We present a renormalon-subtracted formulation of potential nonrelativistic QCD (pNRQCD) for precision spectroscopy of heavy hadron systems, combining variational and Green's function Monte Carlo (VMC/GFMC) methods with NNLO static two- and three-body potentials. Minimal renormalon subtraction (MRS) systematically sums leading factorially growing terms, thereby stabilizing perturbative convergence and reducing renormalization-scale dependence. We tune charm and bottom quark masses to spin-averaged $1S$ quarkonium states and predict $\Omega_{ccc}$, $\Omega_{ccb}$, $\Omega_{cbb}$, and $\Omega_{bbb}$ baryon masses, as well as QCD-stable baryons containing top quarks. NNLO MRS results undershoot lattice QCD by 125--175~MeV, with fractional differences decreasing as $\sim 1/m_Q$, consistent with neglected $\mathcal{O}(1/m_Q)$ corrections. Applying these methods to unequal-mass fully-heavy tetraquarks, we determine the critical heavy-to-light mass ratio for binding and compute binding energies across the mass-ratio landscape.

We present an analysis of the decays $B^- \to \ell^- {\bar \nu}_\ell$, $\bar B^0 \to \pi^+ \ell^- {\bar \nu}_\ell$, and $B^- \to \rho^0 \ell^- {\bar \nu}_\ell$ leveraging the precise measurements of binned differential branching fractions recently reported by the Belle II Collaboration for the semileptonic modes. We adopt a generalized low-energy Hamiltonian that incorporates all dimension-six operators with left-handed neutrinos -- consistent with the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) -- featuring complex, lepton-flavor-dependent Wilson coefficients. For three representative values of $|V_{ub}|$, we perform a fit to the measured $q^2$-binned observables to constrain the coupling parameter space and determine the corresponding confidence regions. Finally, we perform a global fit for the three decay channels, determining $|V_{ub}|$ together with the new physics couplings.

Tensor-polarized parton distribution functions (PDFs) are calculated for the deuteron by using a convolution formalism, where the tensor-polarized PDFs are given by the corresponding nucleon's unpolarized PDFs convoluted with the tensor-polarized nucleon momentum distribution in the deuteron. These distributions are obtained at $Q^2=2.5$ GeV$^2$ in order to compare with the tensor-polarized PDFs which were determined by HERMES $b_1$ data. The obtained distributions are very different from the ones determined from the HERMES data, which indicates further studies are needed to clarify the difference, possibly by considering a new mechanism beyond the simple bound system of a proton and a neutron. The obtained PDFs $\delta_T q $ and $\delta_T \bar q$ are converted to the PDFs of the Trento convention $f_{1LL}^{\, q}$ and $f_{1LL}^{\, \bar q}$, and they are used for estimating the twist-3 PDFs $f_{LT}^{\, q}$ and $f_{LT}^{\, \bar q}$ by using a Wandzura-Wilczek-like relation. Because deep-inelastic-scattering experiments are under preparation for structure functions with a tensor-polarized deuteron target at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, and a Drell-Yan experiment will be possible at hadron accelerator facilities, such as the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the obtained tensor-polarized PDFs will be tested experimentally.

We perform a Diffusion Monte Carlo study of fully light hexaquark containing three $u$ quarks and three $d$ quarks within a constituent-quark model. Both compact and baryon--baryon-like arrangements were considered separately. All compact hexaquark configurations are found well above their corresponding baryon--baryon thresholds, suggesting that deeply bound compact six-quark states are not favored in the light-quark sector within this model. By contrast, several dibaryon-like configurations lie close, but above, to the $NN$, $N\Delta$, and $\Delta\Delta$ thresholds and show spatial structures compatible with molecular states. One configuration exhibits two well-defined nucleon-like subclusters separated by several femtometers, closely resembling the spatial structure of the deuteron, although its calculated energy remains slightly above the corresponding threshold.

Parameters of the fully-beauty tensor tetraquark $ T=bb\overline{b}\overline{b}$ are computed using QCD sum rule method. The mass $m$ and coupling $\Lambda$ of this state are evaluated by means of two-point sum rule approach. Prediction $m=(18530 \pm 86)~\mathrm{MeV}$ for the mass demonstrates that $T$ is stable against decays to pairs of $\eta_b \eta_b$ and $\Upsilon \Upsilon$ mesons. But it transforms to conventional particles due to $\overline{b}b$ annihilations to light quarks $\overline{q} q $ and $\overline{s}s$ followed by creation of mesons $B^{(\ast)+}B^{( \ast)-}$, $B^{(\ast)0}\overline{B}^{(\ast)0}$ and $B_s^{(\ast)0}\overline{B} _s^{(\ast)0}$. Partial width of these decay channels are calculated by invoking technical tools of three-point sum rule method. The latter allows us to estimate strong couplings at relevant tetraquark-meson-meson vertices and, hence, a width of the process under consideration. Our prediction $ \Gamma=(48 \pm 6)~\mathrm{MeV}$ along with the mass of this state can be valuable for experimental studies of all-heavy resonances.

Solving quantum field theory, which is at the basis of the standard model of particle interactions, is one of the main tasks of contemporary theoretical physics. Minimal asymptotically free pseudoreal theories, containing one or two species of massless Weyl fermions in pseudoreal representations of the gauge group, flow towards a poorly understood infrared dynamics. We provide a comprehensive study of all pseudoreal theories, identifying the ones that likely flow towards a conformal dynamics, while we show that the remaining ones confine with a non-trivial condensate dynamics. Among the latter, all but one one-species theories feature a massless spin-1 state. Instead, the only confining two-species theory likely features two massless spin-1 states and one Nambu-Goldstone boson. These predictions could be further tested, for instance by use of Lattice simulations, the functional renormalization group, and supersymmetric analogs.

We present the first calculation of the $B \to D_1(2420)$ and $B \to D'_1(2430)$ transition form factors at ${\cal O}(\alpha_s)$ using light-cone sum rules within the framework of soft-collinear effective theory (SCET). We first match the QCD transition currents onto ${\rm SCET_I}$ and then factorize the corresponding vacuum-to-$B$-meson correlation functions in ${\rm SCET_{II}}$. The resulting factorization formulae are used to construct the leading-power sum rules for the effective SCET form factors $\xi^R_{\parallel/\perp}$ and $\Xi^R_{\parallel/\perp}$ ($R=D_1,D'_1$). In particular, we calculate the additional longitudinal form factor $\xi^R_{\parallel,m_c}$ induced by the finite charm-quark mass, whose contribution depends only on the $B$-meson light-cone distribution amplitude $\phi_B^+(\omega,\mu)$. To disentangle the mixed $D_1$ and $D'_1$ states, we introduce dedicated combinations of interpolating currents, with their decay constants determined via the equations of motion. To isolate the orbitally excited states from ground-state contamination, we subtract the ground-state contribution from the total sum rules and examine the stability of the resulting sum rules. Furthermore, the $q^2$-dependence of the physical form factors is extrapolated over the full kinematic region using the Bourrely--Caprini--Lellouch parameterization. Finally, we provide phenomenological predictions for the branching fractions, differential decay widths, and lepton flavor universality ratios. Numerically, we obtain $R(D_1) = 0.070^{+0.028}_{-0.018}$ and $R(D'_1) = 0.159^{+0.032}_{-0.025}$, which can be confronted with the future measurements at Belle~II and LHCb.

Motivated by ongoing interest in the universal behaviour of the Hubbard model of spinning electrons on honeycomb and $\pi$-flux lattices at the semi-metal -- Mott insulator phase transition, we formulate the 3D chiral Heisenberg model, a theory of relativistic fermions in three spacetime dimensions, as a lattice field theory using domain wall fermions. The contact interaction term preserves an SU(2) global symmetry. We perform numerical simulations using the Rational Hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm on system sizes $L^3\times L_s$ with $L\in\{8,\ldots,24\}$ and domain wall separation $L_s\in\{8,16,24\}$. We locate the phase transition corresponding to spontaneous SU(2)$\to$U(1) breaking, yielding critical exponent estimates $\nu^{-1}=0.63(3)$, $\eta_\Phi=1.42(8)$. These values are considerably removed from estimates obtained from simulations performed in (2+1)D, ie. with the time and spatial directions treated differently, but align more closely with analytic estimates obtained using 3D covariant field theory. We also present first results for the fermion correlator, ultimately needed for the determination of the exponent $\eta_\Psi$, highlighting the need to rotate the fermion source to a common reference direction in isospace in order to obtain a signal.

We develop efficient algorithms for evaluating higher-order terms in the hopping-parameter expansion of $\textrm{Tr}\ln M$ on $SU(N_\textrm{c})$ gauge configurations. The resulting algorithms, which exploit a trie data structure for the computation of high-order terms, evaluate the $\kappa^8$, $\kappa^{10}$, and $\kappa^{12}$ terms at computational costs of approximately $20$, $460$, and $8900$ times that of a single staple evaluation, respectively. The correctness of the algorithms is verified by comparison with a computationally expensive but reliable reference calculation. We emphasize that collaboration between human researchers and AI coding agents was essential to the development of these algorithms.

We investigate the electromagnetic properties of the fully charm tetraquark states, particularly incorporating contributions from internal gluon radiation. The paper first presents analytical expressions for the next-to-leading-order (NLO) QCD corrections to the decay amplitudes of fully charm tetraquarks into two photons. It is found that the QCD corrections are significant for the $J^{PC}=0^{++}$ and $J^{PC}=2^{++}$ fully charm tetraquark decay process. Subsequently, by considering photon-photon fusion in ultra-peripheral high-energy collisions of protons and nuclei and in electron-positron collision, we provide theoretical predictions for the production cross sections of fully charm tetraquark states. The results presented in this work regarding the electromagnetic production and decay of fully charm tetraquarks shall be tested in current and future experiments.

Using the modified Villain lattice Hamiltonian formulation of the 1+1d compact boson theory, we construct exactly solvable abelian chiral lattice gauge theories in two spacetime dimensions. As a concrete example, we derive an explicit quadratic lattice Hamiltonian for the "34-50" chiral gauge theory. We further show that $N$ copies of the modified Villain theory realize the $O(N,N;\mathbb{Z})$ T-duality transformations, which we then use to solve and analyze these lattice gauge theories.