Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Horizon strings as 3D black hole microstates

  Arjun Bagchi, Daniel Grumiller, Mohammad Mehdi Sheikh-Jabbari

  SciPost Phys. 15, 210 (2023) · published 27 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose that 3d black holes are an ensemble of tensionless null string states. These microstates typically have non-zero winding. We evaluate their partition function in the limit of large excitation numbers and show that their combinatorics reproduces the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy and its semiclassical logarithmic corrections.

  8 citations

• Deconstructing S-Duality

  Kyle Aitken, Andreas Karch, Brandon Robinson

  SciPost Phys. 4, 032 (2018) · published 19 June 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We use the technique of deconstruction to lift dualities from 2+1 to 3+1 dimensions. In this work we demonstrate the basic idea by deriving S-duality of maximally supersymmetric electromagnetism in 3+1 dimensions from mirror symmetry in 2+1. We also study the deconstruction of a non-supersymmetric duality in 3+1 dimensions using Abelian bosonization in 2+1 dimensions.

  8 citations

• Skating on slippery ice

  J. M. J. van Leeuwen

  SciPost Phys. 3, 042 (2017) · published 23 December 2017 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The friction of a stationary moving skate on smooth ice is investigated, in particular in relation to the formation of a thin layer of water between skate and ice. It is found that the combination of ploughing and sliding gives a friction force that is rather insensitive for parameters such as velocity and temperature. The weak dependence originates from the pressure adjustment inside the water layer. For instance, high velocities, which would give rise to high friction, also lead to large pressures, which, in turn, decrease the contact zone and so lower the friction. The theory is a combination and completion of two existing but conflicting theories on the formation of the water layer.

  8 citations

• Lattice simulations of non-minimally coupled scalar fields in the Jordan frame

  Daniel G. Figueroa, Adrien Florio, Toby Opferkuch, and Ben A. Stefanek

  SciPost Phys. 15, 077 (2023) · published 4 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The presence of scalar fields with non-minimal gravitational interactions of the form $\xi |\phi|^2 R$ may have important implications for the physics of the early universe. We propose a procedure to solve the dynamics of non-minimally coupled scalar fields directly in the Jordan frame, where the non-minimal couplings are maintained explicitly. Our algorithm can be applied to lattice simulations that include minimally coupled fields and an arbitrary number of non-minimally coupled scalars, with the expansion of the universe sourced by all fields present. This includes situations when the dynamics become fully inhomogeneous, fully non-linear (due to e.g. backreaction or mode rescattering effects), and/or when the expansion of the universe is dominated by non-minimally coupled species. As an example, we study geometric preheating with a non-minimally coupled scalar spectator field when the inflaton oscillates following the end of inflation.

  8 citations

• SModelS v2.3: Enabling global likelihood analyses

  Mohammad Mahdi Altakach, Sabine Kraml, Andre Lessa, Sahana Narasimha, Timothée Pascal, Wolfgang Waltenberger

  SciPost Phys. 15, 185 (2023) · published 6 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present version 2.3 of SModelS, a public tool for the fast reinterpretation of LHC searches for new physics on the basis of simplified-model results. The main new features are a database update with the latest available experimental results for full Run 2 luminosity, comprising in particular a large variety of electroweak-ino searches, and the ability to combine likelihoods from different analyses. This enables statistically more rigorous constraints and opens the way for global likelihood analyses for LHC searches. The physics impact is demonstrated for the electroweak-ino sector of the minimal supersymmetric standard model.

  8 citations

• On the dynamics of free-fermionic tau-functions at finite temperature

  Daniel Chernowitz, Oleksandr Gamayun

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 006 (2022) · published 31 January 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this work we explore an instance of the $\tau$-function of vertex type operators, specified in terms of a constant phase shift in a free-fermionic basis. From the physical point of view this $\tau$-function has multiple interpretations: as a correlator of Jordan-Wigner strings, a Loschmidt Echo in the Aharonov-Bohm effect, or the generating function of the local densities in the Tonks-Girardeau gas. We present the $\tau$-function as a form-factors series and tackle it from four vantage points: (i) we perform an exact summation and express it in terms of a Fredholm determinant in the thermodynamic limit, (ii) we use bosonization techniques to perform partial summations of soft modes around the Fermi surface to acquire the scaling at zero temperature, (iii) we derive large space and time asymptotic behavior for the thermal Fredholm determinant by relating it to effective form-factors with an asymptotically similar kernel, and (iv) we identify and sum the important basis elements directly through a tailor-made numerical algorithm for finite-entropy states in a free-fermionic Hilbert space. All methods confirm each other. We find that, in addition to the exponential decay in the finite-temperature case the dynamic correlation functions exhibit an extra power law in time, universal over any distribution and time scale.

  8 citations

• Effects of intraspecific cooperative interactions in large ecosystems

  Ada Altieri, Giulio Biroli

  SciPost Phys. 12, 013 (2022) · published 11 January 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We analyze the role of the Allee effect, a positive correlation between population density and mean individual fitness, for ecological communities formed by a large number of species. Our study is performed using the generalized Lotka-Volterra model with random interactions between species. We obtain the phase diagram and analyze the nature of the multiple equilibria phase. Remarkable differences emerge with respect to the logistic growth case, thus revealing the major role played by the functional response in determining aggregate behaviours of ecosystems.

  8 citations

• No superconductivity in Pb$_9$Cu$_1$(PO$_4$)$_6$O found in orbital and spin fluctuation exchange calculations

  Niklas Witt, Liang Si, Jan M. Tomczak, Karsten Held, Tim O. Wehling

  SciPost Phys. 15, 197 (2023) · published 21 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Finding a material that turns superconducting under ambient conditions has been the goal of over a century of research, and recently Pb$_{10-x}$Cu$_x$(PO$_4$)$_6$O aka LK-99 has been put forward as a possible contestant. In this work, we study the possibility of electronically driven superconductivity in LK-99 also allowing for electron or hole doping. We use an ab initio derived two-band model of the Cu $e_g$ orbitals for which we determine interaction values from the constrained random phase approximation (cRPA). For this two-band model we perform calculations in the fluctuation exchange (FLEX) approach to assess the strength of orbital and spin fluctuations. We scan over a broad range of parameters and enforce no magnetic or orbital symmetry breaking. Even under optimized conditions for superconductivity, spin and orbital fluctuations turn out to be too weak for superconductivity anywhere near to room-temperature. We contrast this finding to non-self-consistent RPA, where it is possible to induce spin singlet d-wave superconductivity at $T_c$ ≥300K if the system is put close enough to a magnetic instability.

  7 citations

• Dissipative cooling induced by pulse perturbations

  Andrea Nava, Michele Fabrizio

  SciPost Phys. 12, 014 (2022) · published 11 January 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the dynamics brought on by an impulse perturbation in two infinite-range quantum Ising models coupled to each other and to a dissipative bath. We show that, if dissipation is faster the higher the excitation energy, the pulse perturbation cools down the low-energy sector of the system, at the expense of the high-energy one, eventually stabilising a transient symmetry-broken state at temperatures higher than the equilibrium critical one. Such non-thermal quasi-steady state may survive for quite a long time after the pulse, if the latter is properly tailored.

  7 citations

• Signal region combination with full and simplified likelihoods in MadAnalysis 5

  Gaël Alguero, Jack Y. Araz, Benjamin Fuks, Sabine Kraml

  SciPost Phys. 14, 009 (2023) · published 30 January 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The statistical combination of disjoint signal regions in reinterpretation studies uses more of the data of an analysis and gives more robust results than the single signal region approach. We present the implementation and usage of signal region combination in MadAnalysis 5 through two methods: an interface to the Pyhf package making use of statistical models in JSON-serialised format provided by the ATLAS collaboration, and a simplified likelihood calculation making use of covariance matrices provided by the CMS collaboration. The gain in physics reach is demonstrated 1.) by comparison with official mass limits for 4 ATLAS and 5 CMS analyses from the Public Analysis Database of MadAnalysis 5 for which signal region combination is currently available, and 2.) by a case study for an MSSM scenario in which both stops and sbottoms can be produced and have a variety of decays into charginos and neutralinos.

  7 citations