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 calculate the nucleon axial form factor in relativistic chiral perturbation theory with $\Delta(1232)$ up to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). Relevant low-energy constants are determined by fitting to recent lattice-QCD results at several pion masses, while accounting for the uncertainty associated with the truncation of the chiral expansion. We obtain a good description of the lattice data for momentum transfers up to $\sqrt{Q^2}\simeq0.6$ GeV and pion masses up to $M_\pi\simeq400$ MeV. We find that the explicit inclusion of the $\Delta$ resonance is required to reproduce the lattice-QCD pion-mass dependence of the axial charge and axial radius, as well as the momentum dependence of the form factor. At the physical point we obtain $g_A=1.257\pm 0.011$ and $\langle r_A^2\rangle=0.312\pm0.037~\mathrm{fm}^2$. Our analysis provides a model-independent and systematically improvable parametrization of the pion-mass and momentum dependence of the axial form factor, offering a framework for extrapolating lattice-QCD results to the physical point and for improving predictions of low-energy weak interactions involving nucleons.

The difference in gauge between two observers of the same physical system can be thought of as a group element acting on their common vector representations. Recovering that group element from a finite, noisy list of paired observations may be of use in both theory and experiment. The Kabsch and Horn algorithms efficiently align point clouds in $\mathbb R^3$, reconciling rotated frames of reference in Galilean relativity (i.e. $SO(3)$). In a previous work, we proposed an alternative Lie algebra method which extends to the Lorentz group $SO(3,1)_+$, and putatively to all Lie groups. In this work, we report the explicit formulae for applying the Lie algebra method to the classical matrix Lie groups (general linear $GL(n)$, special linear $SL(n)$, special orthogonal $SO(n)$, unitary $U(n)$, indefinite special orthogonal $SO(p,q)$, symplectic $Sp(n)$, spin $Spin(n)$, special Euclidean $SE(n)$) over both the real and complex fields. The four steps (pseudoinverse, matrix logarithm, projection onto the Lie algebra, matrix exponential) are exact in the noiseless case. The only group-dependent step is the projection, which we show produces the unique least squares-optimal element of the Lie algebra whenever its image lies in $\mathfrak g$ and its residual is orthogonal to $\mathfrak g$. Additionally, the Lie algebra method is optimal only to leading order for noisy data, so we refine it with a Newton-style correction. This correction matches the Lie algebra method in the noiseless case and direct least squares optimization in the noisy case, with performance between that of the Lie algebra method without correction and naive least squares optimization. The projections, their optimality, and the identity underlying the correction are formally proven in Lean~4.31.0 (with Mathlib 4.31.0), and numerical experiments are benchmarked in Julia.

We investigate the phase structure, hadron masses, and topological susceptibility in the two-flavor and two-color QCD (QC$_2$D) medium, particularly focusing on the $U(1)_A$ axial anomaly effects. To this end, we employ the linear sigma model, and hadron fluctuations are incorporated through the functional renormalization group method. We establish in detail an effective potential that respects symmetries of QC$_2$D at finite quark chemical potential, $\mu_q$: $SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R$ chiral, $U(1)$ baryon-number, parity and time-reversal symmetries. We find that the $U(1)_A$ anomaly couplings for mesons at finite temperature are enhanced with increasing $\mu_q$, while that of the baryons are not too sensitive to $\mu_q$. Despite the anomaly enhancement, we find that the topological susceptibility at larger $\mu_q$ is always suppressed regardless of the temperature, following chiral restoration. We also find that mass degeneracies of the chiral partners are well realized at higher temperatures and densities by the chiral restoration. Our findings are expected to provide useful information on properties of the $U(1)_A$ anomaly in medium for sign-problem-free lattice simulations of QC$_2$D.

Exceptional points, where eigenvalues and eigenvectors coalesce, are a defining feature of non-Hermitian systems and have been extensively observed in photonic, atomic, and condensed matter systems. However, they have received little attention in quantum chromodynamics (QCD), which is the fundamental theory of quarks, gluons, and hadrons. We propose that imaginary magnetic fields provide a simple realization of non-Hermitian dynamics in hadronic systems. Based on two theoretical approaches, a hadronic effective Lagrangian and a constituent quark model, we compute mass spectra of neutral mesons and find exceptional points separating the real-spectrum and complex-eigenvalue regimes. In small fields, the real spectrum exhibits level attraction between hadronic states, whereas in larger fields, hadrons are deconfined, which is a signature of a field-induced inverted potential. Our findings open a new avenue for studying QCD dynamics in non-Hermitian environments.

We compute the electromagnetic form factors of the proton and neutron using lattice QCD. We employ $N_\mathrm{f}$=2+1+1 twisted mass clover-improved fermions with quark masses tuned to their physical values. Three ensembles with lattice spacings of $a$=0.080 fm, 0.068 fm, and 0.057 fm, and approximately the same physical volume allow us to obtain the continuum limit directly at the physical pion mass. For each ensemble, we use several values of the sink-source time separation, ranging from 0.5 fm to 1.5 fm, to allow for a thorough analysis of excited state effects via multi-state fits. The disconnected contributions are also analyzed using high statistics combined with techniques to mitigate stochastic noise in the estimation of the fermion loop. These techniques include low-mode deflation, dilution in the color and spin components, and hierarchical probing. We study the momentum transfer dependence of the form factors using the $z$-expansion and dipole Ansätze, thereby enabling the extraction of the electric and magnetic radii and the magnetic moments, as well as the Zemach and Friar radii in the continuum limit. Results for the proton and neutron electric and magnetic mean square radii are $\sqrt{\langle r_E^2\rangle^p} = 0.860(38)(23)$ fm, $\langle r_E^2\rangle^n = -0.147(48)$ fm$^2$, $\sqrt{\langle r_M^2\rangle^p} = 0.870(53)(15)$ fm and $\sqrt{\langle r_M^2\rangle^n} = 0.913(67)(19)$ fm, and for the proton and neutron magnetic moments $\mu^p=2.849(92)(52)$ and $\mu^n=-1.819(76)(29)$, respectively. In all cases, the first error is statistical and the second systematic, where the latter includes an estimate of the error from the fits to the momentum dependence of the form factors and from the continuum extrapolation.

Lattice gauge theories (LGTs) provide a powerful framework for studying non-perturbative phenomena in gauge theories. However, conventional approaches such as Monte Carlo (MC) simulations in imaginary time are limited, as they do not allow real time evolution and suffer from a sign problem in many important cases. Using Gauged Gaussian fermionic projected entangled pair states (GGFPEPS) as a variational ground state ansatz offers an alternative for studying LGTs through a sign-problem-free variational MC. As this method is extended to larger and more complex systems, understanding its numerical behavior becomes essential. While conventional action based MC has been extensively studied, the performance and characteristics of non-action-based MC within the GGFPEPS framework are far less explored. In this work, we investigate these algorithmic aspects, identifying an optimal update size for GGFPEPS-based MC simulations for $\mathbb{Z}_2$ in $2+1$ dimensions. We show that gauge fixing generally slows convergence, and demonstrate that not exploiting the translation-invariance can, in some cases, improve the computational time scaling of error convergence. We expect that these improvements will allow advancing the simulation to larger and more complex systems.

Using a symmetry-preserving treatment of a vector $\times$ vector contact interaction (SCI) at nonzero temperature, we compute the screening masses of flavour-SU(3) ground-state $J^P=0^\pm$, $1^\pm$ mesons, and $J^P=1/2^\pm$, $3/2^\pm$ baryons. We find that all correlation channels allowed at $T=0$ persist when the temperature increases, even above the QCD phase transition. The results for mesons qualitatively agree with those obtained from the contemporary lattice-regularised quantum chromodynamics (lQCD) simulations. One of the most remarkable features is that each parity-partner-pair degenerates when $T>T_c$, with $T_c$ being the critical temperature. For each pair, the screening mass of the negative parity meson increases monotonously with temperature. In contrast, the screening mass of the meson with positive parity is almost invariant on the domain $T\lesssim T_c/2$; when $T$ gets close to $T_c$, it decreases but soon increases again and finally degenerates with its parity partner, which signals the restoration of chiral symmetry. We also find that the $T$-dependent behaviours of baryon screening masses are quite similar to those of the mesons. For baryons, the dynamical, nonpointlike diquark correlations play a crucial role in the screening mass evolution. We further calculate the evolution of the fraction of each kind of diquark within baryons respective to temperature. We observe that, at high temperatures, only $J=0$ scalar and pseudoscalar diquark correlations can survive within $J^P=1/2^\pm$ baryons.

Three-dimensional (3D) topological codes offer the advantage of supporting fault-tolerant implementations of non-Clifford gates, yet their performance against realistic noise remains largely unexplored. In this work, we focus on the paradigmatic 3D toric code and investigate its fault-tolerance thresholds in the presence of both Pauli and measurement errors. Two randomly coupled lattice gauge models that describe the code's correctability are derived, including a random 2-form $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory. By exploiting a generalized duality technique, we show that the 3D toric code exhibits optimal thresholds of $p^{X,M}_{th} \approx 11\%$ and $p^{Z,M}_{th} \approx 2\%$ against bit-flip and phase-flip errors, respectively. These threshold values show modest reductions compared to the case of perfect measurements, establishing the robustness of the 3D toric code against measurement errors. Our results constitute a substantial advance towards assessing the practical performance of 3D topological codes. This contribution is timely and in high demand, as rapid hardware advancements are bringing complex codes into experimental reach. Moreover, our work highlights the interdisciplinary nature of fault-tolerant quantum computation and holds significant interest for quantum information science, high-energy physics, and condensed matter physics.