In an era increasingly focused on green computing and explainable AI, revisiting traditional approaches in theoretical and phenomenological particle physics is paramount. This project evaluates various machine learning (ML) algorithms-including Nearest Neighbors, Decision Trees, Random Forest, AdaBoost, Naive Bayes, Quadratic Discriminant Analysis (QDA), and XGBoost-alongside standard neural networks and a novel Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN) for physics data analysis. We apply these techniques to a binary classification task that distinguishes the experimental viability of simulated scenarios based on Higgs observables and essential parameters. Through this comprehensive analysis, we aim to showcase the capabilities and computational efficiency of each model in binary classification tasks, thereby contributing to the ongoing discourse on integrating ML and Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) into physics research. In this study, XGBoost emerged as the preferred choice among the evaluated machine learning algorithms for its speed and effectiveness, especially in the initial stages of computation with limited datasets. However, while standard Neural Networks and Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) demonstrated superior performance in terms of accuracy and adherence to physical laws, they require more computational time. These findings underscore the trade-offs between computational efficiency and model sophistication.

The precise measurement of parity-violating asymmetries in parity-violating electron scattering experiments is a powerful tool for probing new physics beyond the Standard Model. Achieving the expected precision requires both experimental and post-processing signal corrections. This includes using auxiliary detectors to distinguish the main signal from background signals and implementing post-measurement corrections, such as the Bayesian statistics method, to address uncontrolled factors during the experiments. Asymmetry values in the scattering of electrons off proton targets in QWeak and P2 and off electron targets in MOLLER are influenced by detector array configurations, beam polarization angles, and beam spin variations. The Bayesian framework refines full probabilistic models to account for all necessary factors, thereby extracting asymmetry values and the underlying physics under specified conditions. For the QWeak experiment, a reanalysis of the inelastic asymmetry measurement using the Bayesian method has yielded a closer fit to measured asymmetries, with uncertainties reduced by 40\% compared to the Monte Carlo minimization method. This approach was successfully applied to simulated data for the MOLLER experiment and is predicted to be similarly effective in P2.

Some of the most stringent constraints on physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) arise from considerations of particle emission from astrophysical plasmas. However, many studies assume that particle production occurs in an isotropic plasma environment. This condition is rarely (if ever) met in astrophysical settings, for instance due to the ubiquitous presence of magnetic fields. In anisotropic plasmas, the equations of motion are not diagonal in the usual polarization basis of transverse and longitudinal modes, causing a mixing of these modes and breaking the degeneracy in the dispersion relation of the two transverse modes. This behavior is captured by a $3\times3$ mixing matrix $\pi^{IJ}$, determined by projecting the response tensor of the plasma $\Pi^{\mu\nu}$ into mode space, whose eigenvectors and eigenvalues are related to the normal modes and their dispersion relations. In this work, we provide a general formalism for determining the normal modes of propagation that are coupled to axions and dark photons in an anisotropic plasma. As a key part of this formalism, we present detailed derivations of $\Pi^{\mu\nu}$ for magnetized plasmas in the long-wavelength limit using the real-time formalism of finite-temperature field theory. We provide analytic approximations for the normal modes and their dispersion relations assuming various plasma conditions that are relevant to astrophysical environments. These approximations will allow for a systematic exploration of the effects of plasma anisotropy on BSM particle production.

Ultralight dark photon dark matter features distinctive cosmological and astrophysical signatures and is also supported by a burgeoning direct-detection program searching for its kinetic mixing with the ordinary photon over a wide mass range. Dark photons, however, cannot necessarily constitute the dark matter in all of this parameter space. In minimal models where the dark photon mass arises from a dark Higgs mechanism, early Universe dynamics can easily breach the regime of validity of the low-energy effective theory for a massive vector field. In the process, the dark sector can collapse into a cosmic string network, precluding dark photons as viable dark matter. We establish the general conditions under which dark photon production avoids significant backreaction on the dark Higgs and identify regions of parameter space that naturally circumvent these constraints. After surveying implications for known dark photon production mechanisms, we propose novel models that set well-motivated experimental targets across much of the accessible parameter space. We also discuss complementary cosmological and astrophysical signatures that can probe the dark sector physics responsible for dark photon production.

In this study, we explore how the extragalactic background light (EBL) absorption effect influences the photon to axionlike particle (ALP) conversions from the very-high-energy gamma-ray spectral irregularities. For our analysis, we select two well-known BL Lac blazars: Markarian 421 and Markarian 501 with their low and well-defined redshifts $z_0=0.031$ and 0.034, respectively. Their gamma-ray data are recently measured by Fermi-LAT and HAWC with the 1038 days of exposure from 2015 June to 2018 July. We first discuss the EBL absorption effect on the gamma-ray spectral energy distributions by using three common EBL spectral models: Franceschini-08, Finke-10, and Gilmore-12. Then we consider the photon-ALP conversions in the astrophysical magnetic fields. Under the ALP assumption with the parameter space of $\{m_a, g_{a\gamma}\}$, we calculate the best-fit chi-square distribution of the EBL models and define a new delta chi-square $\chi_d^2$ to quantify the chi-square difference. Our results show that the impact from these different EBL spectral models are non-dominated at the low-redshift gamma-ray axionscope.

The Type-II Seesaw Model provides an attractive scenario to account for Majorana-neutrino masses. Its extended Higgs sector, if sufficiently light, can have a rich and distinctive phenomenology at the LHC while yielding automatically an essentially Standard-Model-Higgs-like state. Several phenomenological studies have been devoted to the scalar sector of this model, as well as experimental searches focusing mostly on the (doubly-)charged states. In this paper we present an exhaustive study of the main production and decay channels of all the non-standard scalar states originating from the $SU(2)_L$ doublet and a complex triplet of the model. We stick to scenarios where lepton-number-violating decays are suppressed, for which present experimental limits are still weak, highlighting theoretical parameter sensitivities that were not previously emphasized in the literature and the uncertainties they can induce for the experimental searches at the LHC. A comprehensive classification of the various cascade decays and corresponding Standard Model particle multiplicities is provided. As an illustration, a detailed prospective search study at the LHC with an ATLAS-like detector is carried out on some benchmark points, for charged, doubly-charged, and, for the first time, neutral state productions

The electromagnetic and gravitational form factors of the nucleon are studied simultaneously using a covariant quark-diquark approach, and the pion cloud effect on the form factors is explicitly discussed. In this study, the electromagnetic form factors are first calculated to determine the parameters of our approach. Then, the gravitational form factors of the nucleon are evaluated with the same parameters and the cloud effect is addressed. The mechanical properties, including mass radii, energy densities, and spin distributions, are shown and discussed.

Charmed hadron observables from the RHIC to LHC energies have been very successfully described with the recently advanced EPOS4HQ event generator. Here we extend this investigation to the production of beauty hadrons in proton-proton (pp) and heavy ion (HI) collisions

The Heavy Quark Expansion (HQE) is the major tool to perform calculations for inclusive semileptonic $B\to X_cl\bar{\nu}$ and, consequently, for precision determinations of the CKM matrix element $V_{cb}$. To further improve precision, we pushed the expansion to $1/m_b^5$ to include even higher order terms in the HQE. Notably, at $1/m_b^5$, ``intrinsic charm'' (IC) contributions proportional to $1/(m_b^3m_c^2)$ occur, which are numerically expected to be sizeable. We will therefore firstly discuss the determination of a reduced set of HQE parameters at $1/m_b^5$, employing Reparametrisation Invariance (RPI) to this end. Consequently, we will show how the IC and ``genuine" $1/m_b^5$ contribute to the different kinematical moments of $B\to X_cl\bar{\nu}$, focusing in this work on the lepton energy $E_l$ moments. Using the ``lowest-lying state saturation ansatz'' (LLSA), we estimate the size of these contributions and observe a partial cancellation between the IC and ``genuine'' $1/m_b^5$ contributions, leading to an overall small contribution.

Inspired by recent advances in the study of $K^{(*)} \bar K^{(*)}$ molecular tetraquarks and the $H$-dibaryon, we focus on the mass spectra and electromagnetic properties of $\bar K^{(*)} \bar K^{(*)}$ systems, which exhibit exotic flavor quantum number of $ss\bar q \bar q$. A dynamical analysis is performed using the one-boson-exchange model to describe the effective interactions for these systems, accounting for both $S$-$D$ wave mixing and coupled-channel effects. By solving the coupled-channel Schr$\ddot{\rm o}$dinger equation, we identify the $I(J^P)=0(1^+)$ $\bar K \bar K^*$ and $I(J^P)=0(1^+)$ $\bar K^* \bar K^*$ states as the most likely candidates for double-strangeness molecular tetraquarks. In addition, we investigate their magnetic moments and M1 radiative decay width, shedding light on their inner structures within the constituent quark model framework. Finally, we encourage experimentalists to focus on these predicted double-strangeness molecular tetraquark candidates, particularly in $B$ meson decays, by analyzing the $\bar K \bar K \pi$ invariant mass spectrum. Such efforts could pave the way for establishing the molecular tetraquark states in the light-quark sector.

The chromopolarizability of a charm-beauty quarkonium describes its interaction with soft gluonic fields and can be measured in the heavy quarkonium decays. Using the dispersion theory which consider the $\pi\pi$ final state interaction model-independently, we analyze the transition $B_c(2S) \rightarrow B_c\pi^+\pi^-$ and obtain the chromopolarizability $\alpha_{B_c(2S) B_c}=0.66\pm 0.25$ and the parameter $\kappa =-0.02\pm 0.13$. It is found that the transitional chromopolarizability of the $c\bar{b}$ state is intermediate between the transitional chromopolarizabilities of the $c\bar{c}$ and $b\bar{b}$ states. Our results could be useful in studying the interactions of charm-beauty quarkonium with light hadrons.

We present an analytic calculation of three-loop four-point Feynman integrals with two off-shell legs of equal mass. We provide solutions to the canonical differential equations of two integral families in both Euclidean and physical regions. They are validated numerically against independent computations. A total of 170 master integrals are expressed in terms of multiple polylogarithms up to weight six. Most of them are computed for the first time. Our results are essential ingredients of the scattering amplitudes for equal-mass diboson production at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD at the LHC.

We investigate a family-nonuniversal Abelian extension of hypercharge, which significantly alters the phenomenological features of the standard model. Anomaly cancellation requires that the third quark family transforms differently from the first two quark families. Additionally, it acquires that three right-handed neutrinos are presented. This model generates naturally small neutrino masses and a $W$-boson mass deviation appropriate to recent measurements. Additionally, the model introduces flavor-changing neutral currents (FCNCs) of quarks coupled to the new gauge boson $Z'$ and new Higgs fields. These FCNCs significantly modify the neutral-meson mixing amplitudes and rare meson decays, which are studied in detail. We also address flavor changing processes in the charged lepton sector.

Here we attempt to estimate the minimum size of the de-confined matter of Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in a small system that could be satisfactorily modeled with low-order hydrodynamics. The elliptic flow coefficient has been studied for the variation of the second-order transport coefficient, called the shear relaxation time, which acts as a regulator of the non-hydrodynamic mode of theory. For this, we chose the small system of p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =$ 5.02 TeV and simulated it on the JETSCAPE framework. We modeled the soft sector dynamics using an initial condition, a pre-equilibrium stage, hydrodynamics, and a hadron afterburner. We generated results of transverse momentum spectra and rapidity spectra of light particles to match the simulated system with the experimental data. We looked at elliptic flow fluctuations for extreme values of shear relaxation time for peripheral collision centralities, whose increase indicates breakdown of fluid behavior at around $dN/dy \approx 8$ for p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =$ 5.02 TeV LHC energy.

Using low redshift data on astrophysical reionization, we report new Lyman-$\alpha$ limit on axion-like particle (ALP) as cold dark matter in ALP mass range of $m_{a}\sim 30-1000$ eV. Compared to the Leo T and soft-X ray bound, this limit is so far the most stringent in the ALP mass range of $m_{a}\sim 375-425$ eV and complementary in the ALP mass range otherwise. Combing these limits, we show new exclusion limits on $m_a$ for the ALP DM from either misalignment or freeze-in mechanism.

We study the in-medium properties of kaons and antikaons in isospin asymmetric hot and dense resonance matter within the chiral SU(3) hadronic mean field model. Along with nucleons and hyperons, the interactions of $K$ and $\bar K$ mesons with all decuplet baryons ($\Delta^{++,+,0,-}, \Sigma^{*\pm,0},\Xi^{*0,-}, \Omega^{-}$) are explicitly considered in the dispersion relations. The properties of mesons in the chiral SU(3) model are modified at finite density and temperature of asymmetric resonance matter through the exchange of scalar fields $\sigma, \zeta$ and $\delta$ and the vector fields $\omega, \rho$ and $\phi$. The presence of resonance baryons in the medium at finite temperature is observed to modify significantly the effective masses of $K$ and $\bar{K}$ mesons. We also calculated the optical potentials of kaons and antikaons as a function of momentum in resonance matter. The present study of in-medium masses and optical potentials of kaons and antikaons will be important for understanding the experimental observables from the heavy-ion collision experiments where hot and dense matter may be produced. Our results indicate that when resonance baryons are present within the medium at finite baryonic density, the mass reduction of kaons and antikaons becomes more pronounced as the temperature of the medium increases from zero to 100 and 150 MeV. The study of the optical potentials of kaons and antikaons reveals a stronger correlation with strangeness fraction compared to isospin asymmetry.

We study the non-thermal production of the Higgsino dark matter (DM). Assuming that the lightest neutral Higgsino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) in minimal supersymmetric standard model, we calculate the relic abundance of the Higgsino LSP produced by the decay of late-decaying scalar field. In the calculation of the relic abundance, we have properly included the effects of coannihilation as well as the non-perturbative effect (known as the Sommerfeld effect). Contrary to the case of the thermal-relic scenario, in which the observed DM abundance is realized with the Higgsino mass of ~ 1.2 TeV, Higgsino DM is possible with lighter Higgsino mass as the reheating temperature becomes lower than the Higgsino mass. The reheating temperature relevant for realizing the correct DM density is presented as a funciton of the Higgsino mass.

Experiments have confirmed the presence of a mass gap between the Standard Model and potential New Physics. Consequently, the exploration of effective field theories to detect signals indicative of Physics Beyond the Standard Model is of great interest. In this study, we examine a non-linear realization of the electroweak symmetry breaking, wherein the Higgs is a singlet with independent couplings, and Standard Model fields are additionally coupled to heavy bosonic resonances. We present a next-to-leading-order determination of the oblique $S$ and $T$ parameters. Comparing our predictions with experimental values allows us to impose constraints on resonance masses, requiring them to exceed the TeV scale ($M_R > 2\,$TeV). This finding aligns with our earlier analysis, employing a less generalized approach and the experimental bounds of that time, where we computed these observables.

New physics and SM parameters can be studied and constrained by looking at the modifications to top-pair differential kinematical distributions due to off-shell effects. I present here three case studies: the determination of the Higgs couplings to the top-quark, a search for generic BSM scalar and pseudoscalar states, and a search for Axion Like Particles (ALP). The corresponding models have been implemented in the $\texttt{UFO}$ format to allow automatic computations within MadGraph5_aMC@NLO.

We propose practical ways of differentiating the various (Breit-Wigner, theoretical, and energy-dependent) resonance schemes of unstable particles at lepton colliders. First, the energy-dependent scheme can be distinguished from the other two by fitting the $Z$ lineshape scan and forward-backward asymmetries at LEP and future lepton colliders with the $Z$ mass $m_Z$, decay width $\Gamma_Z$, and coupling strength as fitting parameters. Although the Breit-Wigner and theoretical schemes work equally well, the scheme conversion requires the decay width $\Gamma_Z$ to scale inversely with $m_Z$ rather than the usual linear dependence from theoretical calculation. These contradicting behaviors can be used to distinguish the Breit-Wigner and theoretical schemes by the precision $Z$ measurements with single parameter ($m_Z$) fit at future lepton colliders. For the $WW$ threshold scan, its combination with the precise Fermi constant provides another way of distinguishing the Breit-Wigner and theoretical schemes.

Multiple electroweak phase transitions occurring sequentially in the early universe can give rise to intriguing phenomenology, compared to the typical single-step electroweak phase transition. In this work, we investigate this scenario within the framework of the two-Higgs-doublet model with a pseudoscalar, utilizing the complete one-loop finite-temperature effective potential. After considering relevant experimental and theoretical constraints, we identify four distinct types of phase transitions. In the first case, only the configuration of the CP-even Higgs acquires a non-zero value via a first-order or a cross-over electroweak phase transition, leading to electroweak symmetry breaking. In the remaining three cases, the pseudoscalar fields can obtain vacuum expectation values at different phases of the multi-step phase transition process, leading to spontaneous breaking of the CP symmetry. As the temperature decreases, the phase shifts to the vacuum observed today via first-order electroweak phase transition, at this point, the vacuum expectation value of the pseudoscalar field returns to zero, restoring the CP symmetry. Finally, we compare the transition strength and the stochastic gravitational wave background generated in the four situations along with the projected detection limits.

The Belle Collaboration has measured the complete set of angular coefficient functions for the decays ${\bar B} \to D^*\,(D\,\pi)\,\ell\,{\bar \nu}_{\ell}$, where $\ell = e,\,\mu$, in four bins of the variable $w={m_B^2+m_{D^*}^2-q^2 \over 2\, m_B\, m_{D^*}}$, with $q$ the momentum of the lepton pair. In SM this measurement is instrumental in determining the hadronic form factors in the $B \to D^*$ matrix elements of the SM weak current, thereby refining the measurement of $\lvert V_{cb} \lvert$. On the other hand, it can be used to assess the impact of possible new physics contributions. I consider an extension of the SM effective Hamiltonian that governs this mode, incorporating the complete set of Lorentz invariant $d = 6$ operators compatible with the gauge symmetry of the theory. The measured angular coefficient functions play a pivotal role in constraining the couplings in the generalized effective Hamiltonian.

We study from the theoretical point of view the $\Lambda_c^+\to \pi^+ \eta \Lambda$ reaction, recently measured by the Belle and BESIII Collaborations, where clear signals are observed for $a_0(980)$, $\Lambda(1670)$, and $\Sigma(1385)$ excitation. By considering the $a_0(980)$ and $\Lambda(1670)$ as dynamically generated resonances from the meson meson and meson baryon interaction, respectively, we are able to determine their relative production strength in the reaction, which is also tied to the strength of the $\pi^+ \eta \Lambda$ tree level contribution. We observe that this latter strength is very big and there are large destructive interferences between the tree level and the rescattering terms where the $a_0(980)$ and $\Lambda(1670)$ are generated. The $\Sigma(1385)$ contribution is included by means of a free parameter, the only one of the theory, up to a global normalization, when one considers only external emission, and we observe that the spin flip part of this term, usually ignored in theoretical and experimental works, plays an important role determining the shape of the mass distributions. Internal emission is also considered and it is found to play a minor role.

Individual quarks and gluons at small-$x$ inside an unpolarized hadron can be regarded as Bell states in which qubits in the spin and orbital angular momentum spaces are maximally entangled. Using the machinery of quantum information science, we generalize this observation to all values $0<x<1$ and describe gluons (but not quarks) as maximally entangled states between a qubit and a qudit. We introduce the conditional probability distribution $P(l^z|s^z)$ of a gluon's orbital angular momentum $l^z$ given its helicity $s^z$. Restricting to the three states $l^z=0,\pm 1$, which constitute a qutrit, we explicitly compute $P$ as a function of $x$

In the high-energy limit of DIS experiments the effective degrees of freedom of QCD are Wilson line operators. Their evolution in the rapidity variable is predicted by the set of Balitsky-JIMWLK evolution equations. We analyze a new class of two-point correlation functions of Wilson line operators where the Wilson lines are taken at different values of the rapidity variable. Such correlation functions can appear in the discussion of the kinematical constraint. We find that in the Langevin formulation of the JIMWLK equation, such correlation functions are affected by an infrared divergence. We discuss a possible regularization of this divergence and its consequences for the implementation of the kinematical constraint for the JIMWLK equation.

Some highlights of the physics case for running an $e^+e^-$ collider at 500 GeV and above are discussed with a particular emphasis on the experimental access to the Higgs potential via di-Higgs and (at sufficiently high energy) triple Higgs production. The information obtainable from Higgs pair production at about 500 GeV is compared with the prospects for the HL-LHC and with the indirect information that can be obtained from a Higgs factory running at lower energies.

Diagrammatic approaches to perturbation theory transformed the practicability of calculations in particle physics. In the case of extended theories of gravity, however, obtaining the relevant diagrammatic rules is non-trivial: we must expand in metric perturbations and around (local) minima of the scalar field potentials, make multiple field redefinitions, and diagonalize kinetic and mass mixings. In this note, we will motivate these theories, introduce the package FeynMG -- a Mathematica extension of FeynRules that automates the process described above -- and highlight an application to a model with unique collider phenomenology.

We propose a new method to investigate the existence and location of the conjectured high-temperature critical point of strongly interacting matter via contours of constant entropy density. By approximating these lines as a power series in the baryon chemical potential $\mu_B$, one can extrapolate them from first-principle results at zero net-baryon density, and use them to locate the QCD critical point, including the associated first-order and spinodal lines. As a proof of principle, we employ currently available continuum-extrapolated first-principle results from the Wuppertal--Budapest collaboration to find a critical point at a temperature and a baryon chemical potential of $T_c = 114.3 \pm 6.9$ MeV and $\mu_{B,c} = 602.1 \pm 62.1$ MeV, respectively. We advocate for a more precise determination of the required expansion coefficients via lattice QCD simulations as a means of pinpointing the location of the critical endpoint in the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter.

Deep learning models are defined in terms of a large number of hyperparameters, such as network architectures and optimiser settings. These hyperparameters must be determined separately from the model parameters such as network weights, and are often fixed by ad-hoc methods or by manual inspection of the results. An algorithmic, objective determination of hyperparameters demands the introduction of dedicated target metrics, different from those adopted for the model training. Here we present a new approach to the automated determination of hyperparameters in deep learning models based on statistical estimators constructed from an ensemble of models sampling the underlying probability distribution in model space. This strategy requires the simultaneous parallel training of up to several hundreds of models and can be effectively implemented by deploying hardware accelerators such as GPUs. As a proof-of-concept, we apply this method to the determination of the partonic substructure of the proton within the NNPDF framework and demonstrate the robustness of the resultant model uncertainty estimates. The new GPU-optimised NNPDF code results in a speed-up of up to two orders of magnitude, a stabilisation of the memory requirements, and a reduction in energy consumption of up to 90% as compared to sequential CPU-based model training. While focusing on proton structure, our method is fully general and is applicable to any deep learning problem relying on hyperparameter optimisation for an ensemble of models.

More than one dark sector particle transforming under the same symmetry provides one stable dark matter (DM) component which undergoes co-annihilation with the heavier particle(s) decaying to DM. Specific assumptions on the kinematics and on the coupling parameters may render the heavier component(s) stable and contribute as DM. The choices of the charges of the dark sector fields under transformation play a crucial role in the resultant phenomenology. In this paper, we systematically address the possibility of obtaining two scalar DM components under $\mathbb{Z}_N$ symmetry. We consider both the possibilities of DM being weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) or pseudofeebly interacting massive particle (pFIMP). We elaborate upon $\mathbb{Z}_3$ symmetric model, confronting the relic density allowed parameter space with recent most direct and indirect search bounds and prospects. We also highlight the possible distinction of the allowed parameter space in single component and two component cases, as well as between WIMP-WIMP and WIMP-pFIMP scenarios.

Black holes are assumed to decay via Hawking radiation. Recently we found evidence that spacetime curvature alone without the need for an event horizon leads to black hole evaporation. Here we investigate the evaporation rate and decay time of a non-rotating star of constant density due to spacetime curvature-induced pair production and apply this to compact stellar remnants such as neutron stars and white dwarfs. We calculate the creation of virtual pairs of massless scalar particles in spherically symmetric asymptotically flat curved spacetimes. This calculation is based on covariant perturbation theory with the quantum field representing, e.g.,\ gravitons or photons. We find that in this picture the evaporation timescale, $\tau$, of massive objects scales with the average mass density, $\rho$, as $\tau\propto\rho^{-3/2}$. The maximum age of neutron stars, $\tau\sim 10^{68}\,\text{yr}$, is comparable to that of low-mass stellar black holes. White dwarfs, supermassive black holes, and dark matter supercluster halos evaporate on longer, but also finite timescales. Neutron stars and white dwarfs decay similarly to black holes, ending in an explosive event when they become unstable. This sets a general upper limit for the lifetime of matter in the universe, which is much longer than the Hubble--Lema\^itre time. Primordial objects with densities above $\rho_\text{max} \approx 3\times 10^{53}\,\text{g/}\text{cm}^3$, however, should have dissolved by now. As a consequence, fossil remnants from a previous universe could be present in our current universe only if the recurrence time of star forming universes is smaller than about $\sim 10^{68}\,\text{years}$.

We study the equation of state (EoS) of a neutron star (NS) accounting for new advances. In the low energy density, $n\leq 0.1 n_s$, with $n_s$ the saturation density, we use a new pure neutron matter EoS that is regulator independent and expressed directly in terms of experimental nucleon-nucleon scattering data. In the highest-density domain our EoS's are matched with pQCD to $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s^3)$. First principles of causality, thermodynamic consistency and stability are invoked to transit between these two extreme density regimes. The EoS's are further constrained by the new measurements from PREX-II and CREX on the symmetry energy ($S_0$) and its slope ($L$). In addition, we also take into consideration the recent experimental measurements of masses and radii of different NSs and tidal deformabilities. A band of allowed EoS's is then obtained. Interestingly, the resulting values within the band for $S_0$ and $L$ are restricted with remarkably narrower intervals than the input values, with $32.9\leq S_0 \leq 39.5~\text{MeV}$ and $ 37.3 \leq L\leq 69.0~\text{MeV}$ at the 68\% CL. The band of EoS's constructed also allows possible phase transitions (PTs) for NS masses above 2.1~$M_\odot$ at 68\% CL for $n>2.5n_s$. We find both long and short coexistence regions during the PT, corresponding to first and second order PTs, respectively. We also generate the band of EoS's when excluding the astrophysical observables. This is of interest to test General Relativity and modified theories of gravity. Our band of EoS's for NSs can be also used to study other NS properties and dark matter capture in NS.

Dark matter (DM) is a new type of invisible matter introduced to explain various features of recent astrophysical observations, including galaxy rotation curves and other fundamental characteristics of our universe. DM may couple to ordinary matter via portals, which open up possibilities for new particles, such as axion-like particle, light Higgs boson, dark photon, and spin-1/2 fermions. If the masses of these particles lie in the MeV to GeV range, they can be explored by high-intensity electron-positron collider experiments, such as the BESIII experiment. BESIII has accumulated a huge amount of datasets at several energy points, including the $J/\psi$, $\psi(3686)$, and $\psi(3770)$ resonances. BESIII has recently explored the possibility for axion-like particle and light Higgs boson through radiative $J/\psi$ decays, dark photon via the initial-state radiation process, and a massless dark photon in $\Lambda_c$ decays. This report highlights the latest results from the BESIII experiment on these topics.

Pair-production and single-production of $W$ bosons provide many opportunities to look for new physics via precision measurements, for instance via scrutinising the involved triple-gauge vertices or by measuring CKM matrix elements in an environment very complementary to $B$ hadron decays. This contribution presents the ongoing work based on full simulation of the ILD concept, exploiting the O($10^8$) $W$ bosons produced during the $250$\,GeV stage of the ILC, as well as the CLD concept proposed for the FCC-ee. The projections, which also contribute to two focus topics of the current ECFA study on future Higgs/Top/Electroweak factories, promise improvements of the measurement precision of TGCs and the CKM matrix, respectively, of one to two orders of magnitude with respects to LEP.

In non-central heavy-ion collisions, the particle-emitting source can be tilted away from the beam direction, an effect that becomes particularly significant at collision energies of a few GeV and lower. This phenomenon, manifest itself in many observables such as directed flow, polarization, and vorticity, is therefore important to investigate. In this paper, we study the consistency between the tilt extracted directly from the freeze-out distribution of pions and the tilt parameter obtained using the azimuthally sensitive femtoscopy (asHBT) method. Using the UrQMD model, we demonstrate a strong dependence of the tilt parameter extracted with asHBT on the momentum of the particle pair. Considering the experimental challenges in accessing low particle momenta - where the tilt parameter extracted with asHBT closely matches the tilt of the freeze-out distribution of pions - we propose an exponential extrapolation method to obtain the tilt of the entire freeze-out distribution. This approach aims to enhance the accuracy of experimental measurements of tilt in non-central heavy-ion collisions.

The momentum distributions of electron-hole (EH) pair production in graphene for two arbitrarily polarized electric fields with a time delay are investigated employing a massless quantum kinetic equation and compared with the results obtained in electron-positron (EP) pair production from vacuum. For a single elliptically polarized electric field, the momentum distributions of created EH and EP pairs are similar in multiphoton absorption region. However, for two co-directional linearly polarized electric fields with a time delay and no field frequency, the momentum distribution of created EH pairs exhibits ring patterns, which is not present in EP pair production. For two circularly polarized fields with identical or opposite handedness, the momentum distributions of created EH pairs also show Ramsey interference and spiral structures, respectively. Different from EP pair production, the spiral structures are insensitive to the number of oscillation cycles in electric field pulses. For two elliptically polarized fields with same-sign or opposite-sign ellipticity, the momentum distributions of EH pairs are much more insensitive to ellipticity than those in EP pair production. These results provide further theoretical reference for simulating the EP pair production from vacuum in solid-state systems.

The double Higgs-strahlungs process $e^+e^- \rightarrow ZHH$ allows to access the Higgs self-coupling at center-of-mass energies above $450$ GeV. Its cross-section exhibits a very different behavior as a function of the value of the self-coupling than fusion-type processes like gluon-gluon fusion at LHC (and future hadron colliders) and $WW$ / $ZZ$ fusion at higher energy lepton colliders. Therefore it adds unique information to the picture, in particular should the value of the Higgs self-coupling differ from its Standard Model prediction. The last full evaluation of the potential of the ILC to measure this process is more than ten years old, and since then many of the reconstruction tools have received very significant improvements. This contribution presents the ongoing work in the ILD collaboration to update the ZHH projections for the next European Particle Physics Strategy Update.

The effect of violation of $T$-invariance, provided that $P$-parity is preserved, is given by the total cross section of the interaction of a vector-polarized particle with a tensor-polarized target. A formalism for calculating this effect developed previously and based on the spin-dependent Glauber theory of elastic $pd$ scattering is used here to calculate the effect under discussion in the range of collision energies corresponding to the invariant mass of the $pN$ system $\sqrt{s_{pN}}=5$--$30$ GeV. The spin-dependent amplitudes of elastic $pN$ scattering required for this calculation are taken from existing phenomenological models for $pN$ scattering in the energy region considered.

Primordial black holes can be the entirety of the dark matter in a broad, approximately five-orders-of-magnitude-wide mass range, the ``asteroid mass range'', between $10^{-16}\ M_{\rm Sun}$ -- where constraints originate from evaporation -- and $10^{-11}\ M_{\rm Sun}$ -- from microlensing. A direct detection in this mass range is very challenging with any known observational or experimental methods. Here we point out that, unlike previously asserted in the literature, a transient gravitational wave signal from the inspiral phase of light black hole mergers is in principle detectable with current and future high-frequency gravitational wave detectors, including but not limited to ADMX. The largest detection rates are associated with binaries from non-monochromatic mass functions in early-formed three-body systems.

The quark mass dependence of octet baryon magnetic polarisabilities is examined at the level of individual quark-sector contributions in the uniform background-field approach of lattice QCD. The aim is to understand the direct impact of increasing the mass of a quark flavour on the magnetic polarisability and indirect or environmental effects associated with changing the mass of spectator quarks, insensitive to the background magnetic field. Noting the need to set the electric charge of some quark flavours to zero, a fractionally charged baryon formalism is introduced. We find that increasing the mass of the charged quark flavour directly causes its contribution to the magnetic polarisability to decrease. However, increasing the mass of the spectator quark flavour indirectly acts to increase the magnetic polarisability. To gain a deeper understanding of these effects, we evaluate the predictions of the constituent quark model in this context. While the model provides a compelling explanation for the environmental effect of varying the spectator quark mass, an explanation of the direct mass dependence is more complicated as competing factors combine in the final result. The lattice results indicate the key factor is a reduction in the constituent quark magnetic moment with increasing quark mass, as it governs the strength of the magnetic transition to the nearby decuplet baryon.

We estimate the binding energies of charmonium ($J/\psi$, $\psi(2S)$, $\psi(1D)$, $\chi_{c0}$, $\chi_{c1}$, $\chi_{c2}$) and bottomonium ($\Upsilon(1S)$, $\Upsilon(2S)$, $\Upsilon_2(1D)$, $\chi_{b0}$, $\chi_{b1}$, $\chi_{b2}$) states bound in various nuclei (${\rm{^{4}He}}$, ${\rm{^{12}C}}$, ${\rm{^{16}O}}$, ${\rm{^{40}Ca}}$, ${\rm{^{90}Zr}}$, and ${\rm{^{208}Pb}}$) using the quarkonia-nuclei potentials obtained from their mass shifts in nuclear matter within the generalized linear sigma model. In the absence of light partons in heavy quarkonia, at the tree level, the medium modifications are driven by the gluon condensate, which is simulated within this model through a scalar dilaton field, $\chi$, by introducing broken scale invariance of QCD. Our study shows that charmonium states bind more deeply with the atomic nuclei as compared to bottomonium states, providing a better probe for nuclear medium effects. Such bound states' investigations are particularly interesting for the upcoming J-PARC-E29, $\rm{\bar{P}ANDA}$@FAIR, and CEBAF@JLab experiments. The mass shifts of the heavy quarkonium states in hot isospin asymmetric nuclear matter are investigated and are observed to receive an appreciable medium modification. These medium effects are anticipated at FAIR@GSI, where such neutron-rich hot nuclear matter is expected to be produced.

We revisit the construction of the renormalized trace $\Theta$ of the Energy-Momentum tensor in the four-dimensional $\lambda\phi^4$ theory,using dimensional regularization in $d=4-\ve$ dimensions. We first construct several basic correlators such as $\braket{\phi^2 \phi\phi}$, $\braket{\phi^4 \phi \phi}$ to order $\lambda^2$ and from these the correlators $\braket{K_I \phi \phi}$ and $\braket{K_I K_J}$ with $K_I$ the basis of dimension $d$ operators. We then match the limit of their expressions on the Wilson-Fisher fixed point to the corresponding expressions obtained in Conformal Field Theory. Then, using the 3-point function $\braket{\Theta\phi\phi}$, we construct the operator $\Theta$ as a certain linear combination of the basis operators, using the requirements that $\Theta$ should vanish on the fixed point and that it should have zero anomalous dimension. Finally, we compute the 2-point function $\braket{\Theta\Theta}$ and we show that it obeys an eigenvalue equation that gives additional information about the internal structure of the Energy-Momentum tensor operator to what is already contained in its Callan-Symanzik equation.