Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Clocking mechanism from a minimal spinning particle model

  Tobiasz Pietrzak, Łukasz Bratek

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 14, 042 (2023) · published 24 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The clock hypothesis plays an important role in the theory of relativity. To test this hypothesis, a mechanical model of an ideal clock is needed. Such a model should have the phase of its intrinsic periodic motion increasing linearly with the affine parameter of the clock's center of mass worldline. A class of relativistic rotators introduced by Staruszkiewicz in the context of an ideal clock is studied. A singularity in the inverse Legendre transform leading from the Hamiltonian to the Lagrangian leads to new possible Lagrangians characterized by fixed values of mass and spin. In free motion the rotators exhibit intrinsic motion with the speed of light and fixed frequency.

• Searching for strongly coupled AdS matter with multi-trace deformations

  Luis Apolo, Alexandre Belin, Suzanne Bintanja

  SciPost Phys. 19, 139 (2025) · published 27 November 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Holographic CFTs admit a dual emergent description in terms of semiclassical general relativity minimally coupled to matter fields. While the gravitational interactions are required to be suppressed by the Planck scale, the matter sector is allowed to interact strongly at the AdS scale. From the perspective of the dual CFT, this requires breaking large-$N$ factorization in certain sectors of the theory. Exactly marginal multi-trace deformations are capable of achieving this while still preserving a consistent large-$N$ limit. We probe the effect of these deformations on the bulk theory by computing the relevant four-point functions in conformal perturbation theory. We find a simple answer in terms of a finite sum of conformal blocks, indicating that the correlators display no bulk-point singularities. This implies that the matter of the bulk theory is made strongly coupled by boundary terms rather than local bulk interactions. Our results suggest that holographic CFTs that describe strongly coupled AdS matter must be isolated points on the CFT landscape or sit infinitely far away on the conformal manifold from conventional holographic CFTs.

• ALICE at the LHC and astrophysics: From providing input for the search for antinuclei in space to constraining the equation of state of neutron stars

  Alexander Kalweit on behalf of the ALICE collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 13, 022 (2023) · published 29 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The ALICE experiment at the LHC was originally designed to study the creation of the quark-gluon-plasma in heavy-ion collisions, a new state of matter in which quarks and gluons are not confined into hadrons. More recently, the versatility of both the Large Hadron Collider and the ALICE apparatus have given additionally access to a unique set of nuclear and hadronic physics measurements. The main results from this new and dynamic research area will be presented. The application of these findings to astrophysical challenges, ranging from the equation of state of neutron stars to the search for dark matter in space, will be discussed.

• SUSY Searches with Taus at the LHC

  Feng Lyu on behalf of ATLAS and CMS Collaborations

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 023 (2019) · published 20 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The supersymmetric partner of the tau lepton, the stau, is predicted to be relatively light in a range of SUSY models and may be a key for dark matter. This talk presents recent ATLAS and CMS results from proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb^-1 and 35.9 fb^-1 delivered by the LHC and recorded by the ATLAS and CMS detectors respectively in 2015 and 2016, to search for direct stau pair production, and indirect stau production mediated by other SUSY particles.

• Towards better discrimination and improved modelling of dark-sector showers

  Andy Buckley, Deepak Kar, Sukanya Sinha

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 15, 006 (2024) · published 2 April 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  As no evidence for classic WIMP-based signatures of dark matter have been found at the LHC, several phenomenological studies have raised the possibility of accessing a strongly-interacting dark sector through new collider-event topologies. If dark mesons exist, their evolution and hadronization procedure are currently little constrained. They could decay promptly and result in QCD-like jet structures, even though the original decaying particles are dark sector ones; they could behave as semi-visible jets; or they could behave as completely detector-stable hadrons, in which case the final state is just the missing transverse momentum. In this contribution we will introduce a study performed to explore use of jet substructure methods to distinguish dark-sector from QCD jets in the first two scenarios, using observables in a IRC-safe linear basis, and discuss ways forward for this approach to dark-matter at the LHC.

• Non-topological edge-localized Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states in CrBr$_3$/NbSe$_2$ heterostructures

  Jan P. Cuperus, Daniel Vanmaekelbergh, Ingmar Swart

  SciPost Phys. 18, 141 (2025) · published 28 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Topological superconductivity is predicted to emerge in certain magnet-superconductor hybrid systems. Here, we revisit the heterostructure of insulating monolayer CrBr$_{3}$ and NbSe$_{2}$, for which different conclusions on the presence of topological superconductivity have been reported. Using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and (shot noise) spectroscopy, we find that the superconducting gap well inside the CrBr$_{3}$ islands is not affected by magnetism. At the island edges, we observe Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) states at a variety of in-gap positions, including zero energy. The absence of topological superconductivity is verified by extensive dI/dV measurements at the CrBr$_{3}$ island edges. Our results ask for a more detailed understanding of the interaction between magnetic insulators and superconductors.

• Exotic structures in exotic nuclei

  F. Miguel Marqués

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 3, 001 (2020) · published 24 February 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Nuclei with proton and neutron numbers away from stability are known as exotic, and provide stringent tests of nuclear models, mainly developed for the description of stable nuclei. However, only the most extreme combinations lead to literally exotic structures, with sometimes unexpected properties. In this contribution we review some selected examples around the neutron dripline of very light elements: neutron halo structures with embedded substructures in the boron chain; the emission of neutron pairs in $^{16}$Be; and the existence of multi-neutron resonances in `superheavy' hydrogen isotopes.

• Measurement of the presence of $a_1(1420)$ and $\omega(782)$ in $\tau^{-}\to \pi^{-}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\nu_{\tau}$ at Belle

  Andrei Rabusov, Daniel Greenwald, Stephan Paul

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 17, 008 (2025) · published 23 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present preliminary results of a partial-wave analysis of $\tau^-\to\pi^-\pi^-\pi^+\nu_\tau$ using data from the Belle experiment at the KEKB $\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^-$ collider. We validate our model with a model-independent analysis. We see the $\mathrm{a}_1(1420)$ and a G-parity-violating $1^-[\omega(782)\pi]_\mathrm{P}$ wave in tauon decays. Our results will improve models used in simulation studies necessary for measuring the electric and magnetic dipole moments and Michel parameters of the $\tau$.

• Ultraperipheral collisions and low-x physics

  Tuomas Lappi

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 003 (2022) · published 11 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Ultraperipheral collisions at the LHC and RHIC offer the highest currently available energy for photon-nucleon and photon-nucleus collisions. Thus they are a valuable tool for studying the gluonic structure of hadrons and nuclei at small x. We discuss recent theoretical work towards understanding such exclusive processes at NLO accuracy in QCD perturbation theory. These theoretical advances are also immediately relevant for understanding the physics of deep inelastic scattering at small x. We also discuss experimental results in ultraperipheral collisions, most prominently for exclusive vector meson production.

• Sparks in the dark

  Olga Sunneborn Gudnadottir, Axel Gallén, Giulia Ripellino, Jochen J. Heinrich, Raazesh Sainudiin, Rebeca Gonzalez Suarez

  SciPost Phys. 18, 080 (2025) · published 4 March 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  This study presents a novel method for the definition of signal regions in searches for new physics at collider experiments. By leveraging multi-dimensional histograms with precise arithmetic and utilizing the SparkDensityTree library, it is possible to identify high-density regions within the available phase space, potentially improving sensitivity to very small signals. Inspired by a search for dark mesons at the ATLAS experiment, CMS open data is used for this proof-of-concept intentionally targeting an already excluded signal. Signal regions are defined based on density estimates of signal and background. These preliminary regions align well with the physical properties of the signal while effectively rejecting background events.