Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Topology-induced symmetry breaking demonstrated in antiferromagnetic magnons on a Möbius strip

  Kuangyin Deng, Ran Cheng

  SciPost Phys. 19, 048 (2025) · published 19 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a mechanism of topology-induced symmetry breaking, where certain local symmetry preserved by the Hamiltonian is explicitly broken in the eigenmodes of excitation due to nontrivial real-space topology. We demonstrate this phenomenon by studying magnonic excitations on a Möbius strip comprising two antiferromagnetically coupled spin chains. Even with a simple Hamiltonian respecting local rotational symmetry, with all local curvature effects ignored, magnons exhibit linear polarization of the Néel vector devoid of chirality, forming two non-degenerate branches that cannot be smoothly connected to nor globally decomposed into, the circularly-polarized magnons. Correspondingly, one branch undergoes a spectral shift and only admits standing waves of half-integer wavelength, whereas the other only affords standing waves of integer wavelength. Under the Möbius boundary condition, we further identify an exotic phase hosting spontaneous antiferromagnetic order whilst all exchange couplings are ferromagnetic. The suppression of chirality in the order parameter dynamics, hence the pattern of standing waves, can be generalized to other elementary excitations on non-orientable surfaces. Our findings showcase the profound influence of real-space topology on the physical nature of not just the ground state but also the quasiparticles.

• Finiteness and the emergence of dualities

  Matilda Delgado, Damian van de Heisteeg, Sanjay Raman, Ethan Torres, Cumrun Vafa, Kai Xu

  SciPost Phys. 19, 047 (2025) · published 19 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We argue that the finiteness of quantum gravity amplitudes in fully compactified theories (at least in supersymmetric cases) leads to a bottom-up prediction for the existence of non-trivial dualities. In particular, finiteness requires the moduli space of massless fields to be compactifiable, meaning that its volume must be finite or at least grow no faster than that of Euclidean space. Moreover, we relate the compactifiability of moduli spaces to the condition that the lattice of charged objects transform in a semisimple representation under the action of the duality group. These ideas are supported by a wide variety of string theory examples.

  3 citations

• Flat bands and compact localised states: A Carrollian roadmap

  Nisa Ara, Aritra Banerjee, Rudranil Basu, Bhagya Krishnan

  SciPost Phys. 19, 046 (2025) · published 19 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show how Carrollian symmetries become important in the construction of one-dimensional fermionic systems with all flat-band spectra from first principles. The key ingredient of this construction is the identification of Compact Localised States (CLSs), which appear naturally by demanding supertranslation invariance of the system. We use CLS basis states, with inherent ultra-local correlations, to write down an interacting theory which shows a non-trivial phase structure and an emergent Carroll conformal symmetry at the gapless points. We analyze this theory in detail for both zero and finite chemical potential.

  2 citations

• How to unfold top decays

  Luigi Favaro, Roman Kogler, Alexander Paasch, Sofia Palacios Schweitzer, Tilman Plehn, Dennis Schwarz

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 053 (2025) · published 18 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Using unfolded top-quark decay data we can measure the top quark mass, as well as search for unexpected kinematic effects. We present a new generative unfolding method for the two tasks and show how they both benefit from unbinned, high-dimensional unfolding. Unlike weight-based or iterative generative methods we include a targeted unbiasing with respect to the training data. This shows significant advantages over standard, iterative methods, in terms of applicability, flexibility and accuracy.

• Nonequilibrium steady-state dynamics of Markov processes on graphs

  Stefano Crotti, Thomas Barthel, Alfredo Braunstein

  SciPost Phys. 19, 045 (2025) · published 18 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose an analytic approach for the steady-state dynamics of Markov processes on locally tree-like graphs. It is based on time-translation invariant probability distributions for edge trajectories, which we encode in terms of infinite matrix products. For homogeneous ensembles on regular graphs, the distribution is parametrized by a single $d× d× r^2$ tensor, where $r$ is the number of states per variable, and $d$ is the matrix-product bond dimension. While the method becomes exact in the large-$d$ limit, it typically provides highly accurate results even for small bond dimensions $d$. The $d^2r^2$ parameters are determined by solving a fixed point equation, for which we provide an efficient belief-propagation procedure. We apply this approach to a variety of models, including Ising-Glauber dynamics with symmetric and asymmetric couplings, as well as the SIS model. Even for small $d$, the results are compatible with Monte Carlo estimates and accurately reproduce known exact solutions. The method provides access to precise temporal correlations, which, in some regimes, would be virtually impossible to estimate by sampling.

• Asymptotic T-duality in three dimensions

  Stéphane Detournay, José Figueroa, Alejandro Vilar López

  SciPost Phys. 19, 044 (2025) · published 18 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In (super)gravity theories, T-duality relates solutions with an exact isometry which can have wildly different asymptotic behaviors: A well-known example is the duality between BTZ black holes and (non-extremal) three-dimensional black strings. Using this dual pair, we show how the knowledge of a phase space which includes one set of solutions (here, BTZ black holes embedded in the Brown-Henneaux phase space) allows to obtain a phase space for the dual set via an asymptotic notion of T-duality. The resulting asymptotic symmetry algebras can be very different. For our particular example, we find a large algebra of symmetries for the black string phase space which includes as subalgebras $\mathfrak{bms}_2$, $\mathfrak{bms}_3$, and a twisted warped conformal algebra. On the way, we show that a chiral half of the Brown-Henneaux boundary conditions are dual to the Compère-Song-Strominger ones.

• A brief note on the G$_2$ Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki chain

  Hosho Katsura, Dirk Schuricht

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 052 (2025) · published 15 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the valence bond solid (VBS) state built of singlet pairs of fundamental representations and projected onto adjoint representations of the exceptional Lie group G$_2$. The two-point correlation function in the VBS state is non-vanishing only for nearest neighbours, but possesses finite string order. We construct a parent Hamiltonian for the VBS state, which constitutes the G$_2$ analog of the famous AKLT chain.

• Freelance holography, part I: Setting boundary conditions free in gauge/gravity correspondence

  Aliasghar Parvizi, Mohammad M. Sheikh-Jabbari, Vahid Taghiloo

  SciPost Phys. 19, 043 (2025) · published 15 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We explore AdS/CFT duality in the large $N$ limit, where the duality reduces to gauge/gravity correspondence, from the viewpoint of covariant phase space formalism (CPSF). In particular, we elucidate the role of the $W, Y$, and $Z$ freedoms (also known as ambiguities) in the CPSF and their meaning in the gauge/gravity correspondence. We show that $W$-freedom is associated with the choice of boundary conditions and slicing of solution space in the gravity side, which has been related to deformations by multi-trace operators in the gauge theory side. The gauge/gravity correspondence implies the equivalence of on-shell symplectic potentials on both sides, thereby the $Y$-freedom of the gravity side specifies the on-shell symplectic form of the gauge theory side. The $Z$-freedom, which determines the corner Lagrangian on the gravity side, establishes the boundary conditions and choice of slicing in the boundary theory and its solution space. We utilize these results to systematically formulate freelance holography in which boundary conditions of the fields on the gravity side are chosen freely and are not limited to Dirichlet boundary conditions and discuss some examples with different boundary conditions.

  4 citations

• Entanglement Rényi entropies in celestial holography

  Federico Capone, Andy O’Bannon, Ronnie Rodgers, Somyadip Thakur

  SciPost Phys. 19, 042 (2025) · published 15 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Celestial holography is the conjecture that scattering amplitudes in $(d+2)$-dimensional asymptotically Minkowski spacetimes are dual to correlators of a $d$-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT) on the celestial sphere, called the celestial CFT (CCFT). In a CFT, we can calculate sub-region entanglement Rényi entropies (EREs), including entanglement entropy (EE), from correlators of twist operators, via the replica trick. We argue that CCFT twist operators are holographically dual to cosmic branes in the $(d+2)$-dimensional spacetime, and that their correlators are holographically dual to the $(d+2)$-dimensional partition function (the vacuum-to-vacuum scattering amplitude) in the presence of these cosmic branes. We hence compute the EREs of a spherical sub-region of the CCFT's conformal vacuum, finding the form dictated by conformal symmetry, including a universal contribution determined by the CCFT's sphere partition function (odd $d$) or Weyl anomaly (even $d$). We find that this universal contribution vanishes when $d=4$ mod $4$, and otherwise is proportional to $i$ times the $d^{\textrm{th}}$ power of the $(d+2)$-dimensional long-distance cutoff in Planck units.

• The sky remembers everything: Celestial amplitude, shadow and OPE in quadratic EFT of gravity

  Arpan Bhattacharyya, Saptaswa Ghosh, Sounak Pal

  SciPost Phys. 19, 041 (2025) · published 15 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this paper, we compute the celestial amplitude arising from higher curvature corrections to Einstein gravity, incorporating phase dressing. The inclusion of such corrections leads to effective modifications of the theory's ultraviolet (UV) behaviour. In the eikonal limit, we find that, in contrast to Einstein's gravity, where the $u$ and $s$-channel contributions cancel, these contributions remain non-vanishing in the presence of higher curvature terms. We examine the analytic structure of the resulting amplitude and derive a dispersion relation for the phase-dressed eikonal amplitude in quadratic gravity. Furthermore, we investigate the celestial conformal block expansion of the Mellin-transformed conformal shadow amplitude within the framework of celestial conformal field theory (CCFT). As a consequence, we compute the corresponding operator product expansion (OPE) coefficients using the Burchnall-Chaundy expansion. In addition, we evaluate the OPE via the Euclidean OPE inversion formula across various kinematic channels and comment on its applicability and implications. Finally, we briefly explore the Carrollian amplitude associated with the corresponding quadratic EFT.

  2 citations