We put constraints on the peak absolute magnitude, $M_B$ of type Ia supernova using the Pantheon sample for type Ia supernova observations and the cosmic chronometers data for the Hubble parameter by a model independent and nonparametric approach. Our analysis is based on the Gaussian process regression. We find percent level bounds on the peak absolute magnitude given as $M_B=-19.384\pm 0.052$. For completeness and to check the consistency of the results, we also include the baryon acoustic oscillation data and the prior of the comoving sound horizon from Planck 2018 cosmic microwave background observations. The inclusion of these two data gives tighter constraints on $M_B$ at the subpercent level. We obtain constraints on $M_B$ from the combination of Pantheon compilation of type Ia supernova observations and baryon acoustic oscillation observations given as $M_B=-19.396\pm 0.016$. When adding the cosmic chronometer observations with these observations, we find $M_B=-19.395\pm 0.015$. The mean values of peak absolute magnitude from all these data are consistent with each other and the values are approximately equal to $-19.4$.

A violation of the null energy condition (NEC) during inflation in a single-field inflation model will naturally enhance the amplitude of the parity-violation effect (defined by $\mathrm{\Delta }\chi$) of inflationary primordial gravitational waves (GWs), provided the inflaton is nonminimally coupled to a gravitational Chern-Simons term. After going through the NEC-violating phase, the Universe enters subsequent slow-roll inflation with a higher energy scale (i.e., a greater Hubble parameter $H$), which results in an enhanced nearly scale-invariant power spectrum (i.e., $P_{\mathrm{T}}$) of inflationary primordial GWs in the high-frequency band, while $P_{\mathrm{T}}$ remains consistent with observations in the frequency band of the cosmic microwave background. Therefore, the violation of NEC during inflation will amplify the observability (i.e., $P_{\mathrm{T}}·\mathrm{\Delta }\chi$) of the parity-violation effect on small scales. Intriguingly, our model has particular oscillatory features on $\mathrm{\Delta }\chi$ that may not be mimicked by others.

In a recent paper by Gao et al. [Phys. Rev. D 105, 094002 (2022).], $S$-wave $\pi \pi$ scattering phase shifts obtained in a lattice-QCD calculation are analyzed using dispersive $S$-matrix methods. We question the reliability of the conclusion from this analysis that, for a pion mass of 391 MeV, the lattice phases favor the presence of both a $\sigma$-meson bound state and a nearby virtual state. Our main criticism concerns the neglect of the $S$-wave $K\overline{K}$ channel, which was considered alongside additional $s\overline{s}$ interpolating fields in the lattice computation used by the authors of Gao et al. and also in typical coupled-channel models. As an illustration, some results from such a recent model are presented as well. Concluding remarks concern possible improvements of the analysis in Gao et al. as well as further model tests.

In this paper we explore explicit exact solutions of the $SU(2)$ Yang-Mills (YM) and Yang-Mill-Higgs (YMH) equations with homogeneous and inhomogeneous external sources. Whereas in the case of YM we have confirmed our analytical findings with the numerical simulations, the numerical corroborations in the YMH case yielded the stochastic character of motion for the ensuing fields.

The master equation for the reduced density matrix of a charged particle interacting with a translation invariant weakly coupled environment is considered. The electric current is renormalized by the system-environment interaction, leading to a direct signature of the environment in the bremsstrahlung. The general solution is given in the absence of the external electromagnetic field, and the spread and the decoherence of a wave packet are followed. The increased complexity and importance of the boundary conditions for the density matrix are pointed out.

Light halo dark matter (DM) particles up-scattered by high-energy cosmic rays (referred to as CRDM) can be energetic and become detectable at conventional DM and neutrino experiments. We show that the CRDM flux has a novel and detectable morphological feature. Unlike most of the recently proposed boosted DM models, which predict azimuthally symmetric DM fluxes around the Galactic Center, the CRDM flux breaks the azimuthal symmetry significantly. Using cosmic-ray electron distribution in the whole Galaxy and optimized search region in the sky according to the morphology of the CRDM flux, we derive, so far, the most stringent constraints on the DM-electron scattering cross section from the Super-Kamiokande (SK) IV data, which improves the previous constraints from the SK-IV full-sky data by more than an order of magnitude. Based on the improved constraints, we predict that the azimuthal symmetry-breaking effect can be observed in the future Hyper-Kamiokande experiment at $\sim 3\sigma$ level.

We introduce a model for matter genesis in which both the baryonic and dark matter asymmetries originate from a first-order phase transition in a dark sector with an $SU(3)\times SU(2)\times U(1)$ gauge group and minimal matter content. In the simplest scenario, we predict that dark matter is a dark antineutron with mass of either $m_{\overline{n}}=1.36\mathrm{GeV}$ or $m_{\overline{n}}=1.63\mathrm{GeV}$. Alternatively, dark matter may be comprised of equal numbers of dark antiprotons and pions. In either scenario, this model is highly discoverable through both dark matter direct detection and dark photon search experiments. The strong dark matter self-interactions may ameliorate small-scale structure problems, while the strongly first-order phase transition may be confirmed at future gravitational wave observatories.

Semi-invisible decays of mesons are a prime strategy for searches of new particles or forbidden decays. At current and upcoming facilities beauty mesons are produced in pairs, and the second decay often provides a “tag” to enhance signal reconstruction. Typical tags are fully reconstructed, hadronic decays, whereas one tends to discard “semileptonic” modes, clean and abundant, but with an elusive neutrino. We introduce a new strategy that makes semileptonic tags competitive with hadronic tags, potentially implying a substantial increase in the usable event statistics for any semi-invisible meson or $\tau$-lepton decay. Our strategy rests on the use of appropriate kinematic quantities, collectively denoted as $M_2$, that had never been applied in the context of meson decays. We introduce $M_2$ definitions that leverage two key features of high-intensity meson-decay events: the known decaying-meson mass and its flight direction—accessible thanks to the exquisite vertexing capabilities available. We benchmark these definitions in the $B\to K\tau \mu$, a null test of the Standard Model of great current interest. In an unrefined application we already observe a substantial improvement in sensitivity—halfway to the ideal case of using fully reconstructed semileptonic tags with true kinematics.

We revisit models of heavy neutral leptons (neutrissimos) with transition magnetic moments as explanations of the $4.8\sigma$ excess of electronlike events at MiniBooNE. We first reexamine the preferred regions in the model parameter space to explain MiniBooNE, considering also potential contributions from oscillations due to an eV-scale sterile neutrino. We then derive constraints on the model using neutrino-electron elastic scattering data from MINERvA. To carry out these analyses, we have developed a detailed Monte Carlo simulation of neutrissimo interactions within the MiniBooNE and MINERvA detectors using the LeptonInjector framework. This simulation allows for a significantly more robust evaluation of the neutrissimo model compared to previous studies in the literature—a necessary step in order to begin making definitive statements about beyond the Standard Model explanations of the MiniBooNE excess. We find that MINERvA rules out a large region of parameter space, but allowed solutions exist at the $2\sigma$ confidence level. A dedicated MINERvA analysis would likely be able to probe the entire region of preference of MiniBooNE in this model.

Incorporation of the standard model Yukawa interactions in a grand unified theory (GUT) often predicts varieties of new scalars that couple to the fermions and lead to some novel observational effects. We assess such a possibility for the color sextet diquark scalars within the realistic renormalizable models based on $SO(10)$ GUT. The spectrum consists of five sextets; $\mathrm{\Sigma }\sim (6,1,-\frac{2}{3})$, $S\sim (6,1,\frac{1}{3})$, $\overline{S}\sim (\overline{6},1,-\frac{1}{3})$, $\mathcal{S}\sim (6,1,\frac{4}{3})$, and $\mathbb{S}\sim (\overline{6},3,-\frac{1}{3})$. Computing explicitly their couplings with the quarks, we evaluate their contributions to the neutral meson-antimeson mixing and baryon number-violating processes like neutron-antineutron oscillation. The latter arises because of a $B-L$ violating trilinear coupling between the sextets which also contributes to some of the quartic couplings and perturbativity of the same leads to strong limits on the sextet masses. Using the values of the $B-L$ breaking scale and Yukawa couplings permitted in the realistic models, we derive constraints on the masses of these scalars. It is found that $\mathrm{\Sigma }$ along with any of the remaining sextets cannot be lighter than the $B-L$ breaking scale, simultaneously. In the realm of realistic models, this implies no observable $n\text{−}\overline{n}$ oscillation in near future experiments. We also point out a possibility in which the sub-GUT scale $\mathrm{\Sigma }$ and a pair of $S$, allowed by the other constraints, can viably produce the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe.

The shift in focus towards searches for physics beyond the Standard Model employing model-independent effective field theory methods necessitates a rigorous approach to matching to guarantee the validity of the obtained results and constraints. The limits on the leading dimension-six effective field theory effects can be rather inaccurate for LHC searches that suffer from large uncertainties while exploring an extensive energy range. Similarly, precise measurements can, in principle, test the subleading effects of the operator expansion. In this work, we present an algorithmic approach to automatize matching computations for dimension-eight operators for generic scalar extensions with proper implementation of equations of motion. We devise a step-by-step procedure to obtain the dimension-eight Wilson coefficients in a nonredundant basis to arrive at complete matching results. We apply this formalism to a range of scalar extensions of the Standard Model and provide tree-level and loop-suppressed results. Finally, we discuss the relevance of the dimension-eight operators for a range of phenomenological analyses, particularly focusing on Higgs and electroweak physics.

We obtain the gluon parton distribution functions (PDFs) in the proton within the extended light-front holographic QCD framework, where the proton couples with the spin-2 Pomeron in anti–de Sitter space, together with constraints imposed by the Veneziano model. The gluon helicity asymmetry, after satisfying the perturbative QCD constraints at small and large longitudinal momentum regions, agrees with existing experimental measurements. The polarized gluon distribution is consistent with global analyses. We predict the gluon helicity contribution to the proton spin, $\mathrm{\Delta }G=0.221_{-0.044}^{+0.056}$, close to the recent analysis with updated datasets and PHENIX measurements and the lattice QCD simulations. We subsequently present the unpolarized and polarized gluon generalized parton distributions in the proton.

In this paper we propose recurrence relations for the dipole densities in QCD, which allows us to find these densities from the solution to the Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov (BFKL) equation. We resolve these relations in the diffusion approximation for the BFKL kernel. Based on this solution, we found the sum of large Pomeron loops. This sum generates the scattering amplitude that decreases at large values of rapidity $Y$. It turns out that such behavior of the scattering amplitudes is an artifact of diffusion approximation. This approximation leads to the unitarization without saturation both in deep inelastic scattering and in dipole-dipole interaction at high energies.

We provide a systematic study of hybrid neutron star equations of state (EOS) consisting of a relativistic density functional for the hadronic phase and a covariant nonlocal Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (nlNJL) model to describe the color superconducting quark matter phase. Changing the values of the two free parameters, the dimensionless vector and diquark coupling strengths ${\eta }_V$ and ${\eta }_D$ results in a set of EOS with varying stiffness and deconfinement onset. The favorable parameters are obtained from a systematic Bayesian analysis for which the multimessenger constraint on the neutron star radius at $14M_{\odot }$ and the combined mass-radius constraint for PSR $\mathrm{J}0740+6620$ from NICER experiment are used as the constraints. Additionally, the transition from hadronic matter to deconfined quark matter is constrained to occur above nuclear saturation density. Hybrid stars modeled with these favorable parameters are compatible with the NICER results for the radius of the highest known mass neutron star, PSR $\mathrm{J}0740+6620$. Three new observations interesting for neutron star phenomenology are reported: (i) we show that the constant sound speed (CSS) EOS provides an excellent fit to that of the nlNJL model which implies the squared speed of sound at high densities to be about 0.5 for the optimized parameters; (ii) we give a simple functional form for the mapping between the parameter spaces of these two models valid for the whole range of relevant chemical potentials and (iii) we observe that the special point property of hybrid EOS based on CSS quark matter generalizes to a set of lines consisting of special points when two EOS parameters are varied instead of one. A lower limit for the maximum mass of hybrid stars as a function of the vector coupling strength is obtained.

We present a search for the decay $X(3872)\to {\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}{\pi }^0$ in the $(772\pm 11)\times {10}^6$ $\mathrm{\Upsilon }(4S)\to B\overline{B}$ data sample collected at the Belle detector, where the $X(3872)$ is produced in $B^{\pm }\to K^{\pm }X(3872)$ and $B^0\to K_S^{0}X(3872)$ decays. We do not observe a signal, and set 90% credible upper limits for two different models of the decay processes: if the decay products are distributed uniformly in phase space, $\mathcal{B}(X(3872)\to {\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}{\pi }^0)<1.3\%$, and if $M({\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-})$ is concentrated near the mass of the $D^0{\overline{D}}^0$ pair in the process $X(3872)\to D^0{\overline{D}}^{*0}+\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{c}.\to D^0{\overline{D}}^0{\pi }^0\to {\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}{\pi }^0$, $\mathcal{B}(X(3872)\to {\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}{\pi }^0)<1.2\times {10}^{-3}$.

The results obtained in our previous paper are now extended to the case of stationary axially symmetric dyonic black boles within the theory of two electromagnetic potentials. We slightly enlarge the classical Ernst formalism by introducing, with the aid of the $t$ and $\phi$ components of the dual potential $B_{\mu }$, the magnetic potential ${\mathrm{\Phi }}_m$ which, similar to the known electric potential ${\mathrm{\Phi }}_e$, also takes constant value on the black hole horizon. We analyze in detail the case of the dyonic Kerr-Newman black hole and show how the Komar mass must be evaluated correctly in this stationary dyonic model. In particular, we rigorously prove the validity of the standard Tomimatsu mass formula and point out that attempts to “improve” it made in recent years are explained by misunderstanding of the auxiliary role that singular potentials play in the description of magnetic charges. Our approach is symmetrical with respect to electric and magnetic charges and, like in the static case considered earlier, Dirac strings of all kind are excluded from the physical picture of the stationary black hole dyonic spacetimes.

In the present paper we argue that it is advantageous to study the dyonic black hole spacetimes within the theory of two electromagnetic potentials, and we use the dyonic Reissner-Nordström solution to demonstrate that the field of the monopole magnetic charge is correctly described by the $t$ component of the dual electromagnetic potential. As a result, the Dirac string associated with the $\phi$ component of the usual electromagnetic four-potential becomes just a mathematical object, without any physical content, that arises in some calculations when one employs unsymmetrical representations of the electromagnetic field. We use three different, though equivalent, forms of the electromagnetic energy-momentum tensor to calculate the Komar mass of the Reissner-Nordström black hole, and in one case the Dirac string is linked to the magnetic charge, in another to the electric charge, while the third, symmetrical case, is string free.

In this work, we present a convenient method to perform the topological analysis of black hole thermodynamics. Utilizing the spinodal curve, thermodynamic critical points of a black hole are endowed with a topological quantity, Brouwer degree, which reflects intrinsic properties of the system under smooth deformations. Particularly, in our setup it can be easily calculated without an exact solution of critical points. This enables us to conveniently investigate the topological transition between different thermodynamic systems, and give a topological classification for them. In this framework, topology of Lovelock AdS black holes with spherical horizon geometry is explored. Results show that charged black holes in arbitrary dimensions can be classified into the same topology class, whereas the $d=7$ and $d\ge 8$ uncharged black holes are in different topology classes. Moreover, we revisit the relation between different phase structures of these black holes from the viewpoint of topology. Some general topological properties of critical points are also discussed.

We revisit the decay of the orbital period in binary systems that occurs due to the emission of gravitational waves in the context of modifie- gravity models where the coupling $G_{gw}$ between matter and on shell gravitons is allowed to differ from the Newton constant $G_N$. Using the most precisely-timed double neutron star binary system, those of the double pulsar, we constrain the ratio $G_{gw}/G_N$ to the level of ${10}^{-4}$, improving by two orders of magnitude the present bound on this quantity.