Nuclear theory sits at the fascinating intersection of particle physics and the forces that hold our universe together. This field explores how protons and neutrons bind inside atomic nuclei, seeking to understand the fundamental interactions that govern matter at its most dense and energetic levels. While the mathematics involved can be incredibly complex, the core questions are deeply human: how does the universe function at its smallest scales, and what happens when we push matter to its limits?

At Gist.Science, we make these cutting-edge discoveries accessible by processing every new preprint published in this category on arXiv. Our team transforms dense academic manuscripts into clear, plain-language summaries alongside detailed technical overviews, ensuring that both experts and curious readers can grasp the latest breakthroughs without getting lost in the jargon. Below are the latest papers in nuclear theory, distilled and ready for you to explore.

⚛️ nuclear theory

Quark and hybrid stars with renormalization group improvement of NNLO perturbative QCD

This paper extends renormalization-group-optimized perturbative QCD to β\beta-equilibrated matter to derive a compact equation of state for massive quarks, demonstrating that specific renormalization scale parameters can yield stable pure and hybrid quark stars compatible with recent astrophysical observations like PSR J0740+6620 and GW190814.

Loïc Fernandez, Jean-Loïc Kneur, Marcus Benghi Pinto, Constança Providência, Claudia Ratti, Tulio E. Restrepo2026-06-30
⚛️ nuclear experiments

Nuclear equation-of-state at high density and multi-messenger astronomy: contribution of heavy-ion collisions

Heavy-ion collisions serve as a crucial tool for constraining the nuclear equation-of-state at high densities, offering insights that complement multi-messenger astronomy observations of neutron stars, while future advancements in experimental precision and transport modeling are essential to further elucidate the symmetry energy and related nuclear phenomena.

A. Le Fèvre2026-06-30
⚛️ nuclear theory

Anisotropic hadronic rescattering and its impact on K0K^{*0} yield, and polarization observable

Using the AMPT model for Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV, this study demonstrates that anisotropic hadronic rescattering, driven by Lorentz boost effects on decay angles, significantly suppresses reconstructed K0K^{*0} yields and induces apparent spin alignment signals (ρ00\rho_{00} deviations) in both production-plane and helicity frames, even in the absence of intrinsic polarization.

Kadambini Menduli, Md. Nasim2026-06-30
⚛️ nuclear theory

Interplay of quadrupole and octupole degrees of freedom in the Gd isotopes

This paper employs a quadrupole-octupole axially symmetric model to systematically investigate the Gd isotopic chain (84N9684\leqslant N \leqslant96), revealing a smooth evolution of quadrupole deformation with a critical jump at N=90N=90 and an inverse correlation where enhanced quadrupole collectivity coincides with the loss of octupole deformation, which is restricted to the lightest 148,150^{148,150}Gd nuclei.

R. Budaca, S. Pascu2026-06-30
⚛️ nuclear theory

Quantum Late-Time Decay and Channel Dependence

This paper reports experimental evidence of power-law late-time decay in two fluorescent compounds, demonstrating that while the decay lifetime is universal, the specific late-time deviations depend on the detection channel, consistent with a divergent spectral density model in multichannel quantum mechanics.

Francesco Giacosa, Anna Kolbus, Krzysztof Kyziol, Magdalena Plodowska, Milena Piotrowska, Karol Szary, Arthur Vereijken2026-06-29
⚛️ nuclear theory

Revisiting the soft-hard separation in the transverse momentum spectra of $pp$ collisions

This paper demonstrates that the transverse momentum spectra of charged particles in proton-proton collisions can be robustly decomposed into distinct soft and hard components that remain invariant across multiplicity classes, supporting a two-component interpretation as a viable alternative to hydrodynamical models.

Gábor Bíró, Guy Paić, Leonid Serkin, Gergely Gábor Barnaföldi2026-06-29
🔭 astrophysics

Impact of neutrino-electron scattering and an improved treatment of pair processes on binary neutron star mergers

This paper presents improved Monte Carlo neutrino transport simulations for binary neutron star mergers that incorporate inelastic neutrino-electron scattering and refined pair processes, revealing a 50% increase in ejected mass and significant reductions in heavy-lepton neutrino energy and luminosity without increasing computational costs.

Francois Foucart, Samantha Rath, Rowan Davidson, Patrick Chi-Kit Cheong, Matthew D. Duez, Lawrence Kidder, Harald Pfeiff (…)2026-06-29
⚛️ nuclear theory

Single- and Double-Λ\Lambda Hypernuclear Correlations Calibrate ΛΛ\Lambda\Lambda Interaction Energies

This paper establishes a robust linear correlation between single- and double-Λ\Lambda hypernuclear binding energies to statistically evaluate ΛΛ\Lambda\Lambda interaction energies in heavier systems, revealing that these values are systematically larger than standard mean-field predictions and providing crucial benchmarks for future S=2S=-2 experiments.

Shi Yuan Ding, Bao Yuan Sun2026-06-29