We investigate codimension-2 defect partition functions and quantum Seiberg-Witten curves in 5d rank-1 supersymmetric QFTs, including non-Lagrangian and Kaluza-Klein theories. Using generalized blowup equations, we compute defect partition functions in the Ω-background and show that, in the Nekrasov-Shatashvili limit, they satisfy certain difference equations that encode the quantization of classical Seiberg-Witten curves. Furthermore, we explore novel transitions in the defect partition functions and their relation to coordinate transformations of quantum Seiberg-Witten curves, with a focus on SL(2,ℤ) transformations and Hanany-Witten transitions. These findings provide new insights into the interplay between codimension-2 defects, quantum curves, and the geometric structure of 5d supersymmetric QFTs.

United States

South Korea

Hee-Cheol Kim

Minsung Kim

China

Sung-Soo Kim

Kimyeong Lee

Xin Wang

Probing quantum curves and transitions in 5d SQFTs via defects and blowup equations

In this work we discuss a connection that relates the 1-form and the 2-group symmetries of 5D SCFTs derived from geometric engineering methods to monodromies of the corresponding B-models via mirror symmetry. Viewing defects as branes wrapping relative cycles in a non-compact CY3, we compute the VEVs of the relevant line operators and find that the defect groups can be read off from these VEVs expanded to the leading order. Via mirror map, we show concretely that the 1-form and the 2-group symmetries of the SCFT are related to the monodromy at the large radius point in the B-model. Additionally, we recursively obtain closed-form expressions of instanton expansions of the VEV of Wilson lines of certain 5D theories among which some have not been obtained so far using localization methods. We further conjecture that the 2-group symmetry is given by the Mordell-Weil torsion of the universal special geometry associated to the theory, generalizing the conjecture for rank-1 theories to all ranks.

Jiahua Tian

Higher form and higher group symmetries via mirror symmetry

<p>One of the simplest standard model extensions leading to a domain wall network is a real scalar <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>S</mi></math> with a <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi mathvariant="script">Z</mi><mn>2</mn></msub></math> symmetry spontaneously broken during universe evolution. Motivated by the swampland program, we explore the possibility that quantum gravity effects are responsible for violation of the discrete symmetry, triggering the annihilation of the domain wall network. We explore the resulting cosmological implications in terms of dark radiation, dark matter, gravitational waves, primordial black holes, and wormholes connected to baby universes.</p>

Israel

Germany

Yann Gouttenoire

United Kingdom

Stephen F. King

Rishav Roshan

Graham White

Japan

Masahito Yamazaki

Cosmological consequences of domain walls biased by quantum gravity

We relate the counting of refined BPS numbers on compact elliptically fibred Calabi-Yau threefolds $\textit{X}$ to Wilson loop expectations values in the gauge theories that emerge in various rigid local limits of the 5d supergravity theory defined by M-theory compactification on $\textit{X}$. In these local limits $\textit{X}$ the volumes of curves in certain classes go to infinity, the corresponding very massive M2-brane states can be treated as Wilson loop particles and the refined topological string partition function on $\textit{X}$ becomes a sum of terms proportional to associated refined Wilson loop expectation values. The resulting ansatz for the complete refined topological partition function on $\textit{X}$ is written in terms of the proportionality coefficients which depend only on the $\textit{ϵ}$ deformations and the Wilson loop expectations values which satisfy holomorphic anomaly equations. Since the ansatz is quite restrictive and can be further constrained by the one-form symmetries and E-string type limits for large base curves, we can efficiently evaluate the refined BPS numbers on $\textit{X}$, which we do explicitly for local gauge groups up to rank three and $\textit{h}$ ($\textit{X}$) = 5. These refined BPS numbers pass an impressive number of consistency checks imposed by the direct counting of these numbers using the moduli space of one dimensional stable sheaves on $\textit{X}$ and give us numerical predictions for the complex structure dependency of the refined BPS numbers.

Min-xin Huang

Sheldon Katz

Albrecht Klemm

Refined BPS numbers on compact Calabi-Yau threefolds from Wilson loops

We study $ \cos2\phi $ azimuthal asymmetry in doubly longitudinally polarized proton-proton Drell-Yan collisions within the transverse momentum dependent factorization framework. The asymmetry arises from the convolution of the longitudinal transversity distribution $ h_{1L}^{\perp} $ for both protons. Using the Bacchetta-Delcarro-Pisano-Radici-Signori parameterization for the nonperturbative Sudakov form factor and the Wandzura-Wilczek approximation for collinear $ h_{1L}^{\perp} $ , we predict the double spin asymmetry $ A_{LL}^{\cos2\phi} $ at RHIC and NICA kinematics. Our results demonstrate sensitivity to sea quark distributions, with the asymmetry reaching up to 25% for maximal sea quark contributions. These predictions highlight the potential of polarized Drell-Yan measurements to probe sea quark dynamics and advance our understanding of nucleon structures.

Hui Li

Ting Hu

Liang-Liang Liu

Xiao-Yu Wang

Zhun Lu

Asymmetry ${{\boldsymbol A}_{\boldsymbol{LL}}^{\bf\cos2\boldsymbol\phi}} $ in the polarized proton-proton Drell-Yan process within TMD factorization * Hui Li is supported by Fundamental Research Program of Shanxi Province (202203021222224) and Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Normal University (JCYJ2023021). Xiao-Yu Wang is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (242300421377, 232300421140)

We propose a search strategy at the HL-LHC for a new neutral particle $\textit{X}$ that couples to $\textit{W}$-bosons, using the process $ p p \to W^{\pm} X (\to W^{+} W^{-}) $ with a tri-$\textit{W}$-boson final state. Focusing on events with two same-sign leptonic $\textit{W}$-boson decays into muons and a hadronically decaying $\textit{W}$-boson, our method leverages the enhanced signal-to-background discrimination achieved through a machine-learning-based multivariate analysis. Using the heavy photophobic axion-like particle (ALP) as a benchmark, we evaluate the discovery sensitivities on both production cross section times branching ratio $ \sigma(p p \to W^{\pm} X) \times \text{Br}(X \to W^{+} W^{-}) $ and the coupling $ g_{aWW} $ for particle mass over a wide range of 170–3000 GeV at the HL-LHC with center-of-mass energy $ \sqrt{s} = 14 \, \text{ TeV} $ and integrated luminosity $ {\cal{L}} = 3 \, \text{ab}^{-1} $ . Our results show significant improvements in discovery sensitivity, particularly for masses above 300 GeV, compared to existing limits derived from CMS analyses of Standard Model (SM) tri-$\textit{W}$-boson production at $ \sqrt{s} = 13 \, \text{ TeV} $ . This study demonstrates the potential of advanced selection techniques in probing the coupling of new particles to $\textit{W}$-bosons and highlights the HL-LHC's capability to explore physics beyond the SM.

Ying-nan Mao

Kechen Wang

Yiheng Xiong

Sensitivities of new resonance couplings to $\textit{W}$-bosons at the LHC * Ying-nan Mao and Yihen Xiong are supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12205227). Kechen Wang is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11905162), the Excellent Young Talents Program of the Wuhan University of Technology (40122102), and the research program of the Wuhan University of Technology (2020IB024). The simulation and analysis work of this article was completed with the computational cluster provided by the Theoretical Physics Group at the Department of Physics, School of Physics and Mechanics, Wuhan University of Technology

The production of heavy-quark (HQ) jets is a new area that addresses the mass effect of jet quenching in heavy-ion physics. This paper presents a theoretical study of HQ jet yield suppression in Pb+Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and focuses on the energy loss of HQ jets produced by different mechanisms. The $\textit{p+p}$ baseline is provided by the generator simulation of high-energy reactions of particles (SHERPA), and the jet-medium interactions are described by the SHELL transport model, which considers the elastic and inelastic partonic energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). In $\textit{p+p}$ collisions, our numerical results indicate that the HQ jets from gluon splitting ( $ g \rightarrow Q $ -jet) are the dominant contribution at high $ p_T $ , displaying more dispersive structures than the HQ-initiated ( $ Q \rightarrow Q $ -jet). In nucleus-nucleus collisions, our calculations were consistent with the inclusive and b-jet $ R_{AA} $ recently measured by the ATLAS collaboration, revealing a remarkable manifestation of the mass effect of jet energy loss. As a result of the dispersive substructure, the $ g \rightarrow Q $ -jet loses more energy than the $ Q \rightarrow Q $ -jet in the QGP. Due to the significant contribution of $ g \rightarrow c $ -jet, the $ R_{AA} $ of $\textit{c}$-jet is comparable or even smaller than that of inclusive jet. To experimentally distinguish the $ g \rightarrow Q $ -jet and $ Q \rightarrow Q $ -jet, we propose event selection strategies based on their topological features and test their performances. By isolating the $ c \rightarrow c $ -jet, $ b \rightarrow b $ -jet, and the jets initiated by heavy quarks, we predicted that the order of their $ R_{AA} $ are in line with the mass hierarchy of energy loss. Future measurements on the $ R_{AA} $ of $ Q \rightarrow Q $ -jet and $ g \rightarrow Q $ -jet will provide a unique opportunity for testing the flavor/mass dependence of energy loss at the jet level.

Sa Wang

Shuang Li

Yao Li

Ben-Wei Zhang

Enke Wang

Probing the mass effect of heavy quark jets in high-energy nuclear collisions * Supported by the MajorProject of Basic and Applied Basic Research of Guangdong Province, China (2020B0301030008, 2023A1515011460), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11935007, 12035007, 12247127, 12375137). Sa Wang is supported by the Open Foundation of Key Laboratory of Quark and Lepton Physics (MOE) (QLPL2023P01) and the Talent Scientific Star-up Foundation of the China Three Gorges University, China (CTGU) (2024RCKJ013)

Condensed matter materials have shown great potential in searching for light dark matter (DM) via detecting the phonon or magnon signals induced by the scattering of DM off the materials. In this paper, we study the possibility of detecting electromagnetic form factors of fermionic DM and axionlike particles (ALPs) using superfluid <math><mrow><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi>He</mi></mrow><mprescripts></mprescripts><none></none><mrow><mn>4</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></mrow></math>. The phonon induced by a sub-GeV fermionic DM scattering off the superfluid can be described using the effective field theory with the interaction between DM and the bulk <math><mrow><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi>He</mi></mrow><mprescripts></mprescripts><none></none><mrow><mn>4</mn></mrow></mmultiscripts></mrow></math>. Signals arising from the electromagnetic form factors of light DM in the presence of an external electric field are calculated. Projected constraints on the charge radius, anapole moment, and magnetic moment of the DM are derived with <math><mrow><mn>1</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>kg</mi><mo>·</mo><mi>yr</mi></mrow></math> exposure. The phonon signal induced by the scattering of ALPs off the superfluid is also calculated, which can put competitive and the first direct detection bounds on ALP-photon-dark photon couplings in the projected experiments.

Wei Chao

Si-Chun Sun

Chen-Hui Xie

Axion and dark fermion electromagnetic form factors in superfluid <math><mrow><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi>He</mi></mrow><mprescripts></mprescripts><none></none><mn>4</mn></mmultiscripts></mrow></math>

In a class of modular-invariant models with multiple moduli fields, the viable lepton flavor mixing pattern can be realized if the values of moduli are selected to be at the fixed points. In this paper, we investigate a modulus stabilization mechanism in the multiple-modulus framework which is capable of providing de Sitter (dS) minima precisely at the fixed points <math><mi>τ</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>i</mi></math> and <math><mi>ω</mi></math>, by taking into consideration nonperturbative effects on the superpotential and the dilaton Kähler potential. Due to the existence of additional Kähler moduli, more possible vacua can occur, and the dS vacua could be the deepest under certain conditions. We classify different choices of vacua and discuss their phenomenological implications for lepton masses and flavor mixing.

Modulus stabilization in the multiple-modulus framework

We study the twisted elliptic genera of 2d (0, 4) SCFTs associated with the BPS strings in the twisted circle compactification of 6d rank-one (1, 0) SCFTs. Such objects can arise when the 6d gauge algebra allows outer automorphism, thus are classified by twisted affine Lie algebras. We study several fascinating aspects of the twisted elliptic genera including 2d localization, twisted elliptic blowup equations, Higgsing and spectral flow symmetry. We derive a recursion formula with respect to the number of strings to exactly compute the twisted elliptic genera. We also investigate the modular bootstrap of twisted one-string elliptic genera and find the modularity of congruence subgroups Γ1(N) naturally appears with possible N = 2, 3, 4. Geometrically, our study solves the refined BPS partition functions of the underlying genus-one fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds with N-section.

Kaiwen Sun

Twisted elliptic genera