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In this proceedings contribution, we discuss recent developments in the perturbative determination of the Equation of State of dense quark matter, relevant for the microscopic description of neutron star cores. First, we introduce the current state of the art in the problem, both at zero and small temperatures, and then present results from two recent perturbative studies that pave the way towards extending the EoS to higher orders in perturbation theory., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Prepared for the proceedings of the XII Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum, 29 August to 3 September 2016, Thessaloniki, Greece

We derive an effective dimensionally reduced theory for the Standard Model augmented by a real singlet scalar. We treat the singlet as a superheavy field and integrate it out, leaving an effective theory involving only the Higgs and $\mathrm{SU}(2)_\mathrm{L} \times \mathrm{U}(1)_Y$ gauge fields, identical to the one studied previously for the Standard Model. This opens up the possibility of efficiently computing the order and strength of the electroweak phase transition, numerically and nonperturbatively, in this extension of the Standard Model. Understanding the phase diagram is crucial for models of electroweak baryogenesis and for studying the production of gravitational waves at thermal phase transitions., Comment: 52 pages, 3 figures; v2: references added, additional discussion of temporal gluons, discussion extended with some parameter space scans, published in JHEP

We discuss the prospects of performing high-order perturbative calculations in systems characterized by a vanishing temperature but finite density. In particular, we show that the determination of generic Feynman integrals containing fermionic chemical potentials can be reduced to the evaluation of three-dimensional phase space integrals over vacuum on-shell amplitudes - a result reminiscent of a previously proposed "naive real-time formalism" for vacuum diagrams. Applications of these rules are discussed in the context of the thermodynamics of cold and dense QCD, where it is argued that they facilitate an extension of the Equation of State of cold quark matter to higher perturbative orders., Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures; v2: discussion extended and references added

It has been conjectured that the speed of sound in holographic models with UV fixed points has an upper bound set by the value of the quantity in conformal field theory. If true, this would set stringent constraints for the presence of strongly coupled quark matter in the cores of physical neutron stars, as the existence of two-solar-mass stars appears to demand a very stiff Equation of State. In this article, we present a family of counterexamples to the speed of sound conjecture, consisting of strongly coupled theories at finite density. The theories we consider include ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills at finite R-charge density and non-zero gaugino masses, while the holographic duals are Einstein-Maxwell theories with a minimally coupled scalar in a charged black hole geometry. We show that for a small breaking of conformal invariance, the speed of sound approaches the conformal value from above at large chemical potentials., Comment: 41 pages, 8 figures. Published version

We demonstrate and develop dyadic-probabilistic methods in connection with non-homogeneous bilinear operators, namely singular integrals and square functions. We develop the full non-homogeneous theory of bilinear singular integrals using a modern point of view. The main result is a new global $Tb$ theorem for Calder\'on-Zygmund operators in this setting. Our main tools include maximal truncations, adapted Cotlar type inequalities and suppression and big piece methods. While proving our bilinear results we also advance and refine the linear theory of Calder\'on-Zygmund operators by improving techniques and results. For example, we simplify and make more efficient some non-homogeneous summing arguments appearing in $T1$ type proofs. As a byproduct, we can manage with ease quite general modulus of continuity in the kernel estimates. Our testing conditions are also quite general by virtue of the big piece method of proof., Comment: v3: This version is to appear in Mem. Amer. Math. Soc

We consider boundedness of a certain positive dyadic operator $$ T^\sigma \colon L^p(\sigma; \ \! \ell^2) \to L^p(\omega), $$ that arose during our attempts to develop a two-weight theory for the Hilbert transform in $L^p$. Boundedness of $T^\sigma$ is characterized when $p \in [2, \infty)$ in terms of certain testing conditions. This requires a new Carleson-type embedding theorem that is also proved., Comment: 18 pages. v2: Incorporates referees comments. Added more discussion concerning the conjecture about the two-weight inequality of the Hilbert transform between $L^p$ spaces

We aim to showcase the wide applicability and power of the big pieces and suppression methods in the theory of local $Tb$ theorems. The setting is new: we consider conical square functions with cones $\{x \in \mathbb{R}^n \setminus E: |x-y| < 2 \operatorname{dist}(x,E)\}$, $y \in E$, defined on general closed subsets $E \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ supporting a non-homogeneous measure $\mu$. We obtain boundedness criteria in this generality in terms of weak type testing of measures on regular balls $B \subset E$, which are doubling and of small boundary. Due to the general set $E$ we use metric space methods. Therefore, we also demonstrate the recent techniques from the metric space point of view, and show that they yield the most general known local $Tb$ theorems even with assumptions formulated using balls rather than the abstract dyadic metric cubes., Comment: 48 pages

We use a top-down holographic model for strongly interacting quark matter to study the properties of neutron stars. When the corresponding Equation of State (EoS) is matched with state-of-the-art results for dense nuclear matter, we consistently observe a first order phase transition at densities between two and seven times the nuclear saturation density. Solving the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equations with the resulting hybrid EoSs, we find maximal stellar masses in the excess of two solar masses, albeit somewhat smaller than those obtained with simple extrapolations of the nuclear matter EoSs. Our calculation predicts that no quark matter exists inside neutron stars., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. v2: minor modifications, version published at PRL

We generalize the state-of-the-art perturbative Equation of State of cold quark matter to nonzero temperatures, needed in the description of neutron star mergers and core collapse processes. The new result is accurate to order g^5 in the gauge coupling, and is based on a novel framework for dealing with the infrared sensitive soft field modes of the theory. The zero Matsubara mode sector is treated using a dimensionally reduced effective theory, while the soft non-zero modes are resummed using the Hard Thermal Loop approximation. This combination of known effective descriptions offers unprecedented access to small but nonzero temperatures, both in and out of beta equilibrium., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; v2: minor improvements, version published in PRL (without appendices)

We study local convexity properties of the triangular ratio metric balls in proper subdomains of the real coordinate space. We also study inclusion properties of the visual angle metric balls and related hyperbolic type metric balls in the complement of the origin and the upper half space., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures

We discuss a number of prominent theoretical challenges in the physics of ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions, and review some recent attempts to tackle them. These examples cover most stages of the collision process, but emphasis is given to approaches that rely on first principles methods or well-established Effective Field Theory frameworks. The topics discussed in most detail include the early dynamics of a collision as well as the properties of quark gluon plasma in thermal equilibrium., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Invited contribution to the proceedings of the International Symposium on Lepton Photon Interactions at High Energies, 17-22 August 2015, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

We develop a new general method to prove various non-doubling local Tb theorems. The method combines the non-homogeneous good lambda method of Tolsa, the big pieces Tb theorem of Nazarov-Treil-Volberg and a new change of measure argument based on stopping time techniques. We also improve known results and discuss some further applications., Comment: v2: To appear in J. Anal. Math.; 21 pages, shortened title, new introduction, updated references, small improvements in the text

We consider proper subdomains $G$ of $\mathbb{R}^n$ and their images $G'=f(G)$ under quasiconformal mappings $f$ of $\mathbb{R}^n$. We compare the distance ratio metrics of $G$ and $G'$; as an application we show that $\varphi$-uniform domains are preserved under quasiconformal mappings of $\mathbb{R}^n$. A sufficient condition for $\varphi$-uniformity is obtained in terms of the quasi-symmetry condition. We give a geometric condition for uniformity: If $G\subset\mathbb{R}^n$ is $\phi$-uniform and satisfies the twisted cone condition, then it is uniform. We also construct a planar $\phi$-uniform domain whose complement is not $\psi$-uniform for any $\psi$., Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure

Finite 't Hooft coupling corrections to multiple physical observables in strongly coupled $N=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma are examined, in an attempt to assess the stability of the expansion in inverse powers of the 't Hooft coupling $\lambda$. Observables considered include thermodynamic quantities, transport coefficients, and quasinormal mode frequencies. Although large $\lambda$ expansions for quasinormal mode frequencies are notably less well behaved than the expansions of other quantities, we find that a partial resummation of higher order corrections can significantly reduce the sensitivity of the results to the value of $\lambda$., Comment: 22 pages, typos fixed, numerics improved

In this review article, we argue that our current understanding of the thermodynamic properties of cold QCD matter, originating from first principles calculations at high and low densities, can be used to efficiently constrain the macroscopic properties of neutron stars. In particular, we demonstrate that combining state-of-the-art results from Chiral Effective Theory and perturbative QCD with the current bounds on neutron star masses, the Equation of State of neutron star matter can be obtained to an accuracy better than 30% at all densities., Comment: Invited contribution to the EPJA Topical Issue "Exotic Matter in Neutron Stars"; 10 pages, 13 figures

We study finite temperature correlation functions and quasinormal modes in a strongly coupled conformal field theory holographically dual to a small black hole in global Anti-de Sitter spacetime. Upon variation of the black hole radius, our results smoothly interpolate between known limits corresponding to large black holes and thermal AdS space. This implies that the quantities are continuous functions of energy density in the microcanonical ensemble, thus smoothly connecting the deconfined and confined phases that are separated by a first order phase transition in the canonical description., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. v2: Additional discussion and references, one new figure

The distortion of distances between points under maps is studied. We first prove a Schwarz-type lemma for quasiregular maps of the unit disk involving the visual angle metric. Then we investigate conversely the quasiconformality of a bilipschitz map with respect to the visual angle metric on convex domains. For the unit ball or half space, we prove that a bilipschitz map with respect to the visual angle metric is also bilipschitz with respect to the hyperbolic metric. We also obtain various inequalities relating the visual angle metric to other metrics such as the distance ratio metric and the quasihyperbolic metric., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures

We consider two weight $L^{p}\to L^{q}$-inequalities for dyadic shifts and the dyadic square function with general exponents $1