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In this paper, we explore correlators of a series of theories in anti-de Sitter space: we present comprehensive results for interactions involving scalars, gluons, and gravitons in multiple dimensions. One aspect of our investigation is the establishment of an intriguing connection between the kinematic factors of these theories; indeed, such a connection directly relates these theories among themselves and with other theories of higher spin fields. Besides providing several explicit results throughout the paper, we also highlight the interconnections and relationships between these different theories, providing valuable insights into their similarities and distinctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss the possibility to probe a nearly-degenerate Z′-Z system by analyzing the Z-lineshape at an electron-positron collider. Compared with the usual Z′ in the literature well separated with the standard model (SM) Z boson in mass, the nearly-degenerate Z′-Z mixing affects the observed effective “oblique parameters” , , , and the effective deviation of “number of neutrino species” in a more complicated way and cannot be simply computed perturbatively up to a particular order. Aiming at solving this problem, we write down a general simplified effective Lagrangian and enumerate some parameter spaces corresponding to some typical models, and suggest a method to extract the constraints by looking into the line-shape of the Z-like resonance at an electron-positron collider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear confinement with Casimir scaling of the string tension in confining gauge theories is a consequence of a certain property of the Polyakov loop related to random matrices. This mechanism does not depend on the details of the theories (neither the gauge group nor dimensions) and explains approximate Casimir scaling below string-breaking length. In this paper, we study 3d SU(2) pure Yang-Mills theory numerically and find the same random-matrix behavior for rectangular Wilson loops. We conjecture that this is a universal feature of strongly coupled confining gauge theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we studied the relationship between celestial holography and chiral strings. Chiral strings differ from the usual string theory by a change of boundary conditions on the string propagators. It is shown that chiral strings would reproduce graviton amplitudes and could serve as an alternative description of Einstein’s gravity. Celestial holography is a proposed duality between gravity in asymptotically flat space-time and a CFT living on its conformal boundary. Since both are CFT descriptions of gravity, we investigate the potential connection between these two formalisms. In this paper, we find that both the energetic as well as conformal soft theorems could be derived from the OPEs of vertex operators of chiral strings. All operators in the CCFT can be described by Mellin transforming the vertex operators in the chiral string theories, and the OPE coefficients of CCFT can also be obtained from the world-sheet description. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the expected sensitivity to the mixing between sterile and tau neutrinos directly from the tau neutrino disappearance in the high-energy fixed target experiment. Here, the beam energy is large enough to produce tau neutrinos at the target with large luminosity. During their propagation to the detector, tau neutrinos may oscillate into sterile neutrinos. By examining the energy spectrum of the observed tau neutrino events, we can probe the mixing between sterile and tau neutrinos directly. In this paper, we consider Scattering and Neutrino Detector (SND) at SHiP experiment as a showcase, which uses 400 GeV protons from SPS at CERN, and expect to observe 7,300 tau and anti-tau neutrinos from the 2 × 1020 POT for 5 years operation. Assuming the uncertainty of 10%, we find the sensitivity |Uτ4|2 ∼ 0.08 (90% CL) for ∆ m 41 2 ∼ 500 eV2 with 10% background to the signal. We also consider a far SND at the end of the SHiP Hidden Sector Decay Spectrometer (HSDS), in which case the sensitivity would be enhanced to |Uτ4|2 ∼ 0.02. Away from this mass, the sensitivity becomes lower than |Uτ4|2 ∼ 0.15 for ∆ m 41 2 ≲ 100 eV2 or ∆ m 41 2 ≳ 104eV2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, I studied the thermodynamical properties of the Einstein-Maxwell system with a box boundary in 4-dimensions [1]. In this paper, I investigate those in 3-dimensions using the zero-loop saddle-point approximation and focusing only on a simple topology sector as usual. Similar to the 4-dimensional case, the system is thermodynamically well-behaved when Λ < 0 (due to the contribution of the “bag of gold” saddles). However, when Λ = 0, a crucial difference to the 4-dimensional case appears, i.e. the 3-dimensional system turns out to be thermodynamically unstable, while the 4-dimensional one is thermodynamically stable. This may offer two options for how we think about the thermodynamics of 3-dimensional gravity with Λ = 0. One is that the zero-loop approximation or restricting the simple topology sector is not sufficient for 3-dimensions with Λ = 0. The other is that 3-dimensional gravity is really thermodynamically unstable when Λ = 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the Casimir effect of a wedge and its holographic dual. We prove that the displacement operator universally determines the wedge Casimir effect in the smooth limit. Besides, we argue that the wedge Casimir energy increases with the opening angle and test it with several examples. Furthermore, we construct the holographic dual of wedges in AdS/BCFT in general dimensions. We verify that our proposal can produce the expected Casimir effect within smooth and singular limits. We observe that the Casimir energy density of a wedge increases with the brane tension. Next, we discuss the wedge contribution to holographic entanglement entropy and find it increases with the opening angle, similar to the wedge Casimir energy. Finally, we briefly discuss the holographic polygon in AdS3/BCFT2 and its generalization to higher dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that 3-dimensional AdS spacetime can be semiclassically unstable due to strongly interacting quantum field effects. In our previous paper, we have pointed out the possibility of such an instability of AdS3 by inspecting linear perturbations of the (covering space of) static BTZ black hole with AdS4 gravity dual in the context of holographic semiclassical problems. In the present paper, we further study this issue from thermodynamic viewpoint by constructing asymptotically AdS3 semiclassical solutions and computing free energies of the solutions. We find two asymptotically AdS3 solutions to the semiclassical Einstein equations with non-vanishing source term: the one whose free energy is smaller than that of the BTZ with vanishing source term and the other whose free energy is smaller than that of the global AdS3 with no horizon (thus manifestly zero-temperature background). The instability found in this paper implies the breakdown of the maximal symmetries of AdS3, and its origin is different from the well-known semiclassical linear instability since our holographic semiclassical Einstein equations in 3-dimensions do not involve higher order derivative terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The double-copy construction for form factors was reported in our previous work, in which a novel mechanism of turning spurious poles in Yang-Mills theory into physical poles in gravity is observed. This paper is the first of a series of two papers providing the details as well as various generalizations on the double-copy construction of tree-level form factors. In this paper, we establish the generic formalism by focusing on the form factor of tr(ϕ2) in the Yang-Mills-scalar theory. A thorough discussion is given on the emergence of the “spurious”-type poles and various related properties. We also discuss two generalizations: the Higgs amplitudes in QCD, and the tr(ϕ2) form factors with multiple external scalar states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We find a general formula for the two-loop renormalization counterterms of a scalar quantum field theory with interactions containing up to two derivatives, extending 't Hooft's one-loop result. The method can also be used for theories with higher derivative interactions, as long as the terms in the Lagrangian have at most one derivative acting on each field. We show that diagrams with factorizable topologies do not contribute to the renormalization group equations. The results in this paper will be combined with the geometric method in a subsequent paper to obtain the counterterms and renormalization group equations for the scalar sector of effective field theories (EFT) to two-loop order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent paper, Gorbenko and Zan [1] observed that O(n) symmetry alone does not protect the well-known renormalization group flow from the dilute to the dense phase of the two-dimensional O(n) model under thermal perturbations. We show in this paper that the required "extra protection" is topological in nature, and is related to the existence of certain non-invertible topological defect lines. We define these defect lines and discuss the ensuing topological protection, both in the context of the O(n) lattice model and in its recently understood continuum limit, which takes the form of a conformal field theory governed by an interchiral algebra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we will study the arithmetic geometry of rank-2 attractors, which are Calabi-Yau threefolds whose Hodge structures admit interesting splits. We will develop methods to analyze the algebraic de Rham cohomologies of rank-2 attractors, and we will illustrate how our methods work by focusing on an example in a recent paper by Candelas, de la Ossa, Elmi and van Straten. We will look at the interesting connections between rank-2 attractors in string theory and Deligne's conjecture on the special values of L-functions. We will also formulate several open questions concerning the potential connections between attractors in string theory and number theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a family of IR dualities for 3d N = 4 U(N) SQCD with Nf fundamental flavors and P Abelian hypermultiplets i.e. P hypermultiplets in the determinant representation of the gauge group. These theories are good in the Gaiotto-Witten sense if the number of fundamental flavors obeys the constraint Nf≥ 2N − 1 with generic P ≥ 1, and in contrast to the standard U(N) SQCD, they do not admit an ugly regime. The IR dualities in question arise in the window Nf = 2N + 1, 2N, 2N − 1, with P = 1 in the first case and generic P ≥ 1 for the others. The dualities involving Nf = 2N ± 1 are characterized by an IR enhancement of the Coulomb branch global symmetry on one side of the duality, such that the rank of the emergent global symmetry group is greater than the rank of the UV global symmetry. The dual description makes the rank of this emergent global symmetry manifest in the UV. In addition, one can read off the emergent global symmetry itself from the dual quiver. We show that these dualities are related by certain field theory operations and assemble themselves into a duality web. Finally, we show that the U(N) SQCDs with Nf≥ 2N − 1 and P Abelian hypers have Lagrangian 3d mirrors, and this allows one to explicitly write down the 3d mirror associated with a given IR dual pair. This paper is the first in a series of four papers on 3d N = 4 Seiberg-like dualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2022)124 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several attempts to solve the cosmological constant problem, which concerns the value of the cosmological constant being extremely smaller than the Standard Model mass scales, have introduced a scalar field with a very flat potential that can be approximated as linear around any given position. The scalar field scans the cosmological constant in such a way that the current small value is explained. Recently, Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) reported the results of the first year. Combining the data with CMB, Pantheon, Union3, and/or DES-SN5YR, there is a preference or anomaly, indicating that the dark energy in the current Universe slightly deviates from that in the ΛCDM model and varies over time. In this paper, I show that the simple linear potential of a scalar field that may explain the small cosmological constant, can explain the DESI anomaly. The conclusions do not change by including or not including a thermal friction effect. In particular, the model proposed by the present author in [1], which relaxes the cosmological constant by the condition that inflation ends, predicts a time-dependence of the dark energy close to the one favored by the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the spin-2 field perturbations of four families of supergravity solutions. These include AdS5 and AdS7 backgrounds of type IIA as well as AdS4 and AdS6 backgrounds of Type IIB. As the main result, we show that, in all the cases, there is a solution given by a combination of the warp factors. We also find the respective mass spectra. We analyze the normalizability of the solutions and identify the superconformal multiplets dual to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study a near-continuum dark matter model, in which dark sector consists of a tower of closely spaced states with weak-scale masses. We construct a five-dimensional model which naturally realizes this spectrum. The dark matter is described by a bulk field, which interacts with the brane-localized Standard Model sector via a Z portal. We then study collider signatures of this model. Near-continuum dark matter states produced in a collider undergo cascade decays, resulting in events with high multiplicity of jets and leptons, large missing energy, and displaced vertices. A custom-built Monte Carlo tool described in this paper allows for detailed simulation of the signal events. We present results of such simulations for the case of electron-positron collisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gradient-flow formalism proves to be a useful tool in lattice calculations of quantum chromodynamics. For example, it can be used as a scheme to renormalize composite operators by inverting the short-flow-time expansion of the corresponding flowed operators. In this paper, we consider the short-flow-time expansion of five quark bilinear operators, the scalar, pseudoscalar, vector, axialvector, and tensor currents, and compute the matching coefficients through next-to-next-to-leading order QCD. Among other applications, our results constitute one ingredient for calculating bag parameters of mesons within the gradient-flow formalism on the lattice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 -BPS Wilson line in = 4 super Yang-Mills. In this first paper we focus on the kinematical implications of invariance under the 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 [1], 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 [1] to address the problem of operators mixing at strong coupling. This paper and the companion [1] provide an extended version of the results presented in [2]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we pursue the investigation of a generic non-linear extension of axionic electrodynamics in a Carroll-Field-Jackiw (CFJ) scenario that implements Lorentz-symmetry violation (LSV). The model we inspect consists of an arbitrary non-linear electrodynamic action coupled to the axion field in presence of an anisotropy four-vector that realizes the breaking of Lorentz symmetry under the particle point of view. For the sake of our considerations, the non-linear electromagnetic field is expanded around a constant and uniform magnetic background up to second order in the propagating photon field. The focus of our attention is the study of the material properties of the vacuum in the particular case of a space-like CFJ 4-vector. The dispersion relations associated to the plane wave solutions are explicitly worked out in two situations: the magnetic background perpendicular and parallel to the wave direction. We extend these results to consider the analysis of the birefringence phenomenon in presence of non-linearity, the axion and the LSV manifested through the spatial anisotropy. Three specific proposals of non-linear electrodynamics are contemplated: Euler-Heisenberg (EH), Born-Infeld (BI) and the Modified Maxwell electrodynamics (ModMax). Throughout the paper, we shall justify why we follow the unusual path of connecting, in a single Lagrangian density, three pieces of physics beyond the Standard Model, namely, non-linearity, axions and LSV. We anticipate that we shall not be claiming that the simultaneous introduction of these three topics beyond the Standard Model will bring new insights or clues for the efforts to detect axions or to constrain parameters associate to both non-linear electrodynamics and LSV physics. Our true goal is to actually inspect and describe how axionic, non-linear and LSV effects interfere with one another whenever physical entities like group velocity, refraction indices, birefringence and effective masses of physical excitations are computed in presence of an external constant and homogeneous magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At first glance, thermodynamic properties of gravity with asymptotically AdS conditions and those with box boundary conditions, where the spatial section of the boundary is a sphere of finite radius, appear similar. Both exhibit a similar phase structure and Hawking-Page phase transition. However, when we introduce a U(1) gauge field to the system, discrepancies in thermodynamic properties between the two cases has been reported in [7] (JHEP 11 (2016) 041). In this paper, by accepting the assumption that all Euclidean saddles contribute to the partition function, I found that these discrepancies are resolved due to the contribution from the "bag of gold (BG)," which is the class of Euclidean geometries whose area of bolt is bigger than that of the boundary. As a result, the Hawking-Page phase structure is restored, with the unexpected properties that the upper bound of thermodynamic entropy is always larger than the boundary area divided by 4G when the chemical potential is non-zero, and that such high entropy states are realized at sufficiently high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 2022 study, together with Paul McFadden and Kostas Skenderis, I analyzed tree-level 3- and 4-point Witten diagrams (amplitudes) of scalar operators in anti-de Sitter space in momentum space. This paper constitutes its extension to Witten diagrams with bulk interactions involving spacetime derivatives. In d = 3 boundary dimensions the Witten diagrams involving conformally coupled and massless scalars can be evaluated in closed form. Such cases are of interest in holographic cosmology and correspond to dual operators of conformal dimensions ∆ = 2 and 3 respectively. I present explicit formulae for all such amplitudes and provide a Mathematica package serving as the repository of all the results. I discuss renormalization issues and show that, contrary to the expectation, even finite correlators may acquire non-trivial renormalization effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bound state of one NS5 brane (wrapped on a 핋4) and N NS1-branes has two dual descriptions: its low-energy dynamics is described by the symmetric orbifold of 핋4, while the near horizon geometry is captured by string theory on AdS3 × S3 × 핋4 with one unit of NS flux. The latter theory is exactly solvable in the hybrid formalism, and this allows one to prove the equivalence of the two descriptions. In this paper we extend this duality to ℤk orbifolds of this AdS3 × S3 background. In particular, we show that the corresponding worldsheet spectrum reproduces exactly the perturbative excitations on top of a certain non-perturbative state in the dual symmetric orbifold theory. Since the AdS/CFT duality map is exact for these models, we obtain an interesting picture of how the duality relates boundary and bulk descriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct an integrable physical model of a single particle scattering with impurities spread on a circle. The S-matrices of the scattering with the impurities are such that the quantized energies of this system, coming from the Bethe Ansatz equations, correspond to the imaginary parts of the non-trivial zeros of the the Riemann ζ(s) function along the axis of the complex s-plane. A simple and natural generalization of the original scattering problem leads instead to Bethe Ansatz equations whose solutions are the non-trivial zeros of the Dirichlet L-functions again along the axis . The conjecture that all the non-trivial zeros of these functions are aligned along this axis of the complex s-plane is known as the Generalised Riemann Hypothesis (GRH). In the language of the scattering problem analysed in this paper the validity of the GRH is equivalent to the completeness of the Bethe Ansatz equations. Moreover the idea that the validity of the GRH requires both the duality equation (i.e. the mapping s → 1 – s) and the Euler product representation of the Dirichlet L-functions finds additional and novel support from the physical scattering model analysed in this paper. This is further illustrated by an explicit counterexample provided by the solutions of the Bethe Ansatz equations which employ the Davenport-Heilbronn function , i.e. a function whose completion satisfies the duality equation χ(s) = χ(1 – s) but that does not have an Euler product representation. In this case, even though there are infinitely many solutions of the Bethe Ansatz equations along the axis , there are also infinitely many pairs of solutions away from this axis and symmetrically placed with respect to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document is a correction notice for an article published in the Journal of High Energy Physics. The correction identifies an error in figure 4 of the paper, specifically the T-value shown on the plot. The correction states that this error is cosmetic and does not affect any other aspects of the paper. The correction notice includes a corrected version of figure 4. The article appears to be related to the search for CP violation in the phase space of D0 → π− π+ π0 decays with the energy test. [Extracted from the article]

We show that a large subclass of 3d N = 4 quiver gauge theories consisting of unitary and special unitary gauge nodes with only fundamental/bifundamental matter have multiple Seiberg-like IR duals. A generic quiver T in this subclass has a non-zero number of balanced special unitary gauge nodes and it is a good theory in the Gaiotto-Witten sense. We refer to this phenomenon as IR N-ality and the set of mutually IR dual theories as the N-al set associated with the quiver T . Starting from T , we construct a sequence of dualities by step-wise implementing a set of quiver mutations which act locally on the gauge nodes. The associated N-al theories can then be read off from this duality sequence. The quiver T generically has an emergent Coulomb branch global symmetry in the IR, such that the rank of the IR symmetry is always greater than the rank visible in the UV. We show that there exists at least one theory in the N-al set for which the rank of the IR symmetry precisely matches the rank of the UV symmetry. In certain special cases that we discuss in this work, the correct emergent symmetry algebra itself may be read off from this preferred theory (or theories) in addition to the correct rank. Finally, we give a recipe for constructing the 3d mirror associated with a given N-al set and show how the emergent Coulomb branch symmetry of T is realized as a UV-manifest Higgs branch symmetry of the 3d mirror. This paper is the second in a series of four papers on 3d N = 4 Seiberg-like dualities, preceded by the work [1]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real time holography is studied in the context of the embedding space formalism. In the first part of this paper, we present matching conditions for on-shell integer spin fields when going from Euclidean to Lorentzian signature on AdS background. Using the BTZ black hole as an example, we discuss various ways of lifting the physical solution from the AdS surface to the whole embedding space. The BTZ propagator for higher spin field is expressed elegantly in terms of the embedding coordinates. In the second part of the paper, we develop the proposed duality between higher spin theory and vector models. We obtain a specific map between the field configurations of these two theories in real time, so called Lorentzian AdS/CFT map. We conclude by exploring the matching conditions for higher spin fields satisfying the proposed bulk quadratic action. The physical and ghost modes can be treated independently during the Wick rotation; only physical modes are considered to be external modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1984, 't Hooft famously used a brickwall (aka stretched horizon) to compute black hole entropy up to a numerical pre-factor. This calculation is sometimes interpreted as due to the entanglement of the modes across the horizon, but more operationally, it is simply an indirect count of the semi-classical modes trapped between the stretched horizon and the angular momentum barrier. Because the calculation was indirect, it needed both the mass and the temperature of the black hole as inputs, to reproduce the area. A more conventional statistical mechanics calculation should be able to get the entropy, once the ensemble is specified (say via the energy, in a microcanonical setting). In this paper, we explicitly compute black hole normal modes in various examples, numerically as well as (in various regimes) analytically. The explicit knowledge of normal modes allows us to reproduce both the Hawking temperature as well as the entropy, once the charges are specified, making this a conventional statistical mechanics calculation. A quasi-degeneracy in the angular quantum numbers is directly responsible for the area scaling of the entropy, and is the key distinction between the Planckian black body calculation (volume scaling) and the 't Hooftian calculation (area scaling). We discuss the (rotating) BTZ case in detail and match the thermodynamic quantities exactly. Schwarzschild and Kerr normal modes are discussed in less detail using near-horizon approximations. Our calculations reveal a new hierarchy in the angular quantum numbers, which we speculate is related to string theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Left Right Symmetric Model (LRSM) being an extension of the Standard model of particle physics incorporates within itself Type-I and Type-II seesaw mass terms naturally. Both the mass terms can have significant amount of contribution to the resulting light neutrino mass within the model and hence on the different phenomenology associated within. In this paper, we have thoroughly analyzed and discussed the implications of specifying different weightages to both the mass terms and also the study has been carried out for different values of which is mass of the right-handed gauge boson. This paper also gives a deeper insight into the new physics contributions of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (0νββ) and their variations with the net baryon asymmetry arising out of the model. Therefore, the main objective of the present paper rests on investigating the implications of imposing different weightage to the type-I and type-II seesaw terms and different values of on the new physics contributions of 0νββ and net baryon asymmetry arising out as a result of resonant leptogenesis. LRSM in this work has been realized using modular group of level 3, Γ(3) which is isomorphic to non-abelian discrete symmetry group A4, the advantage being the non-requirement of flavons within the model and hence maintaining the minimality of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently proposed duality relates the critical level limit of WZW models to a classical three-dimensional Einstein gravity on a sphere. In this paper, we propose a dimensional reduced version of this duality. The gravity side is reduced to a Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity on S2 with a non-standard boundary term, or a BF theory with SU(2) gauge symmetry. At least in low temperature limit, these two-dimensional gravity theories completely capture the original three-dimensional gravity effect. The CFT side is reduced to a certain complex Liouville quantum mechanics (LQM) with SU(2) gauge symmetry. Our proposal gives an interesting example of a holography without boundary. We also discuss a higher-spin generalization with SU(N) gauge symmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent observations on type III algebras in AdS/CFT raise the possibility that smoothness of the black hole horizon is an emergent feature of the large-N limit. In this paper, we present a bulk model for the finite-N mechanism underlying this transition. We quantize a free scalar field on a BTZ black hole with a Planckian stretched horizon placed as a Dirichlet boundary for the field. This is a tractable model for the stretched horizon that does not ignore the angular directions, and it defines a black hole vacuum which has similarities to (but is distinct from) the Boulware state. Using analytic approximations for the normal modes, we first improve upon 't Hooft's brick wall calculation: we are able to match both the entropy and the temperature, exactly. Emboldened by this, we compute the boundary Wightman function of the scalar field in a typical pure state built on our stretched horizon vacuum, at an energy sliver at the mass of the black hole. A key result is that despite the manifest lack of smoothness, this single-sided pure state calculation yields precisely the Hartle-Hawking thermal correlator associated to the smooth horizon, in the small-GN limit. At finite GN, there are variance corrections that are suppressed as O e − S BH / 2 . They become important at late times and resolve Maldacena's information paradox. Highly excited typical pure states on the stretched horizon vacuum are therefore models for black hole microstates, while the smooth horizon describes the thermal state. We note that heavy excited states on the stretched horizon are better defined than the vacuum itself. These results suggest that complementarity in the bulk EFT could arise from a UV complete bulk description in which the black hole interior is not manifest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we build on our previous work to further investigate the role of evanescent operators in gauge theories, with a particular focus on their contribution to violations of unitarity. We develop an efficient method for calculating the norms of gauge-invariant operators in Yang-Mills (YM) theory by employing on-shell form factors. Our analysis, applicable to general spacetime dimensions, reveals the existence of negative-norm states among evanescent operators. We also explore the one-loop anomalous dimensions of these operators and find complex anomalous dimensions. We broaden our analysis by considering YM theory coupled with scalar fields and we observe similar patterns of non-unitarity. The presence of negative-norm states and complex anomalous dimensions across these analyses provides compelling evidence that general gauge theories are non-unitary in non-integer spacetime dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the numerical conformal bootstrap in general spacetime dimensions through the lens of a distinct category of analytic functionals, previously employed in two-dimensional studies. We extend the application of these functionals to a more comprehensive backdrop, demonstrating their adaptability and efficacy in general spacetime dimensions above two. The bootstrap is implemented using the outer approximation methodology, with computations conducted in double precision. The crux of our study lies in comparing the performance of this category of analytic functionals with conventional derivatives at crossing symmetric points. It is worth highlighting that in our study, we identified some novel kinks in the scalar channel during the maximization of the gap in two-dimensional conformal field theory. Our numerical analysis indicates that these analytic functionals offer a superior performance, thereby revealing a potential alternative paradigm in the application of conformal bootstrap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the quantum focusing conjecture (QFC) for two-dimensional evaporating black holes in the Russo-Susskind-Thorlacius (RST) model. The QFC is closely related to the behavior of the generalized entropy. In the context of the black hole evaporation, the entanglement entropy of the Hawking radiation is decreasing after the Page time, and therefore it is not obvious whether the QFC holds. One of the present authors previously addressed this problem in a four-dimensional spherically symmetric dynamical black hole model and showed that the QFC is satisfied. However, the background spacetime considered was approximated by the Vaidya metric, and quantum effects of matters in the semiclassical regime were not fully taken into consideration. It remains to be seen if the QFC in fact holds for exact solutions of the semiclassical Einstein equations. In this paper, we address this problem in the RST model, which allows us to solve the semiclassical equations of motion exactly. We prove that the QFC is satisfied for evaporating black holes in the RST model with the island formation taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kerr-Newman de Sitter (KNdS) spacetimes have a rich thermodynamic structure that involves multiple horizons, and so differs in key respects from asymptotically flat or AdS black holes. In this paper, we show that certain features of KNdS spacetimes can be reproduced by a constrained system of N non-interacting spins in a magnetic field. Both the KNdS and spin systems have bounded energy and entropy, a maximum of the entropy in the interior of the energy range, and a symmetry that maps lower energy states to higher energy states with the same entropy. Consequently, both systems have a temperature that can be positive or negative, where the gravitational temperature is defined analogously to that of the spins. We find that the number of spins N corresponds to 1/Λ for black holes with very small charge q and rotation parameter a, and scales like a 2 + q 2 / Λ for larger values of a and q. These comparisons show that certain key features of the complex thermodynamics of KNdS spacetimes are reproduced by a simple system of noninteracting spins, suggesting that there may be a relatively simple effective description of quantum de Sitter black holes in terms of a finite dimensional Hilbert space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments at particle colliders are the primary source of insight into physics at microscopic scales. Searches at these facilities often rely on optimization of analyses targeting specific models of new physics. Increasingly, however, data-driven model-agnostic approaches based on machine learning are also being explored. A major challenge is that such methods can be highly sensitive to the presence of many irrelevant features in the data. This paper presents Boosted Decision Tree (BDT)-based techniques to improve anomaly detection in the presence of many irrelevant features. First, a BDT classifier is shown to be more robust than neural networks for the Classification Without Labels approach to finding resonant excesses assuming independence of resonant and non-resonant observables. Next, a tree-based probability density estimator using copula transformations demonstrates significant stability and improved performance over normalizing flows as irrelevant features are added. The results make a compelling case for further development of tree-based algorithms for more robust resonant anomaly detection in high energy physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent paper [arXiv:2308.00038], Anupam, Chowdhury, and Sen conjectured that the finite temperature Euclidean five-dimensional Cvetic-Youm solution saturating the BPS bound is supersymmetric. In this paper, we explicitly construct Killing spinors for this solution in five-dimensional minimal supergravity. We also expand on the previous discussions of Killing spinors for the finite temperature Euclidean Kerr-Newman solution saturating the BPS bound. For both these cases, we show that the total charge gets divided into two harmonic sources on three-dimensional flat base space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conjectured duality between color and kinematics has significantly advanced our understanding of both gauge and gravitational theories. However, constructing numerators that manifest the color-kinematics (CK) duality, even for the two-loop four-gluon amplitude in pure Yang-Mills, has been challenging. In this paper, we revisit this amplitude and show that the difficulty of applying CK duality can be overcome by introducing a simple deformation. Our approach distinguishes itself from previous studies by maximizing the use of off-shell CK duality while maintaining a compact ansatz. In particular, the deformation we introduce satisfies a subset of off-shell dual Jacobi relations. The resulting numerators are presented in d-dimensionally Lorentz invariant local form and are applicable to all helicities of external gluons. The solution we provide can be directly employed to construct the corresponding gravitational amplitude through double copy. Our findings suggest a novel and efficient strategy for constructing high-loop gauge and gravitational amplitudes using CK duality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive a general formula for two-loop counterterms in Effective Field Theories (EFTs) using a geometric approach. This formula allows the two-loop results of our previous paper to be applied to a wide range of theories. The two-loop results hold for loop graphs in EFTs where the interaction vertices contain operators of arbitrarily high dimension, but at most two derivatives. We also extend our previous one-loop result to include operators with an arbitrary number of derivatives, as long as there is at most one derivative acting on each field. The final result for the two-loop counterterms is written in terms of geometric quantities such as the Riemann curvature tensor of the scalar manifold and its covariant derivatives. As applications of our results, we give the two-loop counterterms and renormalization group equations for the O(n) EFT to dimension six, the scalar sector of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) to dimension six, and chiral perturbation theory to order p6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we delve into the gravitational path integral of Gauss-Bonnet gravity in four spacetime dimensions, in the mini-superspace approximation. Our primary focus lies in investigating the transition amplitude between distinct boundary configurations. Of particular interest is the case of Robin boundary conditions, known to lead to a stable Universe in Einstein-Hilbert gravity, alongside Neumann boundary conditions. To ensure a consistent variational problem, we supplement the bulk action with suitable surface terms. This study leads us to compute the necessary surface terms required for Gauss-Bonnet gravity with the Robin boundary condition, which wasn't known earlier. Thereafter, we perform an exact computation of the transition amplitude. Through ħ → 0 analysis, we discover that the Gauss-Bonnet gravity inherently favors the initial configuration, aligning with the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary proposal. Remarkably, as the Universe expands, it undergoes a transition from the Euclidean (imaginary time) to the Lorentzian signature (real time). To further reinforce our findings, we employ a saddle point analysis utilizing the Picard-Lefschetz methods. The saddle point analysis allows us to find the initial configurations which lead to Hartle-Hawking no-boundary Universe that agrees with the exact computations. Our study concludes that for positive Gauss-Bonnet coupling, initial configurations corresponding to the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary Universe gives dominant contribution in the gravitational path-integral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been proposed that flux compactifications of supercritical string theories (i.e., with spacetime dimension D > 10) have dS vacua, with large D acting as a control parameter for corrections to the classical spacetime effective action. In this paper, we provide a detailed analysis of the self-consistency of such models, focussing on α′ and backreaction corrections. We first show that all supercritical AdS, Minkowski and dS vacua in this setting have ≳ O 1 curvature and/or field strengths in the string frame. This may be in tension with suppressing α′ corrections unless the coefficients of the higher-derivative terms have a sufficiently strong large-D suppression. We then argue that an additional and more severe problem arises in the dS case due to the backreaction of O-planes. In particular, we argue using a combination of geometric bounds and string-theory constraints that the O-plane backreaction is large in supercritical dS models. This implies that a large part of the naive classical geometry is eaten up by singular holes and thus indicates a breakdown of the classical description. Our finding resonates with several other recent results suggesting that string theory does not admit dS vacua in regimes where string and backreaction corrections are under control. As byproducts of our analysis, we derive a number of technical results that are useful beyond the specific applications in this paper. In particular, we compute the leading backreaction corrections to the smeared solution in a general flux compactification from D to d dimensions for an arbitrary distribution of O-planes and D-branes. We further argue for a general estimate for Green's functions on compact manifolds (and therefore for the backreaction corrections) in terms of their diameter, volume and dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photonspheres, curved hypersurfaces on which massless particles can perform closed geodesic motions around highly compact objects, are an integral part of generic black-hole spacetimes. In the present compact paper we prove, using analytical techniques, that the innermost light rings of spherically symmetric hairy black-hole spacetimes whose external matter fields are characterized by a traceless energy-momentum tensor cannot be located arbitrarily close to the central black hole. In particular, we reveal the physically interesting fact that the non-linearly coupled Einstein-matter field equations set the lower bound r γ ≥ 6 5 r H on the radii of traceless black-hole photonspheres, where rH is the radius of the outermost black-hole horizon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the possibility of dilute axion stars converting to photons in the weak, large-scale magnetic field of the Milky Way and show that they can resonate with the surrounding plasma and produce a sizable signal. We consider two possibilities for the plasma: free electrons and HII regions. In the former case, we argue that the frequency of the photons will be too small to be observed even by space-based radio telescopes. In the latter case, their frequency is larger, safely above the solar wind cut-off. We provide an estimate of the flux as a function of the decay constant and show that for fa< 2 × 1011 GeV, the signal will be above the radio emission of the solar system's planets and it could potentially be detected by the NCLE instrument which is on board the Chang'e-4 spacecraft. Finally, we calculate the time scale of decay of the axion star and demonstrate that back-reaction can be neglected for all physically interesting values of the decay constant, while the minimum time scale of decay is in the order of a few hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an evaluation of the wave function coefficients for conformally coupled scalars at both one and two-loop levels at leading order in the coupling constant, in momentum space. We take cues from time-dependent interactions in flat spacetime and under suitable approximations, these can also be used to study the wave function coefficients for general cosmologies. We make use of recursion relations developed in [20] to regularize certain bulk-point integrals and express the wave function coefficients in a form that simplifies the loop integrals. We utilize hard-cutoff regularization to regularize the loop integrals and further provide a discussion on their renormalization. Our results can also be analytically continued to obtain answers for transition amplitudes in AdS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study 4-dimensional SU(N) gauge theory with one adjoint Weyl fermion and fundamental matter — either bosonic or fermionic. Symmetries, their 't Hooft anomalies, and the Vafa-Witten-Weingarten theorems strongly constrain the possible bulk phases. The first part of the paper is dedicated to a single fundamental fermion or boson. As long as the adjoint Weyl fermion is massless, this theory always possesses a ℤ 2 N χ chiral symmetry, which breaks spontaneously, supporting N vacua and domain walls between them for a generic mass of the matter fields. We argue, however, that the domain walls generically undergo a phase transition, and we establish the corresponding 3d gauge theories on the walls. The rest of the paper is dedicated to studying the multi-flavor fundamental matter. Here, the phases crucially depend on the ratio of the number of colors and the number of fundamental flavors. We also discuss the limiting scenarios of heavy adjoint and fundamentals, which align neatly with our current understanding of QCD and N = 1 super Yang-Mills theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rich and fruitful history of the integrability approach to string theory on the AdS3 × S3 × T4 background, it has not been possible to extract many concrete predictions from integrability, except in a strict asymptotic regime of large quantum numbers, due to the severity of wrapping effects. The situation changed radically with two independent and identical proposals for the Quantum Spectral Curve (QSC) for this system in a background of pure Ramond-Ramond flux. In other integrable superstring backgrounds there is compelling evidence that this formulation captures all wrapping effects exactly and describes the full planar spectrum. This great success motivates us to study the new proposed QSC and develop methods to extract from it concrete predictions for spectral data. The AdS3 × S3 × T4 case presents a significant novel feature and challenge compared to its higher-dimensional analogues — massless modes. It has been conjectured that these manifest themselves in a new property of this QSC: the non-quadratic nature of the branch-cut singularities of the QSC Q-functions. This feature implies new technical challenges in solving the QSC equations as compared to the well-studied case of N = 4 SYM. In this paper we resolve these difficulties and obtain the first ever predictions for unprotected string excitations in the planar limit with finite quantum numbers and RR flux. We explain how to extract a systematic expansion around the analogue of the weak 't Hooft coupling limit in N = 4 SYM and also obtain high-precision numerical results. These concrete data and others obtainable from the QSC could help to identify the so-far mysterious dual CFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives concrete examples to exhibit how to use the replica trick to calculate the quantum (quasi-)distances holographically. First, we consider the fidelity and relative entropy between thermal states that are dual to the Schwarzschild-AdS black holes. Then we generalize our method into the RN-AdS black holes by adding a U(1) gauge field. We also investigate the fidelity between states excited by scalar operator in probe limit. In this case, it is surprising that the fidelity in standard quantization will suffer from new UV divergence though the usual holographic renormalization has been applied. We call for deep understanding for such divergence in the future. We also discover a holographic method to check whether the density matrices of two holographic states are commutative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]