Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Coupled minimal models revisited II: Constraints from permutation symmetry

  António Antunes, Connor Behan

  SciPost Phys. 18, 132 (2025) · published 23 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Coupling $N$ large $m$ minimal models and flowing to IR fixed points is a systematic way to build new classes of compact unitary 2d CFTs which are likely to be irrational, and potentially have a positive Virasoro twist gap above the vacuum. In this paper, we build on the construction of [A. Antunes and C. Behan, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 071602 (2023)], establishing that, for spins less than 10, additional currents transforming in non-trivial irreducible representations of the permutation symmetry $S_N$ are not conserved at the IR fixed points. Along the way, we develop a finer understanding of the spectrum of these theories, of the special properties of the $N=4$ case and of non-invertible symmetries that constrain them. We also discuss variations of the original setup of [A. Antunes and C. Behan, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 071602 (2023)], some of which can exist for smaller values of the UV central charge.

  2 citations

• A microscopic realization of dS$_3$

  Scott Collier, Lorenz Eberhardt, Beatrix Mühlmann

  SciPost Phys. 18, 131 (2025) · published 17 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a precise duality between pure de Sitter quantum gravity in $2+1$ dimensions and a double-scaled matrix integral. This duality unfolds in two distinct aspects. First, by carefully quantizing the gravitational phase space, we arrive at a novel proposal for the quantum state of the universe at future infinity. We compute cosmological correlators of massive particles in the universe specified by this wavefunction. Integrating these correlators over the metric at future infinity yields gauge-invariant observables, which are identified with the string amplitudes of the complex Liouville string [S. Collier et al., arXiv: 2409.17246]. This establishes a direct connection between integrated cosmological correlators and the resolvents of the matrix integral dual to the complex Liouville string, thereby demonstrating one aspect of the dS$_3$/matrix integral duality. The second aspect concerns the cosmological horizon of the dS static patch and the Gibbons-Hawking entropy it is conjectured to encode. We show that this entropy can be reproduced exactly by counting the entries of the matrix.

  8 citations

• Systematically constructing the likelihood for boosted $H\to gg$ decays

  Andrew J. Larkoski

  SciPost Phys. 18, 130 (2025) · published 17 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the binary discrimination problem of identification of boosted $H\to gg$ decays from massive QCD jets in a systematic expansion in the strong coupling. Though this decay mode of the Higgs is unlikely to be discovered at the LHC, we analytically demonstrate several features of the likelihood ratio for this problem through explicit analysis of signal and background matrix elements. Through leading-order, we prove that by imposing a constraint on the jet mass and measuring the energy fraction of the softer subjet an improvement of signal to background ratio that is independent of the kinematics of the jets at high boosts can be obtained, and is approximately equal to the inverse of the strong coupling evaluated at the Higgs mass. At next-to-leading order, we construct a powerful discrimination observable through a sort of anomaly detection approach by simply inverting the next-to-leading order $H\to gg$ matrix element with soft gluon emission, which is naturally infrared and collinear safe. Our analytic conclusions are validated in simulated data from all-purpose event generators and subsequent parton showering and demonstrate that the signal-to-background ratio can be improved by a factor of several hundred at high, but accessible, jet energies at the LHC.

• Phases and dynamics of quantum droplets in the crossover to two-dimensions

  Jose Carlos Pelayo, George Bougas, Thomás Fogarty, Thomas Busch, Simeon I. Mistakidis

  SciPost Phys. 18, 129 (2025) · published 17 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We explore the ground states and dynamics of ultracold atomic droplets in the crossover region from three to two dimensions by solving the two-dimensional and the quasi two-dimensional extended Gross-Pitaevskii equations numerically and with a variational approach. By systematically comparing the droplet properties, we determine the validity regions of the pure two-dimensional description, and therefore the dominance of the logarithmic nonlinear coupling, as a function of the sign of the averaged mean-field interactions and the size of the transverse confinement. One of our main findings is that droplets become substantially extended upon transitioning from negative-to-positive averaged mean-field interactions. This is accompanied by a significant reduction of their binding energies which are approximately inversely proportional to the square of their size. To explore fundamental dynamical properties in the crossover region, we study interaction quenches and show that the droplets perform a periodic breathing motion for modest quench strengths, while larger quench amplitudes lead to continuous expansion exhibiting density ring structures. We also showcase that it is possible to form complex bulk and surface density patterns in anisotropic geometries following the quench. Since we are working with realistic parameters, our results can directly facilitate future experimental realizations.

  5 citations

• Introducing the Journal of Robustness Reports

  František Bartoš, Alexandra Sarafoglou, Balazs Aczel, Suzanne Hoogeveen, Christopher D. Chambers, Eric-Jan Wagenmakers

  J. Robust. Rep. 0-Editorial (2025) · published 16 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The vast majority of empirical research articles report a single primary analysis outcome that is the result of a single analysis plan, executed by a single analysis team (usually the team that also designed the experiment and collected the data). However, recent many-analyst projects have demonstrated that different analysis teams generally adopt a unique approach and that there exists considerable variability in the associated conclusions. There appears to be no single optimal statistical analysis plan, and different plausible plans need not lead to the same conclusion. A high variability in outcomes signals that the conclusions are relatively fragile and dependent on the specifics of the analysis plan. Crucially, without multiple teams analyzing the data, it is difficult to gauge the extent to which the conclusions are robust. We have recently proposed that empirical articles of particular scientific interest or societal importance are accompanied by two or three short reports that summarize the results of alternative analyses conducted by independent experts [F. Bartoš et al., Nat. Hum. Behav. (2025)]. In order to showcase the practical feasibility and epistemic benefits of this approach we have founded the Journal of Robustness Reports, which is dedicated to publishing short reanalyses of empirical findings. This editorial describes the scope and the workflow of the Journal of Robustness Reports including the type and format of the published articles. We hope that the Journal of Robustness Reports will help make reanalyses of published findings the norm across the empirical sciences.

  2 citations

• Water tasting: A Bayesian multiverse analysis

  Suzanne Hoogeveen

  J. Robust. Rep. 0-Ex1 (2025) · published 16 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Varying data inclusion criteria and prior settings, a Bayesian multiverse analysis failed to provide robust evidence for the claim that people prefer Chaudfontaine over tap water.

  1 citation

• Preference for Chaudfontaine or bias towards the preferred option?

  Alexandra Sarafoglou

  J. Robust. Rep. 0-Ex2 (2025) · published 16 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Although participants' taste scores were influenced by their preferences, they still generally favored Chaudfontaine over tap water, which confirms the original claim.

  1 citation

• Exponential networks for linear partitions

  Sibasish Banerjee, Mauricio Romo, Raphael Senghaas, Johannes Walcher

  SciPost Phys. 18, 128 (2025) · published 15 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Previous work has given proof and evidence that BPS states in local Calabi-Yau 3-folds can be described and counted by exponential networks on the punctured plane, with the help of a suitable non-abelianization map to the mirror curve. This provides an appealing elementary depiction of moduli of special Lagrangian submanifolds, but so far only a handful of examples have been successfully worked out in detail. In this note, we exhibit an explicit correspondence between torus fixed points of the Hilbert scheme of points on $\mathbb C^2\subset\mathbb C^3$ and anomaly free exponential networks attached to the quadratically framed pair of pants. This description realizes an interesting, and seemingly novel, "age decomposition" of linear partitions. We also provide further details about the networks' perspective on the full D-brane moduli space.

• Optical bounds on many-electron localization

  Ivo Souza, Richard M. Martin, Massimiliano Stengel

  SciPost Phys. 18, 127 (2025) · published 15 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We establish rigorous inequalities between different electronic properties linked to optical sum rules, and organize them into weak and strong bounds on three characteristic properties of insulators: electron localization length $\ell$ (the quantum fluctuations in polarization), electric susceptibility $\chi$, and optical gap $E_{\mathrm{G}}$. All-electron and valence-only versions of the bounds are given, and the latter are found to be more informative. The bounds on $\ell$ are particularly interesting, as they provide reasonably tight estimates for an ellusive ground-state property – the average localization length of valence electrons – from tabulated experimental data: electron density, high-frequency dielectric constant, and optical gap. The localization lengths estimated in this way for several materials follow simple chemical trends, especially for the alkali halides. We also illustrate our findings via analytically solvable harmonic oscillator models, which reveal an intriguing connection to the physics of long-ranged van der Waals forces.

  6 citations

• Remote detectability from entanglement bootstrap I: Kirby’s torus trick

  Bowen Shi, Jin-Long Huang, John McGreevy

  SciPost Phys. 18, 126 (2025) · published 14 April 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Remote detectability is often taken as a physical assumption in the study of topologically ordered systems, and it is a central axiom of mathematical frameworks of topological quantum field theories. We show under the entanglement bootstrap approach that remote detectability is a necessary property; that is, we derive it as a theorem. Starting from a single wave function on a topologically-trivial region satisfying the entanglement bootstrap axioms, we can construct states on closed manifolds. The crucial technique is to immerse the punctured manifold into the topologically trivial region and then heal the puncture. This is analogous to Kirby's torus trick. We then analyze a special class of such manifolds, which we call pairing manifolds. For each pairing manifold, which pairs two classes of excitations, we identify an analog of the topological $S$-matrix. This pairing matrix is unitary, which implies remote detectability between two classes of excitations. These matrices are in general not associated with the mapping class group of the manifold. As a by-product, we can count excitation types (e.g., graph excitations in 3+1d). The pairing phenomenon occurs in many physical contexts, including systems in different dimensions, with or without gapped boundaries. We provide a variety of examples to illustrate its scope.