We study electromagnetic perturbations and the associated quasinormal modes (QNMs) of parametrized static, spherically symmetric wormhole spacetimes, focusing on Damour-Solodukhin and braneworld geometries as well as their galactic extensions. Using the Bronnikov-Konoplya-Pappas parametrization, we express the metric functions in terms of a compactified radial coordinate and characterize the spacetime through far-field and near-throat parameters. The far-field coefficients govern the asymptotic structure and post-Newtonian behaviour, while the near-throat continued-fraction expansion captures the strong-field geometry near the throat. We first apply the parametrization to isolated wormholes and identify its range of validity, showing that non-polynomial metric functions can limit the convergence of the near-throat expansion and hence the accuracy of a truncated representation. We then extend the framework to a galactic Damour-Solodukhin wormhole embedded in a Hernquist dark matter halo. Imposing observational bounds from the shadow of Sgr A$^*$, we constrain the galactic compactness and deformation parameters and obtain an observationally viable parametrized metric. Within the allowed parameter space, we compute the fundamental QNM frequencies using the transfer matrix method and analyze the corresponding time-domain ringdown signals. We find that the damping rate is more sensitive to galactic compactness, whereas the oscillation frequency remains comparatively stable. Although the spectral shifts are small within the shadow-allowed region, the framework provides a systematic link between geometric parametrization, shadow constraints, and dynamical response. Our results establish an observationally consistent parametrized description of wormhole perturbations for strong-field tests of horizonless compact objects.

In the bottom-up approach to celestial holography, it is tempting to define celestial amplitudes by transforming momentum-space amplitudes order by order in perturbation theory. We test this prescription in the exactly solvable two-dimensional Sinh-Gordon model. Because the full non-perturbative S-matrix is known, we can compare two operations directly: first transform and then expand, or first expand and then transform. They do not agree, already at leading nontrivial order in the coupling. More broadly, this suggests that naive term-by-term celestial transforms should not be assumed valid in generic quantum field theories with asymptotic weak-coupling expansions. This has an immediate consequence for proposed CCFT duals: if one tries to test them by taking celestial transforms of perturbative bulk amplitudes term-by-term, a mismatch need not falsify the proposal. This makes bottom-up tests of celestial dualities far more subtle than one might have expected.

We analytically calculate the all-loop bare perturbative part of the four-quark Bethe-Salpeter kernel using modern scattering amplitude methods. We work to subleading order in the large number of quark flavors approximation of massless Quantum Chromodynamics, which simultaneously makes an all-loop calculation feasible, is systematically improvable, and preserves asymptotic freedom. It also allows for avoiding the ambiguity of choosing a truncation scheme in Dyson-Schwinger equations. We exploit state-of-the-art methods in Integration-By-Parts reduction of Lorentz scalar Feynman integrals into a minimal Master Integral basis, and direct integration into Generalized Polylogarithms. As a byproduct of our calculation, we also provide the result for the gluon and quark propagators. We discuss a path towards nonperturbative formulation and potential future phenomenological applications.

The execution cost of quantum algorithms is typically quantified through asymptotic gate counts and qubit register sizes, yet these metrics do not directly capture which genuinely quantum resources, and in what amount, must be created and maintained for the computation to succeed. The systematic quantification of such information-theoretic requirements in quantum computing protocols remains an extremely challenging open problem, despite their direct role in establishing quantum advantage. To address this gap, we investigate the generation of non-stabilizerness (or magic), one of the key resources, in the paradigmatic Shor's factoring algorithm, revealing a deep connection between intrinsic quantum complexity and the computational hardness of the underlying number-theoretic problem. By developing an explicit analytic theory, we demonstrate the fundamental role of magic in the successful execution of the algorithm, and show that Shor's routine maximally exploits the quantum resource in practically relevant regimes. Our findings create a concise conceptual link between the classical algorithmic difficulty of a task and the non-stabilizer price to solve it on quantum hardware, complementing standard circuit-cost analyses with a resource-based metric that is naturally aligned with the real bottlenecks of fault-tolerant quantum computing.

We show that every $K_4$-free graph on $n$ vertices can be made balanced bipartite by removing at most $\frac{n^2}{9}$ edges. This proves a conjecture of Balogh, Clemen, and Lidický, and generalizes both Sudakov's result on the bipartite distance of $K_4$-free graphs and Reiher's result on the sparse half of $K_4$-free graphs.

Ultrafast birefringence oscillations observed in superfluid helium provide evidence for anisotropic quantum squeezing of quasiparticle pairs. The measured response is a superposition of contributions from all vibrational modes, with dominant contributions from rotons, maxons, and Pitaevskii's plateau. The nonzero initial phase follows naturally from multimode interference.

We introduce kinetically constrained superradiance, a form of cooperative emission in which interactions imprint configuration-dependent energy shifts on optical transitions, splitting Dicke superradiance into multiple, frequency-resolved collective decay channels. Each channel selectively radiates from distinct many-body spin configurations, generating a hierarchy of dissipative time scales and sequential relaxation dynamics. Unlike conventional superradiance, where permutation symmetry enforces relaxation to a trivial steady state, configuration-selective emission can trap finite-momentum spin-wave excitations and stabilize long-lived entanglement. Remarkably, these correlations are generated purely by dissipation in the absence of entangling coherent dynamics. Our results point to modern superradiant experiments as scalable resources for dissipative engineering of correlated quantum states.

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) increasingly contaminates the radio astronomy spectrum, often exceeding astronomical signal amplitudes by 50-70 dB. Reliable detection and mitigation are therefore essential for studies of faint transient phenomena such as pulsars and fast radio bursts (FRBs). Existing practical methods (including Spectral Kurtosis (SK), Median Absolute Deviation (MAD), and SumThreshold) perform well in many settings but depend on assumptions about the RFI environment and data statistics, limiting their effectiveness for weak, broadband, or non stationary interference. We develop a transform based RFI detection method that requires no prior knowledge of RFI origin or type. Using Green Bank Telescope (GBT) data containing PSR J1713+0747, with 4096 channels spanning 1.1-1.9 GHz and 5.12 micro second sampling, we apply a Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) to each channel and use an image segmentation algorithm on the STFT magnitude to generate a binary RFI mask. The masked data are inverse transformed and reassembled into a cleaned time series. Performance is assessed using the Signal to Noise Ratio (S/N) of a single pulse of PSR J1713+0747, with SK serving as the baseline. The cleaned spectrogram is dedispersed, integrated across frequency, and evaluated through the resulting S/N. Experimental results show that refining each channel's frequency content via STFT, followed by segmentation in the STFT domain, yields measurable improvements in RFI suppression.

The quantum Fourier transform (QFT) is a fundamental primitive in quantum computation and quantum information. In this work, we generalize the QFT for finite groups to a QFT for finite-dimensional semisimple algebras, and give efficient quantum Fourier transforms for the partition algebra $P_n(d)$, Brauer algebra $B_n(d)$, and walled Brauer algebra $B_{r,s}(d)$. These algebras play important roles in generalized Schur-Weyl duality, statistical physics and many-body systems, and have recently found several applications in quantum algorithms. Unlike the group case, the Fourier transform over a semisimple algebra can be non-unitary. Nevertheless, we show that when the parameter $d$ is sufficiently large, the Fourier transform is well approximated by a unitary operator. Furthermore, we show that for each of the algebras $A$ from above, such an approximate Fourier transform can be implemented efficiently: we give a quantum algorithm with gate complexity $\mathrm{poly}(n,\log d,\log(1/\varepsilon))$ for approximating the Fourier transform to error $(d^{-1/2} + \varepsilon) \cdot \mathrm{poly}(|A|)$. Along the way, we establish several properties of the Fourier basis of semisimple algebras that may be of independent interest.

Some of the simplest wormhole solutions involve massless scalar fields that take imaginary values. Massless fields can be interpreted as coupling constants in asymptotically flat or asymptotically AdS gravity theories. We argue that wormhole effects imply an imaginary distance bound, an upper limit for the analytic continuation of the theory to imaginary values of these couplings. In string theory examples, we find explicit effects that render the low-energy theory invalid either before or precisely at this wormhole limit. We argue that the existence of such effects enforcing the distance bound is a general feature of string theories containing wormholes. In some cases, the bounds we discuss coincide with the weak gravity conjecture, and with the Kontsevich-Segal-Witten condition on complex metrics.

We derive Carrollian fermionic actions using the null reduction method from Bargmann spacetimes. In the Lorentzian light-cone formulation, the Dirac spinor naturally decomposes into dynamical and constrained degrees of freedom $-$ the so-called `good' and `bad' fermions $Ψ_{(\pm)}$. These light-cone projections are intrinsically adapted to the null frame and, unlike the chiral decomposition into left- and right-handed spinors $Ψ_{L(R)}$, are valid in arbitrary spacetime dimensions, both even and odd. As in the case of bosons, the magnetic Carroll sector for fermions is governed by the dynamical modes of the parent theory, while the electric sector arises from the constrained modes. Upon deforming to a Bargmann spacetime, these constraints are removed, promoting the `bad' fermions to dynamical modes that describe the electric Carroll fermions. We construct the Clifford algebra on the Carroll manifold through its embedding in the ambient Bargmann manifold, and obtain both electric and magnetic Carroll fermion actions from a \textit{single} Bargmann-invariant Dirac action. We analyze the canonical structure of both theories, establish their invariance under Carroll transformations, and compute the corresponding two-point functions, which exhibit the expected behavior in both sectors. We conclude with some comments on the quantization of these Carrollian theories.

The Heegaard Floer d-invariant for a rational homology sphere Y and spin$^c$-structure $\mathfrak{s}$ is defined as the minimal absolute grading of a generator of $HF^+(Y; \mathfrak{s})$. In 2005, Némethi used lattice homology to compute the d-invariant for a particular class of negative-definite plumbed rational homology spheres, and conjectured that his formula should hold for all negative-definite plumbed rational homology spheres. In this paper, we use Zemke's isomorphism between lattice and Heegaard Floer homology to prove Némethi's conjecture.

We investigate the mass-metallicity relation (MZR) from z=1 to z=9 using electron-temperature-based gas-phase metallicities and examine how auroral-line selection, star-formation history, and secondary abundances affect its interpretation in the early Universe. We compile a homogeneous sample of 286 star-forming galaxies observed with JWST/NIRSpec medium resolution spectroscopy, selected through detections of the [O\,III]\,$λ$4363 auroral line from the public DAWN JWST Archive (DJA). We derive electron densities, temperatures, and oxygen abundances using the direct $T_e$ method, along with relative N/O and He/H abundances. Stellar masses are obtained via SED fitting and star-formation rates from reddening-corrected Balmer emission lines. To quantify auroral-line selection biases, we additionally stack galaxy spectra with and without auroral-line detections, extending the MZR into regimes inaccessible to individual measurements. The auroral-line-detected sample spans log(M*/Msun)=6.77-10.5 and 12+log(O/H)=6.9-8.4. A linear fit gives an MZR slope of $γ$=0.38 $\pm$ 0.09. Stacked galaxies without individual $λ$4363 detections define a relation with a similar slope but metallicities higher by ~0.2-0.3 dex at fixed stellar mass. Auroral-line detections also show higher SFRs, larger equivalent widths, and larger offsets from the fundamental metallicity relation, whereas non-detections appear more chemically evolved and closer to it. Several stacked bins also show enhanced N/O and He/H ratios. These results indicate that the low-mass high-redshift MZR traced by JWST is shaped by both recent star-formation history and auroral-line selection effects. Auroral lines preferentially identify high-EW, high-sSFR galaxies in the low-metallicity envelope, whereas non-detections reveal a more enriched sequence closer to the metallicity expected from the FMR.

We prove a singularity theorem in semiclassical gravity without assuming global hyperbolicity or the null energy/curvature condition; the former is replaced by the weaker causality conditions of stable causality and past reflectivity, and the latter is replaced as is standard by the Generalized Second Law. This establishes in particular that the standard models of evaporating black holes are singular - i.e. they are null geodesically incomplete.

Recent results have established dramatic advantages in learning properties of quantum states when a quantum computer is available to process or jointly measure multiple copies of the unknown quantum state. Learning tasks can be accomplished with exponentially fewer copies of the state when compared to optimized classical learning strategies that are restricted to measuring one copy of the state at a time. While these results were established in abstract settings and for artificial learning tasks, they motivate the application of quantum computers to imaging and sensing of weak electromagnetic fields since these settings are ultimately concerned with the learning of unknown quantum states. In this work we apply these new results in quantum learning to the problem of learning Gaussian states of the electromagnetic field, which are germane since they describe most fields used in imaging and sensing. In order to connect with quantum learning theory, we consider the transduction of an $n$-mode Gaussian state into a register of qubits on a quantum computer followed by optimized measurements on these qubits to extract the parameters defining the original Gaussian state. We rigorously bound the number of copies of the Gaussian state required to achieve worst-case additive error in parameter estimates. The scaling of this bound with $n$ is exponentially better than naïve strategies for characterizing Gaussian states and matches recently derived bounds for characterization of Gaussian states using continuous-variable (CV) classical shadows. In addition, our bound has a polynomially better dependence on the energy of the multimode Gaussian state compared to the CV shadows protocol.

We present a simple and interpretable representation of TESS light curves designed for large-scale exploratory analysis. Our goal is not to optimize classification performance, but to construct a computationally efficient mapping in which proximity reflects meaningful similarity, without using labels or explicit period information as inputs. We represent each light curve using either quantile graphs or scattering transforms, reduce dimensionality with principal component analysis, and project the resulting features onto a self-organizing map (SOM). We evaluate ~1500 model configurations using a combination of standard embedding diagnostics and a light-curve-shape-based cohesion metric, and select a compact quantile-graph-based model that balances interpretability, stability, and performance. Applying the model to ~1.5 million TESS 2-minute cadence light curves, we find that the map organizes sources primarily by variability amplitude, signal-to-noise ratio, characteristic timescale, and light-curve shape. Repeat observations of the same stars show that most sources occupy stable and contiguous regions of the map, indicating that the representation captures persistent properties rather than noise and systematics. We provide an interactive web interface at http://tess-l8.space that enables inspection of nodes, nearest neighbors, and individual sources across sectors. The resulting representation serves as a practical tool for exploration, anomaly detection, and dataset characterization, and illustrates how simple, deterministic encodings can yield useful structure in large astronomical time-series datasets.

Primordial magnetic fields (PMFs) can enhance the abundance of low-mass halos during Cosmic Dawn by sourcing additional small-scale matter fluctuations. This enhanced small-scale power can accelerate early galaxy formation, shifting the timing of Lyman-$α$ coupling, X-ray heating, and reionization toward earlier times and imprinting correlated signatures on the global and fluctuating 21-cm signals. We extend the fast analytic framework {\tt\string zeus21} to include a physically motivated PMF contribution to the linear matter power spectrum, including radiative damping before recombination and magnetic-pressure suppression below the magnetic Jeans scale. The implementation preserves the speed and modularity of {\tt\string zeus21}, enabling efficient exploration of PMF parameter space. For $n_B=-2.9$, we quantify the impact of PMFs on early structure formation and 21-cm observables across a range of fiducial magnetic amplitudes, and forecast detectability with \textit{HERA} and \textit{SKA}. Combining 21-cm forecasts with external CMB priors, we find that upcoming experiments can probe PMFs through their impact on small-scale structure, providing constraints complementary to existing cosmological probes.

We study moduli stabilization in 4D effective field theories with Sp(4,$\mathbb{Z}$) self-duality inspired by heterotic orbifold compactifications with Wilson lines. The target-space duality group of these theories is enhanced from SL$(2,\mathbb{Z})$ to Sp$(4,\mathbb{Z})$, making Siegel modular forms the appropriate language to formulate the effective supergravity action. We construct the corresponding effective theory including moduli-dependent threshold corrections to the gauge kinetic function and nonperturbative effects in the superpotential. The degeneration limit of the Wilson lines distinguishes different sectors and dictates which combination of cusp forms appears in threshold corrections. We compute the resulting scalar potential and prove several general statements about its extrema. In particular, we show that the fixed points of Sp$(4,\mathbb{Z})$ are extrema of the potential, and derive genus-2 analogues of no-go theorems for de Sitter vacua. Finally, we show how positive-energy metastable minima can arise once supersymmetry is broken in the dilaton direction by nonperturbative contributions to the Kähler potential.

Quantum signal processing is a powerful framework in quantum algorithms, playing a central role in Hamiltonian simulation and related applications. The sequence of polynomials implemented at each step of this protocol provides a polynomial basis for block-encoding any polynomial of a unitary. We characterize the achievable polynomial bases in terms of their orthogonality or biorthogonality with respect to a linear functional admitting an integral representation. Explicit expressions for the quantum signal processing angles are derived for families of polynomial sequences, including Hermite, Jacobi, and Rogers-Szegő polynomials. We show that $2n+2$ rotation angles are required to encode a sequence of polynomials in these classes up to degree $n$. We use this result to show that an $ε$-approximation of a smooth function $f$ can be block-encoded using $O(\log(1/ε))$ gates via its Hermite series expansion. The connections established with the theory of orthogonal and biorthogonal polynomials lead to a new method for solving the quantum signal processing angle-finding problem, yielding explicit expressions for the angles. They also provide a complete characterization of the polynomials achievable by $\mathrm{SU}(1,1)$-QSP in terms of their roots. Biorthogonality properties are shown to hold in the bivariate QSP setting, yielding a set of necessary conditions for achievable polynomials.

We present the results for the dynamics and emission profiles of axi-symmetric numerical simulations of structured gamma-ray burst afterglow jets, computed using the relativistic moving-mesh hydrodynamics code GAMMA. We find that the spreading of jets of average opening angle is moderately impacted by the initial steepness of the angular structure, although the effect disappears once the working surface of the jet substantially exceeds its initial width, and that the travel time of a sound wave across the front surface remains the best indicator of the onset of spreading also for structured jets. When computing the afterglow spectrum using a local cooling approach that traces the electron population following shock-acceleration, we observe a significant impact on the synchrotron cooling break. Similar to earlier results for top-hat jets, the cooling break is found to shift upward in frequency by well over a factor of ten relative to approaches that assume a global cooling timescale across the jet. The cooling break transition in the spectrum also becomes substantially smoother. For both local and global cooling, jet breaks become sharper with increasing frequency. Local cooling is found to initially lead to a steeper slope post jet-break. The local-cooling emission is shown to originate from a narrow frequency-dependent sized region behind the shock front, as expected, but in strong contrast to a global cooling approach.

Suppose one has a party of $m$ people, whose expertise collectively covers $n$ topics. Given a subset $T$ of the topics, one wishes to form a panel of $|T|$ people from the party such that $T$ can be covered by assigning a distinct topic to each panel member with the expertise. We show that the numbers of such panels, as $T$ varies, form a Lorentzian polynomial. We achieve this by showing that a certain linear operator on polynomials, which we call the ``inducing operator'' for its connection to induced (poly)matroids, preserves Lorentzian polynomials and realizable volume polynomials.

Strong gravitationally lensed supernovae (LSNe) are rare but extremely valuable probes of cosmology and astrophysics. Prompt identification within the alert streams of time-domain surveys such as the Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) is essential for timely follow-up observations. In our previous study, Bag et al. (2026), we introduced a deep-learning framework for detecting LSNe Ia directly from multi-band, multi-epoch image cutouts. The model employs a convolutional LSTM architecture to capture spatiotemporal correlations in time-series imaging data, enabling classification updates as new observations arrive. In this work, we extend that framework by incorporating greater realism into the simulations. In particular, we present a method to construct realistic image time series from single-epoch observations by introducing epoch-to-epoch point spread function variations with corresponding variance-map corrections. The dataset is based on HSC PDR3 observations and includes simulated lensed host-galaxy arcs, SN light-curve variations, and Poisson noise. We also introduce an additional negative class consisting of SN Ia occurring in the foreground lens galaxy, representing a challenging source of false positives. Despite these additional complexities, the model retains strong performance. The receiver operating characteristic improves rapidly during the first few observations, reaching a true-positive rate of $\sim60\%$ at a false-positive rate of $\mathcal{O}(10^{-4})$ by the seventh observation and $\sim80\%$ by the tenth. We also investigate potential confusion with sibling SNe occurring in LRGs and identify the configurations that best mimic lensed systems. These results demonstrate that the image-time-series approach remains robust under more realistic observing conditions, and is well suited for real-time LSN searches in LSST and other time-domain surveys.

Spin splitting underpins a vast range of spin-dependent phenomena. Traditionally, two primary mechanisms generate such splitting: relativistic spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and nonrelativistic magnetic exchange coupling (MEC). Governed by distinct symmetry constraints, they produce splittings of opposite parity -- odd for SOC and even for MEC -- a dichotomy that underpins the distinct spin physics of nonmagnetic and magnetic systems. In this work, we break this dichotomy by demonstrating the dynamic generation of even-parity spin splitting in centrosymmetric, nonmagnetic systems driven by circularly polarized light. We show that the symmetry of the induced splitting is controlled by the angular character of the underlying orbitals, enabling the realization of s-wave, d-wave, and g-wave spin-split band structures identical to those of ferromagnets and altermagnets. Furthermore, we find that these spin-split bands can naturally host a Chern insulator phase. We also discuss the associated spin and orbital magnetization. Our results establish a direct and previously unrecognized conceptual link between the two fundamental mechanisms of spin splitting.

We estimate the cost of simulating the two-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model on a biplanar spin-optical quantum computing (SPOQC) architecture. Qubits are encoded in the honeycomb Floquet code, and we use a circuit-level noise model with explicit timings for each native physical operation. We benchmark lattice surgery and magic state preparation within each plane, and transversal CNOT gates between corresponding logical qubits across planes. We compile a plaquette-based Trotterization of the time evolution operator, mapping the two spin sectors of the Fermi-Hubbard model onto two physical planes. This architectural co-design eliminates fermionic swap operations and reduces the depth of each Trotter step to $4t_{\mathrm{synth}} + 90$ logical timesteps, where $t_\mathrm{synth}$ is the logical timestep cost of arbitrary-angle rotations, compared to $6t_\mathrm{synth} + 354$ in prior single-plane compilations. All error sources - algorithmic (Trotter), logical noise, magic state infidelity, and rotation synthesis - are treated jointly within a single 1% diamond norm budget. For an $L\times L$ lattice with hopping amplitude $t$ and on-site interaction strength $U$, setting $L=8$ and $U/t=8$, we estimate a total runtime of approximately $2$ hours using $1.35\times 10^6$ physical qubits. We find that fallback-based rotation synthesis methods become a scalability bottleneck: the probability that all $L^2$ parallel rotations succeed on the first attempt vanishes exponentially with system size, causing the failure branch to dominate the expected runtime already at moderate $L$.

We present MAPFF1.0_Lambda, the first global analysis at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD of the collinear unpolarised fragmentation functions of Lambda hyperons. The fit is based on data from single-inclusive electron-positron annihilation, and from both neutral-current and -- for the first time -- charged-current semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering. We have adopted a statistical framework based on Monte Carlo sampling and parametrised fragmentation functions in terms of a neural network. The fragmentation function set comprises a total of seven independent parton flavours, allowing for the first independent determination of valence-quark distributions. Our analysis offers new insights into the hadronisation mechanism of strange baryons and establishes a baseline for future phenomenological and experimental investigations.

Stellar rotation is a fundamental ingredient in shaping the evolution of stars and it can also be used to trace past stellar interactions. Yet, systematic studies of stellar rotation in large samples of stars belonging to different populations have only recently been made possible, thanks to spectroscopic surveys. We profit from the catalogue of rotational broadening and rotation periods released with Gaia DR3. We focus on open clusters to study the rotational behaviour of several interesting populations including, among others, blue stragglers and extended main sequence turnoffs (eMSTO). We use literature lists of almost a million member stars in several thousand open clusters in the Milky Way. We collect properties of stars and clusters from large surveys, including Gaia, and from various literature sources. We include a comprehensive collection of known variables and binary stars from various databases. We manually select (exotic) stellar populations from the color-magnitude diagrams of individual clusters and study their rotational properties. Our catalogue contains more than 44 000 rotationally characterised stars, almost 57 000 variables (excluding binaries) and more than 22 000 binary stars. We find several interesting results, including a few hundred new blue stragglers, several fast rotating red giants, and we increase the number of clusters with an eMSTO to 96. We discover that most clusters more massive than $10^3$ $M_{\odot}$ display an eMSTO. We present a new parametrization of the number of blue stragglers as a function of cluster mass and age. We find that the percentage of binary stars in the equal-mass binary sequence and in the main sequence are similar. We present the first large-scale statistical exploration of stellar rotation in open clusters, which already yielded new interesting results and which can be used as the basis for several detailed follow-up studies.

NANOGrav and various pulsar timing array experiments recently reported evidence for a common red noise signal across millisecond pulsars. This signal exhibits Hellings-Downs inter-pulsar correlation patterns, providing compelling evidence for a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) signal. In general, such a background can come from several astrophysical and cosmological phenomena. Assuming such SGWB has an inflationary origin, we use latest NANOGrav 15-year dataset to constrain the inflationary parameters e.g., tensor spectral index ($n_t$), tensor-to-scalar ratio ($r$), and explore the implications for the reheating phase through constraints on the reheating equation of state ($ω_{\text{re}}$) and reheating temperature ($T_{\text{re}})$. We find the preference for an extremely blue-tilted tensor spectrum $n_t=2.20^{+0.36}_{-1.2}$ and the radiation-like reheating scenario $ω_{\text{re}}=0.33^{+0.14}_{-0.36}$. Despite having no concrete evidence for the nature of the primordial vacua, the computation of gravitational wave (GW) sourced by tensor perturbations assumes the inflationary vacuum to be a Bunch-Davies vacuum. In this work, we examine modifications to the GW spectrum originating from the non-Bunch-Davies primordial vacuum. We find that NANOGrav observations favour a specific type of non-Bunch-Davies vacuum, known as the alpha-vacuum. Furthermore, our analysis demonstrates that the observations strikingly narrow down the range of the parameter $α$ characterizing the vacua. On top of that, we find that a frequency-dependent parametrization of the vacuum parameter $α$ beyond a threshold frequency can yield a minimal solution to alleviate the blue-titled issue. Finally, we highlight the possibility of testing such frequency dependence of $α$ by probing the GW spectrum through future GW experiments.

The annihilation of self-interacting dark matter with long-range interactions can be significantly enhanced at low velocities through the Sommerfeld effect. At special points in parameter space, where near-zero-energy resonances exist in the spectrum of the theory, the standard calculation of this enhancement appears to violate unitarity. Recently, several approaches have been proposed to regulate this behavior, some introducing explicit ultraviolet (UV) scales and others not, raising the question of whether these prescriptions are consistent. In this paper, we compare these approaches and show that even in nominally cutoff-dependent methods, the regulated Sommerfeld-enhanced cross sections are independent of the UV regulator to a good approximation, and that when the unitarity-preserving corrections are large, the regulation schemes coincide to leading order. We use these insights to write down a regulator-independent prescription for unitarization applicable to multi-state systems, where the modified enhancement can be written solely in terms of the standard enhancement factor, the hard annihilation amplitude, and the $S$-matrix for scattering in the long-range potential.

In the coming decade, the millihertz gravitational wave observatory LISA will provide the best constraints yet on the tens of thousands of close white dwarf binaries in the Milky Way, yielding unprecedented insights into the most abundant class of compact object binaries. Following inspiral via gravitational wave emission, interacting white dwarf binary pairs can lead to a multitude of outcomes, including AM Canum Venaticorum (AM CVn) binaries, R Coronae Borealis stars, young, rapidly-spinning single white dwarfs, (millisecond) magnetars, and a variety of explosive transients, most notably Type Ia supernovae. Current and future electromagnetic observations of these various outcomes coupled with the forthcoming flood of data from LISA place us on the precipice of a significant advance in our understanding of the long-term fate of white dwarf binaries. In this paper, we present a suite of mock catalogs of the Milky Way's white dwarf merger history, created using the population synthesis code $\texttt{COSMIC}$. We summarize the various merger outcomes expected (based upon varying white dwarf masses and chemical compositions) and explore ways the rates of these outcomes may vary with model uncertainties pertaining to binary evolution. We publicly release these merger catalogs as a tool for facilitating connections between gravitational wave science and white dwarf binary astrophysics.

We study the crystalline phase of the $O(2N)$ Gross--Neveu model with a chemical potential for $a \leq N-2$ of the fermions. We analyze the problem in three independent ways: using perturbative QFT methods, a semiclassical large $N$ analysis, and integrability techniques (both at finite and large $N$). The resulting picture is consistent across all three approaches: at sufficiently large chemical potential $h$, an inhomogeneous phase emerges in which $a$-particle bound states condense and which, at large $N$, corresponds to a periodically oscillating chiral condensate. In this phase, the usual dynamically generated scale $Λ$ is replaced by two new dynamically generated scales $Λ_{\rm n}$ and $Λ_{\rm c}$. These two scales govern the multiple nonperturbative effects in the theory, corresponding in particular to the mass gaps of neutral and charged excitations on top of the inhomogeneous vacuum, respectively. They also control the nonperturbative corrections to observables such as the free energy and provide the parameters characterizing the oscillatory profile of the mean field at large $N$. In this paper, we provide the necessary details of each of the three methods, thereby complementing the results announced in a previous, shorter publication.