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

Unified analysis of screening masses for vector and axial-vector mesons and their diquark partners in the Contact Interaction model

This paper presents a unified symmetry-preserving contact interaction analysis of the thermal screening masses for vector and axial-vector mesons and their diquark partners, demonstrating agreement with experimental data at zero temperature and signaling chiral symmetry restoration through the convergence of parity partners at high temperatures.

L. X. Gutiérrez-Guerrero, M. A. Ramírez-Garrido, M. A. Pérez de León, R. J. Hernández-Pinto2026-02-09
⚛️ general relativity

Stable Causality and Microcausality for Drummond-Hathrell Photons

This paper investigates whether superluminal photon propagation in the Drummond-Hathrell effective action violates causality in curved spacetime by applying global causal structure analysis and quantum-field-theoretic microcausality diagnostics, concluding that such propagation remains causally benign within the theory's regime of validity for specific gravitational backgrounds.

Madhukar Deb, Jay Desai, Diptimoy Ghosh2026-02-09
⚛️ general relativity

Consistency of standard cosmologies using Bayesian model comparison and tension quantification

Using a unified Bayesian framework to analyze CMB, BAO, and supernova data, the study finds that updated processing and recent measurements largely resolve apparent tensions in the standard Λ\LambdaCDM model, concluding that claims necessitating a shift to evolving dark energy models are premature.

Lukas Tobias Hergt, Sophie Henrot-Versillé, Matthieu Tristram, Douglas Scott2026-02-09
⚛️ general relativity

Chiral phase transition with primordial black holes: Distinct phase structure and catalysis

This paper demonstrates that primordial black holes catalyze the chiral phase transition by inducing a novel mixed-order phase structure near their event horizons and significantly enhancing the inverse duration parameter, thereby causing substantial shifts in the peak frequency and amplitude of the resulting stochastic gravitational-wave signals.

Masanori Tanaka, Jun-Chen Wang, Jing-Jun Zhang2026-02-09