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.

China

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)

We explore (−1)-form symmetries within the framework of geometric engineering in M-theory. By constructing the Symmetry Topological Field Theory (SymTFT) for selected 5d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1, 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 and 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1 theories, we formalize the geometric origin of these symmetries and compute the mixed anomaly polynomials involving (−1)-form and higher- form symmetries. Our findings consistently reveal both discrete and continuous (−1)-form symmetries, aligning with established field theory results, while also uncovering new (−1)-form symmetry factors and structural insights. In particular, we study the SymTFT of 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1 theories from M-theory on a class of spaces with holonomy, and obtain properties such as modified instanton sums and 4-group structures observed in other 4d gauge theories. Additionally, we systematically construct symmetry operators for continuous abelian symmetries, refining existing proposals, and providing an M-theory origin for them.

Marwan Najjar

Leonardo Santilli

Yi-Nan Wang

We study the 7D Symmetry Topological Field Theory (SymTFT) associated to a 6D SCFT from the IIB/F-theory geometric engineering approach. The 6D (2,0) or (1,0) SCFT is constructed from IIB on a non-compact complex surface possibly with 7-branes. We derive the general form of 7D SymTFT actions from the compactification of IIB action on the boundary link of the base manifold of an elliptic Calabi-Yau threefold, for both the cases with or without flavor 7-branes intersecting the boundary link. Along the way we find new terms in the SymTFT action from the worldvolume action of flavor 7-branes involving the flavor center symmetries. We crosscheck the results against those obtained from either holographic constructions or the dual M-theory picture. Our construction potentially leads to a classification of the 7D SymTFTs which parallels the known geometric classification of the 6D SCFTs.

Jiahua Tian

A tale of bulk and branes: Symmetry TFT of 6D SCFTs from IIB/F-theory

We investigate the massive states in F-theory compactification models, including BPS string junctions stretching between parallel 7-branes and KK modes. We obtain analytical results when there are two colliding bunches of 7-branes with a locally constant axiodilaton profile. In particular, in 8D F-theory setups when the 7-branes collide into a codimension-one (4, 6, 12) singularity, we found an infinite light tower of BPS string junctions, which should match the light KK tower in the dual heterotic description. To exactly match with the results in the distance conjecture, we propose that the definition of 8D Planck mass should receive a large correction. We have also computed parts of KK modes in 8D F-theory in a simplified setup, as well as the BPS string junction spectrum in specific setups of 6D and 4D F-theory.

Keren Chen

Qinjian Lou

Massive spectrum in F-theory and the distance conjecture

We explore new aspects of internal fermionic shifting symmetries, present in physical systems such as free Dirac spinors and <math><mi>p</mi></math>-form tensor-spinor fields. We propose a novel procedure to gauge these global symmetries, which also introduces a new Stückelberg mechanism to give a mass to free fermionic fields. Furthermore, we find new magnetic fermionic symmetries in these physical systems whose charged objects are disorder operators. For the case of a 4D Dirac spinor, we discuss a dual description, where the magnetic symmetry acts on the holonomies of a dual 2-form tensor-spinor. Further generalizations such as higher-group-like structures are also discussed.

Germany

Federico Ambrosino

Ran Luo

Yi Zhang

Understanding fermionic generalized symmetries

We study 3D   <math> <mi>N</mi> </math>  $$ \mathcal{N} $$  = 2 supersymmetric field theories geometrically engineered from M-theory on non-compact Calabi-Yau fourfolds (CY4). We establish a detailed dictionary between the geometry and topology of non-compact CY4 and the physics of 3D   <math> <mi>N</mi> </math>  $$ \mathcal{N} $$  = 2 theories in three different regimes. The first one is the Coulomb branch description when the CY4 is smooth. The second one is non-abelian gauge theory when the CY4 has a degenerate ℙ1-fibration structure. The third one is the strongly coupled SCFT from a CY4 singularity. We find interesting flavor symmetry enhancements in the singular limit of CY4, as well as an interesting and previously unexplored phenomenon in 3D, termed “flavor symmetry duality”. Many examples are analyzed with an emphasis on toric CY4s and ℂ4 orbifolds with crepant resolutions. We develop a new brane box method to study the physics of Coulomb branch of 3D   <math> <mi>N</mi> </math>  $$ \mathcal{N} $$  = 2 theory that admits a toric construction. Via IIB/M-theory duality we find that the brane box diagram living in ℝ3 can be physically realized as a configuration of intersecting 4-branes which are extended objects in 8D maximal supersymmetric theory, which is shown to be consistent via various chains of dualities. The rank, effective gauge coupling and certain hints to flavor symmetry enhancement of the 3D   <math> <mi>N</mi> </math>  $$ \mathcal{N} $$  = 2 theory are read off from the brane box and cross-checked against the results obtained from geometric engineering. The exotic branes in 8D maximal supersymmetric theory and the 4-string junctions thereof are shown to play a crucial role in the construction of the brane box.

South Korea

3d   <math> <mi>N</mi> </math>  $$ \mathcal{N} $$  = 2 theories from M-theory on CY4 and IIB brane box

In this paper, we explore the zoo of 5d superconformal field theories (SCFTs) constructed from M-theory on Isolated Complete Intersection Singularities (ICIS). We systematically investigate the crepant resolution of such singularities, and obtain a classification of rank ⩽ 10 models with a smooth crepant resolution and smooth exceptional divisors, as well as a number of infinite sequences with the same smoothness properties. For these models, we study their Coulomb branch properties and compute the flavor symmetry algebra from the resolved CY3 and/or the magnetic quiver. We check the validity of the conjectures relating the properties of the 5d SCFT and the 4d   <math> <mi>N</mi> </math>  $$ \mathcal{N} $$  = 2 SCFT from IIB superstring on the same singularity. When the 4d   <math> <mi>N</mi> </math>  $$ \mathcal{N} $$  = 2 SCFT has a Lagrangian quiver gauge theory description, one can obtain the magnetic quiver of the 5d theory by gauging flavor symmetry, which encodes the 5d Higgs branch information. Regarding the smoothness of the crepant resolution and integrality of 4d Coulomb branch spectrum, we find examples with a smooth resolved CY3 and smooth exceptional divisors, but fractional 4d Coulomb branch spectrum. Moreover, we compute the discrete (higher)-symmetries of the 5d/4d SCFTs from the link topology for a few examples.

Jisheng Mu

Hao Zhang

5d SCFTs from isolated complete intersection singularities

In this work we study particular TQFTs in three dimensions, known as Symmetry Topological Field Theories (or SymTFTs), to identify line defects of two-dimensional CFTs arising from the compactification of 6d (2, 0) SCFTs on 4-manifolds M 4. The mapping class group of M 4 and the automorphism group of the SymTFT switch between different absolute 2d theories or global variants. Using the combined symmetries, we realize the topological defects in these global variants. Our main example is ℙ1 × ℙ1. For N M5-branes the corresponding 2d theory inherits ℤ N  0-form symmetries from the SymTFT. We reproduce the orbifold groupoid for theories with ℤ N  0-form symmetries and realize the duality defects at fixed points of the coupling constant under elements of the mapping class group. We also study other Hirzebruch surfaces, del Pezzo surfaces, as well as the connected sum of ℙ1 × ℙ1. We find a rich network of global variants connected via automorphisms and realize more interesting topological defects. Finally, we derive the SymTFT on more general 4-manifolds and provide two examples.