Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Twisted holography on AdS$_3 \times S^3 \times$ K3 & the planar chiral algebra

  Víctor E. Fernández, Natalie M. Paquette, Brian R. Williams

  SciPost Phys. 17, 109 (2024) · published 9 October 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this work, we revisit and elaborate on twisted holography for AdS$_3 × S^3 × X$ with $X= T^4$, K3, with a particular focus on K3. We describe the twist of supergravity, identify the corresponding (generalization of) BCOV theory, and enumerate twisted supergravity states. We use this knowledge, and the technique of Koszul duality, to obtain the $N → ∞$, or planar, limit of the chiral algebra of the dual CFT. The resulting symmetries are strong enough to fix planar 2 and 3-point functions in the twisted theory or, equivalently, in a 1/4-BPS subsector of the original duality. This technique can in principle be used to compute corrections to the chiral algebra perturbatively in $1/N$.

  5 citations

• Hydrodynamics with triangular point group

  Aaron J. Friedman, Caleb Q. Cook, Andrew Lucas

  SciPost Phys. 14, 137 (2023) · published 31 May 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  When continuous rotational invariance of a two-dimensional fluid is broken to the discrete, dihedral subgroup $D_6$ - the point group of an equilateral triangle - the resulting anisotropic hydrodynamics breaks both spatial-inversion and time-reversal symmetries, while preserving their combination. In this work, we present the hydrodynamics of such $D_6$-symmetric fluids, identifying new symmetry-allowed dissipative terms in the hydrodynamic equations of motion. We propose two experiments - both involving high-purity solid-state materials with $D_6$-invariant Fermi surfaces - that are sensitive to these new coefficients in a $D_6$-invariant electron fluid. In particular, we propose a local current imaging experiment (which is present-day realizable with nitrogen vacancy center magnetometry) in a hexagonal device, whose $D_6$-exploiting boundary conditions enable the unambiguous detection of these novel transport coefficients.

  5 citations

• Pseudoscalar pair production via off-shell Higgs in composite Higgs models

  Diogo Buarque Franzosi, Gabriele Ferretti, Li Huang, Jing Shu

  SciPost Phys. 9, 077 (2020) · published 20 November 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a new type of search for a pseudoscalar particle $\eta$ pair produced via an off-shell Higgs, $pp\to h^*\to \eta\eta$. The search is motivated by a composite Higgs model in which the $\eta$ is extremely narrow and decays almost exclusively into $Z\gamma$ in the mass range $65$ GeV$\lesssim m_\eta \lesssim 160$ GeV. We devise an analysis strategy to observe the novel $Z\gamma Z\gamma$ channel and estimate potential bounds on the Higgs-$\eta$ coupling. The experimental sensitivity to the signatures depends on the power to identify fake photons and on the ability to predict large photon multiplicities. This search allows us to exclude large values of the compositeness scale $f$, being thus complementary to other typical processes.

  5 citations

• Finiteness and the emergence of dualities

  Matilda Delgado, Damian van de Heisteeg, Sanjay Raman, Ethan Torres, Cumrun Vafa, Kai Xu

  SciPost Phys. 19, 047 (2025) · published 19 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We argue that the finiteness of quantum gravity amplitudes in fully compactified theories (at least in supersymmetric cases) leads to a bottom-up prediction for the existence of non-trivial dualities. In particular, finiteness requires the moduli space of massless fields to be compactifiable, meaning that its volume must be finite or at least grow no faster than that of Euclidean space. Moreover, we relate the compactifiability of moduli spaces to the condition that the lattice of charged objects transform in a semisimple representation under the action of the duality group. These ideas are supported by a wide variety of string theory examples.

  5 citations

• Excitons under strain: light absorption and emission in strained hexagonal boron nitride

  Pierre Lechifflart, Fulvio Paleari, Claudio Attaccalite

  SciPost Phys. 12, 145 (2022) · published 4 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Hexagonal boron nitride is an indirect band gap material with a strong luminescence in the ultraviolet. This luminescence originates from bound excitons recombination assisted by different phonon modes. The coupling between excitons and phonons is so strong that the resulting light emission is as efficient as the one of direct band gap materials. In this manuscript we investigate how uniaxial strain modifies the electronic and optical properties of this material, and in particular how it affects the exciton-phonon coupling. Using a formulation of this coupling based on finite-difference displacements, recently developed by some of us, we investigate how phonon-assisted transitions change under strain. Our results open the way to the study of phonon-assisted luminescence in strained materials from first principles. Our findings are important both for experiments that directly probe \hbn under strain or for those in which it is used as substrate for other 2D material with a lattice mismatch.

  5 citations

• Sub-GeV dark matter models and direct detection

  Tongyan Lin

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 43 (2022) · published 18 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Lecture notes for Les Houches Summer School 2021: Dark Matter. These lectures give a brief introduction to sub-GeV dark matter models, and then reviews theory and approaches to direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter.

  5 citations

• An introduction to kinks in $\varphi^4$-theory

  Mariya Lizunova, Jasper van Wezel

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 23 (2021) · published 3 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  As a low-energy effective model emerging in disparate fields throughout all of physics, the ubiquitous $\varphi^4$-theory is one of the central models of modern theoretical physics. Its topological defects, or kinks, describe stable, particle-like excitations that play a central role in processes ranging from cosmology to particle physics and condensed matter theory. In these lecture notes, we introduce the description of kinks in $\varphi^4$-theory and the various physical processes that govern their dynamics. The notes are aimed at advanced undergraduate students, and emphasis is placed on stimulating qualitative insight into the rich phenomenology encountered in kink dynamics. The appendices contain more detailed derivations, and allow enquiring students to also obtain a quantitative understanding. Topics covered include the topological classification of stable solutions, kink collisions, the formation of bions, resonant scattering of kinks, and kink-impurity interactions.

  5 citations

• Monopole harmonics on $\mathbb{CP}^{n-1}$

  Dmitri Bykov, Andrei Smilga

  SciPost Phys. 15, 195 (2023) · published 14 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We find the spectra and eigenfunctions of both ordinary and supersymmetric quantum-mechanical models describing the motion of a charged particle over the $\mathbb{CP}^{n-1}$ manifold in the presence of a background monopole-like gauge field. The states form degenerate $SU(n)$ multiplets and their wave functions acquire a very simple form being expressed via homogeneous coordinates. Their relationship to multidimensional orthogonal polynomials of a special kind is discussed. By the well-known isomorphism between the twisted Dolbeault and Dirac complexes, our construction also gives the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of the Dirac operator on complex projective spaces in a monopole background.

  4 citations

• Bonsai-SPH: A GPU accelerated astrophysical Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics code

  Jeroen Bédorf, Simon Portegies Zwart

  SciPost Astro. 1, 001 (2020) · published 14 May 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present the smoothed-particle hydrodynamics simulation code, Bonsai-SPH, which is a continuation of our previously developed gravity-only hierarchical $N$-body code (called Bonsai). The code is optimized for Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) accelerators which enables researchers to take advantage of these powerful computational resources. Bonsa-SPH produces simulation results comparable with state-of-the-art, CPU based, codes, but using an order of magnitude less computation time. The code is freely available online and the details are described in this work.

  4 citations

• Random matrix universality in dynamical correlation functions at late times

  Oscar Bouverot-Dupuis, Silvia Pappalardi, Jorge Kurchan, Anatoli Polkovnikov, Laura Foini

  SciPost Phys. 19, 050 (2025) · published 20 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the behaviour of two-time correlation functions at late times for finite system sizes considering observables whose (one-point) average value does not depend on energy. In the long time limit, we show that such correlation functions display a ramp and a plateau determined by the correlations of energy levels, similar to what is already known for the spectral form factor. The plateau value is determined, in absence of degenerate energy levels, by the fluctuations of diagonal matrix elements, which highlights differences between different symmetry classes. We show this behaviour analytically by employing results from Random Matrix Theory and the Eigenstate Thermalisation Hypothesis, and numerically by exact diagonalization in the toy example of a Hamiltonian drawn from a Random Matrix ensemble and in a more realistic example of disordered spin glasses at high temperature. Importantly, correlation functions in the ramp regime do not show self-averaging behaviour, and, at difference with the spectral form factor the time average does not coincide with the ensemble average.

  4 citations