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Entwinement was first introduced as the CFT dual to extremal, non-minimal geodesics of quotiented AdS$_3$ spaces. It was heuristically meant to capture the entanglement of internal, gauged degrees of freedom, for instance in the symmetric product orbifold CFT of the D1/D5 brane system. The literature now contains different, and sometimes inequivalent, field theory definitions of entwinement. In this paper, we build a discretized lattice model of symmetric product orbifold CFTs, and explicitly construct a gauge-invariant reduced density matrix whose von Neumann entropy agrees with the holographic computation of entwinement. Refining earlier notions, our construction gives meaning to the entwinement of an interval of given size within a long string of specific length. We discuss similarities and differences with previous definitions of entwinement., 30 pages + 1 appendix, 1 figure

State-of-the-art analyses of W+c-jet production at the LHC require precise predictions. In the present work, we study in detail the impact of off-diagonal CKM elements up to next-to-next-to leading order in QCD, the influence of flavored jet algorithms, and the size of electroweak corrections. In addition, we also investigate phenomenological aspects related to the exact definition of the process. We find that all these effects can be of the order of several per cent for both the fiducial cross section and differential distributions. They are, therefore, very relevant for the interpretation of current and upcoming measurements., Comment: 23 pages, 31 pdf Figures. Matches published version

This work resolves a longstanding tension between the physically-expected stability of the microcanonical ensemble for gravitating systems and the fact that the known negative mode of the asymptotically flat Schwarzschild black hole decays too rapidly at infinity to affect the ADM energy boundary term at infinity. The key to our study is that we fix an appropriate {\it off-shell} notion of energy, which we obtain by constructing the microcanonical partition function as an integral transform of the canonical partition function. After applying the rule-of-thumb for Wick rotations from our recent companion paper to deal with the conformal mode problem of Euclidean gravity, we find a positive definite action for linear perturbations about any Euclidean Schwarzchild (-AdS) black hole. Most of our work is done in a cavity with reflecting boundary conditions, but the cavity wall can be removed by taking an appropriate limit., Comment: 31 pages, 6 figures

Electroweak baryogenesis (EWBG) offers a compelling narrative for the generation of the baryon asymmetry, however it cannot be realised in the Standard Model, and leads to severe experimental tensions in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). One of the reasons for these experimental tensions is that in traditional approaches to EWBG new physics is required to enter at the electroweak phase transition, which conventionally is fixed near $\sim$100 GeV. Here we demonstrate that the addition of sub-TeV fields in supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model permits TeV-scale strongly first-order electroweak phase transition. While earlier literature suggested no-go arguments with regards to high-temperature symmetry breaking in supersymmetric models, we show these can be evaded by employing a systematic suppression of certain thermal corrections in theories with a large number of states. The models presented push the new physics needed for EWBG to higher scales, hence presenting new parameter regions in which to realize EWBG and evade experimental tensions, however they are not expected to render EWBG completely outside of the foreseeable future experimental reach., Comment: version accepted for publication in JHEP

In holography, the IR behavior of a quantum system at nonzero density is described by the near horizon geometry of an extremal charged black hole. It is commonly believed that for systems on $S^3$, this near horizon geometry is $AdS_2\times S^3 $. We show that this is not the case: generic static, nonspherical perturbations of $AdS_2\times S^3 $ blow up at the horizon, showing that it is not a stable IR fixed point. We then construct a new near horizon geometry which is invariant under only $SO(3)$ (and not $SO(4)$) symmetry and show that it is stable to $SO(3)$-preserving perturbations (but not in general). We also show that an open set of nonextremal, $SO(3)$-invariant charged black holes develop this new near horizon geometry in the limit $T \to 0$. Our new IR geometry still has $AdS_2$ symmetry, but it is warped over a deformed sphere. We also construct many other near horizon geometries, including some with no rotational symmetries, but expect them all to be unstable IR fixed points., 44 pages, 13 figures

We construct novel black strings that are neither time-translation invariant, nor axisymmetric, nor translationally invariant in the string direction, but nevertheless have a helical Killing vector field. These solutions branch from the superradiant instability of $D=6$ Myers-Perry black strings with equal angular momenta. We coin these solutions as {\it black resonator strings} and we find that they have more entropy than Myers-Perry black strings for the energies and angular momenta where both solutions coexist. We also construct Kaluza-Klein geons, which share the symmetries of black resonator strings, but are horizonless. Unlike in other superradiant systems, Kaluza-Klein geons are not the horizonless limit of black resonator strings and are instead entirely separate solutions., Comment: 35 pages, 8 figures

We investigate the geometry near the horizon of a generic, four-dimensional extremal black hole. When the cosmological constant is negative, we show that (in almost all cases) tidal forces diverge as one crosses the horizon, and this singularity is stronger for larger black holes. In particular, this applies to generic nonspherical black holes, such as those satisfying inhomogeneous boundary conditions. Nevertheless, all scalar curvature invariants remain finite. Moreover, we show that nonextremal black holes have tidal forces that diverge in the extremal limit. Holographically, this singularity is reflected in anomalous scaling of the specific heat with temperature. Similar (albeit weaker) effects are present when the cosmological constant is positive, but not when it vanishes., 41 pages, 7 figures, v3: accepted for publication in JHEP

We derive parity-even graviton bispectra in the Effective Field Theory of Inflation (EFToI) to all orders in derivatives. Working in perturbation theory, we construct all cubic interactions that can contribute to tree-level graviton bispectra, showing that they all come from EFToI operators containing two or three powers of the extrinsic curvature and its covariant derivatives: all other operators can be removed by field redefinitions or start at higher-order in perturbations. For operators cubic in the extrinsic curvature, where the single-clock consistency relations are satisfied without a correction to the graviton two-point function, we use the Manifestly Local Test (MLT) to efficiently extract the effects of evolving graviton fluctuations to the end of inflation. Despite the somewhat complicated nature of the bulk interactions, the final boundary correlators take a very compact form. For operators quadratic in the extrinsic curvature, the leading order bispectra are a sum of contact and single exchange diagrams, which are tied together by spatial diffeomorphisms, and to all orders in derivatives we derive these bispectra by computing the necessary bulk time integrals. For single exchange diagrams we exploit factorisation properties of the bulk-bulk propagator for massless gravitons and write the result as a finite sum over residues. Perhaps surprisingly, we show these single exchange contributions have only total-energy poles and also satisfy the MLT.

We solve the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for the planar AdS-Schwarzschild interior in a minisuperspace approximation involving the volume and spatial anisotropy of the interior. A Gaussian wavepacket is constructed that is peaked on the classical interior solution. Simple observables are computed using this wavepacket, demonstrating the freedom to a choose a relational notion of `clock' in the interior and characterizing the approach to the spacelike singularity. The Wheeler-DeWitt equation may be extended out through the horizon, where it describes the holographic renormalization group flow of the black hole exterior. This amounts to the Hamilton-Jacobi evolution of the metric component $g_{tt}$ from positive interior values to negative exterior values. The interior Gaussian wavepacket is shown to evolve into the Lorentizan partition function of the boundary conformal field theory over a microcanonical energy window., 31 pages. 1 figure. v2 minor improvements. v3 minor improvements

All solutions of the no-birefringence conditions for nonlinear electrodynamics are found. In addition to the known Born-Infeld and Plebanski cases, we find a ``reverse Born-Infeld'' case, which has a limit to Plebanski, and an ``extreme-Born-Infeld'' case, which arises as a Lagrangian constraint. Only Born-Infeld has a weak-field limit, and only Born-Infeld and extreme-Born Infeld avoid superluminal propagation in constant electromagnetic backgrounds, but all cases have a conformal strong-field limit that coincides with the strong-field limit of Born-Infeld found by Bialynicki-Birula., Comment: 25 pages. Comments and references added

We propose new 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ Seiberg-like dualities by considering various monopole superpotential deformations on 3d $\mathcal{N}=2$ $U(N_c)$ SQCDs with fundamental and adjoint matter fields. We provide nontrivial evidence of these new dualities by comparing the superconformal indices, from which we analyze the change of the moduli space due to the monopole deformation. In addition, we perform the $F$-maximization to check the relevance of the monopole deformation for some examples, one of which is found to exhibit nontrivial symmetry enhancement in the IR. We prove such enhancement of the global symmetry using the superconformal index., Comment: 57 pages

It is becoming increasingly clear that large but rare fluctuations of the primordial curvature field, controlled by the tail of its probability distribution, could have dramatic effects on the current structure of the universe -- {\it e.g.} via primordial black-holes. However, the use of standard perturbation theory to study the evolution of fluctuations during inflation fails in providing a reliable description of how non-linear interactions induce non-Gaussian tails. Here, we use the stochastic inflation formalism to study the non-perturbative effects from multi-field fluctuations on the statistical properties of the primordial curvature field. Starting from the effective action describing multi-field fluctuations, we compute the joint probability density function and show that enhanced non-Gaussian tails are a generic feature of slow-roll inflation with additional degrees of freedom., 32 pages + appendices, 4 figures

As shown in Allanach et al. (Global fits of third family hypercharge models to neutral current B-anomalies and electroweak precision observables. arXiv:2103.12056), the Third Family Hypercharge ( Y 3 ) Model changes the Standard Model prediction for M W whilst simultaneously explaining anomalies in b → s ℓ ℓ transitions via a heavy Z ' gauge boson which is spawned by a spontaneously broken gauged U ( 1 ) Y 3 symmetry. The 2022 CDF II measurement of M W , which is far from the Standard Model prediction in the statistical sense, somewhat disfavours the Y 3 model. Here, we generalise the gauge charge assignments to the anomaly-free combination s Y 3 + t ( B 3 - L 3 ) and show that incorporating the 2022 CDF II measurement of M W selects a viable domain of integers s and t. For example, s = 1 , t = - 3 yields a p value of .08 in a two-parameter global fit to 277 electroweak and flavour changing b data, much improving a SM p value of 1 × 10 - 6 .

We use cobordism theory to analyse anomalies of finite non-abelian symmetries in 4 spacetime dimensions. By applying the method of `anomaly interplay', which uses functoriality of cobordism and naturality of the $\eta$-invariant to relate anomalies in a group of interest to anomalies in other (finite or compact Lie) groups, we derive the anomaly for every representation in many examples motivated by flavour physics, including $S_3$, $A_4$, $Q_8$, and $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{F}_3)$. In the case of finite abelian groups, it is well known that anomalies can be `truncated' in a way that has no effect on low-energy physics, by means of a group extension. We extend this idea to non-abelian symmetries. We show, for example, that a system with $A_4$ symmetry can be rendered anomaly-free, with only one-third as many fermions as na\"ively required, by passing to a larger symmetry. As another example, we find that a well-known model of quark and lepton masses utilising the $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{F}_3)$ symmetry is anomalous, but that the anomaly can be cancelled by enlarging the symmetry to a $\mathbb{Z}/3$ extension of $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{F}_3)$., Comment: 48 pages. Added Appendix deriving the spin-TQFTs for a theory with Q8-structure. Matches version published in JHEP

We study the sensitivity of the High-Luminosity LHC to a light baryonic dark photon B, primarily coupled to quarks, as a constituent of the proton. This is achieved by allowing for a dark photon parton distribution function (PDF) in the PDF evolution equations. Depending on the mass and coupling of the dark photon, the evolution of standard quark and gluon PDFs is distorted to varying degrees. By analysing the effect of the dark photon on the tails of Drell-Yan invariant mass distributions, we demonstrate the potential of the LHC in determining competitive bounds on dark photon parameter space., Comment: 30 pages, 11 figures

In this paper we present various 4d$$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 1 dualities involving theories obtained by gluing two E[USp(2N)] blocks via the gauging of a common USp(2N) symmetry with the addition of 2L fundamental matter chiral fields. For L = 0 in particular the theory has a quantum deformed moduli space with chiral symmetry breaking and its index takes the form of a delta-function. We interpret it as the Identity wall which identifies the two surviving USp(2N) of each E[USp(2N)] block. All the dualities are derived from iterative applications of the Intriligator-Pouliot duality. This plays for us the role of the fundamental duality, from which we derive all others. We then focus on the 3d version of our 4d dualities, which now involve the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 T[SU(N)] quiver theory that is known to correspond to the 3d S-wall. We show how these 3d dualities correspond to the relations S2 = −1, S−1S = 1 and STS = T−1S−1T−1 for the S and T generators of SL(2, ℤ). These observations lead us to conjecture that E[USp(2N)] can also be interpreted as a 4d S-wall.

We study the waveforms of time signals produced by scalar perturbations in static hairy black holes, in which the perturbations can be governed by a double-peak effective potential. The inner potential peak would give rise to echoes, which provide a powerful tool to test the Kerr hypothesis. The waveforms are constructed in the time and frequency domains, and we find that the late-time waveforms are determined by the long-lived and sub-long-lived quasinormal modes, which are trapped in the potential valley and near the smaller peak, respectively. When the distance between the peaks is significantly larger than the width of the peaks, a train of decaying echo pulses is produced by the superposition of the long-lived and sub-long-lived modes. In certain cases, the echoes can vanish and then reappear. When the peaks are close enough, one detects far fewer echo signals and a following sinusoid tail, which is controlled by the long-lived or sub-long-lived mode and hence decays very slowly., Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables and references add

For a static and spherically symmetric black hole, a photon sphere is composed of circular null geodesics of fixed radius, and plays an important role in observing the black hole. Recently, in an Einstein-Maxwell-scalar model with a non-minimal coupling between the scalar and electromagnetic fields, a class of hairy black holes has been found to possess two unstable and one stable circular null geodesics on the equatorial plane, corresponding to three photon spheres outside the event horizon. In this paper, we study quasinormal modes of the scalar field, which are associated with these circular null geodesics, in the hairy black hole spacetime. In the eikonal regime with $l\gg1$, the real part of the quasinormal modes is determined by the angular velocity of the corresponding circular geodesics. The imaginary part of the quasinormal modes associated with the unstable circular null geodesics encodes the information about the Lyapunov exponent of the corresponding circular geodesics. Interestingly, we find long-lived and sub-long-lived modes, which are associated with the stable and one of the unstable circular null geodesics, respectively. Due to tunneling through potential barriers, the damping times of the long-lived and sub-long-lived modes can be exponentially and logarithmically large in terms of $l$, respectively., Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, references added

Large-scale bulk peculiar motions introduce a characteristic length scale, inside which the local kinematics are dominated by peculiar-velocity perturbations rather than by the background Hubble expansion. Regions smaller than the aforementioned critical length, which typically varies between few hundred and several hundred Mpc, can be heavily "contaminated" by the observers' relative motion. For example, at the critical length -- hereafter referred to as the "transition scale", the sign of the locally measured deceleration parameter can change from positive to negative, while the surrounding universe is still decelerating globally. Overall, distant observers can assign very different values to their local deceleration parameters, entirely because of their relative motion. In practice, this suggests that information selected from regions inside and close to the transition scale hold only locally and they should not be readily extrapolated to the global universe. We show that this principle applies to essentially all Friedmann backgrounds, irrespective of their equation of state and spatial curvature. Put another way, the transition scale and the related effects are generic to linear peculiar-velocity perturbations. This study generalises previous work applied, primarily for reasons of mathematical simplicity, to a perturbed Einstein-de Sitter universe., Minor revision, references added. To appear in EPJC

Gravitational interferometers and cosmological observations of the cosmic microwave background offer us the prospect to probe the laws of gravity in the primordial universe. To study and interpret these datasets we need to know the possible graviton non-Gaussianities. To this end, we derive the most general tree-level three-point functions (bispectra) for a massless graviton to all orders in derivatives, assuming scale invariance. Instead of working with explicit Lagrangians, we take a bootstrap approach and obtain our results using the recently derived constraints from unitarity, locality and the choice of vacuum. Since we make no assumptions about de Sitter boosts, our results capture the phenomenology of large classes of models such as the effective field theory of inflation and solid inflation. We present formulae for the infinite number of parity-even bispectra. Remarkably, for parity-odd bispectra, we show that unitarity allows for only a handful of possible shapes: three for graviton-graviton-graviton, three for scalar-graviton-graviton and one for scalar-scalar-graviton, which we bootstrap explicitly. These parity-odd non-Gaussianities can be large, for example in solid inflation, and therefore constitute a concrete and well-motivated target for future observations., 58 pages, 2 tables, 5 figures, added section on "Perturbativity, naturalness and strong coupling", matches JHEP version

We present a new set of parton distribution functions (PDFs) based on a fully global dataset and machine learning techniques: NNPDF4.0. We expand the NNPDF3.1 determination with 44 new datasets, mostly from the LHC. We derive a novel methodology through hyperparameter optimization, leading to an efficient fitting algorithm built upon stochastic gradient descent. We use NNLO QCD calculations and account for NLO electroweak corrections and nuclear uncertainties. Theoretical improvements in the PDF description include a systematic implementation of positivity constraints and integrability of sum rules. We validate our methodology by means of closure tests and “future tests” (i.e. tests of backward and forward data compatibility), and assess its stability, specifically upon changes of PDF parametrization basis. We study the internal compatibility of our dataset, and investigate the dependence of results both upon the choice of input dataset and of fitting methodology. We perform a first study of the phenomenological implications of NNPDF4.0 on representative LHC processes. The software framework used to produce NNPDF4.0 is made available as an open-source package together with documentation and examples.

In this paper we present a detailed study of the four-body decay B0 → K+π−ℓ+ℓ−, where tensions with the Standard Model predictions have been observed. Our analysis of the decay with P- and S-wave contributions to the K+π− system develops a complete understanding of the symmetries of the distribution, in the case of massless and massive leptons. In both cases, the symmetries determine relations between the observables in the B0 → K+π−ℓ+ℓ− decay distribution. This enables us to define the complete set of observables accessible to experiments, including several that have not previously been identified. The new observables arise when the decay rate is written differentially with respect to $$ {m}_{K_{\pi }} $$ m K π . We demonstrate that experiments will be able to fit this full decay distribution with currently available data sets and investigate the sensitivity to new physics scenarios given the experimental precision that is expected in the future.The symmetry relations provide a unique handle to explore the behaviour of S-wave observables by expressing them in terms of P-wave observables, therefore minimising the dependence on poorly-known S-wave form factors. Using this approach, we construct two theoretically optimized S-wave observables and explore their sensitivity to new physics. By further exploiting the symmetry relations, we obtain the first bounds on the S-wave observables using two different methods and highlight how these relations may be used as cross-checks of the experimental methodology and the parametrization of the B0 → K+π−ℓ+ℓ− differential decay rate. We identify a zero-crossing point that would be at a common dilepton invariant mass for a subset of P- and S-wave observables, and explore the information on new physics and hadronic effects that this zero point can provide.

We report a set of exact formulae for computing Dirac masses, mixings, and CP-violation parameter(s) from 3$\times$3 Yukawa matrices $Y$ valid when $Y Y^\dagger \rightarrow U^\dagger \,Y Y^\dagger \, U$ under global $U(3)_{Q_L}$ flavour symmetry transformations $U$. The results apply to the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) and its `geometric' realization (geoSMEFT). We thereby complete, in the Dirac flavour sector, the catalogue of geoSMEFT parameters derived at all orders in the $\sqrt{2 \langle H^\dagger H \rangle} / \Lambda$ expansion. The formalism is basis-independent, and can be applied to models with decoupled ultraviolet flavour dynamics, as well as to models whose infrared dynamics are not minimally flavour violating. We highlight these points with explicit examples and, as a further demonstration of the formalism's utility, we derive expressions for the renormalization group flow of quark masses, mixings, and CP-violation at all mass dimension and perturbative loop orders in the (geo)SM(EFT) and beyond., Comment: Matches published version

A characteristic value formulation of the Weyl double copy leads to an asymptotic formulation. We find that the Weyl double copy holds asymptotically in cases where the full solution is algebraically general, using rotating STU supergravity black holes as an example. The asymptotic formulation provides clues regarding the relation between asymptotic symmetries that follows from the double copy. Using the C-metric as an example, we show that a previous interpretation of this gravity solution as a superrotation has a single copy analogue relating the appropriate Li\'enard-Wiechert potential to a large gauge transformation., Comment: 52 pages (27 for main body), one figure. v2 updated references

We derive new effective field theory (EFT) positivity bounds on the elastic $2\to2$ scattering amplitudes of massive spinning particles from the standard UV properties of unitarity, causality, locality and Lorentz invariance. By bounding the $t$ derivatives of the amplitude (which can be represented as angular momentum matrix elements) in terms of the total ingoing helicity, we derive stronger unitarity bounds on the $s$- and $u$-channel branch cuts which determine the dispersion relation. In contrast to previous positivity bounds, which relate the $t$-derivative to the forward-limit EFT amplitude with no $t$ derivatives, our bounds establish that the $t$-derivative alone must be strictly positive for sufficiently large helicities. Consequently, they provide stronger constraints beyond the forward limit and can be used to constrain dimension-6 interactions with a milder assumption about the high-energy growth of the UV amplitude., Comment: 33 pages + appendices, 1 figure, 1 table

We present a construction of the most general BPS black holes of STU supergravity (${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric $D=4$ supergravity coupled to three vector super-multiplets) with arbitrary asymptotic values of the scalar fields. These solutions are obtained by acting with a subset of of the global symmetry generators on STU BPS black holes with zero values of the asymptotic scalars, both in the U-duality and the heterotic frame. The solutions are parameterized by fourteen parameters: four electric and four magnetic charges, and the asymptotic values of the six scalar fields. We also present BPS black hole solutions of a consistently truncated STU supergravity, which are parameterized by two electric and two magnetic charges and two scalar fields. These latter solutions are significantly simplified, and are very suitable for further explicit studies. We also explore a conformal inversion symmetry of the Couch-Torrence type, which maps any member of the fourteen-parameter family of BPS black holes to another member of the family. Furthermore, these solutions are expected to be valuable in the studies of various swampland conjectures in the moduli space of string compactifications., V2. Updated reference. Minor changes to the concluding remarks and outlook section

The European physical journal / C 82(1), 36 (2022). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-09997-1, The azimuthal correlation, $\Delta \phi$ , of high transverse momentum jets in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ \TeV\ is studied by applying PB -TMD distributions to NLO calculations via MCatNLO together with the PB -TMD parton shower. A very good description of the cross section as a function of $\Delta \phi$ is observed. In the back-to-back region of $\Delta \phi \to \pi$ a very good agreement is observed with the PB -TMD Set 2 distributions while significant deviations are obtained with the PB -TMD Set 1 distributions. Set 1 uses the evolution scale while Set 2 uses transverse momentum as an argument in \alphas, and the above observation therefore confirms the importance of angular ordering in the parton evolution.The total uncertainties of the predictions are dominated by the scale uncertainties of the matrix element, while the uncertainties coming from the PB-TMDs and the corresponding PB-TMD shower are very small., Published by Springer, Heidelberg

We determine the mathematical structures which govern the Ω deformation of supersymmetric intersections of M2 and M5 branes. We find that the supersymmetric intersections govern many aspects of the theory of W-algebras, including degenerate modules, the Miura transform and Coulomb gas constructions. We give an algebraic interpretation of the Pandharipande-Thomas box counting in ℂ3.

We construct an ambitwistor string that describes Type II supergravity on AdS3×S3 with pure NS flux. The background Einstein equations ensure that the model is anomaly free. The spectrum consists of supergravity fluctuations around this background, with no higher string states. This theory transforms the problem of computing n-point tree-level amplitudes on AdS3 into that of understanding an $$ {\mathfrak{sl}}_2 $$ sl 2 Gaudin integrable system, whose representations are determined by the dual boundary operators and whose spectral parameters correspond to the worldsheet insertion points. The scattering equations take a similar form to flat space, with n(n − 3)/2 parameters τij parametrizing the eigenvalues of the Gaudin model.

Cosmological correlation functions contain valuable information about the primordial Universe, with possible signatures of new massive particles at very high energies. Recent developments, including the cosmological bootstrap, bring new perspectives and powerful tools to study these observables. In this paper, we systematically classify inflationary three-point correlators of scalar perturbations using the bootstrap method. For the first time, we derive a complete set of single-exchange cosmological collider bispectra with new shapes and potentially detectable signals. Specifically, we focus on the primordial scalar bispectra generated from the exchange of massive particles with all possible boost-breaking interactions during inflation. We introduce three-point "seed" functions, from which we bootstrap the inflationary bispectra of scalar and spinning exchanges using weight-shifting and spin-raising operators. The computation of the seed function requires solving an ordinary differential equation in comoving momenta, a boundary version of the equation of motion satisfied by a propagator that linearly mixes a massive particle with the external light scalars. The resulting correlators are presented in analytic form, for any kinematics. These shapes are of interest for near-future cosmological surveys, as the primordial non-Gaussianity in boost-breaking theories can be large. We also identify new features in these shapes, which are phenomenologically distinct from the de Sitter invariant cases. For example, the oscillatory shapes around the squeezed limit have different phases. Furthermore, when the massive particle has much lower speed of sound than the inflaton, oscillatory features appear around the equilateral configuration., 63 pages, 8 figures; v2: published version with minor revisions and references added

Funder: Royal Society; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000288, We present the first application of a Nested Sampling algorithm to explore the high-dimensional phase space of particle collision events. We describe the adaptation of the algorithm, designed to perform Bayesian inference computations, to the integration of partonic scattering cross sections and the generation of individual events distributed according to the corresponding squared matrix element. As a first concrete example we consider gluon scattering processes into 3-, 4- and 5-gluon final states and compare the performance with established sampling techniques. Starting from a flat prior distribution Nested Sampling outperforms the Vegas algorithm and achieves results comparable to a dedicated multi-channel importance sampler. We outline possible approaches to combine Nested Sampling with non-flat prior distributions to further reduce the variance of integral estimates and to increase unweighting efficiencies.

We compute the perturbative component of the fragmentation function of the $b$ quark to the best of the present theoretical knowledge. The fixed-order calculation to order $\alpha_s^2$ of the fragmentation function at the initial scale is matched with soft-emission logarithm resummation to next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy, so that order-$\alpha_s^2$ corrections are accounted for exactly, and logarithmically enhanced contributions from loops of $b$ quarks are included. This requires the calculation of the Mellin transform of the order-$\alpha_s^2$ result in the whole complex plane for the Mellin variable, which we provide for the first time for all the fragmenting partons. Evolution is performed to next-to-next- to-leading log accuracy, and mixing with the gluon fragmentation function is taken into account. The perturbative fragmentation functions are made available via LHAPDF grids., Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures

The extraction of the W-boson mass, a fundamental parameter of the Standard Model, from hadron-hadron collision requires precise theory predictions. In this regard, angular coefficients are crucial to model the dynamics of W-boson production. In this work, we provide, for the first time, angular coefficients at NNLO QCD + NLO EW accuracy for finite transverse momentum W-boson at the LHC. The corrections can reach up to 10% in certain regions of phase space. They are accompanied by a significant reduction of the scale uncertainty. This work should, besides providing reference values for theory-data comparison, provide state-of-the-art theory input for W-boson mass measurements., 18 pages, 7 figures

We present the two-loop leading colour QCD helicity amplitudes for the process $pp\to W(\to l\nu)\gamma+j$. We implement a complete reduction of the amplitudes, including the leptonic decay of the $W$-boson, using finite field arithmetic, and extract the analytic finite remainders using a recently identified basis of special functions. Simplified analytic expressions are obtained after considering permutations of a rational kinematic parametrisation and multivariate partial fractioning. We demonstrate efficient numerical evaluation of the two-loop colour and helicity summed finite remainders for physical kinematics, and hence the suitability for phenomenological applications., Comment: 35 pages, ancillary files with analytic expressions

We study the interior of a recently constructed family of asymptotically flat, charged black holes that develop (charged) scalar hair as one increases their charge at fixed mass. Inside the horizon, these black holes resemble the interior of a holographic superconductor. There are analogs of the Josephson oscillations of the scalar field, and the final Kasner singularity depends very sensitively on the black hole parameters near the onset of the instability. In an Appendix, we give a general argument that Cauchy horizons cannot exist in a large class of stationary black holes with scalar hair., Comment: 31 pages, 10 figures. v2: references and minor comments added

Motivated by the intriguing discrepancies in b → sℓℓ transitions, the fermion mass problem, and a desire to preserve the accidental symmetries of the Standard Model (SM), we extend the SM by an anomalous U(1)X gauge symmetry where X = Y3 + a(Lμ− Lτ)/6. The heavy Z′ boson associated with spontaneously breaking U(1)X at the TeV scale mediates the b → sℓℓ anomalies via $$ {\mathcal{O}}_9^{\mu}\sim \frac{1}{\Lambda^2}\left(\overline{s}{\gamma}_{\rho }{P}_Lb\right)\left(\overline{\mu}{\gamma}^{\rho}\mu \right) $$ O 9 μ ~ 1 Λ 2 s ¯ γ ρ P L b μ ¯ γ ρ μ . We show that this model, which features mixed gauge anomalies involving U(1)X and hypercharge, can be made anomaly-free for any a ∈ ℤ by integrating in a pair of charged fermions whose masses naturally reside somewhere between 1 and 30 TeV. The gauge symmetry permits only the third family Yukawas at the renormalisable level, and so the light quark masses and mixings are controlled by accidental U(2)3 flavour symmetries which we assume are minimally broken alongside U(1)X. The lepton sector is not governed by U(2) symmetries, but rather one expects a nearly diagonal charged lepton Yukawa with me,μ « mτ. The model does not explain the hierarchy me « mμ, but it does possess high quality lepton flavour symmetries that are robust to the heavy physics responsible for generating me,μ. We establish the viability of these models by checking agreement with the most important experimental constraints. We comment on how the model could also explain neutrino masses and the muon g − 2.

We calculate the complete set of two-loop leading-colour QCD helicity amplitudes for $\gamma \gamma j$-production at hadron colliders. Our results are presented in a compact, fully-analytical form., Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, 3 tables, published version

We construct new classes of cosmological solution to the five dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theory, that are non-stationary and almost conformally regular everywhere. The base geometry for the solutions is the four-dimensional Bianchi type IX geometry. In the theory, the dilaton field is coupled to the electromagnetic field and the cosmological constant term, with two different coupling constants. We consider all possible solutions with different values of the coupling constants, where the cosmological constant takes any positive, negative or zero values. In the ansatzes for the metric, dilaton and electromagnetic fields, we consider dependence on time and two spatial directions. We also consider a special case of the Bianchi type IX geometry, in which the geometry reduces to that of Eguchi-Hanson type II geometry and find a more general solution to the theory., Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures, two new appendices added, typos corrected

We study rotating global AdS solutions in five-dimensional Einstein gravity coupled to a multiplet complex scalar within a cohomogeneity-1 ansatz. The onset of the gravitational and scalar field superradiant instabilities of the Myers-Perry-AdS black hole mark bifurcation points to black resonators and hairy Myers-Perry-AdS black holes, respectively. These solutions are subject to the other (gravitational or scalar) instability, and result in hairy black resonators which contain both gravitational and scalar hair. The hairy black resonators have smooth zero-horizon limits that we call graviboson stars. In the hairy black resonator and graviboson solutions, multiple scalar components with different frequencies are excited, and hence these are multioscillating solutions. The phase structure of the solutions are examined in the microcanonical ensemble, i.e. at fixed energy and angular momenta. It is found that the entropy of the hairy black resonator is never the largest among them. We also find that hairy black holes with higher scalar wavenumbers are entropically dominant and occupy more of phase space than those of lower wavenumbers., 40 pages, 8 figures

We explore regions of parameter space that give rise to suppressed direct detection cross sections in a simple model of scalar dark matter with a scalar portal that mixes with the standard model Higgs. We found that even this simple model allows considerable room in the parameter space that has not been excluded by direct detection limits. A number of effects leading to this result have been previously noted. Our main new result explores interference effects between different contributions to DM annihilation when the DM mass is larger than the scalar portal mass. New annihilation channels open up and the parameters of the model need to compensate to give the correct DM relic abundance, resulting in smaller direct detection cross sections. We find that even in a very simple model of DM there are still sizeable regions of parameter space that are not ruled out by experiment., Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, references added

We argue that the proper time from the horizon to the black hole singularity can be extracted from the thermal expectation values of certain operators outside the horizon. This works for fields which couple to higher curvature terms, so that they can decay into two gravitons. To extract this time, it is necessary to vary the mass of the field., 24 + 9 pages. 9 figures. V2: references added. V3: appendix on the 3d case added

All five-dimensional non-abelian gauge theories have a $U(1)_I$ global symmetry associated with instantonic particles. We describe an obstruction to coupling $U(1)_I$ to a classical background gauge field that occurs whenever the theory has a one-form center symmetry. This is a finite-order mixed 't Hooft anomaly between the two symmetries. We also show that a similar obstruction takes place in gauge theories with fundamental matter by studying twisted bundles for the ordinary flavor symmetry. We explore some general dynamical properties of the candidate phases implied by the anomaly. Finally, we apply our results to supersymmetric gauge theories in five dimensions and analyze the symmetry enhancement patterns occurring at their conjectured RG fixed points., 28 pages; v2: references and some comments added

We construct a formal asymptotic series expansion for a general solution of the Brans-Dicke equations with a fluid source near a sudden singularity. This solution contains eleven independent arbitrary functions of the spatial coordinates as required by the Cauchy problem of the theory. We show that the solution is geodesically complete and has the character of a shock wave in the sudden asymptotic region. This solution is weak in the senses of Tipler and Krolak as in the corresponding case of general relativity., Comment: 29 pages, to appear in the EPJC

Recent development of path integral matching techniques based on the covariant derivative expansion has made manifest a universal structure of one-loop effective Lagrangians. The universal terms can be computed once and for all to serve as a reference for one-loop matching calculations and to ease their automation. Here we present the fermionic universal one-loop effective action (UOLEA), resulting from integrating out heavy fermions with scalar, pseudo-scalar, vector and axial-vector couplings. We also clarify the relation of the new terms computed here to terms previously computed in the literature and those that remain to complete the UOLEA. Our results can be readily used to efficiently obtain analytical expressions for effective operators arising from heavy fermion loops., Comment: 27 pages, 8 tables, Mathematica notebook available at https://github.com/HoaVuong-lpsc/The-Fermionic-UOLEA-Mathematica-notebook

We present the first calculation of the full next-to-leading-order electroweak and QCD corrections for vector-boson scattering (VBS) into a pair of Z bosons at the LHC. We consider specifically the process ${\rm pp\to e^{+}e^{-}\mu^{+}\mu^{-}jj}+X$ at orders $\mathcal{O}(\alpha^7)$ and $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s\alpha^6)$ and take all off-shell and interference contributions into account. Owing to the presence of enhanced Sudakov logarithms, the electroweak corrections amount to $-16\%$ of the leading-order electroweak fiducial cross section and induce significant shape distortions of differential distributions. The QCD corrections on the other hand are larger ($+24\%$) than typical QCD corrections in VBS. This originates from considering the full computation including tri-boson contributions in a rather inclusive phase space. We also provide a leading-order analysis of all contributions to the cross section for ${\rm pp \to e^{+}e^{-}\mu^{+}\mu^{-}jj}+X$ in a realistic setup., Comment: 28 pages, 45 pdf figures, matches the published version

We generalise Einstein's formulation of the traceless Einstein equations to $f(R)$ gravity theories. In the case of the vacuum traceless Einstein equations, we show that a non-constant Weyl tensor leads via a conformal transformation to a dimensionally homogeneous (`no-scale') theory in the conformal frame with a scalar field source that has an exponential potential. We then formulate the traceless version of $f(R)$ gravity, and we find that a conformal transformation leads to a no-scale theory conformally equivalent to general relativity and a scalar field $\phi $ with a potential given by the scale-invariant form: $V(\phi )=\frac{D-2}{4D}Re^{-\phi }$, where $\phi =[2/(D-2)]\ln f^{\prime }(R)$. In this theory, the cosmological constant is a mere integration constant, statistically distributed in a multiverse of independent causal domains, the vacuum energy is another unrelated arbitrary constant, and the same is true of the height of the inflationary plateau present in a huge variety of potentials. Unlike in the conformal equivalent of full general relativity, flat potentials are found to be possible in all spacetime dimensions for polynomial lagrangians of all orders. Hence, we are led to a novel interpretation of the cosmological constant vacuum energy problem and have accelerated inflationary expansion in the very early universe with a very small cosmological constant at late times for a wide range of no-scale theories. Fine-tunings required in traceless general relativity or standard non-traceless $f(R)$ theories of gravity are avoided. We show that the predictions of the scale-invariant conformal potential are completely consistent with microwave background observational data concerning the primordial tilt and the tensor-to-scalar ratio., Comment: v2: 26 pages, new extended version, additional conclusions

We consider the linear kinematics of large-scale peculiar motions in a perturbed Friedmann universe. In so doing, we take the viewpoint of the "real" observers that move along with the peculiar flow, relative to the smooth Hubble expansion. Using relativistic cosmological perturbation theory, we study the linear evolution of the peculiar velocity field, as well as the expansion/contraction, the shear and the rotation of the bulk motion. Our solutions show growth rates considerably stronger than those of the earlier treatments, which were mostly Newtonian. On scales near and beyond the Hubble radius, namely at the long-wavelength limit, peculiar velocities are found to grow as $a^2$, in terms of the scale factor, instead of the Newtonian $a^{1/2}$-law. We attribute this to the fact that, in general relativity, the energy flux, triggered here by the peculiar motion of the matter, also contributes to the local gravitational field. In a sense, the bulk flow gravitates, an effect that has been bypassed in related relativistic studies. These stronger growth-rates imply faster peculiar velocities at horizon crossing and higher residual values for the peculiar-velocity field. Alternatively, one could say that our study favours bulk peculiar flows larger and faster than anticipated., Comment: Typos corrected. Matches published version

We point out that the Kalb-Ramond field can couple to the Ramond and Neveu-Schwarz fields of superstring theory in a way that can generate a coupling of the Kalb-Ramond field to dark matter dipole moments. Electroweak dipole dark matter could then arise from the Ramond sector of superstrings with a low string scale up to 120 TeV., 7 pages. Preprint version of paper accepted for publication in EPJ C. Contains an explanation why the new coupling preserves GSO sectors. Also includes an explanation of mode expansions of the Kalb-Ramond field in Coulomb gauge and in Lorentz gauge

We review some unusual facts about the theory of non-relativistic anyons in 2+1 dimensions, and use it as a laboratory to explore how interesting features of non-relativistic field theory correspond to those of many-body quantum mechanics. In particular, we offer an explanation of how Jackiw-Pi vortices arise as the classical limit of certain many-body states in the quantum mechanical theory. Along the way, we make various interesting observations about universal features of the spectrum of anyons subject to different amounts of tuning., Comment: 25 pages + 2 appendices (v2: small corrections, submitted version)

We estimate the future sensitivity of the high luminosity (HL-) and high energy (HE-) modes of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and of a 100 TeV future circular collider (FCC-hh) to leptoquark (LQ) pair production in the muon-plus-jet decay mode of each LQ. Such LQs are motivated by the fact they provide an explanation for the neutral current $B-$anomalies. For each future collider, Standard Model (SM) backgrounds and detector effects are simulated. From these, sensitivities of each collider are found. Our measures of sensitivity are based upon a Run II ATLAS search, which we also use for validation. We illustrate with a narrow scalar ('$S_3$') LQ and find that, in our channel, the HL-LHC has exclusion sensitivity to LQ masses up to 1.8 TeV, the HE-LHC up to 4.8 TeV and the FCC-hh up to 13.5 TeV., Comment: 28 pages, 19 figures. v2: minor changes and references added. v3: references added. v4: references added. v5: version accepted for publication