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1. Positron pair interactions in a nearly free-electron metal

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-022-00406-6  

   Mills, Jr., Allen Paine; Fuentes-Garcia, Melina (June 2022, The European Physical Journal D)

   AbstractThe electric field surrounding a single positron in a metal is screened by an increase in the local electron density which, in the case of nearly free-electron metals (like Al, Na, etc.), has a radial distribution similar to that of the electron in positronium (Ps). In such metals, a singlet pair of positrons would experience an attractive interaction and at low enough electron densities could possibly form a bound state that is held together by exchange and correlation energies, thus forming structures analogous to that of the positronium molecule (Ps$$_2$$ ${}_2$), with binding energies of a few tenths of an eV. Such di-positrons could be prevalent at positron densities of around 10$$^{18}$$ ${}^{18}$cm$$^{-3}$$ ${}^{-3}$and, if so, would be evident from an apparent broadening of the sharp step at the Fermi surface in measurements of the electron momentum distribution by the angular correlation of the 2$$\gamma $$ $\gamma$annihilation radiation. Even if di-positrons are not directly formed in a metal, optical spectroscopy of Ps$$_2$$ ${}_2$formed in vacuum via pairs of positrons simultaneously being emitted from the surface could be applied to the direct measurement of the momentum distribution of Cooper pairs. If they exist, di-positrons in metals would yield interesting information about electron and positron interactions and at very high densities might allow the study of a di-positron Bose–Einstein condensate immersed in an electron gas. Graphic Abstract 

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2. On a Traveling Salesman Problem for Points in the Unit Cube

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00453-024-01257-w  

   Balogh, József; Clemen, Felix Christian; Dumitrescu, Adrian (September 2024, Algorithmica)

   Abstract LetXbe ann-element point set in thek-dimensional unit cube$$[0,1]^k$$ ${[0,1]}^k$where$$k \ge 2$$ $k\ge 2$. According to an old result of Bollobás and Meir (Oper Res Lett 11:19–21, 1992) , there exists a cycle (tour)$$x_1, x_2, \ldots , x_n$$ $x_1,x_2,\dots ,x_n$through thenpoints, such that$$\left( \sum _{i=1}^n |x_i - x_{i+1}|^k \right) ^{1/k} \le c_k$$ ${\left({\sum }_{i=1}^n,{|x_i-x_{i+1}|}^k\right)}^{1/k}\le c_k$, where$$|x-y|$$ $|x-y|$is the Euclidean distance betweenxandy, and$$c_k$$ $c_k$is an absolute constant that depends only onk, where$$x_{n+1} \equiv x_1$$ $x_{n+1}\equiv x_1$. From the other direction, for every$$k \ge 2$$ $k\ge 2$and$$n \ge 2$$ $n\ge 2$, there existnpoints in$$[0,1]^k$$ ${[0,1]}^k$, such that their shortest tour satisfies$$\left( \sum _{i=1}^n |x_i - x_{i+1}|^k \right) ^{1/k} = 2^{1/k} \cdot \sqrt{k}$$ ${\left({\sum }_{i=1}^n,{|x_i-x_{i+1}|}^k\right)}^{1/k}=2^{1/k}·\sqrt{k}$. For the plane, the best constant is$$c_2=2$$ $c_2=2$and this is the only exact value known. Bollobás and Meir showed that one can take$$c_k = 9 \left( \frac{2}{3} \right) ^{1/k} \cdot \sqrt{k}$$ $c_k=9{\left(\frac{2}{3}\right)}^{1/k}·\sqrt{k}$for every$$k \ge 3$$ $k\ge 3$and conjectured that the best constant is$$c_k = 2^{1/k} \cdot \sqrt{k}$$ $c_k=2^{1/k}·\sqrt{k}$, for every$$k \ge 2$$ $k\ge 2$. Here we significantly improve the upper bound and show that one can take$$c_k = 3 \sqrt{5} \left( \frac{2}{3} \right) ^{1/k} \cdot \sqrt{k}$$ $c_k=3\sqrt{5}{\left(\frac{2}{3}\right)}^{1/k}·\sqrt{k}$or$$c_k = 2.91 \sqrt{k} \ (1+o_k(1))$$ $c_k=2.91\sqrt{k}(1+o_k\left(1\right))$. Our bounds are constructive. We also show that$$c_3 \ge 2^{7/6}$$ $c_3\ge 2^{7/6}$, which disproves the conjecture for$$k=3$$ $k=3$. Connections to matching problems, power assignment problems, related problems, including algorithms, are discussed in this context. A slightly revised version of the Bollobás–Meir conjecture is proposed. 

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3. Polynomial Bounds for Chromatic Number. IV: A Near-polynomial Bound for Excluding the Five-vertex Path

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00493-023-00015-w  

   Scott, Alex; Seymour, Paul; Spirkl, Sophie (October 2023, Combinatorica)

   Abstract A graphGisH-freeif it has no induced subgraph isomorphic toH. We prove that a$$P_5$$ $P_5$-free graph with clique number$$\omega \ge 3$$ $\omega \ge 3$has chromatic number at most$$\omega ^{\log _2(\omega )}$$ ${\omega }^{{log}_2\left(\omega \right)}$. The best previous result was an exponential upper bound$$(5/27)3^{\omega }$$ $(5/27)3^{\omega }$, due to Esperet, Lemoine, Maffray, and Morel. A polynomial bound would imply that the celebrated Erdős-Hajnal conjecture holds for$$P_5$$ $P_5$, which is the smallest open case. Thus, there is great interest in whether there is a polynomial bound for$$P_5$$ $P_5$-free graphs, and our result is an attempt to approach that. 

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4. Size dependence- and induced transformations- of fractional quantum Hall effects under tilted magnetic fields

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22812-x  

   Wijewardena, U. Kushan; Nanayakkara, Tharanga R.; Kriisa, Annika; Reichl, Christian; Wegscheider, Werner; Mani, Ramesh G. (November 2022, Scientific Reports)

   Abstract Two-dimensional electron systems subjected to high transverse magnetic fields can exhibit Fractional Quantum Hall Effects (FQHE). In the GaAs/AlGaAs 2D electron system, a double degeneracy of Landau levels due to electron-spin, is removed by a small Zeeman spin splitting,$$g \mu _B B$$ $g{\mu }_{B}B$, comparable to the correlation energy. Then, a change of the Zeeman splitting relative to the correlation energy can lead to a re-ordering between spin polarized, partially polarized, and unpolarized many body ground states at a constant filling factor. We show here that tuning the spin energy can produce fractionally quantized Hall effect transitions that include both a change in$$\nu$$ $\nu$for the$$R_{xx}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xx}}$minimum, e.g., from$$\nu = 11/7$$ $\nu =11/7$to$$\nu = 8/5$$ $\nu =8/5$, and a corresponding change in the$$R_{xy}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xy}}$, e.g., from$$R_{xy}/R_{K} = (11/7)^{-1}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xy}}/R_K={(11/7)}^{-1}$to$$R_{xy}/R_{K} = (8/5)^{-1}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xy}}/R_K={(8/5)}^{-1}$, with increasing tilt angle. Further, we exhibit a striking size dependence in the tilt angle interval for the vanishing of the$$\nu = 4/3$$ $\nu =4/3$and$$\nu = 7/5$$ $\nu =7/5$resistance minima, including “avoided crossing” type lineshape characteristics, and observable shifts of$$R_{xy}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xy}}$at the$$R_{xx}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xx}}$minima- the latter occurring for$$\nu = 4/3, 7/5$$ $\nu =4/3,7/5$and the 10/7. The results demonstrate both size dependence and the possibility, not just of competition between different spin polarized states at the same$$\nu$$ $\nu$and$$R_{xy}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xy}}$, but also the tilt- or Zeeman-energy-dependent- crossover between distinct FQHE associated with different Hall resistances. 

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5. Probing light scalars and vector-like quarks at the high-luminosity LHC

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-025-14085-1  

   Qureshi, U S; Gurrola, A; Flórez, A; Rodriguez, C (April 2025, The European Physical Journal C)

   Abstract A model based on a$$U(1)_{T^3_R}$$ $U{\left(1\right)}_{T_R^3}$extension of the Standard Model can address the mass hierarchy between generations of fermions, explain thermal dark matter abundance, and the muon$$g - 2$$ $g-2$,$$R_{(D)}$$ $R_{\left(D\right)}$, and$$R_{(D^*)}$$ $R_{\left(D^{\ast }\right)}$anomalies. The model contains a light scalar boson$$\phi '$$ ${\varphi }^{\prime }$and a heavy vector-like quark$$\chi _\textrm{u}$$ ${\chi }_{\text{u}}$that can be probed at CERN’s large hadron collider (LHC). We perform a phenomenology study on the production of$$\phi '$$ ${\varphi }^{\prime }$and$${\chi }_u$$ ${\chi }_u$particles from proton–proton$$(\textrm{pp})$$ $\left(\text{pp}\right)$collisions at the LHC at$$\sqrt{s}=13.6$$ $\sqrt{s}=13.6$TeV, primarily through$$g{-g}$$ $g-g$and$$t{-\chi _\textrm{u}}$$ $t-{\chi }_{\text{u}}$fusion. We work under a simplified model approach and directly take the$$\chi _\textrm{u}$$ ${\chi }_{\text{u}}$and$$\phi '$$ ${\varphi }^{\prime }$masses as free parameters. We perform a phenomenological analysis considering$$\chi _\textrm{u}$$ ${\chi }_{\text{u}}$final states to b-quarks, muons, and neutrinos, and$$\phi '$$ ${\varphi }^{\prime }$decays to$$\mu ^+\mu ^-$$ ${\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$. A machine learning algorithm is used to maximize the signal sensitivity, considering an integrated luminosity of 3000$$\text {fb}^{-1}$$ ${\text{fb}}^{-1}$. The proposed methodology can be a key mode for discovery over a large mass range, including low masses, traditionally considered difficult due to experimental constraints. 

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