### Nuclear-level Effective Theory of Muon-to-Electron Conversion

New mu-to-e conversion searches aim to advance limits on charged lepton flavor violation (CLFV) by four orders of magnitude. By considering P and CP selection rules and the structure of possible charge and current densities, we show that rates are governed by six nuclear responses. To generate a microscopic formulation of these responses, we construct in non-relativistic effective theory (NRET) the CLFV nucleon-level interaction, then embed it in a nucleus. We discuss previous work, noting the lack of a systematic treatment of the various small parameters. Because the momentum transfer is comparable to the inverse nuclear size, a full multipole expansion of the response functions is necessary, a daunting task with Coulomb-distorted electron partial waves. We perform such an expansion to high precision by introducing a simplifying local electron momentum, treating the full set of 16 NRET operators. Previous work has been limited to the simplest charge/spin operators, ignored Coulomb distortion (or alternatively truncated the partial wave expansion) and the nucleon velocity operator, which is responsible for three of the response functions. This generates inconsistencies in the treatment of small parameters. We obtain a "master formula" for mu-to-e conversion that properly treats all such effects and those of the muon velocity. We compute muon-to-electron conversion rates for a series of experimental targets, deriving bounds on the coefficients of the CLFV operators. We discuss the nuclear physics: two types of coherence enhance certain CLFV operators and selection rules blind elastic mu-to-e conversion to others. We discuss the matching of the NRET onto higher level EFTs, and the relation to mu-to-e conversion to other CLFV tests. Finally we describe a publicly available script that can be used to compute mu-to-e conversion rates in nuclear targets.

### Neutrinos in Stellar Astrophysics

The physics of the mysterious and stealthy neutrino is at the heart of many phenomena in the cosmos. These particles interact with matter and with each other through the aptly named weak interaction. At typical astrophysical energies the weak interaction is some twenty orders of magnitude weaker than the electromagnetic interaction. However, in the early universe and in collapsing stars neutrinos can more than make up for their feeble interaction strength with huge numbers. Neutrinos can dominate the dynamics in these sites and set the conditions that govern the synthesis of the elements. Here we journey through the history of the discovery of these particles and describe their role in stellar evolution and collapse, the big bang, and multi-messenger astrophysics. Neutrino physics is at the frontier of elementary particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics and cosmology. All of these fields overlap in the neutrino story.

### Infinite conformal symmetry and emergent chiral (super)fields of topologically non-trivial configurations: From Yang-Mills-Higgs to the Skyrme model

The present manuscript discusses a remarkable phenomenon concerning non-linear and non-integrable field theories in $(3+1)$-dimensions, living at finite density and possessing non-trivial topological charges and non-Abelian internal symmetries (both local and global). With suitable types of ans\"atze, one can construct infinite-dimensional families of analytic solutions with non-vanishing topological charges (representing the Baryonic number) labelled by both two integers numbers and by free scalar fields in $(1+1)$-dimensions. These exact configurations represent $(3+1)$-dimensional topological solitons hosting $(1+1)$-dimensional chiral modes localized at the energy density peaks. First, we analyze the Yang-Mills-Higgs model, in which the fields depend on all the space-time coordinates (to keep alive the topological Chern-Simons charge), but in such a way to reduce the equations system to the field equations of two-dimensional free massless chiral scalar fields. Then, we move to the non-linear sigma model, showing that a suitable ansatz reduces the field equations to the one of a two-dimensional free massless scalar field. Then, we discuss the Skyrme model concluding that the inclusion of the Skyrme term gives rise to a chiral two-dimensional free massless scalar field (instead of a free massless field in two dimensions as in the non-linear sigma model) describing analytically spatially modulated Hadronic layers and tubes. The comparison of the present approach both with the instantons-dyons liquid approach and with Lattice QCD is shortly outlined.

### Bayesian analysis of QGP jet transport using multi-scale modeling applied to inclusive hadron and reconstructed jet data

The JETSCAPE Collaboration reports a new determination of jet transport coefficients in the Quark-Gluon Plasma, using both reconstructed jet and hadron data measured at RHIC and the LHC. The JETSCAPE framework incorporates detailed modeling of the dynamical evolution of the QGP; a multi-stage theoretical approach to in-medium jet evolution and medium response; and Bayesian inference for quantitative comparison of model calculations and data. The multi-stage framework incorporates multiple models to cover a broad range in scale of the in-medium parton shower evolution, with dynamical choice of model that depends on the current virtuality or energy of the parton. We will discuss the physics of the multi-stage modeling, and then present a new Bayesian analysis incorporating it. This analysis extends the recently published JETSCAPE determination of the jet transport parameter $\hat{q}$ that was based solely on inclusive hadron suppression data, by incorporating reconstructed jet measurements of quenching. We explore the functional dependence of jet transport coefficients on QGP temperature and jet energy and virtuality, and report the consistency and tensions found for current jet quenching modeling with hadron and reconstructed jet data over a wide range in kinematics and $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}$. This analysis represents the next step in the program of comprehensive analysis of jet quenching phenomenology and its constraint of properties of the QGP.

### Semirelativistic Potential Modelling of Bound States: Advocating Due Rigour

The Poincar\'e-covariant quantum-field-theoretic description of bound states by the homogeneous Bethe-Salpeter equation usually exhibits an intrinsic complexity that can be attenuated by allowing this formalism to undergo various simplifications. The resulting approximate outcome's reliability can be assessed by applying several rigorous constraints on the nature of the bound-state spectra; most prominent here are existence, number and location of discrete eigenvalues.

### MSW effect with quark matter: Neutron Star as a case study

With the recent findings from various astrophysical results hinting towards possible existence of strange quark matters with the baryonic resonances such as $\Lambda^0, \Sigma^0, \Xi, \Omega$ in the core of neutron stars, we investigate the MSW effect, in general, in quark matter. We find that the resonance condition for the complete conversion of down-quark to strange quark requires estremely large matter density ($\rho_u \simeq 10^{5}\,\mbox{fm}^{-3}$). Nonetheless the neutron stars provide a best condition for the conversion to be statistically significant which is of the same order as is expected from imposing charge neutrality condition. This has a possibility of resolving the hyperon puzzle as well as the equation of state for dense baryonic matter.

### Unraveling Gluon Jet Quenching through $J/ψ$ Production in Heavy-Ion Collisions

Jet quenching has long been regarded as one of the key signatures for the formation of quark-gluon plasma in heavy-ion collisions. Despite significant efforts, the separate identification of quark and gluon jet quenching has remained as a challenge. Here we show that $J/\psi$ in high transverse momentum ($p_T$) region provides a uniquely sensitive probe of in-medium gluon energy loss since its production at high $p_T$ is particularly dominated by gluon fragmentation. Such gluon-dominance is first demonstrated for the baseline of proton-proton collisions within the framework of leading power NRQCD factorization formalism. We then use the linear Boltzmann transport model combined with hydrodynamics for the simulation of jet-medium interaction in nucleus-nucleus collisions. The satisfactory description of experimental data on both nuclear modification factor $R_{AA}$ and elliptic flow $v_2$ reveals, for the first time, that the gluon jet quenching is the driving force for high $p_T$ $J/\psi$ suppression. This novel finding is further confirmed, in a robust and model-independent way, by the data-driven Bayesian analyses of relevant experimental measurements, from which we also obtain the first quantitative extraction of the gluon energy loss distribution in the quark-gluon plasma.

### Evidence for intrinsic charm quarks in the proton

The theory of the strong force, quantum chromodynamics, describes the proton in terms of quarks and gluons. The proton is a state of two up quarks and one down quark bound by gluons, but quantum theory predicts that in addition there is an infinite number of quark-antiquark pairs. Both light and heavy quarks, whose mass is respectively smaller or bigger than the mass of the proton, are revealed inside the proton in high-energy collisions. However, it is unclear whether heavy quarks also exist as a part of the proton wavefunction, which is determined by non-perturbative dynamics and accordingly unknown: so-called intrinsic heavy quarks. It has been argued for a long time that the proton could have a sizable intrinsic component of the lightest heavy quark, the charm quark. Innumerable efforts to establish intrinsic charm in the proton have remained inconclusive. Here we provide evidence for intrinsic charm by exploiting a high-precision determination of the quark-gluon content of the nucleon based on machine learning and a large experimental dataset. We disentangle the intrinsic charm component from charm-anticharm pairs arising from high-energy radiation. We establish the existence of intrinsic charm at the 3-standard-deviation level, with a momentum distribution in remarkable agreement with model predictions. We confirm these findings by comparing to very recent data on Z-boson production with charm jets from the LHCb experiment.