Hep-Lat, short for High Energy Physics – Lattice, explores the fundamental forces of nature by simulating particle interactions on a digital grid. Instead of relying solely on abstract equations, researchers in this field use powerful computers to model how quarks and gluons bind together, offering deep insights into the structure of matter that are often impossible to derive analytically.

Gist.Science ensures these complex discoveries from arXiv remain accessible to everyone. We process every new preprint in this category as it is posted, providing both plain-language explanations for the curious and detailed technical summaries for experts. This dual approach bridges the gap between cutting-edge simulation work and broader scientific understanding.

Below are the latest papers in High Energy Physics – Lattice, curated directly from arXiv and ready for you to explore.

Lattice Gauge Theory via LLVM-Level Automatic Differentiation

This paper presents a method for automatically generating Hybrid Monte Carlo forces in lattice gauge theory by applying reverse-mode automatic differentiation directly to optimized LLVM intermediate representation, enabling a single-source workflow that produces performance-portable, high-performance force implementations for both CPU and GPU backends without the need for manual derivation.

Yuki Nagai, Akio Tomiya, Hiroshi Ohno2026-02-25⚛️ hep-lat

Dark Glueball Direct Detection

This paper proposes a viable glueball dark matter candidate arising from a confined Yang-Mills sector coupled to the Standard Model via vector-like fermion portals, developing a non-perturbative effective field theory framework that predicts a steeply scaling spin-independent scattering cross-section (σSIΛD2.15mψ8\sigma_{\rm SI}\propto \Lambda_D^{2.15} m_\psi^{-8}) within the sensitivity reach of current and next-generation xenon direct-detection experiments.

Ji-Wei Li, Roman Pasechnik, Wei Wang, Zhi-Wei Wang2026-02-24⚛️ hep-lat

Quark-meson diquark model and color superconductivity in dense quark matter

This paper employs renormalizable two- and three-flavor quark-meson-diquark models to analyze color superconductivity and pion condensation in dense quark matter, demonstrating that BCS gaps approach a constant and the speed of sound converges to the conformal limit at high chemical potentials while correctly accounting for global symmetry breaking and Goldstone boson counting.

Jens O. Andersen, Mathias P. Nødtvedt2026-02-23⚛️ hep-lat

Phase diagram of a lattice fermion model with symmetric mass generation

Using fermion-bag Monte Carlo simulations, this study demonstrates that introducing a small nonzero four-fermion coupling (UBU_B) to a lattice fermion model qualitatively alters its phase diagram by splitting a single exotic symmetric mass generation transition into two distinct conventional transitions (Gross-Neveu and 3D XY) separated by an intermediate spontaneous symmetry breaking phase.

Sandip Maiti, Debasish Banerjee, Shailesh Chandrasekharan, Marina K. Marinkovic2026-02-23⚛️ hep-lat

Pseudocriticality in antiferromagnetic spin chains

By combining advanced quantum Monte Carlo simulations with a novel loop estimator for Rényi entanglement entropy, this study demonstrates that an SU(NN) generalization of the Heisenberg antiferromagnet in 1+1 dimensions exhibits weak first-order pseudocriticality driven by proximity to a complex conformal field theory, a finding that accurately recovers the real part of the complex central charge for N>2N>2 and reinterprets the dimerized phase of the spin-1 chain as pseudocritical.

Sankalp Kumar, Sumiran Pujari, Jonathan D'Emidio2026-02-20⚛️ hep-lat

QCD Equation of State at very high temperature: computational strategy, simulations and data analysis

This paper details the computational strategy, simulations, and data analysis used to achieve a non-perturbative determination of the QCD Equation of State for three massless flavors at temperatures up to 165 GeV with approximately 1% accuracy, utilizing lines of constant physics and shifted boundary conditions to demonstrate the continued relevance of non-perturbative contributions even at the electroweak scale.

Matteo Bresciani, Mattia Dalla Brida, Leonardo Giusti, Michele Pepe2026-02-20⚛️ hep-lat