In this work we introduce an effective approach to quantize the electromagnetic response of plasmonic metallic nanostructures. Their shape is arbitrary and they feature a realistic description of the frequency-dependent metal dielectric function that is based on experimental data. The derived quantum modes correctly reproduce the linear response macroscopic polarization of the nanoparticle upon external drive according to classical macroscopic Maxwell equations in the quasistatic limit. We further investigate the coupling of these modes to a quantum-chemical molecular description. The presented methodology paves the way for accurate modeling of plexcitonic system, where strong plasmon-molecule coupling and/or strong-driving fields call for a quantized description of the plasmonic response.

We present an original data analysis and a physical model that provide new insights into the origin of, and relationship between, two observables of the dusty, polarized Galaxy at intermediate and high latitudes: (i) the misalignment between HI filamentary structures and magnetic fields and (ii) the positive $TB$ correlation measured in Planck data suggesting parity violation in the interstellar medium (ISM). We confirm an observational link between the two effects and find that both are predominantly produced at large angular scales ($\geq 10^\circ$, multipoles $\ell \leq 20$) with a significantly stronger signal in the northern hemisphere. We propose a model in which filaments and magnetic fields appear misaligned in projection because they are sourced by cold and warm gas phases distributed in different proportions in the Solar neighborhood, from the wall of the Local Bubble to larger distances. These projection effects at large angular scales can produce coherent signatures that propagate to smaller scales in power spectra without invoking local, small-scale filament misalignment. Within this frame, HI filaments remain statistically aligned with the magnetic field in 3D, although with a projected scatter of tens of degrees that requires further investigation. The multiphase, geometrical model presented in this work is supported by Planck polarization data at 30 GHz, where synchrotron radiation dominates, and at 217 and 353 GHz, where dust emission dominates. Our analysis also incorporates starlight polarization measurements. The model introduced here suggests a new interpretation of two unexplained observables and emphasizes the role of the large-scale magnetized ISM in shaping polarized Galactic emission, which has important implications for both Galactic astrophysics and cosmological foreground characterization.

The period between z ~ 3-6, a key transformational phase in galaxy evolution preceding 'cosmic noon' (z ~ 1-3), is very poorly explored in terms of feedback from AGN acting through gas outflows. In this work, we study the properties of outflows in AGN (mostly X-ray-selected) from the GOODS-S field, exploiting JWST NIRSpec IFU observations as part of the GA-NIFS GTO survey. Together with its twin sub-sample from COSMOS reported in a previous GA-NIFS work, this constitutes the largest spatially resolved sample of AGN outflows at these redshifts to date, comprising 16 targets with outflows (out of a total of 19 AGN), and probes the unexplored regime of AGN at z ~ 3-6 with bolometric luminosities ~$10^{45-46}$ erg/s. We mapped the rest-optical ionised gas emission lines at sub-kpc scales and spectrally isolated the broad wings tracing fast outflows from the gas at rest in the host galaxies. The incidence of ionised outflows in the GOODS-S + COSMOS GA-NIFS sample is high (>75 %), among the highest at any redshift. We inferred outflow velocities between ~600-2000 km/s, maximum radii of <1-4 kpc, and ionised gas mass outflow rates of ~0.1-100 $M_\odot$/yr, which in some cases can exceed the host galaxy star formation rate (SFR). We find that the outflow properties inferred for the GOODS-S + COSMOS GA-NIFS AGN sample and their relations with $L_{\rm bol}$ and SFR generally align with those observed for other spatially resolved literature samples of AGN outflows across different redshifts and AGN luminosities. Nonetheless, after accounting for any luminosity bias, our analysis suggests a cosmic evolution of the outflow properties, with higher median mass outflow rates (and possibly also mass loading factors) at higher redshifts, especially at z>3, indicating that AGN outflows were stronger in the early Universe than at later times, and thus potentially more capable of affecting their host galaxy.

Liquid mixtures can separate into phases with distinct composition. This phenomenon has recently come back to prominence due to its role in complex biological liquids, such as the cytoplasm, which contain thousands of components. For simple two-component mixtures phase-separated states are global free energy minima. However, local free energy minima, i.e. metastable states, are known to play a dominant role in complex systems with many components. For example, Hopfield neural networks can retrieve information from partial cues via relaxation to metastable states. Under what conditions can phase separated states be metastable, and what are the implications for information processing in multicomponent liquids? In this work we develop the general thermodynamic formalism of metastable phase separation. We then apply this formalism to an illustrative toy example inspired by recent experiments, binary mixtures with high-order interactions. Finally, as core application of the formalism, we study metastability in Hopfield liquids, a class of multicomponent mixtures capable of storing information on the composition of phases. We show that these phases can be retrieved from partial cues via metastable phase separation. Spatial simulations of liquids with a large number of components match our analytical solution. Our work suggests that complex biological mixtures can perform information retrieval through metastable phase separation.

In a circuit QED architecture, we experimentally demonstrate a hardware-efficient and qubit-state-dependent Single-Step Phase-Engineered (SSPE) pulse scheme for actively depopulating a readout cavity. The protocol appends a reset segment with tailored amplitude and phase to a standard square readout pulse. Within the linear-response regime, the optimal reset amplitude scales proportionally with the readout amplitude, while the optimal reset phase remains invariant, significantly simplifying the experimental calibration procedure. Time-resolved measurements of the cavity photon number dynamics demonstrate that the SSPE scheme significantly outperforms the CLEAR protocol in terms of reset speed. Crucially, this approach enables arbitrarily fast, overshoot-free depletion of the cavity photon population, with the ultimate reset rate constrained by the finite analog bandwidth of the measurement chain. Furthermore, a comprehensive evaluation of the QND nature demonstrates that the SSPE scheme introduces no additional non-QND measurement errors. It exhibits non-QNDness comparable to both the free-decay and CLEAR protocols, with residual errors predominantly governed by state switching induced by qubit relaxation during the readout process. Thses results establish the SSPE scheme as a practical and scalable approach for achieving rapid and smooth cavity reset in superconducting quantum circuits.

We study energy minimization problems in quantum chemistry through the lens of computational algebraic geometry. We focus on minimizing the Rayleigh quotient of a Hamiltonian over a tensor train variety. The complex critical points of this problem approximate eigenstates of the quantum system, with the global minimum approximating the ground state. We call the number of critical points the Rayleigh-Ritz degree. We first study the Rayleigh-Ritz degree and introduce the Rayleigh-Ritz discriminant, which describes Hamiltonians that lead to a deficient number of critical points. We then specialize this framework to tensor train varieties: we identify instances when they are Segre products of projective spaces, report what we know about their defining ideals, and present a birational parametrization from products of Grassmannians. We use homotopy continuation to compute all critical points of this optimization problem over various tensor train and determinantal varieties. Finally, we use these results to benchmark state-of-the-art methods, the Alternating Linear Scheme and Density Matrix Renormalization Group.

The goal of the paper is to introduce a convergence à la Gromov-Hausdorff for Lorentzian spaces, building on $ε$-nets consisting of causal diamonds and relying only on the time separation function. This yields a geometric notion of convergence, which can be applied to synthetic Lorentzian spaces (Lorentzian pre-length spaces) or smooth spacetimes. Among the main results, we prove a Lorentzian counterpart of the celebrated Gromov's pre-compactness theorem for metric spaces, where controlled covers by balls are replaced by controlled covers by diamonds. This yields a geometric pre-compactness result for classes of globally hyperbolic spacetimes, satisfying a uniform doubling property on Cauchy hypersurfaces and a suitable control on the causality, and a curvature-driven pre-compactness result. The final part of the paper establishes several applications: we show that Chruściel-Grant approximations are an instance of the Lorentzian Gromov-Hausdorff convergence here introduced, we prove that timelike sectional curvature bounds are stable under such a convergence, we introduce timelike blow-up tangents and discuss connections with the main conjecture of causal set theory.

We propose a hybrid variational quantum algorithm that has variational parameters used by both the quantum circuit and the subsequent classical optimization. Similar to the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), this algorithm applies a parameterized unitary operator to the qubit register. We generate this operator using diabatic state preparation. The quantum measurement results then inform the classical optimization procedure used by the Cascaded Variational Quantum Eigensolver (CVQE). We demonstrate the algorithm on a system of interacting electrons and show how it can be used on long-term error-corrected as well as short-term intermediate-scale quantum computers. Our simulations performed on IBM Brisbane produced energies well within chemical accuracy.

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in its first Data Release (DR1) already provides more than 100,000 galaxies with relative distance measurements. The primary purpose of this paper is to perform the calibration of the zero-point for the DESI Fundamental Plane and Tully-Fisher relations, which allows us to measure the Hubble constant, $H_0$. This sample has a lower statistical uncertainty than any previously used to measure $H_0$, and we investigate the systematic uncertainties in absolute calibration that could limit the accuracy of that measurement. We improve upon the DESI Early Data Release Fundamental Plane $H_0$ measurement by a) using a group catalog to increase the number of calibrator galaxies and b) investigating alternative calibrators in the nearby Universe. Our baseline measurement calibrates to the SH0ES/Pantheon+ type Ia supernovae, and finds $H_0=73.7\pm 0.06\;(\text{stat.})\pm 1.1\;(\text{syst.})$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$. Calibrating to surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distances yields a similar $H_0$. We explore measurements using other calibrators, but these are currently less precise since the overlap with DESI peculiar velocity tracers is much smaller. In future data releases with an even larger peculiar velocity sample, we plan to calibrate directly to Cepheids and the tip of the red giant branch, which will enable the uncertainty to decrease towards a percent-level measurement of $H_0$. This will provide an alternative to supernovae as the Hubble flow sample for $H_0$ measurements.

ATLAS and CMS have recently reported enhancements in the top-antitop production rate near threshold, a region where non-perturbative QCD dynamics associated with toponium formation become relevant. We investigate how this behaviour is modified in the presence of a neutral pseudoscalar that couples to gluons and top quarks, using an effective description that consistently incorporates perturbative Standard Model and new physics contributions, their interference and non-perturbative threshold effects. We show that the combined effect of those ingredients markedly shapes the viable region of the pseudoscalar parameter space, particularly for narrow resonances with masses close to twice the top mass. While Standard Model threshold effects could explain a sizeable part of the measured enhancements, the current data remain compatible with additional contributions from pseudoscalar interactions.

Quantum networks and modular quantum computers require efficient spin-photon interfaces, often realized using optical resonators that enhance radiative decay on a desired transition. However, this requires small mode volumes and high quality factors, which limits multiplexing capacity and demands precise frequency tuning. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach that circumvents these bottlenecks for upscaling. Using a W1 silicon photonic crystal waveguide with a tailored photonic bandgap, we selectively inhibit unwanted decay pathways, thereby redirecting emission to the desired transition. This enables efficient photon collection over a large frequency range, allowing the resolution and individual addressing of tens of erbium dopants. Their lifetimes are preserved, or even increased, compared to bulk material. The extended mode volume of the devices enables the use of lower dopant concentrations, thereby improving emitter coherence. Our approach can be combined with Purcell enhancement and applied to other spin-qubit platforms, opening intriguing perspectives for photonic quantum technologies.

We present a new method to estimate terminal bubble velocities during first-order phase transitions in a plasma in local equilibrium. The method relies on calculating the extrema of a modified potential function for the scalar field undergoing the transition. The shape of this function, which we refer to as the ``pseudopotential'', changes with the wall velocity, and if the dependence of the fluid temperature on scalar gradients is weak -- which is confirmed to hold with high accuracy in concrete examples -- the difference in pseudopotential between two appropriate extrema gives the net outward pressure acting on the bubble wall. It then follows that the correct terminal bubble velocities are those that lead to degenerate minima in the pseudopotential. This allows to compute bubble velocities without having to solve the equation of motion of the scalar field, and in contrast to other methods this can be done without relying on simplified equations of state for the plasma or without choosing a specific ansatz for the scalar field profile. We illustrate the method in a singlet extension of the Standard Model, computing the net outward pressure as a function of the wall velocity. We confirm the dip in outward pressure found in the literature for hybrid bubbles, which implies that stationary deflagrations are stable, while their detonation counterparts are unstable.

In gravitational theories containing matter fields and higher-derivative corrections, the standard Smarr formula often fails unless all dimensionful couplings are incorporated consistently. Traditionally, parameters such as the cosmological constant or the coefficients of higher-derivative terms are regarded as immutable features of the theory and therefore excluded from the thermodynamic phase space. In our recent work, we developed a fully general framework that promotes every such coupling to a dynamical, freely varying parameter of black hole solutions. This is accomplished by introducing, for each coupling, an auxiliary scalar and gauge field, through which the coupling appears as a conserved charge associated with the global sector of an emergent gauge symmetry. The corresponding conjugate variables naturally arise as electric potentials evaluated at the black hole horizon. As a result, the first law and the Smarr relation acquire additional, systematically determined contributions, yielding a consistent and universal extension of black hole thermodynamics. We illustrate the validity of this construction by revisiting several black hole examples in the literature where the Smarr formula remains inconsistent even after treating the cosmological constant as a thermodynamic variable. Our analysis shows that only by including all dimensionful couplings in this generalized manner can one obtain an internally consistent Smarr relation, thereby providing the foundation for a truly universal formulation of black hole thermodynamics.

We investigate a one-dimensional tight-binding model in which onsite potentials $\{\varepsilon_i\}$ exhibit power-law spatialcorrelations (with exponent $α$) and the hopping amplitudes decay as $t_{ij}\sim |i-j|^{-β}$. This two-parameter family interpolates continuously between short-range Anderson-like disorder, correlated disorder with conventional hopping, and long-range hopping models with nontrivial delocalization tendencies. Using large-scale exact diagonalization, we construct a comprehensive phase map in the $(α,β)$ plane by combining spectral statistics, density-of-states analysis, and energy-resolved localization indicators such as the participation ratio, single-particle entanglement entropy, level-spacing ratio $r$, and the ratio of the geometric to arithmetic density of states. From these observables we define phase-indicator functions that compactly quantify localization behavior across the spectrum. Our analysis reveals robust mobility edges and multiple regimes of spectral coexistence between localized, extended, resonant, and critical states. Finite-size scaling, implemented via an explicit smoothness-based cost function, enables extraction of critical exponents and delineation of transition lines across the $(α,β)$ parameter space. To validate and complement these physics-based diagnostics, we employ a supervised autoencoder that learns high-level representations of eigenstate structure directly from raw features and reliably reproduces the phase classification defined by the indicator functions. Together, these approaches provide a coherent and internally consistent picture of the spectral transitions driven by correlated disorder and long-range hopping, establishing a unified framework for characterizing mobility edges in long-range one-dimensional systems.

Recent high-precision parity-violating electron scattering (PVES) measurements on $^{208}$Pb (PREX-II) and $^{48}$Ca (CREX) reveal a tension in their simultaneous description within modern nuclear energy density functionals (EDFs). Analyses of these data suggest that an enhanced isovector spin-orbit interaction may help account for both measurements, but its relativistic origin in covariant density functional theory remains to be clarified. We show that, within the framework of a covariant density-dependent point-coupling EDF, an enhanced isovector tensor coupling can naturally induce such a strong isovector spin-orbit interaction. This mechanism provides a promising route toward a simultaneous description of the PREX-II and CREX results while preserving a reasonable description of finite nuclei and nuclear matter. PVES on $^{48}$Ca thus provides a sensitive probe of the covariant isovector tensor interaction.

We study double-well systems with strong magnetic fields and deep potential wells. We present lower bounds on tunneling rates for generic values of the coupling constant. This result was recently announced and complements our recent counter-example construction which exhibits vanishing tunneling for specially-constructed double-well potentials.

We consider nuclear gamma decays and $γ$-emitting reactions that can be an efficient source of hypothetical millicharged particles ($χ$). In particular, we revisit the production of millicharged particles in nuclear reactor environment, pointing out that $γ$ cascades from $^{239}$U is an overlooked yet a powerful source of $χ\barχ$ pairs. This leads to an increased flux compared to previous studies. We then apply new estimates of the flux to derive novel limits on the value of millicharge, $\varepsilon = Q_χ/e$, from the electron recoil searched for in a variety of experiments placed in proximity to the reactor cores. The derived limits on $\varepsilon$ are the strongest in the interval of masses $\sim 0.7-2$ MeV. We also derive the MCP flux from the Sun and point out potential sensitivity of the low-threshold dark matter search experiments.

Since dark matter particles have never been directly detected, we do not know how they move, and in particular we do not know how they fall inside gravitational potential wells. Usually it is assumed that dark matter only interacts gravitationally with itself and with particles of the standard model, and therefore that its motion is governed by Euler's equation. In this paper, we do test this assumption directly at cosmological scales, by combining measurements of galaxy velocities with measurements of gravitational potential wells, encoded in the Weyl potential. We find that current data are consistent with Euler's equation at redshifts $z\in [0.3,0.8]$, and we place constraints on the strength of a potential fifth force, which would alter the way dark matter particles fall. We find that a positive fifth force cannot exceed 7% of the gravitational interaction strength, while a negative fifth force is limited to 21%. The coming generation of surveys, including the Legacy Survey of Space and Time of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument will drastically improve the constraints, allowing to constrain a departure from pure gravitational interaction at the level of 2%.

We study the large-$N$ asymptotics of the central trace of the heat kernel on compact classical groups. For every classical family $G_N\subset \mathrm{GL}_N(\C)$, we prove a full large-$N$ asymptotic expansion, using a highest weights/partitions correspondence adapted to the large-rank regime, under which the eigenvalues of the Laplace--Beltrami operator stabilize as observables in the algebra of shifted symmetric functions. Then, we prove a random surface representation of the trace in terms of ramified coverings of the torus. We provide two independent applications: an explicit large-rank counting law for the Casimir spectrum, with exponential Hardy--Ramanujan-type growth in contrast with the polynomial behavior of Weyl's law at fixed rank, and a rigorous probabilistic formulation of the Yang--Mills/Hurwitz duality on a two-dimensional torus initiated by Gross and Taylor, completing a previous work of the authors. We also extend this duality to a Yang--Mills/Gromov--Witten duality by expressing the coefficients of the central heat trace as explicit functionals of the generating function of Gromov--Witten invariants.

State-of-the-art magnetic devices rely on faster, more efficient memory elements. A major recent advance is the discovery of orbital torques, which use the orbital angular momentum of Bloch electrons to switch the magnetisation of an adjacent ferromagnet, motivating the search for orbitronic materials with strong orbital responses, exemplified by the orbital Hall effect (OHE). Here we propose $p$-type semiconductors, with a focus on Ge, as orbitronic platforms. We demonstrate that bulk holes in five common semiconductors exhibit a large orbital Hall conductivity of order $10^3 (\hbar/e)Ω^{-1}$cm$^{-1}$, exceeding the spin-Hall effect by 2-3 orders of magnitude. The calculation is performed within the framework of the modern theory of orbital magnetisation, while incorporating recently-discovered quantum corrections to the OHE. Moreover, we argue that bulk $p$-type Ge and Si serve as ideal testbeds for the orbital torque resulting from a charge current, since the spin- and orbital-Edelstein effects are forbidden by symmetry. Our results provide a blueprint for producing strong orbital torques in magnetic devices with $p$-type semiconductors, guiding experimental work in this direction.

Matrix-product state (MPS) skeletons are connected networks of Hamiltonians with exact MPS ground states that underlie a phase diagram. Such skeletons have previously been found in classes of free-fermion models. For the translation-invariant BDI and AIII free-fermion classes, it has been shown that the underlying skeleton is dense, giving an analytic approach to MPS approximation of ground states anywhere in the class. In this paper, we partially expose the skeleton in certain interacting spin chains: the $N$-state Onsager-integrable chiral clock families. We construct MPS that form a dense MPS skeleton in the gapped regions surrounding a sequence of fixed-point Hamiltonians (the generators of the Onsager algebra). Outside these gapped regions, these MPS remain eigenstates, but no longer give the many-body ground state. Rather, they are ground states in particular sectors of the spectrum. Our methods also allow us to find further MPS eigenstates; these correspond to low-lying excited states within the aforementioned gapped regions. This set of MPS excited states goes beyond the previous analysis of ground states on the $N=2$ free-fermion MPS skeleton. As an application of our results, we find a closed form for the disorder parameter in a family of interacting models. Finally, we remark that many of our results use only the Onsager algebra and are not specific to the chiral clock model representation.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are classified as long (LGRBs) and short (SGRBs), with collapsars and compact-object mergers (NS-NS or NS-Black Holes) as progenitors, respectively. LGRBs are expected to follow the cosmic star formation rate (SFR), while SGRBs follow a delayed version of the SFR. However, this division has come under question, most prominently by observational evidence of an excess of LGRBs at low redshifts by several investigations, summarized in \cite{Petrosian_2024}. Two recent observations of low-redshift LGRBs show associations with kilonovae. Both of these indicate compact mergers as a potential source of LGRBs as well. Most results showing this separation are based on analyses of small (less than 200) samples of LGRBs with measured redshifts. The aim of this paper is to use a larger sample of LGRBs. The number of LGRBs with measured redshifts has increased by more than a factor of 2 over the last decade. To this data set we add a sample of LGRBs whose redshifts are estimated using a machine learning (ML) method (\cite{Narendra_2025}). To account for the observational selection bias due to redshift measurements, we use the non-parametric, non-binning Efron-Petrosian method to establish the degree of correlation between luminosity and redshift, \textit{the luminosity evolution}, and then use the Lynden-Bell $C^-$ method to obtain the luminosity function. We find a low redshift excess for the larger sample with measured redshifts. Adding the sources with ML-estimated redshifts, which shows overabundance of the mid-range redshifts, the excess is reduced.

The Uhlmann relative amplitude between two density matrices is shown to be a generating function, through which the quantum Fisher tensor that contains both the quantum Fisher information matrix and the mean Uhlmann curvature can be obtained via differentiation over system parameters. In the pure state limit, our generating function recovers that of the quantum geometric tensor proposed by Hetényi and Lévay, and also clarifies the fidelity and phase between two quantum states as the generating functions of the quantum metric and Berry curvature, respectively. A generic expression for the quantum Fisher tensor in terms of the Bloch representation of density matrices is derived, which facilitates the calculation of the tensor, mean Uhlmann curvature, and geometric properties derived from the quantum Fisher information matrix. Canonical ensembles of spins are adopted to demonstrate our formalism, which reveals a constant Ricci scalar, a vacuum Einstein equation, and a cosmological constant on the 3D Euclidean manifold of the magnetic field

We calculate bound and scattering properties of a system of two neutral atoms and an ion near an atom-ion Feshbach resonance. Our results indicate that long-range atom-ion interactions lead to significant deviations from universal behavior derived from contact or van der Waals potentials. We find that ionic systems display an overall suppression of inelastic transitions leading to recombination rates and lifetimes of Efimov state orders of magnitude smaller with respect to those for neutral atoms. We further characterize the dense spectra of triatomic molecular ions with extended lifetimes. Our results provide a deeper insight on the universality and structure of three-body ionic systems and establishing them as a promising platform for exploring novel few- and many-body phenomena with long-range interactions.

We show that superpositions of oppositely squeezed states -- non-Gaussian Schr{ö}dinger-cat-like states -- exhibit enhanced nonclassical features and provide an entanglement advantage in the small-squeezing regime. These states possess photon-number structures distinct from conventional coherent-state cat states, and we analyze their Wigner functions and the entanglement generated when they are injected into a 50-50 beam splitter. As a practical application, we demonstrate that they enable a high-quality heralded single-photon source whose second-order intensity correlation function is smaller than that obtained from a pure two-mode squeezed vacuum state. We further propose a linear-optical heralding scheme that approximates these superpositions without requiring strong Kerr nonlinearities. Our results indicate that the superposition of oppositely squeezed states is a promising non-Gaussian resource for quantum information processing, particularly for single-photon generation.

Mass estimates of white dwarfs via electromagnetic methods, often differ from those obtained through gravitational redshift measurements, in some cases with discrepancies ranging in $5-15\%$ across independent datasets. Although many of the discrepancies reported in large spectroscopic surveys and confirmed by high-precision techniques such as astrometric microlensing and wide-binary analyses may be attributable to thermal effects, model uncertainties or measurement errors prevent a complete description of some of the observations. Here, we explore an alternative explanation based on the presence of a gravitationally coupled bosonic scalar field that contributes to the stellar mass while remaining electromagnetically invisible. We construct stationary, static mixed configurations consisting of a white dwarf that presents a bosonic scalar field (dark matter) component, forming a composite white dwarf-boson star system. We explore families of solutions showing that a scalar field fraction $f_{\rm DM} \sim 5-15\%$ to the mass contribution can account for the observed redshift excess. Our models provide a physically motivated explanation for the mass bias, might offer new observational signatures, and allow us to place preliminary constraints on the mass and compactness of the scalar field configuration. Finally, using our theoretical framework in combination with Bayesian model selection we provide plausible bounds for the mass of the constituent (ultralight) bosonic particle.

We establish the existence of a single-parameter family of the concave kite central configurations in the 4-body problem with two pairs of equal masses. In such configurations, one pair of masses must lie on the base of an isosceles triangle, and the other pair on its symmetric axis with one mass positioned inside the triangle formed by the other three. Using a rigorous computer-assisted analytical approach, we prove that for any non-negative mass ratio, the number of such configurations is either zero, one, or two, thereby providing a complete classification of this family. Furthermore, we show that the unique configuration corresponding to a specific mass ratio is a fold-type bifurcation point within the reduced subspace. We also give a clear and complete bifurcation picture for both symmetric and asymmetric cases of this concave type across the entire planar 4-body configuration space.

Human bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) include skeletal stem cells with ground-breaking therapeutic potential. However, BMSC colonies have very heterogeneous in vivo behaviour, due to their different potency; this unpredictability is the greatest hurdle to the development of skeletal regeneration therapies. Colony-level heterogeneity urges a fundamental question: how is it possible that one colony as a collective unit behaves differently from another one? If cell-to-cell variability were just an uncorrelated random process, a million cells in a transplant-bound colony would be enough to yield statistical homogeneity, hence washing out any colony-level traits. A possible answer is that the differences between two originating cells are transmitted to their progenies and collectively persist through an hereditary mechanism. But non-genetic inheritance remains an elusive notion, both at the experimental and at the theoretical level. Here, we prove that heterogeneity in the lineage topology of BMSC clonal colonies is determined by heritable traits that regulate cell-cycle exit. The cornerstone of this result is the definition of a novel entropy of the colony, which measures the hereditary ramifications in the distribution of inactive cells across different branches of the proliferation tree. We measure the entropy in 32 clonal colonies, obtained from single-cell lineage tracing experiments, and show that in the greatest majority of clones this entropy is decisively smaller than that of the corresponding non-hereditary lineage. This result indicates that hereditary epigenetic factors play a major role in determining cycle exit of bone marrow stromal cells.

The repeating changing-look active galactic nuclei (RCL AGNs) exhibit multiple appearances and disappearances of broad emission lines (BELs), whose underlying mechanism remains a puzzle. Expanding the sample of RCL AGNs is valuable for constraining the transition timescale and probing the accretion physics driving CL behaviors. This study aims to identify RCL AGNs using the multi-epoch spectroscopic data of confirmed CL AGNs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope, and Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, supplemented with mid-infrared (MIR) light curves. Through selection criteria and visual inspection, we identify 22 RCL AGNs among 299 CL AGNs, corresponding to an occurrence rate of about 7\%, indicating that repeated transitions are not extremely rare in CL AGNs. Among the 22 RCL AGNs, 16 are newly identified, which significantly expands the known RCL AGN sample. Based on the spectra and densely sampled MIR light curves, we derive MIR variability timescales for 18 RCL AGNs, and find no significant correlation between the timescale and the black hole mass.

We compute the two-loop renormalisation group equation for the effective Higgs to gluon coupling in Standard Model Effective Field Theory. Concretely, we present the contributions generated by the operators belonging to class 3 and 7 in the Warsaw basis, completing the two-loop renormalization program of the Higgs-gluon coupling proportional to the top Yukawa coupling for potentially tree-level generated operators. We investigate the phenomenological impact of the contributions in fits to Higgs data both in a bottom-up approach and a top-down approach in terms of UV models with vector-like quarks.