Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Hierarchy of degenerate stationary states in a boundary-driven dipole-conserving spin chain

  Apoorv Srivastava, Shovan Dutta

  SciPost Phys. 18, 111 (2025) · published 27 March 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Kinetically constrained spin chains serve as a prototype for structured ergodicity breaking in isolated quantum systems. We show that such a system exhibits a hierarchy of degenerate steady states when driven by incoherent pump and loss at the boundary. By tuning the relative pump and loss and how local the constraints are, one can stabilize mixed steady states, noiseless subsystems, and various decoherence-free subspaces, all of which preserve large amounts of information. We also find that a dipole-conserving bulk suppresses current in steady state. These exact results based on the flow in Hilbert space hold regardless of the specific Hamiltonian or drive mechanism. Our findings show that a competition of kinetic constraints and local drives can induce different forms of ergodicity breaking in open systems, which should be accessible in quantum simulators.

• Spin Density Matrix Elements for Exclusive $\rho^{0}$ Meson Muoproduction at COMPASS

  W.~Augustyniak

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 073 (2022) · published 12 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Spin density matrix elements were extracted from COMPASS data for exclusive $\rho^{0}$ meson muoproduction on a liquid hydrogen target. The measurement cover the kinematic range of 1.0 (GeV/$c$)$^2$ $< Q^{2} <$ 10.0 (GeV/$c$)$^2$, 5.0 GeV/$c^2$ $< W <$ 17.0 GeV/$c^2$ and 0.01 (GeV/$c$)$^2$ $<p^{2}_{T} < $ 0.5 (GeV/$c$)$^2$. Here, $W$ denotes the mass of the final hadronic system, $Q^{2}$ the virtuality of the exchanged photon and $p_{T}$ the transverse momentum of the $\rho^{0}$ meson with respect to the virtual-photon direction. We observe a violation of s-channel helicity conservation for the transition $\gamma^{*}_{T} \to \rho^{0}_{L}$. Additionally, we find a dominant contribution of the natural-parity-exchange transitions.

• Annual modulation of dark matter signals: Experimental results and new ideas

  Felix Kahlhoefer

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 12, 004 (2023) · published 3 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Direct detection experiments searching for the scattering of dark matter particles off nuclei expect an annual modulation in their event rate. In this presentation, I will review the theoretical predictions and the experimental status of the search for annual modulations, with a focus on ongoing and planned experiments using NaI detectors. In particular, I will discuss the interpretation of the DAMA signal and related model-building efforts.

• Loop equations for generalised eigenvalue models

  Edoardo Vescovi, Konstantin Zarembo

  SciPost Phys. 17, 017 (2024) · published 18 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We derive the loop equation for the 1-matrix model with generic difference-type measure for eigenvalues and develop a recursive algebraic framework for solving it to an arbitrary order in the coupling constant in and beyond the planar approximation. The planar limit is solved exactly for a one-parametric family of models and in the general case at strong coupling. The Wilson loop in the $\mathcal{N}=2^*$ super-Yang-Mills theory and the Hoppe model are used to illustrate our methods.

• Opportunities for inclusive diffraction at EIC

  Wojciech Slominski, Nestor Armesto, Paul R. Newman, Anna Stasto

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 069 (2022) · published 12 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The possibilities for inclusive diffraction in the Electron Ion Collider, EIC, in the US, are analyzed. We find that thanks to the excellent forward proton tagging, the EIC will be able to access a wider kinematical range of longitudinal momentum fraction and momentum transfer of the leading proton than at HERA. This opens up the possibility to measure subleading diffractive exchanges. The extended $t$-range would allow the precise extraction of 4-dimensional reduced cross section in diffraction. In addition, the varying beam energy setups at the EIC would allow for precise measurements of the longitudinal diffractive structure function.

• First measurement of the forward rapidity gap distribution in pPb collisions at 8 TeV

  Dmitry E. Sosnov

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 065 (2022) · published 12 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present the forward rapidity gap spectra from proton-lead collisions for both I\!P-Pb and I\!P-p topologies measured at the CMS at a center-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV. For the I\!P-Pb topology, the cross-section predicted by EPOS-LHC is a factor of two lower than the data while has reasonable description of the spectrum shape. For the I\!P-p topology, the EPOS-LHC, QGSJET~II and HIJING predictions are significantly lower than the data, what can be explained by a contribution of ultra-peripheral photoproduction events. The obtained data may be of significant input for understanding the high energy limit of QCD and modeling cosmic ray air showers.

• Anomalous criticality coexists with giant cluster in the uniform forest model

  Hao Chen, Jesús Salas, Youjin Deng

  SciPost Phys. 16, 121 (2024) · published 6 May 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show by extensive simulations that the whole supercritical phase of the three-dimensional uniform forest model simultaneously exhibits an infinite tree and a rich variety of critical phenomena. Besides typical scalings like algebraically decaying correlation, power-law distribution of cluster sizes, and divergent correlation length, a number of anomalous behaviors emerge. The fractal dimensions for off-giant trees take different values when being measured by linear system size or gyration radius. The giant-tree size displays two-length scaling fluctuations, instead of following the central-limit theorem.

• Critical dynamics and cyclic memory retrieval in non-reciprocal Hopfield networks

  Shuyue Xue, Mohammad Maghrebi, George I. Mias, Carlo Piermarocchi

  SciPost Phys. 19, 100 (2025) · published 16 October 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study Hopfield networks with non-reciprocal coupling inducing switches between memory patterns. Dynamical phase transitions occur between phases of no memory retrieval, retrieval of multiple point-attractors, and limit-cycles. The limit cycle phase is bounded by a Hopf bifurcation line and a fold bifurcation line. Autocorrelation scales as $\tilde{C}(\tau/N^\zeta)$, with $\zeta = 1/2$ on the Hopf line and $\zeta = 1/3$ on the fold line. Perturbations of strength $F$ on the Hopf line exhibit response times scaling as $|F|^{-2/3}$, while they induce switches in a controlled way within times scaling as $|F|^{-1/2}$ in the fold line. A Master Equation approach numerically verifies the critical behavior predicted analytically. We discuss how these networks could model biological processes near a critical threshold of cyclic instability evolving through multi-step transitions.

• Phase transitions in quantum dot-Majorana zero mode coupling systems

  Yue Mao, Qing-Feng Sun

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 031 (2025) · published 11 March 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The magnetic doublet ground state (GS) of a quantum dot (QD) could be changed to a spin-singlet GS by coupling to a superconductor. In analogy, here we study the GS phase transitions in QD-Majorana zero mode (MZM) coupling systems: GS behaves phase transition versus intra-dot energy level and QD-MZM coupling strength. The phase diagrams of GS are obtained, for cases with and without Zeeman term. Along with the phase transition, we also study the change of spin feature and density of states. The properties of the phase transition are understood via a mean-field picture. Our study not only serves as an analogue to QD-superconductor phase transitions, but also gives alternative explanations on MZM-relevant experiments.

• Non-zero transverse single spin asymmetry of very forward $\pi^0$ in polarized $p + p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 510$ GeV

  Minho H. Kim

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 060 (2022) · published 12 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The RHICf experiment measured transverse single spin asymmetry of very forward ($\eta > 6$) $\pi^0$ from polarized $p + p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 510$ GeV. In order to measure it precisely, we installed a new electromagnetic calorimeter at zero-degree area of the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and measured the $\pi^0$s over the kinematic range of $x_F > 0.25$ and $0 < p_T < 1$ GeV/$c$ in June, 2017. A clear non-zero asymmetry was observed even in low $p_T < 1$ GeV$c$ showing a similar $x_F$ dependence with the forward ($2 < \eta < 4$) $\pi^0$ ones. A possible diffractive contribution may need to be taken into account to explain the very forward $\pi^0$ asymmetry. RHICf-STAR combined analysis and follow-up experiment will give a clue to understand it qualitatively.