High Energy Physics - Theory
This website contains AI-generated audits of all new submissions that appear on the hep-th arXiv. These audits are presented in the style of referee reports which are generated by prompting GPT-5.5 on extra high thinking with the query "Read the manuscript carefully and prepare a detailed journal-style referee report evaluating whether the results appear correct, novel, interesting, and suitable for publication." We take no responsibility for the accuracy of the statements in the resulting referee reports, but we have chosen to make them publicly available here for entertainment purposes.
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Showing new listings for Friday, 17 July 2026
- [1] arXiv:2607.14213 [arXiv pdf, report pending]
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Title: JT gravity on the worldlineComments: 32 pages + appendicesSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)audXiv: report pending
Motivated by the problem of understanding the experience of an observer in dynamical quantum gravity, we study the effects of coupling a one-dimensional quantum mechanical system living on a bulk worldline to Euclidean AdS JT gravity. On the disk topology, where the worldline stretches between two boundary points, we derive exact expressions for the Euclidean propagator of the observer and for its correlation functions, and discuss their holographic interpretation. The main effect on the quantum mechanics is the fluctuation of the total Euclidean time for which the observer evolves, or its inverse temperature for closed Euclidean paths. This turns the standard quantum mechanical evolution operator into an average of those, weighted by a measure over Euclidean times which in the semiclassical limit is peaked around the geodesic distance between the boundary points. We characterize the fluctuations around this value, finding that they are small compared to the mean, but large compared to the effective Planck scale of the model. These fluctuations can be resolved by an observer with a finely spaced density of states. We also discuss the Lorentzian interpretation of these Euclidean calculations. Finally, we compute a contribution to the partition function of the observer coupled to gravity coming from the double trumpet. In this case the fluctuations of the effective temperature are large, reflecting the absence of a smooth semiclassical saddle point.
- [2] arXiv:2607.14215 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Anti-scrambling and euclidean folds from observer correlators in de Sitter spaceComments: 43 pagesSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)audXiv: audit
The de Sitter horizon behaves in a qualitatively different way from a black hole horizon, which poses a challenge to any attempt to develop a fundamental quantum description of de Sitter space. In this paper we gather some ``data'' on this problem using gravitational calculations, seeing that they lead to an ``anti-scrambling'' phenomenon that is contrary to the behavior of standard many-body quantum systems. We organize our discussion in terms of correlation functions computed on the worldline of an observer living in the spacetime, with the two-point function looking like a conventional thermal correlator but the four-point function showing anti-scrambling. We propose that anti-scrambling can be realized in a quantum system whose Hamiltonian is bounded from both above and below using correlators that are folded in Euclidean time.
- [3] arXiv:2607.14219 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Ising the way into de SitterComments: 27 pages + appendix, 5 figuresSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)audXiv: audit
We study the two-dimensional Ising model deformed by the relevant thermal operator and placed on de Sitter (dS) spacetime. Despite being strongly interacting in its original formulation, the theory is exactly solvable on account of fermionisation. We compute exact cosmological correlators and compare them with conformal perturbation theory. In the Euclidean formulation of the model, we first compute the renormalised sphere partition function and the exact two-point functions of the thermal operator and descendant-like operators. We analytically continue the two-point functions to Lorentzian dS$_2$. Their late-time behaviour is governed by de Sitter representation theory and includes oscillations associated with principal-series scaling dimensions. We then analyse two-point functions of the spin and disorder operators, which are non-local in the fermionic variables, and derive non-perturbative constraints on their late-time scaling dimensions. In both cases, we compare the exact answers to conformal perturbation theory (CPT) and we show that divergent secular terms generically spoil the perturbative series at late times. The de Sitter Ising model shows explicitly how late-time perturbative pathologies are resummed in non-perturbative cosmological observables and provides a minimal solvable laboratory for quantum field theory dynamics in de Sitter space.
- [4] arXiv:2607.14220 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Non-perturbative saturation of Krylov complexity, and its implications in quantum gravityComments: 13+8 pages, 1 figureSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); Mathematical Physics (math-ph); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)audXiv: audit
We study the dynamics of Krylov state complexity in finite-dimensional quantum systems. Orthogonal polynomials built on a discrete energy spectrum crowd away from regions where the density of states is low at large Krylov index. The physical implication of this result is that, even using a minimalist Krylov state complexity which is defined over the entire spectrum, the Krylov complexity provably stops growing a little past the Heisenberg length in every low-energy state. This has interesting implications for the proposal that Krylov complexity is related to the wormhole length in 2D quantum gravity.
- [5] arXiv:2607.14230 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Gravitational Effective Theories with Maximal Supersymmetry and a Peculiar ParityAuthors: Justin Berman, Simon Caron-Huot, Aditi V. Chandra, Henriette Elvang, Aidan Herderschee, Loki L. Lin, Roger MoralesComments: 35+9 pages, 2 figures, 3 tablesSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)audXiv: audit
We study the space of four-dimensional ultraviolet completions for $\mathcal{N}=8$ supergravity that are described at low energies by weakly-coupled effective field theories (EFTs) with maximal supersymmetry and $\mathrm{SU}(4)\times\mathrm{SU}(4)$ R-symmetry. We show that tree-level factorization of the 4-, 5-, and 6-point EFT scattering amplitudes, together with a certain ``peculiar parity'' condition, leads to nonlinear constraints on the 4-point Wilson coefficients. This peculiar parity is a property that can only be imposed on a subset of scalar amplitudes. Combining the nonlinear constraints with positivity, we find that the allowed region of 4-point Wilson coefficients is reduced to a non-convex domain with two sharp corners: one being the closed superstring Virasoro--Shapiro amplitude, the other an infinite spin tower amplitude exchanging states of every spin at the same mass. We show both numerically and analytically that requiring a finite number of states near the first mass level leaves only the Virasoro--Shapiro amplitude.
- [6] arXiv:2607.14284 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Non-Hermitian Holographic Flows to Little Rip CosmologiesComments: v1: 33 pages, 7 figuresSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)audXiv: audit
Spacelike singularities supported by matter satisfying the null energy condition (NEC) are expected to fall within the Belinski--Khalatnikov--Lifshitz (BKL) paradigm. We show that controlled violations of the NEC in holography can lead to different black hole interiors. In a holographic model dual to a strongly coupled non-Hermitian $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric QFT, we uncover a novel non-Kasner regime within its real, $\mathcal{PT}$-restored phase. The deep-interior geometry describes an isotropic FLRW cosmology undergoing super-accelerated expansion and approaching a Little Rip. This regime leaves a characteristic imprint on two-sided heavy-operator correlators, allowing it to be distinguished from a standard Kasner interior. Our construction provides a concrete holographic realization of a Little Rip cosmology and lays the groundwork for a Little Rip/CFT correspondence, in which such cosmological regimes can be explored through observables in a non-Hermitian quantum field theory.
- [7] arXiv:2607.14289 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Dynamical Entropy Is a Noether ChargeComments: 4+1 pagesSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)audXiv: audit
Black hole thermodynamics for generic dynamical, non-equilibrium regimes remains a fundamental challenge. We establish dynamical entropy as the Noether charge associated with a generic evolving null surface subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions. We uniquely specify the symmetry generator associated with the dynamical entropy, which is a null vector on the null surface, upon requiring physically motivated geometric conditions that yield a notion of ``dynamical zeroth law.'' We prove that this Noether charge density satisfies the second law of thermodynamics strictly at each instant in time, bypassing the teleological final conditions traditionally required by event horizons. Thus, we extend and generalize the notion of dynamical entropy introduced in \cite{Hollands:2024vbe}, in some different ways: We do not impose background stationarity; our dynamical entropy and the associated second law are local in time and work for generic dynamical gravitational systems.
- [8] arXiv:2607.14330 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: The variational approach to infrared divergencies: Applications to black hole action integrals and holographic Wilson loopsComments: 30 pages, one figureSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)audXiv: audit
Renormalizing the on-shell action variation offers two important advantages over renormalizing the action itself. First, the variation of the action has a universal form in which the bulk contribution vanishes identically. As a result, the renormalization problem is automatically localized at the boundary; no bulk subtractions are required. Second, the variation of the action admits a natural interpretation as a 1-form on functional space. The distinction between exact and non-exact 1-forms provides a clear renormalization prescription. We apply these ideas to the computation of on-shell black hole actions. After presenting the general algorithm, we discuss some examples, including Kerr-Newman, Kerr-Newman-AdS, Taub-NUT, Taub-Bolt, and STU black holes. We also apply the same techniques to the computation of holographic Wilson loops. All results agree with standard results, in particular with holographic renormalization.
- [9] arXiv:2607.14351 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Lectures on Open Systems and CosmologyAuthors: Enrico PajerComments: 140 pages, 8 figuresSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)audXiv: audit
- [10] arXiv:2607.14425 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Birman-Schwinger Formulation of the Faddeev--Popov Zero-Mode ProblemAuthors: Daniel G. TedescoSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)audXiv: audit
Characterizations of the Gribov horizon have so far proceeded indirectly, through Zwanziger's horizon function or through Gribov's no-pole condition on the ghost propagator, each of which encodes the positivity of the Faddeev--Popov operator only approximately, whereas the construction developed here supplies a direct operator statement. Once the constant gauge modes are removed, the Landau-gauge Faddeev--Popov operator becomes congruent to a bounded, dimensionless operator assembled from the background field and the free Laplacian, so that the horizon condition reduces to an ordinary spectral threshold, attained when an eigenvalue of that operator crosses $-1$. Self-adjointness, ordinarily postulated as an independent hypothesis, follows in this formulation from Landau transversality alone, while the first-order character of the perturbation fixes an analytic scale distinct from the one governing the familiar Schrödinger problem. Because the ghost dressing function coincides with the diagonal resolvent of the same operator, Gribov's no-pole estimate emerges as its leading Born-order truncation, an identification that at once delimits the regime in which the estimate is trustworthy and the regime in which it fails. The construction is tested against an exact solution for a periodic transverse $SU(2)$ background, for which the threshold, its Born approximation, and the corrections beyond Born all admit closed forms, and for which the associated action and mode-counting entropy scale with the volume so that the two balance in four dimensions. The periodic family thereby furnishes a solvable reference case for the underlying mechanism, whereas extending the claim to generic Yang--Mills configurations constitutes a separate undertaking, whose requirements are stated explicitly.
- [11] arXiv:2607.14662 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Bosonic SPT and invertible phases and its relation to Steenrod's problemComments: 34 pages + appendixSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); Algebraic Topology (math.AT)audXiv: audit
- [12] arXiv:2607.14891 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Cosmological Collider Signals at Strong MixingComments: 14+12 pages, 4 figuresSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)audXiv: audit
We study cosmological collider signatures in a two-field inflationary system with constant-turn derivative mixing between the canonically normalized curvature fluctuation and a massive isocurvature field. Building on recently derived exact hypergeometric solutions that treat the quadratic mixing nonperturbatively, we construct the mixed propagators constituting the cosmological correlators. A Mellin-Barnes approach helps isolate the pair of nonanalytic late-time branches carried by a heavy field. For a cubic isocurvature self-interaction, these branches contribute towards a squeezed bispectrum with a power-law envelope and logarithmic oscillations. The oscillation frequency encodes the heavy mass, while the amplitude and phase retain the full mixing dependence rather than a perturbative expansion. We perform the squeezed limit integral analytically and compare it with numerical results across representative masses and mixing strengths. At fixed mixing we derive the large-mass JWKB expansion of the squeezed correlator and its phase. We also give integral representations for the isocurvature Wightman function. The research idea was suggested by ARC, the calculation was performed by GPT, and the results were checked by the authors.
- [13] arXiv:2607.15007 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Observers, local measurements, and topologyAuthors: Michele CiraficiComments: 30 pages, 4 figuresSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)audXiv: audit
An observer which propagates in a spacetime with dynamical gravity has access to an algebra of observables which is expected to be a von Neumann algebra with a trace. The observer can use projections from the algebra to perform local measurements. By using this fact we construct a simplicial complex out of measurements recorded on the worldline of the observer and we propose that such a complex captures topological information about spacetime, even when this is fluctuating.
- [14] arXiv:2607.15070 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Casimir effect for a massive scalar field confined between parallel plates with a spatially varying effective massComments: 13 pages, 3 figuresSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc); Mathematical Physics (math-ph); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)audXiv: audit
We investigate the Casimir effect for a massive real scalar field confined between two perfectly reflecting parallel plates in the presence of a position-dependent effective mass, a mechanism for coupling a scalar background to a scalar field. Exact normal modes are obtained by solving the corresponding Klein-Gordon equation, leading to a transverse energy spectrum that exhibits a characteristic Landau-like structure despite the absence of an external magnetic field. Upon quantization of the field, the vacuum energy is evaluated by means of generalized zeta-function regularization together with an appropriate renormalization procedure. The renormalized vacuum energy naturally separates into a Landau-like contribution and an additional term induced by the spatial dependence of the effective mass. We show analytically and numerically that both contributions are exponentially suppressed in the strong-coupling regime. In the opposite limit, the Landau-like contribution smoothly reproduces the standard vacuum energy for a massive scalar field confined between parallel plates, whereas the additional contribution becomes singular owing to the restricted domain of validity of the exact spectrum. Except in the vicinity of this singular limit, the vacuum energy is shown to be dominated by the Landau-like sector. Our results establish a direct connection between position-dependent effective masses and boundary-induced quantum vacuum phenomena, providing a new exactly solvable framework for the investigation of Casimir effects in spatially inhomogeneous relativistic systems.
- [15] arXiv:2607.15074 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Mirror symmetry in 3d in 3d mirror symmetrySubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); Mathematical Physics (math-ph); Symplectic Geometry (math.SG)audXiv: audit
- [16] arXiv:2607.15083 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Defects extremal surfaces and interface CFTsAuthors: Ankur DeyComments: 30 pages, 10 figuresSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)audXiv: audit
We propose a generalization of the defect extremal surface (DES) prescription to holographic interface conformal field theories (ICFTs), extending its applicability beyond the AdS$_3$/BCFT$_2$ framework. We consider a holographic ICFT$_2$ comprising two CFT$_2$s coupled across an interface, dual to two asymptotically AdS$_3$ geometries joined by a codimension-one end-of-the-world (EOW) brane. In the corresponding effective lower-dimensional description obtained via partial dimensional reduction on the brane-boundary combination, the theory on the brane is coupled to gravity, thereby enabling the computation of fine-grained entanglement entropy via the island formula. We demonstrate that the generalized DES prescription exactly reproduces the effective lower-dimensional results for finite subsystems in time-independent scenarios in the large brane tension limit, corresponding to weak gravitational coupling on the EOW brane. We further compute the entanglement entropy of semi-infinite bipartite pure states in radiation subsystems coupled to $2d$ eternal black holes, and obtain the corresponding Page curves.
- [17] arXiv:2607.15187 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Type I/II Vortex Dynamics With Excited Normal ModesComments: 42 pagesSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)audXiv: audit
We investigate the effects of excited normal modes on vortex dynamics in the Abelian Higgs model in the type I (static attraction) and type II (static repulsion) regimes. We demonstrate that shape normal modes compete with the static inter-vortex forces. This can result in excited type I (II) vortices repelling (attracting). In addition we observe the existence of spectral walls that prevent the formation (break up) of bound states in type I (II) systems. We study the long lived quasi-bound states and orbits induced by their competing forces and the effective centrifugal forces. Finally, we observe that the effect is strong enough to induce vortex-antivortex pairs to follow long-lived orbits.
- [18] arXiv:2607.15212 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Magnetic corrections to the fermionic Casimir effect with Lorentz symmetry violation and a compactified extra dimensionAuthors: Andrea ErdasComments: 10 pagesSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)audXiv: audit
In this work I study the effect of a magnetic field on the Casimir effect due to a massive, charged fermion field that violates Lorentz invariance in an aether-like manner while maintaining CPT, in a space with one toroidally compactified extra dimension. I take the fermion field to obey MIT bag boundary conditions on two identical square parallel plates. I do this investigation using the zeta function technique that enables me to calculate the Casimir energy and pressure in the presence of a constant magnetic field perpendicular to the plates. I examine the cases of timelike Lorentz violation, of spacelike Lorentz violation in the direction of the magnetic field, of spacelike Lorentz violation in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field, and of spacelike Lorentz violation in the direction of the compactified extra dimension. In all scenarios, I find simple and accurate analytic expressions of the magnetic field dependent Casimir energy and pressure.
- [19] arXiv:2607.15236 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Analytical and Numerical Study of Quartic Nonlinear Electrodynamics in Holographic Fermion SystemsComments: 19 pages, 4 figuresSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)audXiv: audit
We study how the leading string-inspired quartic correction $\alpha'^2 F^4$ modifies holographic fermionic observables in a bottom-up $AdS_4/CFT_3$ model. The gauge sector is described by Maxwell electrodynamics supplemented by the quartic interaction, while the geometry is kept fixed in the probe approximation. We first analyze the nonlinear electrostatic background and derive an exact first integral of the gauge equation, the associated constitutive relation for the radial electric field, the critical coupling for globally regular solutions, and weak-coupling expansions for the electrostatic potential and chemical potential. We then use these backgrounds to compute the retarded Green's function and spectral function of charged probe fermions. The quartic interaction increases the chemical potential, lowers the effective ratio $T/\mu$, shifts the Fermi momentum, and enhances the spectral weight without destroying the holographic Fermi surface. We further show that the fermionic observables inherit the even-power dependence on $\alpha'$ implied by the analytic structure of the gauge sector. The resulting probe-limit analysis makes explicit how quartic bulk nonlinearities propagate from the bulk to boundary fermionic observables.
- [20] arXiv:2607.15251 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: New exact bispectrum shapes in multifield inflationAuthors: Lucas PinolComments: 5 pages plus appendicesSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)audXiv: audit
Using the effective field theory of multiple inflationary fluctuations, we present the first analytical calculation of the primordial bispectrum in which the quadratic mixing between curvature and isocurvature fluctuations is treated non-perturbatively. Building upon the operator representation of the exact linear solutions proposed in Ref.~\cite{Huenupi:2026abj}, we derive a simpler integral representation for these mixed mode functions. We prove that all scale-invariant tree-level bispectra reduce to a single vertex diagram, which can be evaluated with a Schwinger-parameter integral over independent pre-computable leg kernels. We showcase the power of our approach by considering the cubic time-derivative interaction $\dot{\pic}^3$, which leads to a purely single-field, equilateral phenomenology at small mixing. On the contrary, at strong mixing the obtained bispectrum shapes decorrelate from the equilateral template and become genuinely multifield, with a large amplitude, motivating a dedicated data analysis. The squeezed limit is obtained analytically in a closed form at any dimensionless mixing strength $\la$ for an isocurvature field of bare mass $m$ and features a cosmological collider signal set by $\nu_{\rm eff} = i \muf=\sqrt{9/4-m^2/H^2-\la^2}$, with an effective mass dressed by $\la$, as previously evidenced in numerical or semi-analytical calculations. Our results encompass the $\la \ll 1$ limit of usual perturbative calculations, where the amplitude of the signal is necessarily small, but they also surpass them, thus opening a new analytical window into large multifield primordial non-Gaussianities.
- [21] arXiv:2607.15261 [arXiv pdf, audit]
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Title: Relativistic time-commutative dynamics with $κ$-plane noncommutativityComments: 33 pagesSubjects: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc); Mathematical Physics (math-ph)audXiv: audit
In the last decades, spacetime noncommutativity and the associated deformations of relativistic symmetries have attracted a lot of interest, as several phenomenological windows into quantum gravity are approaching genuine Planck-scale sensitivity. However, the physical significance of the mathematical structures introduced to deal with spacetime noncommutativity is still debated, and some crucial pieces are missing or poorly understood. From time to time it has been suggested that valuable insight into these conceptual challenges could come from the analysis of appropriately designed first-quantized toy models, in which major technical and interpretive issues can be effectively managed or sidestepped altogether. In this paper we take seriously this suggestion and develop the first fully consistent and fully relativistic first-quantized model of two particles propagating and interacting on a noncommutative spacetime. The specific spacetime noncommutativity implemented in our model, which we call 'time-commutative $\kappa$-plane', had already been proposed as a suitable arena for a first-quantized analysis, but previous studies were mostly heuristic and failed to provide a full description of the deformed relativistic symmetries. We here go much beyond those pioneering attempts: we find a full characterization of the appropriate deformed Poincaré symmetry algebra as well as its Galilean limit; we build a single-particle quantum model carrying an irreducible representation of the deformed Galilei algebra; we exhibit two consistent, Galilean-relativistic descriptions of a system of two quantum particles interacting via a deformed harmonic potential, finding that the structure of the two-particle symmetry generators is intimately connected with the deformation of the interaction law.