Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Identifying hadronic charmonium decays in hadron colliders

  Nicolo de Groot, Sergi Castells

  SciPost Phys. Core 2, 008 (2020) · published 2 June 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Identification of charmonium states at hadron colliders has mostly been limited to leptonic decays of the J/{\psi}. In this paper we present and algorithm to identify hadronic decays of charmonium states (J/{\psi}, {\psi}(2S), \chi_{c0,1,2}) which make up the large majority of all decays. The algorithm is able to identify hadronic $J/\psi$ decays with an efficiency of 36\% while suppressing a background of quark and gluon jets by a factor 100.

  1 citation

• Air showers and hadronic interactions with CORSIKA 8

  Maximilian Reininghaus

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 15, 019 (2024) · published 3 April 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The CORSIKA 8 project is a collaborative effort aiming to develop a versatile C++ framework for the simulation of extensive air showers, intended to eventually succeed the long-standing FORTRAN version. I present an overview of its current capabilities, focusing on aspects concerning the hadronic and muonic shower components. In particular, I demonstrate the "cascade lineage" feature and its application to quantify the importance of certain phase-space regions in hadronic interactions for muon production. Additionally, I show first results using Pythia 8.3, which as of late is usable as interaction model in cosmic-ray applications and is currently being integrated into CORSIKA 8.

  1 citation

• A somewhat random walk through nuclear and particle physics

  Thomas D. Cohen, Nicholas R. Poniatowski

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 34 (2021) · published 20 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  These notes are an outgrowth of an advanced undergraduate course taught at the University of Maryland, College Park. They are intended as an introduction to various aspects of particle and nuclear physics with an emphasis on the role of symmetry. The basic philosophy is to introduce many of the fundamental ideas in nuclear and particle physics using relatively sophisticated mathematical tools -- but to do so in as a simplified a context to explain the underlying ideas. Thus, for example, the Higgs mechanism is discussed in terms of an Abelian Higgs model. The emphasis is largely, but not entirely theoretical in orientation. The goal is for readers to develop an understanding of many of the underlying issues in a relatively sophisticated way.

  1 citation

• Codebase release 1.0 for Kolya

  Matteo Fael, Ilija S. Milutin, K. Keri Vos

  SciPost Phys. Codebases 55-r1.0 (2025) · published 25 March 2025 | Toggle abstract · src

  We introduce the code kolya, an open-source tool for phenomenological analyses of inclusive semileptonic $B\to X_c l\bar \nu_l$ decays. It contains a library to compute predictions for the total rate and various kinematic moments within the framework of the heavy quark expansion, utilizing the so-called kinetic scheme. The library currently includes power corrections up to $1/m_b^5$. All available QCD perturbative corrections are implemented via interpolation grids for fast numerical evaluation. We also include effects from new physics parameterized as Wilson coefficients of dimension-six operators in the weak effective theory below the electroweak scale. The library is interfaced to CRunDec for easy evaluation of the quark masses and strong coupling constant at different renormalization scales. The library is developed in Python and does not require compilation. The code is flexible and can be extended to other kinds of inclusive decays such as $B$ meson lifetimes, $B \to X_u l\bar \nu_l$ and $D$ meson decays.

  1 citation

• Superconductivity enhancement and particle-hole asymmetry: Interplay with electron attraction in doped Hubbard model

  Zhi Xu, Hong-Chen Jiang, Yi-Fan Jiang

  SciPost Phys. 19, 137 (2025) · published 25 November 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The role of near-neighbor electron attraction $V$ in strongly correlated systems has been at the forefront of recent research of unconventional superconductivity. However, its implications in the doped Hubbard model on expansive systems remain predominantly unexplored. In this study, we employ the density-matrix renormalization group to examine its effect in the lightly doped $t$-$t'$-Hubbard model on six-leg square cylinders, where $t$ and $t'$ are the first and second neighbor electron hopping amplitudes. In the electron-doped regime ($t'>0$), we find that attractive $V$ can substantially enhance superconducting correlations, driving the system into a pronounced superconducting phase when the attraction exceeds a modest value $V_c ≈ 0.5t$. In contrast, in the hole-doped regime ($t' <0$), while heightened superconducting correlations have also been observed in the charge stripe phase, the systems remain insulating with pronounced charge density wave order. Our results demonstrate the importance of the electron attraction in boosting superconductivity in broader doped Hubbard systems and highlight the asymmetry between the electron and hole-doped regimes.

  1 citation

• Massless chiral fields in six dimensions

  Thomas Basile

  SciPost Phys. 19, 079 (2025) · published 29 September 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Massless chiral fields of arbitrary spin in six spacetime dimensions, also known as higher spin singletons, admit a simple formulation in terms of $SU^*(4) \cong SL(2,\mathbb{H})$ tensors. We show that, paralleling the four-dimensional case, these fields can be described using a $0$-form and a gauge $2$-form, taking values in totally symmetric tensors of $SU^*(4)$. We then exhibit an example of interacting theory that couples a tower of singletons of all integer spin to a background of $\mathfrak{g}$-valued higher spin fields, for $\mathfrak{g}$ an arbitrary Lie algebra equipped with an invariant symmetric bilinear form. Finally, we discuss the formulation of these models in arbitrary even dimensions, as well as their partially-massless counterpart.

  1 citation

• Optomechanical damping as the origin of sideband asymmetry

  João D. P. Machado, Yaroslav M. Blanter

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 034 (2022) · published 23 June 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Sideband asymmetry in cavity optomechanics has been explained by particle creation and annihilation processes, which bestow an amplitude proportional to 'n+1' and 'n' excitations to each of the respective sidebands. We discuss the issues with this as well as other interpretations, such as quantum backaction and noise interference, and show that the asymmetry is due to the optomechanical damping caused by the probe and the cooling lasers instead.

  1 citation

• Three dimensional topological field theories and Nahm sum formulas

  Dongmin Gang, Heeyeon Kim, Byoungyoon Park, Spencer Stubbs

  SciPost Phys. 19, 128 (2025) · published 12 November 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  It is known that a large class of characters of 2d conformal field theories (CFTs) can be written in the form of a Nahm sum. In [D. Zagier, in Frontiers in number theory, physics, and geometry II, Springer, Berlin (2007)], D. Zagier identified a list of Nahm sum expressions that are modular functions under a congruence subgroup of $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$, which can be thought of as candidates for characters of rational CFTs. Motivated by the observation that the same formulas appear as the half-indices of certain 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories, we perform a general search over low-rank 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ Abelian Chern-Simons matter theories which either flow to unitary TFTs or $\mathcal{N}=4$ rank-zero SCFTs in the infrared. These are exceptional classes of 3d theories, which are expected to support rational and $C_2$-cofinite chiral algebras on their boundary. We compare and contrast our results with Zagier's and comment on a possible generalization of Nahm's conjecture.

  1 citation

• Non-standard neutrino spectra from annihilating neutralino dark matter

  Melissa van Beekveld, Wim Beenakker, Sascha Caron, Jochem Kip, Roberto Ruiz de Austri, Zhongyi Zhang

  SciPost Phys. Core 6, 006 (2023) · published 7 February 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Neutrino telescope experiments are rapidly becoming more competitive in indirect detection searches for dark matter. Neutrino signals arising from dark matter annihilations are typically assumed to originate from the hadronisation and decay of Standard Model particles. Here we showcase a supersymmetric model, the BLSSMIS, that can simultaneously obey current experimental limits while still providing a potentially observable non-standard neutrino spectrum from dark matter annihilation.

  1 citation

• Status of DUNE

  Alessandra Tonazzo on behalf of the DUNE Collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 043 (2019) · published 21 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation underground observatory, to be located in the USA, aiming at precise measurements of long-baseline neutrino oscillations over a 1300 km baseline, detection of supernova neutrinos and search for nucleon decay and other physics beyond the Standard Model. The far detector, a very large liquid argon time projection chamber, requires a dedicated prototyping effort (ProtoDUNE), currently ongoing at CERN.

  1 citation