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.

Thermodynamics of dynamical black holes beyond perturbation theory

This paper resolves the thermodynamic limitations of event horizons by demonstrating that quasi-local horizons allow for a robust formulation of the first and second laws of black hole mechanics applicable to dynamical black holes arbitrarily far from equilibrium, thereby identifying black hole entropy with the area of marginally trapped surfaces rather than the event horizon.

Abhay Ashtekar, Daniel E. Paraizo, Jonathan Shu2026-04-02⚛️ gr-qc

Phase transition for a black hole with matter fields and the relation with the Lyapunov exponent

This paper investigates phase transitions in anti-de Sitter black holes coexisting with anisotropic matter fields, demonstrating their resemblance to Reissner-Nordström black holes and analyzing the correlation between these thermodynamic phases and the Lyapunov exponents derived from unstable null geodesics.

Pakhlavon Yovkochev, Bobomurat J. Ahmedov, Bum-Hoon Lee, Hocheol Lee, Wonwoo Lee2026-04-02⚛️ gr-qc

Superconformal index for N=4\mathcal{N} = 4 Super Yang-Mills and Elliptic Macdonald Polynomials

This paper establishes a connection between the superconformal index of N=4\mathcal{N}=4 U(N)U(N) Super Yang-Mills theory and the elliptic Ruijsenaars-Schneider integrable system by expressing the index in terms of elliptic Macdonald polynomials, which enables a systematic perturbative expansion in the elliptic parameter and recovers known results in specific limits.

Gao-fu Ren, Min-xin Huang2026-04-02⚛️ hep-th