Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• The Hoyle Family: break-up measurements to probe α-condensation in light nuclei

  Robin Smith, Jack Bishop, Joel Hirst, Tzany Kokalova, Carl Wheldon

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 3, 030 (2020) · published 26 February 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The 12C Hoyle state is a candidate for α-condensation, due to its large volume and α-cluster structure. This paper discusses precision break-up measurements and how they can elucidate α-condensate structures. Two experiments are discussed in detail, firstly concerning the break-up of 12C and then the decays of heavier nuclei. With more theoretical input, and increasingly complex detector setups, precision break-up measurements can, in principle, provide insight into the structures of states in α-conjugate nuclei. At present, such searches have not delivered evidence for α-condensation in 12C or 16O.

• Phenomenological study on correlation between flow harmonics and mean transverse momentum in nuclear collisions

  Chunjian Zhang, Jiangyong Jia, Shengli Huang

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 10, 009 (2022) · published 10 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  To assess the properties of the quark-gluon plasma formed in nuclear collisions, the Pearson correlation coefficient between flow harmonics and mean transverse momentum, $\rho\left(v_{n}^{2},\left[p_{\mathrm{T}}\right]\right)$, reflecting the overlapped geometry of colliding atomic nuclei, is measured. $\rho\left(v_{2}^{2},\left[p_{\mathrm{T}}\right]\right)$ was found to be particularly sensitive to the quadrupole deformation of the nuclei. We study the influence of the nuclear quadrupole deformation on $\rho\left(v_{n}^{2},\left[p_{\mathrm{T}}\right]\right)$ in $\rm{Au+Au}$ and $\rm{U+U}$ collisions at RHIC energy using $\rm{AMPT}$ transport model, and show that the $\rho\left(v_{2}^{2},\left[p_{\mathrm{T}}\right]\right)$ is reduced by the prolate deformation $\beta_2$ and turns to change sign in ultra-central collisions (UCC).

• The impact of the diffusion parameter on the passage time of the folding process

  Marcelo Tozo Araujo, Jorge Chahine, Elso Drigo Filho, Regina Maria Ricotta

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 14, 015 (2023) · published 23 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Recently, a mathematical method to solve the Fokker Plank equation (FPE) enabled the analysis of the protein folding kinetics, through the construction of the temporal evolution of the probability density. A symmetric tri-stable potential function was used to describe the unfolded and folded states of the protein as well as an intermediate state of the protein. In this paper, the main points of the methodology are reviewed, based on the algebraic Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics (SQM) formalism, and new results on the kinetics of the evolution of the system characterized in terms of the diffusion parameter are presented.

• Snowmass white paper: The cosmological bootstrap

  Daniel Baumann, Daniel Green, Austin Joyce, Enrico Pajer, Guilherme L. Pimentel, Charlotte Sleight, Massimo Taronna

  SciPost Phys. Comm. Rep. 1 (2024) · published 23 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  This white paper summarizes recent progress in the cosmological bootstrap, an approach to the study of the statistics of primordial fluctuations from consistency with unitarity, locality and symmetry assumptions. We review the key ideas of the bootstrap method, with an eye towards future directions and ambitions of the program. Focusing on recent progress involving de Sitter and quasi-de Sitter backgrounds, we highlight the role of singularities and unitarity in constraining the form of the correlators. We also discuss nonperturbative formulations of the bootstrap, connections to anti-de Sitter space, and potential implications for holography.

• Fermionic quantum computation with Cooper pair splitters

  Kostas Vilkelis, Antonio Manesco, Juan Daniel Torres Luna, Sebastian Miles, Michael Wimmer, Anton Akhmerov

  SciPost Phys. 16, 135 (2024) · published 27 May 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a practical implementation of a universal quantum computer that uses local fermionic modes (LFM) rather than qubits. The device consists of quantum dots tunnel-coupled by a hybrid superconducting island and a tunable capacitive coupling between the dots. We show that coherent control of Cooper pair splitting, elastic cotunneling, and Coulomb interactions implements the universal set of quantum gates defined by Bravyi and Kitaev [Ann. Phys. 298, 210 (2002)]. Due to the similarity with charge qubits, we expect charge noise to be the main source of decoherence. For this reason, we also consider an alternative design where the quantum dots have tunable coupling to the superconductor. In this second device design, we show that there is a sweet spot for which the local fermionic modes are charge neutral, making the device insensitive to charge noise effects. Finally, we compare both designs and their experimental limitations and suggest future efforts to overcome them.

• The importance of multiple scatterings in medium-induced gluon radiation

  Carlota Andres, Fabio Dominguez, Marcos Gonzalez Martinez

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 10, 016 (2022) · published 10 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this work we disentangle the underlying physical picture of the in-medium gluon radiation process across its different energy regimes by comparing the recently obtained fully-resummed -- without any further approximations -- BDMPS-Z in-medium emission spectrum with the extensively used analytical approaches. We observe that in the high-energy regime the radiation process is dominated by a single hard scattering, while in the intermediate-energy region coherence effects among multiple scatterings are crucial. Finally, we prove that in the low-energy regime the dynamics is again controlled by a single scattering but where one must include a suppression factor accounting for the probability of not having any further scatterings.

• Aspects of categorical symmetries from branes: SymTFTs and generalized charges

  Fabio Apruzzi, Federico Bonetti, Dewi S.W. Gould, Sakura Schäfer-Nameki

  SciPost Phys. 17, 025 (2024) · published 29 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Recently it has been observed that branes in geometric engineering and holography have a striking connection with generalized global symmetries. In this paper we argue that branes, in a certain topological limit, not only furnish the symmetry generators, but also encode the so-called Symmetry Topological Field Theory (or SymTFT). For a $d$-dimensional QFT, this is a $(d+1)$-dimensional topological field theory, whose topological defects encode both the symmetry generators (invertible or non-invertible) and the generalized charges. Mathematically, the topological defects form the Drinfeld center of the symmetry category of the QFT. In this paper we derive the SymTFT and the Drinfeld center topological defects directly from branes. Central to the identification of these are Hanany-Witten brane configurations, which encode both topological couplings in the SymTFT and the generalized charges under the symmetries. We exemplify the general analysis with examples of QFTs realized in geometric engineering or holography.

• Combining QED and approximate ${\rm N}^3$LO QCD corrections in a global PDF fit: MSHT20qed_an3lo PDFs

  T. Cridge, L. A. Harland-Lang, R. S. Thorne

  SciPost Phys. 17, 026 (2024) · published 30 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present the MSHT20qed_an3lo parton distribution functions (PDFs). These result from the first global PDF analysis to combine QED and approximate $N^3$LO (a$N^3$LO) QCD corrections in the theoretical calculation of the PDF evolution and cross sections entering the fit. We examine the PDF impact, and find that the effect of QED is relatively mild in comparison to the a$N^3$LO corrections, although it should still be accounted for at the level of precision now required. These QED corrections are in addition found to roughly factorise from the QCD corrections; that is, their relative impact on the PDFs is roughly the same at NNLO and a$N^3$LO. The fit quality exhibits a very small deterioration at a$N^3$LO upon the inclusion of QED corrections, which is rather smaller than the deterioration observed at NNLO in QCD. The impact on several cross-sections at $N^3$LO is also examined, including the Higgs cross sections at $N^3$LO. Finally, a LO in QCD fit that includes QED corrections is also presented: the MSHT20qed_an3lo set.

• Application of Lorentzian CFT Principal Series Representation to Near Forward Scattering

  Pulkit Agarwal, Richard C. Brower, Timothy G. Raben, Chung-I Tan

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 10, 026 (2022) · published 11 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present a discussion on recent progress in high energy diffraction from the perspective of AdS/CFT, through which a unified treatment for both perturbative and nonperturbative Pomeron emerges. By working with Unitary Irreducible Representation of Conformal group, a frame is provided in extending AdS/CFT to both forward and nearforward scattering. We present an analysis involving an exact solution to conformal blocks in Minkowski CFT and discuss possible applications. Phenomenological applications can range from forward scattering to DIS/DVCS/TMD at LHC energies and beyond.

• Longitudinal double helicity asymmetry $A_{LL}$ from direct photon, jet and charged pion production in polarized $\vec{p}+\vec{p}$ collisions

  Zhongling Ji

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 090 (2022) · published 13 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Understanding the proton spin composition from the quarks and gluons spin polarization and their motion is important to test various kinds of sum rules and nonperturbative properties of hadrons. At the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), we collide longitudinally polarized proton beams and measure the double helicity asymmetry $A_{LL}$, which is an important physical quantity for extracting the polarized parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the proton. Direct photon, jet and charged pion production are good channels to probe the gluon spin polarization inside the proton, with the ability to probe also the sign of the gluon spin. Direct photon production is the theoretically ``cleanest'' channel, with little fragmentation contribution, but limited by statistics. On the other hand, jet and charged pion production have more statistics, but include more hard processes and hadronization effects. I will present the recent measurements of direct photon, jet and charged pion $A_{LL}$s at PHENIX and show their complementary roles in extracting the gluon spin.