Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Exploring the unknown Lambda-neutron interaction

  Benjamin F. Gibson, Iraj. R. Afnan

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 3, 025 (2020) · published 25 February 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  No published Λn scattering data exist. A relativistic heavy-ion experiment has suggested that a Λnn bound state was seen. However, several theoretical analyses have cast serious doubt on the bound-state assertion. Nevertheless, there could exist a three-body Λnn resonance. Such a resonance could be used to constrain the Λn interaction. We dis- cuss Λnn calculations using nn and Λn pairwise interactions of rank-one, separable form that fit effective range parameters of the nn system and those hypothesized for the as yet unobserved Λn system based upon four different ΛN potentials. The use of rank-one separable potentials allows one to analytically continue the Λnn Faddeev equations onto the second complex energy plane in search of resonance poles, by examining the eigenvalue spectrum of the kernel of the Faddeev equations. Although each of the potential models predicts a Λnn sub-threshold resonance pole, scaling of the Λn interaction by as little as ∼5% does produce a physical resonance. This suggests that one may use photo- (electro-)production of the Λnn system from tritium as a tool to examine the strength of the Λn interaction.

  4 citations

• Critical spin chains and loop models with $PSU(n)$ symmetry

  Paul Roux, Jesper Lykke Jacobsen, Sylvain Ribault, Hubert Saleur

  SciPost Phys. 18, 033 (2025) · published 27 January 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Starting with the Ising model, statistical models with global symmetries provide fruitful approaches to interesting physical systems, for example percolation or polymers. These include the $O(n)$ model (symmetry group $O(n)$) and the Potts model (symmetry group $S_Q$). Both models make sense for $n,Q∈ \mathbb{C}$ and not just $n,Q∈ \mathbb{N}$, and both give rise to a conformal field theory in the critical limit. Here, we study similar models based on the group $PSU(n)$. We focus on the two-dimensional case, where the models can be described either as gases of non-intersecting orientable loops, or as alternating spin chains. This allows us to determine their spectra either by computing a twisted torus partition function, or by studying representations of the walled Brauer algebra. In the critical limit, our models give rise to a CFT that exists for any $n∈\mathbb{C}$ and has a global $PSU(n)$ symmetry. Its spectrum is similar to those of the $O(n)$ and Potts CFTs, but a bit simpler. We conjecture that the $O(n)$ CFT is a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ orbifold of the $PSU(n)$ CFT, where $\mathbb{Z}_2$ acts as complex conjugation.

  4 citations

• Functional renormalisation group approach to shell models of turbulence

  Côme Fontaine, Malo Tarpin, Freddy Bouchet, Léonie Canet

  SciPost Phys. 15, 212 (2023) · published 28 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Shell models are simplified models of hydrodynamic turbulence, retaining only some essential features of the original equations, such as the non-linearity, symmetries and quadratic invariants. Yet, they were shown to reproduce the most salient properties of developed turbulence, in particular universal statistics and multi-scaling. We set up the functional renormalisation group (FRG) formalism to study generic shell models. In particular, we formulate an inverse RG flow, which consists in integrating out fluctuation modes from the large scales (small wavenumbers) to the small scales (large wavenumbers), which is physically grounded and has long been advocated in the context of turbulence. Focusing on the Sabra shell model, we study the effect of both a large-scale forcing, and a power-law forcing exerted at all scales. We show that these two types of forcing yield different fixed points, and thus correspond to distinct universality classes, characterised by different scaling exponents. We find that the power-law forcing leads to dimensional (K41-like) scaling, while the large-scale forcing entails anomalous scaling.

  4 citations

• Two portals to GeV sterile neutrinos: Dipole versus mixing

  Enrico Bertuzzo, Michele Frigerio

  SciPost Phys. 18, 140 (2025) · published 28 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Massive sterile neutrinos, also known as heavy neutral leptons, can have a mixing with active neutrinos, $\theta$, as well as a dipole coupling to the photon, $d$. We study the interplay between these two portals, considering the production from meson decays of sterile neutrinos with mass $0.1$ GeV $≲ M_N ≲ 10$ GeV, at beam-dump facilities such as NA62 and SHiP, and at the FASER2 experiment. These sterile neutrinos can be long-lived and decay into a photon in a distant detector, via the dipole operator. We find that all these experiments will be sensitive to values of $d$ which are presently unconstrained. The experimental reach varies strongly with the mass $M_N$ and the mixing $\theta$, and one observes specific correlations with the flavour of active neutrinos. The SHiP experiment will mark a jump in sensitivity: (i) it will probe a sterile dipole as small as $d\sim 10^{-8}\ \text{GeV}^{-1}$, thus testing new physics well above the electroweak scale; (ii) it may detect the active-sterile dipole to the level predicted by electroweak loops, if $\theta$ is close to the present bound.

  4 citations

• Integrable Floquet systems related to logarithmic conformal field theory

  Vsevolod I. Yashin, Denis V. Kurlov, Aleksey K. Fedorov, Vladimir Gritsev

  SciPost Phys. 14, 084 (2023) · published 26 April 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study an integrable Floquet quantum system related to lattice statistical systems in the universality class of dense polymers. These systems are described by a particular non-unitary representation of the Temperley-Lieb algebra. We find a simple Lie algebra structure for the elements of Temperley-Lieb algebra which are invariant under shift by two lattice sites, and show how the local Floquet conserved charges and the Floquet Hamiltonian are expressed in terms of this algebra. The system has a phase transition between local and non-local phases of the Floquet Hamiltonian. We provide a strong indication that in the scaling limit this non-equilibrium system is described by the logarithmic conformal field theory.

  4 citations

• Pressure-dependent structural and electronic instabilities in LaSb$_2$

  Theodore I. Weinberger, Christian K. de Podesta, Jiasheng Chen, Stephen A. Hodgson, F. Malte Grosche

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 11, 018 (2023) · published 6 June 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  LaSb$_2$ exhibits a large, non-saturating, linear magnetoresistance at low temperatures, defying the expectations of Fermi liquid theory. This is thought to be caused by charge density wave order emerging below an abrupt, hysteretic anomaly in the resistivity at $\sim$ 355 K. We find that, under hydrostatic pressure, this anomaly becomes much more pronounced, develops strong hysteresis, and shifts rapidly towards lower temperatures. The anomaly is fully suppressed by only 6 kbar. Moreover, we observe a second transition anomaly at lower temperature, which likewise disappears under pressure. These findings are discussed in the context of a structural transition recently discovered in the sister material CeSb$_2$ and of density functional theory calculations, which indicate that the SmSb$_2$-type structure adopted by LaSb$_2$ at ambient conditions is unstable at moderate applied pressures.

  4 citations

• Gravitational higher-form symmetries and the origin of hidden symmetries in Kaluza-Klein compactifications

  Carmen Gómez-Fayrén, Tomás Ortín, Matteo Zatti

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 010 (2025) · published 29 January 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that, in presence of isometries and non-trivial topology, the Einstein–Hilbert action is invariant under certain transformations of the metric which are not diffeomorphisms. These transformations are similar to the higher-form symmetries of field theories with $p$-form fields. In the context of toroidal Kaluza–Klein compactifications, we show that these symmetries give rise to some of the "hidden symmetries" (dualities) of the dimensionally-reduced theories.

  4 citations

• NNLL-fast 2.0: Coloured sparticle production at the LHC run 3 with $\sqrt{S}$ = 13.6 TeV

  Wim Beenakker, Christoph Borschensky, Michael Krämer, Anna Kulesza, Eric Laenen, Judita Mamužić, Laura Moreno Valero

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 072 (2024) · published 13 November 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We report on updated precision predictions for total cross sections of coloured supersymmetric particle production at the LHC with a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{S} = 13.6$ TeV, computed with the modern PDF4LHC21 set. The cross sections are calculated at an approximated NNLO accuracy in QCD and contain corrections from the threshold resummation of soft-gluon emission up to NNLL accuracy as well as Coulomb-gluon contributions including bound-state terms. The corrections are found to increase the cross sections and reduce the theoretical uncertainty as compared to the best available fixed-order calculations. These predictions constitute the state-of-the-art calculations and update the existing results for $\sqrt{S} = 13$ TeV. We make our new results publicly available in the version 2.0 update to the code package \textsc{NNLL-fast}.

  4 citations

• Mapping current and activity fluctuations in exclusion processes: consequences and open questions

  Matthieu Vanicat, Eric Bertin, Vivien Lecomte, Eric Ragoucy

  SciPost Phys. 10, 028 (2021) · published 5 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Considering the large deviations of activity and current in the Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process (ASEP), we show that there exists a non-trivial correspondence between the joint scaled cumulant generating functions of activity and current of two ASEPs with different parameters. This mapping is obtained by applying a similarity transform on the deformed Markov matrix of the source model in order to obtain the deformed Markov matrix of the target model. We first derive this correspondence for periodic boundary conditions, and show in the diffusive scaling limit (corresponding to the Weakly Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Processes, or WASEP) how the mapping is expressed in the language of Macroscopic Fluctuation Theory (MFT). As an interesting specific case, we map the large deviations of current in the ASEP to the large deviations of activity in the SSEP, thereby uncovering a regime of Kardar–Parisi–Zhang in the distribution of activity in the SSEP. At large activity, particle configurations exhibit hyperuniformity [Jack et al., PRL 114 060601 (2015)]. Using results from quantum spin chain theory, we characterize the hyperuniform regime by evaluating the small wavenumber asymptotic behavior of the structure factor at half-filling. Conversely, we formulate from the MFT results a conjecture for a correlation function in spin chains at any fixed total magnetization (in the thermodynamic limit). In addition, we generalize the mapping to the case of two open ASEPs with boundary reservoirs, and we apply it in the WASEP limit in the MFT formalism. This mapping also allows us to find a symmetry-breaking dynamical phase transition (DPT) in the WASEP conditioned by activity, from the prior knowledge of a DPT in the WASEP conditioned by the current.

  4 citations

• Fermionic Bogomolǹyi-Prasad-Sommerfield Wilson loops in four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal gauge theories

  Hao Ouyang, Jun-Bao Wu

  SciPost Phys. 14, 008 (2023) · published 30 January 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We construct for the first time Drukker-Trancanelli (DT) type fermionic Bogomolǹyi-Prasad-Sommerfield (BPS) Wilson loops in four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ superconformal $SU(N)\times SU(N)$ quiver theory and $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory. The connections of these fermionic BPS Wilson loops have a supermatrix structure. We construct timelike BPS Wilson lines in Minkowski spacetime and circular BPS Wilson loops in Euclidean space. These Wilson loops involve dimensionful parameters. For generic values of parameters, they preserve one real (complex) supercharge in Lorentzian (Euclidean) signature. Supersymmetry enhancement for Wilson loops happens when the parameters satisfy certain constraints. The nature of such loops is quite different from the Wilson loop operators involving fermions constructed previously in the literature on four-dimensional gauge theories. We hope that further investigations of such new Wilson loops will explore deep structures in both the gauge theories and gauge/gravity dualities.

  4 citations