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.

⚛️ quantum physics

Ghost Degrees of Freedom Without Quantum Runaway: Exact Moment Bounds from an Operator Conservation Law

This paper proves that a harmonic oscillator coupled to a ghost degree of freedom remains quantum-stable with bounded second moments for all time, provided the interaction is bounded and vanishes at large separations, thereby demonstrating that ghost-induced instabilities are not inevitable consequences of wrong-sign kinetic terms but depend critically on the interaction structure.

Christopher Ewasiuk, Stefano Profumo2026-04-24

🔢 mathematics

Symplectic symmetry of quadratic-band-touching Hamiltonians in two dimensions

This paper identifies the internal low-energy symmetry of two-dimensional quadratic-band-touching Hamiltonians as the unitary symplectic group $USp(2N)$ , constructs the corresponding rotationally invariant interacting theory, and demonstrates that for lattice systems like honeycomb, this symmetry reduces to the unitary group $U(N)$ through the intersection of symplectic and orthogonal symmetries.

Igor F. Herbut, Samson C. H. Ling2026-04-24

⚛️ general relativity

Hawking radiation from black holes in 2+1 dimensions

This paper proposes a model in 2+1 dimensions where the black hole horizon is composed of quantized elementary lengths, enabling a length ensemble formulation that directly derives the Hawking black body spectrum and its modified temperature for a local observer via the Tolman factor.

Akriti Garg, Ayan Chatterjee2026-04-24

⚛️ general relativity

Conformal anomaly transport induced by dark photon

This paper investigates how gravitational inhomogeneity affects transport phenomena in a system of massless Dirac fermions coupled to both Maxwell and dark photon fields, revealing that the resulting currents are proportional to beta functions and predicting specific corrections to scale conductivities in both the visible and dark sectors.

Marek Rogatko, Karol I. Wysokinski2026-04-24

⚛️ general relativity

Quantum-information diagnostics of cosmological perturbations with nontrivial sound speed in inflation

This paper demonstrates that a nontrivial sound speed during inflation significantly alters the quantum-information diagnostics of cosmological perturbations by suppressing state purity, amplifying entropic and entanglement measures, and postponing the onset of classicality through modified decoherence dynamics.

Shi-Cheng Liu, Lei-Hua Liu, Bichu Li, Hai-Qing Zhang, Peng-Zhang He2026-04-24

⚛️ high-energy theory

Unitary Time Evolution and Vacuum for a Quantum Stable Ghost

This paper demonstrates that a quantum system comprising a harmonic oscillator polynomially coupled to a ghost with negative kinetic energy can be consistently quantized with a well-defined vacuum and manifestly unitary evolution, provided the system possesses an integral of motion with a positive discrete spectrum that ensures stability despite the Hamiltonian's unbounded spectrum.

Cédric Deffayet, Atabak Fathe Jalali, Aaron Held, Shinji Mukohyama, Alexander Vikman2026-04-24

⚛️ high-energy theory

Orbital angular momentum radiation and polarization of relativistic electrons in magnetic fields

This paper demonstrates that synchrotron radiation in uniform magnetic fields can polarize the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of relativistic vortex electrons, a process that occurs orders of magnitude faster than spin polarization and offers a new mechanism for controlling high-energy electron beams.

Ziqiang Huang, Qi Meng, Xuan Liu, Wei Ma, Zhen Yang, Liang Lu, Alexander J. Silenko, Pengming Zhang, Liping Zou2026-04-24

⚛️ nuclear theory

Heavy Quark Transport is Non-Gaussian Beyond Leading Log

This paper demonstrates that heavy quark transport in weakly coupled non-Abelian plasmas is intrinsically non-Gaussian with asymmetric exponential tails beyond the leading logarithm, a robust feature shared with strongly coupled holographic plasmas that is essential for accurate equilibration dynamics.

Jean F. Du Plessis, Bruno Scheihing-Hitschfeld2026-04-24

⚛️ general relativity

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

🔢 mathematics

Vershik-Kerov in higher times

This paper generalizes the Vershik-Kerov limit shape problem to circular and linear quiver theories, as well as a double-elliptic setting related to six-dimensional gauge theory, proving that the resulting limit shape is governed by a genus two algebraic curve which suggests unexpected dualities between enumerative and equivariant parameters.

Andrei Grekov, Nikita Nekrasov2026-04-23

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