Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Josephson effects between the Kitaev ladder superconductors

  Osamu Kanehira, Hiroki Tsuchiura

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 11, 014 (2023) · published 6 June 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The two-leg ladder system consisting of the Kitaev chains is known to exhibit a richer phase diagram than that of the single chain. We theoretically investigate the variety of the Josephson effects between the ladder systems. We consider the Josephson phase difference $\theta$ between these two ladder systems as well as the phase difference $\phi$ between the parallel chains in each ladder system. The total energy of the junction at $T = 0$ is calculated by a numerical diagonalization method as functions of $\theta$, $\phi$, and also a transverse hopping $t_{\perp}$ in the ladders. We find that, by controlling $t_{\perp}$ and $\phi$, the junction exhibits not only the fractional Josephson effect for the phase difference $\theta$, but also the usual 0-junction and even $\pi$-junction properties.

• Nucleon and pion PDFs: large-x asymptotics meets functional mimicry

  Aurore Courtoy, Pavel M. Nadolsky

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 063 (2022) · published 12 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We review strategies to unveil the primordial large-$x$ structure of the nucleons as well as the pion from hard-scattering experiments. Ideas are presented for learning about the $x\to 1$ limit of nonperturbative QCD dynamics at energy scales of order 1 GeV from collider experiments at much higher scales. The behavior of parton distributions at $x\to 1$ predicted by the quark counting rules and other low-energy theoretical approaches is contrasted with phenomenological PDFs. Polynomial mimicry of PDF parametrizations is one of many factors that influence the apparent power of the $(1-x)$ falloff. We discuss implications of the mimicry for the large-$x$ falloff of the pion PDFs.

• Sparsity in the numerical six-point bootstrap

  Sebastian Harris

  SciPost Phys. 19, 151 (2025) · published 10 December 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The paper contributes to an ongoing effort to extend the conformal bootstrap beyond its traditional focus on systems of four-point correlation functions. Recently, it was demonstrated that semidefinite programming can be used to formulate a six-point generalisation of the numerical bootstrap, yielding qualitatively new, rigorous bounds on CFT data. However, the numerical six-point bootstrap requires solving SDPs involving infinite-dimensional matrices, which has so far limited its applicability and hindered scalability in early implementations. This work overcomes the challenges by using sparse matrix decompositions to exploit the banded structure of the underlying SDP. The result is a rewriting of one-dimensional six-point bootstrap problems as effectively two-dimensional standard mixed correlator four-point bootstrap computations. As application, novel bounds whose extremal correlators interpolate between the six-point functions of the generalised free fermion and boson are derived. The extremal interpolations are matched with perturbative deformations of the massive free boson in AdS$_2$.

• Collective dynamics of densely confined active polar disks with self- and mutual alignment

  Weizhen Tang, Yating Zheng, Amir Shee, Guozheng Lin, Zhangang Han, Pawel Romanczuk, Cristián Huepe

  SciPost Phys. 19, 012 (2025) · published 8 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the emerging collective states in a simple mechanical model of a dense group of self-propelled polar disks with off-centered rotation, confined within a circular arena. Each disk presents self-alignment towards the sum of contact forces acting on it, resulting from disk-substrate interactions, while also displaying mutual alignment with neighbors due to having its center of rotation located a distance $R$ behind its centroid, so that central contact forces can also introduce torques. The effect of both alignment mechanisms produces a variety of collective states that combine high-frequency localized circular oscillations with low-frequency milling around the center of the arena, in fluid or solid regimes. We consider cases with small/large $R$ values, isotropic/anisotropic disk-substrate damping, smooth/rough arena boundaries, different densities, and multiple systems sizes, showing that the emergent collective states that we identify are robust, generic, and potentially observable in real-world natural or artificial systems.

• Higher-order corrections to the kinetic mass definition for the bottom and the charm quarks

  Matteo Fael

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 7, 026 (2022) · published 21 June 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In these proceedings we discuss the relation between the kinetic and the on-shell schemes for the bottom and the charm quarks and present the methods for the calculation of the mass relation to higher orders in perturbative QCD. The bottom mass in the kinetic scheme is a pivotal input parameter in the inclusive determination of $|V_{cb}|$ from $B\to X_c \ell \nu_\ell$ decays. By combining the relation between the kinetic and the on-shell mass with well-know results for the $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$-on-shell conversion, we obtain a prediction for $m_b^\mathrm{kin}$ based on precise determinations of $\overline{m}_b(\overline{m}_b)$.

• Workshop on Tau Lepton Physics: $\mathbf{30^{th}}$ Anniversary

  Antonio Pich

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 16, 001 (2025) · published 14 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The first Workshop on Tau Lepton Physics took place at Orsay in 1990. The evolution of the field and some physics highlights are briefly described, following the presentations discussed at the fifteen $\tau$ workshops that have been held since then.

• Prospects of a future multi-TeV muon collider

  M. Casarsa

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 061 (2022) · published 12 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A multi-TeV muon collider is a discovery machine and an invaluable tool for many new standard model precision measurements such as the shape of the Higgs boson potential. The update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics recognized the unique opportunity of a muon collider to reach the energy frontier, despite the challenges to produce intense collimated muon beams. The options of a collider at 3 TeV and a collider at 10 TeV or above are the main focus of the forming International Muon Collider Collaboration as well as of the discussion panels at the ongoing US Snowmass process.

• Energy-saving fast-forward scaling

  Takuya Hatomura

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 019 (2025) · published 11 February 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose energy-saving fast-forward scaling. Fast-forward scaling is a method which enables us to speed up (or slow down) given dynamics in a certain measurement basis. We introduce energy costs of fast-forward scaling, and find possibility of energy-saving speedup for time-independent measurement bases. As concrete examples, we show such energy-saving fast-forward scaling in a two-level system and quantum annealing of a general Ising spin glass. We also discuss the influence of a time-dependent measurement basis, and give a remedy for unwanted energy costs. The present results pave the way for realization of energy-efficient quantum technologies.

• On the role of non-linear latent features in bipartite generative neural networks

  Tony Bonnaire, Giovanni Catania, Aurélien Decelle, Beatriz Seoane

  SciPost Phys. 19, 141 (2025) · published 1 December 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the phase diagram and memory retrieval capabilities of Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBMs), an archetypal model of bipartite energy-based neural networks, as a function of the prior distribution imposed on their hidden units—including binary, multi-state, and ReLU-like activations. Drawing connections to the Hopfield model and employing analytical tools from statistical physics of disordered systems, we explore how the architectural choices and activation functions shape the thermodynamic properties of these models. Our analysis reveals that standard RBMs with binary hidden nodes and extensive connectivity suffer from reduced critical capacity, limiting their effectiveness as associative memories. To address this, we examine several modifications, such as introducing local biases and adopting richer hidden unit priors. These adjustments restore ordered retrieval phases and markedly improve recall performance, even at finite temperatures. Our theoretical findings, supported by finite-size Monte Carlo simulations, highlight the importance of hidden unit design in enhancing the expressive power of RBMs.

• Updated determinations of |V$_{us}$| with tau decays using new recent estimates of radiative corrections for light-meson leptonic decay rates

  Alberto Lusiani

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 16, 002 (2025) · published 14 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We update the |V$_{us}$| determinations using the HFLAV 2018 report tau branching fraction results with recent new estimates of the $\pi\ell2$ and $K\ell2$ radiative corrections. There are minor changes of the central values and uncertainties.