We introduce a novel neural network, SkyReconNet, which combines the expanded receptive fields of dilated convolutional layers along with standard convolutions, to capture both the global and local features for reconstructing the missing information in an image. We implement our network to inpaint the masked regions in a full-sky cosmic microwave background (CMB) map. Inpainting CMB maps is a particularly formidable challenge when dealing with extensive and irregular masks, such as galactic masks which can obscure substantial fractions of the sky. The hybrid design of SkyReconNet leverages the strengths of standard and dilated convolutions to accurately predict CMB fluctuations in the masked regions by effectively utilizing the information from surrounding unmasked areas. During training, the network optimizes its weights by minimizing a composite loss function that combines the structural similarity index measure (SSIM) and mean squared error (MSE). SSIM preserves the essential structural features of the CMB, ensuring an accurate and coherent reconstruction of the missing CMB fluctuations, while MSE minimizes the pixelwise deviations, thus enhancing the overall accuracy of the predictions. The predicted CMB maps and their corresponding angular power spectra align closely with the targets, achieving the performance limited only by the fundamental uncertainty of cosmic variance. The network’s generic architecture enables application to other physics-based challenges involving data with missing or defective pixels, systematic artifacts, etc. Our results demonstrate its effectiveness in addressing the challenges posed by large irregular masks, offering a significant inpainting tool not only for CMB analyses but also for image-based experiments across disciplines where such data imperfections are prevalent.

The femtoscopic $D\overline{D}$ correlation functions are investigated to predict the signature of the not-yet-established $X(3700)$ state. Here it is interpreted as a bound state generated by solving the coupled-channel Bethe-Salpeter equations with the local hidden-gauge formalism. We prospect how the relevant properties and observables characterizing this state—like the pole position, scattering lengths and compositeness—might be affected by the variation of the parameters of the model. The amplitudes are then used as input into the momentum correlation functions of the $D^0{\overline{D}}^0$ and $D^{+}{D}^{-}$ pairs. We discuss how their behaviors encode the features of the $X(3700)$ state.

In this paper, we calculate the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $|V_{ub}|$ by the semileptonic decay $B^{+}\to \omega {\ell }^{+}\nu$. For the transition form factors (TFFs) $A_1(q^2)$, $A_2(q^2)$, and $V(q^2)$ of $B^{+}\to \omega$, we employ the QCD light-cone sum rules method for calculation, and by constructing the correlation function using left-handed chiral current, we make the ${\delta }^1$-order twist-2 light-cone distribution amplitudes (LCDA) ${\varphi }_{2;\omega }^{\parallel }(x,\mu )$ dominate the contribution, in which the twist-2 LCDA ${\varphi }_{2;\omega }^{\parallel }(x,\mu )$ is constructed by the light-cone harmonic oscillator model. Then, we obtain $A_1(0)=0.209_{-0.042}^{+0.049}$, $A_2(0)=0.206_{-0.042}^{+0.051}$, and $V(0)=0.258_{-0.048}^{+0.058}$ at the large recoil region. Two important ratios of TFFs are $r_V=1.234_{-0.322}^{+0.425}$ and $r_2=0.985_{-0.274}^{+0.347}$. After extrapolating TFFs to the whole physical $q^2$ region by a simplified $z(q^2,t)$-series expansion, we obtain the differential decay width and branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(B^{+}\to \omega {\ell }^{+}\nu )=(1.35_{-0.03-0.66}^{+0.02+1.22})\times {10}^{-4}$, which show good agreement with BABAR and Belle Collaborations. Finally, we extract the $|V_{ub}|$ by using the ${\mathcal{B}}_{\mathrm{Exp}}(B^{+}\to \omega {\ell }^{+}\nu )$ result from the BABAR Collaboration, which leads to $|V_{ub}|=(3.66_{-0.17-0.95}^{+0.12+1.26})\times {10}^{-3}$.

We present a systematic method to derive the chiral kinetic theory from the Wigner equations based on quantum field theory order by order. We take special effort to derive the chiral kinetic theory in seven-dimensional phase space from the eight-dimensional chiral kinetic theory. We give the seven-dimensional chiral kinetic theory up to second order of semiclassical expansion. We find some new second-order contributions compared with other approaches.

In the minimal left-right symmetric theory, the dark matter candidate is usually ascribed to the lightest right-handed neutrino. Here we present an alternative decaying dark matter candidate in this model in terms of the lightest neutral scalar from the $SU(2{)}_R$-triplet field. This setup requires a vast hierarchy between the scalar mass and the left-right symmetry breaking scale, which renders the scalar dark matter sufficiently stable on cosmological time scales. The stability of the dark matter imposes constraints on the right-handed neutrino mass, which has consequences for the neutrino mass generation, as well as for leptogenesis. Although somewhat fine-tuned, it provides a very economical scenario wherein the minimal left-right model can simultaneously explain dark matter, neutrino masses, and the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe.

In the Arkani-Hamed-Dimopoulos-Dvali (ADD) model with $n$ extra compactified dimensions, the gravitational potential scales as $1/r^{n+1}$ and becomes significantly stronger at short distances. We investigate the possibility of forming small-sized composite systems of Standard Model particles bound by this potential. Such bound states, composed of quarks, neutrinos, axions or other particles, exhibit a small cross-section-to-mass ratio, making them viable candidates for dark matter.

The isoscalar axial-vector form factor of the nucleon plays a key role in understanding the electroweak interaction of nucleons. For the interpretation of the spin structure of the nucleon the nonsinglet isoscalar axial charge is indispensable. Moreover, $G_A^{u+d-2s}(Q^2)$ together with the isovector and singlet isoscalar form factors are needed for the flavor decomposition of the axial-vector form factor. Detailed knowledge of the flavor decomposition facilitates extractions of Standard Model (SM) parameters from low energy experiments such as the electroweak charge of the proton in the P2 experiment. Here we present a lattice determination of $G_A^{u+d-2s}(Q^2)$ on $N_f=2+1$ $\mathcal{O}(a)$ improved Wilson fermions, with a full error budget concerning extrapolations and interpolations to the continuum and infinite volume and physical quark masses.

We study the melting of $c\overline{c}$ and $b\overline{b}$ pairs in the early stage of high-energy proton-nucleus collisions. We describe the early stage in terms of an evolving $SU(3)$ glasma stage, that is dominated by intense, out-of-equilibrium gluon fields. On top of these fields, we liberate heavy quark-antiquark pairs, whose constituents are let evolve according to relativistic kinetic theory coupled to the gluon fields. We define a pair-by-pair probability that the pair melts during the evolution, which we relate to the fluctuations of the color charges induced by the interaction of the quarks with the gluon fields. We find that color decorrelation is the main melting mechanism within the pre-equilibrium stage. Moreover, we estimate that within $\mathrm{\Delta }\tau \approx 0.4–0.5\mathrm{fm}/\mathrm{c}$ after the formation time of the pairs, about 50% of $c\overline{c}$ and $b\overline{b}$ pairs are melted.

We study the production of open-flavor heavy hadrons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The hadronization in the quark-gluon plasma is described in the quark coalescence model. We evaluated yields and transverse momentum distributions. A simultaneous study of conventional and exotic hadrons is carried out. The Wigner functions are evaluated using hadron wave functions obtained from a single realistic quark model. Thus, results are presented in a single framework for the production of open-flavor heavy mesons, baryons, and exotic tetraquarks, in particular: $D^0$, $B^0$, ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_Q$, ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_Q$, ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_Q$, ${\mathrm{\Xi }}_{Q{Q}^{\prime }}$, and $T_{Q{Q}^{\prime }}$ ($Q,Q^{\prime }=c$ or $b$). The consequences of a partial restoration of chiral symmetry at the hadronization temperature are studied in detail.

In this work, nontrivial analytic structure of the quark propagator is discussed for $B$-meson inclusive decays. Attributed to invalidity of the standard Källén-Lehman spectral representation, complex conjugate poles alter the evaluation of decay rates, which lead to violation of quark-hadron duality. As phenomenological observables, widths in $B\to X_c\ell \overline{\nu }$ decay as well as the lifetime of the $B_d^0$ meson are discussed. In the presence of the mentioned nonanalytical contributions, the possibility for resolving the $|V_{cb}|$ puzzle is addressed. It is demonstrated that there exists a parameter region, which explains $|V_{cb}|$ and $B_d^0$-meson lifetime simultaneously within $1\sigma$ via the complex conjugate poles from a charm quark.

We discuss the existence of Landau-pole-free renormalization group trajectories in the Minkowskian version of the Curci-Ferrari model as a function of a running parameter $q^2$ associated to the four-vector $q$ at which renormalization conditions are imposed, and which can take both spacelike ($q^2<0$) and timelike ($q^2>0$) values. We discuss two possible extensions of the infrared-safe scheme defined in [An infrared safe perturbative approach to Yang-Mills correlators, Phys. Rev. D 84, 045018 (2011)] for the Euclidean version of the model, which coincide with the latter in the spacelike region upon identifying $Q^2\equiv -q^2$ with the square of the renormalization scale in that reference. The first extension uses real-valued renormalization factors and leads to a flow in the timelike region with a similar structure as the flow in the spacelike region (or in the Euclidean model), including a nontrivial fixed point and a family of trajectories bounded at all scales by the value of the coupling at this fixed point. Interestingly, the fixed point in the timelike region has a much smaller value of $\lambda \equiv g^{2}N/16{\pi }^2$ than the corresponding one in the spacelike region, a value closer to the perturbative boundary $\lambda =1$. However, in this real-valued infrared-safe scheme, the flow cannot connect the timelike and spacelike regions. Thus, it is not possible to deduce the relevant timelike flow trajectory from the sole knowledge of a spacelike flow trajectory. To try to cure this problem, we investigate a second extension of the Euclidean IR-safe scheme, which allows for complex-valued renormalization factors. We discuss under which conditions these schemes can make sense and study their ability to connect spacelike and timelike flow trajectories. In particular, we investigate onto which types of timelike trajectories the perturbative spacelike trajectories are mapped.

The multiplicities of positive and negative pions, kaons, and unidentified hadrons produced in deep-inelastic scattering are measured in bins of the Bjorken scaling variable $x$, the relative virtual-photon energy $y$, and the fraction of the virtual-photon energy transferred to the final-state hadron $z$. Data were obtained by the COMPASS Collaboration using a 160 GeV muon beam of both electric charges and a liquid hydrogen target. These measurements cover the kinematic domain with photon virtuality $Q^2>1(\mathrm{GeV}/c{)}^2$, $0.004<x<0.4$, $0.1<y<0.7$, and $0.2<z<0.85$, in accordance with the kinematic domain used in earlier published COMPASS multiplicity measurements with an isoscalar target. The calculation of radiative corrections was improved by using the Monte Carlo generator djangoh, which results in up to 12% larger corrections in the low-$x$ region.

Utilizing $7.9{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ of $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ collision data taken with the BESIII detector at the center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV, we report the measurements of absolute branching fractions of the hadronic decays $D^0\to K^{-}3{\pi }^{+}2{\pi }^{-}$, $D^0\to K^{-}2{\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}2{\pi }^0$ and $D^{+}\to K^{-}3{\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}{\pi }^0$. The $D^0\to K^{-}3{\pi }^{+}2{\pi }^{-}$ decay is measured with improved precision, while the latter two decays are observed with statistical significance higher than $5\sigma$ for the first time. The absolute branching fractions of these decays are determined to be $\mathcal{B}(D^0\to K^{-}3{\pi }^{+}2{\pi }^{-})=(1.35\pm 0.23\pm 0.08)\times {10}^{-4}$, $\mathcal{B}(D^0\to K^{-}2{\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}2{\pi }^0)=(19.0\pm 1.1\pm 1.5)\times {10}^{-4}$, and $\mathcal{B}(D^{+}\to K^{-}3{\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}{\pi }^0)=(6.57\pm 0.69\pm 0.33)\times {10}^{-4}$, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic.

We follow the classical double copy (DC) procedure that links Yang-Mills and double field theory (DFT), and apply it on a four-derivative gauge theory which is known to be related to Weyl gravity at the level of the amplitudes. We obtain a perturbative T-duality invariant theory on a double geometry, or conformal double field theory (CDFT), incorporating Weyl gravity plus $b$-field and dilaton contributions at quadratic order, without the need to impose a gauge-fixing condition. We also extend the formulation to cubic order for the case of vanishing generalized dilaton, which still incorporates Weyl gravity when $\square h_{\mu \nu }=h=0$. CDFT, together with ordinary DFT, are examples of T-duality invariant theories constructed through classical DC maps, revealing a promising and deep connection between gauge theories and T-duality invariant models.

We consider a bulk plus boundary extension of Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity coupled with non-Abelian gauge fields. The generalization is performed in the Poisson sigma model formulation and it is derived as a dimensional reduction of the ${\mathrm{AdS}}_3$ Chern-Simons theory with Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) boundary terms. We discuss the role of boundary conditions in relation to the symmetries of the boundary dynamics and we show that the boundary action can be written in terms of coadjoint orbits of an appropriate Virasoro-Kac-Moody group. We obtain a Schwarzian action and interaction terms with additional edge modes that match the effective low-energy action of recent Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev-like tensor models.

Proper time functional flow equations have garnered significant attention in recent years, as they are particularly suitable in analyzing nonperturbative contexts. By resorting to this flow, we investigate the regulator and gauge dependence in quantum Einstein gravity within the asymptotic safety framework, considering various regularization schemes. Our findings indicate that some details of the regulator have minor influence on the critical properties of the theory. In contrast, the selection between linear and exponential parametrizations appears to have a more substantial impact on the scaling behavior of the renormalized flow near the non-Gaussian fixed point.

We investigate holographically the effective theory of the worldvolume fermion on the flavor branes in the D3/D7 model with homogeneously smeared D(-1)-branes. As a top-down approach in gauge-gravity duality, the D(-1)-branes are instantons and violate the $CP$ symmetry in the dual theory. The background geometry of this model contains black brane (deconfined geometry) and bubble D3-brane solutions (confined geometry), all with a nonzero Ramond-Ramond zero form as axion. The dual theories to the backgrounds are respectively the Super Yang-Mills theory at finite temperature and three-dimensional confining Yang-Mills theory, all with a Chern-Simons term induced by instantons. In the confined geometry, we introduce a baryon vertex as a D5-brane wrapped on $S^5$, then identify the fermionic fluxes produced by the $N_c$ open strings on the D7-brane as a baryonic operator. Afterwards, we study the spectrum and the holographic correlation function of the baryonic fermion on the D7-branes. Remarkably, the fermionic spectrum is in agreement with the dispersion curves obtained from the confined correlation function, and the mass ratio of the lowest baryon and meson in our model is close to the associated experimental data. Moreover, the effective interaction terms of the holographic baryon and meson are derived and all the coupling constants take order of $N_c^{1/2}$ agreeing with the evaluation from the large $N_c$ field theory. In the deconfined geometry, the holographic correlation function is also evaluated numerically while the fermion on D7-brane is identified to plasmino instead of baryon. The dispersion curves from the deconfined correlation function basically cover the results from the hard thermal loop approximation and may imply the instanton-induced interaction with spin. Overall, this work constructs a holographic theory about baryonic fermion and mesonic boson with instantons or $CP$ violation.

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the Finslerian interpretation of null geodesics in the exterior regions of stationary black holes, particularly through the Zermelo navigation problem and the Randers metric. In this work, we show that recent mathematical advancements in wind-Finslerian structures, which involve the critical and strong Zermelo navigation problems and their connections to Kropina and Lorentz-Finsler metrics, enable the extension of the Finslerian framework to encompass horizons and their interior regions of black holes. The Finslerian indicatrix, a key element of this framework, serves as an effective tool for identifying frame-dragging effects and the location of horizons and ergosurfaces. We illustrate our results with explicit physical examples, focusing on spherically symmetric black holes, Kerr black holes, and analog models of gravity. Our findings provide new insights into the “river model” of black holes, offering enhanced visual representations of null geodesics on the ergosurfaces and horizons and within their interior regions.

Cauchy-characteristic matching (CCM) is a numerical-relativity technique that solves Einstein’s equations on an effectively infinite computational domain, thereby eliminating systematic errors associated with artificial boundary conditions. Whether CCM can robustly handle fully nonlinear, dynamical spacetimes, such as binary black hole (BBH) mergers, has remained an open question. In this work, we provide a positive answer by presenting nine successful CCM simulations of BBHs, and demonstrate a key application of this method: computing late-time tails. Our results pave the path for systematic studies of late-time tails in BBH systems, and for producing highly accurate waveforms essential to next-generation gravitational-wave detectors.

We analyze scalar wave emission from unbound orbits in a topological star spacetime. Our study uses a self-force approach and leads to a post-Newtonian reconstruction of the field along the orbit, both in the time domain and in the frequency domain. We also compute leading-order radiation losses, namely energy and angular momentum.