We study a spin chain for a confining string that arises at first order in degenerate perturbation from the strong-coupling expansion of the Kogut-Susskind Hamiltonian on a square lattice in the leading large $N$ expansion. We show some subsectors are integrable and that with a relaxed constraint related to zigzag symmetry, the full spin chain is integrable in arbitrary dimensions.

Recent theoretical progress indicates that spacetime and gravity emerge together from the entanglement structure of an underlying microscopic theory. These ideas are best understood in Anti-de Sitter space, where they rely on the area law for entanglement entropy. The extension to de Sitter space requires taking into account the entropy and temperature associated with the cosmological horizon. Using insights from string theory, black hole physics and quantum information theory we argue that the positive dark energy leads to a thermal volume law contribution to the entropy that overtakes the area law precisely at the cosmological horizon. Due to the competition between area and volume law entanglement the microscopic de Sitter states do not thermalise at sub-Hubble scales: they exhibit memory effects in the form of an entropy displacement caused by matter. The emergent laws of gravity contain an additional `dark' gravitational force describing the `elastic' response due to the entropy displacement. We derive an estimate of the strength of this extra force in terms of the baryonic mass, Newton's constant and the Hubble acceleration scale a_0 =cH_0, and provide evidence for the fact that this additional `dark gravity~force' explains the observed phenomena in galaxies and clusters currently attributed to dark matter.

We describe a two-dimensional geometry that smoothly interpolates between an asymptotically AdS$_2$ geometry and the static patch of dS$_2$. We find this `centaur' geometry to be a solution of dilaton gravity with a specific class of potentials for the dilaton. We interpret the centaur geometry as a thermal state in the putative quantum mechanics dual to the AdS$_2$ evolved with the global Hamiltonian. We compute the thermodynamic properties and observe that the centaur state has finite entropy and positive specific heat. The static patch is the infrared part of the centaur geometry. We discuss boundary observables sensitive to the static patch region.

We propose a new information transfer protocol for de Sitter space, using black holes as energy reservoirs. We consider antipodal observers in pure de Sitter space in the Bunch-Davis state. They can store Hawking modes from the cosmological horizon in a box. Alternatively, due to thermal fluctuations in de Sitter space, black holes formed through a pair-creation {process can be used} as energy reservoirs. We focus on the Nariai black hole case, which corresponds to an equilibrium state. Once the black hole is produced, energy pulses can be released into its interior, opening a traversable wormhole. We provide bounds for the amount of information that can be transferred. Specializing in (1+1)-dimensions, we explore how the teleportation protocol leads to an explicit geometric description of the information transmitted through an island region. The protocol uncovers quantum information aspects of de Sitter space, independently of any particular realization of de Sitter space holography.

We analyze null- and spacelike radial geodesics in Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime connecting two conjugate static sphere observers, i.e. free-falling observers at a fixed radius in between the two horizons. We explicitly determine the changes in the causal structure with respect to these natural observers as a result of the inward bending of the black hole singularity, as well as the outward bending of asymptotic infinity. Notably, the inward and outward bending changes as a function of the black hole mass, first increasing towards a maximum and then decreasing to vanish in the extreme Nariai limit. For a generic mass of the black hole this implies the existence of finite size (temporal) windows for the presence of symmetric radial geodesics between the static sphere observers probing the interior region of the black hole, as well as the exterior de Sitter region. We determine the size of the interior (black hole) and exterior (de Sitter) temporal windows in $4$, $5$ and $6$ spacetime dimensions, finding that they are equal in $D=5$, and compute the proper lengths of the symmetric radial geodesics. We comment on the implications for information exchange and the potential role of the symmetric radial geodesics in a geodesic approximation of static sphere correlators in Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime.

Axions can be copiously produced in localized regions of neutron star magnetospheres where the ambient plasma is unable to efficiently screen the induced electric field. As these axions stream away from the neutron star they can resonantly transition into photons, generating a large broadband contribution to the neutron star's intrinsic radio flux. In this work, we develop a comprehensive end-to-end framework to model this process from the initial production of axions to the final detection of radio photons, and derive constraints on the axion-photon coupling, $g_{a\gamma\gamma}$, using observations of 27 nearby pulsars. We study the modeling uncertainty in the sourced axion spectrum by comparing predictions from 2.5 dimensional particle-in-cell simulations with those derived using a semi-analytic model; these results show remarkable agreement, leading to constraints on the axion-photon coupling that typically differ by a factor of no more than $\sim 2$. The limits presented here are the strongest to date for axion masses $10^{-8} \, {\rm eV} \lesssim m_a \lesssim 10^{-5} \, {\rm eV}$, and crucially do not rely on the assumption that axions are dark matter.

We study simplified bootstrap problems for probability distributions on the infinite line and the circle. We show that the rapid convergence of the bootstrap method for problems on the infinite line is related to the fact that the smallest eigenvalue of the positive matrices in the exact solution becomes exponentially small for large matrices, while the moments grow factorially. As a result, the positivity condition is very finely tuned. For problems on the circle we show instead that the entries of the positive matrix of Fourier modes of the distribution depend linearly on the initial data of the recursion, with factorially growing coefficients. By positivity, these matrix elements are bounded in absolute value by one, so the initial data must also be fine-tuned. Additionally, we find that we can largely bypass the semi-definite program (SDP) nature of the problem on a circle by recognizing that these Fourier modes must be asymptotically exponentially small. With a simple ansatz, which we call the shoestring bootstrap, we can efficiently identify an interior point of the set of allowed matrices with much higher precision than conventional SDP bounds permit. We apply this method to solving unitary matrix model integrals by numerically constructing the orthogonal polynomials associated with the circle distribution.

We present DECO ("Discrete and Efficient Counting of Operators"), an implementation of the Hilbert Series to enumerate subleading operator bases for SMEFT-like EFTs with symmetry groups as typically found in flavour and BSM physics. DECO can accommodate EFTs with arbitrary numbers and combinations of the SM gauge groups, as well as the discrete groups S4, A4, and Zn, and U(1) groups with residual global charge (and these groups' most important representations). The program is highly modular and can easily be extended to additional groups and/or representations. We demonstrate the design cases for DECO by using it to cross-check subleading operator bases of EFTs in the literature, which allows us to identify a missing operator in a widely used model for the neutrino masses and discuss said operator's impact.

The recent detection of gravitational waves (GWs) from the neutron star binary inspiral GW170817 has opened a unique avenue to probe matter and fundamental interactions in previously unexplored regimes. Extracting information on neutron star matter from the observed GWs requires robust and computationally efficient theoretical waveform models. We develop an approximate frequency-domain GW phase model of a main GW signature of matter: dynamic tides associated with the neutron stars' fundamental oscillation modes ($f$-modes). We focus on nonspinning objects on circular orbits and demonstrate that, despite its mathematical simplicity, the new "$f$-mode tidal" (fmtidal) model is in good agreement with the effective-one-body dynamical tides model up to GW frequencies of $\gtrsim 1$ kHz and gives physical meaning to part of the phenomenology captured in tidal models tuned to numerical-relativity. The advantages of the fmtidal model are that it makes explicit the dependence of the GW phasing on the characteristic equation-of-state parameters, i.e., tidal deformabilities and $f$-mode frequencies; it is computationally efficient; and it can readily be added to any frequency-domain baseline waveform. The fmtidal model is easily amenable to future improvements and provides the means for a first step towards independently measuring additional fundamental properties of neutron star matter beyond the tidal deformability as well as performing novel tests of general relativity from GW observations.

Tidal streams are highly sensitive to perturbations from passing dark matter (DM) subhalos and thus provide a means of measuring their abundance. In a recent paper, we analyzed the distribution of stars along the GD-1 stream with a combination of data from the Gaia satellite and the Pan-STARRS survey, and we demonstrated that the population of DM subhalos predicted by the cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm are necessary and sufficient to explain the perturbations observed in the linear density of stars. In this paper, we use the measurements of the subhalo mass function (SHMF) from the GD-1 data combined with a similar analysis of the Pal 5 stream to provide novel constraints on alternative DM scenarios that predict a suppression of the SHMF on scales smaller than the mass of dwarf galaxies, marginalizing over uncertainties in the slope and normalization of the unsuppressed SHMF and the susceptibility of DM subhalos in the inner Milky Way to tidal disruption. In particular, we derive a 95% lower limit on the mass of warm dark matter (WDM) thermal relics $m_{\rm WDM}>3.6\,\mathrm{keV}$ from streams alone that strengthens to $m_{\rm WDM}>6.2\,\mathrm{keV}$ when adding dwarf satellite counts. Similarly, we constrain the axion mass in ultra-light ("fuzzy") dark matter (FDM) models to be $m_{\rm FDM}>1.4\times10^{-21}\,\mathrm{eV}$ from streams alone or $m_{\rm FDM}>2.2\times10^{-21}\,\mathrm{eV}$ when adding dwarf satellite counts. Because we make use of simple approximate forms of the streams' SHMF measurement, our analysis is easy to replicate with other alternative DM models that lead to a suppression of the SHMF.

We compute the on-shell Euclidean action of Schwarzschild-de Sitter black holes, and take their contributions in the gravitational path integral into account using the formalism of constrained instantons. Although Euclidean de Sitter black hole geometries have conical singularities for generic masses, their on-shell action is finite and is shown to be independent of the Euclidean time periodicity and equal to minus the sum of the black hole and cosmological horizon entropy. We apply this result to compute the probability for a nonrotating, neutral arbitrary mass black hole to nucleate spontaneously in empty de Sitter space, which separates into a constant and a "non-perturbative" contribution, the latter corresponding to the proper saddle-point instanton in the Nariai limit. We also speculate on some further applications of our results, most notably as potential non-perturbative corrections to correlators in the de Sitter vacuum.

We study two-point correlation functions of a massive free scalar field in de Sitter space using the heat kernel formalism. Focusing on two operators in conjugate static patches we derive a geodesic approximation to the two-point correlator valid for large mass and at late times. This expression involves a sum over two complex conjugate geodesics that correctly reproduces the large-mass, late-time limit of the exact two-point function in the Bunch-Davies vacuum. The exponential decay of the late-time correlator is associated to the timelike part of the complex geodesics. We emphasize that the late-time exponential decay is in tension with the finite maximal entropy of empty de Sitter space, and we briefly discuss how non-perturbative corrections might resolve this paradox.

While Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) with masses $M_{\rm PBH} \gtrsim 10^{-11} \, M_\odot$ cannot comprise the entirety of dark matter, the existence of even a small population of these objects can have profound astrophysical consequences. A sub-dominant population of PBHs will efficiently accrete dark matter particles before matter-radiation equality, giving rise to high-density dark matter spikes. We consider here the scenario in which dark matter is comprised primarily of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with a small sub-dominant contribution coming from PBHs, and revisit the constraints on the annihilation of WIMPs in these spikes using observations of the isotropic gamma-ray background (IGRB) and the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), for a range of WIMP masses, annihilation channels, cross sections, and PBH mass functions. We find that the constraints derived using the IGRB have been significantly overestimated (in some cases by many orders of magnitude), and that limits obtained using observations of the CMB are typically stronger than, or comparable to, those coming from the IGRB. Importantly, we show that $\sim \mathcal{O}(M_\odot)$ PBHs can still contribute significantly to the dark matter density for sufficiently low WIMP masses and p-wave annihilation cross sections.

We analyze the amount of information that can be sent through the traversable wormholes of Gao, Jafferis, and Wall. Although we find that the wormhole is open for a proper time shorter than the Planck time, the transmission of a signal through the wormhole can sometimes remain within the semiclassical regime. For black holes with horizons of order the AdS radius, information cannot be reliably sent through the wormhole. However, black holes with horizon radius much larger than the AdS radius do allow for the transmission of a number of quanta of order the horizon area in AdS units. More information can be sent through the wormhole by increasing the number of light fields contributing to the negative energy. Our bulk computations agree with a boundary analysis based on quantum teleportation.

We compute and clarify the interpretation of the on-shell Euclidean action for Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black holes in de Sitter space. We show the on-shell action is minus the sum of the black hole and cosmological horizon entropy for arbitrary mass and charge in any number of dimensions. This unifying expression helps to clear up a confusion about the Euclidean actions of extremal and ultracold black holes in de Sitter, as they can be understood as special cases of the general expression. We then use this result to estimate the probability for the pair creation of black holes with arbitrary mass and charge in an empty de Sitter background, by employing the formalism of constrained instantons. Finally, we suggest that the decay of charged de Sitter black holes is governed by the gradient flow of the entropy function and that, as a consequence, the regime of light, superradiant, rapid charge emission should describe the potential decay of extreme charged Nariai black holes to singular geometries.

We analyze the bootstrap approach (a dual optimization method to the variational approach) to one-dimensional spin chains, leveraging semidefinite programming to extract numerical results. We study how correlation functions in the ground state converge to their true values at and away from criticality and at relaxed optimality. We consider the transverse Ising model, the three state Potts model, and other non-integrable spin chains and investigate to what extent semidefinite methods can reliably extract numerical emergent physical data, including conformal central charges, correlation lengths and scaling dimensions. We demonstrate procedures to extract these data and show preliminary results in the various models considered. We compare to exact analytical results and to exact diagonalization when the system volume is small enough. When we attempt to go to the thermodynamic limit, the semidefinite numerical method with translation invariance imposed as a constraint finds the solution with periodic boundary conditions even if these have not been specified. This implies that the determination of all conformal data in correlators has to be handled at finite volume. Our investigation reveals that the approach has practical challenges. In particular, the correlation functions extracted from the optimal solution, which function as slack variables in the optimization, have convergence issues that suggest an underlying exponential complexity in the system size.

We describe a novel way to think about bosonic lattice theories in Hamiltonian form where each lattice site has only a half boson degree of freedom. The construction requires a non-trivial Poisson bracket between neighboring sites and leads to gapless theories with non-invertible symmetries. We also describe a bosonic version of Kahler-Dirac fermions, dubbed Kahler-Dirac bosons that can be performed on any triangulation of a manifold. This also leads to a straightforward implementation of supersymmetry on the lattice and one immediately deduces the Dirac equation of the corresponding Kahler-Dirac fermions.

Renormalization group evolution equations describing the scale dependence of quantities in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) play a central role in the interpretation of experimental data. Arguably the most important evolution equations for collider physics applications are the Dokshitzer-Gribov-Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi (DGLAP) equations, which describe the evolution of a quark or gluon fragmenting into hadrons, with only a single hadron identified at a time. In recent years, the study of the correlations of energy flow within jets has come to play a central role at collider experiments, necessitating an understanding of correlations, going beyond the standard DGLAP paradigm. In this Letter we derive a general renormalization group equation describing the collinear dynamics that account for correlations in the fragmentation. We compute the kernel of this evolution equation at next-to-leading order (NLO), where it involves the $1\to 3$ splitting functions, and develop techniques to solve it numerically. We show that our equation encompasses all previously-known collinear evolution equations, namely DGLAP and the evolution of multi-hadron fragmentation functions. As an application of our results, we consider the phenomenologically-relevant example of energy flow on charged particles, computing the energy fraction in charged particles in $e^+e^- \to$ hadrons at NNLO. Our results are an important step towards improving the understanding of the collinear dynamics of jets, with broad applications in jet substructure, ranging from the study of multi-hadron correlations, to the description of inclusive (sub)jet production, and the advancement of modern parton showers.

In 2017, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration succeeded in capturing the first direct image of the center of the M87 galaxy. The asymmetric ring morphology and size are consistent with theoretical expectations for a weakly accreting supermassive black hole of mass approximately 6.5 x 10^9 M_solar. The EHTC also partnered with several international facilities in space and on the ground, to arrange an extensive, quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength campaign. This Letter presents the results and analysis of this campaign, as well as the multi-wavelength data as a legacy data repository. We captured M87 in a historically low state, and the core flux dominates over HST-1 at high energies, making it possible to combine core flux constraints with the more spatially precise very long baseline interferometry data. We present the most complete simultaneous multi-wavelength spectrum of the active nucleus to date, and discuss the complexity and caveats of combining data from different spatial scales into one broadband spectrum. We apply two heuristic, isotropic leptonic single-zone models to provide insight into the basic source properties, but conclude that a structured jet is necessary to explain M87's spectrum. We can exclude that the simultaneous gamma-ray emission is produced via inverse Compton emission in the same region producing the EHT mm-band emission, and further conclude that the gamma-rays can only be produced in the inner jets (inward of HST-1) if there are strongly particle-dominated regions. Direct synchrotron emission from accelerated protons and secondaries cannot yet be excluded.

The decay of extremal charged black holes has been a useful guidance to derive consistency conditions in quantum gravity. In de Sitter space it has been argued that requiring (extremal) charged Nariai black holes to decay without forming a big crunch singularity yields the Festina Lente (FL) bound: particles with mass $m_s$ and charge $q$ should satisfy $m_s^2 \gg M_pHq$, where $M_p$ is the Planck mass and $H$ the Hubble parameter. Using a tunneling approach we show that the decay probability of charged black holes in de Sitter space in the s-wave sector is $P\sim \exp(\Delta S_b)$, where~$\Delta S_b$ is the change in the black hole entropy. We find that the FL bound corresponds to $\Delta S_b \leq -1$ in the Nariai and probe limit. However, taking into account backreaction we identify unsuppressed decay channels, which might be subdominant, that violate this bound but nonetheless do not result in a big crunch for every observer.