In this paper, we investigate the thermodynamic properties of spherically symmetric, static black hole solutions within the framework of Conformal Killing Gravity (CKG). This is a modified theory of gravity that retains all solutions of General Relativity, while addressing some of its theoretical shortcomings and enriching gravitational phenomenology at large distances. We derive key thermodynamic quantities, including mass, temperature, heat capacity and Gibbs free energy, to examine the stability and phase structure of extended Schwarzschild–AdS and charged AdS black holes. Furthermore, employing the formalism of geometrothermodynamics, we analyze the behavior of the thermodynamic curvature scalar to identify critical points and characterize phase transitions. Our results demonstrate that the parameter $$ \lambda ,$$ which quantifies deviations from Einstein’s theory, plays a pivotal role in shaping the thermodynamic behavior, resulting in new stability conditions and distinct phase transition patterns compared to those predicted by standard General Relativity.

Iran

S. Ghaffari

Spain

G. Luciano

Black hole thermodynamics in Harada’s inspired theory of gravity: stability, phase structure and geometrothermodynamics

We demonstrate that the polaron theory from solid state physics can serve as an interesting analogue model for non-perturbative QCD, at least in the description of nucleons and related low-energy physics of strong interactions. By drawing explicit analogies between polaron physics, arising for an electron moving in an ionic crystal, and physics of pion-nucleon interactions, certain rules for the “polaron/QCD correspondence” are proposed. In polaron theory, the effective fermion mass as a function of the coupling constant is known both in the weak and strong coupling limits. The conjectured “polaron/QCD correspondence” translates these results into strong interactions. It is then shown how application of these rules leads to unexpectedly good quantitative predictions for the nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma term. The polaron approach also predicts that the quark degrees of freedom in the form of the constituent quark account for onethird of the nucleon mass, consistent with lattice predictions. We discuss possible physical reasons underlying the observed quantitative similarity between polaron physics and non-perturbative QCD.

Russia

S. Afonin

A. Tulub

Quark model of nucleon based on an analogy with polaron

We study the thermal behavior of quarkonia and fully-heavy tetraquark states associated to the charmonium, bottomonium and bottom-charmonium mass spectra. The starting point is the Schrödinger formalism with a vacuum Cornell-like potential. The spin-spin, spin-orbit and tensor contributions are also considered to describe the structure of the vacuum quarkonia $$Q\bar{Q}$$ spectra ($\textit{Q}$ denoting $\textit{c}$, $\textit{b}$ quarks). The parameters of the model are fixed using the experimental data of the $$Q\bar{Q}$$ states. After that, this formalism is extended to the fully-heavy tetraquark states within the $$1^3 S_1$$ axial diquark– $$1^3 S_1$$ axial antidiquark configuration $$[QQ] [\bar{Q} \bar{Q}]$$ , and their vacuum mass spectra are obtained and compared to the experimental data recently obtained. Our predictions support the interpretation of the $\textit{X}$(6600) (or $\textit{X}$(6552)), $\textit{X}$(6900) and $\textit{X}$(7200) states as the radially-excited $$T_{4c}(n^1S_0)$$ configurations with $$n=2,3,4$$ . In the sequence, we evaluate the mass spectra behavior in a thermal medium, by introducing a modified temperature-dependent Cornell potential. As a consequence, this formalism enables us to get some insight into the dissociation mechanism of $$[QQ] [\bar{Q} \bar{Q}]$$ states caused by a thermal medium, and into the temperature range at which the tetraquark states might be formed. We find that these structures cannot be formed in the thermal medium when the system has a temperature higher than about twice the critical temperature. These findings may be useful to better understand the features of the exotics in heavy-ion collisions.

Brazil

Vinícius Silva

Cássio Pigozzo

Luciano Abreu

Fully-heavy tetraquarks in the vacuum and in a hot environment

The late-time cosmological expansion within a flat Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) spacetime is studied using a model characterized by bulk viscous dark matter (bulk viscosity $$\zeta = \zeta _0 \rho _m H^{-1}+\zeta _1 H $$ , $$\zeta _0$$ & $$\zeta _1$$ are constants, and $\textit{H}$, the Hubble parameter) interacting with a decaying vacuum density $$\rho _{\Lambda } = \mathcal {C}_0 + 3\nu H^2$$ , where $$\mathcal {C}_0$$ and $$\nu $$ are constants. The bulk viscous pressure is described by Eckart’s theory. The interaction term is defined as $$ Q=3H\alpha (\rho _m+\rho _\Lambda )$$ , where $$\alpha $$ , the interaction parameter. Analytical solutions for the Hubble parameter and the scale factor have been derived. The validity of the models is evaluated by constraining their free parameters using observational data from $\textit{Cosmic Chronometer}$, the $\textit{Pantheon}$, and a combination of both datasets. The goodness of fit is assessed by minimizing the $$\chi ^2$$ function utilizing the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. Selection information criteria, namely AIC and BIC, have been obtained to analyze the models’ stability. Additionally, several essential cosmological parameters characterizing the evolution dynamics are estimated and discussed analytically, and compared with the $$\Lambda $$ CDM model. The proposed model suggests a transition from the deceleration to the acceleration phase, indicating thermodynamic equilibrium in the distant future, aligning with the $$\Lambda $$ CDM model. The model shows a slight deviation from $$\Lambda $$ CDM model and effectively reduces the $$H_0$$ tension between local measurements by $\textit{R}$21 and global measurements by Planck 2018. The model is consistent with thermodynamic laws and upholds the second law of thermodynamics. Finally, Phase-space analysis supports the same evolutionary transitional phases.

India

Tanmay Nandi

Amitava Choudhuri

Bulk viscous matter interacting with decaying vacuum energy density: a model for late-time evolution of the Universe

In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of a non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model that arises out of the no-click limit of a monitored SSH model in the Krylov space. We find that the saturation timescale of the complexity associated with the spread of the state in the Krylov subspace increases with the measurement rate, and late time behaviour differs across the PT symmetry transition point. Furthermore, extending the notion of this complexity for subsystems in Krylov space, we find that the scaling of its late time value with subsystem size shows a discontinuous jump across the PT transition point, indicating that it can be used as a suitable order parameter for such transition but not for the measurement-induced transition. Finally, we show that a generalized measure in the Krylov subspace, which contains information about the correlation landscape, such as Quantum Fisher information, which also possesses some structural similarity with the complexity functional, can be a promising probe of the measurement-induced phase.

Nilachal Chakrabarti

Neha Nirbhan

Arpan Bhattacharyya

Dynamics of monitored SSH model in Krylov space: from complexity to quantum Fisher information

Scalar singlets under the Standard Model gauge group appear naturally in many well-motivated New Physics scenarios, such as the composite Higgs models. Unlike the Higgs boson in the Standard Model, they can induce large flavour-changing neutral currents (FCNCs) in the top sector. We investigate systematically the effects of a light scalar singlet $\textit{S}$ with top-quark FCNC couplings, by including the low-energy constraints from the $\textit{B}$ → $\textit{μ}$ decay, the muon anomalous magnetic moment ($\textit{g}$ − 2) and the neutron Electric Dipole Moment (EDM). We also perform a detailed Monte-Carlo simulation of the channel $\textit{pp}$ → $\textit{tS}$ + $\textit{j}$ with $\textit{S}$ → $\textit{μ}$ and $\textit{S}$ → $$ b\overline{b} $$ , and investigate the LHC sensitivity to the $\textit{tcS}$ couplings. It is found that the scalar singlet $\textit{S}$ can induce scalar-type contributions to the $\textit{B}$ $\textit{→ μ}$ decay, which do not suffer from the helicity suppression and contain a large CKM factor $$ {V}_{cs}^{\ast }{V}_{tb} $$ . As a result, constraints on the $\textit{tcS}$ couplings from the measured branching ratio $$ \mathcal{B} $$ ($\textit{B}$ → $\textit{μ}$ ) are quite stringent, being even stronger than the expected LHC sensitivity in some parameter spaces. Besides the CP-conserving $\textit{tcS}$ couplings, we have also considered the case of CP-violating $\textit{tcS}$ couplings, with $$ {y}_{R,L}^{ct}=\left|{y}_{R,L}^{ct}\right|{e}^{i{\theta}_{R,L}} $$ . It is found that the CP observables $$ {\mathcal{A}}_{\Delta {\varGamma}_s}^{\mu \mu} $$ and $$ {\mathcal{S}}_{\mu \mu} $$ of the $\textit{B}$ $\textit{→ μ}$ decay are sensitive to the phase $\textit{θ}$ , while the neutron EDM can provide bounds on the phase difference $\textit{θ}$ − $\textit{θ}$ . Therefore, they are complementary to each other in probing the CP phases of the $\textit{tcS}$ couplings.

China

Biao-Feng Hou

Xin-Qiang Li

Ya-Dong Yang

Xing-Bo Yuan

Ming-Wang Zhang

Phenomenological anatomy of top-quark FCNCs induced by a light scalar singlet

In this work, we develop machine learning techniques to study nonperturbative scattering amplitudes. We focus on the two-to-two scattering amplitude of identical scalar particles and study a toy model where we set the double discontinuity to zero, thereby simplifying the problem numerically. Neural networks provide an efficient parameterization for scattering amplitudes, offering a flexible toolkit to describe the details of their nonperturbative structure. Combined with the bootstrap approach based on the dispersive representation of the amplitude and machine learning’s gradient descent algorithms, they offer a new method to explore the space of consistent S-matrices. We derive bounds on the values of the first two low-energy Taylor coefficients of the amplitude and characterize the resulting amplitudes that populate the allowed region. Crucially, we parallel our neural network analysis with the standard S-matrix bootstrap, both primal and dual, and observe perfect agreement across all approaches.

France

Mehmet Gümüş

Damien Leflot

Piotr Tourkine

Switzerland

Alexander Zhiboedov

The S-matrix bootstrap with neural optimizers. Part I. Zero double discontinuity

Helicity selection rules can suppress the leading contributions from dimension-6 operators in the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT), reducing sensitivity to potential new physics. This paper explores how the interference contributions from the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>τ</mi></math> lepton’s anomalous dipole moment is restored in different observables, in particular comparing the sensitivity to SMEFT operators of quantum information observable and more traditional spin correlations. We compute the sensitivity of various observables—including entanglement measures, Bell inequality violations, and quantum uncertainties—to new physics effects using Monte Carlo simulations. Spin correlation observables are found to outperform both the integrated cross section and quantum information observables in sensitivity to both <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>C</mi><mi>P</mi></math>-conserving and -violating effects, improving the sensitivity to the scale of new physics by up to a factor of 3. Our results suggest that quantum information observables are suboptimal probes for resurrecting the interference, and more in general to disentangle the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>C</mi><mi>P</mi></math> properties of new physics.

Germany

Prisco Lo Chiatto

Interference resurrection of the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mrow><mi>τ</mi></mrow></math> dipole through quantum tomography

The structure of center vortices is studied in SU(4) Yang-Mills theory for the first time to illuminate the interplay between elementary (center charge <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mo>±</mo><mn>1</mn></math>) and doubly charged vortices. Unlike in SU(3), where charge <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mo>+</mo><mn>2</mn></math> vortices are simply elementary vortices with reversed orientations in spacetime, these possibilities are physically distinct in SU(4). Visualizations of the vortex structure in three-dimensional slices reveal the various ways in which doubly charged objects manifest, as the convergence and matching of elementary vortices or as isolated doubly charged loops. An algorithm is described to classify every doubly charged chain as one of these three types. A collection of vortex statistics is considered to quantify the vortex structure. Many of these pertain to the novel doubly charged objects, including their relative proportions and chain lengths, which are analyzed to highlight the differences between each chain type. Three different lattice spacings are employed to investigate the approach to the continuum limit. Vortex matching chains are found to be shorter on average but also more prevalent than vortex convergences, ascribed to their interpretation as extended center monopoles. In addition, the lengths of both vortex convergences and vortex matchings are observed to follow an exponential distribution, allowing the introduction of a constant probability for a doubly charged chain to split into two elementary vortices as it propagates. Combined, these findings provide a characterization of the vortices that comprise center-vortex structures in SU(4) Yang-Mills theory.

Australia

Jackson A. Mickley

Derek B. Leinweber

Luis E. Oxman

Structure of center-vortex matter in SU(4) Yang-Mills theory

We present a study of the transverse size of parton showers and their diminishing interaction with the medium in the high virtuality stage of jet evolution. We consider the process of a hard quark produced in deep inelastic scattering off a large nucleus. Single gluon radiation from this quark, in the absence of scattering, is rederived using wave packets. This allows for a derivation of the quantum uncertainty size of the hard quark, at the point of splitting. This uncertainty size is then incorporated within a Monte Carlo shower routine yielding transverse shower sizes noticeably larger than the classical antenna size of the shower. No clear relation is found between the full uncertainty size of the shower and the virtuality of the originating parton. The single gluon emission from the hard quark is then reanalyzed for the case of single rescattering off the remainder of the nucleus. A relation is derived between the jet transport coefficient <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mover accent="true"><mi>q</mi><mo>̂</mo></mover></math> and the gluon Transverse momentum-dependent parton distribution function (gTMDPDF). Solving this relation, for a simple case, clearly demonstrates the weakening of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mover accent="true"><mi>q</mi><mo>̂</mo></mover></math> with the virtuality of the hard splitting parton.