Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Topology-induced symmetry breaking demonstrated in antiferromagnetic magnons on a Möbius strip

  Kuangyin Deng, Ran Cheng

  SciPost Phys. 19, 048 (2025) · published 19 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a mechanism of topology-induced symmetry breaking, where certain local symmetry preserved by the Hamiltonian is explicitly broken in the eigenmodes of excitation due to nontrivial real-space topology. We demonstrate this phenomenon by studying magnonic excitations on a Möbius strip comprising two antiferromagnetically coupled spin chains. Even with a simple Hamiltonian respecting local rotational symmetry, with all local curvature effects ignored, magnons exhibit linear polarization of the Néel vector devoid of chirality, forming two non-degenerate branches that cannot be smoothly connected to nor globally decomposed into, the circularly-polarized magnons. Correspondingly, one branch undergoes a spectral shift and only admits standing waves of half-integer wavelength, whereas the other only affords standing waves of integer wavelength. Under the Möbius boundary condition, we further identify an exotic phase hosting spontaneous antiferromagnetic order whilst all exchange couplings are ferromagnetic. The suppression of chirality in the order parameter dynamics, hence the pattern of standing waves, can be generalized to other elementary excitations on non-orientable surfaces. Our findings showcase the profound influence of real-space topology on the physical nature of not just the ground state but also the quasiparticles.

• Towards universal unfolding of detector effects in high-energy physics using denoising diffusion probabilistic models

  Camila Pazos, Shuchin Aeron, Pierre-Hugues Beauchemin, Vincent Croft, Zhengyan Huan, Martin Klassen, Taritree Wongjirad

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 064 (2025) · published 2 October 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Correcting for detector effects in experimental data, particularly through unfolding, is critical for enabling precision measurements in high-energy physics. However, traditional unfolding methods face challenges in scalability, flexibility, and dependence on simulations. We introduce a novel approach to multidimensional object-wise unfolding using conditional Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models (cDDPM). Our method utilizes the cDDPM for a non-iterative, flexible posterior sampling approach, incorporating distribution moments as conditioning information, which exhibits a strong inductive bias that allows it to generalize to unseen physics processes without explicitly assuming the underlying distribution. Our results highlight the potential of this method as a step towards a "universal" unfolding tool that reduces dependence on truth-level assumptions, while enabling the unfolding of a wide range of measured distributions with improved adaptability and accuracy.

• Dissipation and noise in strongly driven Josephson junctions

  Vasilii Vadimov, Yoshiki Sunada, Mikko Möttönen

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 065 (2025) · published 6 October 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In circuit quantum electrodynamical systems, the quasiparticle-related losses in Josephson junctions are suppressed due to the gap in the superconducting density of states which is much higher than the typical energy of a microwave photon. In this work, we show that a strong drive even at a frequency lower than twice the superconductor gap parameter can activate dissipation in the junctions due to photon-assisted breaking of the Cooper pairs. Both the decay rate and noise strength associated with the losses are sensitive to the dc phase bias of the junction and can be tuned in a broad range by the amplitude and the frequency of the external driving field, making the suggested mechanism potentially attractive for designing tunable dissipative elements. We also predict pronounced memory effects in the driven Josephson junctions, which are appealing for both theoretical and experimental studies of non-Markovian physics in superconducting quantum circuits. We illustrate our theoretical findings by studying the spectral properties and the steady-state population of a low-impedance resonator coupled to the driven Josephson junction: we show the emergence of non-Lorentzian spectral lines and broad tunability of effective temperature of the steady state.

• Necklace Ansatz for strongly repulsive spin mixtures on a ring

  Gianni Aupetit-Diallo, Giovanni Pecci, Artem Volosniev, Mathias Albert, Anna Minguzzi, Patrizia Vignolo

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 022 (2025) · published 14 February 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose an alternative to the Bethe Ansatz method for repulsive strongly-interacting fermionic (or bosonic) mixtures on a ring. Starting from the knowledge of the solution for single-component non-interacting fermions (or strongly-interacting bosons), we explicitly impose periodic condition on the amplitudes of the spin configurations. This reduces drastically the number of independent complex amplitudes that we determine by constrained diagonalization of an effective Hamiltonian. This procedure allows us to obtain a complete basis for the exact low-energy many-body solutions for mixtures with a large number of particles, both for $SU(\kappa)$ and symmetry-breaking systems.

• How negative can null energy be in large N CFTs?

  Jackson R. Fliss, Ben Freivogel, Eleni-Alexandra Kontou, Diego Pardo Santos

  SciPost Phys. 19, 087 (2025) · published 7 October 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Smeared null energy has been shown to be bounded from below for free minimally coupled quantum field theories. This is not the case for conformally coupled free bosonic theories where states of unbounded null energy can be constructed by increasing the particle number. Little is known for interacting conformal field theories (CFTs) in dimensions larger than two. In this work we consider states that are superpositions of scalar primary operators or the stress-energy tensor itself in large $N$ CFTs. Within the large $N$ approximation we present arguments that the negative smeared null energy of such states scales at worst as the central charge of the theory, $C_T$. This provides evidence for a general bound for CFTs in $d$-dimensions proportional to the central charge.

• Annihilating dark matter search with 12 years of Fermi LAT data in nearby galaxy clusters

  Charles Thorpe-Morgan, D. Malyshev, C.-A. Stegen, Andrea Santangelo, J. Jochum

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 12, 071 (2023) · published 10 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Galaxy clusters contain an abundance of dark matter making them attractive laboratories for indirect DM searches. This work details a search for signals of pair annihilation from WIMP dark matter in the GeV gamma ray regime. We perform this search in five low $z$ and high galactic latitude galaxy clusters (Centaurus, Coma, Virgo, Perseus and Fornax); using nearly 12 years of Fermi/LAT data. Through the non-detection of this characteristic signal, we derive constraints on the annihilation cross-section of DM pair annihilation into the $b\overline{b}$, $W^+W^-$ and $\gamma\gamma$ channels. The limits obtained are of a comparable magnitude to those of recently derived from Fermi/LAT observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies.

• Influence of the Pauli principle on two-cluster potential energy

  Yuliya A. Lashko, Victor S. Vasilevsky, Gennady F. Filippov

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 3, 021 (2020) · published 25 February 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study effects of the Pauli principle on the potential energy of two-cluster systems. The object of the investigation is the lightest nuclei of p-shell with a dominant $\alpha$-cluster channel. For this aim we construct matrix elements of two-cluster potential energy between cluster oscillator functions with and without full antisymmetrization. Eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the potential energy matrix are studied in detail. Eigenfunctions of the potential energy operator are presented in oscillator, coordinate and momentum spaces. We demonstrate that the Pauli principle affects more strongly the eigenfunctions than the eigenvalues of the matrix and leads to the formation of resonance and trapped states.

• Refined cyclic renormalization group in Russian doll model

  Vedant Motamarri, Ivan M. Khaymovich, Alexander Gorsky

  SciPost Phys. 17, 157 (2024) · published 6 December 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Focusing on Bethe-Ansatz integrable models, robust to both time-reversal symmetry breaking and disorder, we consider the Russian Doll Model (RDM) for finite system sizes and energy levels. Suggested as a time-reversal-symmetry breaking deformation of Richardson's model, the well-known and simplest model of superconductivity, RDM revealed an unusual cyclic renormalization group (RG) over the system size $N$, where the energy levels repeat themselves, shifted by one after a finite period in $\ln N$, supplemented by a hierarchy of superconducting condensates, with the superconducting gaps following the so-called Efimov (exponential) scaling. The equidistant single-particle spectrum of RDM made the above Efimov scaling and cyclic RG to be asymptotically exact in the wideband limit of the diagonal potential. Here, we generalize this observation in various respects. We find that, beyond the wideband limit, when the entire spectrum is considered, the periodicity of the spectrum is not constant, but appears to be energy-dependent. Moreover, we resolve the apparent paradox of shift in the spectrum by a single level after the RG period, despite the disappearance of a finite fraction of energy levels. We also analyze the effects of disorder in the diagonal potential on the above periodicity and show that it survives only for high energies beyond the energy interval of the disorder amplitude. Our analytic analysis is supported with exact diagonalization.

• Von Neumann subfactors and non-invertible symmetries

  Xingyang Yu, Hao Y. Zhang

  SciPost Phys. 19, 154 (2025) · published 15 December 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We use the language of von Neumann subfactors to investigate non-invertible symmetries in two dimensions. A fusion categorical symmetry $\mathcal{C}$, its module category $\mathcal{M}$, and a gauging labeled by an algebra object $\mathcal{A}$ are encoded in the bipartite principal graph of a subfactor. The dual principal graph captures the quantum symmetry $\mathcal{C}'$ obtained by gauging $\mathcal{A}$ in $\mathcal{C}$, as well as a reverse gauging back to $\mathcal{C}$. From a given subfactor $N \subset M$, we derive a quiver diagram that encodes the representations of the associated non-invertible symmetry. We show how this framework provides necessary conditions for admissible gaugings, enabling the construction of generalized orbifold groupoids. To illustrate this strategy, we present three examples: Rep$(D_4)$ as a warm-up, the higher-multiplicity case Rep$(A_4)$ with its associated generalized orbifold groupoid and triality symmetry, and Rep$(A_5)$, where $A_5$ is the smallest non-solvable finite group. For applications to gapless systems, we embed these generalized gaugings as global manipulations on the conformal manifolds of $c=1$ CFTs and uncover new self-dualities in the exceptional $SU(2)_1/A_5$ theory. For $\mathcal{C}$-symmetric TQFTs, we use the subfactor-derived quiver diagrams to characterize gapped phases, describe their vacuum structure, and classify the recently proposed particle-soliton degeneracies.

• The Belle II experiment: Status and prospects

  Kavita Lalwani (on behalf of the Belle II Collaboration)

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 176 (2023) · published 11 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB energy asymmetric $e^{+}e^{-}$ collider is a substantial upgrade of the B factory facility at the Japanese KEK laboratory. The design luminosity of the machine is $6\times10^{35}$ $cm^{-2}s^{-1}$ and the Belle II experiment aims to record 50 $ab^{-1}$ of data, a factor of 50 more than its predecessor. With this data set, Belle II will be able to measure the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix, the matrix elements and their phases, with unprecedented precision and explore flavor physics with $B$, charmed mesons, and $\tau$ leptons. Belle II has also a unique capability to search for low-mass dark matter and low-mass mediators. In this paper, we will review the status of the Belle II detector, SuperKEKB accelerator and the prospects for physics at Belle II.