Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Linking ladder operators for the Rosen-Morse and Pöschl-Teller systems

  Simon Garneau-Desroches, Véronique Hussin

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 14, 026 (2023) · published 24 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  An analysis of the realizations of the ladder operators for the Rosen-Morse and Pöschl-Teller quantum systems is carried out. The failure of the algebraic method of construction in the general Rosen-Morse case is exposed and explained. We present the reduction of a recently obtained set of $(2n ± 1)$-th-order Rosen-Morse ladder operators to the usual first-order realization for the Pöschl-Teller case known in the literature.

• Dynamic models for two nonreciprocally coupled fields: A microscopic derivation for zero, one, and two conservation laws

  Kristian Blom, Uwe Thiele, Aljaž Godec

  SciPost Phys. 20, 005 (2026) · published 13 January 2026 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We construct dynamic models governing two nonreciprocally coupled fields for several cases with zero, one, and two conservation laws. Starting from two microscopic nonreciprocally coupled Ising models, and using the mean-field approximation, we obtain closed-form evolution equations for the spatially resolved magnetization in each lattice. Only allowing for single spin-flip dynamics, the macroscopic equations in the thermodynamic limit are closely related to the nonreciprocal Allen-Cahn equations, i.e., conservation laws are absent. Likewise, only accounting for spin-exchange dynamics within each lattice, the thermodynamic limit yields equations similar to the nonreciprocal Cahn-Hilliard model, i.e., with two conservation laws. In the case of spin-exchange dynamics within and between the two lattices, we obtain two nonreciprocally coupled equations that add up to one conservation law. For each of these cases, we systematically map out the linear instabilities that can arise. Moreover, combining the different dynamics gives a large number of further models. Our results provide a microscopic foundation for a broad class of nonreciprocal field theories, establishing a direct link between non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and macroscopic continuum descriptions.

• Introduction to string theory

  Carlo Maccaferri, Fabio Marino, Beniamino Valsesia

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 90 (2025) · published 29 January 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  These are lecture notes of the introductory String Theory course held by one of the authors for the master program of Theoretical Physics at Turin University. The world-sheet approach to String Theory is pedagogically introduced in the framework of the bosonic string and of the superstring.

• High-energy logarithmic corrections to the QCD component of same-sign W-pair production

  Jeppe R. Andersen, Bertrand Ducloué, Conor Elrick, Andreas Maier, Graeme Nail, Jennifer M. Smillie

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 129 (2022) · published 13 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We describe the calculation of the QCD contribution to same-sign $W$-pair production, $pp\to e^\pm \nu_e \mu^\pm \nu_\mu jj$, resumming all contributions scaling as $\alpha_W^4 \alpha_s^{2+k}\log^k(\hat s/p_\perp^2)$ [arXiv:2107.06818]. These leading logarithmic contributions are enhanced by typical cuts used for Vector Boson Scattering (VBS) studies. We show that while the cross sections are little affected by these corrections, other more exclusive observables relevant for experimental studies are affected more significantly.

• Vinberg's T-algebras: From exceptional periodicity to black hole entropy

  Alessio Marrani

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 14, 035 (2023) · published 24 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We introduce the so-called Magic Star (MS) projection within the root lattice of finite-dimensional exceptional Lie algebras, and relate it to rank-3 simple and semi-simple Jordan algebras. By relying on the Bott periodicity of reality and conjugacy properties of spinor representations, we present the so-called Exceptional Periodicity (EP) algebras, which are finite-dimensional algebras, violating the Jacobi identity, and providing an alternative with respect to Kac-Moody infinite-dimensional Lie algebras. Remarkably, also EP algebras can be characterized in terms of a MS projection, exploiting special Vinberg T-algebras, a class of generalized Hermitian matrix algebras introduced by Vinberg in the '60s within his theory of homogeneous convex cones. As physical applications, we highlight the role of the invariant norm of special Vinberg T-algebras in Maxwell-Einstein-scalar theories in 5 space-time dimensions, in which the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of extremal black strings can be expressed in terms of the cubic polynomial norm of the T-algebras.

• Photon TMDs from uPDFevolv

  Hannes Jung, Sara Taheri Monfared, Thomas Wening

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 132 (2022) · published 13 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present photon TMDs generated using the Parton Branching Method with QED evolution. We discuss the TMD’s properties and compare it to the gluon TMD. Two sets of TMDs differing in their initial evolution scale and the choice of the renormalisation scale are defined and compared to each other.

• Reconstructing hadronically decaying tau leptons with a jet foundation model

  Laurits Tani, Joosep Pata, Joschka Birk

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 046 (2025) · published 4 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The limited availability and accuracy of simulated data has motivated the use of foundation models in high energy physics, with the idea to first train a task-agnostic model on large and potentially unlabeled datasets. This enables the subsequent fine-tuning of the learned representation for specific downstream tasks, potentially requiring much smaller datasets to achieve performance comparable to models trained from scratch on larger datasets. We study how OmniJet-$\alpha$, one of the proposed foundation models for particle jets, can be used on a new set of tasks, and on a new dataset, in order to reconstruct hadronically decaying $\tau$ leptons. We show that the pretraining can successfully be utilized for this multi-task problem, improving the resolution of momentum reconstruction by about $50\%$ when the pretrained weights are fine-tuned, compared to training the model from scratch. While much work remains ahead to develop generic foundation models for high-energy physics, this early result of generalizing an existing model to a new dataset and to previously unconsidered tasks highlights the importance of testing the approaches on a diverse set of datasets and tasks.

• Difference equations: From Berry connections to the Coulomb branch

  Andrea E. V. Ferrari, Daniel Zhang

  SciPost Phys. 18, 045 (2025) · published 5 February 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In recent work, we demonstrated that a spectral variety for the Berry connection of a 2d $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ GLSM with Kähler vacuum moduli space $X$ and Abelian flavour symmetry is the support of a sheaf induced by a certain action on the equivariant quantum cohomology of $X$. This action could be quantised to first-order matrix difference equations obeyed by brane amplitudes, and by taking the conformal limit, vortex partition functions. In this article, we elucidate how some of these results may be recovered from a 3d perspective, by placing the 2d theory at a boundary and gauging the flavour symmetry via a bulk A-twisted 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ gauge theory (a sandwich construction). We interpret the above action as that of the bulk Coulomb branch algebra on boundary twisted chiral operators. This relates our work to recent constructions of actions of Coulomb branch algebras on quantum equivariant cohomology, providing a novel correspondence between these actions and spectral data of generalised periodic monopoles. The effective IR description of the 2d theory in terms of a twisted superpotential allows for explicit computations of these actions, which we demonstrate for Abelian GLSMs.

• Time evolution of effective central charge and signatures of RG irreversibility after a quantum quench

  Axel Cortes Cubero

  SciPost Phys. 4, 016 (2018) · published 27 March 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  At thermal equilibrium, the concept of effective central charge for massive deformations of two-dimensional conformal field theories (CFT) is well understood, and can be defined by comparing the partition function of the massive model to that of a CFT. This temperature-dependent effective charge interpolates monotonically between the central charge values corresponding to the IR and UV fixed points at low and high temperatures, respectively. We propose a non-equilibrium, time-dependent generalization of the effective central charge for integrable models after a quantum quench, $c_{\rm eff}(t)$, obtained by comparing the return amplitude to that of a CFT quench. We study this proposal for a large mass quench of a free boson, where the charge is seen to interpolate between $c_{\rm eff}=0$ at $t=0$, and $c_{\rm eff}\sim 1$ at $t\to\infty$, as is expected. We use our effective charge to define an "Ising to Tricritical Ising" quench protocol, where the charge evolves from $c_{\rm eff}=1/2$ at $t=0$, to $c_{\rm eff}=7/10$ at $t\to\infty$, the corresponding values of the first two unitary minimal CFT models. We then argue that the inverse "Tricritical Ising to Ising" quench is impossible with our methods. These conclusions can be generalized for quenches between any two adjacent unitary minimal CFT models. We finally study a large mass quench into the "staircase model" (sinh-Gordon with a particular complex coupling). At short times after the quench, the effective central charge increases in a discrete "staircase" structure, where the values of the charge at the steps can be computed in terms of the central charges of unitary minimal CFT models. When the initial state is a pure state, one always finds that $c_{\rm eff}(t\to\infty)\geq c_{\rm eff}(t=0)$, though $c_{\rm eff}(t)$, generally oscillates at finite times. We explore how this constraint may be related to RG flow irreversibility.

• Unfrustrating the t-J Model: d-wave BCS Superconductivity in the t'-J_z-V Model

  Kevin Slagle

  SciPost Phys. 7, 046 (2019) · published 9 October 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The t-J model is believed to be a minimal model that may be capable of describing the low-energy physics of the cuprate superconductors. However, although the t-J model is simple in appearance, obtaining a detailed understanding of its phase diagram has proved to be challenging. We are therefore motivated to study modifications to the t-J model such that its phase diagram and mechanism for d-wave superconductivity can be understood analytically without making uncontrolled approximations. The modified model we consider is a t'-J_z-V model on a square lattice, which has a second-nearest-neighbor hopping t' (instead of a nearest-neighbor hopping t), an Ising (instead of Heisenberg) antiferromagnetic coupling J_z, and a nearest-neighbor repulsion V. In a certain strongly interacting limit, the ground state is an antiferromagnetic superconductor that can be described exactly by a Hamiltonian where the only interaction is a nearest-neighbor attraction. BCS theory can then be applied with arbitrary analytical control, from which nodeless d-wave or s-wave superconductivity can result.