hep-th papers | Gist.Science

Hep-Th, or high-energy theoretical physics, explores the fundamental building blocks of our universe and the forces that govern them. Researchers in this field use complex mathematics to understand everything from subatomic particles to the behavior of black holes, often pushing the boundaries of what we know about space and time.

At Gist.Science, we monitor the arXiv repository to ensure you stay ahead of the curve in this rapidly evolving discipline. For every new preprint uploaded to arXiv under this category, our team generates both accessible plain-language overviews and detailed technical summaries, making cutting-edge research understandable regardless of your background.

Below are the latest papers in high-energy theoretical physics, curated to help you navigate the most significant recent discoveries.

⚛️ general relativity

Ultraviolet Structure of Real-time Gravitational Wave Linear Response in a Resonant Scalar Field

This paper utilizes the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism and adiabatic regularization to analyze the ultraviolet structure of real-time gravitational wave linear response in a resonant scalar field, identifying specific time-dependent divergences that require new local counterterms and revealing a renormalization mismatch with the tadpole stress tensor that is attributed to the off-shell nature of the background.

Han Lai, Atsuhisa Ota2026-06-16

⚛️ general relativity

Generalized Unimodular Gravity and Cosmological Perturbations

This paper revisits generalized unimodular gravity to demonstrate that standard matter components can be derived purely from geometry, offering a new perspective on the dark sector while recovering general relativity's cosmological background and perturbation results through a different interpretation.

Júlio C. Fabris, Alexander Yu. Kamenshchik2026-06-16

⚛️ high-energy theory

Complexified Virasoro Flow and the Logarithmic Graviton at the Chiral Point

This paper proposes a geometric interpretation of the rank-two Jordan structure associated with the logarithmic graviton in topologically massive gravity by demonstrating that radial evolution, temporal evolution, and logarithmic monodromy are unified manifestations of a single complexified Virasoro flow acting on the boundary logarithmic conformal field theory.

Yannick Mvondo-She2026-06-16

⚛️ phenomenology

High-quality Axion Strings from Monopole Strings

This paper proposes that five-dimensional 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole strings, which restore non-abelian gauge symmetry in their cores, function as axion strings for extra-dimensional axions, thereby enabling a viable post-inflationary cosmology for high-quality axion dark matter by parametrically separating string tension from the quantum gravity scale.

Nathaniel Craig, Amalia Madden2026-06-16

⚛️ high-energy theory

Self-gravitating electromagnetic waves in the dark bubble model

This paper constructs embeddings of self-gravitating electromagnetic waves within the dark bubble model by gluing two AdS $_5$ pp-wave spacetimes across a three-brane, demonstrating that localised light beams induce gravitational corrections consistent with a weakening of four-dimensional gravity at the five-dimensional AdS scale.

Ulf Danielsson, Daniel Panizo, Vincent Van Hemelryck2026-06-16

⚛️ high-energy theory

On the Representation Theory of Non-Admissible $W$ -Algebras: Part I

Motivated by mirror symmetry in 4d $N=2$ theories, this paper proposes a geometric framework linking the representation theory of non-admissible $W$ -algebras to generalized affine Springer fibers, where $C^*$ -fixed loci determine simple modules and their dimensions encode logarithmic structures, a correspondence verified across various Lie types including $D_4$ , $E_6$ , and $E_8$ .

Dan Xie2026-06-16

🔢 mathematics

Exact solution of the Glauber-Ising model on the finite-length semi-open chain

This paper derives the exact time-space correlation function for the finite-length semi-open Glauber-Ising model quenched to zero temperature, enabling the calculation of the dual coagulation-diffusion process's empty-interval probability and confirming consistency with dynamical finite-size scaling theory.

Malte Henkel2026-06-16

🌀 nonlinear sciences

Morphology-resolved scrambling in a chaotic quantum billiard

This paper establishes that scarred eigenstates in a chaotic quantum billiard act as spatial templates for operator growth by demonstrating that orthogonal eigenstates with nearly identical probability density morphologies exhibit nearly identical out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC) dynamics, thereby linking static spatial structures to the quantitative prediction of scrambling.

Pranaya Pratik Das2026-06-16

⚛️ general relativity

Analytic results for slow-roll curved-space inflation and exponential potentials

This paper derives analytic templates for scalar and tensor primordial power spectra in curved-space inflation transitioning from kinetic dominance to slow-roll, demonstrating their applicability to recovering spectral tilts while noting that curvature-assisted single-exponential models in open universes fall outside this framework due to their non-negligible second Hubble slow-roll parameter.

Dimitrios Tsimpis, Govind Venugopal2026-06-16

🔢 mathematics

The Optimal Rate Function in Covariant Quantum State Tomography

This paper proves Keyl's conjecture that a specific Schur sampling-based covariant quantum state tomography protocol achieves the optimal rate function, which is an annealed version of quantum relative entropy bounded by the standard quantum relative entropy due to the cost of learning the eigenbasis.

Arick Grootveld, Alexander Maloney, Jason Pollack, Peixue Wu2026-06-16

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hep-th

Ultraviolet Structure of Real-time Gravitational Wave Linear Response in a Resonant Scalar Field

Generalized Unimodular Gravity and Cosmological Perturbations

Complexified Virasoro Flow and the Logarithmic Graviton at the Chiral Point

High-quality Axion Strings from Monopole Strings

Self-gravitating electromagnetic waves in the dark bubble model

On the Representation Theory of Non-Admissible WWW-Algebras: Part I

Exact solution of the Glauber-Ising model on the finite-length semi-open chain

Morphology-resolved scrambling in a chaotic quantum billiard

Analytic results for slow-roll curved-space inflation and exponential potentials

The Optimal Rate Function in Covariant Quantum State Tomography

On the Representation Theory of Non-Admissible $W$ -Algebras: Part I