A compendium of cold-nuclear matter baseline predictions in light-ion collisions

This paper presents comprehensive perturbative QCD baseline predictions for cold nuclear matter effects in light-ion collisions at LHC energies, demonstrating that while these effects induce significant suppressions with large uncertainties, specific multi-cross-section ratios can effectively cancel these uncertainties to enhance the sensitivity to quark-gluon plasma signatures.

Florian Jonas, Constantin Loizides, Aleksas Mazeliauskas + 2 more2026-03-04⚛️ hep-ph

Infrared Dressing and the Strong CP Problem: Geometric Renormalization of the Vacuum Angle

This paper proposes that the strong CP problem is resolved through a nonperturbative infrared relaxation mechanism where the effective vacuum angle dynamically flows to CP-invariant fixed points, driven by a Berry phase induced by the adiabatic separation of slow topological modes and fast gluonic fluctuations in Yang-Mills theory, without requiring additional dynamical fields.

Jorge Gamboa, Natalia Tapia-Arellano2026-03-04⚛️ hep-ph

PP--VV criticality, Joule--Thomson expansion, and holographic heat engine of charged Hayward-AdS black holes with a cloud of strings and perfect fluid dark matter

This paper investigates the extended thermodynamics of charged Hayward-AdS black holes surrounded by a cloud of strings and perfect fluid dark matter, demonstrating that these models exhibit van der Waals-like phase transitions, distinct Joule-Thomson expansion characteristics, and holographic heat engine efficiencies that are respectively enhanced by the cloud of strings and diminished by perfect fluid dark matter.

Ahmad Al-Badawi, Faizuddin Ahmed, İzzet Sakallı2026-03-04⚛️ hep-ph

Isocurvature Constraints on Dark Matter from Evaporated Primordial Black Holes

This paper investigates how primordial non-Gaussianity can convert small-scale Poisson fluctuations of evaporating primordial black holes into large-scale isocurvature perturbations in the dark sector, thereby establishing new constraints on dark matter production scenarios alongside re-evaluations of limits from overproduction, warm dark matter, and scalar-induced gravitational waves.

G. Franciolini, D. Racco2026-03-04⚛️ hep-ph

Constraints on the odderon amplitude in the CGC framework

This paper analyzes elastic pppp and ppˉp\bar{p} scattering within the Color Glass Condensate framework using experimental data to derive phenomenological upper bounds on the odderon amplitude, finding that while current parametrizations can describe the data, large uncertainties limit the precision of these constraints and highlight the need for improved measurements.

Michael Roa, Marat Siddikov, Yanil Gentile + 1 more2026-03-04⚛️ hep-ph

Nature of K(1680)K^*(1680) and qqˉq\bar{q}-hybrid mixing as the SU(3) partner of η1(1855)η_{1}(1855) in the strange sector

This study investigates the K(1680)K^*(1680) state using flux-tube and quark pair creation models, concluding that its anomalous decay pattern cannot be explained by a conventional qqˉq\bar{q} scenario but instead provides strong evidence for qqˉq\bar{q}-hybrid mixing in the strange sector, offering guidance for future experimental searches at BESIII, LHCb, and Belle-II.

Samee Ullah, Ye Cao, Ming-Xiao Duan + 2 more2026-03-04⚛️ hep-ph