Mathematical physics sits at the fascinating intersection where abstract equations meet the fundamental laws of our universe. This field uses rigorous mathematical tools to model everything from the behavior of subatomic particles to the curvature of spacetime, turning complex theories into testable predictions. It is the language through which physicists describe reality, bridging the gap between pure mathematics and physical observation.

On Gist.Science, we process every new preprint published in this category on arXiv to make these dense studies accessible to everyone. Whether you are a specialist or a curious reader, you will find both plain-language overviews and detailed technical summaries for each paper. Below are the latest mathematical physics papers from arXiv, curated to help you explore the cutting edge of theoretical science.

Discrete trace formulas and holomorphic functional calculus for the adjacency matrix of regular graphs

This paper introduces a unified framework utilizing holomorphic functional calculus on a specific ellipse to expand the adjacency matrix of regular graphs in terms of non-backtracking matrices, thereby deriving discrete trace formulas that connect spectral theory with graph combinatorics and offering new proofs for problems such as walk counting, the Ihara-Bass formula, and graph-based heat and Schrödinger equations.

Yulin Gong, Wenbo Li, Shiping Liu2026-01-28🔢 math-ph

Relaxation time approximation revisited and non-analytical structure in retarded correlators

This paper provides a rigorous mathematical justification for the energy-independent relaxation time approximation in hard interactions, proposes a method to restore collision invariance, and elucidates how interaction types (hard versus soft) and physical parameters determine the non-analytical structures, such as hydrodynamic poles or gapless branch-cuts, in retarded correlators.

Jin Hu2026-01-28⚛️ nucl-th

Characterising memory in quantum channel discrimination via constrained separability problems

This paper characterizes the quality of quantum channel discrimination under limited memory by formulating the problem as constrained separability, enabling the derivation of bounds that reveal when classical or quantum memory is essential and clarify the hierarchical relationships within adaptive discrimination protocols.

Ties-A. Ohst, Shijun Zhang, Hai Chau Nguyen, Martin Plávala, Marco Túlio Quintino2026-01-28🔢 math-ph

Center of affine sl21\mathfrak{sl}_{2|1} at the critical level

This paper determines the center of the universal affine vertex superalgebra Vκc(sl21)V^{\kappa_c}(\mathfrak{sl}_{2|1}) at the critical level by proving it is isomorphic to the large level limit of a parafermion vertex algebra, thereby confirming a conjecture by Molev and Ragoucy and proposing a generalization for slnm\mathfrak{sl}_{n|m}.

Drazen Adamovic, Shigenori Nakatsuka2026-01-28🔢 math-ph

Quantum particle in the wrong box (or: the perils of finite-dimensional approximations)

This paper demonstrates that truncating infinite-dimensional quantum Hamiltonians to finite dimensions often leads to numerical simulations converging to the dynamics of an unintended Hamiltonian (specifically, the Friedrichs extension of the basis-restricted operator) rather than the true system, a failure that is generally undetectable without an analytical solution.

Felix Fischer, Daniel Burgarth, Davide Lonigro2026-01-28🔢 math-ph