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.

Subregion Complementarity in AdS/CFT

This paper challenges the validity of standard subregion duality and entanglement wedge reconstruction in AdS/CFT by highlighting discrepancies at leading order and attributing their failure to non-perturbative effects, while proposing a new framework of "subregion complementarity" where distinct CFT operators describe the same bulk subregion, a concept applicable to eternal black holes but not single-sided ones.

Sotaro Sugishita, Seiji Terashima2026-04-23⚛️ hep-th

Ti and Spi, Carrollian extended boundaries at timelike and spatial infinity

This paper defines invariant, Carrollian-geometric extended boundaries at timelike and spatial infinity (Ti and Spi) for asymptotically flat spacetimes, demonstrating their utility in characterizing asymptotic symmetries, realizing massive field scattering data, and naturally recovering the BMS and Poincaré groups along with Strominger's matching conditions.

Jack Borthwick, Maël Chantreau, Yannick Herfray2026-04-23⚛️ gr-qc

Derivative coupling in horizon brightened acceleration radiation: a quantum optics approach

This paper investigates Horizon Brightened Acceleration Radiation (HBAR) using derivative coupling between atoms and field momentum to resolve infrared divergences, revealing that point-like detectors exhibit frequency-independent transition probabilities due to local gravitational effects and that finite-size detectors may induce non-equilibrium thermodynamic states.

Ashmita Das, Anjana Krishnan, Soham Sen, Sunandan Gangopadhyay2026-04-23⚛️ gr-qc

Gauge-covariant stochastic neural fields: Stability and finite-width effects

This paper develops a gauge-covariant stochastic effective field theory using the Martin-Siggia-Rose-Janssen-de Dominicis formalism to analyze stability and finite-width effects in deep neural systems, demonstrating that finite-width corrections perturb dressed kernels without altering the mean-field instability threshold while reproducing predicted low-frequency spectral deformations.

Rodrigo Carmo Terin2026-04-23⚛️ hep-th