⚛️ Category

nucl-th

1145 papers

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.

Parameter adjustment of nuclear leading-order local pairing energy density functionals

This study benchmarks a protocol for adjusting parameters of a local leading-order T=1 pairing energy density functional by matching infinite nuclear matter pairing gaps at the chemical potential, demonstrating that this approach yields consistent predictions for nuclear masses and moments of inertia while highlighting critical pitfalls such as spurious di-nucleon condensation and the significant influence of spin-gradient terms and mean-field contributions on nuclear observables.

Michael Bender, Karim Bennaceur, Valentin Guillon2026-03-16⚛️ nucl-th

π\pi, K, and p production in high-multiplicity pp collisions at s=13\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

This paper presents new measurements of π\pi, K, and p production in high-multiplicity proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV that reveal mass-dependent spectral hardening and enhanced baryon-to-meson ratios similar to heavy-ion collisions, suggesting that particle production scales with charged-particle multiplicity rather than system size or collision energy, while highlighting that current Monte Carlo models fail to consistently describe all observed features.

ALICE Collaboration2026-03-16⚛️ nucl-ex

Measurement of correlations between elliptic flow and mean transverse momentum in pp, p-Pb, and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC

Using the full LHC Run 2 dataset, this ALICE study reports the first measurements of event-by-event correlations between elliptic flow and mean transverse momentum in pp, p-Pb, and Pb-Pb collisions, revealing non-monotonic trends and system-consistent values at low multiplicity that challenge current theoretical models and provide new constraints on the origin of collectivity in small collision systems.

ALICE Collaboration2026-03-16⚛️ nucl-ex

Local spin polarization by color-field correlators and momentum anisotropy

This paper proposes that local spin polarization of quarks, induced by color-field correlators arising from the interplay of chromo-Lorentz force, chromo-magnetic polarization, and momentum anisotropy in glasma or quark-gluon plasma, generates a longitudinal polarization spectrum for Λ/Λˉ\Lambda/\bar{\Lambda} hyperons with a characteristic sinusoidal structure that aligns with experimental observations in relativistic heavy ion collisions.

Haesom Sung, Berndt Müller, Di-Lun Yang2026-03-13⚛️ nucl-th

Separable character of ab initio No-Core Shell Model one-body densities

This paper demonstrates that off-shell one-body density matrices for 0+0^+ ground-state nuclei from 4^4He to 48^{48}Ca, calculated using the No-Core Shell Model, exhibit a highly separable character that can be accurately described by only a few singular terms, a finding that remains robust across different nucleon-nucleon interactions and computational parameters.

J. Foy, Ch. Elster, P. Maris, S. P. Weppner, S. K. Bogner2026-03-13⚛️ nucl-th

Vorticity-induced effects from Wess-Zumino-Witten terms

This paper derives vorticity-induced effects on Nambu-Goldstone modes in chiral perturbation theory by treating vorticity as an axial-vector field within the Wess-Zumino-Witten framework, resulting in new contributions such as vorticity-induced currents, magnetic-field-induced angular momentum, and modified photon-pion couplings in the presence of electromagnetic fields and finite chemical potentials.

Geraint W. Evans, Naoki Yamamoto, Di-Lun Yang2026-03-13⚛️ nucl-th

Determination of the initial condition for the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation with transformers

This paper demonstrates that a transformer model can efficiently predict the energy evolution of the dipole amplitude governed by the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation, enabling rapid fitting of its initial condition to HERA deep inelastic scattering data and revealing that a smaller starting evolution point x0x_0 yields better agreement with experimental results.

Meisen Gao, Zhong-Bo Kang, Jani Penttala, Ding Yu Shao2026-03-13⚛️ nucl-ex

Decoding the structure near the π+π−\pi^+\pi^- mass threshold in ψ(3686)→J/ψπ+π−\psi(3686) \rightarrow J/\psi \pi^+\pi^- decays

Using dispersion theory to account for strong pion-pion final-state interactions, this study demonstrates that the substructure near the π+π−\pi^+\pi^- threshold in ψ(3686)→J/ψπ+π−\psi(3686) \rightarrow J/\psi \pi^+\pi^- decays can be reproduced without invoking an extra resonance, attributing the observed dip primarily to a helicity-flip amplitude rather than the virtual exchange of the Zc(3900)Z_c(3900) state.

Yun-Hua Chen, Xiang-Kun Dong, Feng-Kun Guo, Christoph Hanhart, Bastian Kubis2026-03-13⚛️ hep-ex

Isentropic thermodynamics across the hadron-quark mixed phase in a two-phase model with a PNJL quark description

This paper investigates the isentropic thermodynamics of the hadron-quark mixed phase using a two-phase model with a PNJL quark sector, revealing how entropy per baryon, vector interactions, isospin asymmetry, and hyperon population influence the phase diagram, temperature evolution, speed of sound, and deconfinement onset.

Eduardo L. G. Salgado, Pedro Costa, Constança Providência2026-03-13⚛️ hep-ph