experimentally realized, this approach has not yet been widely adopted by the broader photonic quantum optics community. The main roadblocks consist of most systems being closed-source, inefficient, or targeted to very specific use-cases that are difficult to generalize. Here, we overcome these problems with a highly-efficient, open-source digital discovery framework PyTheus, which can employ a wide range of experimental devices from modern quantum labs to solve various tasks. This includes the discovery of highly entangled quantum states, quantum measurement schemes, quantum communication protocols, multi-particle quantum gates, as well as the optimization of continuous and discrete properties of quantum experiments or quantum states. PyTheus produces interpretable designs for complex experimental problems which human researchers can often readily conceptualize. PyTheus is an example of a powerful framework that can lead to scientific discoveries -- one of the core goals of artificial intelligence in science. We hope it will help accelerate the development of quantum optics and provide new ideas in quantum hardware and technology.
Many-particle quantum systems with intermediate anyonic exchange statistics are supported in one spatial dimension. In this context, the anyon-anyon mapping is recast as a continuous transformation that generates shifts of the statistical parameter $\kappa$. We characterize the geometry of quantum states associated with different values of $\kappa$, i.e., different quantum statistics. While states in the bosonic and fermionic subspaces are always orthogonal, overlaps between anyonic states are generally finite and exhibit a universal form of the orthogonality catastrophe governed by a fundamental statistical factor, independent of the microscopic Hamiltonian. We characterize this decay using quantum speed limits on the flow of $\kappa$, illustrate our results with a model of hard-core anyons, and discuss possible experiments in quantum simulation.
Trade-off relations place fundamental limits on the operations that physical systems can perform. This Letter presents a trade-off relation that bounds the correlation function, which measures the relationship between a system's current and future states, in Markov processes. The obtained bound, referred to as the thermodynamic correlation inequality, states that the change in the correlation function has an upper bound comprising the dynamical activity, a thermodynamic measure of the activity of a Markov process. Moreover, by applying the obtained relation to the linear response function, it is demonstrated that the effect of perturbation can be bounded from above by the dynamical activity.
We introduce a framework for constructing quantum codes defined on spheres by recasting such codes as quantum analogues of the classical spherical codes. We apply this framework to bosonic coding, obtaining multimode extensions of the cat codes that can outperform previous constructions while requiring a similar type of overhead. Our polytope-based cat codes consist of sets of points with large separation that at the same time form averaging sets known as spherical designs. We also recast concatenations of CSS codes with cat codes as quantum spherical codes, revealing a new way to autonomously protect against dephasing noise.
We derive field theory descriptions for measurement-induced phase transitions in free fermion systems. We focus on a multi-flavor Majorana chain, undergoing Hamiltonian evolution with continuous monitoring of local fermion parity operators. Using the replica trick, we map the dynamics to the imaginary time evolution of an effective spin chain, and use the number of flavors as a large parameter for a controlled derivation of the effective field theory. This is a nonlinear sigma model for an orthogonal $N\times N$ matrix, in the replica limit $N\to 1$. (On a boundary of the phase diagram, another sigma model with higher symmetry applies.) Together with known results for the renormalization-group beta function, this derivation establishes the existence of stable phases -- nontrivially entangled and disentangled respectively -- in the physically-relevant replica limit $N\to 1$. In the nontrivial phase, an asymptotically exact calculation shows that the bipartite entanglement entropy for a system of size $L$ scales as $(\log L)^2$, in contrast to findings in previously-studied models. Varying the relative strength of Hamiltonian evolution and monitoring, as well as a dimerization parameter, the model's phase diagram contains transitions out of the nontrivial phase, which we map to vortex-unbinding transitions in the sigma model, and also contains separate critical points on the measurement-only axis. We highlight the close analogies as well as the differences with the replica approach to Anderson transitions in disordered systems.
Kerr-cat qubits are a promising candidate for fault-tolerant quantum computers owing to the biased nature of their errors. The $ZZ$ coupling between the qubits can be utilized for a two-qubit entangling gate, but the residual coupling called $ZZ$ crosstalk is detrimental to precise computing. In order to resolve this problem, we propose a tunable $ZZ$-coupling scheme using two transmon couplers. By setting the detunings of the two couplers at opposite values, the residual $ZZ$ couplings via the two couplers cancel each other out. We also apply our scheme to the $R_{zz}(\Theta)$ gate ($ZZ$ rotation with angle $\Theta$), one of the two-qubit entangling gates. We numerically show that the fidelity of the $R_{zz}(-\pi/2)$ gate is higher than 99.9% in a case of $16$-ns gate time and without decoherence.
The fission of a string connecting two charges is an astounding phenomenon in confining gauge theories. The dynamics of this process have been studied intensively in recent years, with plenty of numerical results yielding a dichotomy: the confining string can decay relatively fast or persist up to extremely long times. Here, we put forward a dynamical localization transition as the mechanism underlying this dichotomy. To this end, we derive an effective string breaking description in the light-meson sector of a confined spin chain and show that the problem can be regarded as a dynamical localization transition in Fock space. Fast and suppressed string breaking dynamics are identified with delocalized and localized behavior, respectively. We then provide a further reduction of the dynamical string breaking problem onto a quantum impurity model, where the string is represented as an "impurity" immersed in a meson bath. It is shown that this model features a localization-delocalization transition, giving a general and simple physical basis to understand the qualitatively distinct string breaking regimes. These findings are directly relevant for a wider class of confining lattice models in any dimension and could be realized on present-day Rydberg quantum simulators.
The multiple-valued quantum logic is formulated systematically such that the truth values are represented naturally as unique roots of unity placed on the unit circle. Consequently, multi-valued quantum neuron (MVQN) is based on the principles of multiple-valued threshold logic over the field of complex numbers. The training of MVQN is reduced to the movement along the unit circle. A quantum neural network (QNN) based on multi-valued quantum neurons can be constructed with complex weights, inputs, and outputs encoded by roots of unity and an activation function that maps the complex plane into the unit circle. Such neural networks enjoy fast convergence and higher functionalities compared with quantum neural networks based on binary input with the same number of neurons and layers. Our construction can be used in analyzing the energy spectrum of quantum systems. Possible practical applications can be found using the quantum neural networks built from orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light or multi-level systems such as molecular spin qudits.
Single-atom imaging resolution of many-body quantum systems in optical lattices is routinely achieved with quantum-gas microscopes. Key to their great versatility as quantum simulators is the ability to use engineered light potentials at the microscopic level. Here, we employ dynamically varying microscopic light potentials in a quantum-gas microscope to study commensurate and incommensurate 1D systems of interacting bosonic Rb atoms. Such incommensurate systems are analogous to doped insulating states that exhibit atom transport and compressibility. Initially, a commensurate system with unit filling and fixed atom number is prepared between two potential barriers. We deterministically create an incommensurate system by dynamically changing the position of the barriers such that the number of available lattice sites is reduced while retaining the atom number. Our systems are characterised by measuring the distribution of particles and holes as a function of the lattice filling, and interaction strength, and we probe the particle mobility by applying a bias potential. Our work provides the foundation for preparation of low-entropy states with controlled filling in optical-lattice experiments.
We analyze the probability density distribution in a topological insulator slab of finite thickness, where the bulk and surface states are allowed to hybridize. By using an effective continuum Hamiltonian approach as a theoretical framework, we analytically obtained the wave functions for each state near the $\Gamma$-point. Our results reveal that, under particular combinations of the hybridized bulk and surface states, the spatial symmetry of the electronic probability density with respect to the center of the slab can be spontaneously broken. This symmetry breaking arises as a combination of the parity of the solutions, their spin projection, and the material constants.
We prove that the stabilizer fidelity is multiplicative for the tensor product of an arbitrary number of single-qubit states. We also show that the relative entropy of magic becomes additive if all the single-qubit states but one belong to a symmetry axis of the stabilizer octahedron. We extend the latter results to include all the $\alpha$-$z$ R\'enyi relative entropy of magic. This allows us to identify a continuous set of magic monotones that are additive for single-qubit states. We also show that all the monotones mentioned above are additive for several standard two and three-qubit states subject to depolarizing noise. Finally, we obtain closed-form expressions for several states and tighter lower bounds for the overhead of probabilistic one-shot magic state distillation.
Research progress in quantum computing has, thus far, focused on a narrow set of application domains. Expanding the suite of quantum application domains is vital for the discovery of new software toolchains and architectural abstractions. In this work, we unlock a new class of applications ripe for quantum computing research -- computational cognitive modeling. Cognitive models are critical to understanding and replicating human intelligence. Our work connects computational cognitive models to quantum computer architectures for the first time. We release QUATRO, a collection of quantum computing applications from cognitive models. The development and execution of QUATRO shed light on gaps in the quantum computing stack that need to be closed to ease programming and drive performance. Among several contributions, we propose and study ideas pertaining to quantum cloud scheduling (using data from gate- and annealing-based quantum computers), parallelization, and more. In the long run, we expect our research to lay the groundwork for more versatile quantum computer systems in the future.
Competing measurements alone can give rise to distinct phases characterized by entanglement entropy$\unicode{x2013}$such as the volume law phase, symmetry-breaking (SB) phase, and symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase$\unicode{x2013}$that can only be discerned through quantum trajectories, making them challenging to observe experimentally. In another burgeoning area of research, recent studies have demonstrated that steering can give rise to additional phases within quantum circuits. In this work, we show that new phases can appear in measurement-only quantum circuit with steering. Unlike conventional steering methods that rely solely on local information, the steering scheme we introduce requires the circuit's structure as an additional input. These steering induced phases are termed as "informative" phases. They are distinguished by the intrinsic dimension of the bitstrings measured in each circuit run, making them substantially easier to detect in experimental setups. We explicitly show this phase transition by numerical simulation in three circuit models that are previously well-studied: projective transverse field Ising model, lattice gauge-Higgs model and XZZX model. When the informative phase coincides with the SB phase, our steering mechanism effectively serves as a "pre-selection" routine, making the SB phase more experimentally accessible. Additionally, an intermediate phase may manifest, where a discrepancy arises between the quantum information captured by entanglement entropy and the classical information conveyed by bitstrings. Our findings demonstrate that steering not only adds theoretical richness but also offers practical advantages in the study of measurement-only quantum circuits.
Preparing quantum states across many qubits is necessary to unlock the full potential of quantum computers. However, a key challenge is to realize efficient preparation protocols which are stable to noise and gate imperfections. Here, using a measurement-based protocol on a 127 superconducting qubit device, we study the generation of the simplest long-range order -- Ising order, familiar from Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states and the repetition code -- on 54 system qubits. Our efficient implementation of the constant-depth protocol and classical decoder shows higher fidelities for GHZ states compared to size-dependent, unitary protocols. By experimentally tuning coherent and incoherent error rates, we demonstrate stability of this decoded long-range order in two spatial dimensions, up to a critical point which corresponds to a transition belonging to the unusual Nishimori universality class. Although in classical systems Nishimori physics requires fine-tuning multiple parameters, here it arises as a direct result of the Born rule for measurement probabilities -- locking the effective temperature and disorder driving this transition. Our study exemplifies how measurement-based state preparation can be meaningfully explored on quantum processors beyond a hundred qubits.
Recent studies in quantum computing have shown that quantum error correction with large numbers of physical qubits are limited by ionizing radiation from high-energy particles. Depending on the physical setup of the quantum processor, the contribution of muons from cosmic sources can constitute a significant fraction of these interactions. As most of these muons are difficult to stop, we perform a conceptual study of a two-layer silicon pixel detector to tag their hits on a solid-state quantum processor instead. With a typical dilution refrigerator geometry model, we find that efficiencies greater than 50% are most likely to be achieved if at least one of the layers is operated at the deep-cryogenic (<1 K) flanges of the refrigerator. Following this finding, we further propose a novel research program that could allow the development of silicon pixel detectors that are fast enough to provide input to quantum error correction algorithms, can operate at deep-cryogenic temperatures, and have very low power consumption.
In this paper, we extend diagrammatic reasoning in monoidal categories with algebraic operations and equations. We achieve this by considering monoidal categories that are enriched in the category of Eilenberg-Moore algebras for a monad. Under the condition that this monad is monoidal and affine, we construct an adjunction between symmetric monoidal categories and symmetric monoidal categories enriched over algebras for the monad. This allows us to devise an extension, and its semantics, of the ZX-calculus with probabilistic choices by freely enriching over convex algebras, which are the algebras of the finite distribution monad. We show how this construction can be used for diagrammatic reasoning of noise in quantum systems.
Engineering conduction-band valley couplings is a key challenge for Si-based spin qubits. Recent work has shown that the most reliable method for enhancing valley couplings entails adding Ge concentration oscillations to the quantum well. However, ultrashort oscillation periods are difficult to grow, while long oscillation periods do not provide useful improvements. Here, we show that the main benefits of short-wavelength oscillations can be achieved in long-wavelength structures through a second-order coupling process involving Brillouin-zone folding, induced by shear strain. Moreover, we find that the same long-wavelength period also boosts spin-orbit coupling. We finally show that such strain can be achieved through common fabrication techniques, making this an exceptionally promising system for scalable quantum computing.
Quantum copy protection, introduced by Aaronson, enables giving out a quantum program-description that cannot be meaningfully duplicated. Despite over a decade of study, copy protection is only known to be possible for a very limited class of programs. As our first contribution, we show how to achieve "best-possible" copy protection for all programs. We do this by introducing quantum state indistinguishability obfuscation (qsiO), a notion of obfuscation for quantum descriptions of classical programs. We show that applying qsiO to a program immediately achieves best-possible copy protection. Our second contribution is to show that, assuming injective one-way functions exist, qsiO is concrete copy protection for a large family of puncturable programs -- significantly expanding the class of copy-protectable programs. A key tool in our proof is a new variant of unclonable encryption (UE) that we call coupled unclonable encryption (cUE). While constructing UE in the standard model remains an important open problem, we are able to build cUE from one-way functions. If we additionally assume the existence of UE, then we can further expand the class of puncturable programs for which qsiO is copy protection. Finally, we construct qsiO relative to an efficient quantum oracle.
Quantum counting is a key quantum algorithm that aims to determine the number of marked elements in a database. This algorithm is based on the quantum phase estimation algorithm and uses the evolution operator of Grover's algorithm because its non-trivial eigenvalues are dependent on the number of marked elements. Since Grover's algorithm can be viewed as a quantum walk on a complete graph, a natural way to extend quantum counting is to use the evolution operator of quantum-walk-based search on non-complete graphs instead of Grover's operator. In this paper, we explore this extension by analyzing the coined quantum walk on the complete bipartite graph with an arbitrary number of marked vertices. We show that some eigenvalues of the evolution operator depend on the number of marked vertices and using this fact we show that the quantum phase estimation can be used to obtain the number of marked vertices. The time complexity for estimating the number of marked vertices in the bipartite graph with our algorithm aligns closely with that of the original quantum counting algorithm.
Quantum hardware suffers from high error rates and noise, which makes directly running applications on them ineffective. Quantum Error Correction (QEC) is a critical technique towards fault tolerance which encodes the quantum information distributively in multiple data qubits and uses syndrome qubits to check parity. Minimum-Weight-Perfect-Matching (MWPM) is a popular QEC decoder that takes the syndromes as input and finds the matchings between syndromes that infer the errors. However, there are two paramount challenges for MWPM decoders. First, as noise in real quantum systems can drift over time, there is a potential misalignment with the decoding graph's initial weights, leading to a severe performance degradation in the logical error rates. Second, while the MWPM decoder addresses independent errors, it falls short when encountering correlated errors typical on real hardware, such as those in the 2Q depolarizing channel. We propose DGR, an efficient decoding graph edge re-weighting strategy with no quantum overhead. It leverages the insight that the statistics of matchings across decoding iterations offer rich information about errors on real quantum hardware. By counting the occurrences of edges and edge pairs in decoded matchings, we can statistically estimate the up-to-date probabilities of each edge and the correlations between them. The reweighting process includes two vital steps: alignment re-weighting and correlation re-weighting. The former updates the MWPM weights based on statistics to align with actual noise, and the latter adjusts the weight considering edge correlations. Extensive evaluations on surface code and honeycomb code under various settings show that DGR reduces the logical error rate by 3.6x on average-case noise mismatch with exceeding 5000x improvement under worst-case mismatch.