Hep-Ph explores the fundamental forces that govern how particles interact and behave at the smallest scales imaginable. This field bridges the gap between theoretical predictions and experimental reality, helping scientists understand the building blocks of our universe without getting lost in complex mathematics. Whether investigating the Higgs boson or searching for new physics beyond current models, these studies push the boundaries of human knowledge about matter and energy.

At Gist.Science, we process every new preprint in this category as soon as it appears on arXiv. We strip away the dense jargon to offer both accessible plain-language explanations and detailed technical summaries, ensuring that groundbreaking research is understandable to everyone from students to seasoned experts. Below are the latest papers in this dynamic field, ready for you to explore with clarity and depth.

⚛️ phenomenology

Stochastic analysis of finite-temperature effects on cosmological parameters by artificial neural networks

This paper employs artificial neural networks and stochastic optimization to analyze finite-temperature quantum gravity effects on cosmological parameters, demonstrating that incorporating new temperature-dependent density terms improves the fit to Planck data and suggests a non-negligible role for thermal quantum corrections in cosmological evolution.

Armin Hatefi, Ehsan Hatefi, I. Y. Park2026-02-18
⚛️ general relativity

Environmentally-induced chaos: Extreme-mass-ratio systems of rotating black holes in astrophysical environments

This paper demonstrates that astrophysical environments surrounding rotating black holes break spacetime symmetries, inducing chaotic orbital dynamics and extending the lifespan of resonant islands in extreme-mass-ratio inspirals, which creates distinct imprints on gravitational-wave signals that challenge current vacuum-based modeling and parameter inference.

Kyriakos Destounis, Pedro G. S. Fernandes2026-02-18
⚛️ high-energy experiments

Theory uncertainties of the irreducible background to VBF Higgs production

This paper demonstrates that NLO calculations are essential for achieving reliable predictions of the irreducible gluon-fusion background to vector boson fusion Higgs production, while providing consistent simulation setups to resolve discrepancies among existing event generators.

Xuan Chen, Silvia Ferrario Ravasio, Yacine Haddad, Stefan Höche, Joey Huston, Tomas Jezo, Jia-Sheng Liu, Christian T. Pr (…)2026-02-18
⚛️ high-energy theory

Beyond Wigner: Non-Invertible Symmetries Preserve Probabilities

This paper resolves the apparent conflict between Wigner's theorem and non-invertible symmetries by demonstrating that unitary fusion category symmetries preserve probabilities not through unitary operators on a fixed Hilbert space, but by acting as trace-preserving quantum channels via isometries between distinct Hilbert spaces constructed from twisted sectors.

Thomas Bartsch, Yuhan Gai, Sakura Schafer-Nameki2026-02-18
⚛️ high-energy experiments

Probing Quark Electric Dipole Moment with Topological Anomalies

This paper proposes using topological anomalies in the process γK+Kπ0\gamma^*\to K^+K^-\pi^0 to probe the strange-quark electric dipole moment, estimating that current and future experiments like CMD-3, BESIII, Super Tau-Charm, and Belle II could achieve sensitivities ranging from 101610^{-16} to 1019ecm10^{-19}\,e\cdot\mathrm{cm}.

Chao-Qiang Geng, Xiang-Nan Jin, Chia-Wei Liu, Bin Wu2026-02-18
⚛️ high-energy experiments

Excluding MeV-scale QCD axions by KLπ0π0aK_L \to π^0π^0 a at KTeV

This paper reexamines the viability of MeV-scale QCD axions by deriving new constraints from kaon decay measurements, particularly the KTeV KLπ0π0e+eK_L \to \pi^0 \pi^0 e^+ e^- data, and concludes that the previously suggested parameter window is effectively excluded even after accounting for theoretical uncertainties.

Takaya Iwai, Ryosuke Sato, Kohsaku Tobioka, Takumu Yamanaka2026-02-18