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.

⚛️ high-energy experiments

Axions at the meV Crossroads: Theory, Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Experiments

This review paper synthesizes current theoretical, cosmological, astrophysical, and experimental efforts to explore the theoretically motivated meV axion mass range, highlighting the convergence of diverse approaches aimed at discovering these particles as a key probe for beyond-Standard-Model physics.

Michele Cicoli, Francesco D'Eramo, Luca Di Luzio, Damiano F. G. Fiorillo, Maurizio Giannotti, Alicia Gomez, Diego Guadag (…)2026-03-20
⚛️ phenomenology

QCD and electroweak phase transitions with hidden scale invariance: implications for primordial black holes, quark-lepton nuggets and gravitational waves

This paper investigates a scale-invariant extension of the Standard Model where the electroweak phase transition is delayed until a low temperature of approximately 28 MeV and triggered by the QCD chiral symmetry-breaking transition, leading to unique cosmological consequences such as the potential formation of primordial black holes, quark-lepton nuggets, and low-frequency gravitational waves.

Joshua Cesca, Archil Kobakhidze2026-03-20
⚛️ phenomenology

Cosmological Implications of the Slingshot Effect: Gravitational Waves, Primordial Black Holes and Dark Matter

This paper investigates the cosmological implications of the "slingshot effect," a phenomenon where sources crossing domain walls generate confined strings, potentially sourcing gravitational waves, dark matter via Kaluza-Klein gravitons, and primordial black holes across observationally relevant mass ranges.

Maximilian Bachmaier, Gia Dvali, Juan Sebastián Valbuena-Bermúdez, Michael Zantedeschi2026-03-20
⚛️ high-energy theory

Comments on the Emergence of 4D Topological Amplitudes in M-Theory

This paper advances the M-theoretic Emergence Proposal by demonstrating that the regularization used to derive classical cubic terms from quantum effects in 4D N=2N=2 compactifications is equivalent in both complex structure and Kähler moduli spaces, and by extending this framework to account for linear terms in the one-loop prepotential F1F_1.

Manuel Artime, Ralph Blumenhagen, Aleksandar Gligovic, Panagiotis Leivadaros2026-03-20
⚛️ phenomenology

From N- to (p,N)- Inflationary Attractors in view of ACT

This paper reviews fractional Kaehler potentials that, when combined with chaotic inflationary potentials in a non-linear sigma model, establish a class of (p,N)(p,N)-inflationary attractors compatible with ACT DR6 data and potentially observable tensor-to-scalar ratios, while also demonstrating their realization within supergravity via shift-symmetric Kähler potentials and monomial superpotentials.

C. Pallis2026-03-20