Tuesdays 10:30 - 11:30 | Fridays 11:30 - 12:30
Showing votes from 2023-12-12 11:30 to 2023-12-15 12:30 | Next meeting is Tuesday Oct 29th, 10:30 am.
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis provides us with an observational insight into the very early Universe. Since this mechanism of light element synthesis comes out of the standard model of particle cosmology which follows directly from General Relativity, it is expected that any modifications to GR will result in deviations in the predicted observable parameters which are mainly, the neutron-to-proton ratio and the baryon-to-photon ratio. We use the measured neutron-to-proton ratio and compare the theoretically obtained expressions to constrain two models in the framework of $ f(T,\mathcal{T}) $ gravity. The theoretically constrained models are then tested against observational data from the Hubble dataset and the $ \Lambda $CDM model to explain the accelerated expansion of the Universe.
We present photometric redshifts (photo-$z$) for the deep wide fields of the Physics of the Accelerating Universe Survey (PAUS), covering an area of $\sim$50 deg$^{2}$, for $\sim$1.8 million objects up to $i_{\textrm{AB}}<23$. The PAUS deep wide fields overlap with the W1 and W3 fields from CFHTLenS and the G09 field from KiDS/GAMA. Photo-$z$ are estimated using the 40 narrow bands (NB) of PAUS and the broad bands (BB) of CFHTLenS and KiDS. We compute the redshifts with the SED template-fitting code BCNZ, with a modification in the calibration technique of the zero-point between the observed and the modelled fluxes, that removes any dependence on spectroscopic redshift samples. We enhance the redshift accuracy by introducing an additional photo-$z$ estimate ($z_{\textrm{b}}$), obtained through the combination of the BCNZ and the BB-only photo-$z$. Comparing with spectroscopic redshifts estimates ($z_{\textrm{s}}$), we obtain a $\sigma_{68} \simeq 0.019$ for all galaxies with $i_{\textrm{AB}}<23$ and a typical bias $|z_{\textrm{b}}-z_{\textrm{s}}|$ smaller than 0.01. For $z_{\textrm{b}} \sim (0.10-0.75)$ we find $\sigma_{68} \simeq (0.003-0.02)$, this is a factor of $10-2$ higher accuracy than the corresponding BB-only results. We obtain similar performance when we split the samples into red (passive) and blue (active) galaxies. We validate the redshift probability $p(z)$ obtained by BCNZ and compare its performance with that of $z_{\textrm{b}}$. These photo-$z$ catalogues will facilitate important science cases, such as the study of galaxy clustering and intrinsic alignment at high redshifts ($z \lesssim 1$) and faint magnitudes.
We study the dipole signal in the spectral index (x) of the differential number counts using quasars in the CatWISE2020 catalog of infrared sources. The index is extracted by using the log-likelihood method. We obtain the value $x=1.579 \pm 0.001$ for a quasar sample of 1355352 sources. We extract the dipole signal in this parameter by employing $\chi^{2}$ minimization, assuming a sky model of x up to the quadrupole term. We find that the dipole amplitude |D| is 0.005 \pm 0.002 and dipole direction (l, b) in Galactic coordinate system equal to $(201.50^{\circ} \pm 27.87^{\circ}, -29.37^{\circ} \pm 19.86^{\circ})$. The direction of dipole anisotropy is found to be very close to the hemispherical power asymmetry $(l,b)=(221^\circ,-27^{\circ})$ in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). We also obtain a signal of quadrupole anisotropy which is correlated with the ecliptic poles and can be attributed to ecliptic bias.}
In this paper we entertain a Machian setting where local physics is non-locally affected by the whole Universe, taking the liberty to identify the local (``Newton's bucket'') with our visible Universe, and the whole Universe (Mach's ``fixed stars'') with the global Universe beyond our horizon. Crucially, we allow for the two to have different properties, so that we are beyond the traditional FRW setting. For definiteness we focus on theories where non-locality arises from evolution in the laws of physics in terms of spatially global time variables dual to the constants of Nature. Since non-local theories are foliation-dependent, the {\it local} (but not the global) Hamiltonian constraint is lost. This is true not only while non-locality is taking place, but also after it ceases: the local Hamiltonian constraint is only recovered up to a constant in time, keeping a memory of the integrated past non-locality. We show that this integration constant is equivalent to preserving the local Hamiltonian constraint and adding an extra fluid with the same cosmological properties as conventional pressureless dark matter. The equivalence breaks down in terms of clustering properties, with the new component attracting other matter, but not budging from its location. This is the ultimate ``painted-on'' dark matter, attracting but not being attracted, and nailing down a preferred frame.
In dense astrophysical environments, notably core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers, neutrino-neutrino forward scattering can spawn flavor conversion on very short scales. Scattering with the background medium can impact collective flavor conversion in various ways, either damping oscillations or possibly setting off novel collisional flavor instabilities (CFIs). A key feature in this process is the slowness of collisions compared to the much faster dynamics of neutrino-neutrino refraction. Assuming spatial homogeneity, we leverage this hierarchy of scales to simplify the description accounting only for the slow dynamics driven by collisions. We illustrate our new approach both in the case of CFIs and in the case of fast instabilities damped by collisions. In both cases, our strategy provides new equations, the slow-dynamics equations, that simplify the description of flavor conversion and allow us to qualitatively understand the final state of the system after the instability, either collisional or fast, has saturated.
There is probably not a black hole in the center of the sun. Despite this detail, our goal in this work to convince the reader that this question is interesting and that work studying stars with central black holes is well motivated. If primordial black holes exist then they may exist in sufficiently large numbers to explain the dark matter in the universe. While primordial black holes may form at almost any mass, the asteroid-mass window between $10^{-16} - 10^{-10} ~ \textrm{M}_\odot$ remains a viable dark matter candidate and these black holes could be captured by stars upon formation. Such a star, partially powered by accretion luminosity from a microscopic black hole in its core, has been called a `Hawking star.' Stellar evolution of Hawking stars is highly nontrivial and requires detailed stellar evolution models, which were developed in our recent work. We present here full evolutionary models of solar mass Hawking stars using two accretion schemes: one with a constant radiative efficiency, and one that is new in this work that uses an adaptive radiative efficiency to model the effects of photon trapping.
We find bounds on the Wilson coefficients of effective field theories (EFTs) living in a Universe undergoing expansion by requiring that its modes do not propagate further than a minimally coupled photon by a resolvable amount. To do so, we compute the spatial shift suffered by the EFT modes at a fixed time slice within the WKB approximation and the regime of validity of the EFT. We analyze the bounds arising on shift-symmetric scalars and curved space generalizations of Galileons.
We explore extensive N-body simulations with two-component cold dark matter candidates. We delve into the temperature evolution, power spectrum, density perturbation, and maximum circular velocity functions. We find that the substantial mass difference between the two candidates and the annihilation of the heavier components to the lighter ones effectively endow the latter with warm dark matter-like behavior, taking advantage of all distinct features that warm dark matter candidates offer, without observational bounds on the warm dark matter mass. Moreover, we demonstrate that the two-component dark matter model aligns well with observational data, providing valuable insights into where and how to search for the elusive dark matter candidates in terrestrial experiments.
We explore how dynamical friction in an ultralight dark matter (ULDM) background is affected by dark matter self-interactions. We calculate the force of dynamical friction on a point mass moving through a uniform ULDM background with self-interactions, finding that the force of dynamical friction vanishes for sufficiently strong repulsive self-interactions. Using the pseudospectral solver $\texttt{UltraDark.jl}$, we show with simulations that reasonable values of the ULDM self-interaction strength and particle mass cause $\mathcal{O}(1)$ differences in the acceleration of an object like a supermassive black hole (SMBH) traveling near the center of a soliton, relative to the case with no self-interactions. For example, repulsive self-interactions with $\lambda = 10^{-90}$ yield a deceleration due to dynamical friction $\approx70\%$ smaller than a model with no self-interactions. We discuss the observational implications of our results for SMBHs near soliton centers and for massive satellite galaxies falling into ultralight axion halos and show that outcomes are dependent on whether a self-interaction is present or not.
In this paper, we perform an investigation into the effect of the string radius of curvature $R_\mathrm{\,Gaussian}$ on the magnitude and relative magnitude of the massive and massless radiation from axion (global) string configurations, motivated by qualitative observations from string network simulations. We construct initial conditions from travelling wave solutions on a global string for two colliding Gaussians, performing parameter scans over amplitude $A$ and standard deviation $\sigma_\mathrm{d}$. We show that the energy emitted via massless radiation obeys a power law $E_\mathrm{massless} \appropto A^{\gamma}$, where the coefficient $\gamma$ depends on the curvature regime. Massive radiation is exponentially suppressed approximately as $E_{\mathrm{massive}} \appropto e^{-\zeta R_\mathrm{\,Gaussian}}$ in the quasi-linear regime $\sigma_\mathrm{d} \gg \delta$ and exhibits power-law decay $E_{\mathrm{massive}} \appropto (R_\mathrm{\,Gaussian})^{-\gamma}$ in the nonlinear regime where $\sigma_\mathrm{d} \lesssim 2\delta$, with different $\gamma$ in different regimes of $R_\mathrm{\,Gaussian}$. In certain regions of the nonlinear regime, massive particle radiation comprises up to 50\% of the total energy emitted. Drawing on a known parallel between axion radiation from global strings and gravitational radiation from Abelian-Higgs strings, this suggests that massive particle radiation channel may become of equal significance to the massless (gravitational) channel for nonlinear burst signals where $R < \sigma_\mathrm{d}$, unless we are in the regime where additional loops are generated. We also estimate the spectral index $q$ of the axion radiation for different amplitudes, showing that a higher proportion of radiation is emitted in high frequency modes as the curvature increases, bounded by $q \gtrsim 1$ for the configurations studied.
We find a new exact solution to Einstein field equations that represents a cosmological wormhole embedded in a flat Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker universe. The new metric is a generalization of a previous cosmological wormhole solution found by Kim. We explicitly show that the flaring out condition is satisfied at the throat at all cosmic times; in addition, the null energy condition is violated at the throat regardless of the background cosmological model; thus, the spacetime geometry presented here describes a wormhole coupled to the cosmic dynamics that exists at all cosmic times and whose throat remains open in any cosmological model.
The Planck space mission has observed the first three rotational lines of emission of Galactic CO. Those maps, however, are either noisy, or contaminated by astrophysical emissions from different origin. We revisit those data products to deliver new full-sky CO maps with low astrophysical contamination and significantly enhanced noise properties. To that effect, a specific pipeline is designed to evaluate and postprocess the existing Planck Galactic CO maps. Specifically, we use an extension of the Generalized Needlet Internal Linear Combination method to extract multi-component astrophysical emissions from multi-frequency observations. Well characterized, clean CO full-sky maps at $10^\prime$ angular resolution are produced. These maps are made available to the scientific community and can be used to trace CO emission over the entire sky, and to generate sky simulations in preparation for future CMB observations.
Primordial magnetogenesis is an intriguing possibility to explain the origin of intergalactic magnetic fields (IGMFs). However, the baryon isocurvature problem has recently been pointed out, ruling out all magnetogenesis models operating above the electroweak scale. In this letter, we show that lower-scale inflationary scenarios with a Chern-Simons coupling can evade this problem. We propose concrete inflationary models whose reheating temperatures are lower than the electroweak scale and numerically compute the amount of magnetic fields generated during inflation and reheating. We find that, for lower reheating temperatures, the magnetic helicity decreases significantly. It is also possible to generate fully helical magnetic fields by modifying the inflaton potential. In both cases, the produced magnetic fields can be strong enough to explain the observed IGMFs, while avoiding the baryon isocurvature problem.
In cosmological analyses, precise redshift determination remains pivotal for understanding cosmic evolution. However, with only a fraction of galaxies having spectroscopic redshifts (spec-$z$s), the challenge lies in estimating redshifts for a larger number. To address this, photometry-based redshift (photo-$z$) estimation, employing machine learning algorithms, is a viable solution. Identifying the limitations of previous methods, this study focuses on implementing deep learning (DL) techniques within the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) Bright Galaxy Sample for more accurate photo-$z$ estimations. Comparing our new DL-based model against prior `shallow' neural networks, we showcase improvements in redshift accuracy. Our model gives mean photo-$z$ bias $\langle \Delta z\rangle= 10^{-3}$ and scatter $\mathrm{SMAD}(\Delta z)=0.016$, where $\Delta z = (z_\mathrm{phot}-z_\mathrm{spec})/(1+z_\mathrm{spec})$. This research highlights the promising role of DL in revolutionizing photo-$z$ estimation.
The early Universe, spanning 400,000 to 400 million years after the Big Bang ($z\approx1100-11$), has been left largely unexplored as the light from luminous objects is too faint to be observed directly. While new experiments are pushing the redshift limit of direct observations, measurements in the low-frequency radio band promise to probe early star and black hole formation via observations of the hydrogen 21-cm line. In this work we explore synergies between 21-cm data from the HERA and SARAS 3 experiments and observations of the unresolved radio and X-ray backgrounds using multi-wavelength Bayesian analysis. We use the combined data set to constrain properties of Population II and Population III stars as well as early X-ray and radio sources. The joint fit reveals a 68 percentile disfavouring of Population III star formation efficiencies $\gtrsim5.5\%$. We also show how the 21-cm and the X-ray background data synergistically constrain opposite ends of the X-ray efficiency prior distribution to produce a peak in the 1D posterior of the X-ray luminosity per star formation rate. We find (at 68\% confidence) that early galaxies were likely 0.33 to 311 times as X-ray efficient as present-day starburst galaxies. We also show that the functional posteriors from our joint fit rule out global 21-cm signals deeper than $\lesssim-225\ \mathrm{mK}$ and power spectrum amplitudes at $k=0.34\ h\mathrm{Mpc^{-1}}$ greater than $\Delta_{21}^2 \gtrsim 4814\ \mathrm{mK}^2$ with $3\sigma$ confidence.
Glitches represent a category of non-Gaussian and transient noise that frequently intersects with gravitational wave (GW) signals, exerting a notable impact on the processing of GW data. The inference of GW parameters, crucial for GW astronomy research, is particularly susceptible to such interference. In this study, we pioneer the utilization of normalizing flow for likelihood-free inference of GW parameters, seamlessly integrating the high temporal resolution of the time domain with the frequency separation characteristics of both time and frequency domains. Remarkably, our findings indicate that the accuracy of this inference method is comparable to traditional non-glitch sampling techniques. Furthermore, our approach exhibits greater efficiency, boasting processing times on the order of milliseconds. In conclusion, the application of normalizing flow emerges as pivotal in handling GW signals affected by transient noises, offering a promising avenue for enhancing the field of GW astronomy research.
In certain models of inflation, the postinflationary reheating of the Universe is not primarily due to perturbative decay of the inflaton field into particles, but proceeds through a tachyonic instability. In the process, long-wavelength modes of an unstable field, which is often distinct from the inflaton itself, acquire very large occupation numbers, which are subsequently redistributed into a thermal equilibrium state. We investigate this process numerically through quantum real-time lattice simulations of the Kadanoff-Baym equation, using a 1/N-NLO truncation of the 2PI-effective action. We identify the early-time maximum occupation number, the "classical" momentum range, the validity of the classical approximation and the effective IR temperature, and study the kinetic equilibration of the system and the equation of state.
Gravitational lensing is proven to be one of the most efficient tools for studying the Universe. The spectral confirmation of such sources requires extensive calibration. This paper discusses the spectral extraction technique for the case of multiple source spectra being very near each other. Using the masking technique, we first detect high Signal-to-Noise (S/N) peaks in the CCD spectral image corresponding to the location of the source spectra. This technique computes the cumulative signal using a weighted sum, yielding a reliable approximation for the total counts contributed by each source spectrum. We then proceed with the subtraction of the contaminating spectra. Applying this method, we confirm the nature of 11 lensed quasar candidates.
If dark matter is made of QCD axions, its abundance is determined by the vacuum expectation value acquired by the axion field during inflation. The axion is usually assumed to follow the equilibrium distribution arising from quantum diffusion during inflation. This leads to the so-called stochastic window under which the QCD axion can make up all the dark matter. It is characterised by $10^{10.4}\mathrm{GeV}\leq f\leq 10^{17.2}\mathrm{GeV}$ and $H_{\mathrm{end}}>10^{-2.2}\mathrm{GeV}$, where $f$ is the axion decay constant and $H_{\mathrm{end}}$ is the Hubble expansion rate at the end of inflation. However, in realistic inflationary potentials, we show that the axion never reaches the equilibrium distribution at the end of inflation. This is because the relaxation time of the axion is much larger than the typical time scale over which $H$ varies during inflation. As a consequence, the axion acquires a quasi-flat distribution as long as it remains light during inflation. This leads us to reassessing the stochastic axion window, and we find that $ 10^{10.3}\mathrm{GeV}\leq f\leq 10^{14.1}\mathrm{GeV}$ and $H_{\mathrm{end}}>10^{-13.8}\mathrm{GeV}$.
We investigate a cosmological model wherein a waterfall symmetry breaking occurs during the radiation-dominated era. The model comprises a complex waterfall field, an axion field, and the gauge field (dark photon) generated through a tachyonic instability due to the Chern-Simons interaction. Prior to symmetry breaking, the total energy density incorporates a vacuum energy from the waterfall field, establishing a novel scenario for Early Dark Energy (EDE). Subsequent to the symmetry breaking, the dark photon dynamically acquires mass via the Higgs mechanism, potentially contributing to the dark matter abundance. Hence, our model can simultaneously address the $H_0$ tension and the origin of dark matter.
Galaxy clusters are important probes for both cosmology and galaxy formation physics. We test the cosmological, hydrodynamical FLAMINGO simulations by comparing to observations of the gaseous properties of clusters measured from X-ray observations. FLAMINGO contains unprecedented numbers of massive galaxy groups ($>10^6$) and clusters ($>10^5$) and includes variations in both cosmology and galaxy formation physics. We predict the evolution of cluster scaling relations as well as radial profiles of the temperature, density, pressure, entropy, and metallicity for different masses and redshifts. We show that the differences between volume-, and X-ray-weighting of particles in the simulations, and between cool-core non cool-core samples, are similar in size as the differences between simulations for which the stellar and AGN feedback has been calibrated to produce significantly different gas fractions. Compared to thermally-driven AGN feedback, kinetic jet feedback calibrated to produce the same gas fraction at $R_{\rm 500c}$ yields a hotter core with higher entropies and lower densities, which translates into a smaller fraction of cool-core clusters. Stronger feedback, calibrated to produce lower gas fractions and hence lower gas densities, results in higher temperatures, entropies, and metallicities, but lower pressures. The scaling relations and thermodynamic profiles show almost no evolution with respect to self-similar expectations, except for the metallicity decreasing with redshift. We find that the temperature, density, pressure, and entropy profiles of clusters in the fiducial FLAMINGO simulation are in excellent agreement with observations, while the metallicities in the core are too high.
Subhalo dynamics in galaxy cluster host halos govern the observed distribution and properties of cluster member galaxies. We use the IllustrisTNG simulation to investigate the accretion and orbits of subhalos found in cluster-size halos. We find that the median change in the major axis direction of cluster-size host halos is approximately $80$ degrees between $a\sim0.1$ and present-day. We identify coherent regions in the angular distribution of subhalo accretion, and $\sim 68\%$ of accreted subhalos enter their host halo through $\sim38\%$ of the surface area at the virial radius. The majority of galaxy clusters in the sample have $\sim2$ such coherent regions, likely corresponding to cluster-feeding filaments. We further measure angular orbits of subhalos with respect to the host major axis and use a clustering algorithm to identify distinct orbit modes with varying oscillation timescales. The orbit modes correlate with subhalo accretion conditions. Subhalos in orbit modes with shorter oscillations tend to have lower peak masses and accretion directions somewhat more aligned with the major axis. One orbit mode, exhibiting the least oscillatory behavior, largely consists of subhalos that accrete near the plane perpendicular to the host halo major axis. Our findings are consistent with expectations from inflow from major filament structures and internal dynamical friction: most subhalos accrete through filaments, and more massive subhalos experience fewer orbits after accretion. Our work offers a unique quantification of subhalo dynamics that can be connected to how the intracluster medium strips and quenches cluster galaxies.
The time delay between multiple images of strongly lensed quasars is a powerful tool for measuring the Hubble constant (H0). To achieve H0 measurements with higher precision and accuracy using the time delay, it is crucial to expand the sample of lensed quasars. We conduct a search for strongly lensed quasars in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Imaging Surveys. The DESI Legacy Surveys comprise 19,000 deg2 of the extragalactic sky observed in three optical bands (g, r, and z), making it well suited for the discovery of new strongly lensed quasars. We apply an autocorrelation algorithm to ~5 million objects classified as quasars in the DESI Quasar Sample. These systems are visually inspected and ranked. Here, we present 436 new multiply lensed and binary quasar candidates, 65 of which have redshifts from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 16. We provide redshifts for an additional 18 candidates from the SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph.
There is no source for cosmic vorticity within the cold dark matter cosmology. However, vorticity has been observed in the universe, especially on the scales of clusters, filaments, galaxies, etc. Recent results from high-resolution general relativistic N-body simulation show that the vorticity power spectrum dominates over the power spectrum of the divergence of the peculiar velocity field on scales where the effective field theory of large-scale structure breaks down. Incidentally, this scale also corresponds to the scale where shell-crossing occurs. Several studies have suggested a link between shell crossing in the dark matter fluid and the vorticity generation in the universe, however, no clear proof of how it works within general relativity exists yet. We describe for the first time how vorticity is generated in a universe such as ours with expanding and collapsing regions. We show how vorticity is generated at the boundary of the expanding and collapsing regions. Our result indicates that the amplitude of the generated vorticity is determined by the jump in gradients of the gravitational potential, pressure and the expansion rate at the boundary. In addition, we argue that the presence of vorticity in the matter fields implies a non-vanishing magnetic part of the Weyl tensor. This has implications for the generation of Maxwell's magnetic field and the dynamics of clusters. The impact on accelerated expansion of the universe and the existence of causal limit for massive particles are discussed
We introduce a numerical method specifically designed for investigating generic multifield models of inflation where a number of scalar fields $\phi^K$ are minimally coupled to gravity and live in a field space with a non-trivial metric $G_{IJ}(\phi^K)$. Our algorithm consists of three main parts. Firstly, we solve the field equations through the entire inflationary period, deriving predictions for observable quantities such as the spectrum of scalar perturbations, primordial gravitational waves, and isocurvature modes. We also incorporate the transfer matrix formalism to track the behavior of adiabatic and isocurvature modes on super-horizon scales and the transfer of entropy to scalar modes after the horizon crossing. Secondly, we interface our algorithm with Boltzmann integrator codes to compute the subsequent full cosmology, including the cosmic microwave background anisotropies and polarization angular power spectra. Finally, we develop a novel sampling algorithm able to efficiently explore a large volume of the parameter space and identify a sub-region where theoretical predictions agree with observations. In this way, sampling over the initial conditions of the fields and the free parameters of the models, we enable Monte Carlo analysis of multifield scenarios. We test all the features of our approach by analyzing a specific model and deriving constraints on its free parameters. Our methodology provides a robust framework for studying multifield inflation, opening new avenues for future research in the field.
We consider a model of early modified gravity (EMG) that was recently proposed as a candidate to resolve the Hubble tension. The model consists in a scalar field $\sigma$ with a non-minimal coupling (NMC) to the Ricci curvature of the form $F(\sigma) = M_{\mathrm{pl}}^2+\xi\sigma^2$ and an effective mass induced by a quartic potential $V(\sigma) = \lambda \sigma^4/4$. We present the first analyses of the EMG model in light of the latest ACT DR4 and SPT-3G data in combination with full Planck data, and find a $\gtrsim 2\sigma$ preference for a non-zero EMG contribution from a combination of primary CMB data alone, mostly driven by ACT DR4 data. This is different from popular 'Early Dark Energy' models, which are detected only when the high-$\ell$ information from Planck temperature is removed. We find that the NMC plays a key role in controlling the evolution of density perturbations that is favored by the data over the minimally coupled case. Including measurements of supernovae luminosity distance from Pantheon+, baryonic acoustic oscillations and growth factor from BOSS, and CMB lensing of Planck leaves the preference unaffected. In the EMG model, the tension with S$H_0$ES is alleviated from $\sim 6\sigma$ to $\sim 3\sigma$. Further adding S$H_0$ES data rise the detection of the EMG model above $5\sigma$.
We search for signatures of cosmological shocks in gas pressure profiles of galaxy clusters using the cluster catalogs from three surveys: the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 3, the South Pole Telescope (SPT) SZ survey, and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) data releases 4, 5, and 6, and using thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) maps from SPT and ACT. The combined cluster sample contains around $10^5$ clusters with mass and redshift ranges $10^{13.7} < M_{\rm 200m}/M_\odot < 10^{15.5}$ and $0.1 < z < 2$, and the total sky coverage of the maps is $\approx 15,000 \,\,{\rm deg}^2$. We find a clear pressure deficit at $R/R_{\rm 200m}\approx 1.1$ in SZ profiles around both ACT and SPT clusters, estimated at $6\sigma$ significance, which is qualitatively consistent with a shock-induced thermal non-equilibrium between electrons and ions. The feature is not as clearly determined in profiles around DES clusters. We verify that measurements using SPT or ACT maps are consistent across all scales, including in the deficit feature. The SZ profiles of optically selected and SZ-selected clusters are also consistent for higher mass clusters. Those of less massive, optically selected clusters are suppressed on small scales by factors of 2-5 compared to predictions, and we discuss possible interpretations of this behavior. An oriented stacking of clusters -- where the orientation is inferred from the SZ image, the brightest cluster galaxy, or the surrounding large-scale structure measured using galaxy catalogs -- shows the normalization of the one-halo and two-halo terms vary with orientation. Finally, the location of the pressure deficit feature is statistically consistent with existing estimates of the splashback radius.
High-resolution mapping of the hot gas in galaxy clusters is a key tool for cluster-based cosmological analyses. Taking advantage of the NIKA2 millimeter camera operated at the IRAM 30-m telescope, the NIKA2 SZ Large Program seeks to get a high-resolution follow-up of 38 galaxy clusters covering a wide mass range at intermediate to high redshift. The measured SZ fluxes will be essential to calibrate the SZ scaling relation and the galaxy clusters mean pressure profile, needed for the cosmological exploitation of SZ surveys. We present in this study a method to infer a mean pressure profile from cluster observations. We have designed a pipeline encompassing the map-making and the thermodynamical properties estimates from maps. We then combine all the individual fits, propagating the uncertainties on integrated quantities, such as $R_{500}$ or $P_{500}$, and the intrinsic scatter coming from the deviation to the standard self-similar model. We validate the proposed method on realistic LPSZ-like cluster simulations.
$f(Q)$ gravity is an extension of the symmetric teleparallel equivalent to general relativity (STEGR). This work shows that based on the scalar-nonmetricity formulation, a scalar mode in $f(Q)$ gravity has a negative kinetic energy. This conclusion holds regardless of the coincident gauge frequently used in STEGR and $f(Q)$ gravity. To study the scalar mode, we further consider the covariant $f(Q)$ gravity as a special class in higher-order scalar tensor (HOST) theory and rewrite the four scalar fields, which play a role of the St\"{u}eckelberg fields associated with the diffeomorphism, by vector fields. Applying the standard Arnowitt-Deser-Misner (ADM) formulation to the new formulation of the $f(Q)$ gravity, we demonstrate that the ghost scalar mode can be eliminated by the second-class constraints, thus ensuring that $f(Q)$ gravity is a healthy theory.
Dark Matter models that employ a vector portal to a dark sector are usually treated as an effective theory that incorporates kinetic mixing of the photon with a new U(1) gauge boson, with the $Z$ boson integrated out. However, a more complete theory must employ the full SU(2)$_L\times $U(1)$_Y \times $U(1)$_{Y^\prime}$ gauge group, in which kinetic mixing of the $Z$ boson with the new U(1) gauge boson is taken into account. The importance of the more complete analysis is demonstrated by an example where the parameter space of the effective theory that yields the observed dark matter relic density is in conflict with a suitably defined electroweak $\rho$-parameter that is deduced from a global fit to $Z$ physics data.
Scalar induced gravitational waves contribute to the cosmological gravitational wave background. They can be related to the primordial density power spectrum produced towards the end of inflation and therefore are a convenient new tool to constrain models of inflation. These waves are sourced by terms quadratic in perturbations and hence appear at second order in cosmological perturbation theory. While the focus of research so far was on purely scalar source terms we also study the effect of including first order tensor perturbations as an additional source. This gives rise to two additional source terms: a term quadratic in the tensor perturbations and a cross term involving mixed scalar and tensor perturbations. We present full analytical expressions for the spectral density of these new source terms and discuss their general behaviour. To illustrate the generation mechanism we study two toy models containing a peak on small scales. For these models we show that the scalar-tensor contribution becomes non-negligible compared to the scalar-scalar contribution on smaller scales. We also consider implications for future gravitational wave surveys.
We report physical properties of the brightest ($S_{870\,\mu \rm m}=12.4$-$19.2\,$mJy) and not strongly lensed 18 870$\,\mu$m selected dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs), also known as submillimeter galaxies (SMGs), in the COSMOS field. This sample is part of an ALMA band$\,$3 spectroscopic survey (AS2COSPEC), and spectroscopic redshifts are measured in 17 of them at $z=2$-$5$. We perform spectral energy distribution analyses and deduce a median total infrared luminosity of $L_{\rm IR}=(1.3\pm0.1)\times10^{13}\,L_{\odot}$, infrared-based star-formation rate of ${\rm SFR}_{\rm IR}=1390\pm150~M_{\odot}\,\rm yr^{-1}$, stellar mass of $M_\ast=(1.4\pm0.6)\times10^{11}\,M_\odot$, dust mass of $M_{\rm dust}=(3.7\pm0.5)\times10^9\,M_\odot$, and molecular gas mass of $M_{\rm gas}= (\alpha_{\rm CO}/0.8)(1.2\pm0.1)\times10^{11}\,M_\odot$, suggesting that they are one of the most massive, ISM-enriched, and actively star-forming systems at $z=2$-$5$. In addition, compared to less massive and less active galaxies at similar epochs, SMGs have comparable gas fractions; however, they have much shorter depletion time, possibly caused by more active dynamical interactions. We determine a median dust emissivity index of $\beta=2.1\pm0.1$ for our sample, and by combining our results with those from other DSFG samples, we find no correlation of $\beta$ with redshift or infrared luminosity, indicating similar dust grain compositions across cosmic time for infrared luminous galaxies. We also find that AS2COSPEC SMGs have one of the highest dust-to-stellar mass ratios, with a median of $0.02\pm0.01$, significantly higher than model predictions, possibly due to too strong of a AGN feedback implemented in the model. Finally, our complete and uniform survey enables us to put constraints on the most massive end of the dust and molecular gas mass functions.
The flavor composition of TeV--PeV astrophysical neutrinos, i.e., the proportion of neutrinos of different flavors in their flux, is a versatile probe of high-energy astrophysics and fundamental physics. Because flavor identification is challenging and the number of detected high-energy astrophysical neutrinos is limited, so far measurements of the flavor composition have represented an average over the range of observed neutrino energies. Yet, this washes out the potential existence of changes in the flavor composition with energy and weakens our sensitivity to the many models that posit them. For the first time, we measure the energy dependence of the flavor composition, looking for a transition from low to high energies. Our present-day measurements, based on the 7.5-year public sample of IceCube High-Energy Starting Events (HESE), find no evidence of a flavor transition. The observation of HESE and through-going muons jointly by next-generation neutrino telescopes Baikal-GVD, IceCube-Gen2, KM3NeT, P-ONE, TAMBO, and TRIDENT may identify a flavor transition around 200TeV by 2030. By 2040, we could infer the flavor composition with which neutrinos are produced with enough precision to establish the transition from neutrino production via the full pion decay chain at low energies to muon-damped pion decay at high energies.
Mass and spin of massive black holes (BHs) at the centre of galaxies evolve due to gas accretion and mergers with other BHs. Besides affecting e.g. the evolution of relativistic jets, the BH spin determines the efficiency with which the BH radiates energy. Using cosmological, hydrodynamical simulations, we investigate the evolution of the BH spin across cosmic time and its role in controlling the joint growth of supermassive BHs and their host galaxies. We implement a sub-resolution prescription that models the BH spin, accounting for both BH coalescence and misaligned accretion through a geometrically thin, optically thick disc. We investigate how BH spin evolves in two idealised setups, in zoomed-in simulations, and in a cosmological volume. The latter simulation allows us to retrieve statistically robust results as for the evolution and distribution of BH spins as a function of BH properties. We find that BHs with $M_{\rm BH}\lesssim 2 \times 10^{7}\;{\rm M}_{\odot}$ grow through gas accretion, occurring mostly in a coherent fashion that favours spin-up. Above $M_{\rm BH}\gtrsim 2 \times 10^{7}~{\rm M}_{\odot}$ the gas angular momentum directions of subsequent accretion episodes are often uncorrelated with each other. The probability of counter-rotating accretion and hence spin-down increases with BH mass. In the latter mass regime, BH coalescence plays an important role. The spin magnitude displays a wide variety of histories, depending on the dynamical state of the gas feeding the BH and the relative contribution of mergers and gas accretion. As a result of their combined effect, we observe a broad range of values of the spin magnitude at the high-mass end. Our predictions for the distributions of BH spin and spin-dependent radiative efficiency as a function of BH mass are in very good agreement with observations.
We present a thorough study of the Changing-Look Active Galactic Nucleus (CL-AGN) Mrk 1018, utilizing an extensive dataset spanning optical, UV, and X-ray spectro-photometric data from 2005 to 2019. We analysed X-ray spectra and broad-band photometry, and performed optical-to-X-ray spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting to comprehend the observed changing-look behaviour. We found that over the 14 years in analysis, significant changes in X-ray spectra occurred, as the hardness ratio increases by a factor of ~2. We validated also the broad-band dimming, with optical, UV, and X-ray luminosities decreasing by factors of >7, >24 and ~9, respectively. These dims are attributed to the declining UV emission. We described the X-ray spectra with a two-Comptonization model, revealing a consistent hot comptonizing medium but a cooling warm component. This cooling, linked to the weakening of the magnetic fields in the accretion disk, explains the UV dimming. We propose that the weakening is caused by the formation of a jet, in turn originated from the change of state of the inner accretion flow. Our optical-to-X-ray SED fitting supports this conclusion, as the normalised accretion rate is super-critical ($\mu=$0.06>0.02) in the bright state and sub-critical ($\mu=$0.01<0.02) in the faint state. Instabilities arising at the interface of the state-transition are able to reduce the viscous timescale to the observed ~10 years of Mrk 1018 variability. We explored a possible triggering mechanism for this state transition, involving gaseous clouds pushed onto the AGN sub-pc regions by a recent merging event or by cold chaotic accretion. This scenario, if validated by future simulations, could enhance our understanding of CL-AGN and raises questions about an accretion rate of ~0.02, coupled with minor disturbances in the accretion disk, being the primary factor in the changing-look phenomenon.
FRB 20220912A is a repeating Fast Radio Burst (FRB) that was discovered in Fall 2022 and remained highly active for several months. We report the detection of 35 FRBs from 541 hours of follow-up observations of this source using the recently refurbished Allen Telescope Array, covering 1344 MHz of bandwidth primarily centered at 1572 MHz. All 35 FRBs were detected in the lower half of the band with non-detections in the upper half and covered fluences from 4-431 Jy-ms (median$=$48.27 Jy-ms). We find consistency with previous repeater studies for a range of spectrotemporal features including: bursts with downward frequency drifting over time; a positive correlation between bandwidth and center frequency; and a decrease in sub-burst duration over time. We report an apparent decrease in the center frequency of observed bursts over the 2 months of the observing campaign (corresponding to a drop of $6.21\pm 0.76$ MHz per day). We predict a cut-off fluence for FRB 20220912A of $F_\textrm{max}\lesssim 10^4$ Jy-ms, for this source to be consistent with the all-sky rate, and find that FRB 20220912A significantly contributed to the all-sky FRB rate at a level of a few percent for fluences of $\sim$100 Jy-ms. Finally, we investigate characteristic timescales and sub-burst periodicities and find a) a median inter-subburst timescale of 5.82$\pm$1.16 ms in the multi-component bursts and b) no evidence of strict periodicity even in the most evenly-spaced multi-component burst in the sample. Our results demonstrate the importance of wideband observations of FRBs, and provide an important set of observational parameters against which to compare FRB progenitor and emission mechanism models.
Compilation of papers presented by the VERITAS Collaboration at the 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC), held July 26 through August 3, 2023 in Nagoya, Japan.
With the anticipated launch of space-based gravitational wave detectors, including LISA, TaiJi, TianQin, and DECIGO, expected around 2030, the detection of gravitational waves generated by intermediate-mass black hole binaries (IMBBHs) becomes a tangible prospect. However, due to the detector's reception of a substantial amount of non-Gaussian, non-stationary data, employing traditional Bayesian inference methods for parameter estimation would result in significant resource demands and limitations in the waveform template library. Therefore, in this paper, we simulated foreground noise induced by stellar-origin binary black holes (SOBBHs), which is non-Gaussian and non-stationary, and we explore the use of Gaussian process regression (GPR) and deep learning for parameter estimation of Intermediate Mass Binary Black Holes (IMBBHs) in the presence of such non-Gaussian, non-stationary background noise. By comparing these results from deep learning and GPR, we demonstrate that deep learning can offer improved precision in parameter estimation compared to traditional GPR. Furthermore, compared to GPR, deep learning can provide posterior distributions of the sample parameters faster.
The coalescence of binary neutron stars can yield the expulsion of a fast-moving, quasi-isotropic material, which may induce thermal radiation and give rise to kilonova emission. Moreover, the interaction between the ejected material and the surrounding environment generates an external shock, which can result in a long-lasting radio signal that persists for several decades following the merger. In contrast to supernova ejecta, kilonova ejecta exhibits a relatively lesser mass and higher velocity, and its expansion may ultimately result in the ejecta density becoming so low that the medium particle can freely pass through the ejecta. Thereby it would lead to a kind of incomplete sweeping on the interstellar medium. Employing a toy model, our investigation reveals that such incomplete sweeping may considerably diminish the late-time radio radiation power, irrespective of whether the binary neutron star merger results in the formation of a black hole or a neutron star. Our findings, thus, imply that the previously reported radio upper limits for certain short gamma-ray bursts may not necessarily place stringent constraints on the presence of a long-lived magnetar remnant in these short GRBs.
We examine the evolution of ion-beam Weibel instability at strong collisionless shocks in weakly magnetized media. We find that a finite background magnetic field substantially affects both linear and nonlinear phases of the instability, depending on whether the background electrons behave magnetized or not. Particle-in-cell simulations for magnetized electrons identify a dynamo-like mechanism of magnetic field amplification, which eventually leads to spontaneous magnetic reconnection. We conclude that this scenario is applicable to typical young supernova remnant shocks.
We propose a new method for calculating spectra and luminosities for (anti)neutrinos produced in the pre-supernova environment by weak processes with hot nuclei. It is based on the thermal quasiparticle random phase approximation (TQRPA), that allows microscopic thermodynamically consistent calculations of the weak-interaction response of nuclei at finite temperatures. For realistic representative pre-supernova conditions from the stellar evolution code MESA, we compute (anti)neutrino luminosities and spectra arising from neutral- and charged-current weak reactions with hot $^{56}$Fe and compare them with the contribution of thermal processes. We find that the TQRPA approach produces not only a higher total luminosity of electron neutrinos (mainly born in the electron capture reaction), compared to the standard technique based on the large-scale shell model (LSSM) weak-interaction rates, but also a harder neutrino spectrum. Besides, applying the TQRPA and LSSM, we find that in the context of electron antineutrino generation, the neutral-current nuclear de-excitation (ND) process via neutrino-antineutrino pair emission is at least as important as the electron-positron pair annihilation process. We also show that flavor oscillations enhance the high-energy contribution of the ND process to the electron antineutrino flux. This could potentially be important for pre-supernova antineutrino registration by the Earth's detectors.
From late September 2017 to February 2018, the Be X-ray binary (BeXB) Swift J0243.6+6124 underwent an unprecedently bright giant outburst. The reported X-ray luminosities were so high that the system was classified as an Ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX). It was also the first BeXB pulsar showing radio jet emission. The source was not only bright in X-rays and radio, but also in optical and UV wavelenghts. In this paper we aim to understand the origin of the observed optical/UV fluxes simultaneous to the X-ray emission. We studied the optical/UV light curves in comparison with the X-ray fluxes along the outburst, considering the main mechanisms that can explain the optical/UV emission in X-ray binaries. Due to the tight correlation observed between the optical/UV and X-ray light curves, reprocessing of X-rays seems to be the most plausible explanation. We calculated the timescales of the light curves decays and studied the correlation indexes between the optical and X-ray emission. Finally, we built a physical model considering X-ray heating of the surface of the donor star, irradiation of the accretion disk, and emission from a viscously heated accretion disk, in order to reproduce the observed optical/UV SEDs along the outburst. We considered in our model that the Be circumstellar disk was co-planar to the orbit, and then we neglected its irradiation in the current model. As an input of the model, we used as incident X-ray luminosities those calculated from the bolometric X-ray fluxes obtained from the spectral fit of the Swift/XRT and BAT observations. We conclude that reprocessing of X-rays as X-ray heating of the Be star surface and irradiation of the accretion disk are the two main mechanisms that can reproduce the observed optical/UV emission during the 2017-2018 giant outburst of Swift J0243.6+6124.
The most energetic astrophysical sources in the Milky Way, cosmic accelerators capable of producing high-energy cosmic rays, have resisted discovery for over a century. Up to now, astrophysicists sought these sources mainly by scouring the Galaxy for the gamma rays they are expected to emit. In 2023, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory discovered high-energy neutrinos from the Milky Way, inaugurating a telltale stream of evidence of cosmic-ray production and interaction in the Galaxy.
The hotspot emission of accreting millisecond pulsars (AMPs) undergoes scattering in the accretion flow between the disk inner radius and the neutron star surface. The scattering optical depth of the flow depends on the photon emission angle, which is a function of the pulse phase, and reaches its maximum when the hotspot is closest to the observer. At sufficiently large optical depths the observed pulse profile should develop a secondary minimum, the depth of which depends on the accretion rate and the emission geometry. Such a dip evolving with the accretion rate might explain the phase shift and pulse profile evolution observed in AMPs during outbursts. Accounting for scattering is important for accurate modeling of the AMP pulse profiles in order to improve the accuracy of determination of the neutron star parameters, such as their masses and radii. In this paper we present a simplified analytical model for the Thomson optical depth of the accretion funnel, and apply it to simulating the pulse profiles. We show that scattering in the accretion funnel has a significant effect on the pulse profiles at accretion rates of $\dot{M} \gtrsim 10^{-10}~{M}_\odot\, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. Our model predicts a gradual evolution of the pulse profile with the accretion rate that appears to be consistent with the observations.
Pulsars are known for their exceptionally stable rotation. However, this stability can be disrupted by glitches, sudden increases in rotation frequency whose cause is poorly understood. In this study, we present some preliminary results from the pulsar monitoring campaign conducted at the IAR since 2019. We present measurements from timing solution fits of the parameters of five glitches: one glitch in the Vela pulsar, one in PSR J0742-2822, one in PSR J1740-3015, and two mini-glitches in PSR J1048-5832. Finally, we applied the vortex creep model to characterize the inter-glitch period of Vela. However, the preliminary results yielded highly degenerate and loosely constrained parameters.
This is a collection of papers presented by the JEM-EUSO Collaboration at the 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (Nagoya, Japan, July 26-August 3, 2023)
The eROSITA X-ray telescope on board the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) spacecraft observed the field of the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey (UDS) in August-September 2019, during its flight to Sun-Earth L2 point. The resulting eROSITA UDS (or eUDS) survey was thus the first eROSITA X-ray imaging survey, which demonstrated the capability of the telescope to perform uniform observations of large sky areas. With a moderate single-camera exposure of 150 ks, eUDS covered ~5 deg^2 with the limiting flux ranging between 4E-15 and 5E-14 erg/s/cm^2, in the 0.3-2.3 keV band. We present a catalogue of 647 sources detected at likelihood >10 (~4 sigma) during the eUDS. The catalogue provides information on the source fluxes in the main energy band 0.3-2.3 keV and forced photometry in a number of bands between 0.3 and 8 keV. Using the deeper 4XMM-DR12 catalogue, we have identified 22 strongly variable objects that have brightened or faded by at least a factor of ten during the eROSITA observations compared to previous observations by XMM-Newton. We also provide a catalogue of 22 sources detected by eROSITA in the hard energy band of 2.3-5 keV.
We report the reconstruction of the mass component spectra of cosmic rays (protons, helium, carbon, silicon, and iron) and their mean mass composition, at energies from 1.4 to 100 PeV. The results are derived from the archival data of the extensive air shower experiment KASCADE. We use a novel machine learning technique, developed specifically for this reconstruction, and modern hadronic interaction models: QGSJet.II-04, EPOS-LHC and Sibyll 2.3c. We have found a marked excess of the proton component and deficit of intermediate and heavy nuclei components, compared to the original KASCADE results. At the same time our results are partially consistent with the results of IceTop and TALE experiments. The systematic uncertainties are computed taking into account the difference between the hadronic models and have a similar magnitude as the uncertainties of other mentioned experiments, that were computed without cross-hadronic model systematics.
The transient sky is composed of diverse phenomena that exhibits dramatic changes on short timescales. These events range from sub-second bursts to weeks and month timescale variability from compact systems. Several challenges need to be addressed by any facility that aims to observe such events: a fast re-positioning scheme to trace the first moments of events like Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), a large field of view to be able to detect new Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), or high sensitivity and high cadence to detect the outflows and flaring activity in Galactic binaries. Combined with a large bandwidth in order to recover the spectral information from these sources, it would allow us to unveil the physical processes taking place in these systems. The new Multipurpose Interferometer Array (MIA) in Argentina may represent a suitable facility to conduct deep and leading-edge studies on the transient sky as the aforementioned ones. Additionally, there is a significant interest from the community on the possibility of connecting the 30-m IAR antennas within a VLBI network such as the European VLBI Network (EVN). This would place Argentina in the map to achieve very-high-resolution (on the milliarcsecond level) observations. This mode, together with the observations with the MIA would open a potential new regime that would allow astronomers to significantly increase the knowledge on the Southern Sky.
Black hole X-ray binaries in their hard and hard-intermediate states display hard and soft time lags between broadband noise variations (high-energy emission lagging low-energy and vice versa), which could be used to constrain the geometry of the disk and Comptonising corona in these systems. Comptonisation and reverberation lag models, which are based on light-travel delays, can imply coronae which are very large (hundreds to thousands of gravitational radii, $R_{g}$) and in conflict with constraints from X-ray spectral modelling and polarimetry. Here we show that the observed large and complex X-ray time lags can be explained by a model where fluctuations are generated in and propagate through the blackbody-emitting disk to a relatively compact ($\sim$10 $R_{g}$) inner corona. The model naturally explains why the disk variations lead coronal variations with a Fourier-frequency dependent lag at frequencies $<1$ Hz, since longer variability time-scales originate from larger disk radii. The propagating fluctuations also modulate successively the coronal seed photons from the disk, heating of the corona via viscous dissipation and the resulting reverberation signal. The interplay of these different effects leads to the observed complex pattern of lag behaviour between disk and power-law emission and different power-law energy bands, the energy-dependence of power-spectral shape and a strong dependence of spectral-timing properties on coronal geometry. The observed spectral-timing complexity is thus a natural consequence of the response of the disk-corona system to mass-accretion fluctuations propagating through the disk.
We investigate neutron star-black hole (NS-BH) merger candidates as a test for compact exotic objects. Using the events GW190814, GW200105 and GW200115 measured by the LIGO-Virgo collabration, which represent a broad profile of the masses in the NS mass spectrum, we demonstrate the constraining power for the parameter spaces of compact stars consisting of dark matter for future measurements. We consider three possible cases of dark matter stars: self-interacting, purely bosonic or fermionic dark matter stars, stars consisting of a mixture of interacting bosonic and fermionic matter, as well as the limiting case of selfbound stars. We find that the scale of those hypothetical objects are dominated by the one of the strong interaction. The presence of fermionic dark matter requires a dark matter particle of the GeV mass scale, while the bosonic dark matter particle mass can be arbitrarily large or small. In the limiting case of a selfbound linear equation of state, we find that the vacuum energy of those configurations has to be similar to the one of QCD.
Previous studies have claimed that there exist correlations among certain nuclear saturation parameters and neutron star observables, such as the slope of the symmetry energy and the radius of a $1.4M_{\odot}$ neutron star. However, it is not clear whether such correlations are physical or spurious, as they are not observed universally for all equation of state models. In this work, we probe the role of vector self-interaction within the framework of the Relativistic Mean Field model and its role in governing the observable stellar properties and their correlations with nuclear parameters. We confirm that the effect of this term is not only to control the high density properties of the equation of state but also to govern such correlations. We also impose a limit on the maximum strength of the vector self-interaction using recent astrophysical data.
Emission properties of compact astrophysical objects such as Neutron Stars have been found to be associated with crucial astronomical observables. In the current work, we obtain the mass, pressure and baryon number density profiles of the non-rotating neutron stars using the modified Tolman Oppenheimer Volkoff (TOV) system of equations in the presence of an intense radially distributed magnetic field. Employing the above profiles, we have determined the cooling rates of spherically symmetric neutron stars as a function of time with and without including the magnetic field using the NSCool code. We used a specific distance-dependent magnetic field in the modified TOV equations to obtain the profiles. We employ three different equation of states to solve the TOV equations by assuming the core of Neutron Stars to be made up of a hadronic matter. Using the above profiles, the cooling rate of neutron stars is obtained by employing NSCool code. Furthermore, based on the cooling rate, we determine the luminosity of Neutrinos, Axions and Photons emitting from the neutron stars in the presence and absence of a magnetic field for different axion masses and three equations of states. Our comparative study indicates that the colling rate and luminosities of axions, photons and neutrinos changes significantly due to the impact of magnetic field.
The presence of superfluid phases in the interior of a neutron star affects its dynamics, as neutrons can flow relative to the non-superfluid (normal) components of the star with little or no viscosity. A probe of superfluidity comes from pulsar glitches, sudden jumps in the observed rotational period of radio pulsars. Most models of glitches build on the idea that a superfluid component of the star is decoupled from the spin-down of the normal component, and its sudden recoupling leads to a glitch. This transition in the strength of the hydrodynamic coupling is explained in terms of quantum vortices (long-lived vortices that are naturally present in the neutron superfluid at the microscopic scale). After introducing some basic ideas, we derive (as a pedagogical exercise) the formal scheme shared by many glitch studies. Then, we apply these notions to present some recent advances and discuss how observations can help us to indirectly probe the internal physics of neutron stars.
The second postulate of special relativity states that the speed of light in vacuum is independent of the emitter's motion. The test of this postulate so far remains unexplored for gravitational radiation. We analyze data from the LIGO-Virgo detectors to test this postulate within the ambit of a model where the speed of the emitted GWs ($c'$) from a binary depends on a characteristic velocity $\tilde{v}$ proportional to that of the reduced one-body system as $c' = c + k\, \tilde{v}$, where $k$ is a constant. We have estimated the upper bound on the 90\% credible interval over $k$ to be ${k \leq 8.3 \times {10}^{-18}}$, which is several orders of magnitude more stringent compared to previous bounds obtained from electromagnetic observations. The Bayes' factor supports the second postulate with a strong evidence that the data is consistent with the null hypothesis $k = 0$, upholding the principle of relativity for gravitational interactions.
We present five far- and near-ultraviolet spectra of the Type II plateau supernova, SN 2022acko, obtained 5, 6, 7, 19, and 21 days after explosion, all observed with the Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The first three epochs are earlier than any Type II plateau supernova has been observed in the far-ultraviolet revealing unprecedented characteristics. These three spectra are dominated by strong lines, primarily from metals, which contrasts with the relatively featureless early optical spectra. The flux decreases over the initial time series as the ejecta cools and line-blanketing takes effect. We model this unique dataset with the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiation transport code CMFGEN, finding a good match to the explosion of a low mass red supergiant with energy Ekin = 6 x 10^50 erg. With these models we identify, for the first time, the ions that dominate the early UV spectra. We also present optical photometry and spectroscopy, showing that SN 2022acko has a peak absolute magnitude of V = -15.4 mag and plateau length of ~115d. The spectra closely resemble those of SN 2005cs and SN 2012A. Using the combined optical and UV spectra, we report the fraction of flux redwards of the uvw2, U, B, and V filters on days 5, 7, and 19. We also create a spectral time-series of Type II supernovae in the ultraviolet, demonstrating the rapid decline of UV flux over the first few weeks of evolution. Future observations of Type II supernovae will continue to explore the diversity seen in the limited set of high-quality UV spectra.
As a potential consequence of Lorentz invariance violation~(LIV), threshold anomalies open a window to study LIV. Recently the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory~(LHAASO) reported that more than 5000 photons from GRB 221009A have been observed with energies above 500~GeV and up to $18~\text{TeV}$. In the literature, it is suggested that this observation may have tension with the standard model result because extragalactic background light~(EBL) can prevent photons around 18~TeV from reaching the earth and that LIV induced threshold anomalies might be able to explain the observation. In this work we further study this proposal with more detailed numerical calculation for different LIV scales and redshifts of the sources. We find that GRB 221009A is a rather unique opportunity to search LIV, and a LIV scale $E_\text{LIV} \lesssim E_\text{Planck}\approx 1.22\times 10^{19}~\text{GeV}$ is feasible to the observation of GRB 221009A on 9 October, 2022.
We present the optical spectroscopic evolution of SN~2023ixf seen in sub-night cadence spectra from 1.18 to 14 days after explosion. We identify high-ionization emission features, signatures of interaction with material surrounding the progenitor star, that fade over the first 7 days, with rapid evolution between spectra observed within the same night. We compare the emission lines present and their relative strength to those of other supernovae with early interaction, finding a close match to SN~2020pni and SN~2017ahn in the first spectrum and SN~2014G at later epochs. To physically interpret our observations we compare them to CMFGEN models with confined, dense circumstellar material around a red supergiant progenitor from the literature. We find that very few models reproduce the blended \NC{} emission lines observed in the first few spectra and their rapid disappearance thereafter, making this a unique diagnostic. From the best models, we find a mass-loss rate of $10^{-3}-10^{-2}$ \mlunit{}, which far exceeds the mass-loss rate for any steady wind, especially for a red supergiant in the initial mass range of the detected progenitor. These mass-loss rates are, however, similar to rates inferred for other supernovae with early circumstellar interaction. Using the phase when the narrow emission features disappear, we calculate an outer dense radius of circumstellar material $R_\mathrm{CSM, out}\sim5\times10^{14}~\mathrm{cm}$ and a mean circumstellar material density of $\rho=5.6\times10^{-14}~\mathrm{g\,cm^{-3}}$. This is consistent with the lower limit on the outer radius of the circumstellar material we calculate from the peak \Halpha{} emission flux, $R_\text{CSM, out}\gtrsim9\times10^{13}~\mathrm{cm}$.
Electromagnetic field confinement due to plasma near accreting black holes can trigger superradiant instabilities at the linear level, limiting the spin of black holes and providing novel astrophysical sources of electromagnetic bursts. However, nonlinear effects might jeopardize the efficiency of the confinement, rending superradiance ineffective. Motivated by understanding nonlinear interactions in this scenario, here we study the full $3+1$ nonlinear dynamics of Maxwell equations in the presence of plasma by focusing on regimes that are seldom explored in standard plasma-physics applications, namely a generic electromagnetic wave of very large amplitude but small frequency propagating in an inhomogeneous, overdense plasma. We show that the plasma transparency effect predicted in certain specific scenarios is not the only possible outcome in the nonlinear regime: plasma blow-out due to nonlinear momentum transfer is generically present and allows for significant energy leakage of electromagnetic fields above a certain threshold. We argue that such effect is sufficient to dramatically quench the plasma-driven superradiant instability around black holes even in the most optimistic scenarios.
A massive spin-2 field can grow unstably around a black hole, giving rise to a potential probe of the existence of such fields. In this work, we use time-domain evolutions to study such instabilities. Considering the linear regime by solving the equations generically governing a massive tensor field on the background of a Kerr black hole, we find that black hole spin increases the growth rate and, most significantly, the mass range of the axisymmetric (azimuthal number $m=0$) instability, which takes the form of the Gregory-Laflamme black string instability for zero spin. We also consider the superradiant unstable modes with $1 \leq m \leq 3$, extending previous results to higher spin-2 masses, black hole spins, and azimuthal numbers. We find that the superradiant modes grow slower than the $m=0$ modes, except for a narrow range of high spins and masses, with $m=1$ and 2 requiring a dimensionless black hole spin of $a_{\rm BH}\gtrsim 0.95$ to be dominant. Thus, in most of the parameter space, the backreaction of the $m=0$ instability must be taken into account when using black holes to constrain massive spin-2 fields. As a simple model of this, we consider nonlinear evolutions in quadratic gravity, in particular Einstein-Weyl gravity. We find that, depending on the initial perturbation, the black hole may approach zero mass with the curvature blowing up in finite time, or can saturate at a larger mass with a surrounding cloud of the ghost spin-2 field.
Under the assumption of a simple and time-invariant gravitational potential, many Galactic dynamics techniques infer the Milky Way's mass and dark matter distribution from stellar kinematic observations. These methods typically rely on parameterized potential models of the Galaxy and must take into account non-trivial survey selection effects, because they make use of the density of stars in phase space. Large-scale spectroscopic surveys now supply information beyond kinematics in the form of precise stellar label measurements (especially element abundances). These element abundances are known to correlate with orbital actions or other dynamical invariants. Here, we use the Orbital Torus Imaging (OTI) framework that uses abundance gradients in phase space to map orbits. In many cases these gradients can be measured without detailed knowledge of the selection function. We use stellar surface abundances from the APOGEE survey combined with kinematic data from the Gaia mission. Our method reveals the vertical ($z$-direction) orbit structure in the Galaxy and enables empirical measurements of the vertical acceleration field and orbital frequencies in the disk. From these measurements, we infer the total surface mass density, $\Sigma$, and midplane volume density, $\rho_0$, as a function of Galactocentric radius and height. Around the Sun, we find $\Sigma_{\odot}(z=1.1$ kpc)$=72^{+6}_{-9}$M$_{\odot}$pc$^{-2}$ and $\rho_{\odot}(z=0)=0.081^{+0.015}_{-0.009}$ M$_{\odot}$pc$^{-3}$ using the most constraining abundance ratio, [Mg/Fe]. This corresponds to a dark matter contribution in surface density of $\Sigma_{\odot,\mathrm{DM}}(z=1.1$ kpc)$=24\pm4$ M$_{\odot}$pc$^{-2}$, and in total volume mass density of $\rho_{\odot,\mathrm{DM}}(z=0)=0.011\pm0.002$ M$_{\odot}$pc$^{-3}$. Moreover, using these mass density values we estimate the scale length of the low-$\alpha$ disc to be $h_R=2.24\pm0.06$kpc.
We present our analysis of VLT/UVES and X-shooter observations of six very metal-poor stars, including four stars at around [Fe/H]=-3 in the Fornax and Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph). Until now, this metallicity range in these two galaxies was either hardly or not yet investigated. The chemical abundances of 25 elements are presented, based on 1D/LTE model atmospheres. We discuss the different elemental groups, and find that alpha- and iron-peak elements in these two systems are generally in good agreement with the Milky Way halo at the same metallicity. Our analysis reveals that none of the six stars we studied exhibit carbon enhancement, which is noteworthy given the prevalence of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP-no; no Ba enhancement) stars in the Galaxy at similarly low metallicities. Our compilation of literature data shows that the fraction of CEMP-no stars in dSphs is significantly lower than in the Milky Way, and than in ultra faint dwarf galaxies. Furthermore, we report the discovery of the lowest metallicity, [Fe/H]=-2.92, r-process rich (r-I) star in a dSph galaxy. This star, fnx_06_019, has [Eu/Fe]=+0.8, and also shows enhancement of La, Nd, and Dy, [X/Fe]>+0.5. Our new data in Carina and Fornax help to populate the extremely low metallicity range in dSph galaxies, and add onto the evidence of a low fraction of CEMP-no stars in these systems.
The structure and dynamics of the star-forming disk of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) have long confounded us. The SMC is widely used as a prototype for galactic physics at low metallicity, and yet we fundamentally lack an understanding of the structure of its interstellar medium (ISM). In this work, we present a new model for the SMC by comparing the kinematics of young, massive stars with the structure of the ISM traced by high-resolution observations of neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) from the Galactic Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder survey (GASKAP-HI). Specifically, we identify thousands of young, massive stars with precise radial velocity constraints from the Gaia and APOGEE surveys and match these stars to the ISM structures in which they likely formed. By comparing the average dust extinction towards these stars, we find evidence that the SMC is composed of two structures with distinct stellar and gaseous chemical compositions. We construct a simple model that successfully reproduces the observations and shows that the ISM of the SMC is arranged into two, superimposed, star-forming systems with similar gas mass separated by ~5 kpc along the line of sight.
We report on IFU measurements of the host of the radio source 4C+37.11. This massive elliptical contains the only resolved double compact nucleus at pc-scale separation, likely a bound supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB). $i$-band photometry and GMOS-N IFU spectroscopy show that the galaxy has a large $r_b=1.5^{\prime\prime}$ core and that the stellar velocity dispersion increases inside of a radius of influence $r_{\rm SOI} \approx 1.3^{\prime\prime}$. Jeans Anisotropic Modeling analysis of the core infers a total SMBHB mass of $2.8^{+0.8}_{-0.8} \times 10^{10}M_\odot$, making this one of the most massive black hole systems known. Our data indicate that there has been significant scouring of the central kpc of the host galaxy.
Previous work on the abundances of C, O, Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, and Zn in low-alpha (accreted) and high-alpha (in situ born) halo stars is extended to include the abundances of Sc, V, and Co, enabling us to study the nucleosynthesis of all iron-peak elements along with the lighter elements. The Sc, V, and Co abundances were determined from a 1D MARCS model-atmosphere analysis of equivalent widths of atomic lines in high signal-to-noise, high resolution spectra assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). In addition, new 3D and/or non-LTE calculations were used to correct the 1D LTE abundances for several elements including consistent 3D non-LTE calculations for Mg. The two populations of accreted and in situ born stars are well separated in diagrams showing [Sc/Fe], [V/Fe], and [Co/Fe] as a function of [Fe/H]. The [X/Mg] versus [Mg/H] trends for high-alpha and low-alpha stars were used to determine the yields of core-collapse and Type Ia supernovae. The largest Type Ia contribution occurs for Cr, Mn, and Fe, whereas Cu is a pure core-collapse element. Sc, Ti, V, Co, Ni, and Zn represent intermediate cases. A comparison with yields calculated for supernova models shows poor agreement for the core-collapse yields. The Ia yields suggest that sub-Chandrasekhar-mass Type Ia supernovae provide a dominant contribution to the chemical evolution of the host galaxies of the low-alpha stars. A substructure in the abundances and kinematics of the low-alpha stars suggests that they arise from at least two different satellite accretion events, Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus and Thamnos.
We present a sample of 1165 extreme emission-line galaxies (EELGs) at 4<z<9 selected using James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRCam photometry in the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) program. We use a simple method to photometrically identify EELGs with Hb + [OIII] (combined) or Ha emission of observed-frame equivalent width EW >5000 AA. JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopic observations of a subset (34) of the photometrically selected EELGs validate our selection method: all spectroscopically observed EELGs confirm our photometric identification of extreme emission, including some cases where the SED-derived photometric redshifts are incorrect. We find that the medium-band F410M filter in CEERS is particularly efficient at identifying EELGs, both in terms of including emission lines in the filter and in correctly identifying the continuum between Hb + [OIII] and Ha in the neighboring broad-band filters. We present examples of EELGs that could be incorrectly classified at ultra-high redshift (z>12) as a result of extreme Hb + [OIII] emission blended across the reddest photometric filters. We compare the EELGs to the broader (sub-extreme) galaxy population in the same redshift range and find that they are consistent with being the bluer, high equivalent width tail of a broader population of emission-line galaxies. The highest-EW EELGs tend to have more compact emission-line sizes than continuum sizes, suggesting that active galactic nuclei are responsible for at least some of the most extreme EELGs. Photometrically inferred emission-line ratios are consistent with ISM conditions with high ionization and moderately low metallicity, consistent with previous spectroscopic studies.
We investigate the bright CO fundamental emission in the central regions of five Class 0 protostars using the JWST's Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and provide clues to what processes excite the gas. CO line emission images are extracted for a forest of $\sim$150 ro-vibrational transitions from two vibrational bands, $v=1-0$ and $v=2-1$. However, ${}^{13}$CO is not detected, and thus we can only statistically constrain the ${}^{12}$CO optical depth. Using noise measurements to determine upper limits to the ${}^{13}$CO emission, the flux ratio of ${}^{12}$CO/${}^{13}$CO indicates that the ${}^{12}$CO emission itself is not optically thick for ro-vibrational transitions with upper state rotational quantum number $J_u \geq 15$. We construct population diagrams to estimate the rotational temperature and number of molecules from extinction-corrected CO line fluxes assuming CO emission is optically thin. Two different temperature components are required for $v=1$ ($\sim600-1000$ K and $\sim1500-3500$ K), while one hotter component is required for $v=2$ ($\sim2000-6000$ K). The vibrational temperature is $\sim 900$ K among our sources and shows no trend with luminosity. Using vibrational temperatures and the inferred total amount of CO molecules for our sources, the total warm gas mass correlates strongly with luminosity ranging from $\sim$0.1 $\rm M_{Earth}$ for the low-mass protostars to $\sim$1 M$_{\rm sun}$ for the high-mass protostars. Interpreting the distribution of gas column densities and temperatures depends on radiative and chemical processes affecting CO. The presence of a $v=2$ population may indicate CO gas radiatively excited. Selective UV photodissociation of CO isotopologues around our high-mass sources may explain their depletion of ${}^{13}$CO.
In the framework of the ongoing project, aimed at the systematical studying galaxies in nearby voids, we conducted spectroscopy with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) of 62 objects from the Nearby Void Galaxy (NVG) sample. They include 8 remaining objects of the 60 preselected candidates to eXtremely Metal-Poor (XMP) dwarfs, two known void XMP dwarfs and 52 void dwarfs residing within the Local Volume. For 47 galaxies residing in the nearby voids, we obtained spectra of the diverse quality. For 42 of them, we detected the Hydrogen and Oxygen lines that allowed us to get estimates of O/H in the observed HII regions. For 12 of the 42 objects, we detected the faint line [Oiii]4363, that allowed us to directly derive the electron temperature T_e and obtain their gas O/H by the direct method. 14 objects with the undetected [Oiii]4363 line fall to the lowest metallicities range (12+log(O/H) < 7.5 dex). For them, we use a carefully checked new empirical 'Strong line' method of Izotov et al. For 14 other objects with only strong lines detected and with 12+log(O/H) of ~7.5-8.0 dex, we used the modified version of 'semi-empirical' method of Izotov and Thuan. It accounts for effect of the excitation parameter O32 on T_e. 16 new galaxies are found with parameter 12+log(O/H) < 7.39 dex. Of them, four have 12+log(O/H) = 7.07 - 7.20 dex. Of the 60 observed NVG objects, 15 have mistaken radial velocities in HyperLEDA. They do not reside in the nearby voids.
Based on 4,\,098 very metal-poor (VMP) stars with 6D phase-space and chemical information from \textit{Gaia} DR3 and LAMOST DR9 as tracers, we apply an unsupervised machine learning algorithm, Shared Nearest Neighbor (SNN), to identify stellar groups in the action-energy (\textbf{\textit{J}}-$E$) space. We detect seven previously known mergers in local samples, including Helmi Stream, Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE), Metal-weak Thick Disk (MWTD), Pontus, Wukong, Thamnos, and I'itoi+Sequoia+Arjuna. According to energy, we further divide GSE and Wukong into smaller parts to explore the orbital characteristics of individual fragments. Similarly, the division of Thamnos is based on action. It can be found that the apocentric distances of GSE parts of high and medium energy levels are located at $29.5\pm3.6\,{\rm kpc}$ and $13.0\pm2.7\,{\rm kpc}$, respectively, which suggests that GSE could account for breaks in the density profile of the Galactic halo at both $\approx30$\,kpc and $15\text{-}18$\,kpc. The VMP stars of MWTD move along prograde orbits with larger eccentricities than those of its more metal-rich stars, which indicates that the VMP part of MWTD may be formed by accreting with dwarf galaxies. Finally, we summarize all substructures discovered in our local VMP samples. Our results provide a reference for the formation and evolution of the inner halo of the Milky Way (MW).
Cas I is a LV dIrr with a wide range of suggested distances. Tikhonov (2019), using the HST images and the TRGB method, places Cas I at D = 1.6+-0.1 Mpc. Besides, he estimates the stellar metallicity of Cas I at the level of z ~ 0.0004 (Z ~ Zo/50). Such a nearby extremely low-metallicity dwarf, if real, would be a very valuable object for detailed studies. An alternative TRGB distance of Cas I, of 4.5+-0.2 Mpc, based on the deeper HST images, was presented in the EDD. It places Cas I midway between IC342 (D ~ 3.3 Mpc) and Maffei 1 (D ~ 5.7 Mpc). We wish to check the suggested extremely low metallicity of Cas I, to improve the estimate of the large MW extinction and to improve the distance estimate to Cas~I. We use the SAO 6-m telescope spectroscopy to estimate gas metallicity in two HII regions in Cas I and to derive, via their observed Balmer decrements, the independent upper limit to the value of the MW extinction. We derive values of 12+log(O/H) = 7.83+-0.1 and 7.58+-0.1 dex in two HII regions of Cas I, corresponding to Z(gas) of 5-10 times higher than Z(stars) for its stars. The measured Balmer decrements in these HII regions, result in the maximal MW extinction of A_B = 3.06+-0.14 mag in comparison to A_B = 3.69+-0.4 derived via the IR dust emission and is used in other estimates of the distance to Cas I. This reduces the original EDD distance till 4.1 Mpc. The relation of Berg et al. (2012) for the LV late-type galaxies, between 12+log(O/H) and M_B, is used to bracket M_B for Cas I. This, in turn, allows one to get an independent estimate of the distance to Cas~I, of ~1.64~Mpc, albeit with the large 1-sigma uncertainty of factor 2.17. The combination of the above distance estimates, accounting for their uncertainties, results in the probable value of D ~ 3.65 Mpc, what favours Cas I to reside in the environs of IC342.
We present a study of low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) selected by fitting the images for all the galaxies in $\alpha$.40 SDSS DR7 sample with two kinds of single-component models and two kinds of two-component models (disk+bulge): single exponential, single s\'{e}rsic, exponential+deVaucular (exp+deV), and exponential+s\'{e}rsic (exp+ser). Under the criteria of the B band disk central surface brightness $\mu_{\rm 0,disk}{\rm (B) \geqslant 22.5\ mag\ arcsec^{-2}}$ and the axis ratio $\rm b/a > 0.3$, we selected four none-edge-on LSBG samples from each of the models which contain 1105, 1038, 207, and 75 galaxies, respectively. There are 756 galaxies in common between LSBGs selected by exponential and s\'{e}rsic models, corresponding to 68.42% of LSBGs selected by the exponential model and 72.83% of LSBGs selected by the s\'{e}rsic model, the rest of the discrepancy is due to the difference in obtaining $\mu_{0}$ between the exponential and s\'{e}rsic models. Based on the fitting, in the range of $0.5 \leqslant n \leqslant 1.5$, the relation of $\mu_{0}$ from two models can be written as $\mu_{\rm 0,s\acute{e}rsic} - \mu_{\rm 0,exp} = -1.34(n-1)$. The LSBGs selected by disk+bulge models (LSBG_2comps) are more massive than LSBGs selected by single-component models (LSBG_1comp), and also show a larger disk component. Though the bulges in the majority of our LSBG_2comps are not prominent, more than 60% of our LSBG_2comps will not be selected if we adopt a single-component model only. We also identified 31 giant low surface brightness galaxies (gLSBGs) from LSBG_2comps. They are located at the same region in the color-magnitude diagram as other gLSBGs. After we compared different criteria of gLSBGs selection, we find that for gas-rich LSBGs, $M_{\star} > 10^{10}M_{\odot}$ is the best to distinguish between gLSBGs and normal LSBGs with bulge.
Despite a rich observational background, few spectroscopic studies have dealt with the measurement of the carbon isotopic ratio in giant stars. However, it is a key element in understanding the mixing mechanisms that occur in the interiors of giant stars. We present the CNO and $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C abundances derived for 71 giant field stars. Then, using this new catalogue and complementary data from the Kepler and Gaia satellites, we study the efficiency of mixing occurring in the giant branch as a function of the stellar properties. We have determined the abundances of CNO and more specifically 12C/13C using the FIES Spectrograph on the Nordic Optical Telescope, for 71 giant field stars. In addition, asteroseismology is available for all stars, providing their mass, age as well as the evolutionary states. Finally, astrometry from Gaia data is also available for the majority of the sample. We compare these new determinations with stellar evolution models taking into account the effects of transport processes. To exploit the complete potential of our extensive catalogue and considering both the Galactic evolution and the impact of stellar evolution, we built mock catalogues using the Besancon Galaxy model in which stellar evolution models taking into account the effects of thermohaline instability are included. We confirm that 12C/13C at the surface of core He-burning stars is lower than that of first ascent RGB stars. 12C/13C measured at the surface of the core He-burning stars increases with [Fe/H] and mass while it decreases with age. These trends are all very well explained by the thermohaline mixing that occurs in red giants. We have shown that our models can explain the behaviour of 12C/13C versus N/O, although the observations seem to show a lower N/O than the models. We also note that more constraints on the thick disc core He-burning stars are needed to understand this difference.
Stellar streams form through the tidal disruption of satellite galaxies or globular clusters orbiting a host galaxy. Globular cluster streams are exciting since they are thin (dynamically cold) and, therefore sensitive to perturbations from low-mass subhalos. Since the subhalo mass function differs depending on the dark matter composition, these gaps can provide unique constraints on dark matter models. However, current samples are limited to the Milky Way. With its large field of view, deep imaging sensitivity, and high angular resolution, the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) presents a unique opportunity to increase the number of observed streams and gaps significantly. This paper presents a first exploration of the prospects for detecting gaps in streams in M31 and other nearby galaxies with resolved stars. We simulate the formation of gaps in a Palomar-5-like stream and generate mock observations of these gaps with background stars in M31 and the foreground Milky Way stellar fields. We assess Roman's ability to detect gaps out to 10 Mpc through visual inspection and with the gap-finding tool ${\texttt{FindTheGap}}$. We conclude that gaps of $\approx 1.5$ kpc in streams that are created from subhalos of masses $\geq5 \times 10^6$M$_{\odot}$ are detectable within a 2-3 Mpc volume in exposures of 1000s to 1 hour. This volume contains $\approx 150$ galaxies, including $\approx 8$ galaxies with luminosities $>10^{9}~$L$_{\odot}$. Large samples of stream gaps in external galaxies will open up a new era of statistical analyses of gap characteristics in stellar streams and help constrain dark matter models.
Validating the accelerating expansion of the universe is an important issue for understanding the evolution of the universe. By constraining the cosmic acceleration parameter $X_H$, we can discriminate between the $\Lambda \mathrm{CDM}$ (cosmological constant plus cold dark matter) model and LTB (the Lema\^itre-Tolman-Bondi) model. In this paper, we explore the possibility of constraining the cosmic acceleration parameter with the inspiral gravitational waveform of neutron star binaries (NSBs) in the frequency range of 0.1Hz-10Hz, which can be detected by the second-generation space-based gravitational wave detector DECIGO. We use a convolutional neural network (CNN), a long short-term memory (LSTM) network combined with a gated recurrent unit (GRU), and Fisher information matrix to derive constraints on the cosmic acceleration parameter $X_H$. Based on the simulated gravitational wave data with a time duration of 1 month, we conclude that CNN can limit the relative error to 14.09%, while LSTM network combined with GRU can limit the relative error to 13.53%. Additionally, using Fisher information matrix for gravitational wave data with a 5-year observation can limit the relative error to 32.94%. Compared with the Fisher information matrix method, deep learning techniques will significantly improve the constraints on the cosmic acceleration parameters at different redshifts. Therefore, DECIGO is expected to provide direct measurements of the acceleration of the universe, by observing the chirp signals of coalescing binary neutron stars.
Since the 1970s, astronomers have struggled with the issue of how matter can be accreted to promote black hole growth. While low-angular-momentum stars may be devoured by the black hole, they are not a sustainable source of fuel. Gas, which could potentially provide an abundant fuel source, presents another challenge due to its enormous angular momentum. While viscous torques are not significant, gas is subject to gravity torques from non-axisymmetric potentials such as bars and spirals. Primary bars can exchange angular momentum with the gas inside corotation, driving it inward spiraling until the inner Lindblad resonance is reached. An embedded nuclear bar can then take over. As the gas reaches the black hole's sphere of influence, the torque turns negative, fueling the center. Dynamical friction also accelerates the infall of gas clouds closer to the nucleus. However, due to the Eddington limit, growing a black hole from a stellar-mass seed is a slow process. The existence of very massive black holes in the early universe remains a puzzle that could potentially be solved through direct collapse of massive clouds into black holes or super-Eddington accretion.
Our understanding of how the size of galaxies has evolved over cosmic time is based on the use of the half-light (effective) radius as a size indicator. Although the half-light radius has many advantages for structurally parameterising galaxies, it does not provide a measure of the global extent of the objects, but only an indication of the size of the region containing the innermost 50% of the galaxy's light. Therefore, the observed mild evolution of the effective radius of disc galaxies with cosmic time is conditioned by the evolution of the central part of the galaxies rather than by the evolutionary properties of the whole structure. Expanding on the works by Trujillo et al. (2020) and Chamba et al. (2022), we study the size evolution of disc galaxies using as a size indicator the radial location of the gas density threshold for star formation. As a proxy to evaluate this quantity, we use the radial position of the truncation (edge) in the stellar surface mass density profiles of galaxies. To conduct this task, we have selected 1048 disc galaxies with M$_{\rm stellar}$ $>$ 10$^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$ and spectroscopic redshifts up to z=1 within the HST CANDELS fields. We have derived their surface brightness, colour and stellar mass density profiles. Using the new size indicator, the observed scatter of the size-mass relation (~0.1 dex) decreases by a factor of ~2 compared to that using the effective radius. At a fixed stellar mass, Milky Way-like (M$_{\rm stellar}$ ~ 5$\times$10$^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$) disc galaxies have on average increased their sizes by a factor of two in the last 8 Gyr, while the surface stellar mass density at the edge position has decreased by more than an order of magnitude from ~13 M$_{\odot}$/pc$^2$ (z=1) to ~1 M$_{\odot}$/pc$^2$ (z=0). These results reflect a dramatic evolution of the outer part of MW-like disc galaxies, growing ~1.5 kpc Gyr$^{-1}$.
With two central galaxies engaged in a major merger and a remarkable chain of 19 young stellar superclusters wound around them in projection, the galaxy cluster SDSS J1531+3414 ($z=0.335$) offers an excellent laboratory to study the interplay between mergers, AGN feedback, and star formation. New Chandra X-ray imaging reveals rapidly cooling hot ($T\sim 10^6$ K) intracluster gas, with two "wings" forming a concave density discontinuity near the edge of the cool core. LOFAR $144$ MHz observations uncover diffuse radio emission strikingly aligned with the "wings," suggesting that the "wings" are actually the opening to a giant X-ray supercavity. The steep radio emission is likely an ancient relic of one of the most energetic AGN outbursts observed, with $4pV > 10^{61}$ erg. To the north of the supercavity, GMOS detects warm ($T\sim 10^4$ K) ionized gas that enshrouds the stellar superclusters but is redshifted up to $+ 800$ km s$^{-1}$ with respect to the southern central galaxy. ALMA detects a similarly redshifted $\sim 10^{10}$ M$_\odot$ reservoir of cold ($T\sim 10^2$ K) molecular gas, but it is offset from the young stars by $\sim 1{-}3$ kpc. We propose that the multiphase gas originated from low-entropy gas entrained by the X-ray supercavity, attribute the offset between the young stars and the molecular gas to turbulent intracluster gas motions, and suggest that tidal interactions stimulated the "beads on a string" star formation morphology.
Likelihood-free inference is quickly emerging as a powerful tool to perform fast/effective parameter estimation. We demonstrate a technique of optimizing likelihood-free inference to make it even faster by marginalizing symmetries in a physical problem. In this approach, physical symmetries, for example, time-translation are learned using joint-embedding via self-supervised learning with symmetry data augmentations. Subsequently, parameter inference is performed using a normalizing flow where the embedding network is used to summarize the data before conditioning the parameters. We present this approach on two simple physical problems and we show faster convergence in a smaller number of parameters compared to a normalizing flow that does not use a pre-trained symmetry-informed representation.
Astronomers performing polarimetric analysis on astronomical images often have to manually identify locations on their objects of interest, such as galaxies, which exhibit the influence of magnetic forces due to interaction with their environments or inherent processes. These locations are known as Lines of Sight (LoS). Analysing the various lines of sight can provide insight into the electromagnetic nature of the astrophysical object in question and its surroundings. For each LoS, astronomers generate diagnostic plots to map out the variation of the corresponding electromagnetic field, such as those of fractional polarisation and Faraday spectra. However, associating the different LoS diagnostic plots to their positions on an astronomical image requires alternating between the plots and the images. As a result, determining whether the location of the LoS influences its magnetic field variation by analysing its diagnostic plots becomes arduous due to the absence of a direct way of linking the two. PolarVis is an effort towards allowing an almost instant view of the interactive diagnostic plots corresponding to a given line of sight at the click of a button on that line of sight on the image, using an interactive web-based FITS viewer -- JS9.
We describe a testbed to characterize the optical response of compact superconducting on-chip spectrometers in development for the Experiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM) mission. EXCLAIM is a balloonborne far-infrared experiment to probe the CO and CII emission lines in galaxies from redshift 3.5 to the present. The spectrometer, called u-Spec, comprises a diffraction grating on a silicon chip coupled to kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) read out via a single microwave feedline. We use a prototype spectrometer for EXCLAIM to demonstrate our ability to characterize the spectrometers spectral response using a photomixer source. We utilize an on-chip reference detector to normalize relative to spectral structure from the off-chip optics and a silicon etalon to calibrate the absolute frequency.
Massive (>~ 8 solar masses) stars are the progenitors of many astrophysical systems, yet key aspects of their structure and evolution are poorly understood. Asteroseismology has the potential to solve these open puzzles, however, sampling both the short period pulsations and long period beat patterns of massive stars poses many observational challenges. Ground-based single-site observations require years or decades to discern the main oscillation modes. Multi-site campaigns were able to shorten this time span, but have not been able to scale up to population studies on samples of objects. Space-based observations can achieve both continuous sampling and observe large numbers of objects, however, most lack the multi-band data that is often necessary for mode identification and removing model degeneracies. Here, we develop and test a new ground-based observational strategy for discerning and identifying the main oscillation modes of a massive star in a few months, in a way that can be scaled to large samples. We do so using the Las Cumbres Observatory - a unique facility consisting of robotic, homogeneous telescopes operating as a global network, overcoming most of the challenges of previous multi-site efforts, but presenting new challenges which we tailor our strategy to address. This work serves as the proof of concept for the Global Asteroseismology Project, which aims to move massive star asteroseismology from single-objects to bulk studies, unleashing its full potential in constraining stellar structure and evolution models. This work also demonstrates the ability of the Las Cumbres Observatory to perform multi-site continuous observations for various science goals.
In this article, I will present some figures and milestones of the written production of the Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomia (IAR), as well as a personal review of the scientific achievements carried out in recent years by the researchers working at the IAR. I will also briefly describe the scientific objectives of the IAR's flagship project, the Multipurpose Interferometric Array (MIA), in the context of the instrumental projects that have lately been or are being installed on Argentine soil.
Never before has the detection and characterization of exoplanets via transit photometry been as promising and feasible as it is now, due to the increasing breadth and sensitivity of time domain optical surveys. Past works have made use of phase-folded stellar lightcurves in order to study the properties of exoplanet transits, because this provides the highest signal that a transit is present at a given period and ephemeris. Characterizing transits on an individual, rather than phase-folded, basis is much more challenging due to the often low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of lightcurves, missing data, and low sampling rates. However, by phase-folding a lightcurve we implicitly assume that all transits have the same expected properties, and lose all information about the nature and variability of the transits. We miss the natural variability in transit shapes, or even the deliberate or inadvertent modification of transit signals by an extraterrestrial civilization (for example, via laser emission or orbiting megastructures). In this work, we develop an algorithm to search stellar lightcurves for individual anomalous (in timing or depth) transits, and we report the results of that search for 218 confirmed transiting exoplanet systems from Kepler.
We developed a 2-mm-thick CdTe double-sided strip detector (CdTe-DSD) with a 250 um strip pitch, which has high spatial resolution with a uniform large imaging area of 10 cm$^2$ and high energy resolution with high detection efficiency in tens to hundreds keV. The detector can be employed in a wide variety of fields for quantitative observations of hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray with spectroscopic imaging, for example, space observation, nuclear medicine, and non-destructive elemental analysis. This detector is thicker than the 0.75-mm-thick one previously developed by a factor of $\sim$2.7, thus providing better detection efficiency for hard X-rays and soft gamma rays. The increased thickness could potentially enhance bias-induced polarization if we do not apply sufficient bias and if we do not operate at a low temperature, but the polarization is not evident in our detector when a high voltage of 500 V is applied to the CdTe diode and the temperature is maintained at 20 $^\circ$C during one-day experiments. The ''Depth Of Interaction'' (DOI) dependence due to the CdTe diode's poor carrier-transport property is also more significant, resulting in much DOI information while complicated detector responses such as charge sharings or low-energy tails that exacerbate the loss in the energy resolution. In this paper, we developed 2-mm-thick CdTe-DSDs, studied their response, and evaluated their energy resolution, spatial resolution, and uniformity. We also constructed a theoretical model to understand the detector response theoretically, resulting in reconstructing the DOI with an accuracy of 100 um while estimating the carrier-transport property. We realized the detector that has high energy resolution and high 3D spatial resolution with a uniform large imaging area.
Intensity interferometry for astrophysical observations has gained increasing interest in the last decade. The method of correlating photon fluxes at different telescopes for high resolution astronomy without access to the phase of the incoming light is insensitive to atmospheric turbulence and doesn't require high-precision optical path control. The necessary large collection areas can be provided by Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. Implementation of intensity interferometers to existing telescope systems such as VERITAS and MAGIC has proven to be successful for high-resolution imaging of stars. In April 2022 we equipped two telescopes of the H.E.S.S. array in Namibia with an intensity interferometry setup to measure southern sky stars and star systems during the bright moon period. We mounted an external optical system to the lid of the telescope cameras, which splits the incoming light and feeds it into two photomultipliers in order to measure the zero-baseline correlation within one telescope in addition to the cross correlation between the telescopes. The optical elements are motorised, which enables live correction of tracking inaccuracies of the telescopes. During the campaign we measured the spatial correlation curves and thereby the angular diameters of {\lambda} Sco (Shaula) and {\sigma} Sgr (Nunki), while we also performed systematic studies of our interferometer using the multiple star system of {\alpha} Cru (Acrux).
Air-bearing platforms for simulating the rotational dynamics of satellites require highly precise ground truth systems. Unfortunately, commercial motion capture systems used for this scope are complex and expensive. This paper shows a novel and versatile method to compute the attitude of rotational air-bearing platforms using a monocular camera and sets of fiducial markers. The work proposes a geometry-based iterative algorithm that is significantly more accurate than other literature methods that involve the solution of the Perspective-n-Point problem. Additionally, auto-calibration procedures to perform a preliminary estimation of the system parameters are shown. The developed methodology is deployed onto a Raspberry Pi 4 micro-computer and tested with a set of LED markers. Data obtained with this setup are compared against computer simulations of the same system to understand and validate the attitude estimation performances. Simulation results show expected 1-sigma accuracies in the order of $\sim$ 12 arcsec and $\sim$ 37 arcsec for about- and cross-boresight rotations of the platform, and average latency times of 6 ms.
The High-Resolution Multi-Object Spectrograph (HRMOS) is a facility instrument that we plan to propose for the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), following the initial presentation at the VLT 2030 workshop held at ESO in June 2019. HRMOS provides a combination of capabilities that are essential to carry out breakthrough science across a broad range of active research areas from stellar astrophysics and exoplanet studies to Galactic and Local Group archaeology. HRMOS fills a gap in capabilities amongst the landscape of future instrumentation planned for the next decade. The key characteristics of HRMOS will be high spectral resolution (R = 60000 - 80000) combined with multi-object (20-100) capabilities and long term stability that will provide excellent radial velocity precision and accuracy (10m/s). Initial designs predict that a SNR~100 will be achievable in about one hour for a star with mag(AB) = 15, while with the same exposure time a SNR~ 30 will be reached for a star with mag(AB) = 17. The combination of high resolution and multiplexing with wavelength coverage extending to relatively blue wavelengths (down to 380\,nm), makes HRMOS a spectrograph that will push the boundaries of our knowledge and that is envisioned as a workhorse instrument in the future. The science cases presented in this White Paper include topics and ideas developed by the Core Science Team with the contributions from the astronomical community, also through the wide participation in the first HRMOS Workshop (https://indico.ict.inaf.it/event/1547/) that took place in Firenze (Italy) in October 2021.
Atmospheric retrievals (AR) characterize exoplanets by estimating atmospheric parameters from observed light spectra, typically by framing the task as a Bayesian inference problem. However, traditional approaches such as nested sampling are computationally expensive, thus sparking an interest in solutions based on machine learning (ML). In this ongoing work, we first explore flow matching posterior estimation (FMPE) as a new ML-based method for AR and find that, in our case, it is more accurate than neural posterior estimation (NPE), but less accurate than nested sampling. We then combine both FMPE and NPE with importance sampling, in which case both methods outperform nested sampling in terms of accuracy and simulation efficiency. Going forward, our analysis suggests that simulation-based inference with likelihood-based importance sampling provides a framework for accurate and efficient AR that may become a valuable tool not only for the analysis of observational data from existing telescopes, but also for the development of new missions and instruments.
The amount of Adaptive Optics (AO) telemetry generated by VIS/NIR ground-based observatories is ever greater, leading to a growing need for a standardised data exchange format to support performance analysis and AO research and development activities that involve large-scale telemetry mining, processing, and curation. This paper introduces the Adaptive Optics Telemetry (AOT) data exchange format as a standard for sharing AO telemetry from visible/infrared ground-based observatories. AOT is based on the Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) and aims to provide unambiguous and consistent data access across various systems and configurations, including natural and single/multiple laser guide-star AO systems. We designed AOT focused on two key use cases: atmospheric turbulence parameter estimation and point-spread function reconstruction (PSF-R). We prototyped and tested the design using existing AO telemetry datasets from multiple systems: single conjugate with natural and laser guide stars, tomographic systems with multi-channel wavefront sensors, single and multi wavefront correctors in systems featuring either a Shack-Hartmann or Pyramid as main wavefront sensors. The AOT file structure has been thoroughly defined, specifying data fields, descriptions, data types, units, and expected dimensions. To support this format, we have developed a Python package that enables data conversion, reading, writing and exploration of AOT files, which has been made publicly available and compatible with a general-purpose Python package manager. We demonstrate the flexibility of the AOT format by packaging data from five different instruments, installed on different telescopes.
Objective: In the framework of the Cometary Physics Laboratory (CoPhyLab) and its sublimation experiments of cometary surface analogues under simulated space conditions, we characterize the properties of intimate mixtures of juniper charcoal and SiO$_2$ chosen as a dust analogue \citep{Lethuillier_2022}. We present the details of these investigations for the spectrophotometric properties of the samples. Methods: We measured these properties using a hyperspectral imager and a radio-goniometer. From the samples' spectra, we evaluated reflectance ratios and spectral slopes. From the measured phase curves, we inverted a photometric model for all samples. Complementary characterizations were obtained using a pycnometer, a scanning electron microscope and an organic elemental analyser. Results: We report the first values for the apparent porosity, elemental composition, and VIS-NIR spectrophotometric properties for juniper charcoal, as well as for intimate mixtures of this charcoal with the SiO$_2$. We find that the juniper charcoal drives the spectrophotometric properties of the intimate mixtures and that its strong absorbance is consistent with its elemental composition. We find that SiO$_2$ particles form large and compact agglomerates in every mixture imaged with the electron microscope, and its spectrophotometric properties are affected by such features and their particle-size distribution. We compare our results to the current literature on comets and other small Solar System bodies and find that most of the characterized properties of the dust analogue are comparable to some extent with the spacecraft-visited cometary nucleii, as well as to Centaurs, Trojans and the bluest TNOs.
Massive stars play a major role not only in stellar evolution but also galactic evolution theory. This is because of their dynamical interaction with binary companions, and because their strong winds and explosive deaths as supernovae provide chemical, radiative and kinematic feedback to their environments. Yet this feedback strongly depends on the physics of the supernova progenitor star. It is only in recent decades that asteroseismology - the study of stellar pulsations - has developed the necessary tools to a high level of sophistication to become a prime method at the forefront of astronomical research for constraining the physical processes at work within stellar interiors. For example, precise and accurate asteroseismic constraints on interior rotation, magnetic field strength and geometry, mixing and angular momentum transport processes of massive stars are becoming increasingly available across a wide range of masses. Moreover, ongoing large-scale time-series photometric surveys with space telescopes have revealed a large diversity in the variability of massive stars, including widespread coherent pulsations across a large range in mass and age, and the discovery of ubiquitous stochastic low-frequency (SLF) variability in their light curves. In this invited review, I discuss the progress made in understanding the physical processes at work within massive star interiors thanks to modern asteroseismic techniques, and conclude with a future outlook.
We present a technique for verifying or refuting exoplanet candidates from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission by searching for nearby eclipsing binary stars using higher-resolution archival images from ground-based telescopes. Our new system is called Detecting and Evaluating A Transit: finding its Hidden Source in Time-domain Archival Records (DEATHSTAR). We downloaded time series of cutout images from two ground-based telescope surveys (the Zwicky Transient Facility, or ZTF, and the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS), analyzed the images to create apertures and measure the brightness of each star in the field, and plotted the resulting light curves using custom routines. Thus far, we have confirmed on-target transits for 17 planet candidates, and identified 35 false positives and located their actual transit sources. With future improvements to automation, DEATHSTAR will be scaleable to run on the majority of TOIs.
There is a compelling physics case for a large, xenon-based underground detector devoted to dark matter and other rare-event searches. A two-phase time projection chamber as inner detector allows for a good energy resolution, a three-dimensional position determination of the interaction site and particle discrimination. To study challenges related to the construction and operation of a multi-tonne scale detector, we have designed and constructed a vertical, full-scale demonstrator for the DARWIN experiment at the University of Zurich. Here we present first results from a several-months run with 343 kg of xenon and electron drift lifetime and transport measurements with a 53 cm tall purity monitor immersed in the cryogenic liquid. After 88 days of continuous purification, the electron lifetime reached a value of 664(23) microseconds. We measured the drift velocity of electrons for electric fields in the range (25--75) V/cm, and found values consistent with previous measurements. We also calculated the longitudinal diffusion constant of the electron cloud in the same field range, and compared with previous data, as well as with predictions from an empirical model.
Interstellar communications are achievable with gram-scale spacecraft using swarm techniques introduced herein if an adequate energy source, clocks and a suitable communications protocol exist. The essence of our approach to the Breakthrough Starshot challenge is to launch a long string of 100s of gram-scale interstellar probes at 0.2c in a firing campaign up to a year long, maintain continuous contact with them (directly amongst each other and via Earth utilizing the launch laser), and gradually, during the 20-year cruise, dynamically coalesce the long string into a lens-shaped mesh network $\sim$100,000 km across centered on the target planet Proxima b at the time of fly-by. In-flight formation would be accomplished using the "time on target" technique of grossly modulating the initial launch velocity between the head and the tail of the string, and combined with continual fine control or "velocity on target" by adjusting the attitude of selected probes, exploiting the drag imparted by the ISM. Such a swarm could tolerate significant attrition, e.g., by collisions enroute with interstellar dust grains, thus mitigating the risk that comes with "putting all your eggs in one basket". It would also enable the observation of Proxima b at close range from a multiplicity of viewpoints. Swarm synchronization with state-of-the-art space-rated clocks would enable operational coherence if not actual phase coherence in the swarm optical communications. Betavoltaic technology, which should be commercialized and space-rated in the next decade, can provide an adequate primary energy storage for these swarms. The combination would thus enable data return rates orders of magnitude greater than possible from a single probe.
We present the exact time-dependent solutions on inhomogeneous spherically symmetric space-time in the conformal invariant Weyl gravity. For this purpose, the subclass of the Lemaitre-Tolman metric which is supported by an anisotropic fluid is used. For the first time, the exact solutions of the dynamical equations are obtained for two special cases. One of the exact solutions is a de Sitter space-time and other solution is a class of time-dependent wormhole geometries which can be supported by exotic matter in similar to the general relativistic solutions.
In our investigation, we explore the quantum dynamics of charge-free scalar Bosons within the framework of rainbow gravity.
While von Neumann entropies for subregions in quantum field theory universally contain ultraviolet divergences, differences between von Neumann entropies are finite and well-defined in many physically relevant scenarios. We demonstrate that such a notion of entropy differences can be rigorously defined in quantum field theory in a general curved spacetime by introducing a novel, covariant regulator for the entropy based on the modular crossed product. This regulator associates a type II von Neumann algebra to each spacetime subregion, resulting in well-defined renormalized entropies. This prescription reproduces formulas for entropy differences that coincide with heuristic formulas widely used in the literature, and we prove that it satisfies desirable properties such as unitary invariance and concavity. As an application, we provide proofs of the Bekenstein bound and the quantum null energy condition, formulated directly in terms of vacuum-subtracted von Neumann entropies.
We study the quantum field theory (QFT) of a scalar field in the Schr\"odinger picture in the functional formulation. We derive a formula for the evolution kernel in a flat expanding metric. We discuss a transition between Riemannian and pseudoRiemannian metrics (signature inversion). We express the real time Schr\"odinger evolution by the Brownian motion (Feynman-Kac formula). We discuss the Feynman integral for a scalar field in a radiation background. We show that the unitary Schr\"odinger evolution for positive time can go over for negative time into a dissipative evolution described by diffusive paths.
We study the dynamics of homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker cosmological models with positive spatial curvature in mimetic gravity theory, employing dynamical system techniques. Our analysis yields phase space trajectories that describe physically relevant solutions, capturing various stages of the cosmic evolution. Additionally, we employ Bayesian statistical analysis to constraint the cosmological parameters of the models, utilizing data from Supernovae Type Ia and the Hubble parameter datasets. The observational datasets provide support for the viability of mimetic gravity models, which effectively can describe the late-time accelerated expansion of the universe.
In the present paper, we consider a rotating black hole moving in a homogeneous massless scalar field. We assume that the field is weak and neglect its backreaction, so that the metric at far distance from the black hole is practically flat. In this domain one can introduce two reference frames, $K$ and $\tilde{K}$. The frame $\tilde{K}$ is associated with the homogeneous scalar field, in which its constant gradient has only time component. The other frame, $K$, is the frame in which the black hole is at rest. To describe the Kerr metric of the black hole we use its Kerr-Schild form $g_{\mu\nu}=\eta_{\mu\nu}+\Phi l_{\mu}l_{\mu}$, where $\eta_{\mu\nu}$ is the (asymptotic) flat metric in $K$ frame. We find an explicit solution of the scalar field equation which is regular at the horizon and properly reproduce the asymptotic form of the scalar field at the infinity. Using this solution we calculate the fluxes of the energy, momentum and the angular momentum of the scalar field into the black hole. This allows us to derive the equation of motion of the rotating black hole. We discuss main general properties of solutions of these equations and obtain explicit solutions for special type of the motion of the black hole.
We consider dimensional reduction of cigar geometries which are obtained by a Wick rotation of black hole solutions. Originally the cigar geometry is smooth around the tip, but after the dimensional reduction along the Euclidean time direction, there appears an end-of-the-world brane (ETW brane). We derive the tension of the brane by two methods: bulk equations of motion and boundary equations of motion. In particular, for AdS7-soliton cross S4 and AdS4-soliton cross S7 backgrounds in M-theory, we find that the tension of the emerging ETW branes behaves as exp(-3Phi) in the string frame. This indicates the existence of such ETW branes in the strongly coupled regime of type 0A string theory.
A flow for the evolution of crease sets for black hole horizons is introduced and its bifurcation properties are discussed. We state the conditions of nondegeneracy and typicality for the crease submanifolds, and find their normal forms and versal unfoldings (codimension 3). The structure of the resulting bifurcation diagrams is discussed and a typical example is given.
In the framework of double holography, we investigate the entanglement behavior of a brane subregion in AdS spacetime coupled to a bath on its boundary and also extract the contribution from the quantum matter within this subregion. From the boundary perspective, the brane subregion serves as the entanglement wedge of a subsystem on the conformal defect. In the ground state, we find the subsystem undergoes an entanglement phase transition induced by the degrees of freedom on the brane. With subcritical parameters, the wedge and entanglement entropy sharply decrease to zero. In contrast, in the supercritical regime, both the wedge and entropy stabilize, enabling analysis of both entanglement and reflected entropy. In this phase, we derive formulas for entanglement measures based on defect and bath central charges in the semi-classical limit. For entanglement entropy, the classical geometry only contributes a subleading term with logarithmic divergence, but the brane-bath CFT entanglement exhibits a dominant linear divergence, even in the semi-classical limit. Regarding reflected entropy within the defect subsystem, classical geometry contributes a leading term with logarithmic divergence, while the quantum matter within the entanglement wedge only contributes a finite term.
Scattering of two Kerr Black Holes emitting gravitational waves can be captured by an effective theory of a massive higher-spin field interacting with the gravitational field. While other compact objects should activate a multitude of non-minimal interactions it is the black holes that should be captured by the simplest minimal interaction. Implementing massive higher-spin symmetry via a string-inspired BRST approach we construct an action that reproduces the correct cubic amplitude of Arkani-Hamed--Huang--Huang. The same is achieved for the root-Kerr theory, i.e. for the minimal electromagnetic interaction of a massive higher-spin field.
Hybrid star is the term given to a neutron star with a quark core. Due to a lot of uncertainties in the calculations and compositions of such a high-density system, it is of great interest and a preferred scenario for particle physicists and astrophysicists. To explore some novel aspects within the framework of the $5\mathcal{D}$ Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet(EGB) gravity, our current study presents a hybrid star model that includes strange quark matter in addition to regular baryonic matter. In hybrid stellar objects, a hadronic outer component surrounds a quark inner component, which prompts the consideration of the most basic MIT bag model equation of state to correlate the density and pressure of strange quark matter within the stellar interior, while radial pressure and matter density due to baryonic matter are connected by a linear equation of state. The model is constructed within the specifications of the Krori and Barua (KB) {\em ansatz} (Krori and Barua, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. $\bold{8},508, 1975$). Here we present the solution for a particular compact object 4U 1538 - 52 with mass $\mathcal{M} = 0.87 \pm 0.07~\mathcal{M}_{\odot}$ and radius $\mathfrak{R} = 7.866_{-0.21}^{+0.21}$ km. We examine the fundamental physical characteristics of the star, which highlights how the values of matter variables are affected by the Gauss-Bonnet coupling parameter $\alpha$. Finally, as it meets all the physical requirements for a realistic model, we have come to realize that our present model is realistic.
We study the stability of quasinormal modes (QNMs) in electrically charged black brane spacetimes that asymptote to AdS by means of the pseudospectrum. Methodologically, we adopt ingoing Eddington-Finkelstein coordinates to cast QNMs in terms of a generalised eigenvalue problem involving a non-self adjoint operator; this simplifies the computation significantly in comparison with previous results in the literature. Our analysis reveals spectral instability for (neutral) scalar as well as gravitoelectric perturbations. This is significant as it contains information about the dual strongly coupled system via the gauge/gravity correspondence. Particular attention is given on the hydrodynamic modes, where we see the spectral lines crossing to the upper half plane indicating transient instability. We also investigate the asymptotic structure of pseudospectral contour levels and we find remarkable universality across all sectors, persistent in the extremal limit.
Inspired by recent work in two-dimensional gravity, we devise new boundary conditions for the near-horizon geometries of extremal BTZ and Kerr black holes, as well as for the ultra-cold limit of the Kerr-de Sitter black hole. Their asymptotic symmetries consist in the semi-direct product of a Virasoro and a current algebra, of which we determine the central extensions.
A common way to avoid divergent integrals in homogeneous spatially non-compact gravitational systems is to introduce a fiducial cell by cutting-off the spatial slice at a finite region $V_o$. This is usually considered as an auxiliary regulator to be removed after computations by sending $V_o\to\infty$. In this paper, we analyse the dependence of the classical and quantum theory of homogeneous, isotropic and spatially flat cosmology on $V_o$. We show that each fixed $V_o$ regularisation leads to a different canonically independent theory. At the classical level, the dynamics of observables is not affected by the regularisation on-shell. For the quantum theory, however, this leads to a family of regulator dependent quantum representations and the limit $V_o\to\infty$ becomes then more subtle. First, we construct a novel isomorphism between different $V_o$-regularisations, which allows us to identify states in the different $V_o$-labelled Hilbert spaces to ensure equivalent dynamics for any value of $V_o$. The $V_o\to\infty$ limit would then correspond to choosing a state for which the volume assigned to the fiducial cell becomes infinite as appropriate in the late-time regime. As second main result of our analysis, quantum fluctuations of observables smeared over subregions $V\subset V_o$, unlike those smeared over the full $V_o$, explicitly depend on the size of the fiducial cell through the ratio $V/V_o$ interpreted as the (inverse) number of subcells $V$ homogeneously patched together into $V_o$. Physically relevant fluctuations for a finite region, as e.g. in the early-time regime, which would be unreasonably suppressed in a na\"ive $V_o\to\infty$ limit, become appreciable at small volumes. Our results suggest that the fiducial cell is not playing the role of a mere regularisation but is physically relevant at the quantum level and complement previous statements in the literature.
We show that the $3d$ Born-Infeld theory can be generated via an irrelevant deformation of the free Maxwell theory. The deforming operator is constructed from the energy-momentum tensor and includes a novel non-analytic contribution that resembles root-$T \overline{T}$. We find that a similar operator deforms a free scalar into the scalar sector of the Dirac-Born-Infeld action, which describes transverse fluctuations of a D-brane, in any dimension. We also analyse trace flow equations and obtain flows for subtracted models driven by a relevant operator. In $3d$, the irrelevant deformation can be made manifestly supersymmetric by presenting the flow equation in $\mathcal{N} = 1$ superspace, where the deforming operator is built from supercurrents. We demonstrate that two supersymmetric presentations of the D2-brane effective action, the Maxwell-Goldstone multiplet and the tensor-Goldstone multiplet, satisfy superspace flow equations driven by this supercurrent combination. To do this, we derive expressions for the supercurrents in general classes of vector and tensor/scalar models by directly solving the superspace conservation equations and also by coupling to $\mathcal{N} = 1$ supergravity. As both of these multiplets exhibit a second, spontaneously broken supersymmetry, this analysis provides further evidence for a connection between current-squared deformations and nonlinearly realized symmetries.
Stimulated by the recent researches of black hole thermodynamics for black hole with Newman-Unti-Tamburino (NUT) parameter, we investigate the thermodynamics and weak cosmic censorship conjecture for a Kerr-Newman Taub-NUT black hole. By defining the electric charge as a Komar integral over the event horizon, we construct a consistent first law of black hole thermodynamics for a Kerr-Newman Taub-NUT black hole through Euclidean action. Having the first law of black hole thermodynamics, we investigate the weak cosmic censorship conjecture for the black hole with a charged test particle and a complex scalar field. We find that an extremal black hole cannot be destroyed by a charged test particle and a complex scalar field. For a near-extremal black hole with small NUT parameter, it can be destroyed by a charged test particle but cannot be destroyed by a complex scalar field.
These lecture notes provide an overview of different aspects of de Sitter space and their plausible holographic interpretations. We start with a general description of the classical spacetime. We note the existence of a cosmological horizon and its associated thermodynamic quantities, such as the Gibbons-Hawking entropy. We discuss geodesics and shockwave solutions, that might play a role in a holographic description of de Sitter. Finally, we discuss different approaches to quantum theories of de Sitter space, with an emphasis on recent developments in static patch holography.
We study gravitational absorption effects using effective on-shell scattering amplitudes. We develop an in-in probability-based framework involving plane- and partial-wave coherent states for the incoming wave to describe the interaction of the wave with a black hole or another compact object. We connect this framework to a simplified single-quantum analysis. The basic ingredients are mass-changing three-point amplitudes, which model the leading absorption effects and a spectral-density function of the black hole. As an application, we consider a non-spinning black hole that may start spinning as a consequence of the dynamics. The corresponding amplitudes are found to correspond to covariant spin-weighted spherical harmonics, the properties of which we formulate and make use of. We perform a matching calculation to general-relativity results at the cross-section level and derive the effective absorptive three-point couplings. They are found to behave as ${\cal O}(G_\text{Newton}^{s+1})$, where $s$ is the spin of the outgoing massive state.
Gubser flow is an axis-symmetric and boost-invariant evolution in a relativistic quantum field theory, providing a model for the evolution of matter produced in the wake of heavy-ion collisions. It is best studied by mapping $\mathbf{R}^{3,1}$ to $dS_{3}\times \mathbf{R}$ when the field theory has conformal symmetry. We show that at late de-Sitter time, which corresponds to large proper time and central region in the future wedge within $\mathbf{R}^{3,1}$, the holographic conformal field theory plasma can reach a state in which $\varepsilon = P_T = - P_L$, with $\varepsilon$, $P_T$ and $P_L$ being the energy density, transverse and longitudinal pressures, respectively. We also show that the general late de-Sitter time expansion can systematically determine both the Minkowksi early proper time behavior and the profile at large distance from the beam axis at any Minkowski proper time. Particularly, $\varepsilon = P_T = - P_L$ is also realized at early Minkowski proper time, and we can determine the initial conditions in such situations. Furthermore, we determine subleading corrections. Hydrodynamic modes appear at intermediate times.
A new, exact and analytical class of accelerating and charged black holes is built, in the Einstein-Maxwell theory, thanks to the Harrison transformation. The diagonal metric does not belong to the Petrov type D classification, therefore it is not part of the Plebanski-Demianski spacetimes. The simplest subcase of this family recovers the Reissner-Nordstrom black hole in the vanishing acceleration limit and the standard C-metric in the limit of null electric charge. More general cases can have two independent electric charges, which can be tuned as desired, even to remain with an uncharged black hole, such as Petrov Type I Schwarzschild, embedded in an accelerating charged Rindler background. These accelerating black holes can be considered as a limit of charged binary systems. Conical singularities can be possibly removed in extremal configurations. The entropy of the conformal field theory model dual to the extreme black hole is obtained from near horizon analysis. Magnetic, dyonic, NUTty and Kerr-like extensions are also discussed.
We consider four-dimensional general relativity with vanishing cosmological constant defined on a manifold with a boundary. In Lorentzian signature, the timelike boundary is of the form $\boldsymbol{\sigma} \times \mathbb{R}$, with $\boldsymbol{\sigma}$ a spatial two-manifold that we take to be either flat or $S^2$. In Euclidean signature, we take the boundary to be $S^2\times S^1$. We consider conformal boundary conditions, whereby the conformal class of the induced metric and trace $K$ of the extrinsic curvature are fixed at the timelike boundary. The problem of linearised gravity is analysed using the Kodama-Ishibashi formalism. It is shown that for a round metric on $S^2$ with constant $K$, there are modes that grow exponentially in time. We discuss a method to control the growing modes by varying $K$. The growing modes are absent for a conformally flat induced metric on the timelike boundary. We provide evidence that the Dirichlet problem for a spherical boundary does not suffer from non-uniqueness issues at the linearised level. We consider the extension of black hole thermodynamics to the case of conformal boundary conditions, and show that the form of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy is retained.
Force-Free Electrodynamics (FFE) is known to describe the highly magnetized plasma around pulsars and astrophysical black holes. The equations describing FFE are highly non-linear and the task of finding a well-defined analytical solution has been unyielding. However, FFE can also be understood in terms of 2-dimensional foliations of the ambient 4-dimensional spacetime. The study of the foliations can provide significant insights into the structure of the force-free fields and such foliations can be exploited to generate new null and non-null solutions. In this paper, we present several nonnull solutions to the FFE equations in the Kerr spacetime obtained by applying the aforementioned methods of non-null foliations.
The equations of motion of an isospin-carrying particle in a Yang-Mills and gravitational field were first proposed in 1968 by Kerner, who considered geodesics in a Kaluza-Klein-type framework. Two years later the flat space Kerner equations were completed by considering also the motion of the isospin by Wong, who used a field-theoretical approach. Their groundbreaking work was then followed by a long series of rediscoveries whose history is reviewed. The concept of isospin charge and the physical meaning of its motion are discussed. Conserved quantities are studied for Wu-Yang monopoles and for diatomic molecules by using van Holten's algorithm.
We describe the relation between vectors and spinors in complex spacetime in an unconventional chirally asymmetric manner, using purely right-handed spinors, with Minkowski spacetime getting Wick rotated to a four-dimensional Euclidean spacetime with a distinguished direction. In this right-handed spinor geometry self-dual two-forms can be used to get chiral formulations of the Yang-Mills and general relativity actions. Euclidean spacetime left-handed spinors then transform under an internal $SU(2)$ symmetry, rather than the usual $SU(2)_L$ spacetime symmetry related by analytic continuation to the Lorentz group $SL(2,\mathbf C)$.
Previously the linearized stress tensor of a stationary Kerr black hole has been used to determine some of the values of gravitational couplings for a spinning black hole to linear order in the Riemann tensor in the action (worldline or quantum field theory). In particular, the couplings on operators containing derivative structures of the form $(S\cdot\nabla)^n$ acting on the Riemann tensor were fixed, with $S^\mu$ the spin vector of the black hole. In this paper we find that the Kerr solution determines all of the multipole moments in the sense of Dixon of a stationary spinning black hole and that these multipole moments determine all linear in $R$ couplings. For example, additional couplings beyond the previously mentioned are fixed on operators containing derivative structures of the form $S^{2n}(p\cdot\nabla)^{2n}$ acting on the Riemann tensor with $p^\mu$ the momentum vector of the black hole. These additional operators do not contribute to the three-point amplitude, and so do no contribute to the linearized stress tensor for a stationary black hole. However, we find that they do contribute to the Compton amplitude. Additionally, we derive formal expressions for the electromagnetic and gravitational Compton amplitudes of generic spinning bodies to all orders in spin in the worldline formalism and evaluated expressions for these amplitudes to order $S^3$ in electromagnetism and order $S^5$ in gravity.
We discuss the possibility to obtain a massive Landau gauge, based on the local composite operator (LCO) effective action framework combined with the Zimmerman reduction of couplings prescription. As a way to deal with the gauge ambiguity, we check that the ghost propagator remains positive, a necessary condition for gluon field configurations beyond the Gribov region to be negligible. We pay attention to the BRST invariance of the construction, allowing for a future generalization to a class of massive linear covariant gauges. As a litmus test, we compare our predictions to the lattice data for the two-point functions in Landau gauge introducing the "Dynamically Infrared-Safe" renormalization scheme, including the renormalization group optimization of both the gap equation and the two-point functions. We also discuss the relation to and differences with the Curci-Ferrari model, which usefulness in providing an effective perturbative description of non-perturbative Yang-Mills theories became clear during recent years.
Following the recent work of V. Moncrief, A. Marini, R. Maitra and P. Mondal on the geometry of field theoretic configuration spaces, this account examines how the regularized Ricci curvature of the $SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y$ Yang-Mills orbit space may provide an intrinsic mass to the W boson which contributes to the value obtained from the renormalized Higgs mechanism. Though the discussion is heuristic, one hopes that this infinite-dimensional technology, which does not postulate extensions to the Standard Model, could explain the mass anomaly reported by the CDF II collaboration.
It is difficult to construct a post-inflation QCD axion model that solves the axion quality problem (and hence the Strong CP problem) without introducing a cosmological disaster. In a post-inflation axion model, the axion field value is randomized during the Peccei-Quinn phase transition, and axion domain walls form at the QCD phase transition. We emphasize that the gauge equivalence of all minima of the axion potential (i.e., domain wall number one) is insufficient to solve the cosmological domain wall problem. The axion string on which a domain wall ends must exist as an individual object (as opposed to a multi-string state), and it must be produced in the early universe. These conditions are often not satisfied in concrete models. Post-inflation axion models also face a potential problem from fractionally charged relics; solving this problem often leads to low-energy Landau poles for Standard Model gauge couplings, reintroducing the quality problem. We study several examples, finding that models that solve the quality problem face cosmological problems, and vice versa. This is not a no-go theorem; nonetheless, we argue that it is much more difficult than generally appreciated to find a viable post-inflation QCD axion model. Successful examples may have a nonstandard cosmological history (e.g., multiple types of cosmic axion strings of different tensions), undermining the widespread expectation that the post-inflation QCD axion scenario predicts a unique mass for axion dark matter.
Is string theory uniquely determined by self-consistency? Causality and unitarity seemingly permit a multitude of putative deformations, at least at the level of two-to-two scattering. Motivated by this question, we initiate a systematic exploration of the constraints on scattering from higher-point factorization, which imposes extraordinarily restrictive sum rules on the residues and spectra defined by a given amplitude. These bounds handily exclude several proposed deformations of the string: the simplest "bespoke" amplitudes with tunable masses and a family of modified string integrands from "binary geometry." While the string itself passes all tests, our formalism directly extracts the three-point amplitudes for the low-lying string modes without the aid of worldsheet vertex operators.
We present the complete spectrum for the Bjorken $x$ weighted Energy-Energy Correlation in the deep inelastic scattering (DIS) process, from the target fragmentation region to the current fragmentation region, in the Breit frame. The corresponding collinear and transverse momentum-dependent logarithms are resummed to all orders with the accuracy of NLL and N$^3$LL, respectively. And the results in the full region are matched with ${\cal O}(\alpha^2_s)$ fixed-order calculation. The final numerical predictions are presented for both EIC and CEBAF kinematics.
We present the MSHT20qed_an3lo parton distribution functions (PDFs). These result from the first global PDF analysis to combine QED and approximate N${}^3$LO (aN${}^3$LO) QCD corrections in the theoretical calculation of the PDF evolution and cross sections entering the fit. We examine the PDF impact, and find that the effect of QED is relatively mild in comparison to the aN${}^3$LO corrections, although it should still be accounted for at the level of precision now required. These QED corrections are in addition found to roughly factorise from the QCD corrections; that is, their relative impact on the PDFs is roughly the same at NNLO and aN${}^3$LO. The fit quality exhibits a very small deterioration at aN${}^3$LO upon the inclusion of QED corrections, which is rather smaller than the deterioration observed at NNLO in QCD. The impact on several cross sections at N${}^3$LO is also examined, including the Higgs cross section via gluon fusion at N${}^3$LO. Finally, a LO in QCD fit that includes QED corrections is also presented: the MSHT20qed_lo set.
It has long been recognized that the scattering of electroweak particles at very high energies is dominated by vector boson fusion, which probes the origin of electroweak symmetry breaking and offers a unique window into the ultraviolet regime of the SM. Previous studies assume SM-like couplings and rely on the effective $W$ approximation (or electroweak parton distribution), whose validity is well-established within the SM but not yet studied in the presence of anomalous Higgs couplings. In this work, we critically examine the electroweak production of two Higgs bosons in the presence of anomalous $VVh$ and $VVhh$ couplings. We compute the corresponding helicity amplitudes and compare the cross section results in the effective $W$ approximation with the full fixed-order calculation. In particular, we identify two distinct classes of anomalous Higgs couplings, whose effects are not captured by vector boson fusion and effective $W$ approximation. Such very high energy electroweak scatterings can be probed at the Muon Shot, a multi-TeV muon collider upon which we base our study, although similar considerations apply to other high energy colliders.
We derive the $\Lambda_b \to \Lambda_c$ form factors for the Standard Model and beyond at second order in Heavy Quark Effective Theory (HQET), applying the recently-proposed Residual Chiral Expansion (RCE) to reduce the set of unknown subsubleading hadronic functions to a single, highly-constrained function, that is fully determined by hadron mass parameters at zero recoil. We fit a form factor parametrization based on these results to all available Lattice QCD (LQCD) predictions and experimental data. We find that the constrained and predictive structure of the form factors under the RCE is in excellent agreement with LQCD predictions and experimental data, as well as prior HQET-based fits.
We derive the electromagnetic response of a particular fermionic sector in the minimal QED contribution to the Standard Model Extension (SME), which can be physically realized in terms of a model describing a tilted and anisotropic Weyl semimetal (WSM). The contact is made through the identification of the Dirac-like Hamiltonian resulting from the SME with that corresponding to the WSM in the linearized tight-binding approximation. We first calculate the effective action by computing the non-perturbative vacuum polarization tensor using thermal field theory techniques, focusing upon the corrections at finite chemical potential and zero temperature. Next, we confirm our results by a direct calculation of the anomalous Hall current within a chiral kinetic theory approach. In an ideal Dirac cone picture of the WSM (isotropic and non-tilted) such response is known to be governed by axion electrodynamics, with the space-time dependent axion angle $\Theta (\mathbf{r},t) = 2 (\mathbf{b} \cdot \mathbf{r} - b _{0} t)$, being $2 \mathbf{b}$ and $2b _{0}$ the separation of the Weyl nodes in momentum and energy, respectively. In this paper we demonstrate that the node tilting and the anisotropies induce novel corrections at a finite density which however preserve the structure of the axionic field theory. We apply our results to the ideal Weyl semimetal $\mathrm{EuCd}_{2}\mathrm{As}_{2}$ and to the highly anisotropic and tilted monopnictide $\mathrm{TaAs}$.
We discuss recent progress towards developing accurate initial state descriptions for heavy ion collisions focusing on weak coupling based approaches, that enable one to constrain the high-energy structure of nuclei from deep inelastic scattering or proton-nucleus collisions. We review recent developments to determine the event-by-event fluctuating nuclear geometry, to describe gluon saturation phenomena at next-to-leading order accuracy, and to include longitudinal dynamics to the initial state descriptions.
We present non-perturbative lattice calculations of the low-lying meson and baryon spectrum of the SU(4) gauge theory with fundamental fermion constituents. This theory is one instance of stealth dark matter, a class of strongly coupled theories, where the lowest mass stable baryon is the dark matter candidate. This work constitutes the first milestone in the program to study stealth dark matter self-interactions. Here, we focus on reducing excited state contamination in the single baryon channel by applying the Laplacian Heaviside method, as well as projecting our baryon operators onto the irreducible representations of the octahedral group. We compare our resulting spectrum to previous work involving Gaussian smeared non-projected operators and find good agreement with reduced statistical uncertainties. We also present the spectrum of the low-lying odd-parity baryons for the first time.
We study the light right-handed slepton bulk regions for dark matter from the Generalized Minimal Supergravity (GmSUGRA) in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). In our comprehensive numerical studies, we show that $\mathcal{R_{\tilde{\phi}}}\gtrsim10\%$ is a conservative criteria to formulate bulk region, where $\mathcal{R_{\tilde{\phi}}}\equiv({m_{\tilde{\phi}}-m_{\tilde{\chi}_1^0}})/{m_{\tilde{\chi}_1^0}}$. For right-handed stau as the Next to the Lightest Supersymmetric Partcile (NLSP), we find a large viable parameter space, consistent with the current LHC constraints, Planck2018 dark matter relic density bounds, and direct bounds on neutralino-nucleons scattering cross-section that naturally supports the right-handed stau bulk regions for dark matter. In particular, the upper bounds on the masses of the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle (LSP) neutralino and right-handed stau are about 120.4 GeV and 138 GeV, respectively. This bulk region may be beyond the current LHC reach and could be probed at LUX-ZEPLIN, a next-generation dark matter direct detection experiment, the Future Circular Collider (FCC-ee) at CERN, and the Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC). However, the scenario with the right-handed selectron as the NLSP is excluded by the LHC supersymmetry searches.
The AMS-02 experiment has observed new properties of primary cosmic rays (CRs) categorized into two groups: He-C-O-Fe and Ne-Mg-Si-S, which are independent of CR propagation. In this study, we investigate the unexpected properties of these nuclei using a spatial propagation model. All nuclei spectra are accurately reproduced and separated into primary and secondary contributions. Our findings include: 1. Primary CR spectra are identical. 2. Our calculations align with AMS-02 results for primary-dominated nuclei within a 10\% difference, but show significant discrepancies for the secondary-dominated nuclei. 3. The primary element abundance is presented for the first time. We anticipate that the DAMPE and future HERD experiments will provide observations of nuclei spectra above TeV energy.
We present a fully automated implementation of next-to-leading order electroweak (NLO EW) corrections in the logarithmic approximation in OpenLoops. For energies above the electroweak scale NLO EW corrections are logarithmically enhanced and in tails of kinematic distributions of crucial LHC processes yield correction factors of several tens of percent. The implementation of the logarithmic Sudakov EW approximation in the amplitude generator OpenLoops is fully general, largely model independent, it supports the computation of EW corrections to resonant processes, and it is suitable for extensions to the two-loop NNLO EW level. The implementation is based on an efficient representation of the logarithmic approximation in terms of an effective vertex approach. Investigating a set of representative LHC processes we find excellent agreement between the logarithmic approximation and full one-loop results in observables where the assumptions of the EW Sudakov approximation are fulfilled.
We study the gluon Wigner distributions of the proton which are the phase-space distributions containing the most general one-parton information. Using the proton wave functions deduced from a light-cone spectator model that contains the gluonic degree of freedom, we calculate the Wigner distributions of the unpolarized and longitudinally polarized gluon inside the unpolarized/longitudinally polarized proton via the Fock-state overlap representation, respectively. We present the numerical results of the transverse Wigner distributions in which the longitudinal momentum fraction is integrated out. The mixed Wigner distributions as functions of $b_y$ and $k_x$ are also presented. We also provide the canonical gluon orbital angular momentum and spin-orbit correlations deduced from the gluon Wigner distribution.
Light nuclei might be formed in heavy-ion collisions by the coalescence of produced (anti-)nucleons or transported nucleons. Due to their low binding energies, they are more likely to form at later stages of the hadronic fireball. In this proceedings, we report the transverse momentum and centrality dependence of elliptic ($v_{2}$) and triangular ($v_{3}$) flow of $d$, $t$, and $^3$He in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 14.6 -- 54.4 GeV. The mass number scaling of $v_{2}(p_{T})$ and $v_{3}(p_{T})$ of light nuclei is discussed. We also report the comparison of $v_{2}(p_{T})$ and $v_{3}(p_{T})$ of light nuclei with a transport-plus-coalescence model calculation.
The perturbative treatment of realistic quantum field theories, such as quantum electrodynamics, requires the use of mathematical idealizations in the approximation series for scattering amplitudes. Such mathematical idealisations are necessary to derive empirically relevant models from the theory. Mathematical idealizations can be either controlled or uncontrolled, depending on whether current scientific knowledge can explain whether the effects of the idealization are negligible or not. Drawing upon negative formal results in asymptotic analysis (failure of Borel summability) and renormalization group theory (failure of asymptotic safety), we argue that the mathematical idealizations applied in perturbative quantum electrodynamics should be understood as uncontrolled. This, in turn, leads to the problematic conclusion that such theories do not have theoretical models in the standard understanding of this term. The existence of unquestionable empirically successful theories without theoretical models has significant implications both for our understanding of the theory-model relationship in physics and the concept of empirical adequacy.
Quark-gluon plasma's (QGP) properties at non-hydrodynamic and non-perturbative regimes remain largely unexplored. Here, we examine the response functions describing how a QGP-like plasma responds to initial energy-momentum disturbance in both static and Bjorken-expanding plasma at non-hydrodynamic gradient using the Boltzmann equation in the relaxation-time approximation (RTA). We show that the resulting response functions are remarkably similar in both static and expanding backgrounds at non-hydrodynamic gradients. While non-hydrodynamic response can not be described by the conventional first-order and second-order theories, its behavior is reasonably captured by the extended version of hydrodynamics proposed by us (arXiv: 2208.01046). The potential sensitivity of the Euclidean correlator to non-hydrodynamic response is also illustrated.
Higgsinos and Winos in the supersymmetric Standard Model are prime candidates for dark matter due to their weakly interacting nature. The mass differences between their charged components (charginos) and neutral components (neutralinos) become degenerate when other superparticles are heavy, resulting in long-lived charginos. In the case of the Winos, the mass difference is approximately 160 MeV across a wide range of the parameter space. Consequently, the chargino decays into the lightest neutralino, emitting a single charged pion. For Higgsinos, however, mass differences ranging from O(0.1) GeV to O(1) GeV are possible, leading to a variety of decay channels. In this paper, we extend our previous analysis of Wino decay to the chargino with a larger mass difference. We emphasize characterizing its decay signatures through leptonic and hadronic modes. By utilizing the latest experimental data, we perform a comprehensive study of the decay rate calculations incorporating these hadronic modes to determine the impact on the predicted chargino lifetime. Additionally, we conduct next-to-leading order (NLO) calculations for the leptonic decay modes. Our NLO results can be applied to the case of more general fermionic electroweak multiplets, e.g., quintuplet dark matter.
A mechanism of radiative generation of realistic neutrino mixing at one-loop level with $D5\times Z_2$ is presented in this paper. The process is demonstrated in two set-ups using $D5\times Z_2$ symmetry viz. Model 1 and Model 2. Two right-handed neutrinos are present in both the models. In both Model 1 and Model 2, when mixing between these two right-handed neutrinos are maximal, one can produce the form of the left-handed Majorana neutrino mass matrix corresponding to $\theta_{13}=0$, $\theta_{23}=\pi/4$ and any value of $\theta_{12}^0$ associated with Tribimaximal (TBM), Bimaximal (BM), Golden Ratio (GR) or other mixings. Small shift from maximal mixing between the two right-handed neutrino states can generate non-zero $\theta_{13}$, deviation of $\theta_{23}$ from $\pi/4$ and corrections to the solar mixing $\theta_{12}$ in one step for both Model 1 and Model 2. In both the models, two $Z_2$ odd inert $SU(2)_L$ doublet scalars are present. The lightest between these two scalars can be a viable dark matter candidate for both Model 1 and Model 2.
We propose the ultra high energy cosmic ray recently detected by Telescope Array to be the electroweak monopole, and present theoretical arguments which support this. This strongly motivates the necessity for the ``cosmic" MoEDAL experiment which could back up our proposal. To confirm this we propose Telescope Array to install the SQUID to each surface detector to measure the magnetic charge of the ultra high energy cosmic ray particles.
We compute the two-loop master integrals for leading-color QCD scattering amplitudes including a closed light-quark loop in $t\bar{t}H$ production at hadron colliders. Exploiting numerical evaluations in modular arithmetic, we construct a basis of master integrals satisfying a system of differential equations in $\epsilon$-factorized form. We present the analytic form of the differential equations in terms of a minimal set of differential one-forms. We explore properties of the function space of analytic solutions to the differential equations in terms of iterative integrals which can be exploited for studying the analytic form of related scattering amplitudes. Finally, we solve the differential equations using generalized series expansions to numerically evaluate the master integrals in physical phase space. As the first computation of a set of two-loop seven-scale master integrals, our results provide valuable input for analytic studies of scattering amplitudes in processes involving massive particles and a large number of kinematic scales.
In this conference proceeding, we investigate the physical anisotropy in terms of the temporal and spatial lattice spacings in relation to the bare parameters of SU(2) pure gauge theory using Wilson gradient flow. Anisotropic lattices have a wide range of applications, from thermodynamic calculations in QCD to very recent real-time simulations using the complex Langevin method. We find an almost linear relationship between the bare and renormalized anisotropy. Using a parametrization that includes nonlinear effects and was earlier proposed for SU(3) theory, we obtain a good description of the coupling dependence of the anisotropy with only two fitting parameters. Our observation of an approximately linear relationship and this parametrization should strongly reduce the computational effort of anisotropic lattice calculations in the future.
The geometrical representation of two-flavor neutrino oscillation represents the neutrino's flavor eigenstate as a magnetic moment-like vector that evolves around a magnetic field-like vector that depicts the Hamiltonian of the system. In the present work, we demonstrate the geometrical interpretation of neutrino in a vacuum in the presence of decay, which transforms this circular trajectory of neutrino into a helical track that effectively makes the neutrino system mimic a classical damped driven oscillator. We show that in the absence of the phase factor $\xi$ in the decay Hamiltonian, the neutrino exactly behaves like the system of nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR); however, the inclusion of the phase part introduces a $CP$ violation, which makes the system deviate from NMR. Finally, we make a qualitative discussion on under-damped, critically-damped, and over-damped scenarios geometrically by three different diagrams. In the end, we make a comparative study of geometrical picturization in vacuum, matter, and decay, which extrapolates the understanding of the geometrical representation of neutrino oscillation in a more straightforward way.
We study the relaxation dynamics of the spin polarization of baryons (nucleon and $\Lambda$-baryon), in a thermal pion gas as a simple model of the hadronic phase of the QCD plasma produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. For this purpose, we formulate the quantum kinetic theory for the spin density matrix of baryons in the leading order of the gradient expansion. Considering the baryon-pion elastic scattering processes as the dominant interaction between baryons and thermal pions, we compute the spin relaxation rate of nucleons and $\Lambda$-baryons in a pion gas up to temperature 200 MeV. In the case of nucleons, we evaluate the spin relaxation rate in the $s$-channel resonance approximation, based on the known experimental data on $\Delta$-resonances. We also estimate the spin relaxation rate for $\Lambda$-baryons, based on experimental inputs and theoretical models for the low-energy $\Lambda$$\pi$ scattering, including the chiral perturbation theory.
We train several neural networks and boosted decision trees to discriminate fully-hadronic boosted di-$\tau$ topologies against background QCD jets, using calorimeter and tracking information. Boosted di-$\tau$ topologies consisting of a pair of highly collimated $\tau$-leptons, arise from the decay of a highly energetic Standard Model Higgs or Z boson or from particles beyond the Standard Model. We compare the tagging performance for different neural-network models and a boosted decision tree, the latter serving as a simple benchmark machine learning model.
Baryogenesis at the TeV scale from CP-violating decays of a massive particle requires some way to avoid the washouts from processes closely related to the existence of CP violation. It has been proposed that one way can be baryogenesis from three-body decays (instead of two-body decays). In this work we revisit this statement and show that, similarly to two-body-decay models, successful baryogenesis from three-body decays requires that the mass of the decaying particle be well above 10-100 TeV unless some other mechanism to avoid washouts is implemented.
We consider conformal transitions arising from the merging of IR and UV fixed points, expected to occur in QCD with a large enough number of flavors. We study the smoothness of physical quantities across this transition, being mostly determined by the logarithmic breaking of conformal invariance. We investigate this explicitly using holography where approaching the conformal transition either from outside or inside the conformal window (perturbed by a mass term) is characterized by the same dynamics. The mass of spin-1 mesons and $F_\pi$ are shown to be continuous across the transition, as well as the dilaton mass. This implies that the lightness of the dilaton cannot be a consequence of the spontaneous breaking of scale invariance when leaving the conformal window. Our analysis suggests that the light scalar observed in QCD lattice simulations is a $q\bar q$ meson that becomes light since the $q\bar q$-operator dimension reaches its minimal value.
In recent years, the non-relativistic effective theory (NRET) has been widely used for direct detection of dark matter and $\mu \to e$ conversion. Nevertheless, existing literature has not fully considered tensor interactions, introducing a critical gap in our understanding. This study addresses this omission by integrating tensor amplitudes into the NRET framework, employing a novel approach for decomposing antisymmetric tensor-type interactions. This work establishes the connection between the tensor amplitudes and the non-relativistic Galilean-invariant operators. Specifically, it explores this relationship up to the leading order in momentum transfer, stemming from the exchange of spin-half particles in dark matter scenarios, and extends the analysis to the lepton-velocities orders for $\mu \to e$ conversion cases. To facilitate further research and experimental analyses, comprehensive tables containing the requisite tensor matrix elements at finite momentum transfer are furnished, encompassing all possible Lorentz-invariant terms. These tensor terms are crucial to the analysis of ongoing experiments of dark matter detection through scattering off nuclei, as well as charged-lepton flavor violation in the $\mu \to e$ conversion. Upon successful detection, they will contribute significantly to the comprehension of the nature of these new physics interactions.
We study the prospects of thermal leptogenesis in the framework of the minimal flipped $SU(5)$ unified model in which the RH neutrino mass scale emerges as a two-loop effect. Despite its strong suppression with respect to the unification scale which tends to disfavor leptogenesis in the standard Davidson-Ibarra regime (and a notoriously large washout of the $N_1$-generated asymmetry owing to a top-like Yukawa entry in the Dirac neutrino mass matrix) the desired $\eta_B\sim 6\times 10^{-10}$ can still be attained in several parts of the parameter space exhibiting interesting baryon and lepton number violation phenomenology. Remarkably enough, in all these regions the mass of the lightest LH neutrino is so low that it yields $m_\beta \lesssim 0.03$ eV for the effective neutrino mass measured in beta-decay, i.e., an order of magnitude below the design sensitivity limit of the KATRIN experiment. This makes the model potentially testable in the near future.
We discuss the bounds on polarized parton distributions which follow from their definition in terms of cross section asymmetries. We spell out how the bounds obtained in the naive parton model can be derived within perturbative QCD at leading order when all quark and gluon distributions are defined in terms of suitable physical processes. We specify a convenient physical definition for the polarized and unpolarized gluon distributions in terms of Higgs production from gluon fusion. We show that these bounds are modified by subleading corrections, and we determine them up to NLO. We examine the ensuing phenomenological implications, in particular in view of the determination of the polarized gluon distribution.
In models with a U(1) gauge extension beyond the Standard Model, one can derive sum rules for the couplings of the theory that are a consequence of tree-level unitarity. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive list of coupling sum rules for a general SU(2)$_L\times$U(1)$_Y \times$U(1)$_{Y'}$ gauge theory coupled to an arbitrary set of fermion and scalar multiplets. These results are of particular interest for models of dark matter that employ an extended gauge sector mediated by a new (dark) $Z^\prime$ gauge boson. For the case of a minimal extension of the Standard Model with a U(1)$_{Y'}$ gauge boson, we clarify the definitions of the weak mixing angle and the electroweak $\rho$ parameter. We demonstrate the utility of a generalized $\rho$ parameter (denoted by $\rho^\prime$) whose definition naturally follows from the unitarity sum rules developed in this paper.
We explore an odd class of QFTs where a hierarchy problem is resolved with new dynamics as opposed to new particles. The essential element of our construction is a $U(1)$ pseudo-NG boson with symmetry breaking interactions all characterized by a large number $N$ of units of the fundamental charge. In the resulting effective theory, quantum corrections, like those to the effective potential and mass, which are normally power divergent and saturated at the UV cut-off, are instead saturated at a much lower scale. This critical scale, which does not involve any new particle, corresponds to the onset of unsuppressed multiparticle production in scattering processes. Remarkably this all happens within the tractable domain of weak coupling. Terms involving arbitrarily high powers of the Goldstone field must however be taken into account. In particular, a truncation to the renormalizable part of the effective Lagrangian would completely miss the physics.
There is currently no evidence for a baryon asymmetry in our Universe. Instead, cosmological observations have only demonstrated the existence of a quark-antiquark asymmetry, which does not necessarily imply a baryon asymmetric Universe, since the baryon number of the dark sector particles is unknown. In this paper we discuss a framework where the total baryon number of the Universe is equal to zero, and where the observed quark-antiquark asymmetry arises from neutron portal interactions with a dark sector fermion $N$ that carries baryon number. In order to render a baryon symmetric universe throughout the whole cosmological history, we introduce a complex scalar $\chi$, with opposite baryon number and with the same initial abundance as $N$. Notably, due to the baryon number conservation, $\chi$ is absolutely stable and could have an abundance today equal to the observed dark matter abundance. Therefore, in this simple framework, the existence of a quark-antiquark asymmetry is intimately related to the existence (and the stability) of dark matter.
In recent years, the importance of the electronic in-medium effect in the sub-GeV dark matter (DM) direct detection has been recognized and a coherent formulation of the DM-electron scattering based the linear response theory has been well established in the literature. In this paper, we apply the formulation to the scattering between DM particles and solar medium, and it is found that the dynamic structure factor inherently incorporate the particle-particle scattering and in-medium effect. Using this tool and taking a benchmark model as an example, we demonstrate how the in-medium effect affect the scattering of DM particles in the Sun, in both the heavy and light mediator limit. Formulae derived in this work lay the foundation for accurately calculating the spectra of solar-accelerated DM particles, which is of particular importance for the detection of DM particles via plasmon in semiconductor targets.
We study the double-gluon charmonium hybrid states with various quantum numbers, each of which is composed of one valence charm quark and one valence charm antiquark as well as two valence gluons. We concentrate on the exotic quantum numbers $J^{PC} =0^{--}/0^{+-}/1^{-+}/2^{+-}/3^{-+}$ that the conventional $\bar q q$ mesons can not reach. We apply the QCD sum rule method to calculate their masses to be $7.28^{+0.38}_{-0.43}$ GeV, $5.19^{+0.36}_{-0.46}$ GeV, $5.46^{+0.41}_{-0.62}$ GeV, $4.48^{+0.25}_{-0.31}$ GeV, and $5.54^{+0.35}_{-0.43}$ GeV, respectively. We study their possible decay patterns and propose to search for the $J^{PC}=2^{+-}/3^{-+}$ states in the $D^*\bar D^{(*)}/D^{*}_s \bar D^{(*)}_s/\Sigma_c^* \bar \Sigma_c^{(*)}/\Xi_c^* \bar \Xi_c^{(\prime,*)}$ channels. Experimental investigations on these states and decay channels can be useful in classifying the nature of the hybrid state, thus serving as a direct test of QCD in the low energy sector.
The baryon-number violation (BV) happens in the standard electroweak model. According to the Bloch-wave picture, the BV event rate shall be significantly enhanced when the proton-proton collision center of mass (COM) energy goes beyond the sphaleron barrier height $E_{\rm sph}\simeq 9.0\,{\rm TeV}$. Here we compare the BV event rates at different COM energies, using the Bloch-wave band structure and the CT18 parton distribution function data, with the phase space suppression factor included. As an example, the BV cross section at 25 TeV is 4 orders of magnitude bigger than its cross section at 13 TeV. The probability of detection is further enhanced at higher energies since an event at higher energy will produce on average more same sign charged leptons.
We compute the Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) of the unpolarised muon for the leptons, the photon, the light quarks, and the gluon. We discuss in detail the issues stemming from the necessity of evaluating the strong coupling constant at scales of the order of the typical hadron mass, and compare our novel approach with those currently available in the literature. While we restrict our phenomenological results to be leading-logarithmic accurate, we set up our formalism in a way that renders it straightforward to achieve next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy in the QED, QCD, and mixed QED$\times$QCD contributions.
Motivated by the most recent measurement of tau polarization in $Z\to \tau^+\tau^-$ by CMS, we have introduced a new $U(1)_X$ gauge boson field X, which can have renormalizable kinetic mixing with the standard model $U(1)_Y$ gauge boson field Y. In addition to the kinetic mixing of the dark photon, denoted as $\sigma$, there may also be mass mixing introduced by the additional Higgs doublet with a vacuum expectation value (vev) participating in $U(1)_X$ and electroweak symmetry breaking simultaneously. The interaction of the Z boson with the SM leptons is modified by the introduction of the mixing ratio parameter $\epsilon$, which quantifies the magnitude of both the mass and kinetic mixing of the dark photon. Initially, we use the tau lepton as an example to explore the Z boson phenomenology of the dark photon model with both kinetic and mass mixing. The goal is to determine the allowed parameter regions by taking into account constraints from the vector and axial-vector couplings $g_{V,A}^\tau$, the decay branching ratio $Br(Z\to \tau^- \tau^+)$ and tau lepton polarization in $Z\to \tau^-\tau^+$. We found that the mixing ratio plays important role in the Z boson features by choosing different $\epsilon$ values. Furthermore, we aim to generalize our analysis from the tau-lepton case to include all fermions by conducting global fits. This allows us to identify viable regions by incorporating relevant fermion constraints and the W/Z mass ratio. Correspondingly, we obtain the fit results with the kinetic mixing parameter $\sigma=0.074\pm0.021$, mixing ratio $\epsilon=-1.37\pm0.46$, and dark photon mass $m_X=275\pm39$ GeV. Our global analysis indicates a preference for a dark photon mass larger than $m_Z$.
The chiral anomaly is a fundamental property of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). It governs the transition amplitudes for processes involving an odd number of Goldstone bosons of chiral symmetry breaking. In case of the coupling of three pions to a photon, the magnitude of the resulting coupling is $F_{3\pi}$ and the value is predicted by chiral perturbation theory with small uncertainty. It can experimentally be measured in $\pi^-\gamma \to \pi^- \pi^0$ scattering. Here, we report on a precision experiment on $F_{3\pi}$ using the COMPASS experiment at CERN where pion-photon scattering is mediated via the Primakoff effect using heavy nuclei as target. We exploit the interference of the production of the $\pi^- \pi^0$ final state via the chiral anomaly with the photo-production of the $\rho(770)$ resonance over a wide mass range ($M_{\pi^- \pi^0}<1\textrm{ GeV}/c^2$). This is in contrast to previous measurements restricting themselves to the threshold region ($M_{\pi^- \pi^0}<370\textrm{ MeV}$) only. Our analysis allows to simultaneously extract the radiative width of the $\rho(770)$ resonance and gives a stronger handle on $F_{3\pi}$ in a unified approach thereby minimizing systematic effects rarely addressed previously.
The CPT theorem originally proven by L\"uders and Pauli ensures the equality of masses, lifetimes, magnetic moments and cross sections of any particle and its antiparticle. We show that in a Lorentz invariant quantum field theory described by its Lagrangian, CPT-violating interaction alone does not split the masses of an elementary particle and its antiparticle but breaks only the equality of lifetimes, magnetic moments and cross sections. However, CPT violation in the mass term of a field in the Lagrangian, which can be attributed to be due to the size of the particle described by a form factor, breaks only the equality of masses. Also it is shown that the two separate effects of CPT violation in the interaction terms or in the mass term do not mix due to higher quantum corrections and remain distinguishable. Thus, we urge the experimentalists to search for such observable effects concerning differences in the masses, magnetic moments, lifetimes and cross sections between the elementary or bound state particles and their antiparticles. In the case of CPT violation only in the mass term, besides the difference in the masses of elementary bound state particles and their antiparticles, there will be also an extremely tiny difference in the lifetimes of bound states due to the difference in their phase spaces. From the details of calculations, it appears that the separate effects of the CPT violation described above are quite general, neither depending on how the nonlocality is achieved, nor depending on what this violation is due to: due to T violation, as considered in the present work, which can be attributed to a cosmological direction of time; to CP or to both T and CP violations. The latter two cases satisfy the Sakharov's conditions for explaining the baryon asymmetry in the Universe.
This contribution explores the ability to probe BSM physics by using the experimental prospects for measuring the forward-backward asymmetry ($A_{FB}$) in $e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow b\bar{b}$ and $e^{+}e^{-}\rightarrow c\bar{c}$ processes at the baseline energy points of ILC: 250 and 500 GeV. The studies are based on the full simulation samples and reconstruction chains from the ILD concept group. The BSM models studied are two different types of gauge-Higgs unification (GHU) models that predict BSM Z$^\prime$ resonances at the TeV scale.
In this work, we discuss the electromagnetic properties of the $S$-wave and $D$-wave $T^+_{cc}$ molecular states, which include the magnetic moments, transition magnetic moments and radiative decay widths. According to our results, the magnetic moment of $T^+_{cc}$ state observed experimentally is $-0.09\mu_N$. Meanwhile, we also discuss the relations between the transition magnetic moments of the $S$-wave $T^+_{cc}$ molecular states and the radiative decay widths, and we analyze the proportionality between the magnetic moments of the $T^+_{cc}$ molecular states. These results provide further information on the inner structure of $T^+_{cc}$ molecular states and deepen the understanding of electromagnetic properties of doubly charmed tetraquarks.
We perform direct diagrammatic calculations of the anomalous dimensions of twist-two operators in extended N=2 and N=4 super Yang-Mills theories (SYM). In the case of N=4 SYM, we compute the four-loop anomalous dimension of the twist-two operator for several fixed values of Lorentz spin. This is the first direct diagrammatic calculation of this kind, and we confirm results previously obtained by means of integrability. For N=2 SYM, we obtain the general result for the anomalous dimension at third order of perturbation theory and find the three-loop Cusp anomalous dimension.
In this work, we study the local zeta functions of Calabi-Yau fourfolds. This is done by developing arithmetic deformation techniques to compute the factor of the zeta function that is attributed to the horizontal four-form cohomology. This, in turn, is sensitive to the complex structure of the fourfold. Focusing mainly on examples of fourfolds with a single complex structure parameter, it is demonstrated that the proposed arithmetic techniques are both applicable and consistent. We present a Calabi-Yau fourfold for which a factor of the horizontal four-form cohomology further splits into two pieces of Hodge type $(4,0)+(2,2)+(0,4)$ and $(3,1)+(1,3)$. The latter factor corresponds to a weight-3 modular form, which allows expressing the value of the periods in terms of critical values of the L-function of this modular form, in accordance with Deligne's conjecture. The arithmetic considerations are related to M-theory Calabi-Yau fourfold compactifications with background four-form fluxes. We classify such background fluxes according to their Hodge type. For those fluxes associated to modular forms, we express their couplings in the low-energy effective action in terms of L-function values.
We discuss a simple model for D-brane transport in non-abelian GLSMs. The model is the elliptic curve version of a non-abelian GLSM introduced by Hori and Tong and has gauge group U(2). It has two geometric phases, both of which describe the same elliptic curve, once realised as a codimension five complete intersection in G(2,5) and once as a determinantal variety. The determinantal phase is strongly coupled with unbroken SU(2). There are two singular points in the moduli space where the theory has a Coulomb branch. Using grade restriction rules, we show how to transport B-branes between the two phases along paths avoiding the singular points. With the help of the GLSM hemisphere partition function we compute analytic continuation matrices and monodromy matrices, confirming results obtained by different methods.
We describe a method for defining dynamical black hole entropy in gravitational effective field theories (EFTs). The entropy is constructed order by order in derivatives. For any fixed number of derivatives, the entropy satisfies a non-perturbative second law of black hole mechanics if the black hole remains within the regime of validity of EFT. In equilibrium the entropy reduces to the Wald entropy. It reduces to the entropy defined by Hollands et al in theories of vacuum gravity with up to 10 derivatives.
We show that there exists a generalized, universal notion of the trace anomaly for theories which are not conformally invariant at the classical level. The definition is suitable for any regularization scheme and clearly states to what extent the classical equations of motion should be used, thus resolving existing controversies surrounding previous proposals. Additionally, we exhibit the link between our definition of the anomaly and the functional Jacobian arising from a Weyl transformation.
We consider 3d N=2 non-abelian Hanany-Witten brane setups with chiral flavor symmetry. We propose that the associated field theories are quivers with improved bifundamentals, instead of standard bifundamentals. The improved bifundamental is a strongly coupled SCFT that carries one more U(1) global symmetry than the standard bifundamental. As a consequence, our proposal overcomes the long standing challenge of associating to each N=2 brane setup a gauge theory with the full rank global symmetry, allowing the study of all the usual supersymmetric observables, such as superconformal index, sphere partition function, chiral ring and moduli space. The construction passes many non-trivial tests, for instance we algorithmically prove that any two improved quivers associated to S-dual brane setups are infrared dual. The 3d N=2 mirror dualities can be uplifted to 4d dualities with 4d improved bifundamentals connecting USp(2N) nodes.
The distance conjecture diagnoses viable low effective realisation of consistent theories of quantum gravity by examining their breakdown at infinite distance in their parameter space. At the same time, infinite distance points in parameter space are naturally intertwined with string dualities. We explore the implications of the distance conjecture when T-duality is applied to curved compact manifolds and in presence of (non-)geometric fluxes. We provide evidence to how divergent potentials effectively screen pathological infinite distance points in the scalar field space where towers of light states cannot be sustained by the curved background. This leads us to suggest an extension to the current statement of the Swampland distance conjecture in curved spaces or in presence of non-trivial fluxes supporting the background.
Guided by a conservative formulation in investigating the physical content of quantum fields, we explore non-standard Wigner classes of particles that could provide the basis for self-interaction models to dark matter. We critically contrast the analysis with long-standing constraints to non-standard Wigner classes in the literature to discuss the model's viability.
We use the numerical conformal bootstrap to study boundary quantum electrodynamics, the theory of a four dimensional photon in a half space coupled to charged conformal matter on the boundary. This system is believed to be a boundary conformal field theory with an exactly marginal coupling corresponding to the strength of the interaction between the photon and the matter degrees of freedom. In part one of this project, we present three results. We show how the Maxwell equations put severe constraints on boundary three-point functions involving two currents and a symmetric traceless tensor. We use semi-definite programming to show that any three dimensional conformal field theory with a global U(1) symmetry must have a spin two gap less than about 1.05. Finally, combining a numerical bound on an OPE coefficient and some Ward identities involving the current and the displacement operator, we bound the displacement operator two-point function above. This upper bound also constrains a boundary contribution to the anomaly in the trace of the stress tensor for these types of theories.
We study the transport of generalized metrics between topological T-dual nilmanifolds through a Lie algebraic point of view. Emergent gravities are generalized metrics with symplectic B-fields. But this additional property might not be preserved by the aforementioned transport. We describe a necessary condition for it to happen and provide working examples on self-T-dual nilmanifolds with zero $H$-flux in both 4 and 6 dimensions. We also discuss how this procedure fails in the presence of a non-zero $H$-flux.
Although General Relativity (GR) is a very successful theory of gravity, it cannot explain every observational phenomenon. People have tried many kinds of modified gravity theory to explain these phenomena which GR cannot explain very well, such as string theory. In recent years Double Field Theory (DFT) has been an exciting research area in string theory. The most general, spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat, static vacuum solution to D = 4 double field theory has been derived by S.M. Ko, J.H. Park and M. Suh. In this article, we calculate the minor corrections to the three predictions in GR: optical deflation, planet precession and gravitational redshift. These three predictions should be able to tested by observations and find the discrepancies between GR and DFT in the future.
Celestial amplitudes may be decomposed as weighted integrals of AdS$_3$-Witten diagrams associated to each leaf of a hyperbolic foliation of spacetime. We show, for the Kleinian three-point MHV amplitude, that each leaf subamplitude is smooth except for the expected light-cone singularities. Moreover, we find that the full translationally-invariant celestial amplitude is simply the residue of the pole in the leaf amplitude at the point where the total conformal weights of the gluons equals three. This full celestial amplitude vanishes up to light-cone contact terms, as required by spacetime translation invariance, and reduces to the expression previously derived by Mellin transformation of the Parke-Taylor formula.
As a simple lattice model that exhibits a phase transition, the Ising model plays a fundamental role in statistical and condensed matter physics. Its continuum limit also furnishes a basic example of interacting quantum field theories and universality classes. Motivated by a recent bootstrap study of the quantum quartic oscillator, we revisit the conformal bootstrap approach to the 3D Ising model at criticality. Surprisingly, the low-lying properties are determined to good accuracy by simple asymptotic formulae and a few nonperturbative crossing constraints. For instance, the two relevant scaling dimensions $(\Delta_\sigma,\Delta_\epsilon)\approx (0.51810,1.4123)$ are close to the precise results from the bootstrap bounds.
In this paper, we use the vacuum expectation value formula of the topological vertex and its rotation symmetry to derive two families of Nekrasov-Okounkov type formulas. Each family of formulas depends on $2N+1$ parameters for a positive integer $N$.
We formulate the induced potential in a finite temperature cold atomic medium between two heavy impurities, or polarons, which is shown to be \textit{complex-valued} in general. The imaginary part of the complex-valued potential describes a decoherence effect, and thus, the resulting Schr\"odinger equation for the two polarons acquires a non-Hermitian term. We apply the developed formulation to two representative cases of polarons interacting with medium particles through the $s$-wave contact interaction: (i) the normal phase of single-component (i.e., spin-polarized) fermions using the fermionic field theory, and (ii) a superfluid phase using the superfluid effective field theory, which is valid either for a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of a single-component Bose gas or for the BEC-BCS crossover in two-component fermions at a low-energy regime. Computing the leading-order term, the imaginary part of the potential in both cases is found to show a universal $r^{-2}$ behavior at long distance. We propose three experimental ways to observe the effects of the universal imaginary potential in cold atoms.
We study the linear response of relativistic superfluids with a non-zero superfluid velocity. For sufficiently large superflow, an instability develops via the crossing of a pole of the retarded Green's functions to the upper half complex frequency plane. We show that this is caused by a local thermodynamic instability, i.e. when an eigenvalue of the static susceptibility matrix (the second derivatives of the free energy) diverges and changes sign. The onset of the instability occurs when $\partial_{\zeta}(n_s\zeta)=0$, with $\zeta$ the norm of the superfluid velocity and $n_s$ the superfluid density. The Landau instability for non-relativistic superfluids such as Helium 4 also coincides with the non-relativistic version of this criterion. We then turn to gauge/gravity duality and show that this thermodynamic instability criterion applies equally well to strongly-coupled superfluids. In passing, we compute holographically a number of transport coefficients parametrizing deviations out-of-equilibrium in the hydrodynamic regime and demonstrate that the gapless quasinormal modes of the dual planar black hole match those predicted by superfluid hydrodynamics.
We consider a quantum junction described by a 1+1-dimensional boundary conformal field theory (BCFT). Our analysis focuses on correlations emerging at finite temperature, achieved through the computation of entanglement measures. Our approach relies on characterizing correlation functions of twist fields using BCFT techniques. We provide non-perturbative predictions for the crossover between low and high temperatures. An intriguing interplay between bulk and boundary effects, associated with the bulk/boundary scaling dimensions of the fields above, is found. In particular, the entanglement entropy is primarily influenced by bulk thermal fluctuations, exhibiting extensiveness for large system sizes with a prefactor independent of the scattering properties of the defect. In contrast, negativity is governed by fluctuations across the entangling points only, adhering to an area law; its value depends non-trivially on the defect, and it diverges logarithmically as the temperature is decreased. To validate our predictions, we numerically check them for free fermions on the lattice, finding good agreement.
We propose an extension of the formalism developed by Stelle-West and Grignani-Nardelli to the case of FDAs. We first consider the case of FDAs carrying one $p$-form extension and no non-trivial cohomology. We show that it is possible to define large gauge transformations as a direct extension of the large transformations induced by their Lie subalgebras and study the resulting non-linear realizations. Furthermore, we extend the results to the case FDAs with non-trivial cohomology by introducing large gauge transformations that carry the information about the FDA cocycle structure constants. We consider two examples of this type of gauge algebra, namely, FDA extensions of the bosonic Poincar\'{e} and Maxwell algebras, write down their dual $L_{\infty}$ algebras and study their non-linear realizations and possible invariant action principles.
We study Renyi entropies and late-time bulk correlators between asymptotically de Sitter space universes connected through an Euclidean axion wormhole in arbitrary dimensions. We first establish the notion of entropy with respect to these observers within the background-independent approach to the algebra of operators. We then provide an explicit derivation of holographic Renyi entropies between the universes considering the dS/CFT correspondence. In the quantum mechanical description, the results can be recasted in terms of reduced density matrix where one of the asymptotically dS universes is traced out. Remarkably, our work shows that the throat of the Euclidean wormhole is associated with the entanglement between the universes. Later, we study correlators for heavy particles in the presence of an observer. We find that the Euclidean wormhole saddle allows for the late-time correlators with respect to observers located in the asymptotically dS universes to achieve a constant value at late times, while for the disconnected saddles do not contribute. The result is compatible with each of the asymptotically de Sitter universes being described by a finite-dimensional quantum dual theory. Lastly, we provide with an effective theory description of the dimensional reduction of these geometries in terms of dilaton-gravity theory with conformally coupled matter.
We present a new regularization procedure called autoregularization. The new procedure regularizes the divergences, encountered previously in a scattering process, using the intrinsic scale of the process. We use autoregularization to calculate the amplitudes of several scattering processes in QED and compare the calculations with experimental measurements over a broad range of center-of-momentum energies ( $\lesssim$ MeV to $\gtrsim$ 200 GeV ). The calculated amplitudes are found to be in good agreement with experimental data. To test autoregularization in a non-Abelian gauge theory, we calculate the QCD coupling constant at 1-loop and show that, like the known regularization schemes, autoregularization also predicts asymptotic freedom in QCD. Finally, we show that the vacuum energy density of the free fields in the Standard Model, calculated using autoregularization, is smaller than the current estimate of the cosmic critical density.
We explore computationally tractable deformations of the SYK model. The deformed theories are described by the sum of two SYK Hamiltonians with differing numbers, $q$ and $\tilde{q}$, of interacting fermions. In the large $N$ limit, employing analytic and numerical tools, we compute finite temperature correlation functions and thermodynamic quantities. We identify a novel analytically solvable model in the large $q$ limit. We find that, under certain circumstances, the thermal RG flow in the strongly coupled infrared phase exhibits two regions of linear-in-temperature entropy, which we interpret in terms of Schwarzian actions. Using conformal perturbation theory we compute the leading relevant correction away from the intermediate near-conformal fixed point. Holographic spacetimes in two spacetime dimensions that reproduce the thermodynamics of the microphysical theory are discussed. These are flow geometries that interpolate between two Euclidean near-AdS$_2$ spacetimes with different radii. The Schwarzian soft mode corresponding to the AdS$_2$ region in the deep interior resides entirely within the geometric regime.
We classify all possible charge-3 monopole spectral curves with non-trivial automorphism group and within these identify those with elliptic quotients. By focussing on elliptic quotients the transcendental constraints for a monopole spectral curve become ones regarding periods of elliptic functions. We construct the Nahm data and new monopole spectral curves with $D_6$ and $V_4$ symmetry, the latter based on an integrable complexification of Euler's equations, and for which energy density isosurfaces are plotted. Extensions of our approach to higher charge and hyperbolic monopoles are discussed.
We propose a mechanism for reaching pseudorandom quantum states, i.e., states that computationally indistinguishable from Haar random, with shallow quantum circuits of depth $\log n$, where $n$ is the number of qudits. While it is often argued that a $\log n$ ``computational time" provides a lower bound on the speed of information scrambling, the level of scrambling implied by those arguments does not rise to the level required for pseudorandomness. Indeed, we show that $\log n$-depth $2$-qudit-gate-based generic random quantum circuits that match the ``speed limit" for scrambling cannot produce computationally pseudorandom quantum states. This conclusion is connected with the presence of polynomial (in $n$) tails in the stay probability of short Pauli strings that survive evolution through $\log n$ layers of such circuits. We argue, however, that producing pseudorandom quantum states with shallow $\log n$-depth quantum circuits can be accomplished if one employs universal families of ``inflationary'' quantum (IQ) gates which eliminate the tails in the stay-probability. We prove that IQ-gates cannot be implemented with $2$-qubit gates but can be realized either as a subset of 2-qu$d$it-gates in $U(d^2)$ with $d\ge 3$ and $d$ prime, or as special 3-qubit gates. Identifying the fastest way of producing pseudorandom states is conceptually important and has implications to many areas of quantum information.
Hyperbolic geometry on the one-bordered torus is numerically uniformized using Liouville theory. This geometry is relevant for the hyperbolic string tadpole vertex describing the one-loop quantum corrections of closed string field theory. We argue that the Lam\'e equation, upon fixing its accessory parameter via Polyakov conjecture, provides the input for the characterization. The explicit expressions for the Weil-Petersson metric as well as the local coordinates and the associated vertex region for the tadpole vertex are given in terms of classical torus conformal blocks. The relevance of this vertex for vacuum shift computations in string theory is highlighted.
We prove the integrality and finiteness of open BPS invariants of toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds relative to Aganagic-Vafa outer branes, defined from open Gromov-Witten invariants by the Labastida-Mari\~no-Ooguri-Vafa formula. Specializing to disk invariants, we extend the open/closed correspondence of Gromov-Witten invariants to BPS invariants and prove the integrality of a class of genus-zero BPS invariants of toric Calabi-Yau 4-folds, thereby providing additional examples for the conjecture of Klemm-Pandharipande.
We study the heavy-dense limit of QCD on the lattice with heavy quarks at high density. The effective three dimensional theory has a sign problem which is alleviated by sign optimization where the path integration domain is deformed in complex space in a way that minimizes the phase oscillations. We simulate the theory via a Hybrid-Monte-Carlo, for different volumes, both to leading order and next-to-next-to leading order in the hopping expansion, and show that sign optimization successfully mitigates the sign problem at large enough volumes where usual re-weighting methods fail. Finally we show that there is a significant overlap between the complex manifold generated by sign optimization and the Lefschetz thimbles associated with the theory.
Differential cross sections are measured for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with vector bosons (W, Z) and decaying to a pair of b quarks. Measurements are performed within the framework of the simplified template cross sections. The analysis relies on the leptonic decays of the W and Z bosons, resulting in final states with 0, 1, or 2 electrons or muons. The Higgs boson candidates are either reconstructed from pairs of resolved b-tagged jets, or from single large distance parameter jets containing the particles arising from two b quarks. Proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2016-2018 and corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$, are analyzed. The inclusive signal strength, defined as the product of the observed production cross section and branching fraction relative to the standard model expectation, combining all analysis categories, is found to be $\mu$ = 1.15$^{+0.22}_{-0.20}$. This corresponds to an observed (expected) significance of 6.3 (5.6) standard deviations.
A search has been performed for the semileptonic decays $D^{0}\to K_{S}^{0} K^{-} e^{+}\nu_{e}$, $D^{+}\to K_{S}^{0} K_{S}^{0} e^{+}\nu_{e}$ and $D^{+}\to K^{+}K^{-} e^{+}\nu_{e}$, using $7.9~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ annihilation data collected at the center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=3.773$ GeV by the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII collider. No significant signals are observed, and upper limits are set at the 90\% confidence level of $2.13\times10^{-5}$, $1.54\times10^{-5}$ and $2.10\times10^{-5}$ for the branching fractions of $D^{0}\to K_{S}^{0} K^{-} e^{+}\nu_{e}$, $D^{+}\to K_{S}^{0} K_{S}^{0} e^{+}\nu_{e}$ and $D^{+}\to K^{+}K^{-} e^{+}\nu_{e}$, respectively.
This paper presents a study of Higgs boson production in association with a vector boson (V = W or Z) in the fully hadronic $qqbb$ final state using data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. The vector bosons and Higgs bosons are each reconstructed as large-radius jets and tagged using jet substructure techniques. Dedicated tagging algorithms exploiting $b$-tagging properties are used to identify jets consistent with Higgs bosons decaying into $b\bar{b}$. Dominant backgrounds from multijet production are determined directly from the data, and a likelihood fit to the jet mass distribution of Higgs boson candidates is used to extract the number of signal events. The VH production cross section is measured inclusively and differentially in several ranges of Higgs boson transverse momentum: 250-450, 450--650, and greater than 650 GeV. The inclusive signal yield relative to the Standard Model expectation is observed to be $\mu = 1.4 ^{+1.0}_{-0.9}$ and the corresponding cross section is $3.1 \pm 1.3\, (stat.)\: ^{+1.8}_{-1.4}\, (syst.$) pb.
As liquid argon (LAr) detectors are made at progressively larger sizes, accurate models of LAr optical properties become increasingly important for simulating light transport, understanding signals, and developing analyses. The refractive index, group velocity, and Rayleigh scattering length are particularly important for vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and visible photons in detectors with diameters much greater than one meter. While optical measurements in the VUV are sparse, recent measurements of the group velocity of 128 nm photons in LAr provide valuable constraints on these parameters. These calculations are further complicated by the dependence of optical parameters on thermodynamic properties that might fluctuate or vary throughout the argon volume. This manuscript presents the model used by DEAP-3600, a dark matter direct detection experiment at SNOLAB using a 3.3 tonne LAr scintillation counter. Existing data and thermodynamic models are synthesized to estimate the wavelength-dependent refractive index, group velocity, and Rayleigh scattering length within the detector, and parameters' uncertainties are estimated. This model, along with in situ measurements of LAr scintillation properties, is benchmarked against data collected in DEAP-3600, providing a method for modeling optical properties in large LAr detectors and for propagating their uncertainties through downstream simulations. Updates are also presented of the Noble Element Simulation Technique (NEST) software, widely used to model scintillation and ionization signals in argon- and xenon-based detectors.
The scintillation characteristics of an undoped CsI crystal with dimensions of 5.8 mm $\times$ 5.9 mm $\times$ 7.0 mm, corresponding to a weight of 1.0 g, were studied by directly coupling two silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) over a temperature range from room temperature (300 K) to a low temperature of 86 K. The scintillation decay time and light output were measured using x-ray (23 keV) and gamma-ray (88 keV) peaks from a $^{109}$Cd radioactive source. An increase in decay time was observed as the temperature decreased from room temperature to 86 K, ranging from 76 ns to 605 ns. Correspondingly, the light output increased as well, reaching 37.9 $\pm$ 1.5 photoelectrons per keV electron-equivalent at 86 K, which is approximately 18 times higher than the light yield at room temperature. Leveraging the significantly enhanced scintillation light output of the undpoed CsI crystal at the low temperature, coupling it with SiPMs makes it a promising candidate for the future dark matter search detector, benefiting from the low threshold owing to the high light output. The odd proton numbers from both cesium and iodine provide an advantage for the WIMP-proton spin-dependent interaction. We evaluated the sensitivity of low-mass dark matter on WIMP-proton spin-dependent interaction with the Migdal process, assuming 200 kg of undoped CsI crystals for the dark matter search. We conclude that undoped CsI crystal detectors exhibit world-competitive sensitivities for low-mass dark matter detection, particularly for the WIMP-proton spin-dependent interaction.
A precise and efficient tracking is one of the critical components of the CMS physics program as it impacts the ability to reconstruct the physics objects needed to understand proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The CMS detector has undergone extensive improvements in preparation for Run 3 of the LHC to operate efficiently at the increased luminosity and pileup. Significant algorithmic enhancements have been implemented to enhance the performance of the CMS tracking system. These enhancements concentrate on refining both track finding and selection processes. Performance measurements of the track reconstruction both in simulation and collision data will be presented. The performance is assessed using LHC Run 2 at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV and early LHC Run 3 data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13.6 TeV.
The Key4hep project aims to provide a turnkey software solution for the full experiment lifecycle, based on established community tools. Several future collider communities (CEPC, CLIC, EIC, FCC, and ILC) have joined to develop and adapt their workflows to use the common data model EDM4hep and common framework. Besides sharing of existing experiment workflows, one focus of the Key4hep project is the development and integration of new experiment independent software libraries. Ongoing collaborations with projects such as ACTS, CLUE, PandoraPFA and the OpenDataDector show the potential of Key4hep as an experiment-independent testbed and development platform. In this talk, we present the challenges of an experiment-independent framework along with the lessons learned from discussions of interested communities (such as LUXE) and recent adopters of Key4hep in order to discuss how Key4hep could be of interest to the wider HEP community while staying true to its goal of supporting future collider designs studies.
Detector studies for future experiments rely on advanced software tools to estimate performance and optimize their design and technology choices. The Key4hep project provides a flexible turnkey solution for the full experiment life-cycle based on established community tools such as ROOT, Geant4, DD4hep, Gaudi, podio and spack. Members of the CEPC, CLIC, EIC, FCC, and ILC communities have joined to develop this framework and have merged, or are in the progress of merging, their respective software environments into the Key4hep stack. These proceedings will give an overview over the recent progress in the Key4hep project: covering the developments towards adaptation of state-of-the-art tools for simulation (DD4hep, Gaussino), track and calorimeter reconstruction (ACTS, CLUE), particle flow (PandoraPFA), analysis via RDataFrame, and visualization with Phoenix, as well as tools for testing and validation.
The podio event data model (EDM) toolkit provides an easy way to generate a performant implementation of an EDM from a high level description in yaml format. We present the most recent developments in podio, most importantly the inclusion of a schema evolution mechanism for generated EDMs as well as the "Frame", a thread safe, generalized event data container. For the former we discuss some of the technical aspects in relation with supporting different I/O backends and leveraging potentially existing schema evolution mechanisms provided by them. Regarding the Frame we introduce the basic concept and highlight some of the functionality as well as important aspects of its implementation. The usage of podio for generating different EDMs for future collider projects (most importantly EDM4hep, the common EDM for the Key4hep project) has inspired new features. We present some of those smaller new features and end with a brief overview on current developments towards a first stable version as well as an outlook on future developments beyond that.
A performant and easy-to-use event data model (EDM) is a key component of any HEP software stack. The podio EDM toolkit provides a user friendly way of generating such a performant implementation in C++ from a high level description in yaml format. Finalizing a few important developments, we are in the final stretches for release v1.0 of podio, a stable release with backward compatibility for datafiles written with podio from then on. We present an overview of the podio basics, and go into slighty more technical detail on the most important topics and developments. These include: schema evolution for generated EDMs, multithreading with podio generated EDMs, the implementation of them as well as the basics of I/O. Using EDM4hep, the common and shared EDM of the Key4hep project, we highlight a few of the smaller features in action as well as some lessons learned during the development of EDM4hep and podio. Finally, we show how podio has been integrated into the Gaudi based event processing framework that is used by Key4hep, before we conclude with a brief outlook on potential developments after v1.0.
A search for the production of a top quark in association with a photon and additional jets via flavor changing neutral current interactions is presented. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The search is performed by looking for processes where a single top quark is produced in association with a photon, or a pair of top quarks where one of the top quarks decays into a photon and an up or charm quark. Events with an electron or a muon, a photon, one or more jets, and missing transverse momentum are selected. Multivariate analysis techniques are used to discriminate signal and standard model background processes. No significant deviation is observed over the predicted background. Observed (expected) upper limits are set on the branching fractions of top quark decays: $\mathcal{B}$(t$\to$u$\gamma$) $\lt$ 0.95$\times$10$^{-5}$ (1.20$\times$10$^{-5}$) and $\mathcal{B}$(t$\to$c$\gamma$) $\lt$ 1.51$\times$10$^{-5}$ (1.54$\times$10$^{-5}$) at 95% confidence level, assuming a single nonzero coupling at a time. The obtained limit for $\mathcal{B}$(t$\to$u$\gamma$) is similar to the current best limit, while the limit for $\mathcal{B}$(t$\to$c$\gamma$) is significantly tighter than previous results.
Searches for long-lived particles (LLPs) are among the most promising avenues for discovering physics beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). However, displaced signatures are notoriously difficult to identify due to their ability to evade standard object reconstruction strategies. In particular, the default ATLAS track reconstruction applies strict pointing requirements which limit sensitivity to charged particles originating far from the primary interaction point. To recover efficiency for LLPs decaying within the tracking detector volume, the ATLAS Collaboration employs a dedicated large-radius tracking (LRT) pass with loosened pointing requirements. During Run 2 of the LHC, the LRT implementation produced many incorrectly reconstructed tracks and was therefore only deployed in small subsets of events. In preparation for LHC Run 3, ATLAS has significantly improved both standard and large-radius track reconstruction performance, allowing for LRT to run in all events. This development greatly expands the potential phase-space of LLP searches and streamlines LLP analysis workflows. This paper will highlight the above achievement and report on the readiness of the ATLAS detector for track-based LLP searches in Run 3.
A search for supersymmetry targeting the direct production of winos and higgsinos is conducted in final states with either two leptons ($e$ or $\mu$) with the same electric charge, or three leptons. The analysis uses 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess over the Standard Model expectation is observed. Simplified and complete models with and without $R$-parity conservation are considered. In topologies with intermediate states including either $Wh$ or $WZ$ pairs, wino masses up to 525 GeV and 250 GeV are excluded, respectively, for a bino of vanishing mass. Higgsino masses smaller than 440 GeV are excluded in a natural $R$-parity-violating model with bilinear terms. Upper limits on the production cross section of generic events beyond the Standard Model as low as 40 ab are obtained in signal regions optimised for these models and also for an $R$-parity-violating scenario with baryon-number-violating higgsino decays into top quarks and jets. The analysis significantly improves sensitivity to supersymmetric models and other processes beyond the Standard Model that may contribute to the considered final states.
A search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson in final states with two hadronically decaying $\tau$-leptons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis uses $139$ fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018. No evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model is found. The results are interpreted in terms of a 2HDM+$a$ model. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are derived. Model-independent limits are also set on the visible cross section for processes beyond the Standard Model producing missing transverse momentum in association with a Higgs boson decaying to $\tau$-leptons.
A measurement of the $CP$-violating observables from $B^{\pm}\rightarrow D^* K^{\pm}$ and $B^{\pm}\rightarrow D^* \pi^{\pm}$ decays is presented, where $D^* (D) $ is an admixture of $D^{*0}$ and $\bar{D}^{*0}$ ($D^0$ and $\bar{D}^0$) states and is reconstructed through the decay chains $ D^* \rightarrow D\pi^0/\gamma$ and $D \to K_S^0 \pi^+\pi^-/K_S^0 K^+K^-$. The measurement is performed by analysing the signal yield variation across the $D$ decay phase space and is independent of any amplitude model. The data sample used was collected by the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions and corresponds to a total integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$ at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV. The CKM angle $\gamma$ is determined to be $(69^{+13}_{-14})^{\circ}$ using the measured $CP$-violating observables. The hadronic parameters $r^{D^* K^{\pm}}_B, r^{D^* \pi^{\pm}}_B, \delta^{D^* K^{\pm}}_B, \delta^{D^* \pi^{\pm}}_B$, which are the ratios and strong phase differences between favoured and suppressed $B^{\pm}$ decays, are also reported.
Non-Hermitian effects have emerged as a new paradigm for the manipulation of phases of matter that profoundly changes our understanding of non-equilibrium systems, introducing novel concepts such as exceptional points and spectral topology, as well as exotic phenomena such as non-Hermitian skin effects (NHSEs). Most existing studies, however, focus on non-Hermitian eigenstates, whereas dynamic properties of non-Hermitian systems have been discussed only very recently, predicting unexpected phenomena such as wave self-healing, chiral Zener tunneling, and the dynamic NHSEs that are not yet confirmed in experiments. Here, we report the first experimental observation of rich non-Hermitian skin dynamics using tunable one-dimensional nonreciprocal double-chain mechanical systems with glide-time symmetry. Remarkably, dynamic NHSEs are observed with various dynamic behaviors in different dynamic phases, revealing the intriguing nature of these phases that can be understood via the generalized Brillouin zone and the related concepts. Moreover, the observed tunable non-Hermitian skin dynamics and amplifications, the bulk unidirectional wave propagation, and the boundary wave trapping provide promising ways to guide, trap, and amplify waves in a controllable and robust way. Our findings unveil the fundamental aspects and open a new pathway toward non-Hermitian dynamics, which will fertilize the study of non-equilibrium phases of matter and give rise to novel applications in information processing.
In the era of extensive data growth, robust and efficient mechanisms are needed to store and manage vast amounts of digital information, such as Data Storage Systems (DSSs). Concurrently, privacy concerns have arisen, leading to the development of techniques like Private Information Retrieval (PIR) to enable data access while preserving privacy. A PIR protocol allows users to retrieve information from a database without revealing the specifics of their query or the data they are accessing. With the advent of quantum computing, researchers have explored the potential of using quantum systems to enhance privacy in information retrieval. In a Quantum Private Information Retrieval (QPIR) protocol, a user can retrieve information from a database by downloading quantum systems from multiple servers, while ensuring that the servers remain oblivious to the specific information being accessed. This scenario offers a unique advantage by leveraging the inherent properties of quantum systems to provide enhanced privacy guarantees and improved communication rates compared to classical PIR protocols. In this thesis we consider the QPIR setting where the queries and the coded storage systems are classical, while the responses from the servers are quantum. This problem was treated by Song et al. for replicated storage and different collusion patterns. This thesis aims to develop QPIR protocols for coded storage by combining known classical PIR protocols with quantum communication algorithms, achieving enhanced privacy and communication costs. We consider different storage codes and robustness assumptions, and we prove that the achieved communication cost is always lower than the classical counterparts.
We study the Bisognano-Wichmann Hamiltonian for fractional quantum Hall states defined on a sphere and explore its relationship with the entanglement Hamiltonian associated to the state. We present results for several examples, namely the bosonic Laughlin state stabilized by contact two-body interactions and the bosonic Moore-Read state by either three- or two-body interactions. Our findings demonstrate that the Bisognano-Wichmann Hamiltonian provides a reliable approximation of the entanglement Hamiltonian as a fully-local operator that can be written without any prior knowledge of the specific state under consideration.
This paper improves and demonstrates the usefulness of the first quantized plane-wave algorithms for the quantum simulation of electronic structure, developed by Babbush et al. and Su et al. We describe the first quantum algorithm for first quantized simulation that accurately includes pseudopotentials. We focus on the Goedecker-Tetter-Hutter (GTH) pseudopotential, which is among the most accurate and widely used norm-conserving pseudopotentials enabling the removal of core electrons from the simulation. The resultant screened nuclear potential regularizes cusps in the electronic wavefunction so that orders of magnitude fewer plane waves are required for a chemically accurate basis. Despite the complicated form of the GTH pseudopotential, we are able to block encode the associated operator without significantly increasing the overall cost of quantum simulation. This is surprising since simulating the nuclear potential is much simpler without pseudopotentials, yet is still the bottleneck. We also generalize prior methods to enable the simulation of materials with non-cubic unit cells, which requires nontrivial modifications. Finally, we combine these techniques to estimate the block-encoding costs for commercially relevant instances of heterogeneous catalysis (e.g. carbon monoxide adsorption on transition metals) and compare to the quantum resources needed to simulate materials in second quantization. We conclude that for computational cells with many particles, first quantization often requires meaningfully less spacetime volume.
Recent experiments demonstrated quantum computational advantage in random circuit sampling and Gaussian boson sampling. However, it is unclear whether these experiments can lead to practical applications even after considerable research effort. On the other hand, simulating the quantum coherent dynamics of interacting spins has been considered as a potential first useful application of quantum computers, providing a possible quantum advantage. Despite evidence that simulating the dynamics of hundreds of interacting spins is challenging for classical computers, concrete proof is yet to emerge. We address this problem by proving that sampling from the output distribution generated by a wide class of quantum spin Hamiltonians is a hard problem for classical computers. Our proof is based on the Taylor series of the output probability, which contains the permanent of a matrix as a coefficient when bipartite spin interactions are considered. We devise a classical algorithm that extracts the coefficient using an oracle estimating the output probability. Since calculating the permanent is #P-hard, such an oracle does not exist unless the polynomial hierarchy collapses. With an anticoncentration conjecture, the hardness of the sampling task is also proven. Based on our proof, we estimate that an instance involving about 200 spins will be challenging for classical devices but feasible for intermediate-scale quantum computers with fault-tolerant qubits.
One dimensional confinement in waveguide Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) plays a crucial role to enhance light-matter interactions and to induce a strong quantum nonlinear optical response. In two or higher dimensional settings, this response is reduced since photons can be emitted within a larger phase space, opening the question whether strong photon-photon interaction can be still achieved. In this study, we positively answer this question for the case of a 2D square array of atoms coupled to the light confined into a two-dimensional waveguide. More specifically, we demonstrate the occurrence of long-lived two-photon repulsive and bound states with genuine 2D features. Furthermore, we observe signatures of these effects also in free-space atomic arrays in the form of weakly-subradiant in-band scattering resonances. Our findings provide a paradigmatic signature of the presence of strong photon-photon interactions in 2D waveguide QED.
Predicting and analyzing global behaviour of complex systems is challenging due to the intricate nature of their component interactions. Recent work has started modelling complex systems using networks endowed with multiway interactions among nodes, known as higher-order networks. In this context, simplicial complexes are a class of higher-order networks that have received significant attention due to their topological structure and connections to Hodge theory. Topological signal processing utilizes these connections to analyze and manipulate signals defined on non-Euclidean domains such as simplicial complexes. In this work, we present a general quantum algorithm for implementing filtering processes in TSP and describe its application to extracting network data based on the Hodge decomposition. We leverage pre-existing tools introduced in recent quantum algorithms for topological data analysis and combine them with spectral filtering techniques using the quantum singular value transformation framework. While this paper serves as a proof-of-concept, we obtain a super-polynomial improvement over the best known classical algorithms for TSP filtering processes, modulo some important caveats about encoding and retrieving the data from a quantum state. The proposed algorithm generalizes the applicability of tools from quantum topological data analysis to novel applications in analyzing high-dimensional complex systems.
Phase estimation plays a central role in communications, sensing, and information processing. Quantum correlated states, such as squeezed states, enable phase estimation beyond the shot-noise limit, and in principle approach the ultimate quantum limit in precision, when paired with optimal quantum measurements. However, physical realizations of optimal quantum measurements for optical phase estimation with quantum correlated states are still unknown. Here we address this problem by introducing an adaptive Gaussian measurement strategy for optical phase estimation with squeezed vacuum states that, by construction, approaches the quantum limit in precision. This strategy builds from a comprehensive set of locally optimal POVMs through rotations and homodyne measurements and uses the Adaptive Quantum State Estimation framework for optimizing the adaptive measurement process, which, under certain regularity conditions, guarantees asymptotic optimality for this quantum parameter estimation problem. As a result, the adaptive phase estimation strategy based on locally-optimal homodyne measurements achieves the quantum limit within the phase interval of $[0, \pi/2)$. Furthermore, we generalize this strategy by including heterodyne measurements, enabling phase estimation across the full range of phases from $[0, \pi)$, where squeezed vacuum allows for unambiguous phase encoding. Remarkably, for this phase interval, which is the maximum range of phases that can be encoded in squeezed vacuum, this estimation strategy maintains an asymptotic quantum-optimal performance, representing a significant advancement in quantum metrology.
The solution of linear systems of equations is the basis of many other quantum algorithms, and recent results provided an algorithm with optimal scaling in both the condition number $\kappa$ and the allowable error $\epsilon$ [PRX Quantum \textbf{3}, 0403003 (2022)]. That work was based on the discrete adiabatic theorem, and worked out an explicit constant factor for an upper bound on the complexity. Here we show via numerical testing on random matrices that the constant factor is in practice about 1,500 times smaller than the upper bound found numerically in the previous results. That means that this approach is far more efficient than might naively be expected from the upper bound. In particular, it is over an order of magnitude more efficient than using a randomised approach from [arXiv:2305.11352] that claimed to be more efficient.
Hybrid quantum-classical approaches offer potential solutions for quantum chemistry problems, but they also introduce challenges such as the barren plateau and the exactness of the ansatze. These challenges often manifest as constrained optimization problems without a guarantee of identifying global minima. In this work, we highlight the interconnection between constrained optimization and generalized eigenvalue problems, using a unique class of non-orthogonal and overcomplete basis sets generated by Givens rotation-type canonical transformations on a reference state. Employing the generator coordinate approach, we represent the wave function in terms of these basis sets. The ensuing generalized eigenvalue problem yields rigorous lower bounds on energy, outperforming the conventional variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) that employs the same canonical transformations in its ansatze. Our approach effectively tackles the barren plateau issue and the heuristic nature of numerical minimizers in the standard VQE, making it ideal for intricate quantum chemical challenges. For real-world applications, we propose an adaptive scheme for selecting these transformations, emphasizing the linear expansion of the non-orthogonal basis sets. This ensures a harmonious balance between accuracy and efficiency in hybrid quantum-classical simulations. Our analysis and suggested methodology further broaden the applications of quantum computing in quantum chemistry. Notably, they pave the way for alternative strategies in excited state computation and Hamiltonian downfolding, laying the groundwork for sophisticated quantum simulations in chemistry.
Attempts to create quantum degenerate gases without evaporative cooling have been pursued since the early days of laser cooling, with the consensus that polarization gradient cooling (PGC, also known as "optical molasses") alone cannot reach condensation. In the present work, we report that simple PGC can generate a small Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) inside a corrugated micrometer-sized optical dipole trap. The experimental parameters enabling BEC creation were found by machine learning, which increased the atom number by a factor of 5 and decreased the temperature by a factor of 2.5, corresponding to almost two orders of magnitude gain in phase space density. When the trapping light is slightly misaligned through a microscopic objective lens, a BEC of $\sim 250$ $^{87}$Rb atoms is formed inside a local dimple within 40 ms of PGC.
In the QBist approach to quantum mechanics, a measurement is an action an agent takes on the world external to herself. A measurement device is an extension of the agent and both measurement outcomes and their probabilities are personal to the agent. According to QBism, nothing in the quantum formalism implies either that the quantum state assignments of two agents or their respective measurement outcomes need to be mutually consistent. Recently, Khrennikov has claimed that QBism's personalist theory of quantum measurement is invalidated by Ozawa's so-called intersubjectivity theorem. Here, following Stacey, we refute Khrennikov's claim by showing that it is not Ozawa's mathematical theorem but an additional assumption made by Khrennikov that QBism is incompatible with. We then address the question of intersubjective agreement in QBism more generally. Even though there is never a necessity for two agents to agree on their respective measurement outcomes, a QBist agent can strive to create conditions under which she would expect another agent's reported measurement outcome to agree with hers. It turns out that the assumptions of Ozawa's theorem provide an example for just such a condition.
As it is well known, split Cayley hexagons of order two live in the three-qubit symplectic polar space in two non-isomorphic embeddings, called classical and skew. Although neither of the two embeddings yields observable-based contextual configurations of their own, {\it classically}-embedded copies are found to fully rule contextuality properties of the most prominent three-qubit contextual configurations in the following sense: each set of unsatisfiable contexts of such a contextual configuration is isomorphic to the set of lines that certain classically-embedded hexagon shares with this particular configuration. In particular, for a doily this shared set comprises three pairwise disjoint lines belonging to a grid of the doily, for an elliptic quadric the corresponding set features nine mutually disjoint lines forming a (Desarguesian) spread on the quadric, for a hyperbolic quadric the set entails 21 lines that are in bijection with the edges of the Heawood graph and, finally, for the configuration that consists of all the 315 contexts of the space its 63 unsatisfiable ones cover an entire hexagon. A particular illustration of this encoding is provided by the {\it line-complement} of a skew-embedded hexagon; its 24 unsatisfiable contexts correspond exactly to those 24 lines in which a particular classical copy of the hexagon differs from the considered skew-embedded one. In connection with the last-mentioned case we also conducted some experimental tests on a Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) computer to validate our theoretical findings.
We demonstrate a method for encoding Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) error-correcting qubits with single ultracold atoms trapped in individual sites of a deep optical lattice. Using quantum optimal control protocols, we demonstrate the generation of GKP qubit states with 10 dB squeezing, which is the current minimum allowable squeezing level for use in surface code error correction. States are encoded in the vibrational levels of the individual lattice sites and generated via phase modulation of the lattice potential. Finally, we provide a feasible experimental protocol for the realization of these states. Our protocol opens up possibilities for generating large arrays of atomic GKP states for continuous-variable quantum information.
Radio signal classification plays a pivotal role in identifying the modulation scheme used in received radio signals, which is essential for demodulation and proper interpretation of the transmitted information. Researchers have underscored the high susceptibility of ML algorithms for radio signal classification to adversarial attacks. Such vulnerability could result in severe consequences, including misinterpretation of critical messages, interception of classified information, or disruption of communication channels. Recent advancements in quantum computing have revolutionized theories and implementations of computation, bringing the unprecedented development of Quantum Machine Learning (QML). It is shown that quantum variational classifiers (QVCs) provide notably enhanced robustness against classical adversarial attacks in image classification. However, no research has yet explored whether QML can similarly mitigate adversarial threats in the context of radio signal classification. This work applies QVCs to radio signal classification and studies their robustness to various adversarial attacks. We also propose the novel application of the approximate amplitude encoding (AAE) technique to encode radio signal data efficiently. Our extensive simulation results present that attacks generated on QVCs transfer well to CNN models, indicating that these adversarial examples can fool neural networks that they are not explicitly designed to attack. However, the converse is not true. QVCs primarily resist the attacks generated on CNNs. Overall, with comprehensive simulations, our results shed new light on the growing field of QML by bridging knowledge gaps in QAML in radio signal classification and uncovering the advantages of applying QML methods in practical applications.
Thought experiments are where logical reasoning meets storytelling, catalysing progress in quantum science and technology. Schr\"odinger's famous cat brought quantum science to the public consciousness, while Deutsch's thought experiment to test the many-worlds and Copenhagen interpretations involved the first conception of a quantum computer. I will show how presenting thought experiments using quantum circuits can demystify apparent quantum paradoxes, and provide fun, conceptually important activities for learners to implement themselves on near-term quantum devices. Additionally, I will explain how thought experiments can be used as a first introduction to quantum, and outline a workshop based on the "quantum bomb tester" for school students as young as 11. This paper draws upon my experience in developing and delivering quantum computing workshops in Oxford, and in creating a quantum paradoxes content series with IBM Quantum of videos, blogs and code tutorials.
Quantum sensing utilizing unique quantum properties of non-Hermitian systems to realize ultra-precision measurements has been attracting increasing attention. However, the debate on whether non-Hermitian systems are superior to Hermitian counterparts in sensing remains an open question. Here, we investigate the quantum information in PT-symmetric quantum sensing utilizing two experimental schemes based on the trapped-ion platform. It turns out that the existence of advantages of non-Hermitian quantum sensing heavily depends on additional information resources carried by the extra degrees of freedom introduced to construct PT-symmetric quantum sensors. Moreover, the practical application of non-Hermitian quantum sensing with superior performance is primarily restricted by the additional resource consumption accompanied by the post-selection. Our study provides theoretical references for the construction of non-Hermitian quantum sensors with superior performance and has potential applications in research fields of quantum precision measurement and quantum information processing.
We report the quantum computing of reacting flows by simulating the Hamiltonian dynamics. The scalar transport equation for reacting flows is transformed into a Hamiltonian system, mapping the dissipative and non-Hermitian problem in physical space to a Hermitian one in a higher-dimensional space. Using this approach, we develop the quantum spectral and finite difference methods for simulating reacting flows in periodic and general conditions, respectively. The present quantum computing algorithms offer a ``one-shot'' solution for a given time without temporal discretization, avoiding iterative quantum state preparation and measurement. We compare computational complexities of the quantum and classical algorithms. The quantum spectral method exhibits exponential acceleration relative to its classical counterpart, and the quantum finite difference method can achieve exponential speedup in high-dimensional problems. The quantum algorithms are validated on quantum computing simulators with the Qiskit package. The validation cases cover one- and two-dimensional reacting flows with a linear source term and periodic or inlet-outlet boundary conditions. The results obtained from the quantum spectral and finite difference methods agree with analytical and classical simulation results. They accurately capture the convection, diffusion, and reaction processes. This demonstrates the potential of quantum computing as an efficient tool for the simulation of reactive flows in combustion.
Image classification is a crucial task in machine learning. In recent years, this field has witnessed rapid development, with a series of image classification models being proposed and achieving state-of-the-art (SOTA) results. Parallelly, with the advancement of quantum technologies, quantum machine learning has attracted a lot of interest. In particular, a class of algorithms known as variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) has been extensively studied to improve the performance of classical machine learning. In this paper, we propose a novel image classification framework using VQAs. The major advantage of our framework is the elimination of the need for the global pooling operation typically performed at the end of classical image classification models. While global pooling can help to reduce computational complexity, it often results in a significant loss of information. By removing the global pooling module before the output layer, our approach allows for effectively capturing more discriminative features and fine-grained details in images, leading to improved classification performance. Moreover, employing VQAs enables our framework to have fewer parameters compared to the classical framework, even in the absence of global pooling, which makes it more advantageous in preventing overfitting. We apply our method to different SOTA image classification models and demonstrate the superiority of the proposed quantum architecture over its classical counterpart through a series of experiments on public datasets.
Leveraging the extraordinary phenomena of quantum superposition and quantum correlation, quantum computing offers unprecedented potential for addressing challenges beyond the reach of classical computers. This paper tackles two pivotal challenges in the realm of quantum computing: firstly, the development of an effective encoding protocol for translating classical data into quantum states, a critical step for any quantum computation. Different encoding strategies can significantly influence quantum computer performance. Secondly, we address the need to counteract the inevitable noise that can hinder quantum acceleration. Our primary contribution is the introduction of a novel variational data encoding method, grounded in quantum regression algorithm models. By adapting the learning concept from machine learning, we render data encoding a learnable process. Through numerical simulations of various regression tasks, we demonstrate the efficacy of our variational data encoding, particularly post-learning from instructional data. Moreover, we delve into the role of quantum correlation in enhancing task performance, especially in noisy environments. Our findings underscore the critical role of quantum correlation in not only bolstering performance but also in mitigating noise interference, thus advancing the frontier of quantum computing.
Random noise and crosstalk are the major factors limiting the readout fidelity of superconducting qubits, especially in multi-qubit systems. Neural networks trained on labeled measurement data have proven useful in mitigating the effects of crosstalk at readout, but their effectiveness is currently limited to binary discrimination of joint-qubit states by their architectures. We propose a time-resolved modulated neural network that adapts to full-state tomography of individual qubits, enabling time-resolved measurements such as Rabi oscillations. The network is scalable by pairing a module with each qubit to be detected for joint-state tomography. Experimental results demonstrate a 23% improvement in fidelity under low signal-to-noise ratio, along with a 49% reduction in variance in Rabi measurements.
Uncertainty principle is one of the most essential features in quantum mechanics and plays profound roles in quantum information processing. We establish tighter summation form uncertainty relations based on metric-adjusted skew information via operator representation of observables, which improve the existing results. By using the methodologies of sampling coordinates of observables, we also present tighter product form uncertainty relations. Detailed examples are given to illustrate the advantages of our uncertainty relations.
We investigate a non-interacting many-particle bosonic system, placed in a slightly asymmetric double-well potential. We first consider the dynamics of a single particle and determine its time-dependent probabilities to be in the left or the right well of the potential. These probabilities obey the standard Josephson equations, which in their many-particle interpretation also describe a globally coherent system, such as a Bose-Einstein condensate. This system exhibits the widely studied Josephson oscillations of the population imbalance between the wells. In our study we go beyond the regime of global coherence by developing a formalism based on an effective density matrix. This formalism gives rise to a generalization of Josephson equations, which differ from the standard ones by an additional parameter, that has the meaning of the degree of fragmentation. We first consider the solution of the generalized Josephson equations in the particular case of thermal equilibrium at finite temperatures, and extend our discussion to the non-equilibrium regime afterwards. Our model leads to a constraint on the maximum amplitude of Josephson oscillations for a given temperature and the total number of particles. A detailed analysis of this constraint for typical experimental scenarios is given.
Efficient error estimates for the Trotter product formula are central in quantum computing, mathematical physics, and numerical simulations. However, the Trotter error's dependency on the input state and its application to unbounded operators remains unclear. Here, we present a general theory for error estimation, including higher-order product formulas, with explicit input state dependency. Our approach overcomes two limitations of the existing operator-norm estimates in the literature. First, previous bounds are too pessimistic as they quantify the worst-case scenario. Second, previous bounds become trivial for unbounded operators and cannot be applied to a wide class of Trotter scenarios, including atomic and molecular Hamiltonians. Our method enables analytical treatment of Trotter errors in chemistry simulations, illustrated through a case study on the hydrogen atom. Our findings reveal: (i) for states with fat-tailed energy distribution, such as low-angular-momentum states of the hydrogen atom, the Trotter error scales worse than expected (sublinearly) in the number of Trotter steps; (ii) certain states do not admit an advantage in the scaling from higher-order Trotterization, and thus, the higher-order Trotter hierarchy breaks down for these states, including the hydrogen atom's ground state; (iii) the scaling of higher-order Trotter bounds might depend on the order of the Hamiltonians in the Trotter product for states with fat-tailed energy distribution. Physically, the enlarged Trotter error is caused by the atom's ionization due to the Trotter dynamics. Mathematically, we find that certain domain conditions are not satisfied by some states so higher moments of the potential and kinetic energies diverge. Our analytical error analysis agrees with numerical simulations, indicating that we can estimate the state-dependent Trotter error scaling genuinely.
We propose a hybrid quantum-classical method to investigate the equilibrium physics and the dynamics of strongly correlated fermionic models with spin-based quantum processors. Our proposal avoids the usual pitfalls of fermion-to-spin mappings thanks to a slave-spin method which allows to approximate the original Hamiltonian into a sum of self-correlated free-fermions and spin Hamiltonians. Taking as an example a Rydberg-based analog quantum processor to solve the interacting spin model, we avoid the challenges of variational algorithms or Trotterization methods. We explore the robustness of the method to experimental imperfections by applying it to the half-filled, single-orbital Hubbard model on the square lattice in and out of equilibrium. We show, through realistic numerical simulations of current Rydberg processors, that the method yields quantitatively viable results even in the presence of imperfections: it allows to gain insights into equilibrium Mott physics as well as the dynamics under interaction quenches. This method thus paves the way to the investigation of physical regimes -- whether out-of-equilibrium, doped, or multiorbital -- that are difficult to explore with classical processors.
We investigate both theoretically and numerically the wavepacket's dynamics in momentum space for a Floquet non-Hermitian system with a periodically-kicked driven potential. We have deduced the exact expression of a time-evolving wavepacket under the condition of quantum resonance. With this analytical expression, we can investigate thoroughly the temporal behaviors of the directed transport, energy diffusion and quantum scrambling. We find interestingly that, by tuning the relative phase between the real part and imaginary part of the kicking potential, one can manipulate the directed propagation, energy diffusion and quantum scrambling efficiently: when the phase equals to $\pi/2$, we observe a maximum directed current and energy diffusion, while a minimum scrambling phenomenon protected by the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry; when the phase is $\pi$, both the directed transport and the energy diffusion are suppressed, in contrast, the quantum scrambling is enhanced by the non-Hermiticity. Possible applications of our findings are discussed.
We conduct a theoretical investigation on the existence of Barren Plateaus for alternated disentangled UCC (dUCC) ansatz, a relaxed version of Trotterized UCC ansatz. In the infinite depth limit, we prove that if only single excitations are involved, the energy landscape of any electronic structure Hamiltonian concentrates polynomially. In contrast, if there are additionally double excitations, the energy landscape concentrates exponentially, which indicates the presence of BP. Furthermore, we perform numerical simulations to study the finite depth scenario. Based on the numerical results, we conjecture that the widely used first-order Trotterized UCCSD and $k$-UpCCGSD when $k$ is a constant suffer from BP. Contrary to previous perspectives, our results suggest that chemically inspired ansatz can also be susceptible to BP. Furthermore, our findings indicate that while the inclusion of double excitations in the ansatz is essential for improving accuracy, it may concurrently exacerbate the training difficulty.
We propose to use wavefunction overlaps obtained from a quantum computer as inputs for the classical split-amplitude techniques, tailored and externally corrected coupled cluster, to achieve balanced treatment of static and dynamic correlation effects in molecular electronic structure simulations. By combining insights from statistical properties of matchgate shadows, which are used to measure quantum trial state overlaps, with classical correlation diagnostics, we are able to provide quantum resource estimates well into the classically no longer exactly solvable regime. We find that rather imperfect wavefunctions and remarkably low shot counts are sufficient to cure qualitative failures of plain coupled cluster singles doubles and to obtain chemically precise dynamic correlation energy corrections. We provide insights into which wavefunction preparation schemes have a chance of yielding quantum advantage, and we test our proposed method using overlaps measured on Google's Sycamore device.
A quantum measurement involves energy exchanges between the system to be measured and the measuring apparatus. Some of them involve energy losses, for example because energy is dissipated into the environment or is spent in recording the measurement outcome. Moreover, these processes take time. For this reason, these exchanges must be taken into account in the analysis of a quantum measurement engine, and set limits to its efficiency and power. We propose a quantum engine based on a spin 1/2 particle in a magnetic field and study its fundamental limitations due to the quantum nature of the evolution. The coupling with the electromagnetic vacuum is taken into account and plays the role of a measurement apparatus. We fully study its dynamics, work, power and efficiency.
Systems of interacting bosons in double-well potentials, modeled by two-site Bose-Hubbard models, are of significant theoretical and experimental interest and attracted intensive studies in contexts ranging from many-body physics and quantum dynamics to the onset of quantum chaos. In this work we systematically study a kicked two-site Bose-Hubbard model (Bose-Hubbard dimer) with the on-site potential difference being periodically modulated. Our model can be equivalently represented as a kicked Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model and thus displays different dynamical behaviors from the kicked top model. By analyzing spectral statistics of Floquet operator, we unveil that the system undergoes a transition from regularity to chaos with increasing the interaction strength. Then based on semiclassical approximation and the analysis of R\'{e}nyi entropy of coherent states in the basis of Floquet operator eigenstates, we reveal the local chaotic features of our model, which indicate the existence of integrable islands even in the deep chaotic regime. The semiclassical analysis also suggests that the system in chaotic regime may display different dynamical behavior depending on the choice of initial states. Finally, we demonstrate that dynamical signatures of chaos can be manifested by studying dynamical evolution of local operators and out of time order correlation function as well as the entanglement entropy. Our numerical results exhibit the richness of dynamics of the kicked Bose-Hubbard dimer in both regular and chaotic regimes as the initial states are chosen as coherent spin states located in different locations of phase space.
We study the quantum metric in a driven Tavis-Cummings model, comprised of multiple qubits interacting with a quantized photonic field. The parametrical driving of the photonic field breaks the system's U(1) symmetry down to a ${\rm Z}_2$ symmetry, whose spontaneous breaking initiates a superradiant phase transition. We analytically solved the eigenenergies and eigenstates, and numerically simulated the system behaviors near the critical point. The critical behaviors near the superradiant phase transition are characterized by the quantum metric, defined in terms of the response of the quantum state to variation of the control parameter. In addition, a quantum metrological protocol based on the critical behaviors of the quantum metric near the superradiant phase transition is proposed, which enables greatly the achievable measurement precision.
A novel method has been devised to compute the Local Integrals of Motion (LIOMs) for a one-dimensional many-body localized system. In this approach, a class of optimal unitary transformations is deduced in a tensor-network formalism to diagonalize the Hamiltonian of the specified system. To construct the tensor network, we utilize the eigenstates of the subsystems Hamiltonian to attain the desired unitary transformations. Subsequently, we optimize the eigenstates and acquire appropriate unitary localized operators that will represent the LIOMs tensor network. The efficiency of the method was assessed and found to be both fast and almost accurate. In framework of the introduced tensor-network representation, we examine how the entanglement spreads along the considered many-body localized system and evaluate the outcomes of the approximations employed in this approach. The important and interesting result is that in the proposed tensor network approximation, if the length of the blocks is greater than the length of localization, then the entropy growth will be linear in terms of the logarithmic time. Also, it has been demonstrated that, the entanglement can be calculated by only considering two blocks next to each other, if the Hamiltonian has been diagonalized using the unitary transformation made by the provided tensor-network representation.
We numerically analyze the spectral statistics of the multiparametric Gaussian ensembles of complex matrices with zero mean and variances with different decay routes away from the diagonals. As the latter mimics different degree of effective sparsity among the matrix elements, such ensembles can serve as good models for a wide range of phase transitions e.g. localization to delocalization in non-Hermitian systems or Hermitian to non-Hermitian one. Our analysis reveals a rich behavior hidden beneath the spectral statistics e.g. a crossover of the spectral statistics from Poisson to Ginibre universality class with changing variances for finite matrix size, an abrupt transition for infinite matrix size and the role of complexity parameter, a single functional of all system parameters, as a criteria to determine critical point. We also confirm the theoretical predictions in \cite{psnh}, regarding the universality of the spectral statistics in non-equilibrium regime of non-Hermitian systems characterized by the complexity parameter.
Quantum computing has been widely applied in various fields, such as quantum physics simulations, quantum machine learning, and big data analysis. However, in the domains of data-driven paradigm, how to ensure the privacy of the database is becoming a vital problem. For classical computing, we can incorporate the concept of differential privacy (DP) to meet the standard of privacy preservation by manually adding the noise. In the quantum computing scenario, researchers have extended classic DP to quantum differential privacy (QDP) by considering the quantum noise. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to satisfy the QDP definition by considering the errors generated by the projection operator measurement, which is denoted as shot noises. Then, we discuss the amount of privacy budget that can be achieved with shot noises, which serves as a metric for the level of privacy protection. Furthermore, we provide the QDP of shot noise in quantum circuits with depolarizing noise. Through numerical simulations, we show that shot noise can effectively provide privacy protection in quantum computing.
The Glauber-Sudarshan, Wigner and Husimi quasiprobability distributions are indispensable tools in quantum optics. However, although mathematical relations between them are well established, not much is known about their operational connection. In this paper, we prove that a single composition of finite-strength quantum limited amplifier and attenuator channels, known for their noise-adding properties, turns the Glauber-Sudarshan distribution of any input operator into its Wigner distribution, and its Wigner distribution into its Husimi distribution. As we dissect, the considered process, which can be performed in a quantum optical laboratory with relative ease, may be interpreted as realizing a quantum-to-classical transition.
We introduce a family of quantized field states that can perform exact (entanglement- and error-free) rotations of a two-level atom starting from a specific state on the Bloch sphere. We discuss the similarities and differences between these states and the recently-introduced "transcoherent states." Our field states have the property that they are left unchanged after the rotation, and we find they are the asymptotic states obtained when a field interacts with a succession of identically prepared ancillary atoms. Such a scheme was recently proposed [npj Quantum Information 3:17 (2017)] as a way to "restore" a field state after its interaction with a two-level atom, so as to reuse it afterwards, thus reducing the energy requirements for successive quantum logical operations. We generalize this scheme to find optimal pulses for arbitrary rotations, and also study analytically what happens if the ancillas are in a mixed, rather than a pure state. Consistent with the numerical results in the original proposal, we find that as long as the ancilla preparation error is small (of the order of $1/\bar n$, where $\bar n$ is the average number of atoms in the pulses considered) it will introduce only higher-order errors in the performance of the restored pulse.
We present the very first demonstration of a maser utilizing silicon vacancies (VSi) within 4H silicon carbide (SiC). Leveraging an innovative feedback-loop technique, we elevate the resonator's quality factor, enabling maser operation even above room temperature. The SiC maser's broad linewidth showcases its potential as an exceptional preamplifier, displaying measured gain surpassing 10dB and simulations indicating potential amplification exceeding 30dB. By exploiting the relatively small zero-field splitting (ZFS) of VSi in SiC, the amplifier can be switched into an optically-pumped microwave photon absorber, reducing the resonator's mode temperature by 35 K below operating conditions. This breakthrough holds promise for quantum computing advancements and fundamental studies in cavity quantum electrodynamics. Our findings highlight SiC's transformative potential in revolutionizing contemporary microwave technologies.
We develop a fourth-order Magnus expansion based quantum algorithm for the simulation of many-body problems involving two-level quantum systems with time-dependent Hamiltonians, $\mathcal{H}(t)$. A major hurdle in the utilization of the Magnus expansion is the appearance of a commutator term which leads to prohibitively long circuits. We present a technique for eliminating this commutator and find that a single time-step of the resulting algorithm is only marginally costlier than that required for time-stepping with a time-independent Hamiltonian, requiring only three additional single-qubit layers. For a large class of Hamiltonians appearing in liquid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) applications, we further exploit symmetries of the Hamiltonian and achieve a surprising reduction in the expansion, whereby a single time-step of our fourth-order method has a circuit structure and cost that is identical to that required for a fourth-order Trotterized time-stepping procedure for time-independent Hamiltonians. Moreover, our algorithms are able to take time-steps that are larger than the wavelength of oscillation of the time-dependent Hamiltonian, making them particularly suited for highly-oscillatory controls. The resulting quantum circuits have shorter depths for all levels of accuracy when compared to first and second-order Trotterized methods, as well as other fourth-order Trotterized methods, making the proposed algorithm a suitable candidate for simulation of time-dependent Hamiltonians on near-term quantum devices.
Quantum error correcting codes (QECCs) and decoherence-free subspace (DFS) codes provide active and passive means, respectively, to address certain errors that arise during quantum computation. The latter technique is suitable to correct correlated errors with certain symmetries, whilst the former to correct independent errors. The concatenation of a QECC and DFS code results in a degenerate code that splits into actively and passively correcting parts, with the degeneracy impacting either part, leading to degenerate errors as well as degenerate stabilizers. The concatenation of the two types of code can aid universal fault-tolerant quantum computation when a mix of correlated and independent errors is encountered. In particular, we show that for sufficiently strongly correlated errors, the concatenation with the DFS as the inner code provides better entanglement fidelity, whereas for sufficiently independent errors, the concatenation with QECC as the inner code is preferable. As illustrative examples, we examine in detail the concatenation of a 2-qubit DFS code and a 3-qubit repetition code or 5-qubit Knill-Laflamme code, under independent and correlated errors.
We provide a systematic method for constructing effective dispersive Lindblad master equations to describe weakly-anharmonic superconducting circuits coupled by a generic dissipationless nonreciprocal linear system, with effective coupling parameters and decay rates written in terms of the immittance parameters characterizing the coupler. This article extends the foundational work of Solgun et al. (2019) for linear reciprocal couplers described by an impedance response. Here, we expand the existing toolbox to incorporate nonreciprocal elements, account for direct stray coupling between immittance ports, circumvent potential singularities, and include dissipative interactions arising from interaction with a common bath. We illustrate the use of our results with a circuit of weakly-anharmonic Josephson junctions coupled to a multiport nonreciprocal environment and a dissipative port. The results obtained here can be used for the design of complex superconducting quantum processors with non-trivial routing of quantum information, as well as analog quantum simulators of condensed matter systems.
There is a large body of work studying what forms of computational hardness are needed to realize classical cryptography. In particular, one-way functions and pseudorandom generators can be built from each other, and thus require equivalent computational assumptions to be realized. Furthermore, the existence of either of these primitives implies that $\rm{P} \neq \rm{NP}$, which gives a lower bound on the necessary hardness. One can also define versions of each of these primitives with quantum output: respectively one-way state generators and pseudorandom state generators. Unlike in the classical setting, it is not known whether either primitive can be built from the other. Although it has been shown that pseudorandom state generators for certain parameter regimes can be used to build one-way state generators, the implication has not been previously known in full generality. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, the existence of one-way state generators has no known implications in complexity theory. We show that pseudorandom states compressing $n$ bits to $\log n + 1$ qubits can be used to build one-way state generators and pseudorandom states compressing $n$ bits to $\omega(\log n)$ qubits are one-way state generators. This is a nearly optimal result since pseudorandom states with fewer than $c \log n$-qubit output can be shown to exist unconditionally. We also show that any one-way state generator can be broken by a quantum algorithm with classical access to a $\rm{PP}$ oracle. An interesting implication of our results is that a $t(n)$-copy one-way state generator exists unconditionally, for every $t(n) = o(n/\log n)$. This contrasts nicely with the previously known fact that $O(n)$-copy one-way state generators require computational hardness. We also outline a new route towards a black-box separation between one-way state generators and quantum bit commitments.
Atoms are not two-level systems, and their rich internal structure often leads to complex phenomena in the presence of light. Here, we analyze off-resonant light scattering including the full hyperfine and magnetic structure. We find a set of frequency detunings where the atomic induced dipole is the same irrespective of the magnetic state, and where two-photon transitions that alter the atomic state turn off. For alkali atoms and alkaline-earth ions, if the hyperfine splitting is dominated by the magnetic dipole moment contribution, these detunings approximately coincide. Therefore, at a given ``magical'' detuning, all magnetic states in a hyperfine manifold behave almost identically, and can be traced out to good approximation. This feature prevents state decoherence due to light scattering, which impacts quantum optics experiments and quantum information applications.
The Copenhagen interpretation has been the subject of much criticism, notably by De Broglie and Einstein, because it contradicts the principles of causality and realism. The aim of this essay is to study the wave mechanics as an alternative to traditional quantum mechanics, in the continuity of the ideas of Louis de Broglie: the pilot wave theory of De Broglie (where each particle is associated with a wave which guides it), De Broglie-Bohm theory, stochastic electrodynamics (where the stochastic character of particles is caused by the energy field of the fluctuating vacuum), and the analogies between quantum mechanics and hydrodynamics.
Optimized quantum $f$-divergence was first introduced by Wilde in \cite{Wil18}. Wilde raised the question of whether the monotonicity of optimized quantum $f$-divergence can be generalized to maps that are not quantum channels. We answer this question by generalizing the monotonicity of optimized quantum $f$-divergences to positive trace preserving maps satisfying a Schwarz inequality.
In classical physics, clocks are open dissipative systems driven from thermal equilibrium and necessarily subject to thermal noise. We describe a quantum clock driven by entropy reduction through measurement. The mechanism consists of a superconducting transmon qubit coupled to an open co-planar resonator. The cavity and qubit are driven by coherent fields and the cavity output is monitored with homodyne detection. We show that the measurement itself induces coherent oscillations, with fluctuating period, in the conditional moments. The clock signal can be extracted from the observed measurement currents and analysed to determine the noise performance. The model demonstrates a fundamental principle of clocks at zero temperature: good clocks require high rates of energy dissipation and consequently entropy generation.
Integrated photonics has been a promising platform for analog quantum simulation of condensed matter phenomena in strongly correlated systems. To that end, we explore the implementation of all-photonic quantum simulators in coupled cavity arrays with integrated ensembles of spectrally disordered emitters. Our model is reflective of color center ensembles integrated into photonic crystal cavity arrays. Using the Quantum Master Equation and the Effective Hamiltonian approaches, we study energy band formation and wavefunction properties in the open quantum Tavis-Cummings-Hubbard framework. We find conditions for polariton creation and (de)localization under experimentally relevant values of disorder in emitter frequencies, cavity resonance frequencies, and emitter-cavity coupling rates. To quantify these properties, we introduce two metrics, the polaritonic and nodal participation ratios, that characterize the light-matter hybridization and the node delocalization of the wavefunction, respectively. These new metrics combined with the Effective Hamiltonian approach prove to be a powerful toolbox for cavity quantum electrodynamical engineering of solid-state systems.
Astronomical Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs), similar to quantum information devices, experience performance limiting noise from materials. In particular, 1/f (frequency) noise can be a dominant noise mechanism, which arises from Two-Level System defects (TLSs) in the circuit dielectrics and material interfaces. Here we present a Dual-Resonator KID (DuRKID), which is designed for improved signal to noise (or noise equivalent power) relative to 1/f-noise limited KIDs. We first show the DuRKID schematic, fabricated circuit, and we follow with a description of the intended operation, first measurements, theory, and discussion. The circuit consists of two superconducting resonators sharing an electrical capacitance bridge of 4 capacitors, each of which hosts TLSs. The device is intended to operate using hybridization of the modes, which causes TLSs to either couple to one mode or the other, depending upon which capacitor they reside in. In contrast, the intended KID signal is directed to an inductor, and due to hybridization this causes correlated frequency changes in both (hybridized) modes. Therefore, one can distinguish photon signal from TLS frequency noise. To achieve hybridization, a TiN inductor is current biased to allow tuning of one bare resonator mode into degeneracy with the other and measurements show that the intended resonator modes frequency tune and hybridize as expected. The interresonator coupling and unintentional coupling of the 2 resonators to transmission lines are also characterized in measurements. In the theory, based on a quantum-information-science modes, we calculate the 4-port S parameters and simulate the 1/f frequency noise of the device. The study reveals that the DuRKID can exhibit a large and fundamental performance advantage over 1/f-noise-limited KID detectors.
Quantum Error Correction (QEC) exploits redundancy by encoding logical information into multiple physical qubits. In current implementations of QEC, sequences of non-perfect two-qubit entangling gates are used to codify the information redundantly into multipartite entangled states. Also, to extract the error syndrome, a series of two-qubit gates are used to build parity-check readout circuits. In the case of noisy gates, both steps cannot be performed perfectly, and an error model needs to be provided to assess the performance of QEC. We present a detailed microscopic error model to estimate the average gate infidelity of two-qubit light-shift gates used in trapped-ion platforms. We analytically derive leading-error contributions in terms of microscopic parameters and present effective error models that connect the error rates typically used in phenomenological accounts to the microscopic gate infidelities hereby derived. We then apply this realistic error model to quantify the multipartite entanglement generated by circuits that act as QEC building blocks. We do so by using entanglement witnesses, complementing in this way the recent studies by exploring the effects of a more realistic microscopic noise.
Following earlier work by Michel Bitbol and Laura de La Tremblaye which examines QBism from the perspective of phenomenology, this short paper explores points of contact between QBism and Maurice Merleau-Ponty's essay The intertwining--the chiasm.
The Mandelstam-Tamm and Margolus-Levitin quantum speed limits are two well-known evolution time estimates for isolated quantum systems. These bounds are usually formulated for fully distinguishable initial and final states, but both have tight extensions to systems that evolve between states with an arbitrary fidelity. However, the foundations of these extensions differ in some essential respects. The extended Mandelstam-Tamm quantum speed limit has been proven analytically and has a clear geometric interpretation. Furthermore, which systems saturate the limit is known. The derivation of the extended Margolus-Levitin quantum speed limit, on the other hand, is based on numerical estimates. Moreover, the limit lacks a geometric interpretation, and no complete characterization of the systems reaching it exists. In this paper, we derive the extended Margolus-Levitin quantum speed limit analytically and describe the systems that saturate the limit in detail. We also provide the limit with a symplectic-geometric interpretation, which indicates that it is of a different character than most existing quantum speed limits. At the end of the paper, we analyze the maximum of the extended Mandelstam-Tamm and Margolus-Levitin quantum speed limits and derive a dual version of the extended Margolus-Levitin quantum speed limit. The maximum limit is tight regardless of the fidelity of the initial and final states. However, the conditions under which the maximum limit is saturated differ depending on whether or not the initial state and the final state are fully distinguishable. The dual limit is also tight and follows from a time reversal argument. We describe the systems that saturate the dual quantum speed limit.
We consider to what extent quantum walks can constitute models of thermalization, analogously to how classical random walks can be models for classical thermalization. In a quantum walk over a graph, a walker moves in a superposition of node positions via a unitary time evolution. We show a quantum walk can be interpreted as an equilibration of a kind investigated in the literature on thermalization in unitarily evolving quantum systems. This connection implies that recent results concerning the equilibration of observables can be applied to analyse the node position statistics of quantum walks. We illustrate this in the case of a family of graphs known as fullerenes. We find that a bound from Short et al., implying that certain expectation values will at most times be close to their time-averaged value, applies tightly to the node position probabilities. Nevertheless, the node position statistics do not thermalize in the standard sense. In particular, quantum walks over fullerene graphs constitute a counter-example to the hypothesis that subsystems equilibrate to the Gibbs state. We also exploit the bridge created to show how quantum walks can be used to probe the universality of the eigenstate thermalisation hypothesis (ETH) relation. We find that whilst in C60 with a single walker, the ETH relation does not hold for node position projectors, it does hold for the average position, enforced by a symmetry of the Hamiltonian. The findings suggest a unified study of quantum walks and quantum self-thermalizations is natural and feasible.
We introduce a message-passing-neural-network-based wave function Ansatz to simulate extended, strongly interacting fermions in continuous space. Symmetry constraints, such as continuous translation symmetries, can be readily embedded in the model. We demonstrate its accuracy by simulating the ground state of the homogeneous electron gas in three spatial dimensions at different densities and system sizes. With orders of magnitude fewer parameters than state-of-the-art neural-network wave functions, we demonstrate better or comparable ground-state energies. Reducing the parameter complexity allows scaling to $N=128$ electrons, previously inaccessible to neural-network wave functions in continuous space, enabling future work on finite-size extrapolations to the thermodynamic limit. We also show the Ansatz's capability of quantitatively representing different phases of matter.
The interplay between thermodynamics and information theory has a long history, but its quantitative manifestations are still being explored. We import tools from expected utility theory from economics into stochastic thermodynamics. We prove that, in a process obeying Crooks' fluctuation relations, every $\alpha$ R\'enyi divergence between the forward process and its reverse has the operational meaning of the ``certainty equivalent'' of dissipated work (or, more generally, of entropy production) for a player with risk aversion $r=\alpha-1$. The two known cases $\alpha=1$ and $\alpha=\infty$ are recovered and receive the new interpretation of being associated to a risk-neutral and an extreme risk-averse player respectively. Among the new results, the condition for $\alpha=0$ describes the behavior of a risk-seeking player willing to bet on the transient violations of the second law. Our approach further leads to a generalized Jarzynski equality, and generalizes to a broader class of statistical divergences.
We investigate the properties of the cooperative decay modes of a cold atomic cloud, characterized by a Gaussian distribution in three dimensions, initially excited by a laser in the linear regime. We study the properties of the decay rate matrix $S$, whose dimension coincides with the number of atoms in the cloud, in order to get a deeper insight into properties of cooperative photon emission. Since the atomic positions are random, $S$ is a Euclidean random matrix whose entries are function of the atom distances. We show that, in the limit of a large number of atoms in the cloud, the eigenvalue distribution of $S$ depends on a single parameter $b_0$, called the cooperativeness parameter, which can be viewed as a quantifier of the number of atoms that are coherently involved in an emission process. For very small values of $b_0$, we find that the limit eigenvalue density is approximately triangular. We also study the nearest-neighbour spacing distribution and the eigenvector statistics, finding that, although the decay rate matrices are Euclidean, the bulk of their spectra mostly behaves according to the expectations of classical random matrix theory. In particular, in the bulk there is level repulsion and the eigenvectors are delocalized, therefore exhibiting the universal behaviour of chaotic quantum systems.
The Hidden Quantum Markov Model (HQMM) has significant potential for analyzing time-series data and studying stochastic processes in the quantum domain due to its greater accuracy and efficiency than the classical hidden Markov model. In this paper, we introduced the split HQMM (SHQMM) for implementing the hidden quantum Markov process, utilizing the conditional master equation with a fine balance condition to demonstrate the interconnections among the internal states of the quantum system. The experimental results suggest that our model outperforms previous models in terms of performance and robustness. Additionally, we establish a new learning algorithm to solve parameters in HQMM by relating the quantum conditional master equation to the HQMM. Finally, our study provides clear evidence that the quantum transport system can be considered a physical representation of HQMM. The SHQMM with accompanying algorithms present a novel method to analyze quantum systems and time series grounded in physical implementation.
Coherent interconversion between microwave and optical frequencies can serve as both classical and quantum interfaces for computing, communication, and sensing. Here, we present a compact microwave-optical transducer based on monolithic integration of piezoelectric actuators atop silicon nitride photonic circuits. Such an actuator directly couples microwave signals to a high-overtone bulk acoustic resonator defined by the suspended silica cladding of the optical waveguide core, which leads to enhanced electromechanical and optomechanical couplings. At room temperature, this triply resonant piezo-optomechanical transducer achieves an off-chip photon number conversion efficiency of -48 dB over a bandwidth of 25 MHz at an input pump power of 21 dBm. The approach is scalable in manufacturing and, unlike existing electro-optic transducers, does not rely on superconducting resonators. As the transduction process is bidirectional, we further demonstrate synthesis of microwave pulses from a purely optical input. Combined with the capability of leveraging multiple acoustic modes for transduction, the present platform offers prospects for building frequency-multiplexed qubit interconnects and for microwave photonics at large.
In quantum phase estimation, the Heisenberg limit provides the ultimate accuracy over quasi-classical estimation procedures. However, realizing this limit hinges upon both the detection strategy employed for output measurements and the characteristics of the input states. This study delves into quantum phase estimation using $s$-spin coherent states superposition. Initially, we delve into the explicit formulation of spin coherent states for a spin $s=3/2$. Both the quantum Fisher information and the quantum Cramer-Rao bound are meticulously examined. We analytically show that the ultimate measurement precision of spin cat states approaches the Heisenberg limit, where uncertainty decreases inversely with the total particle number. Moreover, we investigate the phase sensitivity introduced through operators $e^{i\zeta{S}_{z}}$, $e^{i\zeta{S}_{x}}$ and $e^{i\zeta{S}_{y}}$, subsequently comparing the resultants findings. In closing, we provide a general analytical expression for the quantum Cramer-Rao boundary applied to these three parameter-generating operators, utilizing general $s$-spin coherent states. We remarked that attaining Heisenberg-limit precision requires the careful adjustment of insightful information about the geometry of $s$-spin cat states on the Bloch sphere. Additionally, as the number of $s$-spin increases, the Heisenberg limit decreases, and this reduction is inversely proportional to the $s$-spin number.
Position error is treated as the leading obstacle that prevents Rydberg antiblockade gates from being experimentally realizable, because of the inevitable fluctuations in the relative motion between two atoms invalidating the antiblockade condition. In this work we report progress towards a high-tolerance antiblockade-based Rydberg SWAP gate enabled by the use of {\it modified} antiblockade condition combined with carefully-optimized laser pulses. Depending on the optimization of diverse pulse shapes our protocol shows that the amount of time-spent in the double Rydberg state can be shortened by more than $70\%$ with respect to the case using {\it perfect} antiblockade condition, which significantly reduces this position error. Moreover, we benchmark the robustness of the gate via taking account of the technical noises, such as the Doppler dephasing due to atomic thermal motion, the fluctuations in laser intensity and laser phase and the intensity inhomogeneity. As compared to other existing antiblockade-gate schemes the predicted gate fidelity is able to maintain at above 0.91 after a very conservative estimation of various experimental imperfections, especially considered for realistic interaction deviation of $\delta V/V\approx 5.92\%$ at $T\sim20$ $\mu$K. Our work paves the way to the experimental demonstration of Rydberg antiblockade gates in the near future.
Quantum neural networks (QNNs) and quantum kernels stand as prominent figures in the realm of quantum machine learning, poised to leverage the nascent capabilities of near-term quantum computers to surmount classical machine learning challenges. Nonetheless, the training efficiency challenge poses a limitation on both QNNs and quantum kernels, curbing their efficacy when applied to extensive datasets. To confront this concern, we present a unified approach: coreset selection, aimed at expediting the training of QNNs and quantum kernels by distilling a judicious subset from the original training dataset. Furthermore, we analyze the generalization error bounds of QNNs and quantum kernels when trained on such coresets, unveiling the comparable performance with those training on the complete original dataset. Through systematic numerical simulations, we illuminate the potential of coreset selection in expediting tasks encompassing synthetic data classification, identification of quantum correlations, and quantum compiling. Our work offers a useful way to improve diverse quantum machine learning models with a theoretical guarantee while reducing the training cost.
Expectation values of observables are routinely estimated using so-called classical shadows$\unicode{x2014}$the outcomes of randomized bases measurements on a repeatedly prepared quantum state. In order to trust the accuracy of shadow estimation in practice, it is crucial to understand the behavior of the estimators under realistic noise. In this work, we prove that any shadow estimation protocol involving Clifford unitaries is stable under gate-dependent noise for observables with bounded stabilizer norm$\unicode{x2014}$originally introduced in the context of simulating Clifford circuits. For these observables, we also show that the protocol's sample complexity is essentially identical to the noiseless case. In contrast, we demonstrate that estimation of `magic' observables can suffer from a bias that scales exponentially in the system size. We further find that so-called robust shadows, aiming at mitigating noise, can introduce a large bias in the presence of gate-dependent noise compared to unmitigated classical shadows. Nevertheless, we guarantee the functioning of robust shadows for a more general noise setting than in previous works. On a technical level, we identify average noise channels that affect shadow estimators and allow for a more fine-grained control of noise-induced biases.
The Hayden-Preskill protocol probes the capability of information recovery from local subsystems after unitary dynamics. As such it resolves the capability of quantum many-body systems to dynamically implement a quantum error-correcting code. The transition to coding behavior has been mostly discussed using effective approaches, such as entanglement membrane theory. Here, we present exact results on the use of Hayden-Preskill recovery as a dynamical probe of scrambling in local quantum many-body systems. We investigate certain classes of unitary circuit models, both structured Floquet (dual-unitary) and Haar-random circuits. We discuss different dynamical signatures corresponding to information transport or scrambling, respectively, that go beyond effective approaches. Surprisingly, certain chaotic circuits transport information with perfect fidelity. In integrable dual-unitary circuits, we relate the information transmission to the propagation and scattering of quasiparticles. Using numerical and analytical insights, we argue that the qualitative features of information recovery extend away from these solvable points. Our results suggest that information recovery protocols can serve to distinguish chaotic and integrable behavior, and that they are sensitive to characteristic dynamical features, such as long-lived quasiparticles or dual-unitarity.
We show that the maximal exponent (i.e., the minimum number of iterations required for a primitive map to become strictly positive) of the n-dimensional Lorentz cone is equal to n. As a byproduct, we show that the optimal exponent in the quantum Wielandt inequality for qubit channels is equal to 3.