The perturbative expansion of two-point functions of lowest dimension supersymmetric operators in $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 4 SYM and ABJM theory exhibits uniform transcendental weight. Inspired by this, we construct an explicit basis of uniformly transcendental master integrals for these correlators, through four loops in four and three loops in three dimensions. In terms of these bases, the two-point functions simplify to rational linear combinations. Conversely, such explicit bases of uniformly transcendental integrals can be useful for other applications.

Chile

Marco Bianchi

Uniformly transcendental bases for protected two-point functions

Modular invariance is a fundamental symmetry in string compactifications, constraining both the structure of the effective theory and the dynamics of moduli and matter fields. It has also gained renewed importance in the context of swampland conjectures and, independently, flavour physics. We investigate a modular-invariant scalar potential arising from heterotic orbifolds, where the flavour structure and moduli dynamics are jointly shaped by the underlying geometry. Focusing on a string-inspired, two-moduli truncation, we uncover a rich vacuum structure featuring anti-de Sitter minima and unstable de Sitter saddle points. We identify large regions in moduli space supporting multifield hilltop quintessence consistent with observations. All solutions satisfy refined swampland de Sitter bounds. Our results illustrate how modular symmetry can guide the construction of controlled, string-motivated quintessence scenarios within consistent effective theories.

Mexico

Hansel Gordillo-Ruiz

Miguel Hernández-Segura

Ignacio Portillo-Castillo

Saúl Ramos-Sánchez

United Kingdom

Ivonne Zavala

Rolling with modular symmetry: quintessence and de Sitter in heterotic orbifolds

Near threshold, cross sections for the production of heavy particles are sensitive to large logarithmic terms, which must be resummed to all orders in perturbation theory. Current state-of-the art calculations for inclusive slepton pair production at hadron colliders has focused on higher-order logarithms in the leading power of the threshold variable. Here, we evaluate the next-to-leading power contribution in the threshold variable to leading logarithmic accuracy. We find that the next-to-leading power contributions can be significant compared to the next-to-leading logarithmic terms at leading power, and that existing calculations underestimate the scale error for large slepton masses. We include results for a potential future FCC-hh machine at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 85 TeV.

Norway

Lasse Braseth

Tore Klungland

Are Raklev

Slepton pair production at next-to-leading power

In this work, we investigate the extension of our recent proposal for the Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC) in AdS space to more general effective field theories. We first extend the conjecture to set-ups where moduli are present and we demand that a particle, produced during the decay of an extremal black hole via the Schwinger effect, is repelled close to the horizon of the black hole. We interpret this condition as the universal criterion imposed by the WGC for any background. Interestingly, the constraint imposed by the WGC on the particle spectrum, before the stabilization of the moduli, is independent of the background, resulting in the same bound both in Minkowski and in AdS space. For the case of AdS space, after the stabilization of the moduli, the WGC in AdS space is reproduced due to the formation of a non-singular horizon of the extremal black hole. In that case, the particle spectrum must satisfy the stronger of the two WGC conditions obtained before and after moduli stabilization. Finally, we use these results to argue that a similar version of the tower WGC should also apply to an AdS background.

United States

Puxin Lin

Alessandro Mininno

Gary Shiu

Expanding the weak gravity conjecture in AdS space

1 + 1-dimensional SU($\textit{N}$) gauge theory coupled to an adjoint Majorana fermion, also known as adjoint QCD , has the surprising feature that at fermion mass $$ \sqrt{\frac{g^2N}{2\pi }} $$ it exhibits supersymmetry. In this paper, we obtain a deeper insight into how the supersymmetry works by constructing the gauge invariant, Lorentz covariant supercurrent $\textit{j}$ . Its conservation relies crucially on the presence of a quantum anomaly. We generalize this construction to a class of models where, in addition to an adjoint Majorana fermion of an appropriate mass, the gauge theory is coupled to some collection of massless fermions (SU($\textit{N}$) may be replaced by a more general gauge group). In general, these models have a supersymmetric massive sector and a non-supersymmetric CFT sector [1], but there are cases in which both sectors are supersymmetric. An example of such a gapless, fully supersymmetric model is SU($\textit{N}$) gauge theory coupled to three adjoint Majorana fermions, of which two are massless and the third has mass $$ \sqrt{\frac{3{g}^2N}{2\pi }} $$ .

Igor Klebanov

Silviu Pufu

Benjamin Søgaard

Edward Witten

Supercurrents and (partial) supersymmetry in adjoint QCD2 and its generalizations

The region near a black hole horizon may be modified by quantum gravity effects that resolve the singularity. Such geometry may be represented by an exotic compact object. Because the horizon is enclosed by a photon sphere, it is difficult to probe this region directly. In this paper, we develop a method to study the region inside the photon sphere by applying the AdS/CFT correspondence. We extract signatures of the modified geometry from the retarded Green functions of the dual conformal field theory. The retarded Green functions can be computed from bulk wave functions of scalar field. We show that exotic compact objects leave two characteristic imprints: bulk-cone singularities and echoes. The bulk-cone singularities correspond to null geodesics in the bulk, allowing us to detect null trajectories that are specific to exotic compact objects. The echoes arise from wave modes trapped inside the photon sphere, and thus signal the absence of a horizon. As concrete examples, we study AdS gravastar and AdS wormhole. We compute the corresponding bulk wave functions both via the WKB approximation and through numerical analysis and observe the bulk-cone singularities and echoes explicitly.

Taiwan

Heng-Yu Chen

Japan

Yasuaki Hikida

Yasutaka Koga

Bulk-cone singularities and echoes from AdS exotic compact objects

We systematically study the AdS/CFT correspondence induced by D3 branes probing three dimensional Gorenstein quotient singularity $\textit{ℂ}$ /$\textit{G}$. The field theory is given by the McKay quiver, which has a vanishing NSVZ beta function assuming that all the chiral fields have the U(1) charge $$ \frac{2}{3} $$ . Various physical quantities such as quiver Hilbert series, superconformal index, central charges, etc are computed, which match exactly with those computed using the singularity. We also study the relevant deformation of those theories and find the dual geometry, therefore generate many new interesting AdS/CFT pairs. The quiver gauge theory defined using finite subgroups of SO(3) group has some interesting features, for example, its Seiberg duality behavior is quite interesting.

China

Yuanyuan Fang

Jing Feng

Dan Xie

Three dimensional quotient singularity and 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1 AdS/CFT correspondence

We revisit the power counting of the Higgs Effective Field Theory (HEFT) from first principles, by requiring that predictions for physical observables follow a series expansion in small, dimensionless quantities. Depending on whether HEFT is formulated in terms of a unique low-energy scale $\textit{v}$ or in terms of two scales $\textit{v}$ < $\textit{f}$, this approach identifies two viable power counting rules that can accommodate any operator normalization choice. We provide quantitative prescriptions for the consistent truncation of HEFT operators, amplitudes and observable contributions and we illustrate our arguments with a number of examples.

Italy

Ilaria Brivio

Ramona Gröber

Konstantin Schmid

The Art of Counting: a reappraisal of the HEFT expansion

We develop a formalism to compute non-perturbative 5-point scattering amplitudes and apply it to gravitational waveforms in the two-body problem for arbitrary trajectories. Drawing inspiration from Feshbach’s projector formalism in nuclear physics, we introduce effective potentials governing graviton emission and relate them to perturbative scattering amplitudes at arbitrary order in the gravitational coupling and mass ratio. Once these potentials are determined, the corresponding non-perturbative amplitudes in the classical limit are obtained by iterative insertions and subsequently translated into gravitational waveforms using the KMOC formalism. As an application, we compute the gravitational waveform emitted by a conservative two-body dynamics moving along a generic, potentially highly bent, trajectory. Our formalism extends effective field theory matching of the gravitational two-body potential to radiative phenomena, enabling the extraction of gravitational-wave source terms directly from perturbative on-shell amplitudes.

Katsuki Aoki

Andrea Cristofoli

Resumming scattering amplitudes for waveforms

We analyze the recently discovered localized and non-uniform phases of the Banks-Fischler-Shenker-Susskind (BFSS) matrix quantum mechanics. Building on [1], we provide first-principles derivations of their properties and extend the results with new analytic and numerical insights. We show that strongly coupled BFSS dynamics emerge from a specific Carrollian transformation of 11-dimensional supergravity, which we justify in detail. In this framework, the uniform BFSS phase corresponds to a black string in a $\textit{pp}$-wave background. We demonstrate that this background is unstable to a Gregory-Laflamme instability and, for the first time, compute the associated growth rate. The instability gives rise to non-uniform and localized phases that dominate the microcanonical ensemble in certain low-energy regimes, with the localized phase also prevailing in the canonical ensemble at low temperatures. We identify the corresponding first- and second-order phase transitions and derive analytic formulas for the thermodynamics of the localized phase, accurate to better than 0$\textit{.}$3% against numerical results.

Óscar Dias

Jorge Santos

Localized states of BFSS super quantum mechanics