Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Quasi-characters in $\widehat{su(2)}$ current algebra at fractional levels

  Sachin Grover

  SciPost Phys. Core 6, 068 (2023) · published 18 October 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the even characters of $\widehat{su(2)}$ conformal field theories (CFTs) at admissible fractional levels obtained from the difference of the highest weight characters in the unflavoured limit. We show that admissible even character vectors arise only in three special classes of admissible fractional levels which include the threshold levels, the positive half-odd integer levels, and the isolated level at -$5/4$. Among them, we show that the even characters of the half-odd integer levels map to the difference of characters of $\widehat{su(2)}_{4N+4}$, with $N\in\mathbb{Z}_{>0}$, although we prove that they do not correspond to rational CFTs. The isolated level characters maps to characters of two subsectors with $\widehat{so(5)}_1$ and $\widehat{su(2)}_1$ current algebras. Furthermore, for the $\widehat{su(2)}_1$ subsector of the isolated level, we introduce discrete flavour fugacities. The threshold levels saturate the admissibility bound and their even characters have previously been shown to be proportional to the unflavoured characters of integrable representations in $\widehat{su(2)}_{4N}$ CFTs, where $N\in\mathbb{Z}_{> 0}$ and we reaffirm this result. Except at the three classes of fractional levels, we find special inadmissible characters called quasi-characters which are nice vector valued modular functions but with $q$-series coefficients violating positivity but not integrality.

  2 citations

• Chaos enhancement in large-spin chains

  Yael Lebel, Lea F. Santos, Yevgeny Bar Lev

  SciPost Phys. 15, 022 (2023) · published 21 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the chaotic properties of a large-spin XXZ chain with onsite disorder and a small number of excitations above the fully polarized state. We show that while the classical limit, which is reached for large spins, is chaotic, enlarging the spin suppresses quantum chaos features. We examine ways to facilitate chaos by introducing additional terms to the Hamiltonian. Interestingly, perturbations that are diagonal in the basis of product states in the $z$-direction do not lead to significant enhancement of chaos, while off-diagonal perturbations restore chaoticity for large spins, so that only three excitations are required to achieve strong level repulsion and ergodic eigenstates.

  2 citations

• Study of deuteron-proton backward elastic scattering at intermediate energies

  Nadezhda Ladygina

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 3, 053 (2020) · published 27 February 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study deuteron- proton elastic scattering in the deuteron energy range between 500 MeV and 2~GeV at the cms scattering angle $\theta^*\ge 140^\circ$. The reaction is considered in the relativistic multiple scattering expansion framework. The four reaction mechanisms are included into consideration: one-nucleon exchange, single scattering, double scattering, and the term corresponding to the delta excitation in the intermediate state. The model is applied to describe the angular dependence of the differential cross section at the deuteron energies of between 880 and 1300 MeV. Also the energy dependence of the differential cross section and polarisation observables such as tensor analyzing power $T_{20}$ and polarization transfer from the deuteron to proton $\varkappa$ are considered at the scattering angle equal to 180$^\circ$. Contributions of the different reaction mechanisms into the reaction amplitude are demonstrated in comparison with the existing experimental data.

  2 citations

• Status and prospects of SABRE North

  Ambra Mariani on behalf of the SABRE North Collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 12, 026 (2023) · published 4 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present the characterization of a low background NaI(Tl) crystal for the SABRE North experiment. The crystal NaI-33, was studied in two different setups at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. The Proof-of-Principle (PoP) detector was equipped with a liquid scintillator veto and collected data for about one month (90 kg$\times$days). The PoP-dry setup consisted of NaI-33 in a purely passive shielding and collected data for almost one year (891 kg$\times$days). The average background in the energy region of interest (1-6 keV) for dark matter search was 1.20 $\pm$ 0.05 and 1.39 $\pm$ 0.02 counts/day/kg/keV within the PoP and the PoP-dry setup, respectively. This result opens to a new shielding design for the physics phase of the SABRE North detector, that does not foresee the use of an organic liquid scintillator external veto, in compliance with the new safety and environmental requirements of Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso.

  2 citations

• Topological insulators and geometry of vector bundles

  Alexander S. Sergeev

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 67 (2023) · published 12 April 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  For a long time, band theory of solids has focused on the energy spectrum, or Hamiltonian eigenvalues. Recently, it was realized that the collection of eigenvectors also contains important physical information. The local geometry of eigenspaces determines the electric polarization, while their global twisting gives rise to the metallic surface states in topological insulators. These phenomena are central topics of the present notes. The shape of eigenspaces is also responsible for many intriguing physical analogies, which have their roots in the theory of vector bundles. We give an informal introduction to the geometry and topology of vector bundles and describe various physical models from this mathematical perspective.

  2 citations

• Flat bands and compact localised states: A Carrollian roadmap

  Nisa Ara, Aritra Banerjee, Rudranil Basu, Bhagya Krishnan

  SciPost Phys. 19, 046 (2025) · published 19 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show how Carrollian symmetries become important in the construction of one-dimensional fermionic systems with all flat-band spectra from first principles. The key ingredient of this construction is the identification of Compact Localised States (CLSs), which appear naturally by demanding supertranslation invariance of the system. We use CLS basis states, with inherent ultra-local correlations, to write down an interacting theory which shows a non-trivial phase structure and an emergent Carroll conformal symmetry at the gapless points. We analyze this theory in detail for both zero and finite chemical potential.

  2 citations

• Probabilistic deconstruction of a theory of gravity, part I: Flat space

  Sunok Josephine Suh

  SciPost Phys. 15, 174 (2023) · published 19 October 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We define and analyze a stochastic process in anti-de Sitter Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity, induced by the quantum dynamics of the boundary and whose random variable takes values in $AdS_2$. With the boundary in a thermal state and for appropriate parameters, we take the asymptotic limit of the quantum process at short time scales and flat space, and show associated classical joint distributions have the Markov property. We find that Einstein's equations of the theory, sans the cosmological constant term, arise in the semi-classical limit of the quantum evolution of probability under the asymptotic process. In particular, in flat Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity, the area of compactified space solved for by Einstein's equations can be identified as a probability density evolving under the Markovian process.

  2 citations

• R-matrices and Miura operators in 5d Chern-Simons theory

  Nafiz Ishtiaque, Saebyeok Jeong, Yehao Zhou

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 003 (2025) · published 13 January 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We derive Miura operators for $W$- and $Y$-algebras from first principles as the expectation value of the intersection between a topological line defect and a holomorphic surface defect in 5-dimensional non-commutative $\mathfrak{gl}(1)$ Chern-Simons theory. The expectation value, viewed as the transition amplitude for states in the defect theories forming representations of the affine Yangian of $\mathfrak{gl}(1)$, satisfies the Yang-Baxter equation and is thus interpreted as an R-matrix. To achieve this, we identify the representations associated with the line and surface defects by calculating the operator product expansions (OPEs) of local operators on the defects, as conditions that anomalous Feynman diagrams cancel each other. We then evaluate the expectation value of the defect intersection using Feynman diagrams. When the line and surface defects are specified, we demonstrate that the expectation value precisely matches the Miura operators and their products.

  2 citations

• Recent results on hyperon pair production and nucleon time-like form factors at BESIII

  Alessio Mangoni

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 10, 021 (2022) · published 10 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The BESIII experiment, based on the BEPCII collider at IHEP in Beijing, China, is capable of measuring nucleon form factors with unprecedented precision. We report recent results achieved by the BESIII collaboration concerning the nucleon time-like form factors and the hyperon pair production. More in detail we outline the results obtained by the study of the process $e^+e^- \to p \overline p$, using both the scan-energy and initial-state radiation techniques, those of the process $e^+e^- \to n \overline n$, and the study of the $\Sigma$ polarization regarding the process $e^+e^- \to J/\psi \to \Sigma^+\overline \Sigma{}^-$.

  2 citations

• Hydrodynamics without boost-invariance from kinetic theory: From perfect fluids to active flocks

  Kevin T. Grosvenor, Niels A. Obers, Subodh P. Patil

  SciPost Phys. 19, 071 (2025) · published 25 September 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We derive the hydrodynamic equations of perfect fluids without boost invariance [J. de Boer et al., SciPost Phys. 5, 003 (2018)] from kinetic theory. Our approach is to follow the standard derivation of the Vlasov hierarchy based on an a-priori unknown collision functional satisfying certain axiomatic properties consistent with the absence of boost invariance. The kinetic theory treatment allows us to identify various transport coefficients in the hydrodynamic regime. We identify a drift term that effects a relaxation to an equilibrium where detailed balance with the environment with respect to momentum transfer is obtained. We then show how the derivative expansion of the hydrodynamics of flocks can be recovered from boost non-invariant kinetic theory and hydrodynamics. We identify how various coefficients of the former relate to a parameterization of the so-called equation of kinetic state that yields relations between different coefficients, arriving at a symmetry-based understanding as to why certain coefficients in hydrodynamic descriptions of active flocks are naturally of order one, and others, naturally small. When inter-particle forces are expressed in terms of a kinetic theory influence kernel, a coarse-graining scale and resulting derivative expansion emerge in the hydrodynamic limit, allowing us to derive diffusion terms as infrared-relevant operators distilling different parameterizations of microscopic interactions. We conclude by highlighting possible applications.

  2 citations