Using a sample of $(2712\pm 14)\times {10}^6\psi (3686)$ events collected with the BESIII detector, we perform partial wave analyses of the decays $\psi (3686)\to p\overline{p}{\pi }^0$ and $\psi (3686)\to p\overline{p}\eta$. The branching fractions of $\psi (3686)\to p\overline{p}{\pi }^0$ and $\psi (3686)\to p\overline{p}\eta$ are determined to be $(133.9\pm 11.2\pm 2.3)\times {10}^{-6}$ or $(183.7\pm 13.7\pm 3.2)\times {10}^{-6}$ and $(61.5\pm 6.5\pm 1.1)\times {10}^{-6}$ or $(84.4\pm 6.9\pm 1.4)\times {10}^{-6}$, respectively, where the two solutions are caused by an ambiguous phase angle between resonant and continuum processes. Several well-established $N^{*}$ states are observed in the $p{\pi }^0$ and $p\eta$ systems, and the corresponding branching fractions are measured. The ratio of decay widths ${\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{N(1535)\to N\eta }/{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{N(1535)\to N\pi }$ is determined to be $0.99\pm 0.05\pm 0.19$.

Recently Weyl edge states on manifolds in dimension $d+1$ with a connected $d$-dimensional boundary were proposed as candidates for lattice regularization of chiral gauge theories, for even $d$. The examples considered to date include solid cylinders in any odd dimension, and the 3 ball with boundary $S^2$. Here we consider the general case of a ($d+1$)-dimensional ball for any even $d$ and show that the theory for the edge states on $S^d$ describe a conventional Weyl fermion on a sphere with half-integer momenta. A possible advantage of such theories is that they can be discretized by a square lattice without breaking the underlying discrete hypercubic symmetry.

The generalized-geometric formulation of 10-dimensional supergravity suggests a particular simple “limit,” which results in a theory whose only dynamical degrees of freedom are the dilaton and the dilatino. The theory is still invariant both under generalized diffeomorphisms and a local supersymmetry and in many aspects is structurally similar to the original supergravity, which makes it a convenient playground for understanding more subtle aspects of the full physical setup. In particular, the simplicity and the geometric nature of the dilatonic theory allow us to build a full Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) extension to all orders in the fermionic variables.

Fetching techniques from generalized geometry and exceptional field theory, we develop a new method to identify consistent subsectors of four-dimensional gauged maximal supergravities that possess a (locally) geometric embedding in type IIB or 11D supergravity. We show that a subsector that is invariant under a structure group ${\mathrm{G}}_{\mathrm{S}}\subset {\mathrm{E}}_{7(7)}$ can define a consistent truncation, even when ${\mathrm{G}}_{\mathrm{S}}$ is not part of the symmetry of the gauged maximal supergravity. As an illustration of the method, type IIB supergravity on ${\mathrm{S}}^1\times {\mathrm{S}}^5$ is shown to admit a consistent truncation to pure $\mathcal{N}=4$, $D=4$ gauged supergravity. Explicit uplift formulae are presented which provide a type IIB alternative to the M-theory embedding constructed by Cvetic, Lu, and Pope 25 years ago.

We give a tentative definition of the recently introduced root-$T\overline{T}$ operator in a generic, two-dimensional quantum conformal field theory with a continuous spectrum of scaling weights. The definition assumes certain factorization properties and uses Schwinger parametrization to introduce the square root. Properties of the operator thus defined are investigated by explicit computation of variations of two- and three-point correlation functions.

One of the foremost concerns in the analysis of quantum gravity is whether the locations of classical horizons are stable under a full quantum analysis. In principle, any classical description, when interpolated to the microscopic level, can become prone to fluctuations. The curious question in that case is if there indeed are such fluctuations at the Planck scale, do they have any significance for physics taking place at scales much away from the Planck scale? In this work, we address the question of small scales and address whether there are definitive signatures of Planck scale shifts in the horizon structure. In a recent work [K. Lochan and T. Padmanabhan, Classical Quantum Gravity 42, 03LT01 (2025)], it was suggested that in a nested sequence of Rindler causal wedges, the vacua of preceding Rindler frames appear thermally populated to a shifted Rindler frame. The Bogoliubov analysis relies on the global notion of the quantum field theory and turns out to be insensitive to the local character of these horizon shifts. We investigate this system by means of the Unruh-DeWitt detector and see if this local probe of the quantum field theory is sensitive enough to the shift parameters to reveal any microscopic effects. For the case of infinite-time response, we recover the thermal spectrum, thus reaffirming that the infinite-time response probes the global properties of the field. On the other hand, the finite-time response turns out to be sensitive to the shift parameter in a peculiar way that any detector with energy gap $\mathrm{\Omega }c/a\sim 1$ and is operational for timescale $Ta/c\sim 1$ has a measurably different response for a macroscopic and microscopic shift of the horizon, giving us a direct probe to the tiniest separation between the Rindler wedges. Thus, this study provides an operational method to identify Planck scale effects that can be generalized to various other interesting gravitational settings.

Minkowski vacuum is empty from the perspective of Unruh-Minkowski photons, however, in the Rindler picture, it is filled with entangled pairs of Rindler photons. A ground-state atom uniformly accelerated through Minkowski vacuum can become excited by absorbing a Rindler photon (Unruh effect) or, in the alternative description, by emitting an Unruh-Minkowski photon (Unruh-Wald effect). We find an exact solution for the quantum evolution of a long chain of harmonic oscillators accelerated through Minkowski vacuum and for two chains accelerated in the opposite directions. We show how entanglement of Rindler photons present in Minkowski vacuum is transferred to the oscillators moving in causally disconnected regions. We also show that in the Unruh-Minkowski photon picture the process can be interpreted as if initial correlations between collective oscillator modes are transferred to the generated Unruh-Minkowski photons.

Studying the spectrum of $(\mathrm{scalar}\mathrm{curvature}{)}^2$ gravities on Minkowski background inevitably results in a catch-22: any consistent interpretation of the particle dynamics dictates that no accidental gauge symmetries emerge, a requirement that cannot be fulfilled when these theories are studied on Minkowski. Being artifacts of the linearized approximation on top of Minkowski spacetime, accidental symmetries do not persist at higher orders and degrees of freedom are reintroduced via interactions, suggesting that the analysis of the particle content is hindered by strong coupling effects. Such undesirable symmetries are absent already at the leading nontrivial order in perturbations on nonflat backgrounds, e.g. de Sitter spacetime, which are the appropriate ones for studying the particle dynamics of these theories.

We investigate black hole solutions with time-dependent (scalar) hair in scalar-tensor theories. Known exact solutions exist for such theories at the background level, where the metric takes on a standard general relativity (GR) form (e.g., Schwarzschild–de Sitter), but these solutions are generically plagued by instabilities. Recently, a new such solution was identified by Bakopoulos et al. [Phys. Rev. D 109, 024032 (2024)], in which the time-dependent scalar background profile is qualitatively different from previous known exact solutions—specifically, the canonical kinetic term for the background scalar $X$ is not constant in this solution. We investigate the stability of this new solution by analyzing odd parity perturbations, identifying a bound placed by stability and the resulting surviving parameter space. We extract the quasinormal mode spectrum predicted by the theory, finding a generic positive shift of quasinormal mode frequencies and damping times compared to GR. We forecast constraints on these shifts (and the single effective parameter $\widehat{\beta }$ controlling them) from current and future gravitational wave experiments, finding constraints at up to the $\mathcal{O}({10}^{-2})$ and $\mathcal{O}({10}^{-4})$ level for LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA and Laser Interferometer Space Antenna/TianQin, respectively. All calculations performed in this paper are reproducible via a companion Mathematica notebook.

In this study, we investigate the stability of the greybody factor of Hayward black holes by adding a small bump to the effective potential. Since the greybody factor depends on frequency, we introduce the $\mathcal{G}$-factor and $\mathcal{H}$-factor to quantitatively characterize its stability. We study the stability of the greybody factor within the equal amplitude method and the equal energy method, respectively. Here, the equal amplitude method can be directly imposed by fixing the amplitude of the bump, while the equal energy method requires a physical definition of the energy of the bump with the assistance of hyperboloidal framework. For both methods, when the location of the bump is close to the event horizon of the black hole, and the closer it is to the peak of the original potential, the larger are $\mathcal{G}$-factor and $\mathcal{H}$-factor, and they are bounded by the magnitude of the amplitude or the energy. More importantly, for the equal amplitude method, two factors tend to a specific value as the location of the bump increases. In contrast, for the equal energy method, two factors converge to zero as the location of the bump increases. Notably, the $\mathcal{G}$-factor and the $\mathcal{H}$-factor are insensitive to the regular parameter of Hayward black hole. Therefore, our results indicate that the greybody factor is stable under specific perturbations.

We explore the trace (Weyl) anomaly within a general metric-affine geometry that includes both torsion and nonmetricity. Using the heat kernel method and Seeley’s algorithm, we compute the Minakshisundaram coefficients for arbitrary spacetimes within this framework, incorporating the effects of the nonmetricity and torsion tensors for the first time. We then determine the corrections to the trace anomaly at one loop for the matter sector in theories invariant under conformal transformation, frame rescaling transformation, and projective transformation. We identify a new anomaly related to hypermomentum, arising from the dilation part mediated by the Weyl component of nonmetricity. As particular cases, we analyze the spin 0 and spin $1/2$ cases, considering various couplings between matter and the gravitational sector. We demonstrate that invariance under the frame rescaling transformation results in an anomaly in the relationship between the hypermomentum and the stress-energy tensor. In contrast, under the projective transformation, no anomaly is present; specifically, there is no nonzero trace of the hypermomentum tensor in any of our concrete examples.

We perform fits to DESI, CMB, and supernova data to understand the physical origin of the DESI hint for dynamical dark energy. We find that the parametrization $w=w_0+(1-a)w_a$ can, misleadingly, hint for a phantom Universe, although quintessence models fit the data well. Model-independently, we find that deviations from $\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{CDM}$ are driven by low-$z$ supernova data and take place only at very low redshifts $z<0.1$. Therefore, either our Universe underwent dramatic changes very recently or we do not fully understand our local Universe in a radius of about $300h^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}$.

Line-intensity mapping offers an approach to obtain three-dimensional maps of the large-scale structure by collecting the aggregate emission from all emitters along the line of sight. The procedure hinges on reconstructing the radial positions of sources by relating the observed frequency to the rest-frame frequency of a target emission line. However, this step is hindered by “interloper-line” emission from different cosmological volumes that redshifts into the same observed frequency. In this work, we propose a model-independent technique to remove the contamination of line interlopers using their statistical correlation with external tracers of the large-scale structure, and identify the weights that minimize the variance of the cleaned field. Furthermore, we derive expressions for the resulting power spectra after applying our cleaning procedure and validate them against simulations. We find that the cleaning performance improves as the correlation between the line interlopers and the external tracer increases, resulting in a gain in the signal-to-noise ratio of up to a factor 6 (2) for the auto- (cross-)power spectrum in idealized scenarios. This approach has the advantage of being model-independent and is highly complementary to other techniques, as it removes interloper large-scale clustering modes instead of individually masking the brightest sources of contamination.

A novel methodology for analyzing the relation between the energy density in gravitational waves and primordial power spectra is developed. Focusing on scalar-induced gravitational radiation, this methodology is applied to a number of scenarios for the primordial black hole formation. Being differed from conventional Bayesian approaches, its advantages include directness and computational efficiency, which are crucial for handling the complex data characteristic of gravitational wave research. As an important application, it is demonstrated that this methodology allows for the systematic reconstruction of power spectra across all scenarios using current pulsar timing array data, providing a clear example of its potential in gravitational wave analysis.

Kilonovae, possible electromagnetic counterparts to neutron star mergers, provide important information about high-energy transient phenomena and, in principle, also allow us to obtain information about the source properties responsible for powering the kilonova. Unfortunately, numerous uncertainties exist in kilonova modeling that, at the current stage, hinder accurate predictions. Hence, one has to account for possible systematic modeling uncertainties when interpreting the observed transients. In this work, we provide a data-driven approach to account for time-dependent and filter-dependent uncertainties in kilonova models. Through a suite of tests, we find that the most reliable recovery of the source parameters and description of the observational data can be obtained through a combination of kilonova models with time- and filter-dependent systematic uncertainties. We apply our new method to analyze AT2017gfo. While recovering a total ejecta mass consistent with previous studies, our approach gives insights into the temporal and spectral evolution of the systematic uncertainties of this kilonova. We consistently find a systematic error below 1 mag between 1 to 5 days after the merger. Our work addresses the need for early follow-up of kilonovae at earlier times, and improved modeling of the kilonova at later times, to reduce the uncertainties outside of this time window.

We demonstrate an end-to-end technique for observing and characterizing massive black hole binary signals before they merge with the LISA space-based gravitational-wave observatory. Our method uses a zero-latency whitening filter, originally designed for rapidly observing compact binary mergers in ground-based observatories, to be able to observe signals with no additional latency due to filter length. We show that with minimal computational cost, we are able to reliably observe signals as early as 14 days premerger as long as the signal has accrued a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 8 in the LISA data. We also demonstrate that this method can be used to characterize the source properties, providing early estimates of the source’s merger time, chirp mass, and sky localization. Early observation and characterization of massive black holes is crucial to enable the possibility of rapid multimessenger observations, and to ensure that LISA can enter a protected operating period when the merger signal arrives.

This study presents a comprehensive model for neutrino deep inelastic scattering (DIS) cross sections spanning energies from 50 to $5\times {10}^{12}\mathrm{GeV}$ with an emphasis on applications to neutrino telescopes. We provide calculations of the total charged-current DIS cross sections and inelasticity distributions up to next-to-next-to-leading order for isoscalar nucleon targets and up to next-to-leading order for nuclear targets. Several modifications to the structure functions are applied to improve the modeling of the cross sections at low energies where perturbative QCD is less accurate and at energies above ${10}^4\mathrm{GeV}$ where there is non-negligible top quark production and small-$x$ logarithms need to be resummed. Using the Fixed-order next-to-leading logarithm (FONLL) general-mass variable-flavor number scheme, we account for heavy quark mass effects and separate the heavy flavor components of the structure functions, obtaining predictions of their relative contributions to the cross sections and the uncertainties arising from the parton distribution functions. Additionally, the effects of final state radiation are implemented in the calculation of the double-differential cross section and discussed in terms of their impact on measurements at neutrino telescopes.

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will be capable of detecting gravitational waves (GWs) in the milli-Hertz band. Among various sources, LISA will detect the coalescence of supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs). Accurate and rapid inference of parameters for such sources will be important for potential electromagnetic follow-up efforts. Rapid Bayesian inference with LISA includes additional complexities as compared to current generation terrestrial detectors in terms of time and frequency dependent antenna response functions. In this work, we extend a recently developed, computationally efficient technique that uses meshfree interpolation methods to accelerate Bayesian reconstruction of compact binaries. Originally developed for second-generation terrestrial detectors, this technique is now adapted for LISA parameter estimation. Using the full inspiral, merger, and ringdown waveform (PhenomD) and assuming rigid adiabatic antenna response function, we show faithful inference of SMBHB parameters from GW signals embedded in stationary, Gaussian instrumental noise. We discuss the computational cost and performance of the meshfree approximation method in estimating the GW source parameters.

QCD at large density reveals a rich phase structure, ranging from a potential critical end point and inhomogeneous phases or moat regimes to color superconducting ones with competing order effects. Resolving this region in the phase diagram of QCD with functional approaches requires a great deal of quantitative reliability already for a qualitative access. In the present work, we systematically extend the functional renormalization group approach to low-energy QCD by setting up a fully self-consistent approximation scheme in a low-energy effective quark-meson theory. In this approximation, all pointlike multiscattering events of the mesonic pion and the $\sigma$ mode are taken into account in terms of an effective potential as well as all higher quark-antiquark-mesonic scattering orders. As a first application we compute the phase structure of QCD including its low temperature, large chemical potential part. The quantitative reliability of the approximation and systematic extensions is also discussed.

We derive the integral equations for partial-wave projected three-body scattering amplitudes, starting from the integral equations for three-body amplitudes developed for lattice QCD analyses. The results, which hold for generic three-body systems of spinless particles, build upon the recently derived partial-wave projected one-particle exchange, a primary component of the relativistic framework proven to satisfy $S$ matrix unitarity. We derive simplified expressions for factorizable short-distance interactions, ${\mathcal{K}}_3$, in two equivalent formalisms—one symmetric under particle interchange and one asymmetric. For the asymmetric case, we offer parametrizations useful for amplitude analysis. Finally, we examine toy models for $3\pi$ systems at unphysically heavy pion masses with total isospins 0, 1, and 2.