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.

🔬 condensed matter

Understanding deconfined quantum critical points from crystalline categorical Landau paradigm

This paper demonstrates that deconfined quantum critical points involving lattice symmetries can be reinterpreted as Landau-type transitions within a crystalline categorical framework, where gauging anomalous onsite symmetries generates noninvertible translation symmetries that distinguish between competing orders through their unique FF-symbols rather than just their fusion rules.

Hiromi Ebisu, Bo Han, Weiguang Cao2026-06-05
⚛️ general relativity

On Cosmological Correlators with Boundary Contributions

This paper utilizes the cosmological bootstrap framework to establish criteria distinguishing when boundary terms in quasi-de Sitter spacetime yield non-vanishing contributions to cosmological correlators, applying these insights to systematically classify and extract boundary effects in both dS-invariant and boost-breaking massive-exchange scenarios.

Yanjiao Ma, Dong-Gang Wang, Xiangwei Wang, Yi Wang, Wenqi Yu2026-06-05
⚛️ nuclear theory

Diffusion of multiple conserved charges from entropy production

Using the Chapman-Enskog method within kinetic theory, this paper derives first- and second-order dissipative relativistic hydrodynamic equations for a multi-component quark-gluon plasma with baryon, electric, and strangeness charges, explicitly calculating the temperature and chemical potential dependence of the resulting diffusion matrix elements and their ratio to shear viscosity.

Samapan Bhadury, Arpan Das, Sandeep Chatterjee, Hiranmaya Mishra2026-06-05
⚛️ high-energy experiments

Probing anomalous quartic gauge couplings in same-sign WW boson scattering with polarization and spin correlation

This paper presents a comprehensive study of anomalous quartic gauge couplings in same-sign WW boson scattering at the LHC within the SM Effective Field Theory framework, demonstrating that combining angular asymmetries derived from polarization and spin correlations with conventional kinematic observables yields improved constraints on Wilson coefficients while ensuring unitarity safety.

Oscar J. P. Éboli, Rafiqul Rahaman, Amir Subba2026-06-05
⚛️ phenomenology

Phenomenology of Inflaton-Driven Early QCD Confinement and Solution to Axion Isocurvature Problem

This paper proposes a mechanism where an inflaton-gluon coupling dynamically raises the QCD confinement scale during inflation to suppress axion isocurvature perturbations, subsequently allowing the axion to become light and generate the observed dark matter abundance, with viability ensured through specific reheating scenarios and supersymmetry.

Evangelos I. Sfakianakis, Barmak Shams Es Haghi, Katherine Freese2026-06-05