Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Relaxation time approximation revisited and non-analytical structure in retarded correlators

  Jin Hu

  SciPost Phys. 20, 020 (2026) · published 26 January 2026 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this paper, we give a rigorous mathematical justification for the relaxation time approximation (RTA) model. We find that only the RTA with an energy-independent relaxation time can be justified in the case of hard interactions. Accordingly, we propose an alternative approach to restore the collision invariance lacking in traditional RTA. Besides, we provide a general statement on the non-analytical structures in the retarded correlators within the kinetic description. For hard interactions, hydrodynamic poles are the long-lived modes. Whereas for soft interactions, commonly encountered in relativistic kinetic theory, the gapless eigenvalue spectrum of linearized collision operator leads to gapless branch-cuts. We note that particle mass and inhomogeneous perturbations would complicate the above-mentioned non-analytical structures.

• Prompt hadroproduction of C-even quarkonia in the light-front $k_T$ -factorization approach

  Wolfgang Schäfer, Izabela Babiarz, Roman Pasechnik, Antoni Szczurek

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 032 (2022) · published 11 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present a new approach for the prompt production of quarkonia which is based on the $k_T$-factorization method. The production of even C-parity quarkonia proceeds via the fusion of two (off-shell) gluons. Especially in the kinematics of the LHCb experiment these processes are thus expected to be a sensitive probe of the small-x gluon distribution. We calculate the relevant off-shell matrix elements in terms of the light-front wave functions of the quarkonium states. We present our results for scalar and pseudoscalar charmonia and discuss photon transition form factors as well as cross sections for prompt hadroproduction. We compare our results for the $\eta_c$ to recent LHCb data.

• Multi-differential studies to explore strangeness enhancement in pp with ALICE at the LHC

  Francesca Ercolessi

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 10, 028 (2022) · published 11 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The study of energy and multiplicity dependence of strange hadron production in proton-proton collisions provides a powerful tool to understand similarities and differences between small and large collision systems. In order to better understand the origin of strangeness enhancement in pp new multi-differential analyses have been performed. The first separates the contribution of soft and hard processes, such as jets, to strange hadron production through two-particle correlation techniques. The second exploits the concept of the effective energy available for particle production in the event, which is estimated by an anti-correlation with the energy deposited in ALICE's Zero Degree Calorimeters. The results indicate that strangeness production emerges from the growth of the underlying event and confirm it is related to the final state multiplicity.

• Critical behavior of a phase transition in the dynamics of interacting populations

  Thibaut Arnoulx de Pirey, Guy Bunin

  SciPost Phys. 18, 051 (2025) · published 13 February 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Many-variable differential equations with random coefficients provide powerful models for the dynamics of many interacting species in ecology. These models are known to exhibit a dynamical phase transition from a phase where population sizes reach a fixed point, to a phase where they fluctuate indefinitely. Here we provide a theory for the critical behavior close to the phase transition. We show that timescales diverge at the transition and that temporal fluctuations grow continuously upon crossing it. We further show the existence of three different universality classes, with different sets of critical exponents, highlighting the importance of the migration rate coupling the system to its surroundings.

• Flavor deformations and supersymmetry enhancement in $4d$ $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories

  Usman Naseer, Charles Thull

  SciPost Phys. 13, 058 (2022) · published 21 September 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories on four-dimensional manifolds that admit a Killing vector $v$ with isolated fixed points. It is possible to deform these theories by coupling position-dependent background fields to the flavor current multiplet. The partition function of the deformed theory only depends on the value of the background scalar fields at the fixed points of $v$. For a single adjoint hypermultiplet, the partition function becomes independent of the supergravity as well as the flavor background if the scalars attain special values at the fixed points. For these special values, supersymmetry at the fixed points enhances from the Donaldson-Witten twist to the Marcus twist or the Vafa-Witten twist of $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM. Our results explain the recently observed squashing independence of $\mathcal{N}=2^*$ theory on the squashed sphere and provide a new squashing independent point. Interpreted through the AGT-correspondence, this implies the $b$-independence of torus one-point functions of certain local operators in Liouville/Toda CFT. The position-dependent deformations imply relations between correlators of partially integrated operators in any $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFT with flavor symmetries.

• Josephson effect in strongly disordered metallic wires

  Mustafa E. Ismagambetov, Aleksey V. Lunkin, Pavel M. Ostrovsky

  SciPost Phys. 19, 021 (2025) · published 17 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study localization effects in Josephson junctions with two superconductors connected by a strongly disordered metallic wire of length $L$. The conventional description of the Josephson effect in such systems, based on the quasiclassical Usadel equation, neglects electron interference and is only applicable when $L$ is shorter than the localization length $\xi$ in the wire. We develop a more general theory for the Josephson effect using the non-linear sigma model that fully accounts for electron interference, and hence localization. We show that for $L \gg \xi$, three qualitatively different regimes of the Josephson current arise depending on the ratio of the superconducting order parameter $\Delta$ and the mean level spacing in the localization volume $\Delta_\xi$. We derive the average supercurrent as a function of the phase difference for all three regimes. Quite unexpectedly, we observe that the Ambegaokar-Baratoff relation between the average critical current and the normal-state conductance still holds in the strongly localized state when $\Delta_\xi \gg \Delta$ and $\xi \ll L \ll (\xi/\pi^2) \ln^2(\Delta_\xi/\Delta)$.

• Boundary layers, transport and universal distribution in boundary driven active systems

  Pritha Dolai, Arghya Das

  SciPost Phys. 19, 088 (2025) · published 8 October 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We discuss analytical results for a run-and-tumble particle (RTP) in one dimension in presence of boundary reservoirs. It exhibits "kinetic boundary layers", nonmonotonous distribution, current without density gradient, diffusion facilitated current reversal and optimisation on tuning dynamical parameters, and a new transport effect in the steady state. The spatial and internal degrees of freedom together possess a symmetry, using which we find the eigenspectrum for large systems. The eigenvalues are arranged in two bands which can mix in certain conditions resulting in a crossover in the relaxation. The late time distribution for large systems is obtained analytically; it retains a strong and often dominant "active" contribution in the bulk rendering an effective passive-like description inadequate. A nontrivial "Milne length" also emerges in the dynamics. Finally, a novel universality is proposed in the absorbing boundary problem for dynamics with short-range colored noise. Active processes driven by active reservoirs may thus provide a common physical ground for diverse and new nonequilibrium phenomena.

• Quark Sivers Function at Small-$x$: Leading contribution from the Spin-Dependent Odderon

  M. Gabriel Santiago

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 027 (2022) · published 11 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present the calculation of the leading contribution to the quark Sivers function at small-Bjorken $x$. This calculation uses the high energy scattering approximation and operator formalism developed by Kovchegov and Sievert to obtain a dominant contribution to the quark Sivers function coming from the spin-dependent odderon, in agreement with the results of Dong, Zhen, and Zhou. We then calculate this dominant contribution in the diquark model of the proton to obtain a small-$x$ estimate for the Sivers function.

• The boundary disorder correlation for the Ising model on a cylinder

  Rafael Leon Greenblatt

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 017 (2025) · published 10 February 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  I give an expression for the correlation function of disorder insertions on the edges of the critical Ising model on a cylinder as a function of the aspect ratio (rescaled in the case of anisotropic couplings). This is obtained from an expression for the finite size scaling term in the free energy on a cylinder in periodic and antiperiodic boundary conditions in terms of Jacobi theta functions.

• Multi-orbital two-particle self-consistent approach – Strengths and limitations

  Jonas B. Profe, Jiawei Yan, Karim Zantout, Philipp Werner, Roser Valentí

  SciPost Phys. 19, 026 (2025) · published 21 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Extending many-body numerical techniques which are powerful in the context of simple model calculations to the realm of realistic material simulations can be a challenging task. Realistic systems often involve multiple active orbitals, which increases the complexity and numerical cost because of the large local Hilbert space and the large number of interaction terms or sign-changing off-diagonal Green's functions. The two-particle self-consistent approach (TPSC) is one such many-body numerical technique, for which multi-orbital extensions have proven to be involved due to the substantially more complex structure of the local interaction tensor. In this paper we extend earlier multi-orbital generalizations of TPSC by setting up two different variants of a fully self-consistent theory for TPSC in multi-orbital systems. We first investigate the strengths and limitations of the approach analytically and then benchmark both variants against dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) and D-TRILEX results. We find that the exact behavior of the system can be faithfully reproduced in the weak-coupling regime, while at stronger couplings the performance of the two TPSC variants strongly depends on details of the system.