Tuesdays 10:30 - 11:30 | Fridays 11:30 - 12:30
Showing votes from 2023-12-29 12:30 to 2024-01-02 11:30 | Next meeting is Tuesday Oct 29th, 10:30 am.
We perform observational confrontation and cosmographic analysis of $f(T,T_G)$ gravity and cosmology. This higher-order torsional gravity is based on both the torsion scalar, as well as on the teleparallel equivalent of the Gauss-Bonnet combination, and gives rise to an effective dark-energy sector which depends on the extra torsion contributions. We employ observational data from the Hubble function and Supernova Type Ia Pantheon datasets, applying a Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling technique, and we provide the iso-likelihood contours, as well as the best-fit values for the parameters of the power-law model. Additionally, we reconstruct the effective dark-energy equation-of-state parameter, which exhibits a quintessence-like behavior, while in the future the Universe enters into the phantom regime, before it tends asymptotically to the cosmological constant value. Furthermore, we perform a detailed cosmographic analysis, examining the deceleration, jerk, snap and lerk parameters, showing that the transition to acceleration occurs in the redshift range $ 0.52 \leq z_{tr} \leq 0.89 $, as well as the preference of the scenario for quintessence-like behavior. Finally, we apply the Om diagnostic analysis, as a cross-verification of the obtained behavior.
We formulate a renormalisation procedure for IR divergences of tree-level in-in late-time de Sitter correlators. These divergences are due to the infinite volume of spacetime and are analogous to the divergences that appear in AdS dealt with by holographic renormalisation. Regulating the theory using dimensional regularisation, we show that one can remove all infinities by adding local counterterms at the future boundary of dS in the Schwinger-Keldysh path integral. The counterterms amount to renormalising the late-time bulk field. We frame the discussion in terms of bulk scalar fields in dS, using tree-level correlators of massless and conformal scalars for illustration. The relation to AdS via analytic continuation is discussed, and we show that different versions of the analytic continuation appearing in the literature are equivalent to each other. In AdS, one needs to add counterterms that are related to conformal anomalies, and also to renormalise the source part of the bulk field. The analytic continuation to dS projects out the traditional AdS counterterms, and links the renormalisation of the sources to the renormalisation of the late-time bulk field. We use these results to establish holographic formulae that relate tree-level dS in-in correlators to CFT correlators at up to four points, and we provide two proofs: one using the connection between the dS wavefunction and the partition function of the dual CFT, and a second by direct evaluation of the in-in correlators using the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. The renormalisation of the bulk IR divergences is mapped by these formulae to UV renormalisation of the dual CFT via local counterterms, providing structural support for a possible duality. We also recast the regulated holographic formulae in terms of the AdS amplitudes of shadow fields, but show that this relation breaks down when renormalisation is required.
Revealing the large-scale structure from the 21cm intensity mapping surveys is only possible after the foreground cleaning. However, most current cleaning techniques relying on the smoothness of the foreground spectrum lead to a severe side effect of removing the large-scale structure signal along the line of sight. On the other hand, the clustering fossil, a coherent variation of the small-scale clustering over large scales, allows us to recover the long-wavelength density modes from the off-diagonal correlation between short-wavelength modes. In this paper, we study the requirements for an unbiased and optimal clustering-fossil estimator and show that (A) the estimator is unbiased only when using an accurate bispectrum model for the long-short-short mode coupling and (B) including the connected four-point correlation functions is essential for characterizing the noise power spectrum of the estimated long mode. The clustering fossil estimator based upon the leading-order bispectrum yields an unbiased estimation of the long-wavelength ($k\lesssim 0.01~[h/{\rm Mpc}]$) modes with the cross-correlation coefficient of $0.7$ at redshifts $z=0$ to $3$.
We propose a model of uniform rate inflation on the brane. The potential is given by a hyperbolic cosine function plus a negative cosmological constant. The equation of motion is solved analytically without using slow-roll approximation. The result is that the inflaton field is rolling at a constant speed. The prediction for cosmological perturbations depends on the field value at the end of inflation. The experimental constraints could be satisfied in the parameter space.
The energy released from dark matter annihilation leads to additional ionization and heating of the intergalactic gas and thereby impact the hydrogen 21-cm signal during the cosmic dawn. The dark matter annihilation rate scales as density-squared and it becomes inhomogeneously boosted along with structure formation. This paper examines the inhomogeneity in DM annihilation rate induced by the growth of DM halo structures, and we show that this effect can significantly enhance the spatial fluctuations in gas temperature, gas ionization fraction and consequently the 21-cm brightness temperature. Compared to previous homogeneous calculations, inhomogeneous dark matter annihilation can enhance the 21-cm power spectrum by orders of magnitude across the scales of $k \in [0.05, 3]\ {\rm{Mpc^{-1}}}$. For a DM annihilation rate of $\left<\sigma v\right>/m_\chi \sim 10^{-27} {\rm cm^3 s^{-1} GeV^{-1}}$, the corresponding signatures in the 21-cm power spectrum signal can be detected by upcoming radio observatories such as the SKA.
We argue that the lensing power spectrum of astrometric shift (lensing shift power spectrum) is a powerful tool of the clustering property of dark matter on subgalactic scales. First we give the formalism to probe the nature of dark matter by using the lensing shift power spectrum. Then, leveraging recent measurements of the lensing shift power spectrum on an angular scale of approximately $1~$arcsec towards the gravitationally lensed quasar MG$\,$J0414+0534 at the redshift of $z_S=2.639$, we place constraints on the mass of warm dark matter (WDM) particles $m_{\rm WDM}$ and their fraction in a mixed dark matter (MDM) model $r_{\rm WDM}$, in which WDM and cold dark matter coexist. Although the constraint derived from the above single lensing system is not as strong as the existing constraints, as we show in this paper, the lensing shift power spectrum has a great potential to obtain much tighter constraints on WDM and MDM models through future observations, highlighting the importance of well-controlled systematic error considerations for achieving enhanced precision.
We forecast the sensitivity of ongoing and future galaxy cluster abundance measurements to detect deviations from the cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm. Concretely, we consider a class of dark sector models that feature an interaction between dark matter and a dark radiation species (IDM-DR). This setup can be naturally realized by a non-Abelian gauge symmetry and has the potential to explain $S_8$ tensions arising within $\Lambda$CDM. We create mock catalogs of the ongoing SPT-3G as well as the future CMB-S4 surveys of galaxy clusters selected via the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (tSZE). Both datasets are complemented with cluster mass calibration from next-generation weak gravitational lensing data (ngWL) like those expected from the Euclid mission and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. We consider an IDM-DR scenario with parameters chosen to be in agreement with Planck 2018 data and that also leads to a low value of $S_8$ as indicated by some local structure formation analyses. Accounting for systematic and stochastic uncertainties in the mass determination and the cluster tSZE selection, we find that both SPT-3G$\times$ngWL and CMB-S4$\times$ngWL cluster data will be able to discriminate this IDM-DR model from $\Lambda$CDM, and thus test whether dark matter - dark radiation interactions are responsible for lowering $S_8$. Assuming IDM-DR, we forecast that the temperature of the dark radiation can be determined to about 40% (10%) with SPT-3G$\times$ngWL (CMB-S4$\times$ngWL), considering 68% credibility, while $S_8$ can be recovered with percent-level accuracy. Furthermore, we show that IDM-DR can be discriminated from massive neutrinos, and that cluster counts will be able to constrain the dark radiation temperature to be below $\sim 10%$ (at 95% credibility) of the cosmic microwave background temperature if the true cosmological model is $\Lambda$CDM.
We apply the inverse Gertsenshtein effect, i.e., the graviton-photon conversion in the presence of a magnetic field, to constrain high-frequency gravitational waves (HFGWs). Using existing astrophysical measurements, we compute upper limits on the GW energy densities $\Omega_{\rm GW}$ at 16 different frequency bands. Given the observed magnetisation of galaxy clusters with field strength $B\sim\mu{\rm G}$ correlated on $\mathcal{O}(10)\,{\rm kpc}$ scales, we estimate HFGW constraints in the $\mathcal{O}(10^2)\,{\rm GHz}$ regime to be $\Omega_{\rm GW}\lesssim10^{16}$ with the temperature measurements of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Similarly, we conservatively obtain $\Omega_{\rm GW}\lesssim10^{13} (10^{11})$ in the $\mathcal{O}(10^2)\,{\rm MHz}$ ($\mathcal{O}(10)\,{\rm GHz}$) regime by assuming uniform magnetic field with strength $B\sim0.1\,{\rm nG}$ and saturating the excess signal over the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) reported by radio telescopes such as the Experiment to Detect the Global EoR Signature (EDGES), LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), and Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), and the balloon-borne second generation Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission (ARCADE2) with graviton-induced photons. Although none of these existing constraints fall below the critical value of $\Omega_{\rm GW} = 1$ or reaches the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) bound of $\Omega_{\rm GW}\simeq1.2\times10^{-6}$, the upcoming Square Kilometer Array (SKA) can improve the sensitivities by roughly 10 orders of magnitude and potentially become realistic probes of HFGWs. We also explore several next-generation CMB surveys, including Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE), Polarized Radiation Interferometer for Spectral disTortions and INflation Exploration (PRISTINE) and Voyage 2050, that could potentially provide constraints competitive to the current BBN bound.
It is well-known that the theory of Cotton gravity proposed by Harada is trivially solved by all isotropic and homogeneous cosmologies. We show that this under-determination is more general. More precisely, the degree of arbitrariness in the solutions increases with the degree of symmetry. We give two simple examples. The first is that of static spherically symmetric solutions, which depend on an arbitrary function of the radial coordinate. The second is that of anisotropic cosmologies, which depend on an arbitrary function of time.
We propose structures of size between $\sim 1$ meter to 100 meters that drastically alter the local distribution of the Cosmic Neutrino Background ($C\nu B$). These structures have a shape reminiscent of a sea urchin: They consist of rods of width $w$ and length $L \gg w$ periodically arranged on the surface of sphere of radius $R\sim L$. Such a structure functions as a diffraction phase grating and produces a region around its center where the fractional neutrino-antineutrino asymmetry is $\sim k\delta_\nu L$, where $k$ is the neutrino momentum, and $\delta_\nu$ the deviation of the neutrino index of refraction from unity. The asymmetry has a gradient set by the rod width. We find that the local neutrino asymmetry can be enhanced by $\mathcal{O}(\text{few}\times 10^6)$ relative to the naive Standard Model expectation, for reasonably sized structures. This results in a force $\mathcal{O}(10^3)$ times bigger than the one we recently pointed out due to the neutrinos' reflection on the surface of the Earth. While in this paper we do not propose a concrete detection setup, we estimate that the $\mathcal{O}(G_F)$ force on a test mass can be close to the Standard Quantum Limit of a torsion balance or a low frequency harmonic oscillator. Finally, we show that this $C \nu B$ diffractor can be used as a Dark Matter diffractor. For example, the QCD axion Dark Matter with decay constant $f_a$ around $10^9$ GeV can be sufficiently diffracted to produce a gradient force that is up to $\mathcal{O}(10^2)$ times larger than the one from the $C \nu B$. This is the first setup of this kind and the simplicity of our design suggests that there could be significant improvements that escape us.
Genetic algorithms are a powerful tool in optimization for single and multi-modal functions. This paper provides an overview of their fundamentals with some analytical examples. In addition, we explore how they can be used as a parameter estimation tool in cosmological models to maximize the likelihood function, complementing the analysis with the traditional Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. We analyze that genetic algorithms provide fast estimates by focusing on maximizing the likelihood function, although they cannot provide confidence regions with the same statistical meaning as Bayesian approaches. Moreover, we show that implementing sharing and niching techniques ensures an effective exploration of the parameter space, even in the presence of local optima, always helping to find the global optima. This approach is invaluable in the cosmological context, where exhaustive space exploration of parameters is essential. We use dark energy models to exemplify the use of genetic algorithms in cosmological parameter estimation, including a multimodal problem, and we also show how to use the output of a genetic algorithm to obtain derived cosmological functions. This paper concludes that genetic algorithms are a handy tool within cosmological data analysis, without replacing the traditional Bayesian methods but providing different advantages.
The standard cosmological model, the $\Lambda$CDM model, is the most suitable description for our universe. This framework can explain the accelerated expansion phase of the universe but still is not immune to open problems when it comes to the comparison with observations. One of the most critical issues is the so-called Hubble constant ($H_0$) tension, namely, the difference of about $5\sigma$ as an average between the value of $H_0$ estimated locally and the cosmological value measured from the Last Scattering Surface. The value of this tension changes from 4 to 6 $\sigma$ according to the data used. The current analysis explores the $H_0$ tension in the \textit{Pantheon} sample (PS) of SNe Ia. Through the division of the PS in 3 and 4 bins, the value of $H_0$ is estimated for each bin and all the values are fitted with a decreasing function of the redshift ($z$). Remarkably, $H_0$ undergoes a slow decreasing evolution with $z$, having an evolutionary coefficient compatible with zero up to $5.8\sigma$. If this trend is not caused by hidden astrophysical biases or $z$-selection effects, then the $f(R)$ modified theories of gravity represent a valid model for explaining such a trend.
The tidal deformability and the radius of neutron stars are observables, which have been used to constrain the neutron star equation of state and explore the composition in neutron stars. We investigated the radius and tidal deformability of dark matter admixed neutron stars (DANSs) by utilizing the two-fluid TOV equations. Assuming that the dark matter modeled as ideal fermi gas or self-interacting bosons, for a series of DANSs at a fixed mass, it is shown that there exists the DANSs with smaller normal matter radii but larger tidal deformabilities. This negative correlation does not exist in the normal neutron stars.In other words, if the observation finds that the neutron stars with a fixed mass exists such a situation, that is, having a smaller observed radius but a larger tidal deformability, it will indicate the existence of dark matter in neutron stars.In addition, the relevant neutron star observations can also be used to constrain the dark matter parameters.
In this paper, we review the theoretical basis for generation of gravitational waves and the detection techniques used to detect a gravitational wave. To materialize this goal in a thorough way we first start with a mathematical background for general relativity from which a clue for gravitational wave was conceived by Einstein. Thereafter we give the classification scheme of gravitational waves such as (i) continuous gravitational waves, (ii) compact binary inspiral gravitational waves and (iii) stochastic gravitational wave. Necessary mathematical insight into gravitational waves from binaries are also dealt with which follows detection of gravitational waves based on the frequency classification. Ground based observatories as well as space borne gravitational wave detectors are discussed in a length. We have provided an overview on the inflationary gravitational waves. In connection to data analysis by matched filtering there are a few highlights on the techniques, e.g. (i) Random noise, (ii) power spectrum, (iii) shot noise, and (iv) Gaussian noise. Optimal detection statistics for a gravitational wave detection is also in the pipeline of the discussion along with detailed necessity of the matched filter and deep learning.
We show that high-energy astrophysical neutrinos produced in the cores of heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can undergo strong matter effects, thus significantly influencing their source flavor ratios. In particular, matter effects can completely modify the standard interpretation of the flavor ratio measurements in terms of the physical processes occurring in the sources (e.g., $pp$ versus $p\gamma$, full pion-decay chain versus muon-damped pion decay). We contrast our results with the existing flavor ratio measurements at IceCube, as well as with projections for next-generation neutrino telescopes like IceCube-Gen2. Signatures of these matter effects in neutrino flavor composition would not only bring more evidence for neutrino production in central AGN regions, but would also be a powerful probe of heavily Compton-thick AGNs, which escape conventional observation in $X$-rays and other electromagnetic wavelengths.
Galactic centers are very dense and dynamically active environments, often harboring a nuclear star cluster and supermassive black hole at their cores. Binaries in these environments are subject to strong tidal fields that can efficiently torque its orbit, exciting near unity eccentricities that ultimately lead to their merger. In turn, the frequent close interactions due to passing stars impulsively perturb the orbit of the binary, generally softening their orbit until their evaporation, thus potentially hindering the role of the tidal fields to drive these mergers. In this work, we study the evolution of compact object binaries in the galactic center and their merger rates, focusing for the first time on the combined effect of the cluster's tidal field and flyby interactions. We find a significant synergy between both evolution processes, where merger rates increase by a factor of ~10-30 compared with models in which only flybys or tidal fields are taken into account. This synergy is mainly a consequence of the persistent tides-driven eccentricity excitation that is enhanced by the gradual diffusion of z-component of the angular momentum driven by flybys. The merger efficiency peaks when the diffusion rate is ~10-100 times slower than the torquing due to the tidal field. Added to this synergy, we also find that the gradual softening of the binary can lift the relativistic quenching of initially tight binaries, otherwise unable to reach extreme eccentricities, and thus expanding the available phase-space for mergers. Cumulatively, we conclude that despite the gradual softening of binaries due to stellar flybys, these greatly enhance their merger rates in the centers of galaxies by promoting the eccentricity excitation driven by the tidal fields.
A cosmological model based on two scalar fields is proposed. The first of these, $\varphi$, has mass $\mu$, while the second, $\chi$, is massless. The pair are coupled through a ``Higgs portal''. First, we show how the model reproduces the Friedmann equations if the square of the mass of $\varphi$ is proportional to the cosmological constant and $\chi$ represents the quintessence field. Quantum corrections break the conformal symmetry and $\chi$ acquires a mass that is equal to $\sqrt{3g \Lambda}$. Using dimensional analysis, we estimate the coupling constant and the mass of $\chi$ and obtain that $g\sim 10^{-26}$ and $m_\chi \sim 4.5\times10^{-10}\,$ eV, which is in accordance with what is expected in the quintessence scenario. the acceleration of the universe is proportional to $\chi^2$, we conclude that for very long times, the solution of the equation of motion goes to ${m_\chi}/{{\sqrt\lambda}}$ and the universe, although it continues to accelerate, the acceleration is constant
Tidal disruption event (TDE) iPTF16fnl shows a relatively low optical flare with observationally very weak X-ray emission and the spectroscopic property that the helium emission line from the source dominates over the hydrogen emission line at early times. We explore these observed signatures by calculating spectral emission lines with the publicly available code, CLOUDY. We estimate five physical parameters by fitting the observed optical UV spectra on multiple days to a theoretical model of a steady-state, slim disk with a spherical outflow. The resultant key parameters among them are black hole mass $M_{\bullet} = (6.73 \pm 0.44) \times 10^5 M_{\odot}$, stellar mass $M_{\star} = (2.59 \pm 0.17) M_{\odot}$, and wind velocity $v_{\rm w} = 7447.43 \pm 183.9~{\rm km~s^{-1}}$. The disk-wind model also estimates the radiative efficiency to be $0.01\lesssim\eta\lesssim0.02$ over the observational time, resulting in the disk being radiatively inefficient, and the disk X-ray luminosity is consistent with the observed low luminosity. In our CLOUDY model, the filling factor of the wind is also estimated to be 0.8, suggesting that the wind is moderately clumpy. We reveal that the helium-to-hydrogen number density ratio of the wind lies between 0.1 and 0.15, which is nearly the same as the solar case, suggesting the tidally disrupted star is originally a main sequence star. Because the optical depth of the helium line is lower than the hydrogen line by two orders of magnitude, the helium line is significantly optically thinner than the hydrogen line. Consequently, our results indicate that the helium line luminosity dominates the hydrogen line luminosity due to the optical depth effect despite a small helium-to-hydrogen number density ratio value.
The observations of gravitational waves (GWs) have revealed the existence of black holes (BHs) above $30M_\odot$. A variety of scenarios have been proposed as their origin. Among the scenarios, we consider the population III (Pop~III) star scenario. In this scenario, binary black holes (BBHs) containing such massive BHs are naturally produced. We consider Pop~I/II field binaries, Pop~III field binaries and the binaries dynamically formed in globular clusters. We employ a hierarchical Bayesian analysis method and constrain the branching fraction of each formation channel in our universe by using the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA gravitational wave transient catalog (GWTC-3) events. We find that the Pop~I/II field binary channel dominates the entire merging BBHs. We obtain the branching fraction of the Pop~III BBH channel of $0.11^{+0.08}_{-0.06}$, which gives the consistent local merger rate density with the model of Pop~III BBH scenario we adopt. We confirm that BHs arising from the Pop~III channel contribute to massive BBHs in GWTC-3. We also evaluate the branching fraction of each formation channel in the observed BBHs in the GWTC-3 and find the near-equal contributions from the three channels.
In GUT-scale constrained (GUTc) supersymmetric (SUSY) models, the mass of smuon $\tilde{\mu}_1$ is typically heavier than that of stau $\tilde{\tau}_1$, and stau co-annihilation is a typical annihilation mechanism of dark matter. However, light smuon is more favored by the muon $g-2$ anomaly, thus smuon-neutralino loop contribution to muon $g-2$ is usually smaller than that of sneutrino-chargino. Inspired by the latest muon $g-2$ results, we take the GUTc- Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Model (NMSSM) as an example, where the gaugino (Higgs) masses are not unified to the usual parameter $M_{1/2}$ ($M_0$), exploring its possibility of light smuon and its contribution to muon $g-2$. After complicated calculations and discussions, we conclude that in GUTc-NMSSM the smuon can be lighter than stau. In this light-smuon scenario, the contribution of smuon-neutralino loop to the muon $g-2$ can be larger than that of the sneutrino-chargino loop. The annihilation mechanisms of dark matter are dominated by multiple slepton or chargino co-annihilation. In our calculations, we consider also other latest related constraints like Higgs data, SUSY searches, dark matter relic density and direct detections, etc.
Near-equilibrium bottom-up crystallization of fully-ionized neutron star crusts or white dwarf cores is considered. We argue that this process is similar to liquid-phase epitaxial (i.e. preserving order of previous layers) crystal growth or crystal pulling from melt in Earth laboratories whereby lateral positions of newly crystallizing ions are anchored by already solidified layers. Their vertical positions are set by charge neutrality. Consequently, interplane spacing of a growing crystal either gradually increases, tracing $n_\mathrm{e}$ decrease, as the crystallization front moves away from the stellar center, or decreases, tracing decrease of $\langle Z \rangle$, when the crystallization front crosses a boundary between layers of different compositions. This results in a formation of stretched Coulomb crystals, in contrast to the standard assumption of cubic crystal formation, which is based on energetics arguments but does not take into account growth kinetics. Overstretched crystals break, which limits the vertical sizes of growing crystallites. We study breaking shear strain and effective shear modulus of stretched matter and discuss possibility of macrocrystallite formation. The latter has interesting astrophysical implications, for instance, appearance of weak crustal layers, whose strength may increase by a few orders of magnitude upon breaking and refreezing at a late-time event. We also analyze interaction of adjacent Coulomb crystals, having different ion compositions, and estimate the strength of such interfaces.
The correlation between Higgs-like scalars and light dark matter is an interesting topic, especially now that a $125 GeV$ Higgs was discovered and dark matter (DM) searches got negative results. The $95 GeV$ excess reported by the CMS collaboration with $132 fb^{-1}$ data recently, and the DM search results by XENONnT and LZ collaborations motivate us to revise that. In this work, we study that in the GUT-scale constrained (GUTc) Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Model (NMSSM), where most parameters are input at the GUT scale, but with scalar and gaugino masses not unified there. In the calculation we also consider other recent experimental constraints, such as Higgs data, Supersymmetry (SUSY) searches, DM relic density, etc. After detailed analysis and discussion, we find that: (i) The light DM can be bino- or singlino-dominated, but can be mixed with minor components of Higgsino. (ii) Both cases can get right relic density and sizable Higgs invisible decay, by adjusting the dimensionless parameters $\lambda, \kappa$, or suitably mixing with Higgsino. (iii) Both cases can have four funnel annihilation mechanisms, i.e., annihilating through $Z, a_1, h_2, h_1$. (iv) Samples with right relic density usually get weak signal of Higgs invisible decay at future lepton collider, but the $95 GeV$ scalar can have sizable $b\bar{b}$ signal.
We study the gravitational-wave background produced by f-mode oscillations of neutron stars triggered by magnetar giant flares. For the gravitational-wave energy, we use analytic formulae obtained via general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of strongly magnetized neutron stars. Assuming the magnetar giant flare rate is proportional to the star-formation rate, we show the gravitational-wave signal is likely undetectable by third-generation detectors such as the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer. We calculate the minimum value of the magnetic field and the magnetar giant flare rate necessary for such a signal to be detectable, and discuss these in the context of our current understanding of magnetar flares throughout the Universe.
We study the phase effects driven by neutrino magnetic moment for Majorana neutrinos in a core collapse supernova. A neutrino with a large magnetic moment is emitted in a superposition of energy eigenstates from the neutrinosphere. These energy eigenstates can interfere to create a phase effect at a partially adiabatic spin flavor precession (SFP) resonance. We examine the dependence of the SFP phase effect on the size of the neutrino magnetic moment as well as its variation with the post bounce time. In particular, at late post-bounce times the SFP resonance becomes wider and eventually overlaps with the Mikheev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) resonance. At this point, Landau-Zener criteria for adiabaticity can no longer be applied to individual resonances, but we show that SFP phase effect is still present after the overlap. We also discuss the observability of the SFP phase effect at late post bounce times where it is more likely to make an impact. Our analysis for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) reveals that at low energies event rates do not fluctuate despite the presence of a sizable SFP phase effect. We find larger event rate fluctuations at high energies, but these fluctuations are also erased in the energy spectra of the observed charged leptons. A more refined treatment of electron fraction and the inclusion of neutrino-neutrino interactions may change our conclusions for observability in future studies.
We discuss implications that can be obtained by searches for neutrinos from the brightest gamma-ray burst, GRB 221009A. We derive constraints on GRB model parameters such as the cosmic-ray loading factor and dissipation radius, taking into account both neutrino spectra and effective areas. The results are strong enough to constrain proton acceleration near the photosphere, and we find that the single burst limits are comparable to those from stacking analysis. Quasithermal neutrinos from subphotospheres and ultrahigh-energy neutrinos from external shocks are not yet constrained. We show that GeV-TeV neutrinos originating from neutron collisions are detectable, and urge dedicated analysis on these neutrinos with DeepCore and IceCube as well as ORCA and KM3NeT.
Black holes (BHs) formed by collapsing and/or merging of magnetized progenitors, have magnetic fields penetrating the event horizon, and there are several possible scenarios. Thus, the no-hair theorem that assumes the outside medium is a vacuum, is not applicable in this case. Bearing this in mind and considering a Schwarzschild BH of mass $M$ immersed in a uniform magnetic field $B$, we show that all three frequencies related to the equatorial circular orbit of a test particle become imaginary for the orbits of radii $r_B > 2B^{-1}$. It signifies that if a BH is surrounded by a magnetic field of order $B \sim R_g^{-1}$ (where $R_g$ is the gravitational radius of the BH), a test particle could unable to continue its regular geodesic motion from/at $r > r_B$, hence the accretion disk could not be formed, and the motion of other stellar objects around the BH could be absent. As the BHs are generally detected by watching for their effects on nearby stars and gas, a magnetic field of order $B \sim R_g^{-1}$ could be able to shield a BH in such a way that it could remain undetectable. Motivated with this theoretical investigation and considering the sphere (of radius $r_f$) of magnetic influence around an astrophysical BH, we constrain $B$, above which a magnetized BH could remain undetectable. For example, $M=10^9M_{\odot}$ BH surrounded by $B > 10^6$ G and $M=10M_{\odot}$ BH surrounded by $B > 10^{14}$ G could remain undetectable for $r_f \sim 10^5R_g$. In other words, our result also explains why a detected SMBH has surprisingly weak magnetic field.
In this paper, we implement a generalised pseudo-Newtonian potential to study the off-equatorial orbits inclined at a certain angle with the equatorial plane around Schwarzschild and Kerr-like compact object primaries surrounded by a dipolar halo of matter. The chaotic dynamics of the orbits are detailed for both non-relativistic and special-relativistic test particles. The dependence of the degree of chaos on the Kerr parameter $a$ and the inclination angle $i$ is established individually using widely used indicators, such as the Poincar\'e Maps and the Maximum Lyapunov Exponents. Although the orbits' chaoticity has a positive correlation with $i$, the growth in the chaotic behaviour is not systematic. There is a threshold value of the inclination angle $i_{\text{c}}$, after which the degree of chaos sharply increases. On the other hand, the chaoticity of the inclined orbits anti-correlates with $a$ throughout its entire range. However, the negative correlation is systematic at lower values of the inclination angle. At higher values of $i$, the degree of chaos increases rapidly below a threshold value of the Kerr parameter, $a_{\text{c}}$. Above this threshold value, the correlation becomes weak. Furthermore, we establish a qualitative correlation between the threshold values and the overall chaoticity of the system. The studies performed with different orbital parameters and several initial conditions reveal the intricate nature of the system.
The origin of the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux measured by the IceCube Observatory remains largely unknown. Although NGC 1068 and TXS 0506+056 have been identified as potential neutrino sources, the diffuse flux of neutrinos must have additional sources that have not yet been identified. Here we investigate potential correlations between IceCube's neutrino events and the Fermi and MOJAVE source catalogs, using the publicly-available IceCube data set. We perform three separate spatially-dependent, energy-dependent, and time-dependent searches, and find no statistically significant sources outside of NGC 1068. We find that no more than 13% of IceCube's neutrino flux originates from blazars over the whole sky. Then, using an energy-dependent likelihood analysis, the limit on neutrinos originating from blazars reduces to 9% in the Northern hemisphere. Finally, we set limits on individual sources from the MOJAVE radio catalog after finding no statistically significant time-flaring sources.
Time-resolved linear polarization ($\Pi$) measurements of the prompt gamma-ray burst emission can reveal its dominant radiation mechanism. A widely considered mechanism is synchrotron radiation, for which linear polarization can be used to probe the jet's magnetic-field structure, and in turn its composition. In axisymmetric jet models the polarization angle (PA) can only change by $90^\circ$, as $\Pi$ temporarily vanishes. However, some time-resolved measurements find a continuously changing PA, which requires the flow to be non-axisymmetric in at least one out of its emissivity, bulk Lorentz factor or magnetic field. Here we consider synchrotron emission in non-axisymmetric jets, from an ultrarelativistic thin shell, comprising multiple radially-expanding mini-jets (MJs) or emissivity patches within the global jet, that yield a continuously changing PA. We explore a wide variety of possibilities with emission consisting of a single pulse or multiple overlapping pulses, presenting time-resolved and integrated polarization from different magnetic field configurations and jet angular structures. We find that emission from multiple incoherent MJs/patches reduces the net polarization due to partial cancellation in the Stokes plane. When these contain a large-scale ordered field in the plane transverse to the radial direction, $\Pi$ always starts near maximal and then declines over the single pulse or shows multiple highly polarized peaks due to multiple pulses. Observing $\Pi\lesssim40\%$ ($15\%$) integrated over one (several) pulse(s) will instead favor a shock-produced small-scale field either ordered in the radial direction or tangled in the plane transverse to it.
Tidal disruption events\,(TDEs) provide a valuable probe in studying the dynamics of stars in the nuclear environments of galaxies. Recent observations show that TDEs are strongly overrepresented in post-starburst or "green valley" galaxies, although the underlying physical mechanism remains unclear. Considering the possible interaction between stars and active galactic nucleus\,(AGN) disk, the TDE rates can be greatly changed compared to those in quiescent galactic nuclei. In this work, we revisit TDE rates by incorporating an evolving AGN disk within the framework of the "loss cone" theory. We numerically evolve the Fokker-Planck equations by considering the star-disk interactions, in-situ star formation in the unstable region of the outer AGN disk and the evolution of the accretion process for supermassive black holes\,(SMBHs). We find that the TDE rates are enhanced by about two orders of magnitude shortly after the AGN transitions into a non-active stage. During this phase, the accumulated stars are rapidly scattered into the loss cone due to the disappearance of the inner standard thin disk. Our results provide an explanation for the overrepresentation of TDEs in post-starburst galaxies.
The spectra of several galaxies, including extremely metal-poor galaxies (EMPGs) from the EMPRESS survey, have shown that the abundances of some Si-group elements differ from "spherical" explosion models of massive stars. This leads to the speculation that these galaxies have experienced supernova explosions with high asphericity, where mixing and fallback of the inner ejecta with the outer material leads to the distinctive chemical compositions. In this article, we consider the jet-driven supernova models by direct two-dimensional hydrodynamics simulations using progenitors about 20 -- 25 $M_{\odot}$ at zero metallicity. We investigate how the abundance patterns depend on the progenitor mass, mass cut and the asphericity of the explosion. We compare the observable with available supernova and galaxy catalogs based on $^{56}$Ni, ejecta mass, and individual element ratios. The proximity of our results with the observational data signifies the importance of aspherical supernova explosions in chemical evolution of these galaxies. Our models will provide the theoretical counterpart for understanding the chemical abundances of high-z galaxies measured by the James Webb Space Telescope.
We probe the small-scale absorption line variability using absorption depth based analysis of a sample of 64 ultra-fast outflow (UFO) C IV broad absorption line (BAL) quasars monitored using the Southern African Large Telescope. We confirm the strong monotonic increase in the strength of variability with increasing outflow velocity. We identify regions inside the BAL trough for each source where the normalized flux difference between two epochs is $>$0.1 for a velocity width $\ge$500 kms$^{-1}$ (called ``variable regions"). We find the total number of variable regions increases with the time interval probed and the number of BALs showing variable regions almost doubles from short ($<$2 yrs) to long ($>$2 yrs) time scales. We study the distributions of variable region properties such as its velocity width, depth, and location. These regions typically occupy a few-tenths of the entire width of the BAL. Their widths are found to increase with increasing time scales having typical widths of ~2000 kms$^{-1}$ for dt $>$ 2 yr. However, their absolute velocity with respect to z$_{em}$ and their relative position within the BAL profile remain random irrespective of the time scale probed. The equivalent width variations of the BALs are strongly dependent on the size and depth of the variable regions but are little dependent on their total number. Finally, we find that ~17% of the UFO BALs show uncorrelated variability within the BAL trough.
We select a sample of 1,437 active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the catalog of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxy properties from the Portsmouth group by detection of the high-ionization [Ne V] 3426 \r{A} emission line. We compare the fluxes of [Ne III] 3869 \r{A}, [O III] 5007 \r{A}, [O II] 3726, 3728 \r{A}, and [O I] 6300 \r{A} to that of [Ne V]. All four lines show a strong linear correlation with [Ne V], although lines from ions with lower ionization potentials have a lower correlation coefficient. We investigate the use of two forbidden-line ratio (FLR) diagnostic diagrams that do not rely on H$\alpha$ in order to classify high redshift galaxies. These use the [Ne III]/[O II] line ratio plotted against [O III]/[O I] and [O III]/[O II] respectively. We use photo-ionization modeling to characterize the behavior of the narrow-line region in AGN and star-forming regions and test the validity of our diagnostic diagrams. We also use a luminosity cutoff of log L[OIII] [erg/s] = 42, which lowers the contamination of the AGN region by star-forming galaxies down to 10% but does not remove Green Pea and Purple Grape galaxies from the AGN region. We also investigate the OHNO diagram which uses [Ne III]/[O II] plotted against [O III]/H$\beta$. Using our new diagnostic diagrams, we are able to reliably classify AGN up to a redshift of z $\leq$ 1.06, and add more than 822 new AGN to the [Ne V]-selected AGN sample.
Aims. We aim to study the structure and kinematics of the two filaments inside the subsonic core Barnard 5 in Perseus using high-resolution ($\approx$ 2400 au) NH3 data and a multi-component fit analysis. Methods. We used observations of NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) inversion transitions using the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). We smoothed the data to a beam of 8'' to reliably fit multiple velocity components towards the two filamentary structures identified in B5. Results. Along with the core and cloud components, which dominate the flux in the line of sight, we detected two components towards the two filaments showing signs of infall. We also detected two additional components that can possibly trace new material falling into the subsonic core of B5. Conclusions. Following comparison with previous simulations of filament formation scenarios in planar geometry, we conclude that either the formation of the B5 filaments is likely to be rather cylindrically symmetrical or the filaments are magnetically supported. We also estimate infall rates of $1.6\times10^{-4}\,M_\odot\,yr^{-1}$ and $1.8\times10^{-4}\,M_\odot\,yr^{-1}$ (upper limits) for the material being accreted onto the two filaments. At these rates, the filament masses can change significantly during the core lifetime. We also estimate an upper limit of $3.5\times10^{-5}\,M_\odot\,yr^{-1}$ for the rate of possible infall onto the core itself. Accretion of new material onto cores indicates the need for a significant update to current core evolution models, where cores are assumed to evolve in isolation.
Changes in the flux and spectrum of Eta Carinae since 1900 have been attributed to the evolution of the central binary by some. Others suggest evolution in the occulting ejecta. The brightness jump in the 1940s, which coincided with the appearance of narrow forbidden emission lines, may have been caused by the clearing and ionization of intervening circumstellar ejecta. The brightening changed at a slower pace up through forty years later. Here we continue earlier studies focused on the long-term showing that the forbidden line emission increased in the early 1990s with no noticeable increase in the brightness of the Homunculus. We interpret that the increase in narrow line emission is due to decreased extinction in the LOS from the central binary to the Weigelt clumps. In 2000, the central stellar core increased in brightness at a faster rate without associated changes in the Homunculus. By 2018, hundreds of narrow-line absorptions from singly-ionized metals in our LOS from Eta Carinae disappeared, thought to be caused by increased ionization of metals. These three events (1990, 2000, and 2018) are explained by the dissipation of circumstellar material within the Homunculus close to the binary. Combining these changes with the steadiness of the Homunculus and the primary winds over the past four decades indicates that circumstellar ejecta in our direction have been cleared.
To investigate whether disk-mediated accretion is the primary mechanism in high-mass star formation, we have established a survey of a large sample of massive dense cores within a giant molecular cloud. We used high angular resolution ($\sim 1.8''$) observations with SMA to study the dust emission and molecular line emission of about 50 massive dense cores in Cygnus-X. At a typical distance of 1.4 kpc for Cygnus-X, these massive dense cores are resolved into $\sim 2000$ au condensations. We combined the CO outflow emission and gas kinematics traced by several high-density tracers to search for disk candidates. We extracted hundreds of dust condensations from the SMA 1.3 mm dust continuum emission. The CO data show bipolar or unipolar outflow signatures toward 49 dust condensations. Among them, only 27 sources are detected in dense gas tracers, which reveals the gas kinematics, and nine sources show evidence of rotating envelopes, suggesting the existence of embedded accretion disks. The position-velocity diagrams along the velocity gradient of all rotating condensations suggest that four condensations are possible to host Keplerian-like disks. A detailed investigation of the 27 sources detected in dense gas tracers suggests that the nine disk candidates are at earlier evolutionary stages compared to the remaining 18 sources. Non-detection of rotating disks in our sample may be due to several factors, including an unknown inclination angle of the rotation axis and an early evolutionary stage of the central source, and the latter could be important, considering that young and powerful outflows could confuse the observational evidence for rotation. The detection rate of disk candidates in our sample is 1/3, which confirms that disk accretion is a viable mechanism for high-mass star formation, although it may not be the only one.
In this investigation, we leverage the combination of Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Legacy imaging Surveys Data Release 9 (DESI LS DR9), Survey Validation 3 (SV3), and Year 1 (Y1) data sets to estimate the conditional luminosity and stellar mass functions (CLFs & CSMFs) of galaxies across various halo mass bins and redshift ranges. To support our analysis, we utilize a realistic DESI Mock Galaxy Redshift Survey (MGRS) generated from a high-resolution Jiutian simulation. An extended halo-based group finder is applied to both MGRS catalogs and DESI observation. By comparing the r and z-band luminosity functions (LFs) and stellar mass functions (SMFs) derived using both photometric and spectroscopic data, we quantified the impact of photometric redshift (photo-z) errors on the galaxy LFs and SMFs, especially in the low redshift bin at low luminosity/mass end. By conducting prior evaluations of the group finder using MGRS, we successfully obtain a set of CLF and CSMF measurements from observational data. We find that at low redshift the faint end slopes of CLFs and CSMFs below $10^{9}h^{-2}L_{sun}$ (or $h^{-2}M_{sun}$) evince a compelling concordance with the subhalo mass functions. After correcting the cosmic variance effect of our local Universe following arXiv:1809.00523, the faint end slopes of the LFs/SMFs turn out to be also in good agreement with the slope of the halo mass function.
We present a multi-wavelength analysis of the star cluster NGC 2316 and its surroundings. We estimated the physical parameters of the NGC 2316 cluster, including its shape (elongated), size (Rcluster = 0.4 pc), distance (1.3 +/- 0.3 kpc), and minimum reddening (AV = 1.55 mag). We discovered two massive stars (B2.0V-B1.5V, age ~12 Myr) embedded (AV = 4 mag) within this cluster. The cluster region still forms young stars even though the most massive star was born ~12 Myr ago. We also found evidence of positive feedback from these massive stars. We identified a cold gas/dust lane extending westward from the cluster. The western end of the dust lane seems to favor low-mass star formation, whereas the cluster's end favors bit massive star formation, which seems to have started earlier than the western end. We found an elongated molecular cloud in this region, characterized by numerous filamentary structures. The morphology of the filaments, along with position-velocity (pv) maps, velocity dispersion maps, channel maps, etc., indicate a coalescence of filaments and a potential longitudinal flow of matter toward the cluster through the western end of the gas/dust lane. This entire region seems to be a Hub-filamentary system (HFS), in which the NGC 2316 cluster is probably the hub and the dark lane is the main filamentary structure. Being the gravity well of this HFS, star formation started first in the NGC 2316 region and went on to the other filamentary nodes.
We report new analyses of spectra of the $3.2-3.3~\mu$m absorption feature observed in the diffuse interstellar medium toward three Milky Way sources: 2MASS $J17470898-2829561$ (2M1747) and the Quintuplet Cluster, both located in the Galactic center, and Cygnus OB2-12. The $3.2-3.3~\mu$m interval coincides with the CH-stretching region for compact polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We focus on the 2M1747 spectrum. Its published optical depth spectrum contains residual telluric transmission features, which arise from the 0.06 difference in mean airmasses between the observations of the source and its telluric standard star. We corrected the published spectrum by adding the airmass residual optical depth spectrum. The corrected spectrum is well fit by a superposition of four Gaussians. The absorption spectra of the other two sources were also fit by four Gaussians, with similar central wavelengths, widths, and relative peak opacities. We associate the three longer wavelength Gaussians covering the $3.23-3.31~\mu$m interval with compact PAHs in positive, neutral, and negative charge states. We identify the shortest wavelength Gaussian, near 3.21 $\mu$m, with irregularly-shaped PAHs. Constraints imposed by spectral smoothness on the corrected 2M1747 spectrum, augmented by a PAH cluster formation model for post-asymptotic giant branch stars, suggests that $> 99$\%\ of the PAHs in the diffuse interstellar medium reside in small clusters. This study supports the PAH hypothesis, and suggests that a family of primarily compact PAHs with a C$_{66}$H$_{20}$ (circumvalene) parent is consistent with the observed mid-infrared and ultraviolet interstellar absorption spectrum.
The majority of massive stars are formed in multiple systems and will interact with companions via mass transfer. This interaction typically leads to the primary shedding its envelope and the formation of a "stripped star". Classically, stripped stars are expected to quickly contract to become hot UV-bright helium stars. Surprisingly, recent optical surveys have unveiled a large number of stripped stars that are larger and cooler, appearing "puffed-up" and overlapping with the Main Sequence (MS). Here, we study the evolutionary nature and lifetimes of puffed-up stripped (PS) stars using stellar-evolution code MESA. We computed grids of binary models at four metallicities from Z = 0.017 to 0.0017. Contrary to previous assumptions, we find that stripped stars regain thermal equilibrium shortly after the end of mass transfer. Their further contraction is determined by the rate at which the residual H-rich envelope is depleted, with the main agents being H-shell burning (dominant) and mass-loss in winds. The duration of the PS star phase is 1$\%$ of the total lifetime and up to 100 times more than thermal timescale. We explored several relevant factors: orbital period, mass ratio, winds, and semiconvection. We carried out a simple population estimation, finding that $\sim$0.5-0.7 $\%$ of all the stars with $\log (L/L_{\rm \odot}$) $>$ 3.7 are PS stars. Our results indicate that tens to hundred of PS stars may be hiding in the MS population, disguised as normal stars: $\sim$100 in the Small Magellanic Cloud alone. Their true nature may be revealed by low surface gravities, high N enrichment, and likely slow rotations
The Astrophysics Source Code Library (ASCL) is a free online registry for source codes of interest to astronomers, astrophysicists, and planetary scientists. It lists, and in some cases houses, software that has been used in research appearing in or submitted to peer-reviewed publications. As of December 2023, it has over 3300 software entries and is indexed by NASA's Astrophysics Data System (ADS) and Clarivate's Web of Science. In 2020, NASA created the Exoplanet Modeling and Analysis Center (EMAC). Housed at the Goddard Space Flight Center, EMAC serves, in part, as a catalog and repository for exoplanet research resources. EMAC has 240 entries (as of December 2023), 78% of which are for downloadable software. This oral presentation covered the collaborative work the ASCL, EMAC, and ADS are doing to increase the discoverability and citability of EMAC's software entries and to strengthen the ASCL's ability to serve the planetary science community. It also introduced two new projects, Virtual Astronomy Software Talks (VAST) and Exoplanet Virtual Astronomy Software Talks (exoVAST), that provide additional opportunities for discoverability of EMAC software resources.
The Balloon Experiment for Galactic INfrared Science (BEGINS) is a concept for a sub-orbital observatory that will operate from $\lambda$ = 25-250 $\mu$m to characterize dust in the vicinity of high-mass stars. The mission's sensitivity requirements will be met by utilizing arrays of 1,840 lens-coupled, lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) operating at 300 mK. Each KID will consist of a titanium nitride (TiN) parallel strip absorbing inductive section and parallel plate capacitor (PPC) deposited on a silicon (Si) substrate. The PPC geometry allows for reduction of the pixel spacing. At the BEGINS focal plane the detectors require optical NEPs from $2\times10^{-16}$ W/$\sqrt{\textrm{Hz}}$ to $6\times10^{-17}$ W/$\sqrt{\textrm{Hz}}$ from 25-250 $\mu$m for optical loads ranging from 4 pW to 10 pW. We present the design, optical performance and quasiparticle lifetime measurements of a prototype BEGINS KID array at 25 $\mu$m when coupled to Fresnel zone plate lenses. For our optical set up and the absorption efficiency of the KIDs, the electrical NEP requirement at 25 $\mu$m is $7.6\times10^{-17}$ W/$\sqrt{\textrm{Hz}}$ for an absorbed optical power of 0.36 pW. We find that over an average of five resonators the the detectors are photon noise limited down to about 200 fW, with a limiting NEP of about $7.4\times10^{-17}$ W/$\sqrt{\textrm{Hz}}$.
The target auditory of scientific outreach efforts is often limited to the small enthusiastic subset of the society that value science and actively seeks knowledge. However, the vast majority is usually indifferent or in some cases may even be opposed to sciences. To bring these people around to support sciences, we have to double and triple our efforts. I describe my personal experience how I reach out to them by means of popular articles in glossy magazines - not the most common outreach venue, at least in Bulgaria. Four years of writing have though me that the key for success is to turn the science into and engaging human story that will keep the readers curious until the revelation of the riddle at the end of the last paragraph. Next, come the spectacular visuals - for the modern reader, spoiled by eye candies of Internet and Hollywood they are almost as important as the written words. The final requirement is accessibility - an article should explain well only two or three concepts; I am not calling for simplicity but for measuring and structuring of the information content - it is better to give the readers two understandable pieces that they would enjoy instead one impenetrable article that would turn them away from popular science for good.
For most writers the science is either an exotic setting or a source of thrilling conflict that would drive the story forward. For a communicator it is the other way around - the science is neatly wrapped in a package of literary tools that make it "invisible" while it remains tangible and most importantly - it can be conveyed to the reader in understandable terms. There are many examples showing how these seemingly contradicting goals can complement each other successfully. I will review how the science was communicated by mainstream and genre writers of yesterday and today, and in different (not necessarily anglophone) cultures. I will bring forward the best and the worst examples that illuminate various astronomical concepts. Finally, I will discuss how we can use them both in outreach and education. Contrary to many similar summaries I will concentrate on some often overlooked mainstream literary examples, including the plays The Physisists by Friedrich D\"urrenmatt and Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, the novel White Garments by Vl. Dudintsev and even an episode of the Inspector Morse TV show, featuring scientists. I will also mention in passing a few less well known genre books.
Radio telescopes are susceptible to interference arriving through its sidelobes. If a reflector antenna could be retrofitted with an adaptive null steering system, it could potentially mitigate this interference. The design of a reflectarray which can be used to reconfigure a radio telescopes radiation pattern by driving a null to the angle of incoming interference is presented. The reflectarray occupies only a portion of the rim of the original reflector and lays conformal to the paraboloid within this region. The conformal reflectarray contains unit cells with 1-bit reconfigurability stemming from two symmetrically placed PIN diodes. It is found that the dielectric and switch losses introduced by the reflectarray do not significantly affect the radio telescopes efficiency since the reflectarray is placed only along the outer rim of the reflector which is weakly illuminated. Simulation results of an L-band reconfigurable reflectarray for an 18m prime focus fed parabola are presented.
We consider quantum gravity fluctuations in a pair of nearby gravitational wave detectors. Quantum fluctuations of long-wavelength modes of the gravitational field induce coherent fluctuations in the detectors, leading to correlated noise. We determine the variance and covariance in the lengths of the arms of the detectors, and thereby obtain the graviton noise correlation. We find that the correlation depends on the angle between the detector arms as well as their separation distance.
We study the geodesic motion in a space-time describing a swirling universe. We show that the geodesic equations can be fully decoupled in the Hamilton-Jacobi formalism leading to an additional constant of motion. The analytical solutions to the geodesic equations can be given in terms of elementary and elliptic functions. We also consider a space-time describing a static black hole immersed in a swirling universe. In this case, full separation of variables is not possible and the geodesic equations have to be solved numerically.
In this study, we investigate swampland conjectures within the setup of matter and non-metricity nonminimal coupling theories of gravity. We examine how the inflationary solution produced by a single scalar field can be resolved with the swampland criteria in string theory regarding the formation of de Sitter solutions. The new important findings are that the inflationary scenario in our study differs from the one in general relativity because of the presence of a nonminimal coupling term, and that difference gives the correction to general relativity. In addition, we observe that the slow-roll conditions and the swampland conjectures are incompatible with each other for a single scalar field within the framework of nonminimally coupled alternative gravity theories. We predict that these results will hold for a wide range of inflationary scenarios in the context of nonminimal coupling gravitational theories.
In this paper, we propose an approach to derive the brane cosmology in the $D$-dimensional braneworld model. We generalize the "bulk-based" approach by treating the 4-brane as a small perturbation to the $D$-dimensional spherically symmetric spacetime. The linear corrections from a static 4-brane to the metric are derived from the linearized perturbation equations, while the nonlinear corrections are found by a parameterization of the perturbed metric solution. We use a time-dependent generalization to give the nonlinearly perturbed metric solution for the dynamical braneworld model, and analyse the stability of the model under the motion of the 4-brane. Through the fine tuning, we can recover the Friedmann equations for the universe with and without an effective cosmological constant. More importantly, the de Sitter expansion of the universe can be reproduced.
We suggest commutation relations for a quantum measure. In one version of these relations, the right-hand side takes account of the presence of curvature of space; in the simplest case, this yields the action of general relativity. We consider the cases of the quantization of the measure on spaces of constant curvature and show that in this case the commutation relations for the quantum measure are analogues of commutation relations in loop quantum gravity. It is assumed that, in contrast to loop quantum gravity, a triangulation of space is a necessary trick for quantizing such a nonlocal quantity like a measure; in doing so, the space remains a smooth manifold. We consider the self-consistent problem of the interaction of the quantum measure and classical gravitation. It is shown that this inevitably leads to the appearance of modified gravities. Also, we consider the problem of defining the Euler-Lagrange equations for a matter field in the background of a space endowed with quantum measure.
In higher-dimensional theories, a graviton propagating in the bulk can follow a shorter path, known as a shortcut, compared to a photon propagating in a $4$-dimensional spacetime. Thus by combining the observations of gravitational waves and their electromagnetic counterparts, one can gain insights into the structure and number of extra dimensions. In this paper, we construct a braneworld model that allows the existence of shortcuts in a $D(=4+d)$-dimensional spacetime. It has been proven that the equations for modelling brane cosmology recover the standard Friedmann equations for the late universe. We derive analytically the graviton and photon horizon radii on the brane under the low-energy limit. With the event GW170817/GRB 170817A, we find that the number of extra dimensions has an upper limit of $d\leq9$. Because of the errors in the source redshift and time delay, this upper limit can be shifted to $d\leq4$ and $d\leq12$. Considering various astrophysical processes, the upper limit of $d\leq4$ is the most robust.
We describe the dynamical formation of the shadow of a collapsing star in a Hayward spacetime in terms of an observer far away from the center and a free falling observer. By solving the time-like and light-like radial geodesics we determine the angular size of the shadow as a function of time. We found that the formation of the shadow is a finite process for both observers and its size is affected by the Hayward spacetime parameters. We consider several scenarios, from the Schwarzschild limit to an extreme Hayward black hole.
We study the collisions of two scalar wave packets in the asymptotically flat spacetime and asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetime in spherical symmetry. An energy transfer formula is obtained, $y=Cm_{i}m_{o}/r$, where $y$ is the transferred energy in the collisions of the two wave packets, $m_i$ and $m_o$ are the Misner-Sharp energies for the ingoing and outgoing wave packets, respectively, $r$ is the areal radius and collision place, and $C=1.873$ and $C=1.875$ for the asymptotically flat spacetime and asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetime circumstances, respectively. The formula is universal, independent of the initial profiles of the scalar fields.
We study transformations of the dynamical fields - a metric, a flat affine connection and a scalar field - in scalar-teleparallel gravity theories. The theories we study belong either to the general teleparallel setting, where no further condition besides vanishing curvature is imposed on the affine connection, or the symmetric or metric teleparallel gravity, where one also imposes vanishing torsion or nonmetricity, respectively. For each of these three settings, we find a general class of scalar-teleparallel action functionals which retain their form under the aforementioned field transformations. This is achieved by generalizing the constraint of vanishing torsion or nonmetricity to non-vanishing, but algebraically constrained torsion or nonmetricity. We find a number of invariant quantities which characterize these theories independently of the choice of field variables, and relate these invariants to analogues of the conformal frames known from scalar-curvature gravity. Using these invariants, we are able to identify a number of physically relevant subclasses of scalar-teleparallel theories. We also generalize our results to multiple scalar fields, and speculate on further extended theories with non-vanishing, but algebraically constrained curvature.
In this paper, we investigate the quasinormal mode (QNM) spectra for scalar perturbation over a quantum-corrected black hole (BH). The fundamental modes of this quantum-corrected BH exhibit two key properties. Firstly, there is a non-monotonic behavior concerning the quantum-corrected parameter for zero multipole number. Secondly, the quantum gravity effects result in slower decay modes. For higher overtones, a significant deviation becomes evident between the quasinormal frequencies (QNFs) of the quantum-corrected and Schwarzschild BHs. The intervention of quantum gravity corrections induces a significant outburst of overtones. This outburst of these overtones can be attributed to the distinctions near the event horizons between the Schwarzschild and quantum-corrected BHs. Therefore, overtones can serve as a means to probe physical phenomena or disparities in the vicinity of the event horizon.
The recent analysis of quantum cosmology by S. Gielen [1] is extended by discussing the case of dust (in the flat case). The dependence of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation on the operator ordering of the Hamiltonian in the case of a position dependent mass is explored, together with the {\Lambda} dependence. As a main result, it is shown that matter enforces a quantized wave function as a solution of the corresponding Wheeler-DeWitt equation in the anti-de Sitter case.
A scalar product for quasinormal mode solutions to Teukolsky's homogeneous radial equation is presented. Evaluation of this scalar product can be performed either by direct integration, or by evaluation of a confluent hypergeometric functions. For direct integration, it is explicitly shown that the quasinormal modes' radial functions are regular on a family of physically bounded complex paths. The related scalar product will be useful for better understanding analytic solutions to Teukolsky's radial equation, particularly the quasi-normal modes, their potential spatial completeness, and whether the quasi-normal mode overtone excitations may be estimated by spectral decomposition rather than fitting. With that motivation, the scalar product is applied to confluent Heun polynomials where it is used to derive their peculiar orthogonality and eigenvalue properties. A potentially new relationship is derived between the confluent Heun polynomials' scalar products and eigenvalues. Using these results, it is shown for the first time that Teukolsky's radial equation (and perhaps similar confluent Heun equations) are, in principle, exactly tridiagonalizable. To this end, "canonical" confluent Heun polynomials are conjectured.
We present a polynomial basis that exactly tridiagonalizes Teukolsky's radial equation for quasi-normal modes. These polynomials naturally emerge from the radial problem, and they are "canonical" in that they possess key features of classical polynomials. Our canonical polynomials may be constructed using various methods, the simplest of which is the Gram-Schmidt process. In contrast with other polynomial bases, our polynomials allow for Teukolsky's radial equation to be represented as a simple matrix eigenvalue equation that has well-behaved asymptotics and is free of non-physical solutions. We expect that our polynomials will be useful for better understanding the Kerr quasinormal modes' properties, particularly their prospective spatial completeness and orthogonality. We show that our polynomials are closely related to the confluent Heun and Pollaczek-Jacobi type polynomials. Consequently, our construction of polynomials may be used to tridiagonalize other instances of the confluent Heun equation. We apply our polynomials to a series of simple examples, including: (1) the high accuracy numerical computation of radial eigenvalues, (2) the evaluation and validation of quasinormal mode solutions to Teukolsky's radial equation, and (3) the use of Schwarzschild radial functions to represent those of Kerr. Along the way, a potentially new concept, "confluent Heun polynomial/non-polynomial duality", is encountered and applied to show that some quasinormal mode separation constants are well approximated by confluent Heun polynomial eigenvalues. We briefly discuss the implications of our results on various topics, including the prospective spatial completeness of Kerr quasinormal modes.
We consider asymptotically Euclidean, initial data sets for Einstein's field equations and solve the localization problem at infinity, also called gluing problem. We achieve optimal gluing and optimal decay, in the sense that we encompass solutions with possibly arbitrarily low decay at infinity and establish (super-)harmonic estimates within possibly arbitrarily narrow conical domains. In the localized seed-to-solution method (as we call it), we define a variational projection operator which associates the solution to the Einstein constraints that is closest to any given localized seed data set (as we call it). Our main contribution concerns the derivation of harmonic estimates for the linearized Einstein operator and its formal adjoint which, in particular, includes new analysis on the linearized scalar curvature operator. The statement of harmonic estimates requires the notion of energy-momentum modulators (as we call them), which arise as correctors to the localized seed data sets. For the Hamiltonian and momentum operators, we introduce a notion of harmonic-spherical decomposition and we uncover stability conditions on the localization function, which are localized Poincare and Hardy-type inequalities and, for instance, hold for arbitrarily narrow gluing domains. Our localized seed-to-solution method builds upon the gluing techniques pioneered by Carlotto, Chrusciel, Corvino, Delay, Isenberg, Maxwell, and Schoen, while providing a proof of a conjecture by Carlotto and Schoen on the localization problem and generalize P. LeFloch and Nguyen's theorem on the asymptotic localization problem.
This paper is a part of a series devoted to the Euclidean-hyperboloidal foliation method introduced by the authors for solving the global existence problem associated with nonlinear systems of coupled wave-Klein-Gordon equations and, especially, investigating the Einstein-massive field system in wave gauge. Here, we apply our method to the (fourth-order) field equations of f(R)-modified gravity and investigate the global dynamical behavior of the gravitational field. We establish the existence of a globally hyperbolic Cauchy development approaching Minkowski spacetime (in spacelike, null, and timelike directions), when the initial data set is sufficiently close to an asymptotically Euclidean and spacelike hypersurface in Minkowski spacetime. We cast the (fourth-order) f(R)-field equations in the form of a second-order wave-Klein-Gordon system, which has an analogous structure to the Einstein-massive field system but also involves a (small) effective mass parameter. We establish the nonlinear stability of the Minkowski spacetime in the context of f(R)-gravity, when the integrand f(R) in the action functional can be taken to be sufficiently close to the integrand R of the Hilbert-Einstein action.
Recently, a black hole model in loop quantum gravity has been proposed by Lewandowski, Ma, Yang and Zhang (Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{130}, 101501 (2023)). The metric tensor of the quantum black hole (QBH) is a suitably modified Schwarzschild one. In this paper, we calculate the radius of light ring and obtain the linear approximation of it with respect to the quantum correction parameter $\alpha$: $r_{l} \simeq 3 M - \frac{\alpha}{9 M}$. We then assume the QBH is backlit by a large, distant plane of uniform, isotropic emission and calculate the radius of the black hole shadow and its linear approximation: $r_{s} = 3 \sqrt{3} M - \frac{\alpha}{6 \left(\sqrt{3} M\right)}$. We also consider the photon ring structures in the shadow when the impact parameter $b$ of the photon approaches to a critical impact parameter $b_{\textrm{c}}$, and obtain a formula for estimating the deflection angle, which is $\varphi_{\textrm{def}} = - \frac{\sqrt{2}}{\omega r_{l}^2}\log{\left(b - b_c\right) + \widetilde{C}(b)}$. We also numerically plot the images of shadows and photon rings of the QBH in three different illumination models and compare them with that of a Schwarzschild in each model. It is found that we could distinguish the quantum black hole with a Schwarzschild black hole by the shadow images in certain specific illumination model.
The six-derivative conformal scalar operator was originally found by Hamada in its critical dimension of spacetime, $d=6$. We generalize this construction to arbitrary dimensions $d$ by adding new terms cubic in gravitational curvatures and by changing its coefficients of expansion in various curvature terms. The consequences of global scale-invariance and of infinitesimal local conformal transformations are derived for the form of this generalized operator. The system of linear equations for coefficients is solved giving explicitly the conformal Hamada operator in any $d$. Some singularities in construction for dimensions $d=2$ and $d=4$ are noticed. We also prove a general theorem that a scalar conformal operator with $n$ derivatives in $d=n-2$ dimensions is impossible to construct. Finally, we compare our explicit construction with the one that uses conformal covariant derivatives and conformal curvature tensors. We present new results for operators built with different orders of conformal covariant derivatives.
In this paper we argue that, even though there are strong theoretical and empirical reasons to expect a violation of spatial isotropy at short distances, contemporary setups for probing gravitational interactions at short distances have not been configured to measure such spatial anisotropies. We propose a simple modification to the state-of-the-art torsion pendulum design and numerically demonstrate that it suppresses signals due to the large spatially-isotropic component of the gravitational force while maintaining a high sensitivity to short-range spatial anisotropies. We incorporate anisotropy using both Yukawa-type and power-law-type short-distance corrections to gravity. The proposed differential torsion pendulum is shown to be capable of making sensitive measurements of small gravitational anisotropies and the resulting anisotropic torques are largely independent of the details of the underlying short-distance modification to gravity. Thus, if there is an anisotropic modification to gravity, from any theory, in any form of the modified potential, the proposed setup provides a practical means of detecting it.
All the magnetically charged ultrastatic and spherically symmetric spacetime solutions in the framework of linear/nonlinear electrodynamics, with an arbitrary electromagnetic Lagrangian density $\mathcal{L}(\mathcal{F})$ depending only of the electromagnetic invariant $\mathcal{F}\!=\!F_{\alpha\beta}F^{\alpha\beta}\!/4$, minimally coupled to Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity [EsGB-$\mathcal{L}(\mathcal{F})$], are found. We also show that a magnetically charged ultrastatic and spherically symmetric EsGB-$\mathcal{L}(\mathcal{F})$ solution with invariant $\mathcal{F}$ having a strict global maximum value $\mathcal{F}_{_{0}}$ in the entire domain of the solution, and such that $\mathcal{L}_{_{0}}=\mathcal{L}(\mathcal{F}_{_{0}})>0$, can be interpreted as an ultrastatic wormhole spacetime geometry with throat radius determined by the scalar charge and the quantity $\mathcal{L}_{_{0}}$. We provide some examples, including Maxwell's theory of electrodynamics (linear electrodynamics) $\mathcal{L}_{_{_{\mathrm{LED}}}} \!=\! \mathcal{F}$, producing the magnetic dual of the purely electric Ellis-Bronnikov EsGB Maxwell wormhole derived in [P. Ca\~nate, J. Sultana, D. Kazanas, Phys. Rev. D {\bf100}, 064007 (2019)]; and the nonlinear electrodynamics (NLED) models given by Born-Infeld $\mathcal{L}_{_{_{\mathrm{BI}}}} \!=\! -4\beta^{2} + 4\beta^{2} \sqrt{ 1 + \mathcal{F}\!/\!(2\beta^{2})~}$, and Euler-Heisenberg in the approximation of the weak-field limit $\mathcal{L}_{_{_{\mathrm{EH}}}} \!=\! \mathcal{L}_{_{_{\mathrm{LED}}}} + \gamma \mathcal{F}^{2}\!/2$. With those NLED models, two novel magnetically charged ultrastatic traversable wormholes (EsGB Born-Infeld and EsGB Euler-Heisenberg wormholes) are presented as exact solutions without exotic matter in EsGB-$\mathcal{L}(\mathcal{F})$ gravity.
Combining previous results, the D3-anti-D3-brane pair potential U(T,{\phi}) is presented here, where the inflaton {\phi} measures the separation between the D3-brane and the anti-D3-brane, and the complex scalar mode T becomes tachyonic when the annihilation of the branes happens as they collide. Besides the distinct form of the inflationary potential, this hybrid inflationary model differs from a typical hybrid model in 2 important aspects: (1) U(T,{\phi}) becomes complex when T becomes tachyonic, where Im U(T,{\phi}) plays an important role in the dynamics towards the end of the inflationary epoch; (2) tunnelling during the inflationary epoch can happen; this is particularly relevant if there are multiple D3-anti-D3-brane pairs in different warped throats. Besides the production of cosmic superstrings, the model offers the possibility of first order phase transition that may generate large enough density perturbation for the primordial black hole production. Stochastic gravitational wave background from these sources remain to be fully investigated.
The Unruh vacuum is widely used as quantum state to describe black hole evaporation since near the horizon it reproduces the physical state of a quantum field, the so called in-vacuum, in the case the black hole is formed by gravitational collapse. We examine the relation between these two quantum states in the background spacetime of a Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole (both extremal and not) highlighting similarities and striking differences.
We derive a gauge inspired combinatorial formula based on localization for the Post-Newtonian expansion of the gravitational wave form luminosity of binary systems made of objects with very different masses orbiting at large distances and small velocities. The results are tested against previous formulae in the literature for Schwarschild and Kerr black holes at the 5th and 3rd Post Newtonian order respectively beyond the quadrupole approximation. Tidal effects show up in the wave form at the 5th PN order, providing a quantitative measure of the blackness/compactness properties of the heavy object.
We study the effects of acceleration in entanglement dynamics using the theory of open quantum systems. In this scenario we consider two atoms moving along different hyperbolic trajectories with different proper times. The generalized master equation is used for a pair of dipoles interacting with the electromagnetic field. We observe that the proper acceleration plays an essential role in the entanglement harvesting and sudden death phenomenom and we study how the polarization of the atoms affects this results.
Two-pole structures refer to the fact that two dynamically generated states are located close to each other between two coupled channels and have a mass difference smaller than the sum of their widths. Thus, the two poles overlap in the invariant mass distribution of their decay products, creating the impression that only one state exists. This phenomenon was first noticed for the $\Lambda(1405)$ and the $K_1(1270)$, and then for several other states. This report explicitly shows how the two-pole structures emerge from the underlying universal chiral dynamics describing the coupled-channel interactions between a heavy matter particle and a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson. Furthermore, we predict similar two-pole structures in other systems dictated by chiral symmetry, such as the isospin $1/2$ $\bar{K}\Sigma_c-\pi\Xi'_c$ coupled channel, awaiting experimental discoveries.
Employing the neural network framework, we obtain empirical fits to the electron-scattering cross section for carbon over a broad kinematic region, extending from the quasielastic peak, through resonance excitation, to the onset of deep-inelastic scattering. We consider two different methods of obtaining such model-independent parametrizations and the corresponding uncertainties: based on the NNPDF approach [J. High Energy Phys. 2002, 062], and on the Monte Carlo dropout. In our analysis, the $\chi^2$ function defines the loss function, including point-to-point uncertainties and considering the systematic normalization uncertainties for each independent set of measurements. Our statistical approaches lead to fits of comparable quality and similar uncertainties of the order of $7\%$ and $12\%$ for the first and the second approaches, respectively. To test these models, we compare their predictions to a~test dataset, excluded from the training process, a~dataset lying beyond the covered kinematic region, and theoretical predictions obtained within the spectral function approach. The predictions of both models agree with experimental measurements and the theoretical predictions. However, the first statistical approach shows better interpolation and extrapolation abilities than the one based on the dropout algorithm.
We review the physics case for CP-violating axions. In the first part, we focus on the Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) axion and argue that new sources of CP violation beyond QCD misalign the axion solution to the strong CP problem and can manifest themselves via a tiny scalar axion-nucleon component. We hence highlight recent advancements in calculating this scalar axion-nucleon coupling, a parameter that could be probed via axion-mediated force experiments. In the second part, we focus on axion-like particle (ALP) interactions entailing the most general sources of CP violation. After classifying the full set of CP-violating Jarlskog invariants, we report on recent calculations of ALP contributions to permanent electric dipole moments. We finally speculate on possible ultraviolet completions of the CP-violating ALP.
We show that quantum fields confined to Lorentzian histories of freely falling networks in Minkowski spacetime probe entanglement properties of vacuum fluctuations that extend unrestricted across spacetime regions. Albeit instantaneous field configurations are localised on one-dimensional edges, angular momentum emerges on these network histories and establishes the celebrated area scaling of entanglement entropy.
The LHC analyses of processes containing two or more leptons and missing energy, possibly in association with b-jets, show strong tensions with the Standard Model predictions and are known as multi-lepton anomalies. In particular, top-quark differential distributions point towards the associated production of new Higgs bosons decaying into bottom quarks and W bosons ($>5\sigma$) with masses consistent with the di-photon excesses at 95GeV and 152GeV ($3.8\sigma$ and $4.9\sigma$, respectively). Furthermore, CMS found indications for resonant top-quark pair production at 400GeV ($3.5\sigma$) and both ATLAS and CMS reported elevated four-top and ttW cross-sections. In this article, we propose a combined explanation of these excesses by supplementing the SM Higgs with a second scalar doublet, a real scalar singlet ($S$) and a Higgs triplet with $Y=0$ ($\Delta$); the $\Delta$2HDMS. We fix the masses of the neutral triplet-like and the singlet-like scalars by the di-photon excesses, i.e. $m_{\Delta^0}=152$GeV and $m_S=95$GeV, respectively. Here, H, the CP-even component of the second doublet, is produced via gluon fusion from a top-loop and decays dominantly to $S+\Delta^0$ whose subsequent decays to WW and bb explain the differential top-quark distributions for $\sigma(pp\to H\to S\Delta^0)\approx6$pb. Fixing the top-Yukawa accordingly, the CP-odd Higgs boson A turns out to have the right production cross-section to account for the resonant top-pair excess at 400GeV, while the top-associated production of H and A results in new physics pollution of Standard Model ttW and four-top cross sections, as preferred by the data. Furthermore, a positive shift in the W mass is naturally induced by the vacuum expectation value of the triplet and we show that the most relevant signal strengths of the 152GeV boson are compatible with the process $pp\to H\to \Delta^0S$ if S is allowed to decay invisibly.
We derive analytic results for scalar massless bosonic vacuum sum-integrals at two loops. Building upon a recent factorization proof of massive two-loop vacuum integrals, we are able to solve the corresponding Matsubara sums and map the result onto one-loop structures, thereby proving factorization also in the sum-integral setting. Analytic results are provided for generic integer-valued propagator- and numerator-powers of the class of sum-integrals under consideration, allowing to eliminate them from any perturbative expansion, dramatically simplifying the evaluation of some observables encountered e.g. in hot QCD.
The COMPASS Collaboration performed measurements of the Drell-Yan process in 2015 and 2018 using a 190 GeV/c $\pi^{-}$ beam impinging on a transversely polarised ammonia target. Combining the data of both years, we present final results on the amplitudes of the five azimuthal modulations in the dimuon production cross section. Three of these transverse-spin-dependent azimuthal asymmetries (TSAs) probe the nucleon leading-twist Sivers, transversity, and pretzelosity transverse-momentum dependent (TMD) parton distribution functions (PDFs). The other two are induced by subleading effects. These TSAs provide unique new inputs for the study of the nucleon TMD PDFs and their universality properties. In particular, the Sivers TSA observed in this measurement is consistent with the fundamental QCD prediction of a sign change of naive time-reversal-odd TMD PDFs when comparing the Drell-Yan process with semi-inclusive measurements of deep inelastic scattering. Also, within the context of model predictions, the observed transversity TSA is consistent with the expectation of a sign change for the Boer-Mulders function.
Heavy neutral gauge boson $Z^\prime$ is proposed in many new physics models. It has rich phenomena at the future muon collider. We study the properties of $Z^\prime$ boson with the process of $\mu^+ \mu^- \rightarrow q \bar{q}$, $\mu^+ \mu^- \rightarrow l^+ l^-$, $\mu^+ \mu^- \rightarrow Z H$ and $\mu^+ \mu^- \rightarrow W^+ W^-$. The discrepancy of $Z^\prime$ coupling to different types of particles can be shown in the cross section distributions around the resonance peak of various decay modes. Angular distributions of the final quark or lepton in $\mu^+ \mu^- \rightarrow q \bar{q}/l^+ l^- $ process are sensitive to the parameters such as mass of $Z^\prime$ and the $Z-Z^\prime$ mixing angle. The interaction of new gauge boson coupling to the standard model gauge particles and Higgs boson are also studied through $\mu^+ \mu^- \rightarrow Z H \rightarrow l^+l^- b \bar{b}$ and $\mu^+ \mu^- \rightarrow W^+W^- \rightarrow l^+l^- \nu_l \bar{\nu}_l$. The cross section and the final particles' angular distributions with the contribution of $Z^\prime$ boson differ from those processes with only standard model particles. A forward-backward asymmetry defined by the angular distribution is provided to show the potential of searching for new physics at the muon collider. Especially, the beam polarization with certain value can effectively enlarge the forward-backward asymmetry.
We carry out a detailed study of medium modifications on momentum and angular correlations between a large transverse momentum hadron and a $Z/\gamma$ trigger in relativistic heavy-ion collisions within a perturbative QCD parton model improved by the Sudakov resummation technique. The total energy loss of a hard parton propagating inside the medium is employed to modify the fragmentation function, while the medium-induced transverse momentum broadening is included in the resummation approach, and both of them are related to the jet transport parameter and obtained by the high-twist formalism. We obtain good agreements with the existing data on transverse momentum and azimuthal angular correlations for the $Z/\gamma$-hadron pairs in $pp$ and $AA$ collisions, and predict the correlations for the $\gamma$-hadron in central $PbPb$ collisions at 5.02 TeV. The numerical analyses for the $Z/\gamma$-hadron in central $PbPb$ collisions show that the normalized angular distribution is decorrelated due to the medium-induced transverse momentum broadening, however, the angular correlation is enhanced due to the parton energy loss, namely anti-broadening. The observed modification of the angular correlation is a result of the competition between the broadening and the anti-broadening. This work provides a reliable theoretical tool for a comprehensive and precise study of jet quenching in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.
In the present paper, we consider processes involving the emission of soft photons in the presence of a strong laser field. We demonstrate that the matrix element $S$ for a process $\text{i} \rightarrow \text{f} + \gamma$, with a soft photon $\gamma$, can be expressed in terms of the matrix element $S_0$ for the process $\text{i} \rightarrow \text{f}$ through a simple multiplicative factor in the integrand over $\phi$. This approximation enables a result that is exact in the phase and approximate in the prefactor to order $\mathcal{O}(\omega/\varepsilon_\text{char})$, where $\omega$ is the frequency of the soft photon and $\varepsilon_\text{char}$ is the characteristic energy of the $\text{i}\rightarrow\text{f}$ process. We demonstrate several important applications of this soft photon approximation. First, under soft photon approximation we compute the probabilities of nonlinear Compton scattering and photon emission in the superposition of a laser and atomic fields and compare obtained result with the exact one. Second, we demonstrate that the amplitude of $n$ soft photons emission has factorization, which corresponds to the independence of the emission of $n$ soft photons. Third, we use the discussed approximation to prove cancellation of real and virtual infrared divergences for nonlinear Compton scattering and derive the finite radiative corrections. The soft photon approximation is a useful tool for investigation of different QED processes in the presence of a strong laser field. Also, it can be widely used for computation of infrared part of radiative correction for some processes.
The BESIII detector on the BEPCII collider collected the world's largest dataset at the peaks of $J/\psi$, $\psi(3686)$ and $\psi(3770)$. The use of polarization and entanglement states in multidimensional angular distribution analysis can provide new probes to the production and decay characteristics of hyperon anti hyperon pairs. In a recent series of studies, significant transverse polarization in hyperon decay has been observed in $J/\psi$, $\psi(3686)$ decaying into the $\Lambda\bar\Lambda$, $\Sigma^+\bar\Sigma^{-}$, $\Xi^0\bar\Xi^0$ and $\Xi^-\bar\Xi^{+}$ final states. The weak decay parameters of hyperons and antihyperons are also independently determined for the first time. The most accurate testing for direct $CP$ violation has been achieved based on the measured weak decay parameters.
We investigate new physics with light-neutral mediators through coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS) at low energies. These mediators, with a mass of less than $1$ GeV, are common properties for extensions of the Standard Model (SM). We consider general scalar, vector, and tensor interactions allowed by Lorentz invariance and involve universal light mediators accordingly. In addition, we study an additional vector gauge boson with an associated $U(1)'$ gauge group for a variety of models including $U(1)_{B-L}$, $U(1)_{B-3L_e}$, $U(1)_{B-3L_\mu}$, and $U(1)_{B-3L_\tau}$. These models differ in the fermion charges, which determine their contributions within the CE$\nu$NS process. The effects of each model are investigated by embedding them in the SM process using solar neutrino flux. We derive new limits on the coupling-mass plane of these models from the latest CDEX-10 data. We also present projected sensitivities involving the future experimental developments for each model. Our results provide more stringent constraints in some regions, compared to previous works. Furthermore, the projected sensitivities yield an improvement of up to one order of magnitude.
We consider dark matter velocity distributions with an anisotropic component, and analyze how the velocity structure can be probed in a solid state ionization detector with no directional detection capability using a daily modulation effect due to the anisotropic response function of the target. We show that with an energy resolution of < 10 eV it is possible to identify the presence of an anisotropic component consistent with observations for sub-GeV dark matter, and that introduction of daily modulation information substantially improves the sensitivity in a narrow mass range.
Motivated by recent experimental data on $\Sigma^+\to p\gamma$ at BESIII, we investigate a class of hyperon weak radiative decays. To estimate these processes, in our research, we employ a new type of light-front quark model with a three-quark picture for octet baryons. In the three-quark picture, with the use of $SU(3)_f$ and spin symmetries, we present a general form of the light front wave function for each octet baryon. By including contributions from the penguin diagram and W exchange diagram, perform a complete calculation on the branching ratios ($Br$) and the asymmetry parameter ($\alpha$) for hyperon weak radiative decay processes. Our results are helpful for discovering additional hyperon weak radiative decay processes in experimental facilities, and our research will promote the theoretical study of baryons.
This work we build out complete messenger sectors for models of Frustrated Dark Matter where the Dark Sector couples to the SM through a scalar and fermionic mediator pair. The frustrated DM paradigm allows great freedom in the charge assignments of the messenger sector, allowing DM to couple to a mediator pair any representation of the SM gauge group where the scalar and fermionic mediators have the same charges. In this paper we write down all renormalizable models where the messengers make contact with the SM through pairs of quarks. These messengers may be singlets, triplets, sextets, or octets of SU(3). The mediators may additionally be in non-trivial representations of SU(2) including doublet and triplet representations. depending on the SU(3) charges of the mediator. In addition to writing the complete set of renormalizable Lagrangians, we categorize the general collider phenomenology of the models and discuss pair production and single production LHC signatures of the messenger sectors.
Recent high-precision $e^+e^-\to c\bar{c}$ data from the BESIII and Belle are highly useful to understand the vector charmonium pole structure and puzzling lineshapes due to the exotic hadron candidates $Y$. We thus conduct a global coupled-channel analysis of most of the available data (9 two-body, 8 three-body, and 1 four-body final states) in $\sqrt{s}=3.75-4.7$ GeV. Not only cross sections but also invariant mass distributions of subsystems are fitted. Our model includes dozens of (quasi) two-body states that nonperturbatively couple with each other through bare charmonium excitations and particle-exchange mechanisms required by the three-body unitarity. The amplitudes obtained from the fits are analytically continued to vector charmonium and $Z_c$ poles. We do not find a $\psi(4160)$ pole that has been considered well-established. Instead, we find two poles of $\sim 4230$ MeV; $\psi(4230)$ with $\Gamma= 36$ MeV and a broader one with $\Gamma= 114$ MeV. Two $Z_c$ poles are found as virtual states $\sim 40$ MeV below the $D^*\bar{D}^{(*)}$ thresholds, being consistent with lattice QCD results. This work presents the first global analysis to determine the vector charmonium and $Z_c$ poles, thereby paving the way to extracting detailed properties of the prominent exotic hadron candidates from data.
Subensemble Acceptance Method (SAM) [1,2] is an essential link between measured event-by-event fluctuations and their grand canonical theoretical predictions such as lattice QCD. The method allows quantifying the global conservation law effects in fluctuations. In its basic formulation, SAM requires a sufficiently large system such as created in central nucleus-nucleus collisions and sufficient space-momentum correlations. Directly in the spinodal region of the First Order Phase Transition (FOPT) different approximations should be used that account for finite size effects. Thus, we present the generalization of SAM applicable in both the pure phases, metastable and unstable regions of the phase diagram [3]. Obtained analytic formulas indicate the enhancement of fluctuations due to crossing the spinodal region of FOPT and are tested using molecular dynamics simulations. A rather good agreement is observed. Using transport model calculations with interaction potential we show that the spinodal enhancement of fluctuations survives till the later stages of collision via the memory effect [4]. However, at low collision energies the space-momentum correlation is not strong enough for this signal to be transferred to second and third order cumulants measured in momentum subspace. This result agrees well with recent HADES data on proton number fluctuations at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.4$ GeV which are found to be consistent with the binomial momentum space acceptance [5].
A strong enhancement of deuteron production in jets has been recently observed in proton-proton collisions at LHC. We show that the effect is due to two independent factors: a collimation of jet nucleons and a smallness of nucleon source. The coalescence parameter of jet deuterons is shown to acquire its maximal possible value.
The production of a heavy quark is accompanied by gluon bremsstrahlung with angular and momentum spectra predicted by perturbative Quantum Chromo Dynamics (QCD). The radiation off heavy quarks is predicted to be suppressed for large momentum particles, as a consequence of the angular ``dead cone effect''. In this paper, we studied this effect using data from Z boson decays to c- or b-quarks in $e^+e^-$ annihilation. The momentum spectra for charged particles are reconstructed in the momentum fraction variable $x$ or $\xi=\ln(1/x)$ by removing the decays of the heavy hadrons. We find an increasing suppression of particles with rising $x$ down to a fraction of $\lesssim 1/10$ for particles with $x\gtrsim0.2$ in b-quark and $x\gtrsim0.4$ in c-quark jets in comparison to light quark momentum spectra. The sensitivity to the dead cone effect in the present momentum analysis is larger than in the recently presented angular analysis. The suppression for c- and b-quark fragmentation is in good quantitative agreement with the expectations based on perturbative QCD within the Modified Leading Logarithmic Approximation (MLLA) in the central kinematic region. The data also support a two parameter description in the MLLA of these phenomena (``Limiting Spectrum''). The sensitivity of these measurements to the heavy quark mass is investigated.
We present the first results for the next-to-next-to leading order (NNLO) corrections to the semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering process in perturbative quantum chromodynamics. We consider the quark initiated flavor non-singlet process and obtain the complete contributions analytically at leading color. All relevant virtual and real emission Feynman diagrams have been computed using integration-by-parts reduction to master integrals and two approaches for their subsequent evaluation (parametric phase-space integration and method of differential equations). The numerical analysis demonstrates the significance of the NNLO corrections and their great impact on the reduction of the residual scale dependence.
In this review, the seesaw mechanism for generating the mass of active light neutrinos (both Majorana and Dirac) is considered on the basis of effective field theory. In particular, we review certain models that extend the Standard Model by introducing heavy sterile neutrinos and discuss the corresponding mechanisms for generating small masses of active neutrinos. Two Appendices briefly describe the properties of Weyl, Dirac, and Majorana spinors in four dimensions and the interrelations between such spinors. The third Appendix provides a simple proof of the theorem on Takagi diagonalization of a mass matrix for Majorana fermions.
Axion rotations can simultaneously explain the dark matter abundance and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe by kinetic misalignment and axiogenesis. We consider a scenario in which the Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking field is as large as the Planck scale during inflation and the axion rotation is initiated by the inflaton-induced potential immediately after the end of inflation. This is a realization of the cogenesis scenario that is free of problems with domain walls and isocurvature perturbations thanks to large explicit Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking at the Planck scale during inflation. The baryon asymmetry can be more efficiently produced by lepto-axiogenesis, in which case the axion mass is predicted to be larger than $O(0.1)$ meV. We also discuss a UV complete model in supersymmetric theories.
We propose a simple interpretation of the $\gamma\gamma$ excesses reported by both CMS and ATLAS groups at 95 GeV together with the LEP excess in the $Zb\bar{b}$ channel around the same mass in terms of a neutral scalar field in the minimal left-right symmetric model (LRSM). We point out that the scalar field which implements the seesaw mechanism for neutrino masses has all the right properties to explain these observations, without introducing any extra scalar fields. The diphoton decay mode receives contributions from both mixing with the Standard Model (SM) Higgs and the heavy charged bosons in the LRSM, depending on the $SU(2)_R\times U(1)_{B-L}$ symmetry breaking scale $v_R$. The complete allowed parameter space for explaining the 95 GeV excesses in this model can be probed with the high-precision measurements of the SM Higgs mixing with other scalars at the high-luminosity LHC and future Higgs factories.
We study the scattering of fermions off 't Hooft lines in the Standard Model. A long-standing paradox suggests that the outgoing fermions necessarily carry fractional quantum numbers. In a previous paper, we resolved this paradox in the context of a number of toy models where we showed that the outgoing radiation is created by operators that are attached to a co-dimension 1 topological surface. This shifts the quantum numbers of the outgoing states associated to non-anomalous symmetries to be integer valued as required, while the quantum numbers associated to anomalous symmetries are fractional. Here we apply these ideas to the Standard Model.
We present a Left-Right symmetric model that provides an explanation for the mass hierarchy of the charged fermions within the framework of the Standard Model. This explanation is achieved through the utilization of both tree-level and radiative seesaw mechanisms. In this model, the tiny masses of the light active neutrinos are generated via a three-loop radiative inverse seesaw mechanism, with Dirac and Majorana submatrices arising at one-loop level. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of the inverse seesaw mechanism being implemented with both submatrices generated at one-loop level. The model contains a global $U(1)_{X}$ symmetry which, after its spontaneous breaking, allows for the stabilization of the Dark Matter (DM) candidates. We show that the electroweak precision observables, the electron and muon anomalous magnetic moments as well as the Charged Lepton Flavor Violating decays, $\mu \rightarrow e \gamma$, are consistent with the current experimental limits. In addition, we analyze the implications of the model for the $95$ GeV diphoton excess recently reported by the CMS collaboration and demonstrate that such anomaly could be easily accommodated. Finally, we discuss qualitative aspects of DM in the considered model.
We study possible hints towards confinement in a Z$_2$-invariant Yukawa system with massless fermions and a real scalar field in the strongly-coupled regime. Using the tools developed for studying non-perturbative physics via Jacobi elliptical functions, for a given but not unique choice of the vacuum state, we find the exact Green's function for the scalar sector so that, after integrating out the scalar degrees of freedom, we are able to recover the low-energy limit of the theory that is a fully non-local Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model. We provide an analytical result for the Renormalization Group (RG) running of the self-interaction coupling in the scalar sector and critical indexes in the strongly-coupled regime. In the fermion sector, we provide some clues towards confinement, after deriving the gap equation with the non-local NJL model, a property which is well-known to not emerge in the local limit of this model. We conclude that, for the scalar-Yukawa theory in the non-perturbative domain with our choice of the vacuum state, the fundamental fermions of the theory form bound states and cannot be observed as asymptotic states.
It is pointed out that every renormalizable field theory has a symmetry which is hidden in plain sight. In all practical cases, it is also broken softly, either explicitly or spontaneously. Implications for neutrino mass and dark matter are discussed.
In this contribution we describe a recent study focused on the lattice calculation of inclusive decay rates of heavy mesons. We show how the inclusive calculation can be achieved starting from four-point lattice correlation functions normalised appropriately. The correlators used in this project come from gauge ensembles provided by the JLQCD and ETM collaborations. An essential point of this method is the extraction of spectral densities from lattice correlators which is obtained using two of the most recent approaches in the literature. Our results are in remarkable agreement with analytical predictions from the operator-product expansion. This study represents the first step towards a full lattice QCD study of heavy mesons inclusive semileptonic decays.
This paper introduces a comprehensive formalism for decomposing the state space of a quantum field into several entangled subobjects, i.e., fields generating a subspace of states. Projecting some of the subobjects onto degenerate background states reduces the system to an effective field theory depending on parameters representing the degeneracies. Notably, these parameters are not exogenous. The entanglement among subobjects in the initial system manifests as an interrelation between parameters and non-projected subobjects. Untangling this dependency necessitates imposing linear first-order equations on the effective field. The geometric characteristics of the parameter spaces depend on both the effective field and the background of the projected subobjects. The system, governed by arbitrary variables, has no dynamics, but the projection of some subobjects can be interpreted as slicing the original state space according to the lowest eigenvalues of a parameter-dependent family of operators. The slices can be endowed with amplitudes similar to some transitions between each other, contingent upon these eigenvalues. Averaging over all possible transitions shows that the amplitudes are higher for maps with increased eigenvalue than for maps with decreasing eigenvalue.
We construct examples of non-invertible global symmetries in two-dimensional superconformal field theories described by sigma models into Calabi-Yau target spaces. Our construction provides some of the first examples of non-invertible symmetry in irrational conformal field theories. Our approach begins at a Gepner point in the conformal manifold where the sigma model specializes to a rational conformal field theory and we can identify all supersymmetric topological Verlinde lines. By deforming away from this special locus using exactly marginal operators, we then identify submanifolds in moduli space where some non-invertible symmetry persists. For instance, along ten-dimensional loci in the complex structure moduli space of quintic Calabi-Yau threefolds there is a symmetry characterized by a Fibonacci fusion category. The symmetries we identify provide new constraints on spectra and correlation functions. As an application we show how they constrain conformal perturbation theory, consistent with recent results about scaling dimensions in the K3 sigma model near its Gepner point.
We present a classification of conformally-invariant three-point tensor structures in $d$ dimensions that parallels the classification of three-particle scattering amplitudes in $d+1$ dimensions. Using a set of canonically-normalized weight-shifting operators, we construct a basis of three-point structures involving conserved currents or stress tensors and non-conserved spinning operators, directly from their amplitude counterparts. As an application, we also examine the conformal block expansion of the four-point functions of external currents and stress tensors in this amplitude basis. Our results can be useful for conformal bootstrap applications involving spinning correlators as well as Witten diagram computations in anti-de Sitter space.
We develop a non-conventional description of the vacuum energy in quantum field theory in terms of quantum entropy. Precisely, we show that the vacuum energy of any non-interacting quantum field at zero temperature is proportional to the quantum entropy of the qubit degrees of freedom associated with virtual fluctuations. We prove this for fermions first, and then extend the derivation to quanta of any spin. Finally, we use these results to obtain the first law of thermodynamics for a non-interacting quantum vacuum at zero temperature.
We provide a generalization of the Symmetry Topological Field Theory (SymTFT) framework to characterize phase transitions and gapless phases with categorical symmetries. The central tool is the club sandwich, which extends the SymTFT setup to include an interface between two topological orders: there is a symmetry boundary, which is gapped, and a physical boundary that may be gapless, but in addition, there is also a gapped interface in the middle. The club sandwich generalizes so-called Kennedy-Tasaki (KT) transformations. Building on the results in [1, 2] on gapped phases with categorical symmetries, we construct gapless theories describing phase transitions with non-invertible symmetries by applying suitable KT transformations on known phase transitions provided by the critical Ising model and the 3-state Potts model. We also describe in detail the order parameters in these gapless theories characterizing the phase transitions, which are generally mixtures of conventional and string-type order parameters mixed together by the action of categorical symmetries. Additionally, removing the physical boundary from the club sandwiches results in club quiches, which characterize all possible gapped boundary phases with (possibly non-invertible) symmetries that can arise on the boundary of a bulk gapped phase. We also provide a mathematical characterization of gapped boundary phases with symmetries as pivotal tensor functors whose targets are pivotal multi-fusion categories.
The requirement that particles propagate causally on non-trivial backgrounds implies interesting constraints on higher-derivative operators. This work is part of a systematic study of the positivity bounds derivable from time delays on shockwave backgrounds. First, we discuss shockwaves in field theory, which are infinitely boosted Coulomb-like field configurations. We show how a positive time delay implies positivity of four-derivative operators in scalar field theory and electromagnetism, consistent with the results derived using dispersion relations, and we comment on how additional higher-derivative operators could be included. We then turn to gravitational shockwave backgrounds. We compute the infinite boost limit of Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes to derive charged shockwave backgrounds. We consider photons traveling on these backgrounds and interacting through four-derivative corrections to Einstein-Maxwell theory. The inclusion of gravity introduces a logarithmic term into the time delay that interferes with the straightforward bounds derivable in pure field theory, a fact consistent with CEMZ and with recent results from dispersion relations. We discuss two ways to extract a physically meaningful quantity from the logarithmic time delay -- by introducing an IR cutoff, or by considering the derivative of the time delay -- and comment on the bounds implied in each case. Finally, we review a number of additional shockwave backgrounds which might be of use in future applications, including spinning shockwaves, those in higher dimensions or with a cosmological constant, and shockwaves from boosted extended objects.
We construct polarized Calabi--Yau 3-folds with at worst isolated canonical orbifold points in codimension 4 that can be described in terms of the equations of the Segre embedding of $\mathbb P^2 \times \mathbb P^2$ in $\mathbb P^8$. We investigate the existence of other deformation families in their Hilbert scheme by either studying Tom and Jerry degenerations or by comparing their Hilbert series with those of existing low codimension Calabi--Yau 3-folds. Among other interesting results, we find a family of Calabi--Yau 3-fold with five distinct Tom and Jerry deformation families, a phenomenon not seen for $\mathbb Q$-Fano 3-folds. We compute the Hodge numbers of $\mathbb P^2 \times \mathbb P^2 $ Calabi--Yau 3-folds and corresponding manifolds obtained by performing crepant resolutions. We obtain a manifold with a pair of Hodge numbers that does not appear in the famously known list of 30108 distinct Hodge pairs of Kruzer--Skarke, in the list of 7890 distinct Hodge pairs corresponding to complete intersections in the product of projective spaces and in Hodge paris obtained from Calabi--Yau 3-folds having low codimension embeddings in weighted projective spaces.
Krylov complexity, as a novel measure of operator complexity under Heisenberg evolution, exhibits many interesting universal behaviors and also bounds many other complexity measures. In this work, we study Krylov complexity $\mathcal{K}(t)$ in Random Matrix Theory (RMT). In large $N$ limit: (1) For infinite temperature, we analytically show that the Lanczos coefficient $\{b_n\}$ saturate to constant plateau $\lim\limits_{n\rightarrow\infty}b_n=b$, rendering a linear growing complexity $\mathcal{K}(t)\sim t$, in contrast to the exponential-in-time growth in chaotic local systems in thermodynamic limit. After numerically comparing this plateau value $b$ to a large class of chaotic local quantum systems, we find that up to small fluctuations, it actually bounds the $\{b_n\}$ in chaotic local quantum systems. Therefore we conjecture that in chaotic local quantum systems after scrambling time, the speed of linear growth of Krylov complexity cannot be larger than that in RMT. (2) For low temperature, we analytically show that $b_n$ will first exhibit linear growth with $n$, whose slope saturates the famous chaos bound. After hitting the same plateau $b$, $b_n$ will then remain constant. This indicates $\mathcal{K}(t)\sim e^{2\pi t/\beta}$ before scrambling time $t_*\sim O(\beta\log\beta)$, and after that it will grow linearly in time, with the same speed as in infinite temperature. We finally remark on the effect of finite $N$ corrections.
This review article discusses recent progress in understanding of various families of integrable models in terms of algebraic geometry, representation theory, and physics. In particular, we address the connections between soluble many-body systems of Calogero-Ruijsenaars type, quantum spin chains, spaces of opers, representations of double affine Hecke algebras, enumerative counts to quiver varieties, to name just a few. We formulate several conjectures and open problems. This is a contribution to the proceedings of the conference on Elliptic Integrable Systems and Representation Theory, which was held in August 2023 at University of Tokyo.
We study the two-particle form-factors for the relativistic limit of the integrable S-matrix of the mixed-flux AdS_3 X S^3 X T^4 string theory. The S-matrix theory was formally constructed in two distinct ways by two different teams. We focus on the massive theory built up by Frolov, Polvara and Sfondrini, and derive expressions for the minimal solutions to the axioms, in both integral and manifestly meromorphic form, and then proceed to apply the off-shell Bethe ansatz method of Babujian et al. We obtain the integral formulas for the two-particle complete form-factors and check the axioms at this particle number.
We compute the Mellin amplitude of the planar four-point correlator of weight-two half-BPS operators in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM at one and two-loop orders in the small 't Hooft coupling expansion. The two-loop Mellin amplitude has an infinite number of poles, as expected from a stringy bulk dual. We then perform a Mellin conformal block expansion of the amplitude and extract the one-loop anomalous dimensions and OPE coefficients of the exchanged twist-two singlet multiplets. Our results match those of Dolan and Osborn \cite{Dolan:2004iy} but the computation is rather straightforward in Mellin space.
We consider some non-linear non-homogeneous partial differential equations (PDEs) and derive their exact solution as a functional Taylor expansion in powers of the source term. The kind of PDEs we consider are dispersive ones where the exact solution of the corresponding homogeneous equations can have some known shape. The technique has a formal similarity with the Dyson--Schwinger set of equations to solve quantum field theories. However, there are no physical constraints. Indeed, we show that a complete coincidence with the statistical field model of a quartic scalar theory can be achieved in the Gaussian expansion of the cumulants of the partition function.
We investigate the possibility of reproducing the continuum physics of 2d SU(N) gauge theory coupled to a single flavor of massless Dirac fermions using qubit regularization. The continuum theory is described by N free fermions in the ultraviolet (UV) and a coset Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) model in the infrared (IR). In this work, we explore how well these features can be reproduced using the Kogut-Susskind Hamiltonian with a finite-dimensional link Hilbert space and a generalized Hubbard coupling. Using strong coupling expansions, we show that our model exhibits a gapped dimer phase and another phase described by a spin-chain. Furthermore, for N=2, using tensor network methods, we show that there is a second-order phase transition between these two phases. The critical theory at the transition can be understood as an SU(2)_1 WZW model, using which we determine the phase diagram of our model quantitatively. Using the confinement properties of the model we argue how the UV physics of free fermions could also emerge, but may require further modifications to our model.
We study a novel geometric expansion for scattering amplitudes in the planar sector of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory, in the context of the Amplituhedron which reproduces the all-loop integrand as a canonical differential form on the positive geometry. In a paper by Arkani-Hamed, Henn and one of the authors, it was shown that this result can be recast in terms of negative geometries with a certain hierarchy of loops (closed cycles) in the space of loop momenta, represented by lines in momentum twistor space. One can then calculate an all-loop order result in the approximation where only tree graphs in the space of all loops are considered. Furthermore, using differential equation methods, it is possible to calculate and resum integrated expressions and obtain strong coupling results. In this paper, we provide a more general framework for the loops of loops expansion and outline a powerful method for the determination of differential forms for higher-order geometries. We solve the problem completely for graphs with one internal cycle, but the method can be used more generally for other geometries.
We provide a first principles derivation of the supersymmetric Casimir energy of $\mathcal{N}=1$ SCFTs in four dimensions using the supercharge algebra on general conformal supergravity backgrounds that admit Killing spinors. The superconformal Ward identities imply that there exists a continuous family of conserved R-currents on supersymmetric backgrounds, as well as a continuous family of conserved currents for each conformal Killing vector. These continuous families interpolate between the consistent and covariant R-current and energy-momentum tensor. The resulting Casimir energy, therefore, depends on two continuous parameters corresponding to the choice of conserved currents used to define the energy and R-charge. This ambiguity is in addition to any possible scheme dependence due to local terms in the effective action. As an application, we evaluate the general expression for the supersymmetric Casimir energy we obtain on a family of backgrounds with the cylinder topology $R\times S^3$ and admitting two supercharges of opposite R-charge. Our result is a direct consequence of the supersymmetry algebra, yet it resembles more known expressions for the non-supersymmetric Casimir energy on such backgrounds and differs from the supersymmetric Casimir energy obtained from the zero temperature limit of supersymmetric partition functions. We defer a thorough analysis of the relation between these results to future work.
We describe a new set of public, self-contained, and versatile computational tools for the investigation, manipulation, and evaluation of tree-level amplitudes in pure (super)Yang-Mills and (super)Gravity, $\phi^p$-scalar field theory, and various other theories related to these through the double-copy. The package brings together a diverse set of frameworks for representing amplitudes, from twistor string theory and scattering equations, to KLT and the double-copy, to on-shell recursion and the (oriented) positroid geometry of the amplituhedron. In addition to checking agreement across frameworks, we have made it easy to test many of the non-trivial relations satisfied by amplitudes, their components and building blocks, including: Ward identities, KK and BCJ relations, soft theorems, and the $E_{7|7}$ structure of maximal supergravity. Beyond providing a coherent and consistent implementation of many well known (if not publicly available) results, our package includes a number of results well beyond what has existed in the present literature--from local, covariant, manifestly color-kinematic-dual representations of amplitudes for gluons/gravitons at arbitrary multiplicity, to a complete classification of Yangian invariants via oriented homology in the amplituhedron. The Mathematica package `tree_amplitudes', and a notebook illustrating its functionality are available as ancillary files attached to this work's page on the arXiv.
We start with the SCFT/VOA correspondence formulated in the Omega-background approach, and connect it to the boundary VOA in 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ theories and chiral algebras of 2d $\mathcal{N}=(0,2)$ theories. This is done using the dimensional reduction of the 4d theory on the topologically twisted and Omega-deformed cigar, performed in two steps. This paves the way for many more interesting questions, and we offer quite a few. We also use this approach to explain some older observations on the TQFTs produced from the generalized Argyres-Douglas (AD) theories reduced on the circle with a discrete twist. In particular, we argue that the AD theories with trivial Higgs branch, upon reduction on $S^1$ with the $\mathbb{Z}_N$ twist (where $\mathbb{Z}_N$ is a global symmetry of the given AD theory), result in the rank-0 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ SCFTs, which have been a subject of recent studies. A generic AD theory, by the similar logic, leads to a 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ SCFT with zero-dimensional Coulomb branch (and suggests that there are a lot of them). Our construction explains, among other things, a match between the 4d VOA and the boundary VOA of some 3d rank-0 SCFTs, and also leads to interesting open problems.
In the O(n) loop model on random planar maps, we study the depth - in terms of the number of levels of nesting - of the loop configuration, by means of analytic combinatorics. We focus on the 'refined' generating series of pointed disks or cylinders, which keep track of the number of loops separating the marked point from the boundary (for disks), or the two boundaries (for cylinders). For the general O(n) loop model, we show that these generating series satisfy functional relations obtained by a modification of those satisfied by the unrefined generating series. In a more specific O(n) model where loops cross only triangles and have a bending energy, we explicitly compute the refined generating series. We analyse their non generic critical behavior in the dense and dilute phases, and obtain the large deviations function of the nesting distribution, which is expected to be universal. Using the framework of Liouville quantum gravity (LQG), we show that a rigorous functional KPZ relation can be applied to the multifractal spectrum of extreme nesting in the conformal loop ensemble (CLE) in the Euclidean unit disk, as obtained by Miller, Watson and Wilson, or to its natural generalisation to the Riemann sphere. It allows us to recover the large deviations results obtained for the critical O(n) random planar map models. This offers, at the refined level of large deviations theory, a rigorous check of the fundamental fact that the universal scaling limits of random planar map models as weighted by partition functions of critical statistical models are given by LQG random surfaces decorated by independent CLEs.
In this homage to Einstein's 144th birthday we propose a novel quantization prescription, where the paths of a path-integral are not random, but rather solutions of a geodesic equation in a random background. We show that this change of perspective can be made mathematically equivalent to the usual formulations of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. To conclude, we comment on conceptual issues, such as quantum gravity coupled to matter and the quantum equivalence principle.
We develop a non-perturbative framework to incorporate gauge field fluctuations into QED3 effective actions in the infrared by fermionic particle-vortex duality. The utility is demonstrated by the application to models containing N species of 2-component Dirac fermions in a couple of solvable and interpretable electromagnetic backgrounds: N = 1 or 2. For the N = 1 model, we establish a correspondence between fermion Casimir energy at finite density and the magnetic Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian, and we further evaluate the correction to their amplitudes. This in turn predicts the amplification of charge susceptibility and the reduction of magnetic permeability. We additionally supply physical interpretations to each component of our calculation as well as alternative derivations based on energy density measurements in different characteristic lengths. For N = 2, we show that the magnetic catalysis is erased in a U(1)$\times$U(1) QED3 and therefore there is no breakdown of chiral symmetry. Some reasoning is offered based on the properties of the lowest Landau level wave functions.
We study giant graviton expansions of the superconformal index of 4d orbifold/orientifold theories. In general, a giant graviton expansion is given as a multiple sum over wrapping numbers. It has been known that the expansion can be reduced to a simple sum for the ${\cal N}=4$ $U(N)$ SYM by choosing appropriate expansion variables. We find such a reduction occurs for a few examples of orbifold and orientifold theories: $\mathbb{Z}_k$ orbifold and orientifolds with $O3$ and $O7$. We also argue that for a quiver gauge theory associated with a toric Calabi-Yau $3$-fold the simple-sum expansion works only if the toric diagram is a triangle, that is, the Calabi-Yau is an orbifold of $\mathbb{C}^3$.
Recently, the concept of spread complexity, Krylov complexity for states, has been introduced as a measure of the complexity and chaoticity of quantum systems. In this paper, we study the spread complexity of the thermofield double state within \emph{integrable} systems that exhibit saddle-dominated scrambling. Specifically, we focus on the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model and the inverted harmonic oscillator as representative examples of quantum mechanical systems featuring saddle-dominated scrambling. Applying the Lanczos algorithm, our numerical investigation reveals that the spread complexity in these systems exhibits features reminiscent of \emph{chaotic} systems, displaying a distinctive ramp-peak-slope-plateau pattern. Our results indicate that, although spread complexity serves as a valuable probe, accurately diagnosing true quantum chaos generally necessitates additional physical input. We also explore the relationship between spread complexity, the spectral form factor, and the transition probability within the Krylov space. We provide analytical confirmation of our numerical results, validating the Ehrenfest theorem of complexity and identifying a distinct quadratic behavior in the early-time regime of spread complexity.
We provide a concise and accessible introduction to (geometric) string structures, highlighting their connection to loop spaces and outlining relationships with neighboring topics.
Ab-initio calculations of real-time evolution for lattice gauge theory have very interesting potential applications but present challenging computational aspects. We show that tensor renormalization group methods developed in the context of Euclidean-time lattice field theory can be applied to calculation of Trotterized evolution operators at real time. We discuss the optimization of truncation procedures for various observables. We apply the numerical methods to the 1D Quantum Ising Model with an external transverse field in the ordered phase and compare with universal quantum computing for $N_{s}=4$ and 8 sites.
Calabi-Yau (CY) manifolds play a ubiquitous role in string theory. As a supersymmetry-preserving choice for the 6 extra compact dimensions of superstring compactifications, these spaces provide an arena in which to explore the rich interplay between physics and geometry. These lectures will focus on compact CY manifolds and the long standing problem of determining their Ricci flat metrics. Despite powerful existence theorems, no analytic expressions for these metrics are known. In this lecture series we review numerical approximation methods for Ricci flat CY metrics. Our first aim is to give a brief overview of the mathematical framework underlying CY geometry, and the various metrics that CY manifolds admit. We will then discuss the three types of numerical methods that have been developed to compute Ricci-flat CY metrics: Donaldson's algorithm, functional minimization methods, and machine learning methods. Due to the limited time/space we have, this will not be a comprehensive review, but instead we hope to give a brief survey and illustrate the essential tools, key ideas, and implementations of this rapidly advancing field.
BM@N (baryonic matter at Nuclotron) is the first experiment operational at the Nuclotron/NICA ion-accelerating complex taking data.The aim of the BM@N experiment is to study interactions of relativistic heavy-ion beams with fixed targets. We present a technical description of BM@N spectrometer including all its subsystems.
We present recent tests of lepton universality as crucial probes of the Standard Model in semileptonic $B$-meson decays at Belle II. All presented analyses use a data sample collected at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance by the Belle II experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $189\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. We report three analyses that probe light-lepton universality: The first measurement of a complete set of five angular asymmetries using $\bar{B}^0 \to D^{*+} \ell^- \bar{\nu}_\ell$ decays, followed by a measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry in untagged $\bar{B}^0 \to D^{*+} \ell^- \bar{\nu}_\ell$ decays, and finally, measurements of the branching-fraction ratios $R(D^{*+}_{e/\mu}) = \mathcal{B}(\bar{B}^0 \to D^{*+} e^- \bar{\nu}_e) / \mathcal{B}(\bar{B}^0 \to D^{*+} \mu^- \bar{\nu}_\mu)$, using the same untagged data set, along with the first measurement of the inclusive light-lepton ratio $R(X_{e/\mu}) = \mathcal{B}(\bar{B} \to X e^- \bar{\nu}_e) / \mathcal{B}(\bar{B} \to X \mu^- \bar{\nu}_\mu)$. Furthermore, we present two tests of heavy-to-light lepton universality. In the first test, we report the measurement of the branching-fraction ratio $R(D^{*}_{\tau/\ell})$ using hadronic tagging. In the second test, we present the first measurement of the inclusive ratio $R(X_{\tau/\ell})$. All presented results are consistent with their corresponding Standard Model predictions and, where applicable, with the experimental world averages.
The findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data principles provide a framework for examining, evaluating, and improving how data is shared to facilitate scientific discovery. Generalizing these principles to research software and other digital products is an active area of research. Machine learning (ML) models -- algorithms that have been trained on data without being explicitly programmed -- and more generally, artificial intelligence (AI) models, are an important target for this because of the ever-increasing pace with which AI is transforming scientific domains, such as experimental high energy physics (HEP). In this paper, we propose a practical definition of FAIR principles for AI models in HEP and describe a template for the application of these principles. We demonstrate the template's use with an example AI model applied to HEP, in which a graph neural network is used to identify Higgs bosons decaying to two bottom quarks. We report on the robustness of this FAIR AI model, its portability across hardware architectures and software frameworks, and its interpretability.
The Earth mover's distance (EMD) is a useful metric for image recognition and classification, but its usual implementations are not differentiable or too slow to be used as a loss function for training other algorithms via gradient descent. In this paper, we train a convolutional neural network (CNN) to learn a differentiable, fast approximation of the EMD and demonstrate that it can be used as a substitute for computing-intensive EMD implementations. We apply this differentiable approximation in the training of an autoencoder-inspired neural network (encoder NN) for data compression at the high-luminosity LHC at CERN. The goal of this encoder NN is to compress the data while preserving the information related to the distribution of energy deposits in particle detectors. We demonstrate that the performance of our encoder NN trained using the differentiable EMD CNN surpasses that of training with loss functions based on mean squared error.
Low gain avalanche detectors (LGADs) deliver excellent timing resolution, which can mitigate mis-assignment of vertices associated with pileup at the High Luminosity LHC and other future hadron colliders. The most highly irradiated LGADs will be subject to $2.5 \times10^{15} \mathrm{n}_\mathrm{eq} \mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ of hadronic fluence during HL-LHC operation; their performance must tolerate this. Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. and Fondazione Bruno Kessler LGADs have been irradiated with 400 and 500 MeV protons respectively in several steps up to $1.5 \times10^{15} \mathrm{n}_\mathrm{eq} \mathrm{cm}^{-2}$. Measurements of the acceptor removal constants of the gain layers, evolution of the timing resolution and charge collection with damage, and inter-channel isolation characteristics, for a variety of design options, are presented here.
We report the characterization of the FBK ``NUV-HD-Cryo'' SiPMs at 10 K temperature. With 405 nm and 530 nm light, we measured the photo-detection efficiency (PDE) at the bias voltages between 6 to 11 V overvoltage (OV). The PDE reaches $\sim$ 40\% for 405 nm and 530 nm light with a bias voltage of OV 9 V. A bias voltage higher than 9 V leads to a slightly greater PDE. We also measured the SiPMs' PDE at room temperature (RT). The results are consistent with the measurements on the similar model SiPMs by other groups. The I-V curve of the SiPMs differs significantly from the conventional one measured at RT. The dark current ratio (DCR) is tested to be $\sim$ 1 Hz for the 92 mm$^2$ SiPMs, or 0.01 Hz/mm$^2$, which is $\sim$ 7 orders lower than the ratio tested at RT. The SiPMs' performance at 10 K demonstrated that it could be equipped on a liquid helium detector as the photosensor to search for rare events, including but not limited to dark matter searches.
The concept of concurrence is researched to characterize the dynamical behavior of the bipartite systems. The quantum kicked top model has great significance in the qubit systems and the chaotic properties of the entanglement. The eigenvalues of the reduced symmetric density matrix are determined, it allows us to understand this driven system to distinguish between regularity and chaoticity dynamics in the finite simulation, which depend on the strength excitation in the framework of the concurrence.
We explore superconducting quantum circuits where several leads are simultaneously connected beyond the tunneling regime, such that the fermionic structure of Andreev bound states in the resulting multiterminal Josephson junction influences the states of the full circuit. Using a simple model of single channel contacts and a single level in the middle region, we discuss different circuit configurations where the leads are islands with finite capacitance and/or form loops with finite inductance. We find situations of practical interest where the circuits can be used to define noise protected qubits, which map to the bifluxon and $0{-}\pi$ qubits in the tunneling regime. We also point out the subtleties of the gauge choice for a proper description of these quantum circuits dynamics.
Symmetry is a powerful tool for understanding phases of matter in equilibrium. Quantum circuits with measurements have recently emerged as a platform for novel states of matter intrinsically out of equilibrium. Can symmetry be used as an organizing principle for these novel states, their phases and phase transitions? In this work, we give an affirmative answer to this question in a simple adaptive monitored circuit, which hosts an ordering transition in addition to a separate entanglement transition, upon tuning a single parameter. Starting from a symmetry-breaking initial state, depending on the tuning parameter, the steady state could (i) remain symmetry-broken, (ii) exhibit the average symmetry in the ensemble of trajectories, or (iii) exhibit the exact symmetry for each trajectory. The ordering transition is mapped to the transition in a classical majority vote model, described by the Ising universality class, while the entanglement transition lies in the percolation class. Numerical simulations are further presented to support the analytical understandings.
We discuss how quantum jumps affect localized regimes in driven-dissipative disordered many-body systems featuring a localization transition. We introduce a deformation of the Lindblad master equation that interpolates between the standard Lindblad and the no-jump non-Hermitian dynamics of open quantum systems. As a platform, we use a disordered chain of hard-core bosons with nearest-neighbor interactions and subject to coherent drive and dissipation at alternate sites. We probe both the statistics of complex eigenvalues of the deformed Liouvillian and dynamical observables of physical relevance. We show that reducing the number of quantum jumps, achievable through realistic post-selection protocols, can promote the emergence of the localized phase. Our findings are based on exact diagonalization and time-dependent matrix-product states techniques.
Measurement-based quantum computation (MBQC) is a universal platform to realize unitary gates, only using measurements which act on a pre-prepared entangled resource state. By deforming the measurement bases, as well as the geometry of the resource state, we show that MBQC circuits always transmit and act on the input state but generally realize nonunitary logical gates. In contrast to the stabilizer formalism which is often used for unitary gates, we find that ZX calculus is an ideal computation method of these nonunitary gates. As opposed to unitary gates, nonunitary gates can not be applied with certainty, due to the randomness of quantum measurements. We maximize the success probability of realizing nonunitary gates, and discuss applications including imaginary time evolution, which we demonstrate on a noisy intermediate scale quantum device.
We propose a mechanism to construct the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the massless Dirac-Weyl equation in the presences of magnetic flux $\Phi$ localized in a restricted region of the plane. Using this mechanism we analyze the degeneracy of the existed energy levels. We find that the zero and first energy level has the same $N+1$ degeneracy, where $N$ is the integer part of $\frac{\Phi}{2\pi}$. Finally, we show that higher energy levels are $N+m$ degenrate, beign $m$ the level of energy.
When light and matter interact strongly, the coupled system inherits properties from both constituents. It is consequently possible to alter the properties of either by engineering the other. This intriguing possibility has lead to the emergence of the cavity-materials-engineering paradigm which seeks to tailor material properties by engineering the fluctuations of a dark electromagnetic environment. The theoretical description of hybrid light-matter systems is complicated by the combined complexity of a realistic description of the extended electronic and quantum electromagnetic fields. Here we derive an effective, non-perturbative theory for low dimensional crystals embedded in a paradigmatic Fabry-P\'erot resonator in the long-wavelength limit. The theory encodes the multi-mode nature of the electromagnetic field into an effective single-mode scheme and it naturally follows from requiring a negligible momentum transfer from the photonic system to the matter. Crucially, in the effective theory the single light mode is characterized by a finite effective mode volume even in the limit of bulk cavity-matter systems and can be directly determined by realistic cavity parameters. As a consequence, the coupling of the effective mode to matter remains finite for bulk materials. By leveraging on the realistic description of the cavity system we make our effective theory free from the double counting of the coupling of matter to the electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations of free space. Our results provide a substantial step towards the realistic description of interacting cavity-matter systems at the level of the fundamental Hamiltonian, by effectively including the electromagnetic environment and going beyond the perfect mirrors approximation.
Confinement is a pivotal phenomenon in numerous models of high-energy and statistical physics. In this study, we investigate the emergence of confined meson excitations within a one-dimensional system, comprising Rydberg-dressed atoms trapped and coupled to a cavity field. This system can be effectively represented by an Ising-Dicke Hamiltonian model. The observed ground-state phase diagram reveals a first-order transition from a ferromagnetic-subradiant phase to a paramagnetic-superradiant phase. Notably, a quench near the transition point within the ferromagnetic-subradiant phase induces meson oscillations in the spins and leads to the creation of squeezed-vacuum light states. We suggest a method for the photonic characterization of these confined excitations, utilizing homodyne detection and single-site imaging techniques to observe the localized particles. The methodologies and results detailed in this paper are feasible for implementation on existing cavity-QED platforms, employing Rydberg-atom arrays in deep optical lattices or optical tweezers.
It is generally assumed that a Hamiltonian for a physically acceptable quantum system (one that has a positive-definite spectrum and obeys the requirement of unitarity) must be Hermitian. However, a PT-symmetric Hamiltonian can also define a physically acceptable quantum-mechanical system even if the Hamiltonian is not Hermitian. The study of PT-symmetric quantum systems is a young and extremely active research area in both theoretical and experimental physics. The purpose of this Review is to provide established scientists as well as graduate students with a compact, easy-to-read introduction to this field that will enable them to understand more advanced publications and to begin their own theoretical or experimental research activity. The ideas and techniques of PT symmetry have been applied in the context of many different branches of physics. This Review introduces the concepts of PT symmetry by focusing on elementary one-dimensional PT-symmetric quantum and classical mechanics and relies in particular on oscillator models to illustrate and explain the basic properties of PT-symmetric quantum theory.
This work proposes a protocol for Fermionic Hamiltonian learning. For the Hubbard model defined on a bounded-degree graph, the Heisenberg-limited scaling is achieved while allowing for state preparation and measurement errors. To achieve $\epsilon$-accurate estimation for all parameters, only $\tilde{\mathcal{O}}(\epsilon^{-1})$ total evolution time is needed, and the constant factor is independent of the system size. Moreover, our method only involves simple one or two-site Fermionic manipulations, which is desirable for experiment implementation.
We introduce a characterisation scheme for a universal qutrit gate set. Motivated by rising interest in qutrit systems, we apply our criteria to establish that our hyperdihedral group underpins a scheme to characterise the performance of a qutrit T~gate. Our resulting qutrit scheme is feasible, as it requires resources and data analysis techniques similar to resources employed for qutrit Clifford randomised benchmarking. Combining our T~gate benchmarking procedure for qutrits with known qutrit Clifford-gate benchmarking enables complete characterisation of a universal qutrit gate set.
We revisit the uncertainty principle from the point of view suggested by A. Wigderson and Y. Wigderson. This approach is based on a primary uncertainty principle from which one can derive several inequalities expressing the impossibility of a simultaneous sharp localization in time and frequency. Moreover, it requires no specific properties of the Fourier transform and can therefore be easily applied to all operators satisfying the primary uncertainty principle. A. Wigderson and Y. Wigderson also suggested many generalizations to higher dimensions and stated several conjectures which we address in the present paper. We argue that we have to consider a more general primary uncertainty principle to prove the results suggested by the authors. As a by-product we obtain some new inequalities akin to the Cowling-Price uncertainty principle and derive the entropic uncertainty principle from the primary uncertainty principles.
Quantum states naturally decay under noise. Many earlier works have quantified and demonstrated lower bounds on the decay rate, showing exponential decay in a wide variety of contexts. Here we study the converse question: are there uniform upper bounds on the ratio of post-noise to initial information quantities when noise is sufficiently weak? In several scenarios, including classical, we find multiplicative converse bounds. However, this is not always the case. Even for simple noise such as qubit dephasing or depolarizing, mutual information may fall by an unbounded factor under arbitrarily weak noise. As an application, we find families of channels with non-zero private capacity despite arbitrarily high probability of transmitting an arbitrarily good copy of the input to the environment.
The reduced density matrix (RDM) is crucial in quantum many-body systems for understanding physical properties, including all local physical quantity information. This study aims to minimize various error constraints that causes challenges in higher-order RDMs estimation in quantum computing. We identify the optimal balance between statistical and systematic errors in higher-order RDM estimation in particular when cumulant expansion is used to suppress the sample complexity. Furthermore, we show via numerical demonstration of quantum subspace methods for one and two dimensional Fermi Hubbard model that, biased yet efficient estimations better suppress hardware noise in excited state calculations. Our work paves a path towards cost-efficient practical quantum computing that in reality is constrained by multiple aspects of errors.
We report a stable, low loss method for coupling light from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) photonic chips into optical fibers. The technique is realized using an on-chip tapered waveguide and a cleaved small core optical fiber. The on-chip taper is monolithic and does not require a patterned cladding, thus simplifying the chip fabrication process. The optical fiber segment is composed of a centimeter-long small core fiber (UHNA7) which is spliced to SMF-28 fiber with less than -0.1 dB loss. We observe an overall coupling loss of -0.64 dB with this design. The chip edge and fiber tip can be butt coupled without damaging the on-chip taper or fiber. Friction between the surfaces maintains alignment leading to an observation of += 0.1 dB coupling fluctuation during a ten-day continuous measurement without use of any adhesive. This technique minimizes the potential for generating Raman noise in the fiber, and has good stability compared to coupling strategies based on longer UHNA fibers or fragile lensed fibers. We also applied the edge coupler on a correlated photon pair source and observed a raw coincidence count rate of 1.21 million cps and heralding efficiency of 21.3%. We achieved an auto correlation function g_H^2 (0) as low as 0.0004 at the low pump power regime.
Through a combination of rigorous analytical derivations and extensive numerical simulations, this work reports an exotic multifractal behavior, dubbed "logarithmic multifractality", in effectively infinite-dimensional systems undergoing the Anderson transition. In marked contrast to conventional multifractal critical properties observed at finite-dimensional Anderson transitions or scale-invariant second-order phase transitions, in the presence of logarithmic multifractality, eigenstate statistics, spatial correlations, and wave packet dynamics can all exhibit scaling laws which are algebraic in the logarithm of system size or time. Our findings offer crucial insights into strong finite-size effects and slow dynamics in complex systems undergoing the Anderson transition, such as the many-body localization transition.
Quantum Random Access Memory (qRAM) is an essential computing element for running oracle-based quantum algorithms. qRAM exploits the principle of quantum superposition to access all data stored in the memory cell simultaneously and guarantees the superior performance of quantum algorithms. A qRAM memory cell comprises logical qubits encoded through quantum error correction technology for the successful operation of qRAM against various quantum noises. In addition to quantum noise, the low-technology nodes based on silicon technology can increase the qubit density and may introduce defective qubits. As qRAM comprises many qubits, its yield will be reduced by defective qubits; these qubits must be handled using QEC scheme. However, the QEC scheme requires numerous physical qubits, which burdens resource overhead. To resolve this overhead problem, we propose a quantum memory architecture that compensates for defective qubits by introducing redundant qubits. We also analyze the yield improvement offered by our proposed architecture by varying the ideal fabrication error rate from 0.5% to 1% for different numbers of logical qubits in the qRAM. In the qRAM comprising 1,024 logical qubits, eight redundant logical qubits improved the yield by 95.92% from that of qRAM not employing the redundant repair scheme.
We present a faithful geometric picture for genuine tripartite entanglement of discrete, continuous, and hybrid quantum systems. We first find that the triangle relation $\mathcal{E}^\alpha_{i|jk}\leq \mathcal{E}^\alpha_{j|ik}+\mathcal{E}^\alpha_{k|ij}$ holds for all subadditive bipartite entanglement measure $\mathcal{E}$, all permutations under parties $i, j, k$, all $\alpha \in [0, 1]$, and all pure tripartite states. It provides a geometric interpretation that bipartition entanglement, measured by $\mathcal{E}^\alpha$, corresponds to the side of a triangle, of which the area with $\alpha \in (0, 1)$ is nonzero if and only if the underlying state is genuinely entangled. Then, we rigorously prove the non-obtuse triangle area with $0<\alpha\leq 1/2$ is a measure for genuine tripartite entanglement. Useful lower and upper bounds for these measures are obtained, and generalizations of our results are also presented. Finally, it is significantly strengthened for qubits that, given a set of subadditive and non-additive measures, some state is always found to violate the triangle relation for any $\alpha>1$, and the triangle area is not a measure for any $\alpha>1/2$. Hence, our results are expected to aid significant progress in studying both discrete and continuous multipartite entanglement.
Quantum computers have been proposed to solve a number of important problems such as discovering new drugs, new catalysts for fertilizer production, breaking encryption protocols, optimizing financial portfolios, or implementing new artificial intelligence applications. Yet, to date, a simple task such as multiplying 3 by 5 is beyond existing quantum hardware. This article examines the difficulties that would need to be solved for quantum computers to live up to their promises. I discuss the whole stack of technologies that has been envisioned to build a quantum computer from the top layers (the actual algorithms and associated applications) down to the very bottom ones (the quantum hardware, its control electronics, cryogeny, etc.) while not forgetting the crucial intermediate layer of quantum error correction.
Optically accessible spin-active nanomaterials are promising as quantum nanosensors for probing biological samples. However, achieving bioimaging-level brightness and high-quality spin properties for these materials is challenging and hinders their application in quantum biosensing. Here, we demonstrate ultrabright fluorescent nanodiamonds (NDs) containing 0.6-1.3-ppm nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers by spin-environment engineering via enriching spin-less 12C-carbon isotopes and reducing substitutional nitrogen spin impurities. The NDs, readily introduced into cultured cells, exhibited substantially narrow optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) spectra, requiring 16-times less microwave excitation power to give an ODMR depth comparable to that of conventional type-Ib NDs. They show average spin-relaxation times of T1 = 0.68 ms and T2 = 1.6 us (1.6 ms and 2.7 us maximum) that were 5- and 10-fold longer than those of type-Ib, respectively. The bulk-like NV spin properties and bright fluorescence demonstrated in this study significantly improve the sensitivity of ND-based quantum sensors for biological applications.
To quantify the entanglement of bipartite systems in terms of some entanglement measure is a challenging problem in general, and it is much worse when the information about the system is less. In this manuscript, based on two classes of entanglement criteria, we present a method to obtain the lower bounds of the entanglement measures, concurrence, entanglement of formation, and geometrical entanglement measure.
We describe a matrix product state (MPS) extension for the Fermionic Quantum Emulator (FQE) software library. We discuss the theory behind symmetry adapted matrix product states for approximating many-body wavefunctions of spin-1/2 fermions, and we present an open-source, MPS-enabled implementation of the FQE interface (MPS-FQE). The software uses the open-source pyblock3 and block2 libraries for most elementary tensor operations, and it can largely be used as a drop-in replacement for FQE that allows for more efficient, but approximate, emulation of larger fermionic circuits. Finally, we show several applications relevant to both near-term and fault-tolerant quantum algorithms where approximate emulation of larger systems is expected to be useful: characterization of state preparation strategies for quantum phase estimation, the testing of different variational quantum eigensolver Ans\"atze, the numerical evaluation of Trotter errors, and the simulation of general quantum dynamics problems. In all these examples, approximate emulation with MPS-FQE allows us to treat systems that are significantly larger than those accessible with a full statevector emulator
We examine the emergence of periodicity in a non-interacting steady-state quantum system without external drive inspired by quantum time crystals' spontaneous time-translation symmetry breaking. Specifically, we consider a lattice ring of non-interacting electrons undergoing weak local position measurements. Our analysis uncovers time-periodic structures in steady-state two-time correlation functions, with periodicity linked to the system's group velocity. This study demonstrates a measurement-induced clock mechanism, highlighting periodic behaviors in two-time correlators of a non-equilibrium steady state, contributing to understanding time-periodic phenomena in minimally interactive quantum systems.
In Si/SiGe heterostructures, the low-lying excited valley state seriously limit operability and scalability of electron spin qubits. For characterizing and understanding the local variations in valley splitting, fast probing methods with high spatial and energy resolution are lacking. Leveraging the spatial control granted by conveyor-mode spin-coherent electron shuttling, we introduce a method for two-dimensional mapping of the local valley splitting by detecting magnetic field dependent anticrossings of ground and excited valley states using entangled electron spin-pairs as a probe. The method has sub-{\mu}eV energy accuracy and a nanometer lateral resolution. The histogram of valley splittings spanning a large area of 210 nm by 18 nm matches well with statistics obtained by the established but time-consuming magnetospectroscopy method. For the specific heterostructure, we find a nearly Gaussian distribution of valley splittings and a correlation length similar to the quantum dot size. Our mapping method may become a valuable tool for engineering Si/SiGe heterostructures for scalable quantum computing.
Bosonic and fermionic statistics are well known to give rise to antinomic behaviors, most notably boson bunching vs. fermion antibunching. Here, we establish a fundamental relation that combines bosonic and fermionic multiparticle interferences in an arbitrary linear interferometer. The bosonic and fermionic transition probabilities appear together in a same equation which constrains their values, hence expressing a boson-fermion complementarity that is independent of the details of the interaction. For two particles in any interferometer, for example, it implies that the average of the bosonic and fermionic probabilities must coincide with the probability obeyed by classical particles. Incidentally, this fundamental relation also provides a heretofore unknown mathematical identity connecting the squared moduli of the permanent and determinant of arbitrary complex matrices.
As quantum computing develops, the problem of implementing entangling and disentangling quantum gates in a controllable manner reemerges in multiple contexts. One of the newest applications of such disentangling channels are quantum convolutional neural networks, where the core idea lies in the systematic decrease of qudit numbers without loss of information encoded in entangled states. In this work, we focus on quantum analogues of convolution and pooling - basic building block for convolutional networks - and construct and characterize parametrizable ``quantum convolution'' channels as coherifications of permutation tensors. Operations constructed in this manner generically provide high (dis)entangling power. In particular, we identify conditions necessary for the convolution channels constructed using our method to possess maximal entangling power. Based on this, we establish new, continuous classes of bipartite 2-unitary matrices of dimension $d^2$ for $d = 7$ and $d = 9$, with $2$ and $4$ free nonlocal parameters, corresponding to perfect tensors of rank $4$ or $4$-partite absolutely maximally entangled states. The newly established families may serve as the prototype for trainable convolution/pooling layers in quantum convolutional neural networks.
We provide a mechanism to imprint local temporal correlations in photon streams which have the same character as spatial correlations in liquids. Usual single-photon emitters correspond, in this picture, to a (temporal) gas while uncorrelated light is the ideal gas. We argue that good single-photon sources are those that exhibit such temporal liquid features, i.e., with a plateau for their short-time correlations (as opposed to a linear dependence) and oscillations at later times, which is a direct manifestation of photon time-ordering. We obtain general, closed-form analytical expressions for the second-order coherence function of a broad family of "liquid light" which can be arbitrarily correlated, though never completely crystallized.
High-dimensional quantum information processing has emerged as a promising avenue to transcend hardware limitations and advance the frontiers of quantum technologies. Harnessing the untapped potential of the so-called qudits necessitates the development of quantum protocols beyond the established qubit methodologies. Here, we present a robust, hardware-efficient, and extensible approach for operating multidimensional solid-state systems using Raman-assisted two-photon interactions. To demonstrate its efficacy, we construct a set of multi-qubit operations, realize highly entangled multidimensional states including atomic squeezed states and Schr\"odinger cat states, and implement programmable entanglement distribution along a qudit array. Our work illuminates the quantum electrodynamics of strongly driven multi-qudit systems and provides the experimental foundation for the future development of high-dimensional quantum applications.
For quantum computers to successfully solve real-world problems, it is necessary to tackle the challenge of noise: the errors which occur in elementary physical components due to unwanted or imperfect interactions. The theory of quantum fault tolerance can provide an answer in the long term, but in the coming era of `NISQ' machines we must seek to mitigate errors rather than completely remove them. This review surveys the diverse methods that have been proposed for quantum error mitigation, assesses their in-principle efficacy, and then describes the hardware demonstrations achieved to date. We identify the commonalities and limitations among the methods, noting how mitigation methods can be chosen according to the primary type of noise present, including algorithmic errors. Open problems in the field are identified and we discuss the prospects for realising mitigation-based devices that can deliver quantum advantage with an impact on science and business.
Utilizing the framework of $\mathbb{Z}_2$ lattice gauge theories in the context of Pauli stabilizer codes, we present methodologies for simulating fermions via qubit systems on a two-dimensional square lattice. We investigate the symplectic automorphisms of the Pauli module over the Laurent polynomial ring. This enables us to systematically increase the code distances of stabilizer codes while fixing the rate between encoded logical fermions and physical qubits. We identify a family of stabilizer codes suitable for fermion simulation, achieving code distances of $d=2,3,4,5,6,7$, allowing correction of any $\lfloor \frac{d-1}{2} \rfloor$-qubit error. In contrast to the traditional code concatenation approach, our method can increase the code distances without decreasing the (fermionic) code rate. In particular, we explicitly show all stabilizers and logical operators for codes with code distances of $d=3,4,5$. We provide syndromes for all Pauli errors and invent a syndrome-matching algorithm to compute code distances numerically.
Physicists dating back to Feynman have lamented the difficulties of applying the variational principle to quantum field theories. In non-relativistic quantum field theories, the challenge is to parameterize and optimize over the infinitely many $n$-particle wave functions comprising the state's Fock space representation. Here we approach this problem by introducing neural-network quantum field states, a deep learning ansatz that enables application of the variational principle to non-relativistic quantum field theories in the continuum. Our ansatz uses the Deep Sets neural network architecture to simultaneously parameterize all of the $n$-particle wave functions comprising a quantum field state. We employ our ansatz to approximate ground states of various field theories, including an inhomogeneous system and a system with long-range interactions, thus demonstrating a powerful new tool for probing quantum field theories.
We characterize quantum correlations encoded in a three-flavor oscillating neutrino system by using both plane-wave and wave-packet approach. By means of the Complete Complementarity Relations we study the trade off of predictability, local coherence and non local correlations in terms of the relevant parameters, chosen from recent neutrino experiments. Although the CCR describe very well the contributions associated to bipartite correlations, an attempt of promoting these relations to include the genuine tripartite contributions in the pure state case leads to a not completely meaningful result. However, we provide an analysis of the genuine tripartite contributions both for the pure instance and for the mixed case, independently of CCR.
We present an exactly solvable toy model for the continuous dissipative dynamics of permutation-invariant graph states of $N$ qubits. Such states are locally equivalent to an $N$-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state, a fundamental resource in many quantum information processing setups. We focus on the time evolution of the state governed by a Lindblad master equation with the three standard single-qubit jump operators, the Hamiltonian part being set to zero. Deriving analytic expressions for the expectation values of observables expanded in the Pauli basis at all times, we analyze the nontrivial intermediate-time dynamics. Using a numerical solver based on matrix product operators, we simulate the time evolution for systems with up to 64 qubits and verify a numerically exact agreement with the analytical results. We find that the evolution of the operator space entanglement entropy of a bipartition of the system manifests a plateau whose duration increases logarithmically with the number of qubits, whereas all Pauli-operator products have expectation values decaying at most in constant time.
Spin network systems can be used to achieve quantum state transfer with high fidelity and to generate entanglement. A new approach to design spin-chain-based spin network systems, for shortrange quantum information processing and phase-sensing, has been proposed recently in [1]. In this paper, we investigate the scalability of such systems, by designing larger spin network systems that can be used for longer-range quantum information tasks, such as connecting together quantum processors. Furthermore, we present more complex spin network designs, which can produce different types of entangled states. Simulations of disorder effects show that even such larger spin network systems are robust against realistic levels of disorder.
The paper analyzes the probability distribution of the occupancy numbers and the entropy of a system at the equilibrium composed by an arbitrary number of non-interacting bosons. The probability distribution is derived both by tracing out the environment from a bosonic eigenstate of the union of environment and system of interest (the empirical approach) and by tracing out the environment from the mixed state of the union of environment and system of interest (the Bayesian approach). In the thermodynamic limit, the two coincide and are equal to the multinomial distribution. Furthermore, the paper proposes to identify the physical entropy of the bosonic system with the Shannon entropy of the occupancy numbers, fixing certain contradictions that arise in the classical analysis of thermodynamic entropy. Finally, by leveraging an information-theoretic inequality between the entropy of the multinomial distribution and the entropy of the multivariate hypergeometric distribution, Bayesianism and empiricism are integrated into a common ''infomechanical'' framework.
Finding groups of similar image blocks within an ample search area is often necessary in different applications, such as video compression, image clustering, vector quantization, and nonlocal noise reduction. A block-matching algorithm that uses a dissimilarity measure can be applied in such scenarios. In this work, a measure that utilizes the quantum Fourier transform or the Swap test based on the Euclidean distance is proposed. Experiments on small cases with ideal and noisy simulations are implemented. In the case of the Swap test, the IBM and IonQ quantum devices have been used, demonstrating potential for future near-term applications.
In this article, we investigate Ehrenfest's theorem from the Dirac equation in a noncommutative phase-space where we calculate the time derivative of the position and the kinetic momentum operators for Dirac particles in interaction with electromagnetic field and within a noncommutative setting. This allows examining the effect of the phase-space noncommutativity on Ehrenfest's theorem. Knowing that with both the linear Bopp-Shift and Moyal-Weyl product, the noncommutativity is inserted.
Chainwise stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (C-STIRAP) in M-type molecular system is a good alternative in creating ultracold deeply-bound molecules when the typical STIRAP in {\Lambda}-type system does not work due to weak Frank-Condon factors between states. However, its creation efficiency under the smooth evolution is generally low. During the process, the population in the intermediate states may decay out quickly and the strong laser pulses may induce multi-photon processes. In this paper, we find that shortcut-to-adiabatic (STA) passage fits very well in improving the performance of the C-STIRAP. Currently, related discussions on the so-called chainwise stimulated Raman shortcut-to-adiabatic passage (C-STIRSAP) are rare. Here, we investigate this topic under the adiabatic elimination. Given a relation among the four incident pulses, it is quite interesting that the M-type system can be generalized into an effective {\Lambda}-type structure with the simplest resonant coupling. Consequently, all possible methods of STA for three-state system can be borrowed. We take the counter-diabatic driving and "chosen path" method as instances to demonstrate our treatment on the molecular system. Although the "chosen path" method does not work well in real three-state system if there is strong decay in the excited state, our C-STIRSAP protocol under both the two methods can create ultracold deeply-bound molecules with high efficiency in the M-type system. The evolution time is shortened without strong laser pulses and the robustness of STA is well preserved. Finally, the detection of ultracold deeply-bound molecules is discussed.
The need of near-surface color centers in diamond for quantum technologies motivates the controlled doping of specific extrinsic impurities into the crystal lattice. Recent experiments have shown that this can be achieved by momentum transfer from a surface precursor via ion implantation, an approach known as ``recoil implantation.'' Here, we extend this technique to incorporate dielectric precursors for creating nitrogen-vacancy (NV) and silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers in diamond. Specifically, we demonstrate that gallium focused-ion-beam exposure to a thin layer of silicon nitride or silicon dioxide on the diamond surface results in the introduction of both extrinsic impurities and carbon vacancies. These defects subsequently give rise to near-surface NV and SiV centers with desirable optical properties after annealing.
We investigate the benefits of probabilistic non-Gaussian operations in phase estimation using difference-intensity and parity detection-based Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZI). We consider an experimentally implementable model to perform three different non-Gaussian operations, namely photon subtraction (PS), photon addition (PA), and photon catalysis (PC) on a single-mode squeezed vacuum (SSV) state. In difference-intensity detection-based MZI, two PC operation is found to be the most optimal, while for parity detection-based MZI, two PA operation emerges as the most optimal process. We have also provided the corresponding squeezing and transmissivity parameters at best performance, making our study relevant for experimentalists. Further, we have derived the general expression of moment-generating function, which shall be useful in exploring other detection schemes such as homodyne detection and quadratic homodyne detection.
Dual-unitary quantum circuits have recently attracted attention as an analytically tractable model of many-body quantum dynamics. Consisting of a 1+1D lattice of 2-qudit gates arranged in a 'brickwork' pattern, these models are defined by the constraint that each gate must remain unitary under swapping the roles of space and time. This dual-unitarity restricts the dynamics of local operators in these circuits: the support of any such operator must grow at the effective speed of light of the system, along one or both of the edges of a causal light cone set by the geometry of the circuit. Using this property, it is shown here that for 1+1D dual-unitary circuits the set of width-$w$ conserved densities (constructed from operators supported over $w$ consecutive sites) is in one-to-one correspondence with the set of width-$w$ solitons - operators which, up to a multiplicative phase, are simply spatially translated at the effective speed of light by the dual-unitary dynamics. A number of ways to construct these many-body solitons (explicitly in the case where the local Hilbert space dimension $d=2$) are then demonstrated: firstly, via a simple construction involving products of smaller, constituent solitons; and secondly, via a construction which cannot be understood as simply in terms of products of smaller solitons, but which does have a neat interpretation in terms of products of fermions under a Jordan-Wigner transformation. This provides partial progress towards a characterisation of the microscopic structure of complex many-body solitons (in dual-unitary circuits on qubits), whilst also establishing a link between fermionic models and dual-unitary circuits, advancing our understanding of what kinds of physics can be explored in this framework.
A generalization of associated Legendre functions is proposed and used to describe the scattering states of the Rosen-Morse potential. The functions are then given explicit formulas in terms of the hypergeometric function, their asymptotic behavior is examined and shown to match the requirements for states in the regions of total and partial reflection. Elementary expressions are given for reflection and transmission coefficients, and an integral identity for the generalized Legendre functions is proven, allowing the calculation of the spectral measure of the induced integral transform for the scattering states. These methods provide a complete classical solution to the potential, without need of path integral techniques.
Research on optimal eavesdropping models under practical conditions will help to evaluate realistic risk when employing quantum key distribution (QKD) system for secure information transmission. Intuitively, fiber loss will lead to the optical energy leaking to the environment, rather than harvested by the eavesdropper, which also limits the eavesdropping ability while improving the QKD system performance in practical use. However, defining the optimal eavesdropping model in the presence of lossy fiber is difficult because the channel is beyond the control of legitimate partners and the leaked signal is undetectable. Here we investigate how the fiber loss influences the eavesdropping ability based on a teleportation-based collective attack model which requires two distant stations and a shared entanglement source. We find that if the distributed entanglement is limited due to the practical loss, the optimal attack occurs when the two teleportation stations are merged to one and placed close to the transmitter site, which performs similar to the entangling-cloning attack but with a reduced wiretapping ratio. Assuming Eve uses the best available hollow-core fiber, the secret key rate in the practical environment can be 20%~40% higher than that under ideal eavesdropping. While if the entanglement distillation technology is mature enough to provide high quality of distributed entanglement, the two teleportation stations should be distantly separated for better eavesdropping performance, where the eavesdropping can even approach the optimal collective attack. Under the current level of entanglement purification technology, the unavoidable fiber loss can still greatly limit the eavesdropping ability as well as enhance the secret key rate and transmission distance of the realistic system, which promotes the development of QKD systems in practical application scenarios.