arXiv subjects

Anamaria Hell

Publications and source records attributed to Anamaria Hell.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Seesaw and Axion in No-Scale Gravity

The No-Scale gravity is a compelling framework to describe particle physics, gravity and cosmology, in which all mass scales are an illusion given by the value of a scalar field $\phi$. This theory, however, falls under the umbrella of more general scalar-tensor theories, which propagate different modes depending on the scalar field, and faces the extensive debate regarding the equivalence between its Jordan and Einstein frame descriptions. In this work we advocate that by excluding the singular point in the transformation between the two frames (e.g., $\phi=0$) we can have the classical equivalence between them. To show the merit of removing this singular point, we argue the Jordan frame makes the symmetries of the model manifest, which creates a suitable playground for the particle-physics model building which we illustrate by showing the emergence of discrete symmetries which leads to a high-quality axion and also naturally incorporate the seesaw mechanism.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

AI's Capability in Assisting Scientific Research in Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology I: Literature Review

We investigate how well large language models (LLMs) can assist with literature reviews for scientific research. We perform a controlled study of eight expert-conceived research projects across the areas of physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. Each project has a defined background and goal, and human experts and AI prompters are asked to perform identical literature review tasks in parallel. We compare the relevant literature selected by humans with that selected by mid-2025 LLMs (ChatGPT-4o, ChatGPT Deep Research, and Gemini). We find the overlap between human- and AI-selected references to be small ($<$6\%), indicating that AI models do not yet reproduce a competent expert search on their own, though they have the potential to complement literature searches by humans. We then assess the reliability and completeness of AI-generated candidate references, distinguishing two types of hallucination: fabrications (references to nonexistent papers) and metadata mismatches (real papers with one or more incorrect fields). We find that while fabricated references make up 3\% of the AI-generated references, 64\% are real papers with at least one incorrect field (title, author, year, journal, DOI, or link), indicating that the mid-2025 models require systematic verification. However, the performance is significantly improved for the 2026 model ChatGPT Pro 5.5, with a single-project test showing zero fabrication or metadata mismatches.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2026

AI's Capability in Assisting Scientific Research in Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology II: Project Planning and Proposal Evaluation

We investigate how well large language models (LLMs) can assist scientific project planning and proposal evaluation. One-page project plans were independently generated for eight expert-conceived research projects in physics, astrophysics, and cosmology by human researchers and three contemporary LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, and DeepSeek; mid-2025 models, used with their default tool access). The resulting 32 proposals were blindly evaluated by four human reviewers and two newer frontier LLMs (Claude Opus 4.8 and ChatGPT Pro 5.5) using a four-aspect evaluation rubric. Reviewers were also asked to identify whether each proposal was written by a human or an AI. Human reviewers rated human- and AI-written proposals similarly overall, whereas both AI reviewers scored AI-written proposals about one point higher (on a five-point scale) than human-written proposals. Human reviewers correctly identified human- and AI-written proposals 72% and 79% of the time, respectively, while both AI reviewers correctly classified all 32 proposals (100%). These results suggest that current LLMs can produce project plans comparable to human-written ones in the eyes of human reviewers, but that AI reviewers show a systematic preference for AI-generated proposals. Our results suggest caution when deploying LLMs widely in proposal preparation and evaluation.

cs.CL↗

arXiv2026

Wick-connected theories and Lorentz violation

We consider double Wick rotation in field theories, which analytically continues the time coordinate, and then reinterprets one of the spatial directions as the new Lorentzian time. We show that if Lorentz-invariance is absent, Wick-connected theories are no longer necessarily equivalent. Focusing on flat spacetime, we study the propagating modes, unitarity and renormalizability of such Wick-connected theories, and provide criteria for when such notions fail to translate.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

LLMs with in-context learning for Algorithmic Theoretical Physics

There is an increasing number of algorithmic computations in theoretical physics. These, while conceptually simple, can nevertheless be time-consuming and contain subtleties that should not be overlooked. Given the recent improvement of Large Language Models (LLM), it is natural to investigate whether LLMs equipped with a computer algebra system (CAS) runtime and sufficiently informative context can reliably carry out these algorithmic tasks. In this work, we interface Claude with Maple, and apply this framework to cosmological perturbations in modified theories of gravity. We demonstrate the current capabilities of this approach, the typical failures, and how the same can be improved. We find that a frontier LLM supplied with worked examples is able to solve most test problems.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2026

How to deal with conformal and pure scale-invariant theories of gravity in d dimensions?

Conformally-invariant and pure, scale-invariant theories of gravity are particularly interesting in four or higher dimensions. Yet, in contrast to their four-dimensional counterparts, theories in higher dimensions are significantly more difficult to study. In these proceedings, following our recent work, we will formulate such theories in d dimensions, present an elegant way to handle them, and show that imposing invariance under scale or conformal transformations gives rise to entirely different properties when compared to their four-dimensional analogues.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Branching Universes

We propose the idea that our Universe is a realization among different possible branches, which can be observationally tested through the modified dispersion relation of the gravitational waves. We achieve this through a framework of spatially constrained vector fields. We show that the simplest realizations of such theories in flat and cosmological spacetimes do not introduce new propagating modes, but they give rise to tensor perturbations that differ from those of standard general relativity. We further show that such theories admit stealth black hole solutions, and we recover weak gravitational potentials, thus passing the solar system experiments. Finally, we discuss the implications of such theories and propose further generalizations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Pathologies of dimension-zero scalar fields

It has been claimed in a series of papers that scalar fields with a fourth-order Lagrangian $\sim(\Box\varphi)^2$ can solve the cosmological constant problem by canceling the loop contributions from standard model fields, and that their fluctuations can be the source of the primordial density perturbations of the Universe, without the need for inflation. We dispute these claims. The spectrum of the theory includes a ghost, which leads to classical instabilities and quantum violation of unitarity. We show that the new scalar particles cannot cancel the standard model contributions to the cosmological constant, unless they include a unitarity-violating ghost at the quantum level. Further, the coupling of such scalars to the particles of the standard model induces a confining fifth force which rules it out as a source of density perturbations in the early Universe.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

On the Kalb-Ramond field with non-minimal coupling to gravity

We consider a massive Kalb-Ramond field with a general non-minimal coupling to gravity. We first study the theory in flat space-time, taking into account the non-linearities. We show that the coupling with the Ricci scalar gives rise to the strong coupling of the two transverse pseudo-vector degrees of freedom, which are absent in the massless theory. We then show that if the theory is instead coupled to the Ricci tensor or the Riemann tensor, the two tensor modes become strongly coupled in addition to the transverse pseudo-vector modes. We then extend our analysis to homogeneous and isotropic space-time, with vanishing background value of the Kalb-Ramond field. We show that in this case, the couplings with the Ricci and Riemann tensor give rise to the runaway instability. Finally, we discuss the inclusion of the disformal coupling as a possible resolution to this unnatural behavior.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

The recipe for the degrees of freedom

We consider the question of counting the degrees of freedom in theoretical models, with an emphasis on theories of fields and gravity. Among the possible approaches, the Hamiltonian formulation remains one of the most systematic and robust tools. However, it can easily become long and technically involved. In this work, we present a broadly applicable recipe to find the degrees of freedom directly, based on the Lagrangian formulation. We compare it to the standard approaches, highlight the challenges that may arise in the latter, and demonstrate that the proposed method leads to transparent insights about the dynamical nature of theory in a quick, simple, and straight-forward way.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Aspects of non-minimally coupled curvature with power laws

We consider a class of theories containing power-law terms in both the Ricci scalar and a scalar field, including their non-minimal couplings. As a first step, we systematically classify all non-trivial cases with a propagating scalar field that arise from the simplest general power-law formulation, which contains the minimal number of terms. We then analyze each case in detail, focusing on the structure of the degrees of freedom, by both formulating the theories in the Einstein frames and focusing on the singular points in the Jordan frame. We demonstrate that such theories can give rise to different, and sometimes unexpected structure of the modes, that can change at the leading order depending on the background.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

The non-minimal 3-form cosmology and the rise of the cuscuton

We consider the 3-form theory with non-minimal coupling to gravity in an expanding Universe. First, we assume that the background is homogeneous and isotropic, and that the three-form is coupled to both the Ricci scalar and the Ricci tensor. We show that in this case, it propagates three degrees of freedom: a scalar mode and two tensor ones. Then, we consider an anisotropic background that corresponds to a Bianchi Type I Universe, and set the coupling with the Ricci tensor to zero. We show that, similarly to the Proca theory with non-minimal coupling to gravity, this case leads to two branches for the background solutions - depending on the values of the 3-form. However, in contrast to the Proca case, we show that no extra modes appear. We explore the no-ghost conditions and speed of propagation for all three modes in both branches. Finally, we show that one of the branches can be written as a theory of a constrained scalar, coupled to a cuscuton field.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Accelerating Universe from Constraints

We introduce a framework of constrained scalar fields that can give rise to cosmological evolution of the Universe independent of the values of the cosmological constant. Focusing on the simplest realization involving a scalar field with non-minimal coupling, we first study the analytical solutions in the Jordan frame. We show that such solutions include evolution from a radiation dominated-like universe to an exponential expansion, as well as evolution that starts with super-Hubble expansion and then relaxes towards an exponential expansion of the Universe, while describing well-behaved scalar perturbations. We then also relate the theory to the Einstein frame, and analyze the corresponding accelerating solutions. We then consider the model in the presence of external matter. We find that the matter does not affect the evolution of the universe if minimally coupled to the scalar field. In other words, in the Jordan frame, in order to influence the evolution of the space-time, the matter should be non-minimally coupled to the constrained scalar, while it may be minimally coupled to gravity. We show that in this case, the solutions are similar to the free case, and, in addition, allow for the phantom-like equation of state. Finally, we introduce the minimal frame, a frame in which the matter is minimally coupled to both gravity and the constrained scalar, and show that among other possibilities, the phantom-like equation of state can still be realized.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Conformal and pure scale-invariant gravities in d dimensions

We consider conformal and scale-invariant gravities in d dimensions, with a special focus on pure $R^2$ gravity in the scale-invariant case. In four dimensions, the structure of these theories is well known. However, in dimensions larger than four, the behavior of the modes is so far unclear. In this work, we explore this question, studying the theories in conformally flat spacetimes as well as anisotropic backgrounds. First, we consider the pure theory in d-dimensions. We show that this theory propagates no degrees of freedom for flat space-time. Otherwise, we find the theory in the corresponding Einstein frame and show that it propagates a scalar field and two tensor modes, that arise from Einstein's gravity. We then consider conformal gravity in d dimensions. We argue on the number of degrees of freedom for conformally flat space-times and show that for $d>4$, there exists a frame in which this theory can be written as the Weyl-squared gravity with a cosmological constant, and also generalize this formulation to the $f\left(W^2\right)$ theories. Then, we consider the specific model of conformal gravity in five dimensions. We find the analytical and numerical solutions for the anisotropic Universe for this case, which admits super-Hubble and exponential expansions. Finally, we consider the perturbations around these solutions and study the number of the degrees of freedom.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Aspects of massive gauge fields

Massive gauge fields whose mass is introduced by hand form very intriguing theories. They depart from their massless counterparts by a straightforward modification. Yet, taking the limit when the same vanishes poses a non-trivial challenge. In these notes, with a focus on vector and two-form fields, we will discuss several aspects that arise when one explores the massless limit. We will study new connections among different theories, and at times raise a question about the already established ones.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

On the cosmological degrees of freedom of Proca field with non-minimal coupling to gravity

We study Proca theory with non-minimal coupling to gravity through the Ricci tensor and Ricci scalar interactions. We show that in the homogeneous and isotropic Universe together with cosmological constant, the temporal component of the vector field acquires a background value. As a result, we show that the theory propagates an additional degree of freedom, with respect to the generalized Proca theories, whose kinetic term suggests the presence of several strong coupling regimes that depend on the value of the background solution, the combination and vanishing of coupling constants, together with a scale-dependent one. We show in addition, that the speed of propagation for this mode vanishes, indicating the presence of another type of strong coupling. To further investigate this, we extend our analysis to the Bianchi Type I Universe, with the most general solution for the vector field. We show that the extra degree of freedom remains in the theory. Among the modes, we further show that the mode with vanishing speed of propagation is still present, pointing to the strong coupling. In addition, we discover a mode with scale-dependent strong coupling (vanishing kinetic term), one mode that propagates only in one single direction and two unstable modes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Revisiting Stability in New General Relativity

We study the degrees of freedom in New General Relativity -- flat and metric compatible family of theories -- around the Minkowski background in a gauge invariant manner. First, we confirm the decoupling case, in which the theory reduces to linearized gravity plus a massless KR field. We then show that, unless they vanish, the vector modes of this theory will be unstable. In addition, we find two new branches of the theories, which are instability-free and propagate linearly two tensor modes and in one of the cases also a massless scalar field. This shows that while the generic theory is ill-behaved, there are three possible realizations of instability-free cases, in contradiction to the previous literature, which states that there is only one healthy theory in addition to general relativity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Unveiling the inconsistency of the Proca theory with non-minimal coupling to gravity

We study the degrees of freedom of the Proca theory, non-minimally coupled to gravity. In the Minkowski background, this theory propagates five degrees of freedom -- a massive longitudinal mode, two massive vector ones, and two massless tensor modes. At first sight, the non-linear coupling between the metric perturbations and the vector field indicates that both longitudinal and tensor modes become strongly coupled, at the same scale. This would imply that no matter how small the photon mass is if non-minimal coupling is taken into account, gravitational waves would necessarily be strongly coupled. We show that the way out of this inconsistency is through the introduction of the disformal coupling to the metric perturbations that resemble the vector-type disformal transformations. This way, the unphysical coupling between the two types of modes can be avoided, rendering the model consistent. As a result, we show that only the longitudinal modes enter a strong coupling regime, while both tensor and transverse modes remain weakly coupled at all scales up to the Planck length. Finally, using the same form of the disformal transformation, we introduce a disformal frame in which the recently reported runaway modes are absent.

gr-qc↗