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Showing votes from 2024-01-23 11:30 to 2024-01-26 12:30 | Next meeting is Friday Oct 25th, 11:30 am.
Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) is increasingly studied as a potential solution to small-scale discrepancies between simulations of cold dark matter (CDM) and observations. We examine a physically motivated two-state SIDM model with both elastic and inelastic scatterings. In particular, endothermic, exothermic, and elastic scattering occur with equal probability at high relative velocities ($v_{\rm rel}\gtrsim400~{\rm km/s})$. In a suite of cosmological zoom-in simulation of Milky Way-size haloes, we vary the primordial state fractions to understand the impact of inelastic dark matter self-interactions on halo structure and evolution. In particular, we test how the initial conditions impact the present-day properties of dark matter haloes. Depending on the primordial state fraction, scattering reactions will be dominated by either exothermic or endothermic effects for high and low initial excited state fractions respectively. We find that increasing the initial excited fraction reduces the mass of the main halo, as well as the number of subhaloes on all mass scales. The main haloes are cored, with lower inner densities and higher outer densities compared with CDM. Additionally, we find that the shape of the main halo becomes more spherical the higher the initial excited state fraction is. Finally, we show that the number of satellites steadily decreases with initial excited state fraction across all satellite masses.
The NANOGrav, Parkes and European Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) experiments have collected strong evidence for a stochastic gravitational wave background in the nHz-frequency band. In this work we perform a detailed statistical analysis of the signal in order to elucidate its physical origin. Specifically, we test the standard explanation in terms of supermassive black hole mergers against the prominent alternative explanation in terms of a first-order phase transition. By means of a frequentist hypothesis test we find that the observed gravitational wave spectrum prefers a first-order phase transition at $2-3\sigma$ significance compared to black hole mergers (depending on the underlying black hole model). This mild preference is linked to the relatively large amplitude of the observed gravitational wave signal (above the typical expectation of black hole models) and to its spectral shape (which slightly favors the phase-transition spectrum over the predominantly single power-law spectrum predicted in black hole models). The best fit to the combined PTA data set is obtained for a phase transition which dominantly produces the gravitational wave signal by bubble collisions (rather than by sound waves). The best-fit (energy-density) spectrum features, within the frequency band of the PTA experiments, a crossover from a steeply rising power law (causality tail) to a softly rising power law; the peak frequency then falls slightly above the PTA-measured range. Such a spectrum can be obtained for a strong first-order phase transition in the thick-wall regime of vacuum tunneling which reheats the Universe to a temperature of $T_*\sim \text{GeV}$. A dark sector phase transition at the GeV-scale provides a comparably good fit.
Observations of $z \sim 6$ quasars powered by super-massive black holes (SMBHs, $M_{\rm BH} \sim 10^{8-10}\, M_\odot$) challenge our current understanding of early black hole formation and evolution. The advent of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has enabled the study of massive black holes (MBHs, $M_{\rm BH}\sim 10^{6-7} \ \mathrm{M}_\odot$) up to $z\sim 11$, thus bridging the properties of $z\sim 6$ quasars to their ancestors. JWST spectroscopic observations of GN-z11, a well-known $z=10.6$ star forming galaxy, have been interpreted with the presence of a super-Eddington (Eddington ratio $\equiv \,\lambda_{\rm Edd}\sim 5.5$) accreting MBH. To test this hypothesis we use a zoom-in cosmological simulation of galaxy formation and BH co-evolution. We first test the simulation results against the observed probability distribution function (PDF) of $\lambda_{\rm Edd}$ found in $z\sim 6$ quasars. Then, we select in the simulation those BHs that satisfy the following criteria: (a) $10 < z < 11 $, (b) $M_{\rm BH} > 10^6 \ \mathrm{M}_\odot$. Finally we apply the Extreme Value Statistics to the PDF of $\lambda_{\rm Edd}$ resulting from the simulation and find that the probability of observing a $z\sim 10-11$ MBH, accreting with $\lambda_{\rm Edd} \sim 5.5$, in the volume surveyed by JWST, is very low ($<0.5\%$). We compare our predictions with those in the literature and further discuss the main limitations of our work. Our simulation cannot explain the JWST observations of GN-z11. This might be due to (i) missing physics in simulations, or (ii) uncertainties in the data analysis.
Recent measurements of gas velocity in the outer parts of high redshift galaxies suggest that steeply falling rotation curves may be common, or even universal, in these galaxies, in contrast to the near universal flat, non-declining rotation curves in nearby galaxies. We investigate the implications of these postulated steeply falling rotation curves for the role of dark matter in galaxy formation. Using an established computer code, the collapse of dark matter and baryonic matter together, starting with a variety of initial conditions, is simulated for comparison with the observed rotation curves. As soon as a smooth stellar disc is formed in the baryonic matter, with properties similar to the observed high redshift galaxies, the computed rotation curves are, without exception, relatively flat to large radius in the gas disc. Only a simulation without a dark matter halo is able to reproduce the observed rotation curves. This would imply that, if the high redshift steeply falling rotation curves turn out to be common, then the standard scenario for galaxy formation for these galaxies, namely baryonic matter falling into the potential well of a massive dark matter halo, must be wrong, unless there is pressure support via velocity dispersion significantly higher than has so far been observed. It would also imply that for these galaxies the flat rotation curves at low redshift must be due to dark matter which has subsequently fallen into the galactic potential well, or there must be some other explanation for the contemporary flat rotation curves, other than dark matter.
The current standard model of cosmology - the {\ensuremath{\Lambda}}CDM model - is appropriately named after its controversial foreign ingredients: a cosmological constant ({\ensuremath{\Lambda}}) that accounts for the recent accelerated expansion of the Universe and cold dark matter needed to explain the formation and dynamics of large scale structures. Together, these form the dark sector, whose nature remains a mystery. After 25 years of withstanding confirmation and support for the {\ensuremath{\Lambda}}CDM model, enough to bypass some of its unclear theoretical issues, this paradigm is facing its biggest crisis yet. The rapid advent of technology has brought cosmology to an unprecedented observational era, with increased technical precision and the emergence of independent measures, including probes of phenomena that were thought impossible to detect or even exist, such as the gravitational ripples that propagate in the spacetime. However, such precision has unveiled cracks in the porcelain of {\ensuremath{\Lambda}}CDM, with pieces that seem glued together and difficult to reconcile. Particularly worrying is the apparent lack of compatibility between measurements of the Universe's present expansion rate based on local measurements and those based on phenomena that occurred far in the early Universe and that can only be translated into present quantities through physical propagation under a cosmological model. In this dissertation, we delve into extensions to the standard model that consider alternatives to the mysterious nature of the dark sector and any possible new interactions therein. We analyse these alternative models, hoping to identify measurable observational signatures of extra degrees of freedom in the dark sector.
Peculiar motion of galaxies probes the structure growth in the Universe. In this study we employ the galaxy stellar mass-binding energy (massE) relation with only two nuisance parameters to build the largest peculiar-velocity (PV) catalog to date, consisting of 229,890 ellipticals from the main galaxy sample (MGS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We quantify the distribution of the massE-based distances in individual narrow redshift bins (dz=0.005), and then estimate the PV of each galaxy based on its offset from the Gaussian mean of the distribution. As demonstrated with the Uchuu-SDSS mock data, the derived PV and momentum power spectra are insensitive to accurate calibration of the massE relation itself, enabling measurements out to a redshift of 0.2, well beyond the current limit of z=0.1 using other galaxy scaling laws. We then measure the momentum power spectrum and demonstrate that it remains almost unchanged if varying significantly the redshift bin size within which the distance is measured, as well as the intercept and slope of the massE relation, respectively. By fitting the spectra using the perturbation theory model with four free parameters, f{\sigma}8 is constrained to f{\sigma}8 =0.459+0.068-0.069 over {\Delta}z=0.02-0.2, 0.416+0.074-0.076 over {\Delta}z=0.02-0.1 and 0.526+0.133-0.143 over {\Delta}z=0.1-0.2. The error of f{\sigma}8 is 2.1 times smaller than that by the redshift space distortion (RSD) of the same sample. A Fisher-matrix forecast illustrates that the constraint on f{\sigma}8 from the massE-based PV can potentially exceed that from the stage-IV RSD in late universe (z<0.5).
Intermediate Mass Black Holes (IMBHs) with a mass range between $100 \, \text{M}_\odot$ and $10^6 \, \text{M}_\odot$ are expected to be surrounded by high dark matter densities, so-called dark matter spikes. The high density of self-annihilating WIMPs in these spikes leads to copious gamma-ray production. Sufficiently nearby IMBHs could therefore appear as unidentified gamma-ray sources. However, the number of IMBHs and their distribution within our own Milky Way is currently unknown. In this work, we provide a mock catalogue of IMBHs and their dark matter spikes obtained from the EAGLE simulations, in which black holes with a mass of $10^5 \, \text{M}_\odot/h$ are seeded into the centre of halos greater than $10^{10} \, \text{M}_\odot/h$ to model black hole feedback influencing the formation of galaxies. The catalogue contains the coordinates and dark matter spike parameters for over 8700 IMBHs present in about 400 Milky Way-like galaxies. We expect about $19^{+13}_{-8}$ IMBHs within our own galaxy, mainly distributed in the Galactic Centre and the Galactic Plane. In the most optimistic scenario, we find that current and future gamma-ray observatories, such as Fermi-LAT, H.E.S.S. and CTA, would be sensitive enough to probe the cross section of dark matter self-annihilation around IMBHs down to many orders of magnitude below the thermal relic cross section for dark matter particles with masses from GeV to TeV. We have made the IMBH mock catalogue and the source code for our analysis publicly available, providing the resources to study dark matter self-annihilation around IMBHs with current and upcoming gamma-ray observatories.
The standard model of modern cosmology might be cracked by the recent persistent hot debate on the Hubble-constant ($H_0$) tension, which manifests itself as the sound-horizon ($r_s$) tension or absolute-magnitude ($M_B$) tension if deeming the origin of the Hubble tension from modifying the early or late Universe, respectively. In this Letter, we achieve a fully model-independent constraint (fitting a model-independent global parameterization to a model-independent inverse distant ladder with a model-independent high-redshift calibration) on late-time models with strong evidence against homogeneous new physics over the $\Lambda$-cold-dark ($\Lambda$CDM) model. Further using this model-independent constraint to calibrate sufficiently local supernovae with corresponding late-time models extrapolated below the homogeneity scale, we find surprisingly that, although both $H_0$ tension and $M_B$ tension are absent in our local Universe, a combination of $H_0$ and $M_B$ as the intercept $a_B$ of the magnitude-redshift relation exhibits $3\sim 7\sigma$ tension even for the $\Lambda$CDM model. This $a_B$ tension seems to call for local-scale inhomogeneous new physics disguised as local observational systematics.
Frequentist profile likelihoods have seen a resurgence in cosmology, offering an alternative to Bayesian methods as they can circumvent the impact of prior-volume effects. This paper presents Procoli, a fast and accessible package to obtain profile likelihoods in cosmology, available on GitHub and PyPI. Procoli seamlessly integrates with MontePython, incorporating all its available data likelihoods, as well as any modified versions of CLASS. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the Procoli code, detailing the simulated-annealing optimizer at its core and the sequential computation of the profile. An an example, we use the early dark energy model which is afflicted by prior-volume effects to illustrate the code's features. We validate its optimizer with mock data, and compare optimization techniques for both the global minimum and the profile. Procoli further enables splitting profiles into their component contributions from individual experiments, offering nuanced insights into the data and model. As a valuable addition to the cosmologist's toolkit, Procoli supplements existing Bayesian codes, contributing to more robust parameter constraints in cosmological studies.
We investigate the feasibility of using the velocity acoustic oscillations (VAO) features on the Cosmic Dawn 21 cm power spectrum to probe small-scale density fluctuations. In the standard cold dark matter (CDM) model, Pop III stars form in minihalos and affect the 21 cm signal through Ly$\alpha$ and X-ray radiation. Such a process is modulated by the relative motion between dark matter and baryons, generating the VAO wiggles on the 21 cm power spectrum. In the fuzzy or warm dark matter models for which the number of minihalos is reduced, the VAO wiggles are weaker or even fully invisible. We investigate the wiggle features in the CDM with different astrophysical models and in different dark matter models. We find: 1) In the CDM model the relative streaming velocities can generate the VAO wiggles for broad ranges of parameters $f_*$, $\zeta_X$ and $f_{\rm esc,LW}\zeta_{\rm LW}$, though for different parameters the wiggles would appear at different redshifts and have different amplitudes. 2) For the axion model with $m_{\rm a} \lesssim10^{-19}$ eV, the VAO wiggles are negligible. In the mixed model, the VAO signal is sensitive to the axion fraction. For example, the wiggles almost disappear when $f_{\rm a} \gtrsim 10\%$ for $m_{\rm a}=10^{-21}$ eV. Therefore, the VAO signal can be an effective indicator for small-scale density fluctuations and a useful probe of the nature of dark matter. The SKA-low with $\sim$2000 hour observation time has the ability to detect the VAO signal and constraint dark matter models.
The stochastic gravitational wave background for pulsar timing arrays is often modeled by a Gaussian ensemble which is isotropic and unpolarized. However, the Universe has a discrete set of polarized gravitational wave sources at specific sky locations. Can we trust that the Gaussian ensemble is an accurate description? To investigate this, we explicitly construct an ensemble containing $N$ individual binary sources with circular orbits. The orbital inclination angles are randomly distributed, hence the individual sources are elliptically polarized. We then compute the first two moments of the Hellings and Downs correlation, as well as the pulsar-averaged correlation mean and (cosmic) variance. The first moments are the same as for a previously studied ensemble of circularly polarized sources. However, the second moments, and hence the variances, are different for the two ensembles. While neither discrete source model is exactly described by a Gaussian ensemble, we show that in the limit of large $N$, the differences are small.
Unstable domain wall (DW) networks in the early universe are cosmologically viable and can emit a large amount of gravitational waves (GW) before annihilating. As such, they provide an interpretation for the recent signal reported by Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) collaborations. A related important question is whether such a scenario also leads to significant production of Primordial Black Holes (PBH). We investigate both GW and PBH production using 3D numerical simulations in an expanding background, with box sizes up to $N=3240$, including the annihilation phase. We find that: i) the network decays exponentially, i.e. the false vacuum volume drops as $\sim \exp(-\eta^3)$, with $\eta$ the conformal time; ii) the GW spectrum is larger than traditional estimates by more than one order of magnitude, due to a delay between DW annihilation and the sourcing of GWs. We then present a novel semi-analytical method to estimate the PBH abundances: rare false vacuum pockets of super-Hubble size collapse to PBHs if their energy density becomes comparable to the background when they cross the Hubble scale. Smaller (but more abundant) pockets will instead collapse only if they are close to spherical. This introduces very large uncertainties in the final PBH abundance. The first phenomenological implication is that within these uncertainties it is not possible to rule out the DW interpretation of the PTA signal. Second, in a different parameter region, there is the interesting possibility of producing all of the dark matter in the form of asteroid-mass PBHs from the DW collapse. Remarkably, this would also lead to a GW background in the observable range of LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA and future interferometers, i.e. Einstein Telescope and LISA.
Circles of low-variance and Hawking points in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), resulting from black hole mergers and black hole evaporation, respectively, in a previous cycle of the universe, have been predicted as possible evidence for the Conformal Cyclic Cosmology model (CCC) introduced by R. Penrose. We present a high-resolution search for such low-variance circles in the Planck and WMAP CMB data, and introduce HawkingNet, our machine learning open-source software based on a ResNet18 algorithm, to search for Hawking points in the CMB. We find that spots consisting of a few unusually bright (high-temperature) or dark (low-temperature) pixels, erroneously lead to regions with many low-variance circles, and consequently sets of near-concentric low-variance circles, when applying the search criteria used in previous work [V.G. Gurzadyan, R. Penrose]. After removing those spots from the data, no statistically significant low-variance circles can be found. Concerning Hawking points, also no statistically significant evidence is found when using a Gaussian temperature amplitude model over 1 degree opening angle and after accounting for spots of unusual brightness. That the unusual spots in the data are themselves remnants of Hawking points is not supported by low-variance and/or low-temperature circles around them. The absence of such statistically-significant distinct features in the currently available CMB data does not disprove the CCC model, but implies that higher resolution CMB data and/or refined CCC based predictions are needed to pursue the search for CCC signatures further
The observation of primordial B-modes in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) represents the main scientific goal of most of the future CMB experiments. This signal is predicted to be much lower than polarised Galactic emission (foregrounds) in any region of the sky pointing to the need for effective components separation methods, such as the Needlet-ILC (NILC). In this work, we explore the possibility of employing NILC for B-mode maps reconstructed from partial-sky data of sub-orbital experiments, addressing the complications that such an application yields: E-B leakage, needlet filtering and beam convolution. We consider two complementary simulated datasets from future experiments: the balloon-borne SWIPE telescope of the Large Scale Polarization Explorer, which targets the observation of both reionisation and recombination peaks of the primordial B-mode angular power spectrum, and the ground-based Small Aperture Telescope of Simons Observatory, which is designed to observe only the recombination bump. We assess the performance of two alternative techniques to correct for the CMB E-B leakage: the recycling technique (Liu et al. 2019) and the ZB method (Zhao & Baskaran 2010). We find that they both reduce the E-B leakage residuals at a negligible level given the sensitivity of the considered experiments, except for the recycling method in the SWIPE patch at $\ell < 20$. Thus, we implement two extensions of the pipeline, the iterative B-decomposition and the diffusive inpainting, which enable us to recover the input CMB B-mode power for $\ell \geq 5$. We demonstrate that needlet filtering and beam convolution do not affect the B-mode reconstruction. Finally, with an appropriate masking strategy, we find that NILC foregrounds subtraction allows to achieve sensitivities for the tensor-to-scalar ratio compatible to the targets of the considered CMB experiments.
The angular power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies is a key tool to study the Universe. However, it is blind to the presence of non--Gaussianities and deviations from statistical isotropy, which instead can be detected with other statistics such as Minkowski Functionals (MFs). These tools have been applied to CMB temperature and $E$-mode anisotropies with no detection of deviations from Gaussianity and isotropy. In this work, we extend the MFs formalism to the CMB polarisation intensity, $P^2=Q^2+U^2$. We use the Gaussian Kinematic Formula to derive the theoretical predictions of MFs for Gaussian isotropic fields. We develop a software that computes MFs on $P^2$ HEALPix maps and apply it to simulations to verify the robustness of both theory and methodology. We then estimate MFs of $P^2$ maps from Planck, both in pixel space and needlet domain, comparing them with realistic simulations which include CMB and instrumental noise residuals. We find no significant deviations from Gaussianity or isotropy in Planck CMB polarisation intensity. However, MFs could play an important role in the analysis of CMB polarisation measurements from upcoming experiments with improved sensitivity. Therefore we forecast the ability of MFs applied to $P^2$ maps to detect much fainter non-Gaussian anisotropic signals than with Planck data for two future complementary experiments: the LiteBIRD satellite and the ground-based Simons Observatory. We publicly release the software to compute MFs in arbitrary scalar HEALPix maps as a fully-documented Python package called $\texttt{Pynkowski}$ (https://github.com/javicarron/pynkowski).
The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) primordial B-modes signal is predicted to be much lower than the polarized Galactic emission (foregrounds) in any region of the sky pointing to the need for sophisticated component separation methods. Among them, the blind Needlet-ILC (NILC) has great relevance given our current poor knowledge of the B-modes foregrounds. However the expected level of spatial variability of the foreground spectral properties complicates the NILC subtraction of the Galactic contamination. In order to reach the ambitious targets of future CMB experiments, we therefore propose a novel extension of the NILC approach, the Multi-Clustering NILC (MC-NILC), which performs NILC variance minimization on separate regions of the sky (clusters) properly chosen to have similar spectral properties of the B-modes foregrounds emission. Clusters are identified thresholding the ratio of B-modes maps at two separate frequencies which is used as tracer of the spatial distribution of the spectral indices of the Galactic emission in B modes. We consider ratios either of simulated foregrounds-only B modes (ideal case) or of cleaned templates of Galactic emission obtained from realistic simulations. In this work we present an application of MC-NILC to the future LiteBIRD satellite, which targets the observation of both reionization and recombination peaks of the primordial B-modes angular power spectrum with a total error on the tensor-to-scalar ratio $\delta r < 0.001$. We show that MC-NILC provides a CMB solution with residual foregrounds and noise contamination that is significantly reduced with respect to NILC and lower than the primordial signal targeted by LiteBIRD at all angular scales for the ideal case and at the reionization peak for a realistic ratio. Thus, MC-NILC will represent a powerful method to mitigate B-modes foregrounds for future CMB polarization experiments.
We introduce and study the first class of signals that can probe the dark matter in Mesogenesis which will be observable at current and upcoming large volume neutrino experiments. The well-motivated Mesogenesis scenario for generating the observed matter-anti-matter asymmetry necessarily has dark matter charged under baryon number. Interactions of these particles with nuclei can induce nucleon decay with kinematics differing from sponanteous nucleon decay. We calculate the rate for this process and develop a simulation of the signal that includes important distortions due to nuclear effects. We estimate the sensitivity of DUNE, Super-Kamiokande, and Hyper-Kamiokande to this striking signal.
It is known that the single-field inflation with a transient ultra-slow-roll phase can produce a large curvature perturbation at small scales for the formation of primordial black holes. In our previous work, we have considered quantum loop corrections to the curvature perturbation and found that the growth of these small-scale modes would affect the curvature perturbation at large scales probed by cosmic microwave background observation. In this work, we will further derive the constraints on the growing modes in the transition between the slow-roll and the ultra-slow-roll phases under the effect of the loop corrections. Our results would help clarify the recent controversy on whether or not the primordial-black-hole formation from the single-field inflation is ruled out at one-loop level.
We propose a new method towards distinguishing the Dirac versus Majorana nature of neutrino masses from the spectrum of gravitational waves (GWs) associated with neutrino mass genesis. Motivated by the principle of generating small neutrino masses without tiny Yukawa couplings, we assume generic seesaw mechanisms for both Majorana and Dirac neutrino masses. For Majorana neutrinos, we further assume a spontaneously broken gauged $U(1)_{B-L}$ symmetry, independently of the type of Majorana seesaw mechanism, which gives a cosmic string induced GW signal flat over a wide range of frequencies. For Dirac neutrinos, we assume the spontaneous breaking of a $Z_2$ symmetry, the minimal symmetry choice associated with all Dirac seesaw mechanisms, which is softly broken, generating a peaked GW spectrum from the annihilation of the resulting domain walls. In fact, the GW spectra for all types of Dirac seesaws with such a broken $Z_2$ symmetry are identical, subject to a mild caveat. As an illustrative example, we study the simplest respective type-I seesaw mechanisms, and show that the striking difference in the shapes of the GW spectra can help differentiate between these Dirac and Majorana seesaws, complementing results of neutrinoless double beta decay experiments. We also discuss detailed implications of the recent NANOGrav data for Majorana and Dirac seesaw models.
Recently, strong evidence for a gravitational wave background has been reported by collaborations of pulsar timing arrays (PTA). In the framework of scalar-induced gravitational waves (SIGWs), we concurrently investigate the second and third order gravitational waves by jointly analyzing PTA data, alongside big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), and cosmic microwave background (CMB) datasets. We determine the primordial curvature spectral amplitude as $0.021<A_\zeta<0.085$ and the spectral peak frequency as $10^{-7.3}\ \mathrm{Hz}<f_\ast<10^{-6.3}\ \mathrm{Hz}$ at a 95\% confidence interval, pointing towards a mass range for primordial black holes of $10^{-4.5}M_\odot<m_{\mathrm{PBH}}<10^{-2.5}M_\odot$. Our findings suggest that third order gravitational waves contribute more significantly to the integrated energy density than the second order ones when $A_\zeta\gtrsim0.06$. Furthermore, we expect future PTA projects to validate these findings and provide robust means to investigate the genesis and evolution of the universe, especially inflation.
The existence of a stochastic gravitational wave background is indicated by the recent pulsar timing array (PTA) experiments. We study the enhanced production of second-order gravitational waves from the scalar perturbations when the universe experiences a transition from the early matter-dominated era to the radiation-dominated era due to Q-ball decay. We extend the analysis in previous work by including the frequency range where density perturbations go non-linear and find that the resultant gravitational wave spectrum can be consistent with that favored by the recent PTA experiment results.
We explore a self-interacting neutrino cosmology in which neutrinos experience a delayed onset of free-streaming. We use the effective field theory of large-scale structure (LSS) to model matter distribution on mildly non-linear scales within the self-interacting neutrino cosmology for the first time. We perform the first combined likelihood analysis of BOSS full-shape galaxy clustering, weak lensing, and Lyman-$\alpha$ forest measurements, together with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from Planck. We find that the full data set strongly favors presence of a flavor-universal neutrino self-interaction, with a characteristic energy scale of order $10$ MeV. The preference is at the $>5\sigma$ level and is primarily driven by the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest measurements and, to a lesser extent, the weak lensing data from DES. The self-interacting neutrino model reduces both the Hubble tension and the $S_8$ tension between different cosmological data sets, but it does not fully resolve either. Finally, we note a preference for a non-zero sum of neutrino masses at the level of $\sim 0.3$ eV under this model, consistent with previous bounds. These results call for further investigation in several directions, and may have significant implications for neutrino physics and for future new-physics searches with galaxy surveys.
de Grijs and Bono compiled 211 independent measurements of the distance to galaxy M87 in the Virgo cluster from 15 different tracers and reported the arithmetic mean of a subset of this compilation as the best estimate of the distance. We compute three different central estimates -- the arithmetic mean, weighted mean, and the median -- and corresponding statistical uncertainty for the full data set as well as two sub-compilations. We find that for all three central estimates the error distributions show that the data sets are significantly non-Gaussian. As a result, we conclude that that the median is the most reliable of the three central estimates, as median statistics does not assume Gaussianity. We use median statistics to determine the systematic error on the distance by analyzing the scatter in the 15 tracer subgroup distances. From the 211 distance measurements, we recommend a summary M87 distance modulus of $31.08^{+0.04}_{-0.05}$ (statistical) ${}^{+0.04}_{-0.06}$ (systematic) mag, or combining the two errors in quadrature $31.08^{+0.06}_{-0.08}$ mag, rounded to $16.4^{+0.5}_{-0.6}$ Mpc, all at $68.27\%$ significance.
We introduce a new method to calculate dark matter halo density profiles from simulations. Each particle is 'smeared' over its orbit to obtain a dynamical profile that is averaged over a dynamical time, in contrast to the traditional approach of binning particles based on their instantaneous positions. The dynamical and binned profiles are in good agreement, with the dynamical approach showing a significant reduction in Poisson noise in the innermost regions. We find that the inner cusps of the new dynamical profiles continue inward all the way to the softening radius, reproducing the central density profile of higher resolution simulations within the 95$\%$ confidence intervals, for haloes in virial equilibrium. Folding in dynamical information thus provides a new approach to improve the precision of dark matter density profiles at small radii, for minimal computational cost. Our technique makes two key assumptions: that the halo is in equilibrium (phase mixed), and that the potential is spherically symmetric. We discuss why the method is successful despite strong violations of spherical symmetry in the centres of haloes, and explore how substructures disturb equilibrium at large radii.
Recent attempts to fully resolve the Hubble tension from early dark energy models seem to favor a primordial Harrison-Zeldovich Universe with its scalar spectrum being extremely scale invariant. Restoring the Harrison-Zeldovich spectrum within the single-field inflationary paradigm appears to be infeasible, turning to the multi-field approach from either curvaton or waterfall models. In this Letter, we successfully align with the Harrison-Zeldovich spectrum within a single-field chaotic inflation by a non-minimal derivative coupling, and the previously disfavoured chaotic potential by Planck+BICEP/Keck data in the standard $\Lambda$CDM model now returns back to the scope of future polarization observations of the cosmic microwave background.
Recent detections of a low-frequency gravitational wave background (GWB) from various pulsar-timing-array (PTA) observations have renewed the interest in the inspiraling supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs), whose population is believed to be the most promising candidate of but disfavored by the observed GWB spectrum naively fitted with purely GW-driven circular binaries. Including either orbital eccentricity or dark matter (DM) spike can improve the fit to the current data, but the inclusion of both can further display distinctive features detectable in future PTA observations. With a typical initial eccentricity $e_0\sim\mathcal{O}(0.1)$ for the inspiraling SMBHBs, even a shallow DM spike can easily drive the orbital eccentricity close to unity, leaving behind a large turnover eccentricity when GWs begin to dominate the orbital circularization. In particular, the DM spike index $\gamma_\mathrm{sp}$ universally flattens the characteristic strain $h_c\sim f^{7/6-\gamma_\mathrm{sp}/3}$ in the infrared and produces a novel structure with an oscillating turnover followed by a flat dip and a bump-like peak at low, intermediate, and high frequencies, respectively. Future PTA detection of such characteristics would necessarily provide the smoking gun for the DM spike and even reveal the nature of DM.
We review the current status of astrophysical bounds on QCD axions, primarily based on the observational effects of nonstandard energy losses on stars, including black-hole superradiance. Over the past few years, many of the traditional arguments have been reexamined both theoretically and using modern data and new ideas have been put forth. This compact review updates similar Lecture Notes written by one of us in 2006 [Lect. Notes Phys. 741 (2008) 51-71].
Some hydrogen-rich core-collapse supernovae (type IIP SNe) exhibit evidence for a sustained energy source powering their light curves, resulting in a brighter and/or longer-lasting hydrogen-recombination plateau phase. We present a semi-analytic SNIIP light curve model that accounts for the effects of an arbitrary internal heating source, considering as special cases $^{56}$Ni/$^{56}$Co decay, a central engine (millisecond magnetar or accreting compact object), and shock interaction with a dense circumstellar disk. While a sustained internal power source can boost the plateau luminosity commensurate with the magnitude of the power, the duration of the recombination plateau can typically be increased by at most a factor $\sim 2-3$ compared to the zero-heating case. For a given ejecta mass and initial kinetic energy, the longest plateau duration is achieved for a constant heating rate at the highest magnitude that does not appreciably accelerate the ejecta. This finding has implications for the minimum ejecta mass required to explain particularly long-lasting supernovae such as iPTF14hls, and for confidently identifying rare explosions of the most-massive hydrogen-rich (e.g. population III) stars. We present a number of analytic estimates which elucidate the key features of the detailed model.
We present a multi-epoch, multi-observatory X-ray analysis for 2FHL J1745.1-3035, a newly discovered very high energy Galactic source detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) located in close proximity to the Galactic Center (l=358.5319{\deg}; b=-0.7760{\deg}). The source shows a very hard gamma-ray photon index above 50 GeV, Gamma_gamma=1.2+-0.4, and is found to be a TeV-emitter by the LAT. We conduct a joint XMM-Newton, Chandra and NuSTAR observing campaign, combining archival XMM-Newton observations, to study the X-ray spectral properties of 2FHL J1745.1-3035 over a time-span of over 20 years. The joint X-ray spectrum is best-fitted as a broken power law model with break energy E_b~7 keV: the source is very hard at energies below 10 keV, with photon index Gamma_1~0.6, and significantly softer in the higher energy range measured by NuSTAR with photon index Gamma_2~1.9. We also perform a spatially resolved X-ray analysis with Chandra, finding evidence for marginal extension (up to an angular size r~5 arcsec), a result that supports a compact pulsar wind nebula scenario. Based on the X-ray and gamma-ray properties, 2FHL J1745.1-3035 is a powerful pulsar wind nebula candidate. Given its nature as an extreme TeV emitter, further supported by the detection of a coincident TeV extended source HESS J1745-303, 2FHL J1745.1-3035 is an ideal candidate for a follow-up with the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array.
Neutron stars (NSs) are observed with high space velocities and elliptical orbits in binaries. The magnitude of these effects points to natal kicks that originate from asymmetries during the supernova (SN) explosions. Using a growing set of long-time 3D SN simulations with the Prometheus-Vertex code, we explore the interplay of NS kicks that are induced by asymmetric neutrino emission and by asymmetric mass ejection. Anisotropic neutrino emission can arise from a large-amplitude dipolar convection asymmetry inside the proto-NS (PNS) termed LESA (Lepton-number Emission Self-sustained Asymmetry), which determines the kicks of NSs born from stars near the low-mass end of SN progenitors. In more massive progenitors aspherical accretion downflows around the PNS can also lead to anisotropic neutrino emission (absorption) with a neutrino-induced NS kick roughly opposite to (aligned with) the kick by asymmetric mass ejection. We estimate upper bounds for the final neutrino kicks of 150-260 km/s, whereas the hydrodynamic kicks can reach up to more than 1300 km/s. Therefore the hydrodynamic kicks dominate for NSs from explosions of higher-mass progenitors, whereas the neutrino kicks dominate in the case of NSs from the lowest-mass progenitors. Our models suggest that the Crab pulsar as a representative of the latter category could have received its velocity of about 160 km/s by a neutrino kick due to the LESA asymmetry. Such neutrino kicks of 100-200 km/s define a nearly ubiquitous floor value, which may shed new light on the origin of pulsars in globular clusters. Black holes, if formed by the collapse of short-lived PNSs and solely kicked by anisotropic neutrino emission, obtain velocities of only some km/s.
Radio interferometers composed of a large array of small antennas posses large fields of view, coupled with high sensitivities. For example, the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT), achieves a gain of up to 2.8 K/Jy across its $>1\,\mathrm{deg}^2$ field of view. This capability significantly enhances the survey speed for pulsars and fast transients. Nevertheless, this also introduces challenges related to the high data rate, reaching a few Tb/s for MeerKAT, and substantial computing power requirements. To handle the large data rate of surveys, we have developed a high-performance single-pulse search software called "TransientX". This software integrates multiple processes into one pipeline, which includes radio frequency interference mitigation, de-dispersion, matched filtering, clustering, and candidate plotting. In TransientX, we have developed an efficient CPU-based de-dispersion implementation using the sub-band de-dispersion algorithm. Additionally, TransientX employs the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) algorithm to eliminate duplicate candidates, utilizing an efficient implementation based on the kd-tree data structure. We also calculate the signal-to-noise ratio loss resulting from dispersion measure, boxcar width, spectral index and pulse shape mismatches. Remarkably, we find that the signal-to-noise ratio loss resulting from the mismatch between a boxcar-shaped template and a Gaussian-shaped pulse with scattering remains relatively small, at approximately 9%, even when the scattering timescale is 10 times that of the pulse width. Additionally, the S/N decrease resulting from the spectra index mismatch becomes significant with multi-octave receivers. We have benchmarked the individual processes, including de-dispersion, matched filtering, and clustering. TransientX offers the capability for efficient CPU-only real-time single pulse searching.
We present GammaBayes, a Bayesian Python package for dark matter detection with the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). GammaBayes takes as input the CTA measurements of gamma rays and a user-specified dark-matter particle model. It outputs the posterior distribution for parameters of the dark-matter model including the velocity-averaged cross section for dark-matter self interactions $\langle\sigma v\rangle$ and the dark-matter mass $m_\chi$. It also outputs the Bayesian evidence, which can be used for model selection. We demonstrate GammaBayes using 525 hours of simulated data, corresponding to $10^8$ observed gamma-ray events. The vast majority of this simulated data consists of noise, but $100000$ events arise from the annihilation of scalar singlet dark matter with $m_\chi= 10$ TeV. We recover the dark matter mass within a 95% credible interval of $m_\chi \sim 5.9-11.2$ TeV. Meanwhile, the velocity averaged cross section is constrained to $\langle\sigma v\rangle \sim 1.3-2.3\times10^{-25}$ cm$^3$ s$^{-1}$ (95% credibility). This is equivalent to measuring the number of dark-matter annihilation events to be $N_S \sim 1.0_{-0.2}^{+0.2} \times 10^5$. The no-signal hypothesis $\langle \sigma v \rangle=0$ is ruled out with about $5\sigma$ credibility. We discuss how GammaBayes can be extended to include more sophisticated signal and background models and the computational challenges that must be addressed to facilitate these upgrades. The source code is publicly available at https://github.com/lpin0002/GammaBayes.
The recent discoveries of a remarkable glitch/antiglitch accompanied by fast radio burst (FRB)-like bursts from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 have revealed the physical connection between the two. In this work, we study the statistical properties of radio bursts from the hyperactive repeating source FRB 20201124A and of glitches from the pulsar PSR B1737--30. For FRB 20201124A, we confirm that the probability density functions of fluctuations of energy, peak flux, duration, and waiting time well follow the Tsallis q-Gaussian distribution. The derived q values from q-Gaussian distribution keep approximately steady for different temporal interval scales, which indicate that there is a common scale-invariant structure in repeating FRBs. Similar scale-invariant property can be found in PSR B1737--30's glitches, implying an underlying association between the origins of repeating FRBs and pulsar glitches. These statistical features can be well understood within the same physical framework of self-organized criticality systems.
We report the X-ray characteristics of the persistent X-ray pulsar 4U 1626-67 using simultaneous NuSTAR and NICER observations. The X-ray pulsar 4U 1626-67 has just encountered a torque reversal in 2023 and is presently in the spin-down state. We have examined the temporal and spectral characteristics of the source during its ongoing spin-down episode. The pulse profiles of the source are characterized by multiple substructures at lower energies and a wide asymmetric single-peaked structure at higher energies. The pulse fraction follows an overall increasing trend with energy. We confirm the existence of mHz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) exclusively during the current spin-down phase in all the observations. The source is spinning down at 0.00045(4)\; s\; $yr^{-1}$. The broadband spectrum during this phase is described by empirical NPEX model and a soft blackbody component with kT $\sim$ 0.25 keV. In addition to the iron emission line, we also confirm the presence of cyclotron line at $\sim$ 36 keV. The source flux continues to decrease during the current spin-down phase, and the corresponding luminosity $\sim$ (3.3-4.9)\;$\times 10^{36}\; ergs\; s^{-1}$ lies in the intermediate range of accreting X-ray pulsars that may be associated with a hybrid accretion geometry. The magnetic field strengths estimated using the cyclotron line measurements and QPO frequency are consistent. The evolution of the spectral parameters relative to the pulsed phase is examined using phase-resolved spectroscopy.
Violent astrophysical events, including core-collapse supernovae and binary neutron star mergers, can result in rotating neutron stars with diverse degrees of differential rotation. Oscillation modes of these neutron stars could be excited and emit strong gravitational waves. Detecting these modes may provide information about neutron stars, including their structures and dynamics. Hence, dynamical simulations were employed to construct relations for quantifying the oscillation mode frequency in previous studies. Specifically, linear relations for the frequencies of fundamental $l=0$ quasi-radial mode $f_{F}$ and fundamental $l=2$ quadrupolar mode $f_{^2f}$ were constructed by simulations with the Cowling approximation. Nevertheless, these relations can overestimate $f_{F}$ and underestimate $f_{^2f}$ up to $\sim 30\%$. Furthermore, it has yet to be fully studied how the degree of differential rotation affects $f_{F}$ and $f_{^2f}$. Here, for the first time, we consider both various degrees of differential rotation $\tilde{A}$ and dynamical spacetime to construct linear relations for quantifying $f_{F}$ and $f_{^2f}$. Through 2D axisymmetric simulations, we first show that both $f_{F}$ and $f_{^2f}$ scale almost linearly with the stellar compactness $M/R$ for different values of $\tilde{A}$. We also observe the quasi-linear relations for both $f_{F}$ and $f_{^2f}$ with the kinetic-to-binding energy ratio $T/|W|$ for different $\tilde{A}$ values. Finally, we constructed linear fits that can quantify $f_{F}$ and $f_{^2f}$ by $T/|W|$. Consequently, this work presented universal relations for the fundamental modes of rotating neutron stars with differential rotations in dynamical spacetime.
Discovered more than 50 years ago, gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission remains the most puzzling aspect of GRB physics. Its complex and irregular nature should reveal how newborn GRB engines release their energy. In this respect, the possibility that GRB engines could operate as self-organized critical (SOC) systems has been put forward. Here, we present the energy, luminosity, waiting time, and duration distributions of individual pulses of GRBs with known redshift detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). This is the first study of this kind in which selection effects are accounted for. The compatibility of our results with the framework of SOC theory is discussed. We found evidence for an intrinsic break in the power-law models that describe the energy and the luminosity distributions.
In this letter, we present the results from further X-ray and UV observations of the nuclear transient eRASSt J045650.3-203750 (hereafter J0456-20). We detected five repeating X-ray and UV flares from J0456-20, making it one of the most promising repeating partial tidal disruption event (pTDE) candidates. More importantly, we also found rapid changes in the recurrence time $T_\text{recur}$ of the X-ray flares by modelling the long-term X-ray light curve of J0456-20. $T_\text{recur}$ first decreased rapidly from about 300 days to around 230 days. It continued to decrease to around 190 days with an indication of a constant $T_\text{recur}$ evidenced from the latest three cycles. Our hydrodynamic simulations suggest that, in the repeating pTDE scenario, such rapid evolution of $T_\text{recur}$ could be reproduced if the original star is a $1~\mathrm{M}_\odot$ main-sequence star near the terminal age and loses nearly 80-90% of its mass during the initial encounter with a supermassive black hole (SMBH) of mass around $10^5~\mathrm{M}_\odot$. The inferred mass loss of 0.8-0.9 $\mathrm{M}_\odot$ is higher than the estimated value of around 0.12 $\mathrm{M}_\odot$ from observation, which could be explained if the radiation efficiency is low (i.e. $\ll0.1$). Our results indicate that repeating pTDEs could be effective tools to explore the dynamics around supermassive black holes beyond our own Galaxy.
We consider the observational signatures of reflective naked singularities as seen by the current and next-generation Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). The reflective naked singularities lead to a distinctive morphology of their accretion disk images producing a series of bright rings at the central part of the image. We explore the capacity of the present and near-future EHT arrays to detect this structure considering two particular naked singularity spacetimes and modeling the galactic target M87*. We obtain that the 2017 EHT array is incapable of resolving the bright ring series. However, it detects an increased overall intensity of the central brightness depression reaching with an order of magnitude higher values than for the Kerr black hole. This metric can be used as a quantitative measure for the absence of an event horizon. The observations with the next-generation EHT at 230 GHz would reveal two orders of magnitude difference in the intensity of the central brightness depression between naked singularities and black holes. Introducing a second observational frequency at 345 GHz would already resolve qualitative effects in the morphology of the disk image for naked singularities as certain bright spots become apparent at the center of the image.
The formation of a $2.7\ \rm M_{\odot}$ supermassive neutron star is explored, as the possible companion of PSR J0514--4002E. Magnetars may experience super-Eddington accretion. Observationally they may manifest themselves as ultraluminous X-ray pulsars. We propose that supermassive neutron stars may be formed through ultraluminous X-ray pulsar phase, if the ultraluminous X-ray pulsar phase can last for $10^{5}$--$10^6 \ \rm yr$. The accreted material will also bury the magnetic field of the neutron star. Assuming accretion equilibrium, the final output may be a millisecond supermassive neutron star. In order for the ultraluminous X-ray pulsar phase to last long enough, a magnetic field configuration of the low magnetic field magnetar is required. The mass, magnetic field and rotational evolution of super-Eddington accreting neutron stars are rather robust against different assumptions, although many of the model details are yet to be determined.
Pulsar electrodynamics could be relevant to the physics of stellar surface, which remains poorly understood for more than half a centenary and is difficult to probe due to the absence of direct and clear observational evidence. Nevertheless, highly-sensitive telescopes (e.g., China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, FAST) may play an essential role in solving the problem since the predicted surface condition would have quite different characteristics in some models of pulsar structure, especially after the establishment of the standard model of particle physics. For instance, small hills (or ``zit'') may exist on solid strangeon star surface with rigidity, preferential discharge, i.e., gap sparking, may occur around the hills in the polar cap region. In this work, with the 110-min polarization observation of PSR B0950+08 targeted by FAST, we report that the gap sparking is significantly non-symmetrical to the meridian plane on which the rotational and magnetic axes lie. It is then speculated that this asymmetry could be the result of preferential sparking around zits which might rise randomly on pulsar surface. Some polarization features of both single pulses and the mean pulse, as well as the cross-correlation function of different emission regions, have also been presented.
A number of observations have revealed atomic and/or molecular lines in active galaxies hosting jets and outflows. Line widths indicate outward motions of hundreds to few thousands of kilometers per second. They appear associated to the presence of radio emission in Gigahert-peaked spectrum (GPS) and compact steep spectrum (CSS) sources, with linear sizes < 10 kpc. Numerical simulations have shown that the bow shocks triggered by relativistic jets in their host galaxies drive ionisation and turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM). However, the presence of atomic lines requires rapid recombination of ionised gas, which seems to be hard to explain from the physical conditions revealed so far by numerical simulations of powerful jets. The aim of this paper is to provide a global frame to explain the presence of lines in terms of jet and shock evolution, and fix the parameter space in which the atomic and molecular outflows might occur. This parameter space is inspired by numerical simulations and basic analytical models of jet evolution as a background. Our results show that a plausible, general explanation involves momentum transfer and heating to the interstellar medium gas by jet triggered shocks within the inner kiloparsecs. The presence of post-shock atomic gas is possible in the case of shocks interacting with dense clouds that remain relatively stable after the shock passage. According to our results, current numerical simulations cannot reproduce the physical conditions to explain the presence of atomic and molecular outflows in young radio-sources. However, I show that these outflows might occur in low-power jets at all scales, and predict a trend towards powerful jets showing lines at CSS scales, when clouds have cooled to recombination temperatures.
A common requirement in science is to store and share large sets of simulation data in an efficient, nested, flexible and human-readable way. Such datasets contain number counts and distributions, i.e. histograms and maps, of arbitrary dimension and variable type, e.g. floating-point number, integer or character string. Modern high-level programming languages like Perl and Python have associated arrays, knowns as dictionaries or hashes, respectively, to fulfil this storage need. Low-level languages used more commonly for fast computational simulations, such as C and Fortran, lack this functionality. We present libcdict, a C dictionary library, to solve this problem. Libcdict provides C and Fortran application programming interfaces (APIs) to native dictionaries, called cdicts, and functions for cdicts to load and save these as JSON and hence for easy interpretation in other software and languages like Perl, Python and R.
Period bouncers are cataclysmic variables (CVs) that have evolved past their orbital period minimum. The strong disagreement between theory and observations of the relative fraction of period bouncers is a severe shortcoming in the understanding of CV evolution. We test the implications of the hypothesis that magnetic braking (MB), which is suggested to be an additional angular momentum loss (AML) mechanism for CVs below the period gap ($P_\mathrm{orb}\lesssim 120$ min), weakens around their period minimum. We compute the evolution of CV donors below the period gap using the MESA code, assuming that the evolution of the system is driven by AML by gravitational wave radiation (GWR) and MB. We parametrize the MB strength as $\mathrm{AML_{MB}}=\kappa\mathrm{AML_{GWR}}$. We compute two qualitatively different sets of models, one where $\kappa$ is a constant and the other where $\kappa$ depends on stellar parameters. We find that in the latter set of models, $\kappa$ decreases as the CV approaches the period minimum ($P_\mathrm{orb}\approx80\,$ min), beyond which $\kappa\approx0$. This stalls their evolution so that they spend a long time in the observed period minimum spike ($80\lesssim P_\mathrm{orb}/\,\mathrm{min}\lesssim 86$). Here they become difficult to distinguish from pre-bounce systems in the spike. A strong decrease in mass-transfer rate makes them virtually undetectable as they evolve further. We also discuss the physical processes, such as dynamo action, white dwarf magnetism and dead zones, that may cause such a weakening of MB at short orbital periods. The weakening magnetic braking formalism solves the problem of the lack of period bouncers in CV observational surveys.
Double white dwarf (WD) binaries are increasingly being discovered at short orbital periods where strong tidal effects and significant tidal heating signatures may occur. We assume the tidal potential of the companion excites outgoing gravity waves within the WD primary, the dissipation of which leads to an increase in the WD's surface temperature. We compute the excitation and dissipation of the waves in cooling WD models in evolving MESA binary simulations. Tidal heating is self-consistently computed and added to the models at every time step. As a binary inspirals to orbital periods less than $\sim$20 minutes, the WD's behavior changes from cooling to heating, with temperature enhancements that can exceed 10,000 K compared with non-tidally heated models. We compare a grid of tidally heated WD models to observed short-period systems with hot WD primaries. While tidal heating affects their $T_{\rm eff}$, it is likely not the dominant luminosity. Instead these WDs are probably intrinsically young and hot, implying the binaries formed at short orbital periods. The binaries are consistent with undergoing common envelope evolution with a somewhat low efficiency $\alpha_{\rm CE}$. We delineate the parameter space where the traveling wave assumption is most valid, noting that it breaks down for WDs that cool sufficiently, where standing waves may instead be formed.
Double lobe radio sources associated with active galactic nuclei represent one of the longest studied groups in radio astronomy. A particular sub-group of double radio sources comprises the compact symmetric objects (CSOs). CSOs are distinguished by their prominent double structure and sub-kpc total size. It has been argued that the vast majority of high-luminosity CSOs (CSO 2s) represent a distinct class of active galactic nuclei with its own morphological structure and life-cycle. In this work, we present theoretical considerations regarding CSO 2s. We develop a semi-analytic evolutionary model, inspired by the results of large-scale numerical simulations of relativistic jets, that reproduces the features of the radio source population. We show that CSO 2s may be generated by finite energy injections and propose stellar tidal disruption events as a possible cause. We find that tidal disruption events of giant branch stars with masses $\gtrsim1$ M$_\odot$ can fuel these sources and discuss possible approaches to confirming this hypothesis. We predict that if the tidal disruption scenario holds, CSO 2s with sizes less than 400 pc should outnumber larger sources by more than a factor of $10$. Our results motivate future numerical studies to determine whether the scenarios we consider for fueling and source evolution can explain the observed radio morphologies. Multiwavelength observational campaigns directed at these sources will also provide critical insight into the origins of these objects, their environments, and their lifespans.
The production of heavy elements is one of the main by-products of the explosive end of massive stars. A long sought goal is finding differentiated patterns in the nucleosynthesis yields, which could permit identifying a number of properties of the explosive core. Among them, the traces of the magnetic field topology are particularly important for \emph{extreme} supernova explosions, most likely hosted by magnetorotational effects. We investigate the nucleosynthesis of five state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamic models with fast rotation that have been previously calculated in full 3D and that involve an accurate neutrino transport (M1). One of the models does not contain any magnetic field and synthesizes elements around the iron group, in agreement with other CC-SNe models in literature. All other models host a strong magnetic field of the same intensity, but with different topology. For the first time, we investigate the nucleosynthesis of MR-SNe models with a quadrupolar magnetic field and a 90 degree tilted dipole. We obtain a large variety of ejecta compositions reaching from iron nuclei to nuclei up to the third r-process peak. We assess the robustness of our results by considering the impact of different nuclear physics uncertainties such as different nuclear masses, $\beta^{-}$-decays and $\beta^{-}$-delayed neutron emission probabilities, neutrino reactions, fission, and a feedback of nuclear energy on the temperature. We find that the qualitative results do not change with different nuclear physics input. The properties of the explosion dynamics and the magnetic field configuration are the dominant factors determining the ejecta composition.
Much of the success of gravitational-wave astronomy rests on perturbation theory. Historically, perturbative analysis of gravitational-wave sources has largely focused on post-Newtonian theory. However, strong-field perturbation theory is essential in many cases such as the quasinormal ringdown following the merger of a binary system, tidally perturbed compact objects, and extreme-mass-ratio inspirals. In this review, motivated primarily by small-mass-ratio binaries but not limited to them, we provide an overview of essential methods in (i) black hole perturbation theory, (ii) orbital mechanics in Kerr spacetime, and (iii) gravitational self-force theory. Our treatment of black hole perturbation theory covers most common methods, including the Teukolsky and Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli equations, methods of metric reconstruction, and Lorenz-gauge formulations, presenting them in a new consistent and self-contained form. Our treatment of orbital mechanics covers quasi-Keplerian and action-angle descriptions of bound geodesics and accelerated orbits, osculating geodesics, near-identity averaging transformations, multiscale expansions, and orbital resonances. Our summary of self-force theory's foundations is brief, covering the main ideas and results of matched asymptotic expansions, local expansion methods, puncture schemes, and point particle descriptions. We conclude by combining the above methods in a multiscale expansion of the perturbative Einstein equations, leading to adiabatic and post-adiabatic evolution schemes. Our presentation is intended primarily as a reference for practitioners but includes a variety of new results. In particular, we present the first complete post-adiabatic waveform-generation framework for generic (nonresonant) orbits in Kerr.
We report results from the first radiative particle-in-cell simulations of strong Alfvenic turbulence in plasmas of moderate optical depth. The simulations are performed in a local 3D periodic box and self-consistently follow the evolution of radiation as it interacts with a turbulent electron-positron plasma via Compton scattering. We focus on the conditions expected in magnetized coronae of accreting black holes and obtain an emission spectrum consistent with the observed hard state of Cyg X-1. Most of the turbulence power is transferred directly to the photons via bulk Comptonization, shaping the peak of the emission around 100 keV. The rest is released into nonthermal particles, which generate the MeV spectral tail. The method presented here shows promising potential for ab initio modeling of various astrophysical sources and opens a window into a new regime of kinetic plasma turbulence.
Galactic compact binaries with orbital periods shorter than a few hours emit detectable gravitational waves at low frequencies. Their gravitational wave signals can be detected with the future Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Crucially, they may be useful in the early months of the mission operation in helping to validate LISA's performance in comparison to pre-launch expectations. We present an updated list of 55 candidate LISA binaries with measured properties, for which we derive distances based on Gaia Data release 3 astrometry. Based on the known properties from electromagnetic observations, we predict the LISA detectability after 1, 3, 6, and 48 months with state-of-the-art Bayesian analysis methods. We distinguish between verification and detectable binaries as being detectable after 3 and 48 months respectively. We find 18 verification binaries and 22 detectable sources, which triples the number of known LISA binaries over the last few years. These include detached double white dwarfs, AM CVn binaries, one ultracompact X-ray binary and two hot subdwarf binaries. We find that across this sample the gravitational wave amplitude is expected to be measured to $\approx10\%$ on average, while the inclination is expected to be determined with $\approx15^\circ$ precision. For detectable binaries these average errors increase to $\approx50\%$ and to $\approx40^\circ$ respectively.
Using CORSIKA simulations, we investigate the mass sensitivity of cosmic-ray air-shower observables for sites at the South Pole and Malarg\"ue, Argentina, the respective locations of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the Pierre Auger Observatory. Exact knowledge of observables from air-shower simulations was used to study the event-by-event mass separation between proton, helium, oxygen, and iron primary cosmic rays with a Fisher linear discriminant analysis. Dependencies on the observation site as well as the energy and zenith angle of the primary particle were studied in the ranges from $10^{16.0}-10^{18.5}\,$eV and $0^\circ$ to $60^\circ$: they are mostly weak and do not change the qualitative results. Promising proton-iron mass separation is achieved using combined knowledge of all studied observables, also when typical reconstruction uncertainties are accounted for. However, even with exact measurements, event-by-event separation of intermediate-mass nuclei is challenging and better methods than the Fisher discriminant and/or the inclusion of additional observables will be needed. As an individual observable, high-energy muons ($> 500\,$GeV) provide the best event-by-event mass discrimination, but the combination of muons of any energy and $X_{\text{max}}$ provides already a high event-by-event separation between proton-iron primaries at both sites. We also confirm that the asymmetry and width parameters of the air-shower longitudinal profile, $R$ and $L$, are mass sensitive. Only $R$ seems to be suitable for event-by-event mass separation, but $L$ can potentially be used to statistically determine the proton-helium ratio. Overall, our results motivate the coincident measurement of several air-shower observables, including at least $X_{\text{max}}$ and the sizes of the muonic and electromagnetic shower components, for the next generation of air-shower experiments.
We present the properties of relativistic, inviscid, low angular momentum, advective accretion flow in a $f(R)$ gravity theory that satisfactorily mimics the asymptotically flat vacuum solutions of the Einstein's equations. With this, we solve the governing equations describing the accretion flow and obtain the global transonic accretion solutions in terms of flow energy (${\cal E}$), angular momentum ($\lambda$) and gravity parameter ($A$) that determines the effect of $f(R)$ gravity. We observe that depending on the model parameters, flow may contain either single or multiple critical points. We separate the effective domain of the parameter space in $\lambda-{\cal E}$ plane that admits accretion solutions possessing multiple critical points and observe that solution of this kind continues to form for wide range of the flow parameters. We examine the modification of the parameter space and reveal that it gradually shrinks with the decrease of $A$, and ultimately disappears for $A=-2.34$. Finally, we calculate the disk luminosity ($L$) considering bremsstrahlung emission process and find that global accretion solutions passing through the inner critical point are more luminous compared to the outer critical point solutions.
Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are a powerful and mysterious new class of transient that are luminous enough to be detected at cosmological distances. By associating FRBs to host galaxies, we can measure intrinsic and environmental properties that test FRB origin models, in addition to using them as precise probes of distant cosmic gas. The Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-110) is a radio interferometer built to maximize the rate at which it can simultaneously detect and localize FRBs. Here, we present the first sample of FRBs and host galaxies discovered by the DSA-110. This sample of 11 FRBs is the largest, most uniform sample of localized FRBs to date, as it is selected based on association to host galaxies identified in optical imaging by Pan-STARRS1. These FRBs have not been observed to repeat and their radio properties (dispersion, temporal scattering, energy) are similar to that of the known non-repeating FRB population. Most host galaxies have ongoing star formation, as has been identified before for FRB hosts. Two hosts of the new sample are massive, quiescent galaxies. The distribution of star-formation history across this host-galaxy sample shows that the delay-time distribution is wide, with a powerlaw model that spans from $\sim100$\,Myr to $\gtrsim2$\,Gyr. This requires the existence of one or more progenitor formation channels associated with old stellar populations, such as the binary evolution of compact objects.
In this study, we develop a simplified magnetofluid model in the framework of GRMHD. We consider an ideal, adiabatic fluid composed of two components, ions and electrons, having a constant ratio between their temperatures. The flows are assumed to be governed by gravity, enabling us to employ the ballistic approximation, treating the streamlines as timelike geodesics. We show that the model is analytically solvble around a rotating black hole if the angular velocity of the geodesic $u^\theta$ is vanishing. In the corresponding solution, which is named the conical solution, we derive a comprehensive set of explicit expressions for the thermodynamics and the associated magnetic field. Furthermore, we explore the potential applications of our model to describe the thick disks and the jets at the horizon scale. Our model provides a direct pathway for the study of black hole imaging.
Recently, a new population of circular radio ($\sim$GHz) objects have been discovered at high Galactic latitudes, called the Odd Radio Circles (ORCs). A fraction of the ORCs encircles massive galaxies in the sky with stellar mass $\sim 10^{11}\, M_\odot$ situated at $z=0.2$-$0.6$, suggesting a possible physical connection. In this work, we explore the possibility that these radio circles originate from the accretion shocks/virial shocks around massive ($\gtrsim10^{13}\, M_\odot$) dark matter halo at $z\sim0.5$. We found that the radio flux density of the emitting shell is marginally consistent with the ORCs. We also find that pure advection of electrons from the shock results in a radio-emitting shell that is considerably narrower than the observed one due to strong inverse-Compton cooling of electrons. Instead, we show that the diffusion of cosmic-ray (CR) electrons plays a significant role in increasing the width of the shell. We infer a diffusion coefficient, $D_{\rm cr} \sim 10^{30}\ {\rm cm^2\,s^{-1}}$, consistent with the values expected for low-density circumgalactic medium (CGM). If ORCs indeed trace virial shocks, then our derived CR diffusion coefficient represents one of the few estimations available for the low-density CGM. Finally, we show that the apparent discrepancy between ORC and halo number density can be mitigated by considering an incomplete halo virialization and the limited radiation efficiency of shocks. This study, therefore, opens up new avenues to probe such shocks and non-thermal particle acceleration within them. Furthermore, our results suggest that low-mass galaxies ($\lesssim 10^{13}\, M_\odot$) may not show ORCs due to their significantly lower radio surface brightness.
The supernova remnant (SNR) G288.8-6.3 was recently discovered as a faint radio shell at large Galactic latitude using observations with ASKAP in the EMU survey. Here, we make the first detailed investigation of the $\gamma$-ray emission from the G288.8-6.3 region, aiming to characterise the high-energy emission in the GeV regime from the newly discovered SNR, dubbed Ancora. 15 years of Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) data were analysed at energies between 400 MeV and 1 TeV and the excess seen in the region was modelled using different spatial and spectral models. We detect spatially extended $\gamma$-ray emission coinciding with the radio SNR, with detection significance up to 8.8 $\sigma$. A radial disk spatial model in combination with a power-law spectral model with an energy flux of $(4.80 \pm 0.91) \times 10^{-6}$ $\text{MeV}$ $\text{cm}^{-2}$ $\text{s}^{-1}$, with the spectrum extending up to around 5 GeV was found to be the preferred model. Morphologically, hotspots seen above 1 GeV are well-correlated with the bright western part of the radio shell. The emission is more likely to be of leptonic origin given the estimated gas density in the region and the estimated distance and age of the SNR, but a hadronic scenario cannot be ruled out. Ancora is the eighth SNR detected at high Galactic latitude with Fermi-LAT. This new population of remnants has the potential to constrain the physics of particle diffusion and escape from SNRs into the Galaxy.
We show that the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the tightly focused radiation generated by the superluminally moving current sheet in the magnetosphere of a non-aligned neutron star fits the gamma-ray spectra of the Crab, Vela and Geminga pulsars over the entire range of photon energies so far detected by Fermi-LAT, MAGIC and H.E.S.S. from them: over $10^2$ MeV to $20$ TeV. While emblematic of any emission that entails caustics, the SED introduced here radically differs from those of the disparate emission mechanisms currently invoked in the literature to fit the data in different sections of these spectra. We specify, moreover, the connection between the values of the fit parameters for the analysed spectra and the physical characteristics of the central neutron stars of the Crab, Vela and Geminga pulsars and their magnetospheres.
More than 100 tidal disruption events (TDEs) have been detected at multi-bands, which can be viewed as extreme laboratories to investigate the accretion physics and gravity in the immediate vicinity of massive black holes. Future transient surveys are expected to detect several tens of thousands of TDEs, among which a small fraction may be strongly gravitationally lensed by intervening galaxies. In this paper, we statistically etsimate the detection rate of lensed TDEs, with dependence on the limiting magnitude of the transient all-sky surveys searching for them. We find that the requisite limiting magnitude for an all-sky transient survey to observe at least $1$ yr$^{-1}$ is $\gtrsim 21.3$, $21.2$, and $21.5$ mag in the $u$, $g$, and $z$ bands, respectively. If the limiting magnitude of the all-sky survey can reach $\sim 25-26$ mag in the $u$, $g$, and $z$ bands, the detection rate can be upto about several tens to hundreds per year. The discovery and identification of the first image of the lensed TDE can be taken as an early warning of the second and other subsequent images, which may enable detailed monitoring of the pre-peak photometry and spectroscopy evolution of the TDE. The additional early-stage information may help to constrain the dynamical and radiation processes involving in the TDEs.
We present 20 epochs of optical spectroscopy obtained with the GTC-10.4m telescope across the bright discovery outburst of the black hole candidate Swift J1727.8-162. The spectra cover the main accretion states and are characterised by the presence of hydrogen and helium emission lines, commonly observed in these objects. They show complex profiles, including double-peaks, but also blue-shifted absorptions (with blue-edge velocities of 1150 km/s), broad emission wings and flat-top profiles, which are usual signatures of accretion disc winds. Moreover, red-shifted absorptions accompanied by blue emission excesses suggest the presence of inflows in at least two epochs, although a disc origin cannot be ruled out. Using pre-outburst imaging from Pan-STARRS, we identify a candidate quiescent optical counterpart with a magnitude of g = 20.8. This implies an outburst optical amplitude of DV = 7.7, supporting an estimated orbital period of 7.6 h, which favours an early K-type companion star. Employing various empirical methods we derive a distance to the source of d = 2.7 +- 0.3 kpc, corresponding to a Galactic Plane elevation of z = 0.48 +- 0.05 kpc. Based on these findings, we propose that Swift J1727.8-162 is a nearby black hole X-ray transient that exhibited complex signatures of optical inflows and outflows throughout its discovery outburst.
Short Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are often associated with NSNS or BHNS mergers. The discovery of GW/GRB 170817A has enhanced our understanding, revealing that the interaction between relativistic jets and post-merger outflows influences the observed radiation. However, the nature of compact binary merger event suggests that the system can be more complex than the uniform jet interacting with a homologously expanding wind. We consider here an improved scenario by performing a set of two-dimensional, large scale numerical simulations, and we investigate the interaction between short GRB jets and post-merger disk wind outflows. We focus on two types of configurations, arising from NSNS and BHNS mergers. The simulations consider the effects of the r-process nucleosynthesis in the accretion disk wind on its pressure profile. The main properties of the jet, such as its energy distribution and collimation degree, are estimated from our simulations. We found that a) the impact of the r-process on initial wind pressure leads to significant changes in the jet collimation and cocoon expansion; b) the angular structure of thermal and kinetic energy components in the jets, cocoons, and winds differ with respect to simple homologous models, hence it would affect the predictions of GRB afterglow emission; c) the temporal evolution of the structure reveals conversion of thermal to kinetic energy being different for each component in the system (jet, cocoon, and wind); d) post-merger environments influence energy structure and material dispersion, altering the interaction between jets and disk winds. %Our study underscores the importance of post-merger disk wind in the jet propagation, emphasizing the need for careful parameter selection to avoid interpretation degeneracy in the electromagnetic counterparts.
Early studies of the AMS-02 antiproton ratio identified a possible excess over the expected astrophysical background that could be fit by the annihilation of a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP). However, recent efforts have shown that uncertainties in cosmic-ray propagation, the antiproton production cross-section, and correlated systematic uncertainties in the AMS-02 data, may combine to decrease or eliminate the significance of this feature. We produce an advanced analysis using the DRAGON2 code which, for the first time, simultaneously fits the antiproton ratio along with multiple secondary cosmic-ray flux measurements to constrain astrophysical and nuclear uncertainties. Compared to previous work, our analysis benefits from a combination of: (1) recently released AMS-02 antiproton data, (2) updated nuclear fragmentation cross-section fits, (3) a rigorous Bayesian parameter space scan that constrains cosmic-ray propagation parameters. We find no statistically significant preference for a dark matter signal and set strong constraints on WIMP annihilation to $b\bar{b}$, ruling out annihilation at the thermal cross-section for dark matter masses below $\sim200$~GeV. We do find a positive residual that is consistent with previous work, and can be explained by a $\sim70$~GeV WIMP annihilating below the thermal cross-section. However, our default analysis finds this excess to have a local significance of only 2.8$\sigma$, which is decreased to 1.8$\sigma$ when the look-elsewhere effect is taken into account.
Over recent decades, robotic (or highly automated) searches for supernovae (SNe) have discovered several thousand events, many of them in quite nearby galaxies (distances < 30 Mpc). Most of these SNe, including some of the best-studied events to date, were found before maximum brightness and have associated with them extensive follow-up photometry and spectroscopy. Some of these discoveries are so-called SN impostors, thought to be superoutbursts of luminous blue variable stars, although possibly a new, weak class of massive-star explosions. We conducted a Snapshot program with the Hubble Space Telescope(HST) and obtained images of the sites of 31 SNe and four impostors, to acquire late-time photometry through two filters. The primary aim of this project was to reveal the origin of any lingering energy for each event, whether it is the result of radioactive decay or, in some cases, ongoing late-time interaction of the SN shock with pre-existing circumstellar matter, or the presence of a light echo. Alternatively, lingering faint light at the SN position may arise from an underlying stellar population (e.g., a host star cluster, companion star, or a chance alignment). The results from this study complement and extend those from Snapshot programs by various investigators in previous HST cycles.
The warp is a well-known undulation of the Milky Way disc. Its structure has been widely studied, but only since Gaia DR2 has it been possible to reveal its kinematic signature beyond the solar neighbourhood. In this work we present an analysis of the warp traced by Classical Cepheids by means of a Fourier decomposition of their height ($Z$) and, for the first time, of their vertical velocity ($V_z$). We find a clear but complex signal that in both variables reveals an asymmetrical warp. In $Z$ we find the warp to be almost symmetric in amplitude at the disc's outskirts, with the two extremes never being diametrically opposed at any radius and the line of nodes presenting a twist in the direction of stellar rotation for $R>11$ kpc. For $V_z$, in addition to the usual $m=1$ mode, an $m=2$ mode is needed to represent the kinematic signal of the warp, reflecting its azimuthal asymmetry. The line of maximum vertical velocity is similarly twisted as the line of nodes and trails behind by $\approx 25^\circ$. We develop a new formalism to derive the pattern speed and change in amplitude with time $\dot{A}$ of each Fourier mode at each radius, via a joint analysis of the Fourier decomposition in $Z$ and $V_z$. By applying it to the Cepheids we find, for the $m=1$ mode, a constant pattern speed in the direction of stellar rotation of $9.2\pm3.1$ km/s/kpc, a negligible $\dot{A}$ up to $R\approx 14$ kpc and a slight increase at larger radii, in agreement with previous works.
The standard cosmological scenario predicts a hierarchical formation for galaxies. Many substructures were found in the Galactic halo, identified as clumps in kinematic spaces, like the energy-angular momentum one (E-Lz), under the hypothesis of the conservation of these quantities. If these clumps also feature different chemical properties, e.g. metallicity distribution functions (MDF), they are often associated to independent merger debris. The aim of this study is to explore to what extent we can couple kinematics and metallicities of stars in the Galactic halo to reconstruct the accretion history of the Milky Way. In particular, we want to understand whether different clumps in the E-Lz space with different MDF should be associated to distinct merger debris. We analysed dissipationless, self-consistent high-resolution N-body simulations of a MW-type galaxy accreting a satellite with mass ratio 1:10, with different orbital parameters and metallicity gradients (assigned a posteriori). We confirm that accreted stars from a ~1:10 satellite redistribute in a wide range of E and Lz, due to the dynamical friction, thus not being associated to a single clump. Because satellite stars with different metallicities can be deposited in different regions of the E-Lz space (on average the more metal-rich ones end up more gravitationally bound to the MW), this implies that a single ~1:10 accretion can manifest with different MDFs, in different regions of the E-Lz space. Groups of stars with different E, Lz and metallicities may be interpreted as originating from different satellites, but our analysis shows that these interpretations are not physically motivated. In fact, the coupling of kinematics with MDFs to reconstruct the accretion history of the MW can bias the reconstructed merger tree towards increasing the number of past accretions and decreasing the masses of the progenitor galaxies.
I employ the Lucy rectification algorithm to recover the inclination-corrected distribution of local disk galaxies in the plane of absolute magnitude ($M_i$) and \HI\ velocity width ($W_{20}$). By considering the inclination angle as a random variable with a known probability distribution, the novel approach eliminates one major source of uncertainty in studies of the Tully-Fisher relation: inclination angle estimation from axial ratio. Leveraging the statistical strength derived from the entire sample of 28,264 \HI-selected disk galaxies at $z < 0.06$ from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey, I show that the restored distribution follows a sharp correlation that is approximately a power law between $-16 > M_i > -22$: $M_i = M_0 - 2.5\beta \ [\log(W_{\rm 20}/250 {\rm km/s})]$, with $M_0 = -19.77\pm0.04$ and $\beta = 4.39\pm0.06$. At the brighter end ($M_i < -22$), the slope of the correlation decreases to $\beta \approx 3.3$, confirming previous results. Because the method accounts for measurement errors, the intrinsic dispersion of the correlation is directly measured: $\sigma(\log W_{20}) \approx 0.06$\,dex between $-17 > M_i > -23$, while $\sigma(M_i)$ decreases from $\sim$0.8 in slow rotators to $\sim$0.4 in fast rotators. The statistical rectification method holds significant potential, especially in the studies of intermediate-to-high-redshift samples, where limited spatial resolution hinders precise measurements of inclination angles.
Our knowledge of relations between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies at $z\gtrsim1$ is still limited, even though being actively sought out to $z\sim6$. Here, we use the high resolution and sensitivity of JWST to measure the host galaxy properties for 61 X-ray-selected type-I AGNs at $0.7<z<2.5$ with rest-frame optical/near-infrared imaging from COSMOS-Web and PRIMER. Black hole masses ($\log\left(M_{\rm BH}/M_\odot\right)\sim7.5-9.5$) are available from previous spectroscopic campaigns. We extract the host galaxy components from four NIRCam broadband images and the HST/ACS F814W image by applying a 2D image decomposition technique. We detect the host galaxy for $\sim90\%$ of the sample after subtracting the unresolved AGN emission. With host photometry free of AGN emission, we determine the stellar mass of the host galaxies to be $\log\left(M_*/M_\odot\right)\sim10-11.5$ through SED fitting and measure the evolution of the mass relation between SMBHs and their host galaxies. Considering selection biases and measurement uncertainties, we find that the $M_\mathrm{ BH}/M_*$ ratio evolves as $\left(1+z\right)^{0.37_{-0.60}^{+0.35}}$ thus remains essentially constant or exhibits mild evolution up to $z\sim2.5$. We also see an amount of scatter ($\sigma_{\mu}=0.28\pm0.13$) is similar to the local relation and consistent with low-$z$ studies; this appears to not rule out non-causal cosmic assembly where mergers contribute to the statistical averaging towards the local relation. We highlight improvements to come with larger samples from JWST and, particularly, Euclid, which will exceed the statistical power of wide and deep surveys such as Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam.
Gravitational microlensing is a phenomenon that allows us to observe dark remnants of stellar evolution even if they no longer emit electromagnetic radiation. In particular, it can be useful to observe solitary neutron stars or stellar-mass black holes, providing a unique window through which to understand stellar evolution. Obtaining direct mass measurements with this technique requires precise observations of both the change in brightness and the position of the microlensed star and the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite can provide both. We analysed events published in Gaia Data Release 3 (GDR3) microlensing catalogue using publicly available data from different surveys. Here we describe our selection of candidate dark lenses, where we suspect the lens is a white dwarf (WD), a neutron star (NS), a black hole (BH), or a mass-gap object, with a mass in a range between the heaviest NS and the least massive BH. We estimated the mass of the lenses using information obtained from the best-fitting microlensing models, the Galactic model and the expected distribution of the parameters. We found eight candidates for WDs or NS, and two mass-gap objects.
Extreme Emission Line Galaxies (EELGs) stand as remarkable objects due to their extremely metal poor environment and intense star formation. Considered as local analogues of high-redshift galaxies in the peak of their star-forming activity, they offer insights into conditions prevalent during the early Universe. Assessment of their stellar and gas properties is, therefore, of critical importance, which requires the assembly of a considerable sample, comprehending a broad redshift range. The Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey (JPAS) plays a significant role in assembling such a sample, encompassing approximately 8000 deg2 and employing 54 narrow-band optical filters. The present work describes the development and subsequent application of the tools that will be employed in the forthcoming JPAS spectrophotometric data, allowing for the massive and automated characterization of EELGs that are expected to be identified. This fully automated pipeline (requiring only the object coordinates from users) constructs Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) by retrieving virtually all the available multi-wavelength photometric data archives, employs SED fitting tools and identifies optical emission lines. It was applied to the sample of extreme line emitters identified in the miniJPAS Survey, and its derived physical properties such as stellar mass and age, coupled with fundamental relations, mirror results obtained through spectral modeling of SDSS spectra. Thorough testing using galaxies with documented photometric measurements across different wavelengths confirmed the pipeline's accuracy, demonstrating its capability for automated analysis of sources with varying characteristics, spanning brightness, morphology, and redshifts. The modular nature of this pipeline facilitates any addition from the user.
Observations show a tight correlation between the stellar mass of galaxies and their gas-phase metallicity (MZR). This relation evolves with redshift, with higher-redshift galaxies being characterized by lower metallicities. Understanding the physical origin of the slope and redshift evolution of the MZR may provide important insight into the physical processes underpinning it: star formation, feedback, and cosmological inflows. While theoretical models ascribe the shape of the MZR to the lower efficiency of galactic outflows in more massive galaxies, what drives its evolution remains an open question. In this letter, we analyze how the MZR evolves over $z=0-3$, combining results from the FIREbox cosmological volume simulation with analytical models. Contrary to a frequent assertion in the literature, we find that the evolution of the gas fraction does not contribute significantly to the redshift evolution of the MZR. Instead, we show that the latter is driven by the redshift-dependence of the inflow metallicity, outflow metallicity, and mass loading factor, whose relative importance depends on stellar mass. These findings also suggest that the evolution of the MZR is not explained by galaxies moving along a fixed surface in the space spanned by stellar mass, gas phase metallicity, and star formation rate.
Patchick 99 is a candidate globular cluster located in the direction of the Galactic bulge, with a proper motion almost identical to the field and extreme field star contamination. A recent analysis suggests it is a low-luminosity globular cluster with a population of RR Lyrae stars. We present new spectra of stars in and around Patchick 99, targeting specifically the 3 RR Lyrae stars associated with the cluster as well as the other RR Lyrae stars in the field. A sample of 53 giant stars selected from proper motions and a position on CMD are also observed. The three RR Lyrae stars associated with the cluster have similar radial velocities and distances, and two of the targeted giants also have radial velocities in this velocity regime and [Fe/H] metallicities that are slightly more metal-poor than the field. Therefore, if Patchick 99 is a bonafide globular cluster, it would have a radial velocity of -92+/-10 km s-1, a distance of 6.7+/-0.4 kpc (as determined from the RR Lyrae stars), and an orbit that confines it to the inner bulge.
We study how type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are spatially distributed within their host galaxies, using data taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). This paper specifically tests the hypothesis that the SNe Ia rate traces the r-band light of the morphological component to which supernovae belong. A sample of supernovae is taken from the SDSS SN Survey, and host galaxies are identified. Each host galaxy is decomposed into a bulge and disk, and the distribution of supernovae is compared to the distribution of disk and bulge light. Our methodology is relatively unaffected by seeing. We find that in disk light dominated galaxies, SNe Ia trace light closely. The situation is less clear for bulges and ellipticals because of resolution effects, but the available evidence is also consistent with the hypothesis that bulge/elliptical SNe Ia follow light.
The ages and metallicities of globular clusters play an important role not just in testing models for their formation and evolution but in understanding the assembly history for their host galaxies. Here we use a combination of imaging and spectroscopy to measure the ages and metallicities of globular clusters in M31, the closest massive galaxy to our own. We use the strength of the near-infrared calcium triplet spectral feature to provide a relatively age insensitive prior on the metallicity when fitting stellar population models to the observed photometry. While the age-extinction degeneracy is an issue for globular clusters projected onto the disc of M31, we find generally old ages for globular clusters in the halo of M31 and in its satellite galaxy NGC 205 in line with previous studies. We measure ages for a number of outer halo globular clusters for the first time, finding that globular clusters associated with halo substructure extend to younger ages and higher metallicities than those associated with the smooth halo. This is in line with the expectation that the smooth halo was accreted earlier than the substructured halo.
We report the first high resolution, detailed abundances of 21 elements for giants in the Galactic bulge/bar within $1^\circ$ of the Galactic plane, where high extinction has rendered such studies challenging. Our high S/N and high-resolution, near-infrared spectra of 7 M giants in the inner-bulge, located at ($l,b$)=(0,+1$^{\circ}$), are observed using the IGRINS spectrograph. We report the first multi-chemical study of the inner Galactic bulge, by investigating relative to a robust new Solar Neighborhood sample, the abundance trends of 21 elements, including the relatively difficult to study heavy elements. The elements studied are: F, Mg, Si, S, Ca, Na, Al, K, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Ce, Nd, and Yb. We investigate bulge membership of all seven stars using distances and orbital simulations, and find that the most metal-poor star may be a halo interloper. Our investigation shows that the inner-bulge also as close as $1^\circ$ North of the Galactic Center displays a similarity to the inner disk sequence, following the high [$\alpha$/Fe] envelope of the Solar vicinity metal-rich population, though no firm conclusions for a different enrichment history are evident from this sample. We find a small fraction of metal-poor stars (\feh$<-0.5$) but most of our stars are mainly of super-solar metallicity. Fluorine is found to be enhanced at high metallicity compared to the solar neighbourhood, but confirmation with a larger sample is required. We will apply this approach to explore populations of the Nuclear Stellar Disk and the Nuclear Star Cluster.
A number of works infer radial temperature profiles of envelopes surrounding young stellar objects using several rotational transitions in a pixel-by-pixel or azimuthally-averaged basis. However, in many cases the assumption that the rotational temperature is constant along the line of sight is made, while this is not the case when a partially resolved envelope, assumed to be spherically symmetric, is used to obtain values of temperature for different projected radii. This kind of analysis (homogeneous analysis) is intrinsically inconsistent. By using a spherical envelope model to interpret NH3 (1, 1) and (2, 2) observations, we tested how robust it is to infer radial temperature profiles of an envelope. The temperature and density of the model envelope are power laws of radius, but the density can be flat for an inner central part. The homogeneous analysis was applied to obtain radial temperature profiles, and resulted that for small projected radii, where the optical depth of the lines is high, the homogeneous temperature can be much higher than the actual envelope temperature. In general, for larger projected radii, both the temperature and the temperature power-law index can be underestimated by as much as 40%, and 0.15, respectively. We applied this study to the infrared dark cloud G14.225-0.506 for which the radial temperature profile was previously derived from the dust emission at submillimeter wavelengths and the spectral energy distribution. As expected, the homogeneous analysis underestimated both the temperature and the temperature power-law index.
Context. The detection of NH2CH2CH2OH (ethanolamine) in molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027 adds an additional player to the prebiotic molecules discovered so far in the interstellar medium (ISM). As this molecule might be formed through condensed-phase hydrogenation steps, detecting one or more of the molecules involved might help to elucidate the chemical pathway leading to its production. Aims. The chemical path involves the formation of four chemical species. In this work, we study the energies of the isomers involved, indicate the best candidates for detection purposes, and provide the distortion constants of the most energetically favoured isomers undetected so far. Methods. We used highly accurate CCSD(T)-F12/cc-pCVTZ-F12 computations to predict the lowest energy isomers as well as their spectroscopic constants, taking corrections for core electron correlation and scalar relativity into account. Results. We studied 14 isomers. We find that the lowest energy isomer proposed in previous studies is not the actual minimum. We provide a set of rotational and distortion constants of the two new most stable isomers together with their fundamental vibrational frequencies in order to guide the search for these important astrochemical precursors of prebiotic molecules in the ISM.
Why does the temperature gradient within a vortex tube deviate significantly from the adiabatic gradient is an important but unresolved issue. A new theory from solar physics suggests that the vorticity gradient, like the temperature gradient, can suppress or promote convection depending on the conditions, causing the temperature gradient to deviate significantly from or approach the adiabatic gradient. The gas near the wall has a very high vorticity, which can provide a large buoyancy force, driving some fluid parcels to undergo multiple collisions and reach near the axis, achieving temperature separation.
We develop a rapid algorithm for the evolution of stable, circular, circumbinary discs suitable for parameter estimation and population synthesis modelling. Our model includes disc mass and angular momentum changes, accretion on to the binary stars, and binary orbital eccentricity pumping. We fit our model to the post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) circumbinary disc around IRAS 08544-4431, finding reasonable agreement despite the simplicity of our model. Our best-fitting disc has a mass of about $0.01\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ and angular momentum $2.7\times 10^{52}\, \mathrm{g}\, \mathrm{cm}^{2}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}\simeq 9 \,\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}\, \mathrm{au}$, corresponding to 0.0079 and 0.16 of the common-envelope mass and angular momentum, respectively. The best-fitting disc viscosity is $\alpha _\mathrm{disc} = 5 \times 10^{-3}$ and our tidal torque algorithm can be constrained such that the inner edge of the disc $R_{\mathrm{in}}\sim 2a$. The inner binary eccentricity reaches about 0.13 in our best-fitting model of IRAS 08544-4431, short of the observed 0.22. The circumbinary disc evaporates quickly when the post-AGB star reaches a temperature of $\sim \! 6\times 10^4\, \mathrm{K}$, suggesting that planetismals must form in the disc in about $10^{4}\, \mathrm{yr}$ if secondary planet formation is to occur, while accretion from the disc on to the stars at about 10 times the inner-edge viscous rate can double the disc lifetime.
We present ALMA deep spectroscopy for a lensed galaxy at $z_{\rm spec}=8.496$ with $\log(M_{\rm star}/M_{\odot})\sim7.8$ whose optical nebular lines and stellar continuum are detected by JWST/NIRSpec and NIRCam Early Release Observations in SMACS0723. Our ALMA spectrum shows [OIII]88$\mu$m and [CII]158$\mu$m line detections at $4.0\sigma$ and $4.5\sigma$, respectively. The redshift and position of the [OIII] line coincide with those of the JWST source, while the [CII] line is blue-shifted by 90 km s$^{-1}$ with a spatial offset of $0.''5$ ($\approx0.5$ kpc in source plane) from the JWST source. The NIRCam F444W image, including [OIII]$\lambda$5007 and H$\beta$ line emission, spatially extends beyond the stellar components by a factor of $>8$. This indicates that the $z=8.5$ galaxy has already experienced strong outflows whose oxygen and carbon produce the extended [OIII]$\lambda$5007 and the offset [CII] emission, which would promote ionizing photon escape and facilitate reionization. With careful slit-loss corrections and removals of emission spatially outside the galaxy, we evaluate the [OIII]88$\mu$m/$\lambda$5007 line ratio, and derive the electron density $n_{\rm e}$ by photoionization modeling to be $220^{+170}_{-100}$ cm$^{-3}$, which is comparable with those of $z\sim2-3$ galaxies. We estimate an [OIII]88$\mu$m/[CII]158$\mu$m line ratio in the galaxy of $>4$, as high as those of known $z\sim6-9$ galaxies. This high [OIII]88$\mu$m/[CII]158$\mu$m line ratio is generally explained by the high $n_{\rm e}$ as well as the low metallicity ($Z_{\rm gas}/Z_{\odot}=0.04^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$), high ionization parameter ($\log U > -2.27$), and low carbon-to-oxygen abundance ratio ($\log$(C/O) $=[-0.52:-0.24]$) obtained from the JWST/NIRSpec data; further [CII] follow-up observations will constrain the covering fraction of photodissociation regions.
We present a detailed study of cool, neutral gas traced by Lya around 4595 z<0.5 galaxies using stacks of background quasar spectra. The galaxies are selected from our MUSEQuBES low-z survey along with data from the literature. These galaxies, with a median stellar mass of log (M*/Msun)= 10.0, are probed by 184 background quasars giving rise to 5054 quasar-galaxy pairs. The median impact parameter is b = 1.5 pMpc (median b/Rvir=10.4) with 204 (419) quasar-galaxy pairs probing b/Rvir < 1 (2). We find excess absorption out to at least ~ 15 Rvir transverse distance and ~ 600 km/s along the line of sight. We show that the median stacked profile for the full sample, dominated by the pairs with b > Rvir, can be explained by a galaxy-absorber two-point correlation function with r0 = 7.6 pMpc and gamma = -1.57. There are strong indications that the inner regions (< Rvir) of the rest equivalent width profile are better explained by a log-linear (or a Gaussian) relation whereas the outer regions are well described by a power-law, consistent with galaxy-absorber large-scale clustering. Using a sub-sample of 339 galaxies (442 quasar-galaxy pairs, median b/Rvir = 1.6) with star formation rate measurements, we find that the Lya absorption is significantly stronger for star-forming galaxies compared to passive galaxies, but only within the virial radius. The Lya absorption at b ~ Rvir for a redshift-controlled sample peaks at M* ~ 10^9 Msun~ (Mhalo ~ 10^11 Msun).
Binary and dual active galactic nuclei (AGN) are an important observational tool for studying the formation and dynamical evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes (SMBHs). An entirely new method for identifying possible AGN pairs makes use of the exquisite positional accuracy of Gaia to detect astrometrically-variable quasars, in tandem with the high spatial resolution of the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). We present a new pilot study of radio observations of 18 quasars (0.8 < z < 2.9), selected from the SDSS DR16Q and matched with the Gaia DR3. All 18 targets are identified by their excess astrometric noise in Gaia. We targeted these 18 quasars with the VLA at 2-4 GHz (S-band) and 8-12 GHz (X-band), providing resolutions of 0.65" and 0.2", respectively, in order to constrain the origin of this variability. We combine these data with ancillary radio survey data and perform radio spectral modeling. The new observations are used to constrain the driver of the excess astrometric noise. We find that ~39% of the target sample is likely to be either candidate dual AGN or gravitationally lensed quasars. Ultimately, we use this new strategy to help identify and understand this sample of astrometrically-variable quasars, demonstrate the potential of this method for systematically identifying kpc-scale dual quasars.
We study the stellar population properties of 182 spectroscopically-confirmed (MUSE/VLT) Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) and 450 photometrically-selected Lyman-Break galaxies (LBGs) at z = 2.8 - 6.7 in the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF). Leveraging the combined power of HST and JWST NIRCam and MIRI observations, we analyse their rest-frame UV-through-near-IR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with MIRI playing a crucial role in robustly assessing the LAE's stellar mass and ages. Our LAEs are low-mass objects (log$_{10}$(M$_\star$[M$_\odot$]) ~ 7.5), with little or no dust extinction (E(B - V) ~ 0.1) and a blue UV continuum slope ($\beta$ ~ -2.2). While 75% of our LAEs are young (< 100 Myr), the remaining 25% have significantly older stellar populations (> 100 Myr). These old LAEs are statistically more massive, less extinct and have lower specific star formation rate (sSFR) compared to young LAEs. Besides, they populate the M$_\star$ - SFR plane along the main-sequence (MS) of star-forming galaxies, while young LAEs populate the starburst region. The comparison between the LAEs properties to those of a stellar-mass matched sample of LBGs shows no statistical difference between these objects, except for the LBGs redder UV continuum slope and marginally larger E(B - V) values. Interestingly, 48% of the LBGs have ages < 10 Myr and are classified as starbursts, but lack detectable Ly$\alpha$ emission. This is likely due to HI resonant scattering and/or selective dust extinction. Overall, we find that JWST observations are crucial in determining the properties of LAEs and shedding light on the properties and similarities between LAEs and LBGs.
Stellar chemical abundances have proved themselves a key source of information for understanding the evolution of the Milky Way, and the scale of major stellar surveys such as GALAH have massively increased the amount of chemical data available. However, progress is hampered by the level of precision in chemical abundance data as well as the visualization methods for comparing the multidimensional outputs of chemical evolution models to stellar abundance data. Machine learning methods have greatly improved the former; while the application of tree-building or phylogenetic methods borrowed from biology are beginning to show promise with the latter. Here we analyse a sample of GALAH solar twins to address these issues. We apply The Cannon algorithm to generate a catalogue of about 40,000 solar twins with 14 high precision abundances which we use to perform a phylogenetic analysis on a selection of stars that have two different ranges of eccentricities. From our analyses we are able to find a group with mostly stars on circular orbits and some old stars with eccentric orbits whose age-[Y/Mg] relation agrees remarkably well with the chemical clocks published by previous high precision abundance studies. Our results show the power of combining survey data with machine learning and phylogenetics to reconstruct the history of the Milky Way.
Since 2015, the Emerging Researchers in Exoplanetary Science (ERES) conference has provided a venue for early-career researchers in exoplanetary astronomy, astrophysics, and planetary science to share their research, network, and build new collaborations. ERES stands out in that it is spearheaded by early-career researchers, providing a unique attendance experience for the participants and a professional experience for the organizers. In this Bulletin, we share experiences and lessons learned from the perspective of the organizing committee for the 2023 edition of ERES. For this eighth ERES conference, we hosted over 100 participants in New Haven, CT, for a three-day program. This manuscript is aimed primarily toward groups of early-career scientists who are planning a conference for their fields of study. We anticipate that this Bulletin will continue dialogue within the academic community about best practices for equitable event organization.
The CM chondrites are characterized as primary accretionary rocks which originate from primitive water-rich asteroids formed during the early Solar System. Here, we study the mineralogy and organic characteristics of right CM and one ungrouped chondrite to better understand their alteration history; Queen Alexandra Range 93005 (QUE 93005), Murchison, LaPaz Icefield 02333 (LAP 02333), Miller Range (MIL 13005), Mackay Glacier 05231 (MCY 05231), Northwest Africa 8534 (NWA 8534), Northwest Africa 3340 (NWA 3340), Yamato 86695 (Y-86695), and the ungrouped carbonaceous chondrite Belgica 7904 (B-7904). Raman spectroscopy has been employed to detect the presence of organic carbon in the samples, specifically through the G band at approximately 1580 cm-1 and D band at around 1350 cm-1. The properties of organic matter in meteorites serve as valuable indicators for characterizing the structure and crystallinity of carbonaceous materials and estimating their thermal metamorphism degree. The R1 parameter, defined as the peak height ratio of the D and G bands, provides a quantifiable measure of this structural organization. Raman spectra are used to show the general mineralogy, thermal history and heating stage of CM and ungrouped chondrites. X-ray diffraction patterns further indicate the mineralogical compositions of the samples. Visible to near-infrared (VNIR) and attenuated total reflection (ATR) reflectance spectra illustrate the trends related to their mineralogy and furthermore infer aqueous alteration, thermal history of CM carbonaceous chondrites, formation and evolution of their parent bodies.
Sensitive wide-field observations of polarized thermal emission from interstellar dust grains will allow astronomers to address key outstanding questions about the life cycle of matter and energy driving the formation of stars and the evolution of galaxies. Stratospheric balloon-borne telescopes can map this polarized emission at far-infrared wavelengths near the peak of the dust thermal spectrum - wavelengths that are inaccessible from the ground. In this paper we address the sensitivity achievable by a Super Pressure Balloon (SPB) polarimetry mission, using as an example the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) Observatory. By launching from Wanaka, New Zealand, BLAST Observatory can obtain a 30-day flight with excellent sky coverage - overcoming limitations of past experiments that suffered from short flight duration and/or launch sites with poor coverage of nearby star-forming regions. This proposed polarimetry mission will map large regions of the sky at sub-arcminute resolution, with simultaneous observations at 175, 250, and 350 $\mu m$, using a total of 8274 microwave kinetic inductance detectors. Here, we describe the scientific motivation for the BLAST Observatory, the proposed implementation, and the forecasting methods used to predict its sensitivity. We also compare our forecasted experiment sensitivity with other facilities.
We investigate the propagation of light signals across multiple gravitational lenses, with particular emphasis on the "communication bridge" scenario of two lenses with collinear source and observer. The lenses are assumed to be non-coplanar, far enough from one another for each lens to be treated independently as thin lenses in the limit of weak gravity. We analyze these scenarios using several different tools, including geometric optics, photon mapping, wave optics and ray tracing. Specifically, we use these tools to assess light amplification and image formation by a two-lens system. We then extend the ray tracing analysis to the case of multiple non-coplanar lenses, demonstrating the complexity of images that are projected even by relatively simple lens configurations. We introduce a simple simulation tool that can be used to analyze lensing by non-coplanar gravitational monopoles in the weak gravity limit, treating them as thin lenses.
The radiation damage to a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) set on a satellite orbit increases energy threshold for scintillator detectors. We confirmed that 1 krad of radiation increases the energy threshold by approximately a factor of 10, which is worst for our system. Using one or two SiPMs damaged by proton irradiation and a plastic scintillator, we performed the following three experiments in our attempt to lower the energy threshold of radiation-damaged SiPMs to the greatest extent: (1) measurements using a current waveform amplifier rather than a charge-sensitive amplifier, (2) coincidence measurements with two radiation-damaged SiPMs attached to one scintillator and summing up their signals, and (3) measurements at a low temperature. Our findings confirmed that the use of a current waveform amplifier, as opposed to a charge-sensitive amplifier and a shaping amplifier, could lower the energy threshold to approximately 65% (from 198 keV to 128 keV). Furthermore, if we set the coincidence width appropriately and sum up the signals of the two SiPMs in the coincidence measurement, the energy threshold could be lowered to approximately 70% (from 132 keV to 93 keV) with little loss of the acquired signal, compared to that of use of only one scintillator. Finally, if we perform our measurements at a temperature of -20 {\deg}C, we could lower the energy threshold to approximately 34% (from 128 keV to 43 keV) compared to that of at 20 {\deg}C. Accordingly, we conclude that the energy threshold can be lowered to approximately 15% by using a combination of these three methods.
Combining gravity with quantum theory is still work in progress. On the one hand, classical gravity, is the geometry of space-time determined by the energy-momentum tensor of matter and the resulting nonlinear equations; on the other hand, the mathematical description of a quantum system, is Hilbert space with linear equations describing evolution. In this paper, various measures in Hilbert space will be presented. In general, distance measures in Hilbert space can be divided into measures determined by energy and measures determined by entropy. Entropy measures determine quasi-distance because they do not satisfy all the axioms defining distance. Finding a general rule to determine such a measure unambiguously seems to be fundamental.
The search for supersymmetric partners at Large Hadron Collider revealed negative result. Though, strictly speaking, it does not exclude low energy supersymmetry, but still it leads to strong constraints of the parameter space. Therefore the search for supersymmetric particles at higher energies becomes of interest. It is shown that in $R^2$-modified cosmology heavy particles with the interaction strength typical for supersymmetry could be promising candidates for carriers of dark matter. We consider the heating of the Universe at the post-inflationary stage via particle production by oscillating curvature scalar (scalaron). The bounds on the masses of dark matter particles are obtained for different dominant decay modes of the scalaron. Possible impact of superheavy particle decays on the spectrum of ultra high energy cosmic rays is discussed.
In this paper, we investigate the quantum dynamics of scalar and oscillator fields in a topological defect space-time background under the influence of rainbow gravity's. The rainbow gravity's are introduced into the considered cosmological space-time geometry by replacing the temporal part $dt \to \frac{dt}{\mathcal{F}(\chi)}$ and the spatial part $dx^i \to \frac{dx^i}{\mathcal{H} (\chi)}$, where $\mathcal{F}, \mathcal{H}$ are the rainbow functions and $\chi=E/E_p$. We derived the radial equation of the Klein-Gordon equation and its oscillator equation under rainbow gravity's in topological space-time. To obtain eigenvalue of the quantum systems under investigations, we set the rainbow functions $\mathcal{F}(\chi)=1$ and $\mathcal{H}(\chi)=\sqrt{1-\beta\,\chi^p}$, where $p=1,2$. We solve the radial equations through special functions using these rainbow functions and analyze the results. In fact, it is shown that the presence of cosmological constant, the topological defect parameter $\alpha$, and the rainbow parameter $\beta$ modified the energy spectrum of scalar and oscillator fields in comparison to the results obtained in flat space.
Supersymmetric elementary string states in the compactified heterotic string theory are described by small black holes that have zero area event horizon. In this paper we compute the supersymmetric index of such elementary string states using gravitational path integral. The dominant contribution to the path integral comes from an Euclidean rotating black hole solution of the supergravity theory with a finite area event horizon, but the logarithm of the index, computed from the saddle point, vanishes. Nevertheless we show that the solution is singular on certain subspaces of the horizon where higher derivative corrections can be important, and once the higher derivative corrections are taken into account the solution could yield a finite result for the logarithm of the index whose form agrees with the microscopic results up to an overall numerical constant. While the numerical constant is not determined in our analysis, we show that it is independent of the details of the compactification and even the number of non-compact dimensions, in agreement with the microscopic results.
Intrinsic spin of fermions can generate torsion in spacetime. This torsion is a non-propagating field that can be integrated out, leaving an effective non-universal four-fermion interaction. This geometrical interaction affects fermions inside a matter distribution and can be expected to become stronger as the density grows. In this work, we investigate the role of this interaction in a gravitationally collapsing fermionic distribution. Our specific aim is to explore if this interaction can provide a repulsive contribution and prevent the final singularity formation. We consider a collapsing distribution of massive fermions, ignoring other interactions. Using simplified yet reasonable assumptions, we establish that a repulsive contribution can arise depending on how torsion couples with different chiralities. Also, the interaction starts to dominate as the collapse proceeds, accelerating or decelerating the collapse depending on the relative signs of the geometrical interaction between different species of fermions.
We show that it is possible to define a timelike future-directed information current within relativistic first-order hydrodynamics. This constitutes the first step towards a covariantly stable and causal formulation of first-order fluctuating hydrodynamics based on thermodynamic principles. We provide several explicit examples of first-order theories with an information current, covering many physical phenomena, ranging from electric conduction to viscosity and elasticity. We use these information currents to compute the corresponding equal-time correlation functions, and we find that the physically relevant (equal-time) correlators do not depend on the choice of the hydrodynamic frame as long as the frame leads to causal and stable dynamics. In the example of chiral hydrodynamics, we find that circularly polarized shear waves have different probabilities of being excited depending on their handedness, generating net helicity in chiral fluids.
Boson stars are considered as promising candidates for black hole mimickers. Similar to other compact objects they can form accretion disks around them. The properties of these disks could possibly distinguish them from other compact objects like black holes in future observations. Retrograde thick disks around boson stars and the influence of strong magnetic fields on them were already studied and it was shown that they can harbor very distinct features compared to black hole disks. However, the case of prograde thick disks is mostly unexplored, since they may appear much more similar to black hole disks. In this work we will investigate similarities and differences regarding prograde thick disks around non-selfinteracting rotating boson stars and rotating black holes. We assume thereby a polytropic equation of state and a constant specific angular momentum distribution of the disks. We classify the various conceivable boson star and black hole solutions by a dimensionless spin parameter $a$ and compare their corresponding disk solutions. The influence of toroidal magnetic fields on the disks is analyzed by selected disk properties, as the rest-mass density distribution and the Bernoulli parameter. Disk solutions are characterized by their degree of magnetization represented by the magnetization parameter $\beta_{mc}$. We found that strong magnetic fields can strengthen the differences of disk solutions or oppositely even lead to a correlation in disk properties, depending on the spin parameter of the boson star and black hole solutions. We identify the vertical thickness of the boson star disks as the main differentiating factor, since for most solutions the vertical density distribution is far more outreaching for boson star disks compared to black hole disks.
We consider physical parameters of Levin and Perez-Giz's `periodic table of orbits' around the Schwarzschild black hole, where each periodic orbit is classified according to three integers $(z,w,v)$. In particular, we chart its distribution in terms of its angular momenta $L$ and energy $E$. In the $(L,E)$-parameter space, the set of all periodic orbits can be partitioned into domains according to their whirl number $w$, where the limit of infinite $w$ approaches the branch of unstable circular orbits. Within each domain of a given whirl number $w$, the infinite zoom limit $\lim_{z\rightarrow\infty}(z,w,v)$ converges to the common boundary with the adjacent domain of whirl number $w-1$. The distribution of the periodic orbit branches can also be inferred from perturbing stable circular orbits, using the fact that every stable circular orbit is the zero-eccentricity limit of some periodic orbit, or arbitrarily close to one.
Spin is one fundamental property of microscopic particles. A lot of theoretical work postulated the possible coupling between spin and gravitation, which could result in the violation of equivalence principle. In a recent joint mass-and-energy test of weak equivalence principle (WEP) with a 10-meter $^{85}$Rb-$^{87}$Rb dual-species atom interferometer, the E${\rm \ddot{o}}$tv${\rm \ddot{o}}$s parameters of four $^{85}$Rb-$^{87}$Rb combinations with specific atomic spin states were measured to the $10^{-10}$-level. These experimental results are used to constrain the postulated spin-gravity coupling effects in a robust way. The bounds on the spin-independent and spin-dependent anomalous passive gravitational mass tensors are consistently set to the $10^{-10}$-level, which improve existing bounds by three orders of magnitude.
We provide spinor-based proof of the positivity of the Wang-Yau \cite{yau} quasi-local mass. More precisely we prove that the gravitational mass bounded by a spacelike topological $2-$sphere is non-negative in a generic spacetime verifying dominant energy condition and vanishes only if the surface is embedded in the Minkowski space. This proof is purely quasi-local in nature and in particular does not rely on Bartanik's gluing and asymptotic extension construction \cite{bartnik1993quasi} and subsequent application of the Schoen-Yau \cite{schoen1979proof,schoen1981proof} positive mass theorem.
This study deals with the formation and evolution of a strange star in the Krori Barua Rainbow spacetime from collapsing charged stringy quark matter. The dynamical variables are explored from the field equations, taking into account the effects of particle's energy on the mass density, pressure, and string tension. The electric field is also computed using the MIT Bag model. The real time data of SAX J1808.4-3658 is used to analyzed the physical properties including gradients, energy conditions, anisotropy, stability, Tolman Oppenheimer Volkoff equation, mass function, compactness, and red-shift. The graphical analysis has been made according to both the theories of rainbow gravity and general relativity. The energy conditions and anisotropy are found to be satisfied, indicating the physical existence of suggested model. Tolman Oppenheimer Volkoff equation is satisfied indicating equilibrium of forces and stability of the compact object. Overall, our model is consistent with the observational information of SAX J1808.4-3658.
Time-domain (TD) Bayesian inference is important in ringdown analysis for gravitational wave (GW) astronomy. The validity of this method has been well studied by Isi and Farr [1]. Using GW190521 as an example, we study the TD method in detail by comparing it with the frequency-domain (FD) method as a complement to previous study. We argue that the autocovariance function (ACF) should be calculated from the inverse fast Fourier transform of the power spectral density (PSD), which is usually estimated by the Welch method. In addition, the total duration of the GW data that are used to estimate the PSD and the slice duration of the truncated ACF should be long enough. Only when these conditions are fully satisfied can the TD method be considered sufficiently equivalent to the FD method.
We investigate the turnaround radius of the Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m deSitter Spacetime and how the turnaround radius changes if a test particle carries charge. We also consider the Mart\'{i}nez-Troncoso-Zanelli (MTZ) solution of conformally coupled gravity and investigate how the turnaround radius changes for a scalar test charge. In both scalar and electric interaction cases we find that the Turnaround Radius depends on the particle's energy.
Gravastars are considered as one of the prime exotic type compact objects which may be found at the end state of gravitational collapse of massive stars with a view to resolve the complexities that are pertinent in case of a black hole \cite{Mazur}-\cite{Mazur2}. In this paper, we analyse the role of charge on the possible formation of isotropic spherically symmetric gravastar configuration in the framework of Rastall gravity. Gravastar contains three distinct layers {\it viz.} i) Interior region, ii) Thin shell and iii) Exterior region. The interior region is characterised by the equation of state $p=-\rho$ that defines the repulsive outward pressure in radial direction at all points on the thin shell. The thin shell, contains ultra-relativistic stiff fluid which is denoted by the equation of state $p=\rho$ following Zel'dovich's criteria \cite{Zeldovich,Zeldovich1} for cold baryonic universe, can withstand the repulsive pressure exerted by the interior region. The exterior region is the vacuum space-time represented by the Reissner-Nordstr$\ddot{o}$m solution. In view of the above specifications, we construct and analyse a charged gravastar model in Rastall theory of gravity which represents several salient features. The basic physical attributes, {\it viz.} proper length, energy, entropy and equation of state parameter of the shell are investigated. In this model, it is interesting to note that for large value of the radius of hyper-surface (R) the EoS parameter of the thin shell corresponds to dark energy EoS with $\mathcal{W}(R)\rightarrow-1$. However, for small value of $R$ the EoS parameter $\mathcal{W}(R)\rightarrow0$, defines a dust shell. The stability of the model is ensured through the study of gravitational surface redshift and maximisation of shell entropy within the framework of Rastall theory of gravity.
In this work, we investigate probe scalar field models preserving covariance on fixed, static background geometries that present hyperscaling violation properties. We develop a first-order framework that rises from restrictions on the dynamical and hyperscaling violating exponents. The results show that stable, analytical kink-like solutions and their respective energy densities can be obtained for a general class of models. In the canonical model, in particular, these solutions minimize the energy of the system.
Uniqueness of static, asymptotically flat, non-extremal {\it photon sphere} in Einstein-Maxwell spacetime with electric and magnetic charges has been proved. Using conformal positive energy theorem, as well as, the positive mass theorem and adequate conformal transformations, we envisage the two alternative ways of proving that the exterior region of a certain radius of the studied static {\it photon sphere}, is characterized by ADM mass, electric and magnetic charges.
We studied the Hayden-Preskill thought experiment with the local projective measurement. Compared to the original model, the measurement is applied on the Hawking radiation that was emitted after throwing the quantum diary into the black hole. Within this setup, we explored various aspects of this model, including the information recovery from the black hole, the relation to the black hole final state proposal, the relation between the Yoshida-Kitaev protocol and Petz recovery map, the effects of the decoherence, and the quantum simulations of the decoding protocols. These aspects may provide us new insights into the non-perturbative nature of quantum black holes.
This is the second in a series of two articles introducing the Gravitas computational general relativity framework, in which we now focus upon the design and capabilities of Gravitas's numerical subsystem, including its ability to perform general 3+1 decompositions of spacetime via the ADM formalism, its support for the definition and construction of arbitrary Cauchy surfaces as initial data, its support for the definition and enforcement of arbitrary gauge and coordinate conditions, its various algorithms for ensuring the satisfaction of the ADM Hamiltonian and momentum constraints, and its unique adaptive refinement algorithms based on hypergraph rewriting via Wolfram model evolution. Particular attention is paid to the seamless integration between Gravitas's symbolic and numerical subsystems, its ability to configure, run, analyze and visualize complex numerical relativity simulations and their outputs within a single notebook environment, and its capabilities for handling generic curvilinear coordinate systems and spacetimes with general (and often highly non-trivial) topologies using its specialized and highly efficient hypergraph-based numerical algorithms. We also provide illustrations of Gravitas's functionality for the visualization of hypergraph geometries and spacetime embedding diagrams, the ability for Gravitas's symbolic and numerical subsystems to be used in concert for the extraction of gravitational wave signals and other crucial simulation data, and Gravitas's in-built library of standard initial data, matter distributions and gauge conditions. We conclude by demonstrating how the numerical subsystem can be used to set up, run, visualize and analyze a standard yet nevertheless reasonably challenging numerical relativity test case: a binary black hole collision and merger within a vacuum spacetime (including the extraction of its outgoing gravitational wave profile).
A method is introduced which, for the first time, allows us to construct axial vector fields without which formal definitions of quasi-local angular momentum, in general, would remain empty. The introduced method is practical, it can be used to construct all such axial vector fields, and it allows the quasi-local angular momentum to be represented by a triple vector in three-dimensional Euclidean space. We also derive balance relations which allow us to monitor the variation of the magnitude and direction of this vector, and also to monitor the angular momentum transports in generic spacetimes without symmetries.
We construct and parametrize solutions to the constraint equations of general relativity in a neighborhood of Minkowski spacetime with arbitrary prescribed decay properties at infinity. We thus provide a large class of initial data for the results on stability of Minkowski which include a mass term in the asymptotics. Due to the symmetries of Minkowski, a naive linear perturbation fails. Our construction is based on a simplified conformal method, a reduction to transverse traceless perturbations and a nonlinear fixed point argument where we face linear obstructions coming from the cokernels of both the linearized constraint operator and the Laplace operator. To tackle these obstructions, we introduce a well-chosen truncated black hole around which to perturb. The control of the parameters of the truncated black hole is the most technical part of the proof, since its center of mass and angular momentum could be arbitrarily large.
We give detailed exposition of modern differential geometry from global coordinate independent point of view as well as local coordinate description suited for actual computations. In introduction, we consider Euclidean spaces and different structures on it; rotational, Lorentz, and Poincare groups; special relativity. The main body of the manuscript includes manifolds, tensor fields, differential forms, integration, Riemannian and Lorentzian metrics, connection on vector and frame fiber bundles, affine geometry, Lie groups, transformation groups, homotopy and fundamental group, coverings, principal and associated fiber bundles, connections on fiber bundles, Killing vector fields, geodesics and extremals, symplectic and Poisson manifolds, Clifford algebras, principle of least action, canonical formalism for constrained systems. Applications of differential geometry in quantum theory (adiabatic theorem, Berry phase, Aharonov-Bohm effect), general relativity and geometric theory of defects are described. We give introduction to general relativity and its Hamiltonian formulation; describe scalar, spinor, electromagnetic and Yang-Mills fields. Riemannian and Lorentzian surfaces with one Killing vector field are discussed in detail, and their global structure is described using conformal block method. We also classified all global vacuum solutions of the Einstein equations, which have the form of warped product metrics of two surfaces. The manuscript is not a textbook, and intended for efficient reader.
It is usually stated that the information storing region associated with the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy is enclosed by a sphere of diameter equal twice the Schwarzschild radius. We point out that this cannot apply to a quantum black hole. The deviation is particularly revealed when the latter is maximally correlated with its Hawking radiation. Specifically, we demonstrate that the size of the entropy sphere associated with the underlying microstructure has to be necessarily broadened when the fine grained radiation entropy becomes maximal. Such an enlargement is understood to be the consequence of unitarization effects in quantum gravity and aligns with recent findings in holography arguing that purification happens via semiclassically invisible quantum correlations extending across the black hole atmosphere. In the present work, we consider an evaporating black hole in asymptotically flat spacetime. We assume that the standard thermodynamical description is valid so long the black hole viewed from the outside is sufficiently large, radiation escaping into the future null infinity can be described on a smooth spacetime background, and the von Neumann entropy of Hawking radiation evolves unitarily. We briefly comment on the black hole singularity.
In this paper we provide the DeWitt propagator and its wave function in quantum cosmology using the path integral formulation of quantum gravity. The DeWitt boundary condition is introduced as a way to avoid the Big Bang singularity by positing that the wave function of the universe vanishes near the Big Bang. However, there is currently no clear definition of the DeWitt boundary condition in the path integral formulation. To address this issue, we use the image method, which eliminates singular paths in the forbidden region of the infinite potential, and apply this method to quantum cosmology based on the Batalin-Fradkin-Vilkovisky formulation of the path integral. We investigate the validity of the image method, and in particular, find that this method is only appropriate when the potential has symmetry with respect to the boundary. We then show that the DeWitt propagator and the DeWitt wave function derived from the image method are consistent with solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for certain models of quantum cosmology.
We argue that the celestial conformal field theory exhibits patterns of a logarithmic conformal field theory. We uncover a Jordan block structure involving the celestial stress tensor and its logarithmic partner, a composite operator built from the stress tensor and the Liouville field. Using a limiting process whose parameter corresponds to the infrared cut-off of gravity, we perform some basic consistency checks, particularly the calculation of two-point correlators, which reveals the expected logarithmic behavior. We comment on the vanishing value of the central charge in the celestial conformal field theory and explain how the logarithmic partner is relevant for its well-behavedness.
We study the inflationary scenario in the Tsallis entropy-based cosmology. The Friedmann equations in this setup can be derived by using the first law of thermodynamics. To derive the relations of the power spectra of the scalar and tensor perturbations in this setup, we reconstruct an $f(R)$ gravity model which is thermodynamically equivalent to our model in the slow-roll approximation. In this way, we find the inflationary observables, including the scalar spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio in our scenario. Then, we investigate two different potentials in our scenario, including the quadratic potential and the potential associated with the natural inflation in which the inflaton is an axion or a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson. We examine their observational viability in light of the Planck 2018 CMB data. We show that although the results of these potentials are in tension with the observations in the standard inflationary setting, their consistency with the observations can be significantly improved within the setup of the Tsallis entropy-based inflation. Moreover, we place constraints on the parameters of the considered inflationary models by using the current observational data.
We revisit the classic problem of gravitational wave emission by a test particle plunging into a Schwarzschild black hole both in the frequency-domain Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli formalism and in the semirelativistic approximation. We use, and generalize, a transformation due to Nakamura, Sasaki, and Shibata to improve the falloff of the source term of the Zerilli function. The faster decay improves the numerical convergence of quantities of interest, such as the energy radiated at spatial infinity through gravitational waves. As a test of the method, we study the gravitational radiation produced by test particles that plunge into the black hole with impact parameters close to the threshold for scattering. We recover and expand upon previous results that were obtained using the Sasaki-Nakamura equation. In particular, we study the relative contributions to the total energy radiated due to waves of axial and polar parity, and uncover an universal behavior in the waveforms at late times. We complement our study with a semirelativistic analysis of the problem, and we compare the two approaches. The generalized Nakamura-Sasaki-Shibata transformation presented here is a simple and practical alternative for the analysis of gravitational-wave emission by unbound orbits in the Schwarzschild spacetime using the frequency-domain Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli formalism.
We present new action principles for unimodular gravity, defined in the chiral Pleba\'{n}ski formulation based on (complex) two-forms and a complex ${\rm SO}(3)$ connection. In these theories, just as in their analogues in the metric formulation, the cosmological constant does not take a prescribed value but is an integration constant whose value can differ between different (classical) solutions. We discuss some subtleties when identifying Lorentzian solutions in the generally complex theory, and show how these theories can be reduced to a ``pure connection'' form similar to Krasnov's pure connection formalism for general relativity.
We show that the boundary of a projectively compact Einstein manifold of dimension $n$ can be extended by a line bundle naturally constructed from the projective compactification. This extended boundary is such that its automorphisms can be identified with asymptotic symmetries of the compactification. The construction is motivated by the investigation of a new curved orbit decomposition for a $n+1$ dimensional manifold which we prove results in a line bundle over a projectively compact order one Einstein manifolds.
The Euclidean path integral is compared to the thermal (canonical) partition function in curved static space-times. It is shown that if spatial sections are non-compact and there is no Killing horizon, the logarithms of these two quantities differ only by a term proportional to the inverse temperature, that arises from the vacuum energy. When spatial sections are bordered by Killing horizons the Euclidean path integral is not equal to the thermal partition function. It is shown that the expression for the Euclidean path integral depends on which integral is taken first: over coordinates or over momenta. In the first case the Euclidean path integral depends on the scattering phase shift of the mode and it is UV diverge. In the second case it is the total derivative and diverge on the horizon. Furthermore we demonstrate that there are three different definitions of the energy, and the derivative with respect to the inverse temperature of the Euclidean path integral does not give the value of any of these three types of energy. We also propose the new method of computation of the Euclidean path integral that gives the correct equality between the Euclidean path integral and thermal partition function for non-compact spaces with and without Killing horizon.
In this paper, we study rotating horizon less black shells as an alternative to Kerr black holes. We make use of Ernst's potential to solve the Einstein equations perturbatively in the angular momentum $a$. Calculating to order $a^6$, we find accurate predictions up to about $a=0.45$, where the quadrupole moment is predicted to be around $1\%$ higher than its Kerr value; higher multipole moments show deviation of the order of $\sim 10\%$. Our analysis takes into account deformations of the black shells, and we propose that it can be used for numerical simulations comparing gravitational waves emitted by orbiting black shells with those emitted by orbiting black holes. In our analysis, we make extensive use of relativistic hydrodynamics, and discover an intricate structure of circulating flows of fluid and heat on the black shell, sustained by the Unruh effect.
In this paper, we examine the universe's expansion in $ f(R, L_{m}) $ gravity for a particular form of $ f(R, L_{m})=\frac{R}{2}+L_{m}^{n}$. The field equations for flat FLRW metric with matter Lagrangian $ L_{m}=\rho$ are derive. We derive Hubble parameter in terms of red-shift$(z)$ using the linear form of Equation of State (EoS) parameter $ \omega=w_{0}+w_{1}z $. By use of $ \chi^{2}$-minimization technique and $H(z)$ datasets with $ 31 $ points, we have obtained the best fit values of the free parameters of this model. The evolution of the equation of state parameter$(\omega)$, energy density $ (\rho) $, pressure $\mathit{(p)}$ cosmographic parameters, and the impact of the energy conditions are all thoroughly examined based on the best-fit values of the model parameters. We have also analyze Om diagnostic's behavior and observe that the behavior of our model is quintessence. We have observed a transition red-shift at $ z_{t}=0.736. $ We have obtain the present age of universe $t_{0}=12.48$ Gyr for this model.
The effective low temperature dynamics of near-extremal black holes is governed by the quantum fluctuations of the Schwarzian mode of JT gravity. Utilizing as a proxy a planar charged black hole in asymptotically Anti-de-Sitter spacetime, we investigate the effects of these fluctuations on a probe scalar field. The corresponding holographic real-time boundary correlators are computed following a holographic renormalization procedure, using the dubbed gravitational Schwinger-Keldysh geometry (grSK) and known exact results of boundary correlators from the near-horizon region. This analysis gives rise to a retarded Green's function that decays as a power law for late Lorentzian times. Its analytic structure indicates the presence of a branch cut in the complex frequency domain at finite temperature. These features are a non-perturbative hallmark that prevails as long as the planar transverse space is kept compact.
In this paper, the properties of higher dimensional holographic superconductors are studied in the background of $f(R)$ gravity and Born-Infeld electrodynamics. A specific model of $f(R)$ gravity is considered, allowing a perturbative approach to the problem. The Sturm-Liouville eigenvalue problem is used to analytically calculate the critical temperature and the condensation operator. An expression for the critical temperature in terms of the charge density including the correction from modified gravity is derived. It is seen that the higher values of the Born-Infeld coupling parameter make the condensation harder to form. In addition, the limiting values of this parameter, above which Born-Infeld electrodynamics cannot be applied, are found for different dimensions. Another interesting property is that the increasing modifications of $f(R)$ gravity lead to larger values of the critical temperature and a decrease in the condensation gap, which means that the condensation is easier to form.
We investigate the Casimir effect of a rough membrane within the framework of the Horava-Lifshitz theory in 2+1 dimensions. Quantum fluctuations are induced by an anisotropic scalar field subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions. We implement a coordinate transformation to render the membrane completely flat, treating the remaining terms associated with roughness as a potential. The spectrum is obtained through perturbation theory and regularized using the $\zeta$--function method. We present an explicit example of a membrane with periodic border. Additionally, we consider the effect of temperature. Our findings reveal that the Casimir energy and force depend on roughness, the anisotropic scaling factor and temperature.
The Friedmann equations of Cotton gravity provide a simple parametrization to reproduce, by tuning a single function, the Friedmann equations of several extensions of gravity, such as f(R), modified Gauss-Bonnet f(G), teleparallel f(T), and more. It also includes the recently proposed Conformal Killing gravity and Mimetic gravity in FRW space-times. The extensions generally have the form of a Codazzi tensor that may be associated to the dark sector. Fixing it by a suitable equation of state accomodates most of the postulated models that extend $\Lambda$CDM, as the Chevallier-Polarski-Lindler model.
Pseudospectral analyses have broadened our understanding of ringdown waveforms from binary remnants, by providing insight into both the stability of their characteristic frequencies under environmental perturbations, as well as the underlying transient and non-modal phenomenology that a mode analysis may miss. In this work we present the pseudospectrum of scalar perturbations on spherically-symmetric black holes in de Sitter spacetimes. We expand upon previous analyses in this setting by calculating the pseudospectrum of Reissner-Nordstr\"om-de Sitter black holes, and revisit results regarding the stability of quasinormal modes under perturbations in several cases. Of particular note is the case of scalar quasinormal modes with angular parameter $\ell=0$, which possess a zero mode related to the presence of a cosmological horizon. We show that the non-trivial eigenfunction associated to this mode has a vanishing energy norm which poses a challenge in quantifying the magnitude of external perturbations to the wave equation's potential, as well as in calculating the pseudospectrum. Nonetheless, we present results which suggest that the spectral instability manifestation of $\ell=0$ scalar quasinormal modes is qualitatively the same as in other cases, in contrast to recent claims. We also analyze the stability of the fundamental mode for $\ell\ge1$, finding it to be spectrally stable, except for certain configurations in which a perturbation leads to a discontinuous overtaking of the fundamental unperturbed purely-imaginary mode by a perturbed complex quasinormal mode.
This study revisits supersymmetric (SUSY) hybrid inflation in light of CMB experiments and swampland conjectures. We first show that if one adds radiative, soft mass, and SUGRA corrections to the scalar potential, supersymmetric hybrid inflation is still consistent with Planck 2018 despite an impression that it does not. Usually, in SUSY hybrid inflation with minimal K\"ahler potential, the gauge symmetry breaking scale $M$ turns out to be ${\cal O}(10^{15})$ GeV, which causes proton decay rate problem. In this study, we present a new parameter space where the proton decay rate problem can be avoided by achieving $M$ of the order of $10^{16}$ GeV with $M_{S}^{2}<$0 and $am_{3/2}>$0. In this scenario, one requires a soft SUSY breaking scale $|M_{S}| \gtrsim 10^{6}$ GeV. Moreover, the tensor to scalar ratio $r$ is in the range $10^{-16}$ to $10^{-6}$, which is quite small. In this case, modified swampland hold, but it is difficult to satisfy trans-Planckian censorship conjecture. For this reason, we also consider non-minimal K\"ahler potential. We fixed spectral index $n_{S}=$0.9665 (central value) of Planck 2018 data and $M=2\times 10^{16}$ GeV and present our calculations. We show the canonical measure of primordial gravity waves $r$ for $M_{S}=$ 1 TeV, $m_{3/2}=$ 1 TeV, $\kappa_{S}<0$ for $\cal{N}=$1 and $\cal{N}=$2, ranges from $10^{-5}$ to $0.01$ which can be observed in Planck and next-generation experiments such as LiteBIRD, Simons Observatory, PRISM, PIXIE,CORE, CMB-S4 and CMB-HD experiments that are gearing up to measure it. In addition to it, we present the parametric space and benchmark points for a non-minimal case which is consistent with modified swampland and trans-Planckian censorship conjectures.
Starting from parametrization of scalar perturbations generated during inflation in terms of $e$--fold $N$ and using an approach recently developed by Starobinsky, dubbed "direct smooth reconstruction", we show that, in the slow--roll approximation, it is possible to reconstruct the inflation potential in the Einstein frame and its corresponding Lagrangian $f(R)$ model
We develop a purely quantum theory based on the novel principle of relativity, termed the quantum principle of relativity, without introducing general relativity. We demonstrate that the essence of the principle of relativity can be naturally extended into the quantum realm, maintaining the identical structures of active and passive transformations. By employing this principle, we show that gravitational effects are naturally incorporated into the renormalizable theory, with general relativity emerging in large distances. We derive graviton propagators and provide several examples grounded in this novel theory.
In this paper, we study asymptotic symmetries and algebraically special exact solutions in the Newman-Penrose formalism. Removing the hypersurface orthogonal condition in the well studied Newman-Unti gauge, we obtain a generic asymptotic solution space which includes all possible origins of propagating degree of freedom. The asymptotic symmetry of the generalized system extends the Weyl-BMS symmetry by two independent local Lorentz transformations with non-trivial boundary charges, which reveals new boundary degrees of freedom. The generalized Newman-Unti gauge includes algebraically special condition in its most convenient form. Remarkably, the generic solutions satisfying the algebraically special condition truncate in the inverse power of radial expansions and the non-radial Newman-Penrose equations are explicitly solved at any order. Hence, we provide the most general algebraically special solution space and the derivation is self-contained in the Newman-Penrose formalism. The asymptotic symmetry with respect to the algebraically special condition is the standard Weyl-BMS symmetry and the symmetry parameters consist only the integration constant order. We present the Kerr solution and Taub-NUT solution in the generalized Newman-Unti gauge in a simple form.
We propose a novel baryogenesis scenario where the baryon asymmetry originates directly from a hierarchy between two fundamental mass scales: the electroweak scale and the Planck scale. Our model is based on the neutrino-portal Affleck-Dine (AD) mechanism, which generates the asymmetry of the AD sector during the radiation-dominated era and subsequently transfers it to the baryon number before the electroweak phase transition. The observed baryon asymmetry is then a natural outcome of this scenario. The model is testable as it predicts the existence of a Majoron with a keV mass and an electroweak scale decay constant. The impact of the relic Majoron on $\Delta N_{\rm eff}$ can be measured through near-future CMB observations.
The purpose of this letter is to point out that some conclusions in the paper (Eur. Phys. J. C {\bf 76}, 324(2016)) are incomplete, and to give complete and improved conclusions. The analytic necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the boundedness-from-below conditions of general scalar potentials of two real scalar fields $\phi_1$ and $\phi_2$ and the Higgs bonson $\mathbf{H}$.
The effect of the lepton's mass is significantly enhanced when the beam's energy is on the order of the lepton's mass. In the case of electrons, this corresponds to beam momenta on the order of a few MeV and is negligible in higher energy experiments. In this study, we calculate the differential cross section $d\sigma/ d\Omega$ for the helicity-flip meson exchange interference in elastic muon-proton $(\mu p)$ scattering $\mu^- p \rightarrow \mu^- p$. In particular, we examine the $\pi^0$ meson exchange in the $t$-channel for a longitudinally polarized beam and a transversely polarized target. We demonstrate the contribution to be larger for muons due to the lepton mass difference. Then we construct the corresponding beam-target double-spin asymmetries for the target polarized normal and parallel to the momentum transfer in the Breit frame, and then consider the model dependence of the calculation from the estimation of the $\pi^0 \mu \mu$ vertex. The contribution was found to be on the order of $\sim .15\%$ for muons in the kinematic region of the MUSE experiment.
We consider the propagation of photons in the background of a Bose-Einstein (BE) condensate of a charged scalar field, by extending a method recently proposed to treat the propagation of fermions in a BE condensate. We determine the dispersion relations of the collective modes of the system, as well as the photon polarization tensor and the dielectric constant that result after the symmetry breaking associated with the BE condensation in the model. Two modes correspond to the transverse photon polarizations, and their dispersion relations have the usual form of the transverse photons in a plasma. The other two modes, which we denote as the $(\pm)$ modes, are combinations of the longitudinal photon and the massive scalar field. The dispersion relation of the $(-)$ mode decreases as a function of the momentum in a given range, and the corresponding group velocity is negative in that range. We also determine the wavefunctions of the $(\pm)$ modes, which can be used to obtain the corrections to the dispersion relations (e.g., imaginary parts due the damping effects) and/or the effects of scattering, due to the interactions with the excitations of the system. The results can be useful in various physical contexts that have been considered in the literature involving the electrodynamics of a charged scalar BE condensate.
The proton spin puzzle has inspired a vast programme of experiments and theoretical work challenging our understanding of QCD and its role in the structure of hadrons.The proton's internal spin structure is connected to chiral symmetry and, through gluon degrees of freedom in the flavour singlet channel, to the physics of the $\eta'$ meson. Why do quarks contribute just about one third of the proton's spin? Why are $\eta'$ mesons and their interactions so sensitive to gluonic degrees of freedom? We review the status of these topics and some key observables for forthcoming experiments.
We study the $U(1)_A$ anomaly at high temperatures of $N_f=2+1$ lattice QCD with chiral fermions. Gauge ensembles are generated with M\"obius domain-wall (MDW) fermions, and the measurements are reweighted to those with overlap fermions. We report on the results for the Dirac spectra, the $U(1)_A$ susceptibility, and the topological susceptibility in the temperature range of $T=136$, $153$, $175$, and $204$ MeV, where the up and down quark masses are set to be near the physical point as well as at lighter or heavier masses.
We introduce the novel approach of using the superscaling variable as an observable and an analysis tool in the context of charged current neutrino-nucleus interactions. We study the relation between the superscaling variable and the removal energy, in addition to other fundamental parameters of the neutrino-nucleus interaction models. In the second half of the paper, we discuss the experimental viability of this measurement following a study of neutrino energy and missing momentum reconstruction. We show that the superscaling variable is measurable in neutrino interaction experiments provided that the proton is detected in the final state. We discuss the resolution of this measurement, and the limitation imposed by the proton's detection threshold.
We study pseudoscalar $\pi$, $K$ and $\eta$ meson properties, such as masses and couplings, in dense matter at zero temperature. We use a recently proposed phenomenological quark model, known as the PNJL0, which takes into account the confinement/deconfinement phase transition by means of the traced Polyakov loop ($\Phi$) which serves as an order parameter at zero temperature. We consider two different scenarios, namely, symmetric quark matter with equal chemical potentials for all the flavors, and the beta equilibrated matter. In the latter case the hadron-quark phase transition is implemented by a two model approach. For the hadron side we use a relativistic mean-field model with density dependent couplings. We show that $\Phi$ induces abrupt changes in the mesons properties with gap sizes regulated by the phenomenological gluonic sector of the model.
We studied the decays of Heavy baryon into a pseudoscalar meson and a dark baryon in the recently developed $B$-Mesogenesis scenario, where the two types of effective Lagrangians proposed by the scenario are both considered. The decay amplitudes of $\Lambda_b^0$ are calculated by light-cone sum rules using its light-cone distribution amplitudes. The decay amplitudes of $\Xi_b^{0,\pm}$ are related with those of $\Lambda_b^0$ through a flavor SU(3) analysis. The uncertainties of threshold parameter and the Borel parameter are both considered in the numerical calculation. The values of effective coupling constants in the $B$-Mesogenesis are taken as their upper limits that obtained from our previous study on the inclusive decay. The upper limits of the decay branching fractions are presented as functions of the dark baryon mass.
The $P$-wave charmonium electromagnetic Dalitz decays $h_{c}\rightarrow\eta^{(\prime)}\ell^{+}\ell^{-}$ $(\ell=e, \mu)$ with large recoil momentum are investigated in the framework of perturbative QCD, and the soft contributions from the small recoil momentum region are described by the overlap of soft wave functions. The transition form factors $f_{h_{c}\eta^{(\prime)}}(q^{2})$ and the normalized transition form factors $F_{h_{c} \eta^{(\prime)}}(q^{2})$ in full kinematic region are derived for the first time. It is noticed that there are no extra IR divergences at the one-loop level and the tree level, and the transition form factors in which the relativistic corrections from the internal momentum of $h_{c}$ are taken into account are insensitive to both the shapes of $\eta^{(\prime)}$ distribution amplitudes and the invariant mass of the lepton pair in the large recoil momentum region. Furthermore, we find that the contributions from the soft mechanism and those from hard mechanism are comparable with each other in the branching ratios $\mathcal{B}(h_{c}\rightarrow\eta^{(\prime)}\ell^{+}\ell^{-})$. By employing the obtained $F_{h_{c} \eta^{(\prime)}}(q^{2})$, we give the predictions of the branching ratios $\mathcal{B}(h_{c}\rightarrow\eta^{(\prime)}\ell^{+}\ell^{-})$, which may come within the range of measurement of present or near-future experiments.
This study focuses on the interaction of the pseudoscalar meson octet and the baryon decuplet. In the continuum, it is observed that several $J^{P}=\frac32^-$ baryon resonances can be produced by the Weinberg-Tomozawa interaction in unitarized chiral perturbation theory, including the $N(1875)$, $\Sigma(1670)$, $\Sigma(1910)$, $\Xi(1820)$ and $\Omega(2012)$. Among them, the $\Xi(1820)$ and $\Sigma(1670)$ may exhibit a potential two-pole structures. The unitarized chiral perturbation approach is then applied as the underlying theory to predict the energy levels of these systems in a finite volume. These energy levels are well described by the $K$-matrix parameterization constrained by flavor SU(3) symmetry. With the parameters from the best fits, the poles extracted from the $K$-matrix parameterization closely correspond to those derived from the underlying chiral effective field theory, as long as they are close to physical region and not significantly higher than the lowest relevant threshold.
The ultralight dark matter (ULDM) such as axion or wavelike scalar plays as a plausible DM candidate. Recently, the possible non-standard ULDM couplings draw much attention. In this work we investigate the detection of electromagnetic couplings in a few benchmark models of ULDM. For illustration, we consider the generic axion electrodynamics including CP violating coupling as well as the newly proposed axion electromagnetodynamics. The superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavity with two-mode has more advantages than the traditional cavity approach with static background field. We utilize the two-mode SRF cavity to probe the generic couplings of ULDM with frequency lower than GHz. The choices of the transverse electromagnetic modes are explicitly specified for the detection. We show the sensitivity of the SRF cavity to the axion couplings in the above frameworks.
The study of di-Higgs events, both resonant and non-resonant, plays a crucial role in understanding the fundamental interactions of the Higgs boson. In this work we consider di-Higgs events decaying into four $b$-quarks and propose to improve the experimental sensitivity by utilizing a novel machine learning algorithm known as Symmetry Preserving Attention Network (\textsc{Spa-Net}) -- a neural network structure whose architecture is designed to incorporate the inherent symmetries in particle reconstruction tasks. We demonstrate that the \textsc{Spa-Net} can enhance the experimental reach over baseline methods such as the cut-based and the Deep Neural Networks (DNN)-based analyses. At the Large Hadron Collider, with a 14-TeV centre-of-mass energy and an integrated luminosity of 300 fb$^{-1}$, the \textsc{Spa-Net} allows us to establish 95\% C.L. upper limits in resonant production cross-sections that are 10\% to 45\% stronger than baseline methods. For non-resonant di-Higgs production, \textsc{Spa-Net} enables us to constrain the self-coupling that is 9\% more stringent than the baseline method.
In this manuscript, we illustrate how to use the newly proposed $\tau$ re-clustering algorithm to select jets with different degrees of quenching without biasing their initial transverse momentum spectrum. Our study is based on Z+jet simulated events using the JEWEL Monte Carlo event generator to account for jet quenching effects. We apply the $\tau$ re-clustering algorithm to extract a proxy for a time axis (formation time) within the evolving medium. This information allows us to label jets according to their fragmentation pattern and select populations with enhanced sensitivity to quenching effects. Our results illustrate the potential of jets as precision tools for QGP tomography. Further, we show that the discussed method minimizes the biases stemming from $p_{T}$-, $dR$- or mass-based jet selection.
We present a first practical implementation of a recently proposed hadron structure oriented (HSO) approach to TMD phenomenology applied to Drell-Yan like processes, including lepton pair production at moderate $Q^2$ and $Z^0$ boson production. We compare and contrast general features of our methodology with other common practices and emphasize the improvements derived from our approach that we view as essential for applications where extracting details of nonperturbative transverse hadron structure is a major goal. These include the HSO's preservation of a basic TMD parton-model-like framework even while accounting for full TMD factorization and evolution, explicit preservation of the integral relationship between TMD and collinear pdfs, and the ability to meaningfully compare different theoretical models of nonperturbative TMD parton distributions. In our examples, we show that there is significant sensitivity at moderate $Q^2$ to both the form of the nonperturbative transverse momentum dependence and the parametrization of collinear parton densities. However, we also find that evolving to $Q^2 = M_Z^2$, without fitting, results in a satisfactory postdiction of existing data for $Z^0$ production, nearly independently of the modeling of nonperturbative transverse momentum behavior. We argue that this demonstrates that moderate $Q$ measurements should be given greater weight than high $Q$ measurements in extractions of nonperturbative transverse momentum dependence. We also obtain new extractions of the nonperturbative Collins-Soper kernel within the HSO approach. We discuss its features and compare with some earlier extractions.
We use open charm production to estimate how far we can see back in time in high-energy hadron-hadron collisions. We analyze the transverse momentum distributions of the identified D mesons from pp, p-Pb and A-A collisions at the ALICE and STAR experiments covering the energy range from $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 200$ GeV up to 7 TeV. Within a non-extensive statistical framework, the common Tsallis parameters for D mesons represent higher temperature and more degrees of freedom than that of light-flavour hadrons. The production of D mesons corresponds to a significantly earlier proper time, $\tau_{\rm D} = (0.18 \pm 0.06) \tau_{\rm LF}$.
The three-particle $K$-matrix, $\mathcal{K}_{\mathrm{df},3}$, is a scheme-dependent quantity that parametrizes short-range three-particle interactions in the relativistic-field-theory three-particle finite-volume formalism. In this work, we compute its value for systems of three pions in all isospin channels through next-to-leading order in Chiral Perturbation Theory, generalizing previous work done at maximum isospin. We obtain analytic expressions through quadratic order (or cubic order, in the case of zero isospin) in the expansion about the three-pion threshold.
Within the framework of (2+1)-flavor QCD at finite temperature and chemical potential, we present results using high statistics data and demonstrate how the phasefactor of low order unbiased exponential resummation offers excellent prediction, proving to be an alternative reliable estimator of the radius of convergence of the eighth order QCD Taylor series at finite baryon density measured using the ratio and the Merci-Roberts estimators. We construct a new non-trivial unbiased phasefactor for complex isospin chemical potentials $\muI$ and highlight its novelty. We find that this new unbiased phasefactor is very much capable of indicating the onset of non-monotonicity in finite $\muI$ thermodynamics, which we illustrate by comparing the phasefactor results with that of low order cumulants of $\muI$ fluctuations for non-vanishing $\muI$. We also furnish results establishing that this unbiased phasefactor is reliable in manifesting the beginning of the overlap problem for finite, real $\muI$. The errorbars increase drastically across the indications provided by the phasefactor which becomes very apparent from the coincidence between the phasefactor and the maximum of the errorbar slopes.
We carry a study of the correlation functions of the $B^0 D^+, B^+ D^0$ system, which develops a bound state by about $40$ MeV, using input consistent with the $T_{cc}(3875)$ state. Then we face the inverse problem of starting from these correlation functions to determine scattering observables related to the system, including the existence of the bound state and its molecular nature. The important output of the approach is the uncertainty by which these observables can be obtained, assuming errors in the $B^0 D^+, B^+ D^0$ correlation functions typical of current ones in present correlation functions. We observe that it is possible to obtain scattering lengths and effective ranges with relative high precision and the existence of a bound state. While the pole position is obtained with errors of the order of $50 \%$ of the binding energy, the molecular probability of the state is obtained with a very small error of the order of $6\%$. All these findings can serve as motivation to perform such measurements in future runs of high energy hadron collisions.
We calculate the neutrino-electron elastic scattering cross section, extending the results previously obtained in arXiv:1702.05721v2, in the presence of generic new interactions that take into account all the effects caused by finite neutrino masses. We address the potential significance of a heavy neutrino sector during precision measurements, particularly for tau neutrinos scattering with masses in the MeV range, for which the existing upper bounds on $|U_{\tau 4}|^2$ would result in conceivably measurable contributions. Finally, we comment on the possibility to distinguish between Dirac and Majorana neutrinos, including the analysis of the new emerging parameters and its application to illustrative model-dependent scenarios.
We consider the 5-mass kite family of self-energy Feynman integrals and present a systematic approach for constructing an epsilon-form basis, along with its differential equation pulled back onto the moduli space of two tori. Each torus is associated with one of the two distinct elliptic curves this family depends on. We demonstrate how the locations of relevant punctures, which are required to parametrize the full image of the kinematic space onto this moduli space, can be extracted from integrals over maximal cuts. A boundary value is provided such that the differential equation is systematically solved in terms of iterated integrals over g-kernels and modular forms. Then, the numerical evaluation of the master integrals is discussed, and important challenges in that regard are emphasized. In an appendix, we introduce new relations between g-kernels.
We perform an updated analysis of long-baseline accelerator data in the framework of neutrino oscillations in presence of invisible neutrino decay. We analyze data from T2K, NOvA and MINOS/MINOS+ and show that the combined analysis of all experiments improves the previous bound from long-baseline data by approximately one order of magnitude.
We review radiative corrections to tau decays into two mesons discussing their impact in new physics searches.
In this article, we present a detailed study of the masses of all gauge bosons, as well as explaing recent experimental data regarding the $W$-boson mass presented by the CDF collaboration and even possible changes that these data can bring to experimental measurements of the masses of $Z$-boson mass in the context of the Minimal Supersymmetric $SU(3)_{C}\otimes SU(3)_{L}\otimes U(1)_{N}$ Model. We also intend to show a phenomenological analysis of possible mixtures of gauge bosons in this model. We will show that our numerical predictions for the masses of the physical gauge bosons are within the current experimental limits.
We report the transverse momentum $p_T$ spectra of identified hadrons ($\pi^\pm$, $K^\pm$ and $p(\bar p)$) in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7 - 39 GeV from A Multi Phase Transport Model with string melting effect (AMPT-SM). During this study, a new set of parameters are explored to study the effect of hadronic cascade by varying hadronic cascade time $t_{max}$ = 30 $f$m/$c$ and 0.4 $f$m/$c$. No significant effect of this change is observed in the $p_T$ spectra of light hadrons and the AMPT-SM model reasonably reproduces the experimental data. To investigate the kinetic freeze-out properties the blast wave fit is performed to the $p_T$ spectra and it is found that the blast wave model describes the AMPT-SM simulations well. We additionally observe that the kinetic freeze-out temperature ($T_{kin}$) increases from central to peripheral collisions, which is consistent with the argument of short-lived fireball in peripheral collisions. Whereas the transverse flow velocity, $<\beta_T>$ shows a decreasing trend from central to peripheral collisions indicating a more rapid expansion in the central collisions. Both, $T_{kin}$ and $<\beta_T>$ show a weak dependence on the collision energy at most energies. We also observe a strong anti-correlation between $T_{kin}$ and $<\beta_T>$. The extracted freeze-out parameters from the AMPT-SM simulations agree with the experimental data as opposed to earlier studies that reported some discrepancies. Whereas, no significant effect is found on the freeze-out parameters by varying the $t_{max}$. We also report the $p_T$ spectra of light hadrons and their freeze-out parameters by AMPT-SM simulations at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 14.5 GeV, where no experimental data is available for comparison. Overall, the set of parameters used in this study well describes the experimental data at BES energies.
We introduce ALPACA, a Lorentz invariant parton cascade encoding the AMY effective kinetic theory of QCD at high temperatures. It solves the Boltzmann equation by explicitly simulating the evolution of parton ensembles corresponding to single events. We discuss how the effective masses and temperature entering the elastic collision and splitting/merging rates can be estimated from just a single event. We perform an extensive validation of the framework by showing that it reproduces the expected behaviour in thermal equilibrium.
The exquisite capabilities of liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers make them ideal to search for weakly interacting particles in Beyond the Standard Model scenarios. Given their location at CERN the ProtoDUNE detectors may be exposed to a flux of such particles, produced in the collisions of 400 GeV protons (extracted from the Super Proton Synchrotron accelerator) on a target. Here we point out the interesting possibilities that such a setup offers to search for both long-lived unstable particles (Heavy Neutral Leptons, axion-like particles, etc) and stable particles (e.g. light dark matter, or millicharged particles). Our results show that, under conservative assumptions regarding the expected luminosity, this setup has the potential to improve over present bounds for some of the scenarios considered. This could be done within a short timescale, using facilities that are already in place at CERN, and without interfering with the experimental program in the North Area.
Quantum sensing is a rapidly growing approach to probe fundamental physics and explore new phase space for possible new physics with precision and highly sensitive measurements in our quest to understand the deep structure of matter and its interactions. This field uses properties of quantum mechanics in the detectors to go beyond traditional measurement techniques. Key particle physics topics where quantum sensing can play a vital role include neutrino properties, tests of fundamental symmetries (Lorentz invariance and the equivalence principle as well as searches for electric dipole moments and possible variations in fundamental constants), the search for dark matter and testing ideas about the nature of dark energy. Interesting new sensor technologies include atom interferometry, optomechanical devices, and atomic and nuclear clocks including with entanglement. This Perspective explores the opportunities for these technologies in future particle physics experiments, opening new windows on the structure of the Universe.
An approach is proposed to link the charge symmetry breaking (CSB) nuclear interaction and the low-energy constants in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) by matching the CSB effect in nuclear matter. The resulting CSB interaction is applied to study the Okamoto-Nolen-Schiffer anomaly, still lacking a satisfactory microscopic understanding, on the energy differences of mirror nuclei by taking $ {}^{17} \mathrm{F} $-$ {}^{17} \mathrm{O} $, $ {}^{15} \mathrm{O} $-$ {}^{15} \mathrm{N} $, $ {}^{41} \mathrm{Sc} $-$ {}^{41} \mathrm{Ca} $, and $ {}^{39} \mathrm{Ca} $-$ {}^{39} \mathrm{K} $ as typical examples. The magnitude and sign of the QCD-based CSB interactions are found to resolve the anomaly successfully within theoretical uncertainties.
We compute for the first time the $\tau$ data-driven Euclidean windows for the hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to the muon $g-2$. We show that $\tau$-based results agree with the available lattice window evaluations and with the full result. On the intermediate window, where all lattice evaluations are rather precise and agree, $\tau$-based results are compatible with them. This is particularly interesting, given that the disagreement of the $e^+e^-$ data-driven result with the lattice values in this window is the main cause for their discrepancy, affecting the interpretation of the $a_\mu$ measurement in terms of possible new physics.
In this paper, we employ gauge/gravity duality to investigate the string breaking and melting of doubly-heavy tetraquark that includes two heavy quarks and two light antiquarks in a holographic model at finite temperature. Firstly, we investigate four configurations of $\rm{QQ\bar{q}\bar{q}}$ in the confined phase and consider different separation distances of the heavy quarks at varying temperatures. At high temperature, $\rm{QQ\bar{q}\bar{q}}$ melts at certain distances and the confined quarks are released. As the temperature continues to increase, some configurations of doubly-heavy tetraquark can not exist. Furthermore, we investigate three decay modes of $\rm{QQ\bar{q}\bar{q}}$ and compare the potential energy of $\rm{QQ\bar{q}\bar{q}}$ with that of $\rm{QQq}$ at finite temperature .
Long-lived particles (LLPs) arise in many theories beyond the Standard Model. These may be copiously produced from meson decays (or through their mixing with the LLP) at neutrino facilities and leave a visible decay signal in nearby neutrino detectors. We compute the expected sensitivity of the DUNE liquid argon (LAr) and gaseous argon (GAr) near detectors (ND) to light LLP decays. In doing so, we determine the expected backgrounds for both detectors, which have been largely overlooked in the literature, taking into account their angular and energy resolution. We show that searches for LLP decays into muon pairs, or into three pions, would be extremely clean. Conversely, decays into two photons would be affected by large backgrounds from neutrino interactions for both near detectors; finally, the reduced signal efficiency for $e^+ e^-$ pairs leads to a reduced sensitivity for ND-LAr. Our results are first presented in a model-independent way, as a function of the mass of the new state and its lifetime. We also provide detailed calculations for several phenomenological models with axion-like particles (coupled to gluons, to electroweak bosons, or to quark currents). Some of our results may also be of interest for other neutrino facilities using a similar detector technology (e.g. MicroBooNE, SBND, ICARUS, or the T2K Near Detector).
Scenarios with new physics particles feebly interacting with the Standard Model sector provide compelling candidates for dark matter searches. Geared with a set of new experiments for the detection of neutrinos and long-lived particles the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has joined the hunt for these elusive states. On the theoretical side, this emerging physics program requires reliable estimates of the associated particle fluxes, in particular those arising from heavy hadron decays. In this work, we provide state-of-the-art QCD predictions for heavy hadron production including radiative corrections at next-to-leading order and small-$x$ resummation at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. We match our predictions to parton showers to provide a realistic description of hadronisation effects. We demonstrate the utility of our predictions by presenting the energy spectrum of neutrinos from charm hadron decays. Furthermore, we employ our predictions to estimate, for the first time, FASER's sensitivity to electrophilic ALPs, which are predominantly generated in beauty hadron decays.
We discuss a scenario in which the supergravity induced soft terms, conventionally used for breaking supersymmetry, also lead to non-zero Majorana neutrino masses. The soft terms lead to the spontaneous violation of the lepton number at the gravitino mass scale $m_{3/2}$ which in turn leads to (i) the Majorana masses of ${\cal O} (m_{3/2})$ for the right-handed neutrinos and (ii) the $R$-parity breaking at the same scale. The former contributes to light neutrino masses through the type I seesaw mechanism, while the latter adds to it through neutrino-neutralino mixing. Both contributions can scale inversely with respect to $m_{3/2}$ given that gaugino and Higgsino masses are also of order $m_{3/2}$. Together, these two contributions adequately explain observed neutrino masses and mixing. One realization of the scenario also naturally leads to a $\mu$ parameter of ${\cal O} (m_{3/2})$. Despite the lepton number symmetry breaking close to the weak scale, the Majoron in the model exhibits very weak coupling to leptons, satisfying existing constraints on Majoron-lepton interactions. The right-handed neutrinos in the model have a large coupling to Higgsinos. This coupling and the relatively large heavy-light neutrino mixing induced through the seesaw mechanism may lead to the observable signals at colliders in terms of displaced vertices.
We present a review of the conceptual basis, present knowledge and recent progress in the field of global analysis of nuclear parton distribution functions (PDFs). After introducing the theoretical foundations and methodological approaches for the extraction of nuclear PDFs from experimental data, we discuss how different measurements in fixed-target and collider experiments provide increasingly precise constraints on various aspects of nuclear PDFs, including shadowing, antishadowing, the EMC effect, Fermi motion, flavor separation, deuteron binding, target-mass and other higher-twist effects. Particular emphasis is given to measurements carried out in proton-lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, which have revolutionized the global analysis during the past decade. These measurements include electroweak-boson, jet, light-hadron, and heavy-flavor observables. Finally, we outline the expected impact of the future Electron Ion Collider and discuss the role and interplay of nuclear PDFs with other branches of nuclear, particle and astroparticle physics.
We consider the contribution of the Odderon to diffractive $pp$ and $p\bar p$ elastic scattering at large center of mass energy. We identify the Odderon and Pomeron with the Reggeized $1^{\pm-}$ and $2^{++}$ glueballs in the bulk, respectively. We use for the gravity dual description the repulsive wall model, to account for the proper Gribov diffusion for off-forward scattering. The eikonalized and unitarized amplitudes exhibit a vanishingly small rho-parameter, and a slope parameter fixed by twice the closed string slope. The results for the differential and total cross sections are compared to the empirical results reported recently by the TOTEM collaboration.
We find exact solution in the Cahn eikonal model, which describes Coulomb-nuclear interference in elastic scattering of charged hadrons. The cases of both point-like and extended particles equipped with electromagnetic form factors are considered. According to the solution obtained the Coulomb-nuclear contributions are not exponentiated and cannot be added to the Coulomb phase. At the same time, the $O(\alpha)$-approximation of the amplitude is ambiguous, which makes it unsuitable for data processing.
The Gribov-Zwanziger prescription applied within Yang-Mills theory is demonstrated to be an efficient method for refining the theory's infrared dynamics. We study the collisional energy loss experienced by a high-energetic test parton as it traverses through the Grivov plasma at finite temperature. To achieve this, we employ a semi-classical approach that considers the parton's energy loss while accounting for the back-reaction induced by the polarization effects due to its motion in the medium. The polarization tensor of the medium is estimated within a non-perturbative resummation considering the Gribov-Zwanziger approach. The modification of the gluon and ghost loops due to the presence of the Gribov parameter plays a vital role in our estimation. We observe that the non-perturbative interactions have a sizable effect on the parton energy loss. Further, we discuss the implications of our findings in the context of relativistic heavy-ion collisions.
Long-lived particles (LLPs) provide an unambiguous signal for physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). They have a distinct detector signature, with decay lengths corresponding to lifetimes of around nanoseconds or longer. Lepton colliders allow LLP searches to be conducted in a clean environment, and such searches can reach their full physics potential when combined with machine learning (ML) techniques. In the case of LLPs searches from Higgs decay in $e^+e^-\to ZH$, we show that the LLP signal efficiency can be improved up to 99% with an LLP mass around 50 GeV and a lifetime of approximately $1$ nanosecond, using deep neural network based approaches. The signal sensitivity for the branching ratio of Higgs decaying into LLPs reaches $1.2 \times 10^{-6}$ with a statistics of $4 \times 10^{6}$ Higgs.
I propose a discrete model for the Gell-Mann matrices, which allows them to participate in discrete symmetries of three generations of four types of elementary fermions, in addition to their usual role in describing a continuous group $SU(3)$ of colour symmetries. This model sheds new light on the mathematical (rather than physical) necessity for `mixing' between the various gauge groups $SU(3)$, $SU(2)$ and $U(1)$ of the Standard Model.
In this work we demonstrate that significant gains in performance and data efficiency can be achieved in High Energy Physics (HEP) by moving beyond the standard paradigm of sequential optimization or reconstruction and analysis components. We conceptually connect HEP reconstruction and analysis to modern machine learning workflows such as pretraining, finetuning, domain adaptation and high-dimensional embedding spaces and quantify the gains in the example usecase of searches of heavy resonances decaying via an intermediate di-Higgs system to four $b$-jets.
We propose masked particle modeling (MPM) as a self-supervised method for learning generic, transferable, and reusable representations on unordered sets of inputs for use in high energy physics (HEP) scientific data. This work provides a novel scheme to perform masked modeling based pre-training to learn permutation invariant functions on sets. More generally, this work provides a step towards building large foundation models for HEP that can be generically pre-trained with self-supervised learning and later fine-tuned for a variety of down-stream tasks. In MPM, particles in a set are masked and the training objective is to recover their identity, as defined by a discretized token representation of a pre-trained vector quantized variational autoencoder. We study the efficacy of the method in samples of high energy jets at collider physics experiments, including studies on the impact of discretization, permutation invariance, and ordering. We also study the fine-tuning capability of the model, showing that it can be adapted to tasks such as supervised and weakly supervised jet classification, and that the model can transfer efficiently with small fine-tuning data sets to new classes and new data domains.
Exceptional Periodicity (EP) has taught us that there are families of M Theory-like superalgebras in spacetime dimensions $11,19,27,\dots$ up to infinity. In this paper, we make the conjecture that M Theory at each level of EP can be realized as a brane worldvolume theory of an M Theory superalgebra at some higher level of EP.
In the past few years, the unifying frameworks of 4-dimensional Chern-Simons theory and affine Gaudin models have allowed for the systematic construction of a large family of integrable $\sigma$-models. These models depend on the data of a Riemann surface $C$ (here of genus 0 or 1) and of a meromorphic 1-form $\omega$ on $C$, which encodes the geometry of their spectral parameter and the analytic structure of their Lax connection. The main subject of this paper is the renormalisation of these theories and in particular two conjectures describing their 1-loop RG-flow in terms of the 1-form $\omega$. These conjectures were put forward in [2010.07879] and [2106.09781] and were proven in a variety of cases. After extending the proposal of [2010.07879] to the elliptic setup (with $C$ of genus 1), we establish the equivalence of these two conjectures and discuss some of their applications. Moreover, we check their veracity on an explicit example, namely an integrable elliptic deformation of the Principal Chiral Model on $\text{SL}_N(\mathbb{R})$.
We derive a manifestly superconformal expression for the leading-order two-point functions of all single trace chiral primary operators in 4d $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills theory with a co-dimension one Nahm pole defect. Notably, our result involves only a finite number of superblocks that correspond to 1/2-BPS representations in the defect channel. The derivation builds on a non-trivial exact result for traces of fuzzy spherical harmonics in combination with powers of $\mathfrak{su}(2)$ generators, which leads to a remarkably compact expression for the bulk-to-defect couplings. Apart from being interesting in its own right as a closed-form expression at finite $N$, the final result is an essential prerequisite for applying the defect superconformal bootstrap programme to this model.
In this work, we provide a rigorous definition of ribbon operators in the Semidual Kitaev lattice model and study their properties. These operators are essential for understanding quasi-particle excitations within topologically ordered systems. We show that the ribbon operators generate quasi-particle excitations at the ends of the ribbon and reveal themselves as irreducible representations of the Bicrossproduct quantum group $M(H)=H^{\text{cop}}\lrbicross H$ or $M(H)^{\text{op}}$ depending on their chirality or local orientation.
The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) is the leading conjecture for the emergence of statistical mechanics in generic isolated quantum systems and is formulated in terms of the matrix elements of operators. An analog known as the ergodic bipartition (EB) describes entanglement and locality and is formulated in terms of the components of eigenstates. In this paper, we significantly generalize the EB and unify it with the ETH, extending the EB to study higher correlations and systems out of equilibrium. Our main result is a diagrammatic formalism that computes arbitrary correlations between eigenstates and operators based on a recently uncovered connection between the ETH and free probability theory. We refer to the connected components of our diagrams as generalized free cumulants. We apply our formalism in several ways. First, we focus on chaotic eigenstates and establish the so-called subsystem ETH and the Page curve as consequences of our construction. We also improve known calculations for thermal reduced density matrices and comment on an inherently free probabilistic aspect of the replica approach to entanglement entropy previously noticed in a calculation for the Page curve of an evaporating black hole. Next, we turn to chaotic quantum dynamics and demonstrate the ETH as a sufficient mechanism for thermalization, in general. In particular, we show that reduced density matrices relax to their equilibrium form and that systems obey the Page curve at late times. We also demonstrate that entanglement velocities, which govern the spreading of entanglement, are encoded in higher correlations of the EB. Lastly, we examine the chaotic structure of eigenstates and operators together and reveal previously overlooked correlations between them. Crucially, these correlations encode butterfly velocities, a well-known dynamical property of interacting quantum systems.
Confining Dirac fermions in graphene by electrostatic fields is a challenging task. Electric quantum dots created by a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip can trap zero-energy quasi-particles. The Lorentzian quantum well provides a faithful, exactly solvable, approximation to such a potential, hosting zero-energy bound states for certain values of the coupling constant. We show that in this critical configuration, the system can be related to the free particle model by means of a supersymmetric transformation. The revealed shape invariance of the model greatly simplifies the calculation of the zero modes and naturally explains the degeneracy of the zero energy.
We further develop the description of three-dimensional quantum gravity with negative cosmological constant in terms of Virasoro TQFT formulated in our previous paper arXiv:2304.13650. We compare the partition functions computed in the Virasoro TQFT formalism to the semiclassical evaluation of Euclidean gravity partition functions. This matching is highly non-trivial, but can be checked directly in some examples. We then showcase the formalism in action, by computing the gravity partition functions of many relevant topologies. For holographic applications, we focus on the partition functions of Euclidean multi-boundary wormholes with three-punctured spheres as boundaries. This precisely quantifies the higher moments of the structure constants in the proposed ensemble boundary dual and subjects the proposal to thorough checks. Finally, we investigate in detail the example of the figure eight knot complement as a hyperbolic 3-manifold. We show that the Virasoro TQFT partition function is identical to the partition function computed in Teichm\"uller theory, thus giving strong evidence for the equivalence of these TQFTs. We also show how to produce a large class of manifolds via Dehn surgery on the figure eight knot.
The accessibility of the Hawking-Page transition in AdS$_5$ through a 1d Heisenberg spin chain is demonstrated. We use the random matrix formulation of the Loschmidt echo for a set of spin chains, and randomize the ferromagnetic spin interaction. It is shown that the thermal Loschmidt echo, when averaged, detects the predicted increase in entropy across the Hawking-Page transition. This suggests that a 1d spin chain exhibits characteristics of black hole physics in 4+1 dimensions. We show that this approach is equally applicable to free fermion systems with a general dispersion relation.
We work out explicit formulas for correlators in the Gaussian matrix model perturbed by a logarithmic potential, i.e. by inserting Miwa variables. In this paper, we concentrate on the example of a single Miwa variable. The ordinary Gaussian model is superintegrable, i.e. the average of the Schur functions $S_Q$ is an explicit function of the Young diagram $Q$. The question is what happens to this property after perturbation. We show that the entire perturbation series can be nicely summed up into a kind of Borel transform of a universal exponential function, while the dependence on $R$ enters through a polynomial factor in front of this exponential. Moreover, these polynomials can be described explicitly through a single additional structure, which we call ``truncation'' of the Young diagram $Q$. It is unclear if one can call this an extended superintegrability, but at least it is a tremendously simple deformation of it. Moreover, the vanishing Gaussian correlators remain vanishing and, hence, are not deformed at all.
Given a bundle gerbe with connection on an oriented Riemannian manifold of dimension at least equal to 3, we formulate and study the associated Yang-Mills equations. When the Riemannian manifold is compact and oriented, we prove the existence of instanton solutions to the equations and also determine the moduli space of instantons, thus giving a complete analysis in this case. We also discuss duality in this context.
We propose a procedure of computing the n-point function in perturbation theory of the quantum field theory as the average over the complex Gaussian noises in a classical theory. The complex Gaussian noises are the sources for the creation and annihilation of particles and the energy of the resultant configuration is the same as the zero point energy of the corresponding quantum field theory.
When a system consists of a large subsystem (bath) and a small one (probe), thermalization implies induction of temperature of the bath onto the probe. If both the bath and the probe are described by same microscopic Hamiltonian, thermalization further entails that the probe imbibes the phase of the bath. We refer to this phenomenon as phase thermalization. However, it is not clear whether this phenomenon is realizable when the probe and the bath are described by different microscopic Hamiltonians. We show phase thermalization is possible even when the microscopic Hamiltonians differ significantly. We provide an explicit example, where the probe is a Fermi liquid realized by a Majorana chain with $n \gg 1$ fermions per site interacting through random hopping and the bath is an incoherent metal described by another Majorana chain with $N > n$ fermions per site interacting through arbitrarily long range random four-fermion interaction. In deep infrared, the probe turns into an incoherent metal, with Lyapunov spectrum and diffusion coefficient identical to the bath.
According to gauge/gravity correspondence, we study the holographic Schwinger effect within an anisotropic background. Firstly, the separate length of the particle-antiparticle pairs is computed within the context of an anisotropic background which is parameterized by dynamical exponent $\nu$. It is found that the maximum separate length $x$ increases with the increase of dynamical exponent $\nu$. By analyzing the potential energy, we find that the potential barrier increases with the dynamical exponent $\nu$ at a small separate distance. This observation implies that the Schwinger effect within an anisotropic background is comparatively weaker when contrasted with its manifestation in an isotropic background.Finally, we also find that the Schwinger effect in the transverse direction is weakened compared to the parallel direction in the anisotropic background, which is consistent with the top-down model.
In this paper we introduce a new method for generating gauged sigma models from four-dimensional Chern-Simons theory and give a unified action for a class of these models. We begin with a review of recent work by several authors on the classical generation of integrable sigma models from four dimensional Chern-Simons theory. This approach involves introducing classes of two-dimensional defects into the bulk on which the gauge field must satisfy certain boundary conditions. One finds integrable sigma models from four-dimensional Chern-Simons theory by substituting the solutions to its equations of motion back into the action. The integrability of these sigma models is guaranteed because the gauge field is gauge equivalent to the Lax connection of the sigma model. By considering a theory with two four-dimensional Chern-Simons fields coupled together on two-dimensional surfaces in the bulk we are able to introduce new classes of `gauged' defects. By solving the bulk equations of motion we find a unified action for a set of genus zero integrable gauged sigma models. The integrability of these models is guaranteed as the new coupling does not break the gauge equivalence of the gauge fields to their Lax connections. Finally, we consider a couple of examples in which we derive the gauged Wess-Zumino-Witten and nilpotent gauged Wess-Zumino-Witten models. This latter model is of note given one can find the conformal Toda models from it.
This paper is a continuation of [1], in which a set of matrix elements of local operators was computed for the XXZ spin-1/2 open chain with a particular case of unparallel boundary fields. Here, we extend these results to the more general case in which both fields are non-longitudinal and related by one constraint, allowing for a partial description of the spectrum by usual Bethe equations. More precisely, the complete spectrum and eigenstates can be characterized within the Separation of Variables (SoV) framework. One uses here the fact that, under the constraint, a part of this SoV spectrum can be described via solutions of a usual, homogeneous, TQ-equation, with corresponding transfer matrix eigenstates coinciding with generalized Bethe states. We explain how to generically compute the action of a basis of local operators on such kind of states, and this under the most general boundary condition on the last site of the chain. As a result, we can compute the matrix elements of some of these basis elements in any eigenstate described by the homogenous TQ-equation. Assuming, following a conjecture of Nepomechie and Ravanini, that the ground state itself can be described in this framework, we obtain multiple integral representations for these matrix elements in the half-infinite chain limit, generalizing those previously obtained in the case of longitudinal boundary fields and in the case of the special boundary conditions considered in [1].
One way to explore multiparticle entanglement is to ask for maximal entanglement with respect to different bipartitions, leading to the notion of absolutely maximally entangled states or perfect tensors. A different path uses unitary invariance and symmetries, resulting in the concept of multiparticle singlet states. We show that these two concepts are incompatible in the sense that the space of pure multiparticle singlet states does not contain any state for which all partitions of two particles versus the rest are maximally entangled. This puts restrictions on the construction of quantum codes and contributes to discussions in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence and quantum gravity.
By exploiting new mathematical relations between Pandharipande-Thomas (PT) invariants, closely related to Gopakumar-Vafa (GV) invariants, and rank 0 Donaldson-Thomas (DT) invariants counting D4-D2-D0 BPS bound states, we rigorously compute the first few terms in the generating series of Abelian D4-D2-D0 indices for compact one-parameter Calabi-Yau threefolds of hypergeometric type. In all cases where GV invariants can be computed to sufficiently high genus, we find striking confirmation that the generating series is modular, and predict infinite series of Abelian D4-D2-D0 indices. Conversely, we use these results to provide new constraints for the direct integration method, which allows to compute GV invariants (and therefore the topological string partition function) to higher genus than hitherto possible. The triangle of relations between GV/PT/DT invariants is powered by a new explicit formula relating PT and rank 0 DT invariants, which is proven in an Appendix by the second named author. As a corollary, we obtain rigorous Castelnuovo-type bounds for PT and GV invariants for CY threefolds with Picard rank one.
We demonstrate the general existence of a local dipole conservation law in bosonic field theory. The scalar charge density arises from the symplectic form of the system, whereas the tensor current descends from its stress tensor. The algebra of spatial translations becomes centrally extended in presence of field configurations with a finite nonzero charge. Furthermore, when the symplectic form is closed but not exact, the system may, surprisingly, lack a well-defined momentum density. This leads to a theorem for the presence of additional light modes in the system whenever the short-distance physics is governed by a translationally invariant local field theory. We also illustrate this mechanism for axion electrodynamics as an example of a system with Nambu--Goldstone modes of higher-form symmetries.
We are investigating the localization of matter that interacts nonminimally with gravity within thick braneworld models generated by a scalar bulk. Our review focuses on two models of scalar thick branes. The natural mechanism is used to analyze the localization of the fields. Without losing the point of field localization, we examine matter field localizations by considering the asymptotic behavior of the warp function on z towards infinity. Both massless and massive modes of the nonminimally coupled scalar field are localized on the brane in both models. When the coupling is minimal, the scalar field is localized for the massless mode. A nonminimally coupled vector field behaves similarly to the nonminimally coupled scalar field, the massless and massive modes in both models are localized. For a nonminimally coupled spinor field, in model 1, we observe localization of the spinor for massive mode, while in model 2, only the massless spinor field is localized.
We explore the geometry behind the modular bootstrap and its image in the space of Taylor coefficients of the torus partition function. In the first part, we identify the geometry as an intersection of planes with the convex hull of moment curves on $R^+{\otimes}\mathbb{Z}$, with boundaries characterized by the total positivity of generalized Hankel matrices. We phrase the Hankel constraints as a semi-definite program, which has several advantages, such as constant computation time with increasing central charge. We derive bounds on the gap, twist-gap, and the space of Taylor coefficients themselves. We find that if the gap is above $\Delta^*_{gap}$, where $\frac{c{-}1}{12}<\Delta^*_{gap}< \frac{c}{12}$, all coefficients become bounded on both sides and kinks develop in the space. In the second part, we propose an analytic method of imposing the integrality condition for the degeneracy number in the spinless bootstrap, which leads to a non-convex geometry. We find that even at very low derivative order this condition rules out regions otherwise allowed by bootstraps at high derivative order.
We develop an effective quantum electrodynamics for non-Hermitian (NH) Dirac materials interacting with photons. These systems are described by nonspatial symmetry protected Lorentz invariant NH Dirac operators, featuring two velocity parameters $v_{_{\rm H}}$ and $v_{_{\rm NH}}$ associated with the standard Hermitian and a masslike anti-Hermitian Dirac operators, respectively. They display linear energy-momentum relation, however, in terms of an effective Fermi velocity $v_{_{\rm F}}=\sqrt{v^2_{_{\rm H}}-v^2_{_{\rm NH}}}$ of NH Dirac fermions. Interaction with the fluctuating electromagnetic radiation then gives birth to an emergent Lorentz symmetry in this family of NH Dirac materials in the deep infrared regime, where the system possesses a unique terminal velocity $v_{_{\rm F}}=c$, with $c$ being the speed of light. While in two dimensions such a terminal velocity is set by the speed of light in the free space, dynamic screening in three spatial dimensions permits its nonuniversal values. Manifestations of such an emergent spacetime symmetry on the scale dependence of various physical observables in correlated NH Dirac materials are discussed.
Recently it has been shown that Bern-Carrasco-Johansson (BCJ) numerators of colour-kinematic duality for tree-level scattering amplitudes in Yang-Mills theory (coupled with scalars) can be determined using a quasi-shuffle Hopf algebra. In this paper we consider the same theory, but with higher-derivative corrections of the forms $\alpha' F^3$ and $\alpha'^2 F^4$, where $F$ is the field strength. In the heavy mass limit of the scalars, we show that the BCJ numerators of these higher-derivative theories are governed by the same Hopf algebra. In particular, the kinematic algebraic structure is unaltered and the derivative corrections only arise when mapping the abstract algebraic generators to physical BCJ numerators. The underlying kinematic Hopf algebra enables us to obtain a compact expression for the BCJ numerators of any number of gluons and two heavy scalars for amplitudes with higher-derivative operators. The pure gluon BCJ numerators can also be obtained from our results by a simple factorisation limit where the massive particles decouple.
The Penrose tiling (PT) is an intrinsically non-periodic way of tiling the plane, with many remarkable properties. A quantum error-correcting code (QECC) is a clever way of protecting quantum information from noise, by encoding the information with a sophisticated type of redundancy. Although PTs and QECCs might seem completely unrelated, in this paper we point out that PTs give rise to (or, in a sense, are) a remarkable new type of QECC. In this code, quantum information is encoded through quantum geometry, and any local errors or erasures in any finite region, no matter how large, may be diagnosed and corrected. We also construct variants of this code (based on the Ammann-Beenker and Fibonacci tilings) that can live on finite spatial tori, in discrete spin systems, or in an arbitrary number of spatial dimensions. We discuss connections to quantum computing, condensed matter physics, and quantum gravity.
This is the first of a series of two papers in which we study the one-dimensional defect CFT defined by insertions of local operators along a $\tfrac{1}{2}$-BPS Wilson line in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills. In this first paper we focus on the kinematical implications of invariance under the $\mathfrak{osp}(4^*|4)$ superconformal algebra preserved by the line. We study correlation functions involving both protected and unprotected supermultiplets and derive the associated superconformal blocks, using two types of superspace for short and long representations. We also discuss the spectrum of defect theories defined by the Wilson line, focusing in particular on fundamental lines in the planar limit: in this case we provide a detailed analysis of the type and number of states both at weak 't Hooft coupling, via the free gauge theory description of the defect CFT, and at strong coupling, where there is a dual description via AdS/CFT. Focusing on the strongly-coupled regime, which will be subject to a detailed analysis using analytic bootstrap techniques in a companion paper, we also develop a strategy that allows to explicitly build superconformal primary operators and their superconformal descendants in terms of the elementary fields in the AdS Lagrangian description. The explicit results will be used in a companion paper to address the problem of operators mixing at strong coupling. This paper and its companion provide an extended version of the results presented in 2103.10440.
In this second installment of a series of two papers on the $\tfrac{1}{2}$-BPS Wilson line defect CFT in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills, we focus on dynamical aspects of the theory, in particular studying four-point functions with analytic bootstrap methods. Relying on the results of a companion paper for the kinematics and strong coupling spectrum, we consider various four-point functions in the planar limit, in an expansion for large 't Hooft coupling. Our ultimate goal is to provide a detailed derivation of the four-point function of the displacement supermultiplet at three loops, first presented in 2103.10440. Along the way, we present a large amount of new results including four-point functions with zero, one or two long external supermultiplets. The last two represent a novelty in the analytic bootstrap literature and are instrumental in addressing the problem of operators degeneracy. Such phenomenon leads to the necessity of resolving a mixing problem that is more complicated than those usually encountered in the study of holographic correlators, thus leading us to the development of a new approach that we believe will have a wider range of applicability. Related to this issue, we analyze in some detail the structure of the dilatation operator in this model. Some of the ingredients that we use apply more generally to holographic theories, although a thorough investigation of these aspects is missing, to the best of our knowledge, in most interesting cases.
We present a map between the excitation of the symmetric-product orbifold CFT of $T^4$, and of the worldsheet-integrability description of $AdS_3\times S^3\times T^4$ of Lloyd, Ohlsson Sax, Sfondrini, and Stefa\'nski at $k=1$. We discuss the map in the absence of RR fluxes, when the theory is free, and at small RR flux, $h\ll 1$, where the symmetric-orbifold CFT is deformed by a marginal operator from the twist-two sector. We discuss the recent results of Gaberdiel, Gopakumar, and Nairz, who computed from the perturbed symmetric-product orbifold the central extension to the symmetry algebra of the theory and its coproduct. We show that it coincides with the $h\ll 1$ expansion of the lightcone symmetry algebra known from worldsheet integrability, and that hence the S matrix found by Gaberdiel, Gopakumar, and Nairz maps to the one bootstrapped by the worldsheet integrability approach.
In this short note we determine Hamiltonian for Weyl transverse gravity. We find primary, secondary and tertiary constraints and calculate Poisson brackets between them. We also show that gauge fixing in Weyl transverse gravity leads to the Hamiltonian for unimodular gravity.
A model of the non-Abelian fractional quantum Hall effect is obtained from the diagonalization of the matrix model proposed by Dorey, Tong, and Turner (DTT). The Hamiltonian is reminiscent of a spin Calogero-Moser model but involves higher-order symmetric representations of the non-Abelian symmetry. We derive the energy spectrum and show that the Hamiltonian has a triangular action on a certain class of wave functions with a free fermion expression. We deduce the expression of the ground states eigenfunctions and show that they solve a Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equation. Finally, we discuss the emergence of Kac-Moody symmetries in the large $N$ limit using the level-rank duality and confirm the results obtained previously by DTT.
We present a novel approach to partial-wave unitarity that bypasses a lot of technical difficulties of previous approaches. In passing, we explicitly demonstrate that our approach provides a very suggestive form for the partial-wave coefficients in a natural way. We use the Coon amplitudes to exemplify this method and show how it allows to make important properties such as partial-wave unitarity manifest.
3+1 dimensional topological phases can support loop-like excitations in addition to point-like ones, allowing for non-trivial loop-loop and point-loop braiding statistics not permitted to point-like excitations alone. Furthermore, these loop-like excitations can be linked together, changing their properties. In particular, this can lead to distinct three-loop braiding, involving two loops undergoing an exchange process while linked to a third loop. In this work, we investigate the loop-like excitations in a 3+1d Hamiltonian realization of Dijkgraaf-Witten theory through direct construction of their membrane operators, for a general finite Abelian group and 4-cocycle twist. Using these membrane operators, we find the braiding relations and fusion rules for the loop-like excitations, including those linked to another loop-like excitation. Furthermore, we use these membrane operators to construct projection operators that measure the topological charge and show that the number of distinct topological charges measured by the 2-torus matches the ground state degeneracy of the model on the 3-torus, explicitly confirming a general expectation for topological phases. This direct construction of the membrane operators sheds significant light on the key properties of the loop-like excitations in 3+1 dimensional topological phases.
In Quantum Electrodynamics, vacuum becomes a nonlinear optical medium: its optical index should be modified in the presence of intense external electromagnetic fields. The DeLLight project (Deflection of Light by Light) aims to observe this effect using intense focused femtosecond laser pulses delivered by LASERIX. The principle is to measure with a Sagnac interferometer the deflection of a low-intensity focused pulse (probe) crossing the vacuum index gradient induced by a high-intensity pulse (pump). A Sagnac interferometer working with femtosecond laser pulses has been developed for the DeLLight project. Compared to previous prototypes, the interferometer now includes the focusing of the probe beam in the interaction area. In this article, we measure and characterize the critical experimental parameters limiting the sensitivity of the interferometer, namely the extinction factor, the spatial resolution, and the waist at focus of the probe pulse. We discuss future improvements.
Experimental findings of recent years blurred the frontier between large and small systems. The features attributed to the Quark Gluon Plasma formation have also been found in smaller systems when measuring particle production in high multiplicity events. These common features arise in multiple sectors, namely the particle dynamics (known as collective flow) and also when considering hadrochemistry (e.g., strangeness enhancement). The limit in small systems where this non-trivial behaviour occurs, is of very high interest in the field and is actively being investigated. This is carried out by performing multi-differential analyses and by selecting collision systems that are smaller than pp collisions. The current experimental contour of the limits between large and small systems is discussed in these proceedings.
Higgsinos with masses near the electroweak scale can solve the hierarchy problem and provide a dark matter candidate, while detecting them at the LHC remains challenging if their mass-splitting is $\mathcal{O}$(1 GeV). This Letter presents a novel search for nearly mass-degenerate higgsinos in events with an energetic jet, missing transverse momentum, and a low-momentum track with a significant transverse impact parameter using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment. For the first time since LEP, a range of mass-splittings between the lightest charged and neutral higgsinos from 0.3 GeV to 0.9 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level, with a maximum reach of approximately 170 GeV in the higgsino mass.
Ultra-high dose rate radiation therapy (FLASH) based on proton irradiation is of major interest for cancer treatments but creates new challenges for dose monitoring. Amorphous hydrogenated silicon is known to be one of the most radiation-hard semiconductors. In this study, detectors based on this material are investigated at proton dose rates similar to or exceeding those required for FLASH therapy. Tested detectors comprise two different types of contacts, two different thicknesses deposited either on glass or on polyimide substrates. All detectors exhibit excellent linear behaviour as a function of dose rate up to a value of 20 kGy/s. Linearity is achieved independently of the depletion condition of the device and remarkably in passive (unbiased) conditions. The degradation of the performance as a function of the dose rate and its recovery are also discussed.
The production of prompt $D^+$ and $D^+_{s}$ mesons is studied in proton-lead collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt {s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02\,$TeV. The data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $(1.58\pm0.02)\mathrm{nb}^{-1}$ is collected by the LHCb experiment at the LHC. The differential production cross-sections are measured using $D^+$ and $D^+_{s}$ candidates with transverse momentum in the range of $0<p_{\mathrm{T}} <14\,\mathrm{GeV}/c$ and rapidities in the ranges of $1.5<y^*<4.0$ and $-5.0<y^*<-2.5$ in the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass system. For both particles, the nuclear modification factor and the forward-backward production ratio are determined. These results are compared with theoretical models that include initial-state nuclear effects. In addition, measurements of the cross-section ratios between $D^+$, $D^+_{s}$ and $D^0$ mesons are presented, providing a baseline for studying the charm hadronization in lead-lead collisions at LHC energies.
There are profound connections between neutrino physics and nuclear experiments. Exceptionally precise measurements of single and double beta-decay spectra illuminate the scale and nature of neutrino mass and may finally answer the question of whether neutrinos are their own antimatter counterparts. Neutrino-nucleus scattering underpins oscillation experiments and probes nuclear structure, neutrinos offer a rare vantage point into collapsing stars and nuclear fission reactors, and techniques pioneered in neutrino nuclear-physics experiments are advancing quantum-sensing technologies. In this article, we review current and planned efforts at the intersection of neutrino and nuclear experiments.
In this study, we use Rational-Quadratic Neural Spline Flows, a sophisticated parametrization of Normalizing Flows, for inferring posterior probability distributions in scenarios where direct evaluation of the likelihood is challenging at inference time. We exemplify this approach using the T2K near detector as a working example, focusing on learning the posterior probability distribution of neutrino flux binned in neutrino energy. The predictions of the trained model are conditioned at inference time by the momentum and angle of the outgoing muons released after neutrino-nuclei interaction. This conditioning allows for the generation of personalized posterior distributions, tailored to the muon observables, all without necessitating a full retraining of the model for each new dataset. The performances of the model are studied for different shapes of the posterior distributions.
The NEXT (Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC) project is an international collaboration aimed at finding evidence of neutrinoless double beta decay using gaseous xenon. The current phase of the project involves the construction and operation of NEXT-100, which is designed to hold 100 kg of xenon at 15 bar and is expected to start commissioning in the first quarter of 2024. NEXT-HD will be a tonne scale experiment following NEXT-100 and will incorporate a symmetric design, with one cathode and two anodes. For this detector, the collaboration is considering to implement a barrel of wavelength-shifting fibers read-out by silicon photomultipliers to measure the energy of the particles interacting in the gaseous xenon. In this document, we will discuss the characteristics of this approach and provide an update on the related R&D efforts.
Based on the favourable properties of previously used one-dimensional (1D) atomic model potentials, we introduce a novel 1D atomic model potential for the 1D simulation of the quantum dynamics of a single active electron atom driven by a strong, linearly polarized near-infrared laser pulse. By comparing numerical simulation results of typical strong-field physics scenarios in 1D and 3D, we show that this novel 1D model potential gives single atom HHG spectra with impressively increased accuracy for the most frequently used driving laser pulse parameters.
Topology in many-body physics usually emerges as a feature of equilibrium quantum states. We show that topological fingerprints can also appear in the relaxation rates of open quantum systems. To demonstrate this we consider one of the simplest models that has two distinct topological phases in its ground state: the Kitaev model for the $p$-wave superconductor. After introducing dissipation to this model we estimate the Liouvillian gap in both strong and weak dissipative limits. Our results show that a non-zero superconducting pairing opens a Liouvillian gap that remains open in the limit of infinite system size. At strong dissipation this gap is essentially unaffected by the topology of the underlying Hamiltonian ground state. In contrast, when dissipation is weak, the topological phase of the Hamiltonian ground state plays a crucial role in determining the character of the Liouvillian gap. We find, for example, that in the topological phase this gap is completely immune to changes in the chemical potential. On the other hand, in the non-topological phase the Liouvillian gap is suppressed by a large chemical potential.
We utilize a superconducting qubit processor to experimentally probe the transition from non-Markovian to Markovian dynamics of an entangled qubit pair. We prepare an entangled state between two qubits and monitor the evolution of entanglement over time as one of the qubits interacts with a small quantum environment consisting of an auxiliary transmon qubit coupled to its readout cavity. We observe the collapse and revival of the entanglement as a signature of quantum memory effects in the environment. We then engineer the non-Markovianity of the environment by populating its readout cavity with thermal photons to show a transition from non-Markovian to Markovian dynamics, reaching a regime where the quantum Zeno effect creates a decoherence-free subspace that effectively stabilizes the entanglement between the qubits.
Finding suitable characterizations of quantum chaos is a major challenge in many-body physics, with a central difficulty posed by the linearity of the Schr\"odinger equation. A possible solution for recovering non-linearity is to project the dynamics onto some variational manifold. The classical chaos induced via this procedure may be used as a signature of quantum chaos in the full Hilbert space. Here, we demonstrate analytically a previously heuristic connection between the Lyapunov spectrum from projection onto the matrix product state (MPS) manifold and the growth of entanglement. This growth occurs by squeezing a localized distribution on the variational manifold. The process qualitatively resembles the Cardy-Calabrese picture, where local perturbations to a moving MPS reference are interpreted as bosonic quasi-particles. Taking careful account of the number of distinct channels for these processes recovers the connection to the Lyapunov spectrum. Our results rigorously establish the physical significance of the projected Lyapunov spectrum, suggesting it as an alternative method of characterizing chaos in quantum many-body systems, one that is manifestly linked to classical chaos.
In this paper, we present a novel log-log domain sum-product algorithm (SPA) for decoding low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes in continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) systems. This algorithm reduces the fractional bit width of decoder messages, leading to a smaller memory footprint and a lower resource consumption in hardware implementation. We also provide practical insights for fixed-point arithmetic and compare our algorithm with the conventional SPA in terms of performance and complexity. Our results show that our algorithm achieves comparable or better decoding accuracy than the conventional SPA while saving at least $25\%$ of the fractional bit width.
A Lagrangian description of the qubit based on a generalization of Schwinger's picture of Quantum Mechanics using the notion of groupoids is presented. In this formalism a Feynman-like computation of its probability amplitudes is done. The Lagrangian is interpreted as a function on the groupoid describing the quantum system. Such Lagrangian determines a self-adjoint element on its associated algebra. Feynman's paths are replaced by histories on the groupoid which form themselves a groupoid. A simple method to compute the sum over all histories is discussed. The unitarity of the propagator obtained in this way imposes quantization conditions on the Lagrangian of the theory. Some particular instances of them are discussed in detail.
To address the challenge of performance portability, and facilitate the implementation of electronic structure solvers, we developed the Basic Matrix Library (BML) and Parallel, Rapid O(N) and Graph-based Recursive Electronic Structure Solver (PROGRESS) libraries. BML implements linear algebra operations necessary for electronic structure kernels using a unified user interface for various matrix formats (dense, sparse) and architectures (CPUs, GPUs). Focusing on Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Tight-Binding (TB) models, PROGRESS implements several solvers for computing the single-particle density matrix and relies on BML. In this paper, we describe the general strategies used for these implementations on various computer architectures, using OpenMP target functionalities on GPUs, in conjunction with third-party libraries to handle performance critical numerical kernels. We demonstrate the portability of this approach and its performance on benchmark problems.
Quantum hardware is progressing at a rapid pace and, alongside this progression, it is vital to challenge the capabilities of these machines using functionally complex algorithms.Doing so provides direct insights into the current capabilities of modern quantum hardware and where its breaking points lie.Stress testing is a technique used to evaluate a system by giving it a computational load beyond its specified thresholds and identifying the capacity under which it fails.We conduct a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the Quantinuum H1 ion trap device using a stress test based protocol.Specifically, we utilize the quantum machine learning algorithm, the Quantum Neuron Born Machine, as the computationally intensive load for the device.Then, we linearly scale the number of repeat until success subroutines within the algorithm to determine the load under which the hardware fails and where the failure occurred within the quantum stack.Using this proposed method, we assess the hardware capacity to manage a computationally intensive QML algorithm and evaluate the hardware performance as the functional complexity of the algorithm is scaled.Alongside the quantitative performance results, we provide a qualitative discussion and resource estimation based on the insights obtained from conducting the stress test with the QNBM.
Reducing control complexity is essential for achieving large-scale quantum computing, particularly on platforms operating in cryogenic environments. Wiring each qubit to a room-temperature control poses a challenge, as this approach would surpass the thermal budget in the foreseeable future. An essential tradeoff becomes evident: reducing control knobs compromises the ability to independently address each qubit. Recent progress in neutral atom-based platforms suggests that rectangular addressing may strike a balance between control granularity and flexibility for 2D qubit arrays. This scheme allows addressing qubits on the intersections of a set of rows and columns each time. While quadratically reducing controls, it may necessitate more depth. We formulate the depth-optimal rectangular addressing problem as exact binary matrix factorization, an NP-hard problem also appearing in communication complexity and combinatorial optimization. We introduce a satisfiability modulo theories-based solver for this problem, and a heuristic, row packing, performing close to the optimal solver on various benchmarks. Furthermore, we discuss rectangular addressing in the context of fault-tolerant quantum computing, leveraging a natural two-level structure.
The Gross-Pitaevskii equation is solved by analytic methods for an external double-well potential that is an infinite square well plus a $\delta$-function central barrier. We find solutions that have the symmetry of the non-interacting Hamiltonian as well as asymmetric solutions that bifurcate from the symmetric solutions for attractive interactions and from the antisymmetric solutions for repulsive interactions. We present a variational approximation to the asymmetric state as well as an approximate numerical approach. Stability of the states is briefly considered.
The crucial limitation of improving the sensitivity of the detection of weak magnetic fields is the unavoidable measurement noise. In this paper, we propose a scheme to achieve precise sensing robust against additional noise by employing a dual-frequency bias field modulation within a cavity magnon system. We find that the anti-rotating wave term can amplify the signal of the detected magnetic field, but this amplification effect must coexist with the rotating wave term. In particular, by the bias field modulation, we find the robustness against cavity field thermal noise is substantially enhanced, quantum noise and cavity field thermal noise is greatly reduced, and the external magnetic field signal is amplified, thereby improving the weak magnetic field sensing system's sensitivity. Compared with the previous scheme, our scheme requires neither an ultra- or deep-strong coupling mechanism nor the suppression of the additional noise by increasing the electromagnetic cooperativity. Our scheme could provide a valuable candidate for weak magnetic field sensing.
In this paper we consider the description by a Bell non-local hidden variable theory of bipartite quantum states with two observables per sub-system. We derive Bell inequalities of the Collins-Gisin.-Liden-Massar-Popescu type which involve combinations of the probabilities of related outcomes for measurements for the four pairs of sub-system observables. It is shown that the corresponding quantum theory expressions violate the Bell inequalities in the case of the maximally entangled state of the bipartitite system. This shows that quantum theory can not be underpinned by a non-local hidden variable theory. So as local hidden variable theory has already been shown to conflict with quantum theory, it follows that quantum theory can not be understood in terms of any hidden variable theory (which Einstein originally had expected).
In this work, we present a polynomial-time quantum algorithm for solving the ground states of a class of classically hard Hamiltonians. The mechanism of the exponential speedup that appeared in our algorithm is different from all existing quantum algorithms. The idea is to introduce a mapping $f:\text{ }\rho\rightarrow |\rho\rangle$ to use density matrices to represent pure states. We show that this mapping makes sense by giving an efficient method to obtain the information of $|\rho\rangle$ from measurements on $\rho$. Under this mapping, the Lindblad master equation (LME) becomes a Schr\"odinger equation with non-Hermitian Hamiltonian which contains natural imaginary time evolution. The steady state of the LME, therefore, corresponds to the ground state of $L^\dag L$ with $L$ the Liouvillian operator of the LME. We show the runtime of the LME has the $\mathcal{O}(log(\zeta^{-1}))$ scaling with $\zeta$ the overlap between the initial state and the ground state compared with the $\mathcal{O}(poly(\zeta^{-1}))$ scaling in other algorithms. The Hamiltonians $L^\dag L$ are guaranteed to be difficult for classical computers if we believe the simulation of LME is difficult. Further, for any given local Hamiltonian $H$ with known ground energy $E_0$, we give a polynomial-time classical procedure to judge and solve whether there exists $L$ such that $H-E_0=L^\dag L$. Later, We discuss and analyze several important aspects of the algorithm including the non-linear dynamics that appeared in the algorithm.
Quantum geometric effects in uncorrelated systems are characterized by the Berry curvature and quantum metric. Beyond those, we propose three gauge-independent tensors describing quantum geometric effects on local interaction between correlated particles. We derive an effective hydrodynamic theory for ultracold bosons in optical lattices. Ground states and collective modes of superfluids in isotropic harmonic traps are solved for highly symmetric lattices. In a dynamic process, the amplitude and phase shift of an excited breathing mode are determined by the geometric properties of Bloch wavefunctions. We also give a tight-binding model of a bipartite square lattice with nontrivial quantum geometric effects. Our discovery advances the connections between the modern band theory and quantum many-body physics.
The exploitation of the full structure of multimode light fields enables compelling capabilities in many fields including classical and quantum information science. We exploit data-encoding on the optical phase of the pulses of a femtosecond laser source for a photonic implementation of a reservoir computing protocol. Rather than intensity detection, data-reading is done via homodyne detection that accesses combinations of amplitude and phase of the field. Numerical and experimental results on NARMA tasks and laser dynamic predictions are shown. We discuss perspectives for quantum enhanced protocols.
Numerous current Quantum Machine Learning (QML) models exhibit an inadequacy in discerning the significance of quantum data, resulting in diminished efficacy when handling extensive quantum datasets. Hard Attention Mechanism (HAM), anticipated to efficiently tackle the above QML bottlenecks, encounters the substantial challenge of non-differentiability, consequently constraining its extensive applicability. In response to the dilemma of HAM and QML, a Grover-inspired Quantum Hard Attention Mechanism (GQHAM) consisting of a Flexible Oracle (FO) and an Adaptive Diffusion Operator (ADO) is proposed. Notably, the FO is designed to surmount the non-differentiable issue by executing the activation or masking of Discrete Primitives (DPs) with Flexible Control (FC) to weave various discrete destinies. Based on this, such discrete choice can be visualized with a specially defined Quantum Hard Attention Score (QHAS). Furthermore, a trainable ADO is devised to boost the generality and flexibility of GQHAM. At last, a Grover-inspired Quantum Hard Attention Network (GQHAN) based on QGHAM is constructed on PennyLane platform for Fashion MNIST binary classification. Experimental findings demonstrate that GQHAN adeptly surmounts the non-differentiability hurdle, surpassing the efficacy of extant quantum soft self-attention mechanisms in accuracies and learning ability. In noise experiments, GQHAN is robuster to bit-flip noise in accuracy and amplitude damping noise in learning performance. Predictably, the proposal of GQHAN enriches the Quantum Attention Mechanism (QAM), lays the foundation for future quantum computers to process large-scale data, and promotes the development of quantum computer vision.
We study few-magnon excitations in a finite-size spin-$S$ ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor (NN) XXZ chain with additional antiferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) interaction $J'$ and single-ion (SI) anisotropy $D$. Using a set of exact two-magnon Bloch states, the two-magnon problem is mapped to a single-particle one on an effective open chain with both NN and NNN hoppings. For the commensurate momentum $k=-\pi$, the effective chain is decoupled into two NN open chains that can be exactly solved via a plane-wave ansatz. Based on this, we identify in the $\Delta'-D/|J'|$ plane (with $\Delta'$ the anisotropy parameter for the NNN coupling) the regions supporting the SI or NNN exchange two-magnon bound states near the edge of the band. We prove that there always exists a lower-energy NN exchange two-magnon bound state near the band edge. For $S=1/2$, we numerically calculate the $n$-magnon spectra for $n\leq5$ by using a spin-operator matrix element method. The corresponding $n$-magnon commensurate instability regions are determined for finite chains and consistent results with prior literature are observed.
Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and LlaMA are advancing rapidly in generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), but their immense size poses significant challenges, such as huge training and inference costs, substantial energy demands, and limitations for on-site deployment. Traditional compression methods such as pruning, distillation, and low-rank approximation focus on reducing the effective number of neurons in the network, while quantization focuses on reducing the numerical precision of individual weights to reduce the model size while keeping the number of neurons fixed. While these compression methods have been relatively successful in practice, there's no compelling reason to believe that truncating the number of neurons is an optimal strategy. In this context, this paper introduces CompactifAI, an innovative LLM compression approach using quantum-inspired Tensor Networks that focuses on the model's correlation space instead, allowing for a more controlled, refined and interpretable model compression. Our method is versatile and can be implemented with - or on top of - other compression techniques. As a benchmark, we demonstrate that CompactifAI alone enables compression of the LlaMA-2 7B model to only $30\%$ of its original size while recovering over $90\%$ of the original accuracy after a brief distributed retraining.
Bright, polarized, and high-purity single-photon sources in telecom wavelengths are crucial components in long-distance quantum communication, optical quantum computation and quantum networks. Semiconductor InAs/InP quantum dots (QDs) combined with photonic cavities provide a competitive path leading to optimal single-photon sources in this range. Here, we demonstrate a bright and polarized single-photon source operating in the telecom C-band based on an elliptical Bragg grating (EBG) cavity. With a significant Purcell enhancement of 5.25$\pm$0.05, the device achieves a polarization ratio of 0.986, single-photon purity of g^2 (0)=0.078$\pm$0.016 and single-polarized photon collection efficiency of ~ 24% at the first lens (NA=0.65) without blinking. These findings suggest that C-band QD-based single-photon sources are potential candidates for advancing quantum communication.
In this work we apply deep neural networks to find the non-equilibrium steady state solution to correlated open quantum many-body systems. Motivated by the ongoing search to find more powerful representations of (mixed) quantum states, we design a simple prototypical convolutional neural network and show that parametrizing the density matrix directly with more powerful models can yield better variational ansatz functions and improve upon results reached by neural density operator based on the restricted Boltzmann machine. Hereby we give up the explicit restriction to positive semi-definite density matrices. However, this is fulfilled again to good approximation by optimizing the parameters. The great advantage of this approach is that it opens up the possibility of exploring more complex network architectures that can be tailored to specific physical properties. We show how translation invariance can be enforced effortlessly and reach better results with fewer parameters. We present results for the dissipative one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model and a two-dimensional dissipative Heisenberg model compared to exact values.
We geometrically derive the explicit form of the Unitary representation of the Poincare group and use it to apply speed-of-light boosts to simple polarization basis to end up with Hawton-Baylis photon position operator with commuting components. We give explicit formulas for other photon boost eigenmodes. We investigate the underlying affine connections on the light cone in momentum space and find that while Pryce connection is metric semi-symmetric, the flat Hawton-Baylis connection is not semi-symmetric. Finally we discuss localizability of photon states localized on closed loops and show that photon states on the circle, both unnormalized improper states and finite norm wave packet smeared over washer-like regions are strictly localized with respect to Hawton-Baylis operators with commuting components and also with respect to the noncommutative Jauch-Piron-Amrein POV measure.
We introduce a variational Monte Carlo algorithm for approximating finite-temperature quantum many-body systems, based on the minimization of a modified free energy. We employ a variety of trial states -- both tensor networks as well as neural networks -- as variational ans\"atze for our numerical optimization. We benchmark and compare different constructions in the above classes, both for one- and two-dimensional problems, with systems made of up to \(N=100\) spins. Despite excellent results in one dimension, our results suggest that the numerical ans\"atze employed have certain expressive limitations for tackling more challenging two-dimensional systems.
Originally, the Mpemba effect (MPE) is referred to the faster icing of a higher-temperature system than a system of a lower temperature. This concept was later generalized to anomalous decays of certain system quantities to the equilibrium states. In this study, we investigate the scenario when a system has no such equilibrium state to approach. Instead, the system is put in contact with two different baths, and only a nonequilibrium state exists, sustained by constant energy injection from the surrounding thermal baths. Firstly, we show that the nonequilibrium conditions can dramatically enlarge the parameter regimes where the MPE emerges. Secondly, we demonstrate that the anomalous MPEs and inverse MPEs emerge in the evolution of quantum correlations in the two-site fermionic system and that nonequilibrium conditions can expedite or delay the MPEs. Thirdly, we show that the nonequilibrium-induced quantum coherence can have considerable contributions to the emergence of the MPE which the conventional Lindbladian dynamics fails to capture.
In a recent paper, PNAS, 118, e1921529118 (2021), it was argued that while the standard definition of conservation laws in quantum mechanics, which is of a statistical character, is perfectly valid, it misses essential features of nature and it can and must be revisited to address the issue of conservation/non-conservation in individual cases. Specifically, in the above paper an experiment was presented in which it can be proven that in some individual cases energy is not conserved, despite being conserved statistically. It was felt however that this is worrisome, and that something must be wrong if there are individual instances in which conservation doesn't hold, even though this is not required by the standard conservation law. Here we revisit that experiment and show that although its results are correct, there is a way to circumvent them and ensure individual case conservation in that situation. The solution is however quite unusual, challenging one of the basic assumptions of quantum mechanics, namely that any quantum state can be prepared, and it involves a time-holistic, double non-conservation effect. Our results bring new light on the role of the preparation stage of the initial state of a particle and on the interplay of conservation laws and frames of reference. We also conjecture that when such a full analysis of any conservation experiment is performed, conservation is obeyed in every individual case.
The detection of individual charges plays a crucial role in fundamental material science and the advancement of classical and quantum high-performance technologies that operate with low noise. However, resolving charges at the lattice scale in a time-resolved manner has not been achieved so far. Here, we present the development of an electrometer, leveraging on the spectroscopy of an optically-active spin defect embedded in a solid-state material with a non-linear Stark response. By applying our approach to diamond, a widely used platform for quantum technology applications, we successfully localize charge traps, quantify their impact on transport dynamics and noise generation, analyze relevant material properties, and develop strategies for material optimization.
Utilizing a tritter with variable parameter $T$ and induced by vacuum-one-photon superpositions $\left\vert 0\right\rangle +\alpha \left\vert 1\right\rangle $ with $\alpha =\left\vert \alpha \right\vert e^{i\phi }$, we generate a class of three-qubit pure states. These states take the form of $\left\vert \psi \right\rangle _{123}=c_{0}\left\vert 000\right\rangle +c_{1}\left\vert 100\right\rangle +c_{2}\left\vert 010\right\rangle +c_{3}\left\vert 001\right\rangle $. The coefficients ($ c_{0}$, $c_{1}$, $c_{2}$, and $c_{3}$) can be manipulated through interaction parameters ($\left\vert \alpha \right\vert $, $\phi $, and $T$). In line with Xie and Eberly's work[Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 040403 (2021)], we investigate the genuine tripartite entanglement for $\left\vert \psi \right\rangle _{123}$ using the concurrence triangle measure. Drawing on Hao et al.'s research [Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 120402 (2021)], we examine tripartite steering for $\left\vert \psi \right\rangle _{123}$ under certain measurements based on the uncertainty relations criterion. We identify nine potential configurations exhibiting varying steerability across different parameter spaces. It is important to highlight that while the state $% \left\vert \psi \right\rangle _{123}$ exhibits entanglement, steering remains unattainable in a substantial portion of the parameter space.
In this letter, we investigate the nonrelativistic quantum motion of a charged particle within a rotating frame, taking into account the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect and a uniform magnetic field. Our analysis entails the derivation of the equation of motion and the corresponding radial equation to describe the system. Solving the resulting radial equation enables us to determine the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions, providing a clear expression for the energy levels. Furthermore, our numerical analysis highlights the substantial influence of rotation on both energy levels and optical properties. Specifically, we evaluate the photoionization cross-section (PCS) with and without the effects of rotation. To elucidate the impact of rotation on the photoionization process of the system, we present graphics that offer an appealing visualization of the intrinsic nature of the physics involved.
Modern Cloud/Edge architectures need to orchestrate multiple layers of heterogeneous computing nodes, including pervasive sensors/actuators, distributed Edge/Fog nodes, centralized data centers and quantum devices. The optimal assignment and scheduling of computation on the different nodes is a very difficult problem, with NP-hard complexity. In this paper, we explore the possibility of solving this problem with variational quantum algorithms, which can become a viable alternative to classical algorithms in the near future. In particular, we compare the performances, in terms of success probability, of two algorithms, i.e., Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) and Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE). The simulation experiments, performed for a set of simple problems, show that the VQE algorithm ensures better performances when it is equipped with appropriate circuit ansatzes that are able to restrict the search space. Moreover, experiments executed on real quantum hardware show that the execution time, when increasing the size of the problem, grows much more slowly than the trend obtained with classical computation, which is known to be exponential.
Inspired by string theory ideas, we probe quantum entanglement from the gravitational potential energy. Concretely, we reconsider the study of quantum corrections to the Newtonian potential energy by treating a massive two-particle system $m_{1}$ and $m_{2}$ with size dimensions $r_{1}$ ad $% r_{2}$ where the two particles separated by a distance $d$ are under only their mutual classical gravitational interaction $V_{r}\left( r_{1}\text{, }% r_{2}\right) $. Exploring such a size-dependent gravitational behavior and taking the limit $r_{1}$, $r_{2}\ll d$, we investigate the associated quantum biparticle state and express its evolution after an interaction time $\tau $. Among others, we show that the two masses cannot be separable due to the induced gravitational entanglement in terms of the accumulated quantum phase $\delta \phi =\delta V_{g}\tau /\hbar $. By analogy with the classical gravity, we derive the expression of the resulting extremely weak entanglement force from the corresponding gravitational entanglement energy. Then, we provide certain entanglement diagnostics.
Given any separable complex Hilbert space, any trace-class operator $B$ which does not have purely imaginary trace, and any generator $L$ of a norm-continuous one-parameter semigroup of completely positive maps we prove that there exists a unique bounded operator $K$ and a unique completely positive map $\Phi$ such that (i) $L=K(\cdot)+(\cdot)K^*+\Phi$, (ii) the superoperator $\Phi(B^*(\cdot)B)$ is trace class and has vanishing trace, and (iii) ${\rm tr}(B^*K)$ is a real number. Central to our proof is a modified version of the Choi formalism which relates completely positive maps to positive semi-definite operators. We characterize when this correspondence is injective and surjective, respectively, which in turn explains why the proof idea of our main result cannot extend to non-separable Hilbert spaces. In particular, we find examples of positive semi-definite operators which have empty pre-image under the Choi formalism as soon as the underlying Hilbert space is infinite-dimensional.
We present an expression for the spectral gap, opening up new possibilities for performing and accelerating spectral calculations of quantum many-body systems. We develop and demonstrate one such possibility in the context of tensor network simulations. Our approach requires only minor modifications of the widely used Simple Update method and is computationally lightweight relative to other approaches. We validate it by computing spectral gaps of the 2D and 3D transverse-field Ising models and find strong agreement with previously reported perturbation theory results.
The localization properties of a disorder-free spin chain with inhomogeneous interactions are studied. In particular, we consider interaction strength growing linearly along the chain for systems with different interaction ranges. Using exact diagonalization we find the participation ratio of all eigenstates which allows us to quantify the localization volume in the Hilbert space. Surprisingly the localization volume changes nonmonotonically with the interaction range. The model for the infinite interaction range resembles the Schwinger model of lattice gauge theory in staggered formalism. The model studied may be implemented in state-of-the-art cold atomic devices and could reveal hidden features in disorder-free confinement phenomena.
We establish an entropic, quantum central limit theorem and quantum inverse sumset theorem in discrete-variable quantum systems describing qudits or qubits. Both results are enabled by using our recently-discovered quantum convolution. We show that the exponential rate of convergence of the entropic central limit theorem is bounded by the magic gap. We also establish an ``quantum, entropic inverse sumset theorem,'' by introducing a quantum doubling constant. Furthermore, we introduce a ``quantum Ruzsa divergence'', and we pose a conjecture called ``convolutional strong subaddivity,'' which leads to the triangle inequality for the quantum Ruzsa divergence. A byproduct of this work is a magic measure to quantify the nonstabilizer nature of a state, based on the quantum Ruzsa divergence.
Universality of classical thermodynamics rests on the central limit theorem, due to which, measurements of thermal fluctuations are unable to reveal detailed information regarding the microscopic structure of a macroscopic body. When small systems are considered and fluctuations become important, thermodynamic quantities can be understood in the context of classical stochastic mechanics. A fundamental assumption behind thermodynamics is therefore that of coarse-graning, which stems from a substantial lack of control over all degrees of freedom. However, when quantum systems are concerned, one claims a high level of control. As a consequence, information theory plays a major role in the identification of thermodynamic functions. Here, drawing from the concept of gauge symmetry, essential in all modern physical theories, we put forward a new possible, intermediate route. Working within the realm of quantum thermodynamics we explicitly construct physically motivated gauge transformations which encode a gentle variant of coarse-graining behind thermodynamics. As a consequence, we reinterpret quantum work and heat, as well as the role of quantum coherence.
We provide new examples of pure entangled systems related to cluster state quantum computation that can be efficiently simulated classically. In cluster state quantum computation input qubits are initialised in the `equator' of the Bloch sphere, $CZ$ gates are applied, and finally the qubits are measured adaptively using $Z$ measurements or measurements of $\cos(\theta)X + \sin(\theta)Y$ operators. We consider what happens when the initialisation step is modified, and show that for lattices of finite degree $D$, there is a constant $\lambda \approx 2.06$ such that if the qubits are prepared in a state that is within $\lambda^{-D}$ in trace distance of a state that is diagonal in the computational basis, then the system can be efficiently simulated classically in the sense of sampling from the output distribution within a desired total variation distance. In the square lattice with $D=4$ for instance, $\lambda^{-D} \approx 0.056$. We develop a coarse grained version of the argument which increases the size of the classically efficient region. In the case of the square lattice of qubits, the size of the classically simulatable region increases in size to at least around $\approx 0.070$, and in fact probably increases to around $\approx 0.1$. The results generalise to a broader family of systems, including qudit systems where the interaction is diagonal in the computational basis and the measurements are either in the computational basis or unbiased to it. Potential readers who only want the short version can get much of the intuition from figures 1 to 3.
Quantum processes with indefinite causal structure emerge when we wonder which are the most general evolutions, allowed by quantum theory, of a set of local systems which are not assumed to be in any particular causal order. These processes can be described within the framework of higher-order quantum theory which, starting from considering maps from quantum transformations to quantum transformations, recursively constructs a hierarchy of quantum maps of increasingly higher order. In this work, we develop a formalism for quantum computation with indefinite causal structures; namely, we characterize the computational structure of higher order quantum maps. Taking an axiomatic approach, the rules of this computation are identified as the most general compositions of higher order maps which are compatible with the mathematical structure of quantum theory. We provide a mathematical characterization of the admissible composition for arbitrary higher order quantum maps. We prove that these rules, which have a computational and information-theoretic nature, are determined by the more physical notion of the signalling relations between the quantum systems of the higher order quantum maps.
We explore the effects of spatial locality on the dynamics of random quantum systems subject to a Markovian noise. To this end, we study a model in which the system Hamiltonian and its couplings to the noise are random matrices whose entries decay as power laws of distance, with distinct exponents $\alpha_H, \alpha_L$. The steady state is always featureless, but the rate at which it is approached exhibits three phases depending on $\alpha_H$ and $\alpha_L$: a phase where the approach is asymptotically exponential as a result of a gap in the spectrum of the Lindblad superoperator that generates the dynamics, and two gapless phases with subexponential relaxation, distinguished by the manner in which the gap decreases with system size. Within perturbation theory, the phase boundaries in the $(\alpha_H, \alpha_L)$ plane differ for weak and strong dissipation, suggesting phase transitions as a function of noise strength. We identify nonperturbative effects that prevent such phase transitions in the thermodynamic limit.
The Dicke model describes the cooperative interaction of an ensemble of two-level atoms with a single-mode photonic field and exhibits a quantum phase transition as a function of light--matter coupling strength. Extending this model by incorporating short-range atom--atom interactions makes the problem intractable but is expected to produce new phases. Here, we simulate such an extended Dicke model using a crystal of ErFeO$_3$, where the role of atoms (photons) is played by Er$^{3+}$ spins (Fe$^{3+}$ magnons). Through magnetocaloric effect and terahertz magnetospectroscopy measurements, we demonstrated the existence of a novel atomically ordered phase in addition to the superradiant and normal phases that are expected from the standard Dicke model. Further, we elucidated the nature of the phase boundaries in the temperature--magnetic-field phase diagram, identifying both first-order and second-order phase transitions. These results lay the foundation for studying multiatomic quantum optics models using well-characterized many-body condensed matter systems.
Within quantum thermodynamics, many tasks are modelled by processes that require work sources represented by out-of-equilibrium quantum systems, often dubbed quantum batteries, in which work can be deposited or from which work can be extracted. Here we consider quantum batteries modelled as finite-dimensional quantum systems initially in thermal equilibrium that are charged via cyclic Hamiltonian processes. We present optimal or near-optimal protocols for $N$ identical two-level systems and individual $d$-level systems with equally spaced energy gaps in terms of the charging precision and work fluctuations during the charging process. We analyze the trade-off between these figures of merit as well as the performance of local and global operations.
The quantum harmonic oscillator is one of the most fundamental objects in physics. We consider the case where it is extended to an arbitrary number modes and includes all possible terms that are bilinear in the annihilation and creation operators, and assume we also have an arbitrary time-dependent drive term that is linear in those operators. Such a Hamiltonian is very general, covering a broad range of systems including quantum optics, superconducting circuit QED, quantum error correcting codes, Bose-Einstein condensates, atomic wave packet transport beyond the adiabatic limit and many others. We examine this situation from the point of view of quantum control, making use of optimal control theory to determine what can be accomplished, both when the controls are arbitrary and when they must minimize some cost function. In particular we develop a class of analytical pulses. We then apply our theory to a number of specific topical physical systems to illustrate its use and provide explicit control functions, including the case of the continuously driven conditional displacement gate.
We present a novel transmon qubit fabrication technique that yields systematic improvements in T$_1$ relaxation times. We fabricate devices using an encapsulation strategy that involves passivating the surface of niobium and thereby preventing the formation of its lossy surface oxide. By maintaining the same superconducting metal and only varying the surface structure, this comparative investigation examining different capping materials, such as tantalum, aluminum, titanium nitride, and gold, and film substrates across different qubit foundries definitively demonstrates the detrimental impact that niobium oxides have on the coherence times of superconducting qubits, compared to native oxides of tantalum, aluminum or titanium nitride. Our surface-encapsulated niobium qubit devices exhibit T$_1$ relaxation times 2 to 5 times longer than baseline niobium qubit devices with native niobium oxides. When capping niobium with tantalum, we obtain median qubit lifetimes above 300 microseconds, with maximum values up to 600 microseconds, that represent the highest lifetimes to date for superconducting qubits prepared on both sapphire and silicon. Our comparative structural and chemical analysis suggests why amorphous niobium oxides may induce higher losses compared to other amorphous oxides. These results are in line with high-accuracy measurements of the niobium oxide loss tangent obtained with ultra-high Q superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities. This new surface encapsulation strategy enables even further reduction of dielectric losses via passivation with ambient-stable materials, while preserving fabrication and scalable manufacturability thanks to the compatibility with silicon processes.
Electron spin states of solid-state defects such as Nitrogen- and Silicon-vacancy {\em color centers} in diamond are a leading quantum-memory candidate for quantum communications and computing. Via open-quantum-systems modeling of spin-phonon coupling -- the major contributor of decoherence -- at a given temperature, we derive the time dynamics of the density operator of an electron-spin qubit. We use our model to corroborate experimentally-measured decoherence rates. We further derive the temporal decay of distillable entanglement in spin-spin entangled states heralded via photonic Bell-state measurements. Extensions of our model to include other decoherence mechanisms, e.g., undesired hyperfine couplings to the neighboring nuclear-spin environment, will pave the way to a rigorous predictive model for engineering artificial-atom qubits with desirable properties.
The role of disorder on physical systems has been widely studied in the macroscopic and microscopic world. While static disorder is well understood in many cases, the impact of time-dependent disorder on quantum gases is still poorly investigated. In our experimental setup, we introduce and characterize a method capable of producing time-controlled optical-speckle disorder. Experimentally, coherent light illuminates a combination of a static and a rotating diffuser, thereby collecting a spatially varying phase due to the diffusers' structure and a temporally variable phase due to the relative rotation. Controlling the rotation of the diffuser allows changing the speckle realization or, for future work, the characteristic time scale of the change of the speckle pattern, i.e. the correlation time, matching typical time scales of the quantum gases investigated. We characterize the speckle pattern ex-situ by measuring its intensity distribution cross-correlating different intensity patterns. In-situ, we observe its impact on a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) and cross-correlate the density distributions of BECs probed in different speckle realizations. As one diffuser rotates relative to the other around the common optical axis, we trace the optical speckle's intensity cross-correlations and the quantum gas' density cross-correlations. Our results show comparable outcomes for both measurement methods. The setup allows us to tune the disorder potential adapted to the characteristics of the quantum gas. These studies pave the way for investigating nonequilibrium physics in interacting quantum gases using controlled dynamical-disorder potentials.
We consider the preparation of matrix product states (MPS) on quantum devices via quantum circuits of local gates. We first prove that faithfully preparing translation-invariant normal MPS of $N$ sites requires a circuit depth $T=\Omega(\log N)$. We then introduce an algorithm based on the renormalization-group transformation to prepare normal MPS with an error $\epsilon$ in depth $T=O(\log (N/\epsilon))$, which is optimal. We also show that measurement and feedback leads to an exponential speedup of the algorithm, to $T=O(\log\log (N/\epsilon))$. Measurements also allow one to prepare arbitrary translation-invariant MPS, including long-range non-normal ones, in the same depth. Finally, the algorithm naturally extends to inhomogeneous MPS.
Hybrid variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) are promising for solving practical problems such as combinatorial optimization, quantum chemistry simulation, quantum machine learning, and quantum error correction on noisy quantum computers. However, with typical random ansatz or quantum alternating operator ansatz, derived variational quantum algorithms become a black box for model interpretation. In this paper we construct a quantum regression algorithm wherein the quantum state directly encodes the classical data table and the variational parameters correspond directly to the regression coefficients which are real numbers by construction, providing a high degree of model interpretability and minimal cost to optimize with the right expressiveness. Instead of assuming the state preparation is given by granted, we discuss the state preparation with different encoders and their time complexity and overall resource cost. We can take advantage of the encoded data structure to cut down the algorithm time complexity. To the best of our knowledge, we show for the first time explicitly how the linkage of the classical data structure can be taken advantage of directly through quantum subroutines by construction. For nonlinear regression, our algorithm can be extended by building nonlinear features into the training data as demonstrated by numerical results. In addition, we demonstrate that the model trainability is achievable only when the number of features $M$ is much less than the number of records $L$ for the encoded data structure to justify $L\gg M$ in our resource estimation.
Quantum non-Gaussianity, a more potent and highly useful form of nonclassicality, excludes all convex mixtures of Gaussian states and Gaussian parametric processes generating them. Here, for the first time, we conclusively test quantum non-Gaussian coincidences of entangled photon pairs with the CHSH-Bell factor $S=2.328\pm0.004$ from a single quantum dot with a depth up to $0.94\pm 0.02$ dB. Such deterministically generated photon pairs fundamentally overcome parametric processes by reducing crucial multiphoton errors. For the quantum non-Gaussian depth of the unheralded (heralded) single-photon state, we achieve the value of $8.08\pm0.05$ dB ($19.06\pm0.29$ dB). Our work experimentally certifies the exclusive quantum non-Gaussianity properties highly relevant for optical sensing, communication and computation.
Entanglement distribution is a key functionality of the Quantum Internet. However, quantum entanglement is very fragile, easily degraded by decoherence, which strictly constraints the time horizon within the distribution has to be completed. This, coupled with the quantum noise irremediably impinging on the channels utilized for entanglement distribution, may imply the need to attempt the distribution process multiple times before the targeted network nodes successfully share the desired entangled state. And there is no guarantee that this is accomplished within the time horizon dictated by the coherence times. As a consequence, in noisy scenarios requiring multiple distribution attempts, it may be convenient to stop the distribution process early. In this paper, we take steps in the direction of knowing when to stop the entanglement distribution by developing a theoretical framework, able to capture the quantum noise effects. Specifically, we first prove that the entanglement distribution process can be modeled as a Markov decision process. Then, we prove that the optimal decision policy exhibits attractive features, which we exploit to reduce the computational complexity. The developed framework provides quantum network designers with flexible tools to optimally engineer the design parameters of the entanglement distribution process.
Three-terminal coherent conductors are able to perform as quantum thermocouples when the heat absorbed from one terminal is transformed into useful power in the other two. Allowing for a phase coherent coupling to the heat source, we introduce a way to control and improve the thermoelectric response via quantum interference. A simple setup composed of a scanning probe between two resonant tunneling regions is proposed that achieves better performance than incoherent analogs by enhancing the generated power and efficiency, and reducing the output current noise.
In the last years, we have been witnessing a tremendous push to demonstrate that quantum computers can solve classically intractable problems. This effort, initially focused on the hardware, progressively included the simplification of the models to be simulated. We consider Hamiltonians written in terms of Pauli operators and systematically cut all qubits that are not essential to simulate the system. Our approach is universally applicable and lowers the complexity by first ensuring that the largest possible portion of the Hilbert space becomes irrelevant, and then by finding and exploiting all conserved charges of the system, i.e., symmetries that can be expressed as Pauli operators. Remarkably, both processes are classically efficient and optimal. To showcase our algorithm, we simplify chemical molecules, lattice gauge theories, the Hubbard and the Kitaev models.
Port-based teleportation (PBT) represents a variation of the standard quantum teleportation and is currently being employed and explored within the field of quantum information processing owing to its various applications. In this study, we focus on PBT protocol when the resource state is disrupted by local Pauli noises. Here, we fully characterise the channel of the noisy PBT protocol using Krauss representation. Especially, by exploiting the application of PBT for entanglement distribution necessary in realizing quantum networks, we investigate entanglement transmission through this protocol for each qubit considering noisy resource states, denoted as port-based entanglement teleportation (PBET). Finally, we derive upper and lower bounds for the teleported entanglement as a function of the initial entanglement and the noises. Our study demonstrates that quantum entanglement can be efficiently distributed by protocols utilizing large-sized resource states in the presence of noise and is expected to serve as a reliable guide for developing optimized PBET protocols. To obtain these results, we address that the order of entanglement of two qubit states is preserved through the local Pauli channel, and identify the boundaries of entanglement loss through this teleportation channel.
Residual noise photons in a readout resonator become a major source of dephasing for a superconducting qubit when the resonator is optimized for a fast, high-fidelity dispersive readout. Here, we propose and demonstrate a nonlinear Purcell filter that suppresses such an undesirable dephasing process without sacrificing the readout performance. When a readout pulse is applied, the filter automatically reduces the effective linewidth of the readout resonator, increasing the sensitivity of the qubit to the input field. The noise tolerance of the device we have fabricated is shown to be enhanced by a factor of 3 relative to a device with a linear filter. The measurement rate is enhanced by another factor of 3 by utilizing the bifurcation of the nonlinear filter. A readout fidelity of 99.4% and a quantum nondemolition fidelity of 99.2% are achieved using a 40-ns readout pulse. The nonlinear Purcell filter will be an effective tool for realizing a fast, high-fidelity readout without compromising the coherence time of the qubit.
Self-testing is a method to certify quantum states and measurements in a device-independent way. The device-independent certification of quantum properties is purely based on input-output measurement statistics of the involved devices with minimal knowledge about their internal workings. Bipartite pure entangled states can be self-tested, but, in the case of multipartite pure entangled states, the answer is not so straightforward. Nevertheless, \v{S}upi\'{c} et al. recently introduced a novel self-testing method for any pure entangled quantum state, which leverages network assistance and relies on bipartite entangled measurements. Hence, their scheme loses the true device-independent flavor of self-testing. In this regard, we provide a self-testing scheme for genuine multipartite pure entangle states in the true sense by employing a generalized Hardy-type non-local argument. Our scheme involves only local operations and classical communications and does not depend on bipartite entangled measurements and is free from any network assistance. In addition, we provide the device-independent bound of the maximum probability of success for generalized Hardy-type nonlocality argument.
Using a general-order many-body Green's-function method for molecules, we numerically illustrate several pathological behaviors of the Feynman-Dyson diagrammatic perturbation expansion of one-particle many-body Green's functions as electron Feynman propagators. (i) The perturbation expansion of the frequency-dependent self-energy is not convergent at the exact self-energy in many frequency domains. (ii) An odd-perturbation-order self-energy has a qualitatively wrong shape and, as a result, many roots of the corresponding Dyson equation are nonphysical in that the poles may be complex or the residues can exceed unity or be negative. (iii) The Dyson equation with an even-order self-energy has roots whose energies approach sheer orbital energy differences of the zeroth-order mean-field theory with little to no electron-correlation effects taken into account. (iv) Infinite partial summation of diagrams by vertex or edge renormalization can exacerbate these problems. Not only do these nonconvergences render higher-order Feynman-Dyson diagrammatic perturbation theory useless for many lower-lying ionization or higher-lying electron-attachment roots, but they also call into question the validity of its combined use with the ans\"{a}tze requiring the knowledge of all poles and residues. Such ans\"{a}tze include the Galitskii-Migdal identity, the self-consistent Green's-function methods, and some models of the algebraic diagrammatic construction.
We consider multileg ladders of Rydberg atoms which have been proposed as quantum simulators for the compact Abelian Higgs model (CAHM) in 1+1 dimensions [Y. Meurice, Phys. Rev. D 104, 094513 (2021)] and modified versions of theses simulators such as triangular prisms. Starting with the physical Hamiltonian for the analog simulator, we construct translation-invariant effective Hamiltonians by integrating over the simulator high-energy states produced by the blockade mechanism when some of the atoms are sufficiently close to each others. Remarkably, for all the simulators considered, the effective Hamiltonians have the three types of terms present for the CAHM (Electric field, matter charge and currents energies) but, in addition, terms quartic in the electric field. For the two leg ladder, these additional terms cannot be removed by fine-tuning the adjustable parameters of currently available devices. For positive detuning, the new terms create highly-degenerate vacua resulting in a very interesting phase diagram. Using numerical methods, we demonstrate the close correspondence between the physical simulator and the effective description for the ground state energy and real-time evolution. We discuss the phase diagram at fixed geometry with variable Rabi frequency and detuning and show that a rich variety of phases can be reached with potential interest in the context of QCD at finite density. We illustrate how the effective description can be used to design simulators with desirable properties from the point of view of constructing hybrid event generators.
We address the problem of coherent state discrimination in the presence of phase diffusion. We investigate the role of the hybrid near-optimum receiver (HYNORE) we proposed in [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 40, 705-714 (2023)] in the task of mitigating the noise impact. We prove the HYNORE to be a robust receiver, outperforming the displacement photon-number-resolving (DPNR) receiver and beating the standard quantum limit in particular regimes. We introduce the maximum tolerable phase noise $\sigma_{\mathrm{max}}$ as a figure of merit for the receiver robustness and show that HYNORE increases its value with respect to the DPNR receiver.
One of the fundamental arguments in quantum information theory is the uncertainty principle. In accordance with this principle, two incompatible observables cannot be measured with high precision at the same time. In this work, we will use the entropic uncertainty relation in the presence of quantum memory. Considering a dissipative environment, the effects of the detuning between the transition frequency of a quantum memory and the center frequency of a cavity on entrpic uncertainty bound and quantum correlation between quantum memory and measured particle will be studied. It is shown that by increasing the detuning, quantum correlation is maintained. As a result, due to the inverse relationship between the uncertainty bound and quantum correlation, the measurement results is guessed more accurately.
Hybrid quantum computing is considered the present and the future within the field of quantum computing. Far from being a passing fad, this trend cannot be considered just a stopgap to address the limitations of NISQ-era devices. The foundations linking both computing paradigms will remain robust over time. Despite buoyant research activity, the challenges in hybrid computing are still countless, ranging from the proper characterization of current solvers to the establishment of appropriate methodologies for the design and fair evaluation of hybrid algorithms. The contribution of this work is twofold: first, we describe and categorize some of the most frequently used hybrid solvers, resorting to two different taxonomies recently published in the literature. Secondly, we put a special focus on two solvers that are currently deployed in real production and that have demonstrated to be near the real industry. These solvers are the LeapHybridBQMSampler contained in D-Wave's Hybrid Solver Service and Quantagonia's Hybrid Solver. We analyze the performance of both hybrid methods using as benchmarks four well-known combinatorial optimization problems: the Traveling Salesman Problem, Vehicle Routing Problem, Bin Packing Problem, and Maximum Cut Problem. Thanks to the contributions presented in this paper, the reader gains insight into the performance of those hybridization strategies nowadays in production and close to the industrial markets.
We demonstrate coherent control of the fine-structure qubit in neutral strontium atoms. This qubit is encoded in the metastable $^3\mathrm{P}_2$ and $^3\mathrm{P}_0$ states, coupled by a Raman transition. Using a magnetic quadrupole transition, we demonstrate coherent state-initialization of this THz qubit. We show Rabi oscillations with more than 60 coherent cycles and single-qubit rotations on the $\mu$s scale. With spin-echo, we demonstrate coherence times of tens of ms. Our results pave the way for fast quantum information processors and highly tunable quantum simulators with two-electron atoms.
Control over the quantum states of individual molecules is crucial in the quest to harness their rich internal structure and dipolar interactions for applications in quantum science. In this paper, we develop a toolbox of techniques for the control and readout of individually trapped polar molecules in an array of optical tweezers. Starting with arrays of up to eight Rb and eight Cs atoms, we assemble arrays of RbCs molecules in their rovibrational and hyperfine ground state with an overall efficiency of 48(2)%. We demonstrate global microwave control of multiple rotational states of the molecules and use an auxiliary tweezer array to implement site-resolved addressing and state control. We show how the rotational state of the molecule can be mapped onto the position of Rb atoms and use this capability to readout multiple rotational states in a single experimental run. Further, using a scheme for the mid-sequence detection of molecule formation errors, we perform rearrangement of assembled molecules to prepare small defect-free arrays. Finally, we discuss a feasible route to scaling to larger arrays of molecules.
Minimizing the use of CNOT gates in quantum state preparation is a crucial step in quantum compilation, as they introduce coupling constraints and more noise than single-qubit gates. Reducing the number of CNOT gates can lead to more efficient and accurate quantum computations. However, the lack of compatibility to model superposition and entanglement challenges the scalability and optimality of CNOT optimization algorithms on classical computers. In this paper, we propose an effective state preparation algorithm using an exact CNOT synthesis formulation. Our method represents a milestone as the first design automation algorithm to surpass manual design, reducing the best CNOT numbers to prepare a Dicke state by 2x. For general states with up to 20 qubits, our method reduces the CNOT number by 9% and 32% for dense and sparse states, on average, compared to the latest algorithms.