A Preon Model

There are lots of issues with preon models that model at least some of the Standard Model fundamental particles as composite (experimental limits on compositeness are strict and naively rule them out for simpler models). But this is a more interesting one than most.

We build a framework for Regge trajectories from the Nambu-Goto action. We compute the 6-preon Regge trajectory in a preon model, include the worldsheet conformal anomaly, and build the parameter-free Veneziano amplitude. The amplitude has s-channel poles matching the spectrum to 0.5%, and at fixed-angle scattering decays exponentially with a negative Gross-Mende coefficient, realized numerically to 0.03%. 

This is a soft, genuinely non-perturbative ultraviolet completion of the preon model - and thereby of the Standard Model, which emerges as its low-energy limit.

Risto Raitio, "Soft UV Completion of a Preon Model" arXiv:2606.06541 (June 4, 2026).

The model used in this case is spelled out in the introduction:

Quarks and leptons arise as three-preon composites bound at the metacolor scale Λ(cr); the three fermion generations emerge not as a postulated multiplicity but as dynamical excitations of these composites; and the chiral, anomaly-free matter content of one Standard Model family is reproduced from a small set of preon charges. In this picture the Standard Model is the low-energy limit of a confining metacolor gauge theory, much as hadronic physics is the low-energy limit of QCD.

More Higgs Boson Properties Measured

The experimental data is still strongly consistent with the observed Higgs boson being the Standard Model Higgs boson.

A study of the structure of the coupling between the Higgs boson and the top quark is performed using events from tt¯H and tH production in the H→γγ decay channel, with 164 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of s√ = 13.6 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. 

The cross section of the tt¯H process times the Higgs to diphoton decay branching ratio is measured to be 1.46+0.40−0.35=1.46+0.34−0.32(stat.)+0.22−0.13(sys.) fb, corresponding to 1.13+0.33−0.28 times the Standard Model prediction. 

An observed 95% confidence level limit on the tH production cross section times the Higgs to diphoton decay branching ratio is set at 6.2 times the Standard Model prediction, compared to an expected limit of 4.4 times, constituting the most stringent tH upper limit achieved in a single measurement to date. 

The results are combined with 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data collected at s√ = 13 TeV in the same production and decay channel, and a CP-mixing angle of |α|>38∘ is excluded at the 95% confidence level, with a purely CP-odd Higgs-top Yukawa coupling excluded at the level of 5.8 standard deviations, providing the most stringent direct constraints on the CP structure of the Higgs-top Yukawa interaction to date.

ATLAS Collaboration, "Probing the Higgs-top Yukawa interaction in the tt¯H and tH processes using H→γγ with the ATLAS detector" arXiv:2606.04855 (June 3, 2026) (Phys. Rev. Lett.) (the paper is 36 pages long including a 20 pages long list of authors).

Dark Matter Phenomena Free Dwarf Galaxies

MOND explains these galaxies with the external field effect. Dark matter particle theories rely upon a tidal stripping hypothesis. More data about these galaxies helps explore and evaluate hypotheses like these. 

Also, to be clear, the distances in the abstract below are from Earth, not from the giant NCG 1052 galaxy (which is the relevant data point for the external field effect and tidal striping hypotheses).

NGC 1052-DF2 and DF4 are two ultra-diffuse galaxies deficient in dark matter (DM), and reported as part of a remarkable linear trail of dwarf galaxies in the NGC 1052 field. 

Recently, NGC 1052-DF9 has been identified as the third galaxy missing DM along the trail. This structure may have been formed in a high-velocity head-on collision between two gas-rich dwarfs, known as the "bullet-dwarf" scenario. However, the trail overlaps in projection with a foreground system, the NGC 1035 group at ∼13 Mpc, raising suspicions that the trail is an artifact of this superposition. 

DF2 and DF4 have been found to be at distances of 21.7±1.2 and 20.0±1.6 Mpc, respectively, using the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) method with deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, but the distances to other trail dwarfs remain unknown. 

In this Letter, we use HST imaging to obtain surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distance estimates for eight candidate trail dwarfs, as well as for the giant galaxies NGC 1052 and NGC 1035. We find that the dwarfs are all at ∼20 Mpc, and are not associated with the foreground NGC 1035 group. However, for DF2, we derive an SBF distance of 17.7±1.4 Mpc, inconsistent with the published HST TGRB distance (21.7±1.2 Mpc). Meanwhile, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations of DF2 offer a second, and potentially more accurate, TRGB distance of 17.6±0.6 Mpc. While this value matches our SBF result, it is clear that uniform JWST imaging of the remaining trail dwarfs is critically needed.

Yimeng Tang, Gagandeep S. Anand, Aaron J. Romanowsky, Pieter G. van Dokkum, Kevin A. Bundy, "New Measurements of Distances to Galaxies in the NGC 1052 Field with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes: Testing the Bullet-Dwarf Origin of the Trail" arXiv:2606.05144 (June 3, 2026) (Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters).

A Novel GUT

There is virtually no chance that this grand unification theory reflects reality, but it is a quite unusual approach that combines a mishmash of ideas. 

We present an SU(12)×SU(2)(L)×U(1)(R) model unifying SU(9) quark color-flavor with SU(3) lepton flavor as a flavorful alternative to conventional theories of unification. We begin in the ultraviolet with a single yukawa shared by the unified up-type quarks and neutrinos, and no further new fermions. We show that gauged quark color-flavor and lepton flavor instantons dynamically generate the bottom and tau yukawas, which implements a massless quark solution to the strong CP problem and sets up a flavored type-I seesaw mechanism. Only two new scalar irreps are needed for the symmetry-breaking steps, which include quark color-flavor deconstruction and then infrared reunification, and the Standard Model gauge group in this theory emerges as

 

 

 

 

 

where Γ∈{1,ℤ(2)} is the electroweak global structure and there is a discrete gauge symmetry X=B−3(L(i)+L(j)−L(k)) which brings additional ℤ(3) global structure to the SM. This gauge symmetry acts as a flavorful upgrade of the ℤ(18)^(B+L) anomaly-free global symmetry of the SM and stabilizes the proton absolutely. Non-invertible chiral symmetry-breaking is crucial to our model, and we discuss the rich spectrum of emergent generalized symmetries and topological defects appearing at various stages. In the infrared, the novel shared quotient between continuous and discrete groups links the one-form and two-form global symmetries of the Standard Model.

Antonio Delgado, Seth Koren, "Quark-Lepton Color-Flavor Unification" arXiv:2605.30413 (May 28, 2026).

All About MOND And Dark Matter

MOND still works.

The baryonic Faber-Jackson relation (BFJR) links the baryonic mass of pressure-supported systems to their mean velocity dispersion. For elliptical galaxies, the BFJR is thought to be a projection of the fundamental plane (FP), which includes the stellar half-mass radius as a third variable. We study the BFJR and FP across eight orders of magnitude in baryonic mass, encompassing galaxy groups, ellipticals, dwarf ellipticals, and dwarf spheroidals. We compile and homogenize data for 1400 pressure-supported systems and measure their mean internal baryonic acceleration ⟨gbar⟩. 

We find that the properties of the BFJR and FP systematically depend on the internal acceleration of the sampled systems, with a transition around the acceleration scale a(0) ≃ 1.2 × 10^10 m*s^−2. For low-acceleration systems with ⟨gbar⟩ < 0.6 a(0) (dwarf galaxies and galaxy groups), the BFJR relation takes the form log(10)(M(bar)/M⊙) = (4.19 ± 0.10) log(10)(σ(los)/km*s^−1) + (2.55 +0.16 −0.16) with an orthogonal intrinsic scatter of 0.11±0.01 dex [ed. about ± 29% which is low for astronomy observations].

The FP expected from the Newtonian virial theorem is followed by high-acceleration systems (massive ellipticals with ⟨gbar⟩ ≳ 6a(0)), whereas low-acceleration systems deviate from the FP at both low masses (dwarf galaxies) and high masses (galaxy groups). 

Our results generally agree with the expectations of MOND: high-acceleration systems follow the Newtonian virial theorem in which a radial variable explicitly appears (the FP), while low-acceleration systems follow the MOND virial theorem in which the radial dependence disappears (the BFJR). On average, the MOND external field effect seems to play a secondary role in dwarf galaxies in galaxy groups and clusters.

Yong Tian, Federico Lelli, Marcel S. Pawlowski, Stacy McGaugh, Yi Duann, Kyu-Hyun Chae, Enrico Di Teodoro, Konstantin Haubner, Meng Hua Kuo, Chung-Ming Ko, "The Baryonic Faber-Jackson Relation and Fundamental Plane of Galaxy Groups, Elliptical Galaxies, and Dwarf Galaxies" arXiv:2605.26965 (May 26, 2026) (A&AL in press).

But there are dissenters, who conclude that MOND is disfavored, albeit, with a much smaller sample size, and based upon a "cored halo" model that there is not produced by any underlying dark matter physics model. 

Dwarf galaxies have long been recognised as important testing grounds for models of dark matter. For instance, it is here where the cusp-core problem is most apparent. 

In this work we select two dwarf galaxy samples: LITTLE THINGS and dwarf galaxies in SPARC. We use these to examine whether there are preferences for MOND or dark matter halos in these objects. Notably, our analysis employs the latest developments in Hamiltonian Monte Carlo sampling methodology and robust model comparison via ELPD differences. 

Our findings suggest a > 4σ preference for cored halo models over MOND. However, this relies on significant preferences from 7 out of 19 SPARC galaxies and 11 of 18 from LITTLE THINGS (few of which are overwhelming). It is notable that only a single galaxy prefers MOND over a cored halo. 

Thus, this evidence is suggestive, but does not conclusively decide against MOND. We also test for evidence of a MOND external field effect, and find weak evidence against its presence. 

Despite these statistical preferences, most SPARC galaxies remain compatible with a universal MOND scale. In LITTLE THINGS, a free MOND model is preferred to a universal value at ∼8σ, but this is of doubtful physical significance. 

For MOG, the story is different, here we find ≳8σ preferences for all halos (or MOND) against universal MOG models with significant exclusions in individual galaxies across both samples. Thus, a proposed universal rotation curve model derived from MOG is quite strongly disfavoured.

Geoff Beck, "For modified gravity, it's the LITTLE THINGS that matter" arXiv:2605.27217 (May 26, 2026).

And then, there is this attempt to explain dark matter phenomena:

We review recent results showing that, within the framework of quantum field theory in curved spacetime, the semiclassical energy-momentum tensor of the neutrino flavor vacuum fulfills the equation of state of dust and cold dark matter. By considering spherically symmetric spacetimes in the weak field approximation, the flavor vacuum is shown to contribute as a Yukawa correction to the Newtonian potential. We discuss how this modified potential provides a mechanism to account for the flat rotation curves of spiral galaxies. In this perspective, neutrino mixing is presented as a viable contributing factor to the dark matter content of the universe.

Antonio Capolupo, Salvatore Capozziello, Gabriele Pisacane, Aniello Quaranta, "Particle Physics in Curved Spacetime and Dark Matter" arXiv:2605.26134 (May 21, 2026).

Historical Genetics in Albania and Greece

While not entirely static, Albania has more continuity from the late Bronze Age to the present than the rest of the Balkans. 

Most of Europe exhibits significant continuity with the late Bronze Age at a general level, but most of Europe has also seen that mix tweaked more in the subsequent 3200 years and the shuffling has been particularly great in the Balkans which saw migratory waves from Romans, Slavs, Germanic tribes, Huns, Avars, and Ottomans in the post-Bronze Age era, leaving the Balkans in their currently ethnically fragmented state.

The history of the Albanian people has long been debated, as they first appear in historical records in the eleventh century CE and their language is not closely related to any surviving Indo-European branches. Here, to reconstruct their history, we analysed over 6,000 ancient West Eurasian genomes and 74 newly sequenced present-day ethnic Albanians. Using a range of population genetics methods, including an enhanced protocol to detect identity-by-descent segments between ancient and present-day individuals, we detect continuity of West Balkan Late Bronze and Iron Age ancestry in Early Medieval Albania, to a greater degree than in neighbouring Balkan regions. 

We find that present-day Albanians predominantly descend from this remnant palaeo-Balkan group, which by at least 800–900 CE already exhibited a genetic profile suggesting that they are ancestral to many modern Albanians. In addition, we observe geographically structured admixture with Medieval East European-related groups, averaging 10–20% across present-day Albanians. Our findings provide insight into the demographic processes shaping Albanian ancestry and help locate the origin area of the Albanian language.

Davranoglou, LR., Lauka, A., Aristodemou, A. et al. "Ancient DNA evidence for the history of the Albanians." Nat Hum Behav (May 4, 2026) (pay per view). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-026-02462-z

Most of Greece has a gradient of Slavic ancestry dating to the middle ages that is largest in the north and smallest in the south. The Deep Maniots (a.k.a. Inner Mani) in southern mainland Greece are an exception to the rule on the paternal side. According to this Wikipedia link:

In the early modern period, Maniots gained a reputation as fierce and proudly independent warriors, who engaged in piracy and blood feuds. They lived mainly in fortified villages and "tower houses" built as defenses against "Frankish" (see Frankokratia) and Ottoman invaders.

The Maniots claim to be descendants of the ancient Spartans and heirs to their militaristic culture. Modern observers noted Maniots' self-identification as warriors ready to "preserve their liberty" with arms. Genetic studies have identified the Maniots of Inner Mani as a population isolate within mainland Greece, showing substantial parental genetic continuity from antiquity and limited influence from medieval population movements. 

. . .

In Outer Mani, family names end in -eas, while surnames of Inner Mani end in -akis, -akos, or—less frequently—-oggonas.

The Maniot dialect in Greece rejected sound chances found in other modern Greek dialects.

[It] shared with Tsakonian and with dialects spoken around Athens until the 19th century—is the divergent treatment of historical /y/ (written <υ>). Although this sound merged to /i/ everywhere else, these dialects have /u/ instead (e.g. [ˈksulo] versus standard [ˈksilo] 'wood'). These varieties are thought to be relic areas of a previously larger areal dialect group that used to share these features, and was later divided by the penetration of Arvanitika in much of its area, in the late Middle Ages. Other features of the Maniot dialect include the palatalization of velar consonants, i.e. the realization of /k, ɡ, x, ɣ/ as ([tɕ, dʑ] or [ɕ, ʑ] before /i, e, j/. This feature is shared with many southern dialects of Greek; especially Cretan.

The Mani can, in some respects, be seen as comparable to Appalachian populations in the U.S., which share its culture of honor, its tendency to be organized in clans, its reduced admixture with outside groups, and a conservative dialect of its language (the Appalachian dialect of English is the closest living dialect of England to the Elizabethan dialect spoken in Shakespeare's era).

Notably, the founder effects seen are contemporaneous with the influx of Slavic migration into Greece (and Slavic expansion more generally), and may have been associated with a conscious resistance to and rejection of Slavic migration in the several centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Per Wikipedia:

A 2017 study found they are genetically different from other groups in the Peloponnese region. Maniot individuals share a significant amount of their genome with each other, indicating a high degree of relatedness. They are also genetically isolated from other Greek populations, though they show some overlap with people from Sicily and southern Italy. This is attributed to the Maniots having the lowest levels of Slavic genetic ancestry in the Peloponnese. Maniots from East Mani have very little Slavic ancestry (0.7–1.6%), while those from West and Lower Mani have higher, but still relatively low, amounts (4.9–10.9%). The rest of the Peloponnesian population has a higher percentage of Slavic ancestry (4.8–14.4%). 

This genetic isolation suggests that the Maniots may be descended from the ancient Dorians.

The paper and its abstract are as follows: 

The Deep Maniots, an isolated population at the southernmost tip of mainland Greece, have drawn scholarly interest for their unique dialect, culture, and patrilineal clan structure. Geographically shielded by the Mani Peninsula, they are thought to have been minimally affected by 6th-century CE migrations that transformed Balkan demography. 

To investigate their genetic origins, we analysed Y-DNA and mtDNA from 102 Deep Maniots using next-generation sequencing. Paternally, Deep Maniots exhibit an exceptional prevalence (~80%) of West Asian haplogroup J-M172 (J2a), with subclade J-L930 accounting for ~50% of lineages. 

We identify Bronze Age Greek ancestry in Y-haplogroups nearly absent elsewhere, highlighting their longstanding genetic isolation. The absence of northeast European-related paternal lineages, common in other mainland Greeks, suggests preservation of southern Greece’s pre-Medieval genetic landscape. 

Y-haplogroup phylogeny reveals strong founder effects dated to ~380–670 CE, while the emergence of clan-based social structure is estimated around 1350 CE, centuries earlier than previously thought. 

In contrast, maternal lineages display greater heterogeneity, primarily originating from ancient Balkan, Levantine, and West Eurasian sources. These results align with historical and anthropological accounts, showcasing Deep Maniots as a genetic snapshot of pre-Medieval southern Greece, offering new perspectives on population continuity and mobility in the Late Antique eastern Mediterranean.

Davranoglou, LR., Kofinakos, A.P., Mariolis, A.D. et al. "Uniparental analysis of Deep Maniot Greeks reveals genetic continuity from the pre-Medieval era." 9 Commun Biol 157 (2026) (open access). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-09597-9

More Physics Quick Hits

A relationship between the Higgs boson, top quark, and Z boson masses

Maybe a coincidence, maybe meaningful. The only relation that fits, using pole masses, holds at 1.4 sigma, but tends to predict either a rather high Higgs boson mass, or a rather low top quark mass.

I have little doubt that there are deeper functional relationships between the fundamental constants of the Standard Model (or at least some of them) than are contained within the Standard Model (what I call "within the Standard Model new physics" as opposed to "beyond the Standard Model new physics"). And, even if this particular relationship is not actually true, it is close enough that it is fruitful to ask, if there is some deeper source for these experimentally measured physical constant values, what kind of relationship would produce a close coincidence like this one.

For example, I wonder if an approximation of this relationship is favored in some way by the LP & C relationship that the square of the Higgs vev is equal to the sum of the squares of the fundamental SM particle masses, or by the approximate, but not exact, equality between the sum of the squares of the fundamental fermion masses and the sum of the squares of the fundamental boson masses.

Indeed, the paper notes that: 

After the Higgs discovery the numerical observation M(H)^2 ≃ M(Z)*M(t) (1) was proposed as a possible electroweak mass coincidence involving the heaviest spin-0, spin-1/2 and spin-1 representatives of the Standard Model (SM) spectrum.

(The citation for this sentence is to a paper by the author of the current paper: E. Torrente-Lujan, "The Higgs mass coincidence problem: why is the Higgs mass M2 H = MZMt?", Eur. Phys. J. C 74 (2014) 2744, arXiv:1209.0474.)

This suggests that there might be a fuller relationship that involves addition masses on the Standard Model spectrum beyond the heaviest ones that might provide correcting terms bringing the relationship to a more exact one.

I also seem to recall that there theoretically expected mass of the W boson in the Standard Model is a function of the Z boson mass, the top quark mass, and the Higgs boson mass, based upon electroweak unification in some way, but have never seen that relationship spelled out in detail. I have only seen the abbreviated leading order relationship between the W boson mass and Z boson mass that is related to the electromagnetic force and weak force coupling constants. 

The paper doesn't evaluate the "arithmetic relation" with the theoretically predicted W boson mass of 80.357 ± 0.006 GeV, but because that value is lower than the PDG value of 80.3692 ± 0.0133 GeV, it should be a somewhat better fit with the theoretically predicted W boson mass. As it turns out, this difference doesn't matter much, and neither does the difference between the Higgs boson mass that they use of 125.2 ± 0.11 GeV and the lower value of the Higgs boson mass of 125.09 GeV that is sometimes used. Indeed, the greater precision of the theoretically estimated W boson mass may increase the statistical significance of the discrepancy somewhat.

The relation M(H)^2 ≃ M(Z)*M(t), previously proposed as a non-trivial Higgs mass coincidence, is reconsidered with present electroweak inputs and with a scheme-consistent matching analysis. With the 2025 PDG values for M(Z), M(W) and M(H), and the ATLAS-CMS direct top-mass combination, the pole-level ratio is ρ(Zt)=M(Z)*M(t)/M(H)^2 = 1.00362 ± 0.00261. Thus an exact pole-level geometric relation predicts either M(H) = 125.426 ± 0.120 GeV or M(t) = 171.898 ± 0.302 GeV, which is still a 1.4σ test rather than an exclusion. 

By contrast, the companion arithmetic relation gives ρ(Wt) = (M(W)+M(t))/(2M(H))=1.00994±0.00159 and is not a viable exact mass sum rule. 

We then evaluate the complete NNLO weak-scale MS bar matching formulae at μ=M(t). In the standard convention one obtains ρˆ(Zt(M(t)) = √(g(2)^2+g(Y)^2) * y(t)/(4√2λ) = 0.96714±0.00361. Consequently, the exact running-coupling boundary condition λ =  g(Z)y(t)/(4√2) at the top scale would predict M(H) = 123.19 ± 0.20 GeV, or equivalently M(t) = 177.81 ± 0.50GeV when M(H) is held fixed. This is incompatible with the measured point. 

A possible symmetry explanation must therefore act on pole-level threshold quantities, or provide a finite matching factor κ(th) = 1.0340 ± 0.0039 at the electroweak scale. We formulate this requirement as a target for custodial/top-Higgs or triality-like symmetry extensions.

E. Torrente-Lujan, "The Higgs-top-Z mass coincidence relation after NNLO matching" arXiv:2605.21721 (May 20, 2026) (Report number: FISPAC-TH/3145-26, UQBAR-TH/26-97234).

Another key chart from the paper is this one:

The Lambda predictions are very far from the mark, as are the "arithmetic relation" estimates. The other relationship still has some tension with the experimental results but isn't ruled out.

Bounds on new neutrino physics

The constraints on BSM physics continue to narrow. In the Standard Model, the neutrino magnetic moment is predicted to be far below the threshold of current experimental detection, and the neutrino has an exactly zero electromagnetic charge. These results are consistent with those predictions and thus constrain BSM neutrino physics to very slight deviations from the SM predictions. Non-standard interactions of neutrinos are likewise constrained materially.

CODATA 2022 gives the value:

     ${\displaystyle {\sin }^2{\theta }_{\mathsf{\text{w}}}=1-{\left(\frac{m_{\mathsf{\text{W}}}}{m_{\mathsf{\text{Z}}}}\right)}^2=0.22305(23).}$

So, the Weinberg angle measurement from the CONUS collaboration, while consistent with the world average measurement at the two sigma level, is too imprecise by two orders of magnitude to add meaningfully to our knowledge of that physical constant compared to the value obtained from simply plugging in the world average measured values of the W boson mass and the Z boson mass (or from calculating it in electroweak unification theory from the electromagnetic coupling constant and the weak force coupling constant so e^2/g^2 = sin^2 theta(W).

Its detections with pion-decay-at-rest, solar and recently with reactor antineutrinos by the CONUS collaboration render coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) an established tool for investigations within and beyond the Standard Model (SM). The CONUS experiment located at the nuclear power plants in Brokdorf (Germany) and Leibstadt (Switzerland) operates Germanium semiconductor detectors in a compact shield at close distance to the reactor core. An observation with 3.7σ significance is reported at the Leibstadt site, showing good agreement with its SM prediction.

Physics investigations performed with the last datasets collected at the Brokdorf reactor and with the first data obtained at the Leibstadt site are summarized. By using the experimental analysis framework, the presented results contain the full systematics that underlie the experiment. 

Previously determined limits with neutrino-electron scattering on the neutrino magnetic moment and a neutrino millicharge are improved to μ(ν) < 5.18⋅10^−11μB and q(ν) < 1.76⋅10^−12e0 (90% C.L). Further, the scale of new physics related to NSIs is improved to ΛNSI = 145 GeV and limits on the coupling of light new mediators are lowered down to 4⋅10−7 (90% C.L.) with the new data. Finally, the determination of the Weinberg angle with CEνNS and reactor antineutrinos yields sin(θ(W))^2  = 0.28 +0.03 −0.04 at a momentum transfer of ∼10 MeV.

N. Ackermann, et al., "New constraints on physics within and beyond the standard model from the latest CONUS datasets" arXiv:2605.22815 (May 21m 2026).

The abstract is unclear about what there is 3.7 sigma evidence of, but the body text clarifies that: "With data collected there since 2023, a successful CEνNS detection was reported with 3.7σ significance."

The body text explains some of the theoretical motivation for the paper:

On theory side CEνNS has become an interesting tool for investigations within and beyond the standard model (BSM) because of its flavor-blind and, in principle, threshold-free properties [21–27]. Within the SM it enables measurements of the Weinberg angle sin^2 θ(W) at the MeV scale with neutrinos and probe modifications of the involved couplings, i.e. via radiative correction [28–31] or investigation of the nuclear form factor when deviating from full coherence, i.e. with higher neutrino energies from πDAR sources [32–36]. BSM searches can be performed by testing for new neutrino interactions, for example in the context of heavy new physics via non-standard neutrino interactions (NSIs)[37–43] or new light mediators [44–53]. Neutrino (electromagnetic) properties [26, 27, 54–56] or emerging new particles may be probed as well [57–59]. Furthermore, future applications in the context of multi-messenger astronomy [60–62] or nuclear safeguarding seem promising [63, 64]. Experimental upscaling in the near future will allow such investigations via precision CEνNS measurements.

Ancient Tooth Proteins Tell Tales

An analysis of six ancient Homo erectus tooth proteins from three locations in China, a Denisovan tooth protein, and some modern human and animal tooth proteins reveal some notable insights. Bernard's Blog has the story. Proteins in teeth are easier to recover than ancient DNA and can serve as a proxy for it in cases like these.

Interestingly, it implies that a tooth enamel protein found in 1% of humans in or near the former Denisovan range, and Denisovans have a tooth enamel protein also found in Chinese Homo erectus, probably due to introgression from Homo erectus to Denisovans and then from Denisovans to modern humans, in the view of the researchers.

John Hawk has a discussion of the paper, however, that interprets the data differently:

All six teeth share two derived amino acid changes, both in the sequence of an enamel matrix protein known as ameloblastin, or AMBN. One of these hasn’t before been seen in hominins: a change from alanine to glycine at position 253 of the sequence, or A253G. The other is 20 positions downstream, swapping in valine for the ancestral methionine, M273V. The DNA mutation encoding this change is shared by both the Denisova 3 and Denisova 25 genomes. The M273V amino acid change itself is in the Harbin and Penghu 1 dental proteomes—part of why they align with Denisovans. A number of genomes from modern people also share this change, possibly from Denisovan ancestors.

The hypothesis presented by Fu and coworkers is that Homo erectus was the source of M273V, and its presence in Denisovans is a result of introgression. In support of this idea of introgression, they note earlier research on the Denisova 3 and Denisova 25 genomes that suggests a contribution from a “superarchaic” source population. Many—including me—have speculated that this superarchaic ancestry came from H. erectus. Fu’s team may have just proved it.

But I don’t think these teeth are Homo erectus.

Their estimated ages, all around 400,000 years ago, are prime Denisovan time. Fu and coworkers find that all the teeth share a derived link with later Denisovan genomes. For me, the most likely hypothesis is that these teeth come from a population within the Denisovan branch of humanity.

This situation is basically the same as the Sima de los Huesos fossils. Those remains are around 430,000 years old. Those fossils look like Neanderthals in some subtle ways, but until DNA was recovered from them, many researchers considered them to be part of a different group, often called Homo heidelbergensis. DNA revised both the timeline and their identification.

It may seem heretical, but I think protein data may be about to do the same for fossils from East Asia.

How Common Are Hallucinated Citations In Academic Papers?

Academic papers written with AI that contain hallucinated citations are on the rise.

Large language models (LLMs) are known to generate plausible but false information across a wide range of contexts, yet the real-world magnitude and consequences of this hallucination problem remain poorly understood. 

Here we leverage a uniquely verifiable object - scientific citations - to audit 111 million references across 2.5 million papers in arXiv, bioRxiv, SSRN, and PubMed Central. We find a sharp rise in non-existent references following widespread LLM adoption, with a conservative estimate of 146,932 hallucinated citations in 2025 alone. 

These errors are diffusely embedded across many papers but especially pronounced in fields with rapid AI uptake, in manuscripts with linguistic signatures of AI-assisted writing, and among small and early-career author teams. At the same time, hallucinated references disproportionately assign credit to already prominent and male scholars, suggesting that LLM-generated errors may reinforce existing inequities in scientific recognition. Preprint moderation and journal publication processes capture only a fraction of these errors, suggesting that the spread of hallucinated content has outpaced existing safeguards. Together, these findings demonstrate that LLM hallucinations are infiltrating knowledge production at scale, threatening both the reliability and equity of future scientific discovery as human and AI systems draw on the existing literature.

Zhenyue Zhao, Yihe Wang, Toby Stuart, Mathijs De Vaan, Paul Ginsparg, Yian Yin, "LLM hallucinations in the wild: Large-scale evidence from non-existent citations" arXiv:2605.07723 (May 8, 2026).

Extended Tully-Fisher Relations

Stacy McGaugh's latest post explores in greater depth a major paper is was a co-author of in March of this year which demonstrates how tightly the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation holds from the smallest galaxies to the largest structures in the universe with very little intrinsic scatter. It also highlights that fact that while this scaling law is displaced in galaxy cluster and larger structures, that the same basic scaling law and slope, albeit displaced, holds there as well, as shown in the second chart below.

My take is that the geometry of the mass distribution or interstellar media in clusters could explain the displacement.

The Limits Of Post-Newtonian Approximations

Recognizing that non-perturbative GR effects can be important in circumstances conventionally considered to be non-relativistic, is a big step forward. Deur hit on this a long time ago, and this paper, independently, and indeed without citing to Deur, reaches the same conclusion. This could provide an answer to key unsolved problems in astrophysics, especially dark matter and dark energy phenomena.

Post-Newtonian theory is considered a reliable effective expansion of General Relativity in the weak-field and slow-motion limit. We argue that such a belief is misplaced. 

In generic many-body relativistic dynamics, the absence of globally conserved charges in the region of interest and non-integrability can drive strong sensitivity to angular-momentum exchange across inhomogeneous curvature, invalidating naive power counting in an effective theory expansion. 

Building on general lessons from effective field theory, we derive an explicit breakdown criterion that delineates when post-Newtonian truncations become unreliable despite small local potentials and velocities. This supplies a controlled systematic for weak-field mass inference, relevant to the dark matter puzzle in astrophysics and cosmology.

Marco Galoppo, Giorgio Torrieri, "When Weak Fields Arent Weak: Post-Newtonian effective theory and the Dark Matter Puzzle"  arXiv:2605.13557 (May 13, 2026) (Honorable mention, Gravity Research Foundation essay competition 2026).

Some Astrophysics Quick Hits

Many good theories start from the foundation of patterns in the empirical data.

The standard theory of galaxy formation predicts that all galaxies should contain dark matter, yet a handful of recently discovered galaxies appear to lack it, challenging our understanding of galaxy formation. We investigate whether such dark-matter deficient objects can be identified from their baryonic properties alone, analogously to the radial-acceleration relation, which tightly links baryon and dark matter distributions in spiral galaxies. 

Using a sample of ultra-diffuse and dwarf spheroidal galaxies -- systems whose baryonic properties resemble those of the confirmed dark-matter-deficient galaxies -- we systematically search for a formula to predict baryonic fractions from stellar mass, effective radius, distance to the host, and the host's baryonic mass. We find that baryonic fraction correlates most strongly with the gravitational acceleration expected from baryons alone, a(bar), or equivalently, with mean surface brightness, following an approximately a(bar)^−1 dependence. This scaling resembles the radial-acceleration relation but differs in functional form and applies to a different galaxy population. 

Strikingly, the dark-matter-deficient galaxies occupy the extreme end of the correlation. This suggests that they result from standard formation processes operating at unusual intensities rather than from exotic mechanisms. Importantly, the correlation predicts that all ultra-diffuse galaxies brighter than approximately 25 mag arcsec^−2 in the g-band should have very low dark matter content, offering a straightforward observational criterion for identifying these rare objects.

Michal Bílek, "A correlation predicting galaxies without dark matter" arXiv:2605.11070 (May 11, 2026).

Footnote: "cosmic noon" (i.e. the middle of the age of the universe measured in years) is sometimes operationally defined as "0.5 < z < 3".

Deur's approach to gravity provides a mechanism that explains the seeming observational preference for planar structures over spherical ones at galactic and larger scales.

An update of the evidence that radio galaxies and clusters of galaxies are more common than average near the plane of the de Vaucouleurs Local Supercluster shows that in the distance range 100 to 200Mpc objects whose positions are correlated with the plane of the Local Supercluster include galaxies that are exceptionally luminous at two microns, radio galaxies, and clusters of galaxies. There can be little doubt about this property of cosmic structure. I also argue for detection of this correlation for the galaxies at 400Mpc distance that are exceptionally luminous at two microns. 

It will be interesting to learn whether these results are expected in the standard cosmology.

P. J. E. Peebles, "The Extended Plane of the Local Supercluster" arXiv:2605.11184 (May 11, 2026).

We study how constraints on the abundance of ultralight axions (ULAs) from cosmic microwave background (CMB) data depend on their nonlinear modelling. We focus on the axion mass range 10^−25 ≤ m/eV ≤ 10^−23, where the axion Jeans scale falls in the quasi-linear regime probed by CMB lensing, making constraints highly sensitive to the choice of nonlinear prescription. 

We show that the inferred constraints depend significantly on the choice of nonlinear model, which must therefore be treated carefully. Performing Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analyses with Planck 2018, ACT DR6 and DESI DR2 BAO data, we find naive nonlinear modelling of non-cold matter can produce an artificial preference for a subdominant ULA dark matter component with mass m ≈ 10^−24 eV. This arises from a lensing-like enhancement of the CMB power spectrum.

Lauren Gaughan, Anne M. Green, Adam Moss, "Ultra-light axion constraints from Planck and ACT: the role of nonlinear modelling" arXiv:2605.12054 (May 12, 2026).

Noting this paper for future reference. Here is the chart from it that is most interesting to me:

We present results from the Big Mysteries Survey, a large-scale survey conducted through the American Physical Society's Physics Magazine on foundational and controversial topics in contemporary physics. The survey provides a snapshot of physicists' views on issues in cosmology, black-hole physics, quantum mechanics, quantum gravity, and anthropic coincidences. A central finding is that several positions often described publicly as field-wide ``consensus'' views are, in practice, supported by much narrower majorities or by pluralities rather than majorities.

Niayesh Afshordi, Phil Halper, Matteo Rini, Michael Schirber, "Big Mysteries Survey: Physicists' Views on Cosmology, Black Holes, Quantum Mechanics, and Quantum Gravity" arXiv:2605.11058 (May 11, 2026).

Physics Quick Hits

Lots of interesting papers today. Little time to write, so only minimal commentary for now.

The reactor antineutrino anomaly still isn't real.

The Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly refers to the deficit observed between the average event rate measured in reactor antineutrino experiments with respect to the theoretical prediction. This anomaly was first identified in 2011 (2.5σ) as a consequence of the Huber-Muller reactor antineutrino flux calculation. It was thought to be resolved in 2021 as a result of new reactor antineutrino flux calculations, with a reduction to about 1σ. In this work, we examine the latest reactor antineutrino flux calculation published in 2023 by a French research group. This work represents the first summation model to include a comprehensive uncertainty budget. The result indicates a revival of the Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly at the level of 2.2σ. We also consider the usual simplest explanation of the Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly by active-sterile neutrino oscillations. We present the constraints on the oscillation parameters and we derive a tension of 3.8σ with the results of gallium source experiments (Gallium Anomaly) taking into account also the solar neutrino and KATRIN bounds, that of the combined short-baseline reactor spectral ratio measurements, and that of the Daya Bay search for a sub-eV sterile neutrino. Since the tension may be due to underestimated systematic uncertainties and the main tension is between the gallium data and the other data, we finally present the results of a global analysis with enlarged gallium uncertainties, which reduce the global tension to 1.3σ.

C. Giunti, Y.F. Li, R.P. Zhang, "Revival of the Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly" arXiv:2605.10353 (May 11, 2026).

Intriguing.

The charged-lepton Koide relation remains a striking empirical regularity in Standard-Model flavor data. We prove that for any positive mass set with Koide ratio Q0, the one-particle extension Q(m1,…,mN,x) has a unique global minimum Qmin=Q0/(1+Q0) at m∗=[(∑imi)/(∑imi‾‾‾√)]2. This exact kinematic result defines a unique extension benchmark. For the measured charged leptons it gives mℓ∗=1.25534(16)GeV and Qexp4,min=0.3999978(43); in the ideal Koide limit QKℓ=2/3, the corresponding minimum is exactly 2/5. In the effective-participant language Neff≡1/Q, the optimal one-particle extension increases Neff by one, while the equal-k multiplet extension increases it by k. The one-particle Neff profile is exactly Lorentzian in a dimensionless share-mismatch coordinate u, which we interpret kinematically rather than dynamically. Using charged-lepton pole masses with the PDG~2024 own-scale MS⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ charm mass gives Q(e,μ,τ,c)=0.4000025(64), i.e. 11.7ppm above the measured-input benchmark and 6.2ppm above 2/5. This intentionally mixed-definition comparison is treated only as a phenomenological coincidence. To calibrate it within a stated benchmark class, we perform an exhaustive common-scale scan over non-neutrino Standard Model 2-body and 3-body seeds with one added mass. The charged-lepton-plus-charm continuation ranks 33/12,720 in the raw trial set, 24/2,640 after collapsing repeated scale realizations, and 6/756 within the fermion-only collapsed subset. We present the charm case as an empirically calibrated example of the theorem, not as a dynamical flavor model.

K. Hübner, "A minimization theorem for the Koide ratio and its Standard Model calibration" arXiv:2605.09651 (May 10, 2026).

So what?

Koide's charged-lepton relation suggests that (me‾‾‾√,mμ‾‾‾√,mτ‾‾‾√) is the natural family vector. We construct an effective compact-cycle model in which this vector is sampled from one real amplitude Z(ϕ) on an internal circle, while the masses are quadratic overlaps, ma∝|Z(2πa/3)|2. The amplitude is built from the two lowest antiperiodic modes on the circle; their symmetric square is periodic and gives the minimal three-harmonic family space e^iϕ,1,e^−iϕ. A reality condition together with the requirement that the amplitude comes from the square of one two-component spinor fixes the relative weights required by Koide's 45º geometry. The remaining orientation angle is fixed by matching one C3 family shift to transport on the full circle: integrating out the higher Fourier harmonics gives the Berry dressing that enters the determinant term and selects θℓ=−2/9. Using me and mμ as inputs, the model predicts mτ=1776.97MeV.

Kirill Shulga, "Charged-Lepton Koide Geometry from a Green-Dressed Compact Family Cycle" arXiv:2605.10245 (May 11, 2026).

Similar to another recent paper.

We show how, by exploiting the process of Coherent Elastic neutrino (v) Nucleus Scattering (CEvNS), neutrinos produced by nuclear reactor experiments appear to corroborate the evidence of the so-called X17 particle, which has been invoked to explain the ATOMKI anomaly. We base our analysis primarily on CONUS+ and Dresden-II data, which, when combined with CEvNS data from COHERENT and neutrino oscillation data from IceCube, single out a unique region of couplings to neutrinos and nuclei.

Johan Rathsman, Joakim Cederkäll, Yasar Hicyilmaz, Else Lytken, Stefano Moretti, "The X17 Existence Hinted at by Nuclear Reactor Neutrinos" arXiv:2605.10689 (May 11, 2026) (Short version of 2603.15246 using a different model for the X17).

Neutrinos do not have negative mass, so something isn't quite right in the model to estimate its masses from cosmology.

Recent baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) distance measurements, when combined with Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations in the ΛCDM framework, lead to a preference for negative neutrino masses. We investigate whether this neutrino mass anomaly can be alleviated by a class of astrophysically motivated reionization histories. Using a frequentist analysis, we find that some reionization histories can move the best-fit value of ∑mν to a positive value and bring ∑mν ≃ 0.06 eV into the 95% confidence interval. To separate the effect of the total optical depth from that of the details of the reionization history, we compare a high-τ history with a two-step tanh-like reionization history of the same τ. The resulting Δχ2(∑mν) profiles are nearly identical. This indicates that the effect is mainly driven by the total optical depth, while the details of the reionization history play only a minor role.

Yi Cheng Dai, Wei Liao, "Reionization History and Neutrino Mass" arXiv:2605.10116 (May 11, 2026).

As expected.

Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) is a paradigm that can do away with dark matter at galaxy scales, but displays a residual missing mass discrepancy in galaxy clusters. Prompted by the updated JWST-based gravitational lens model of the Bullet Cluster, I confirm here that this cluster exhibits the same residual missing mass discrepancy as other clusters of similar mass in the MOND context. Moreover, this missing mass should be mostly collisionless, since it is centred on the galaxies of the Bullet Cluster.

Benoit Famaey, "On the residual missing mass of the Bullet Cluster" arXiv:2605.10022 (May 11, 2026).

Color me skeptical. It will take a closer look to poke holes in it, however. I suspect that while it may point out problems in toy-model MOND and some other models, this data could actually point the way towards a better modified gravity theory rather than towards dark matter particles which have myriad problems of their own that are ignored in this study.

Modified gravity theories such as Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) and Scalar-Tensor-Vector Gravity (STVG) have been proposed as alternatives to dark matter, but decisive tests have been hindered by degeneracies between baryonic structure and gravitational laws. Here we break this degeneracy using independent, high-precision constraints: the Milky Way radial rotation curve, vertical phase-space spirals from Gaia, and a broken-exponential stellar disk. A joint reconstruction of the radial and vertical gravitational fields reveals a structural inconsistency in modified gravity -- no model can simultaneously reproduce both observations. Our results strongly disfavor MOND at >13σ and STVG at >4σ. In contrast, dark matter halo models naturally explain the observations, providing a self-consistent test of gravity on galactic scales.

Zheng-long Wang, Yue-Lin Sming Tsai, Lan Zhang, Yin Wu, Haining Li, Xiang-Xiang Xue, Hongsheng Zhao, Yi-Zhong Fan, "Milky Way Dynamics Favor Dark Matter over Modified Gravity Models" arXiv:2605.10857 (May 11, 2026).

A Notable Coincidence Related To The Proton Mass And Charge Radius

There is a functional relationship between the mass of the proton and the charge radius of the proton that is consistent with experimental measurements of those quantities, that doesn't have an obvious cause.

The simple proton mass and charge radius relationship

From @dandb at Physics Stack Exchange on May 5, 2016 (ten years ago). This can also be stated another way:

The charge radius of the proton is almost exactly four times the reduced Compton wavelength of the proton.

The reduced Compton wavelength is a natural representation of mass on the quantum scale and is used in equations that pertain to inertial mass, such as the Klein–Gordon and Schrödinger equations.

Equations that pertain to the wavelengths of photons interacting with mass use the non-reduced Compton wavelength. A particle of mass m has a rest energy of E = mc^2. The Compton wavelength for this particle is the wavelength of a photon of the same energy.

The reduced Planck's constant, h-bar, is Planck's constant divided by 2π. So, this relationship could also be stated as r = 2h/πmc, for Planck's constant h, the proton charge radius r, and the proton mass m.

This relationship is consistent with experimental measurements made to 0.05% precision

The uncertainty in the "predicted" value of the charge radius of the proton from this relationship, which is 0.84124 to five significant digits, is negligible, because the speed of light (c) and the reduced Planck's constant (h-bar) are quantities used to define SI units of measurement which are thus known "exactly" in terms of SI units of measurement, and the mass of the proton is known to the exquisite precision of about one part per hundred billion. See the Particle Data Group table of physical constants.

The Particle Data Group world average value is currently 0.8409(4) fm, i.e. a one sigma range of 0.8405 to 0.8413 This is a relative uncertainty of 0.048% (i.e. about one part per two thousand).

The PDG value is also consistent with a February 11, 2026 measurement of the charge radius of the proton with a relative uncertainty of 0.18% published in the prestigious peer reviewed journal Nature found it to be rp = 0.8406(15) fm, i.e. a one sigma range of 0.8392 to 0.8421 fm. 

So, the conjectured relationship is consistent with the experimentally measured value of the charge radius of the proton. 

At the time that this Physics Stack Exchange post was written, there was a discrepancy between the electron measurement of the proton charge radius and the muon measurement of the proton charge radius, but that has since been resolved. The muon measurement was found to be correct, and the electron measurement was found to have been incorrect due to experimental measurement errors not fully reflected in the stated uncertainty of the measurement.

This "prediction" is also notable because it is a testable hypothesis. As measurements of the proton charge radius grow more precise, we can find out if the experimentally measured value continues to be consistent with this prediction.

For example, if this hypothesis is merely numerology with no deeper meaning, it would be highly likely that it would grow less consistent with the experimental measurement if the experimental measurement's precision were increased by a factor of ten. And, in fact, experiments to do that are on the agenda of the physics community.

Analysis

What makes this relationship surprising?

Since the charge radius of the proton and the mass of the proton are both, in principle, derived quantities in the Standard Model, that this isn't actually a "coincidence" so much as it is a simple relationship arising from Standard Model physics whose source isn't trivially obvious.

The reason that it isn't trivially obvious is that the calculation of the mass and charge radius of the proton in the Standard Model are primarily functions at leading order of (1) the QCD coupling constant (which describes the strength of the "strong force") evaluated with non-perturbative QCD, (2) the mass of the up quark, (3) the mass of the down quark, and (4) the electromagnetic coupling constant. Yet, none of these experimentally measured physical constants have a functional relationship to Planck's constant or the speed of light.

There are comparatively minor contributions to these quantities that tweak their value beyond the leading order values from the masses of the other quarks (especially the strange quark), the weak force coupling constant, the W boson mass, and the CKM matrix elements (especially the  two elements of the nine elements in the matrix involving up-down quark transitions and up-strange quark transitions).

The reason that this relationship is surprising is that there is no known functional relationship between the reduced Planck's constant or the speed of light, and the other experimentally measured determinants of the proton mass and the proton charge radius (such as the Standard Model coupling constants, the quark masses, and the CKM matrix elements).

Three possible explanations

The stack exchange thread linked above contains some speculations as to why this is true, some more credible than others, but they are only speculations. For example, Michell Porter notes that:

Via P.R. Silva (eqn 6), I have run across a heuristic model of the nucleon in which M = 4/R (in natural units). Here R is the radius of the bag in the "bag model". See Xiangdong Ji, "Mass of the hadron", slide 20. I have not found where this argument originates, but a remark in a 1994 paper by Ji (see paragraph beginning "In the chiral limit...", on the final page) hints at it.

One possibility, which is to some extent the default one, is that this numerical coincidence of these two values has no deep meaning or connection and doesn't point to anything. In other words, this relationship just happens to hold for one hadron out of hundreds, for one of a large set of possible combinations of other physical constants that have no actually physical relationship to each other.

Another reason that this could be true is that the contributions of the experimentally measured constants cancel out in the combination of the proton mass and the proton charge radius, since the same experimentally measured constants enter into both calculations.

If true, this would suggest that should be a way of calculating the proton charge radius from first principles that more transparently and obviously reveals this cancelation.

This would be very interesting, would provide us to a deeper understand of the Standard Model and hadron physics. 

It would also suggest that this relationship ought be to generalizable in some way to the relationship between hadron mass and hadron charge radius for many hadrons (hadrons are composite particles made up of quark and/or gluons bound by the strong force of the Standard Model).

A calculation in this form would also have practical use, because the first principles Standard Model calculation of the proton mass has less than one part per thousand precision (vastly less than the precision of the experimentally measured value). And, in general, this would provide a quick and easy way to calculate hadron charge radii (which are no more precise than first principles calculations of hadron masses using current methods, see also here) which could then be compared to experimental measurements of hadron charge radii.

A third possibility, which would be even more grand, is that the values of the physical constants of the Standard Model that go into calculating the mass and charge radius of the proton actually have some deep functional connection to Planck's constant and the speed of light that has not previously been recognized or hypothesized.

The (Weak) Evidence For Extra Higgs Bosons

The 95 GeV bump is suspiciously close to the mass of the Z boson plus the mass of the b-quark. The 152 GeV bump is close to the mass of two W bosons reduced by the mass of two b-quarks. 

The implication of these coincidences is that there could be an explanation along the lines of diphoton signals that are missing decay products that prevent them from accurately reflecting the true source of the diphoton signals. 

Also, given the modest statistical significant of these alleged resonances, it could be that these are simply the product of statistical flukes in the background estimations or some other sort of measurement errors.

After the Higgs discovery, the question of whether particles beyond those of the Standard Model exist is more pressing than ever. In this context, the scalar sector is particularly promising, since it lies at the core of the internal problems of the Standard Model, while extensions of it allow us to resolve them and can provide explanations for Dark matter, non-zero neutrino masses, inflation etc. 

In these proceedings, we review the indications for new Higgs bosons at the electroweak scale with masses of ≈95 GeV and ≈152 GeV. These excesses are most significant in the di-photon channel but are supported by weaker-than-expected limits in other decay modes. 

While for the 95 GeV candidate the production mechanism is mostly unknown, the (hypothetical) 152 GeV Higgs is dominantly produced in association with leptons, (b) jets and missing energy, pointing towards the Drell-Yan production of an SU(2)L triplet with Y=0. Interestingly, this model predicts t→H±b with H±→WZ, which resembles the signature of tt¯Z production in the Standard Model and is in fact preferred by current data. 

Finally, we investigate the possibility that the significant tensions between the Standard Model predictions and the measurements in differential top-quark distributions are due to contamination from new physics involving both the 152 GeV and the 95 GeV scalar.

Andreas Crivellin, et al., "Indications for New Higgs Bosons" arXiv:2605.04233 (May 5, 2026) (Proceedings of the Corfu Summer Institute 2025 "School and Workshops on Elementary Particle Physics and Gravity" (CORFU2025)).

Cracking Linear Elamite

Four years ago, French archaeologist François Desset reportedly cracked the 4,000 year old Linear Elamite script, "[m]ade up of 77 signs – diamonds, curves, and other geometric patterns – the writing system comes from the Bronze Age civilisation of Elam" in Southwest Iran that collapsed long ago. The script was rediscovered in 1903, but has eluded decipherment until now. 

Elam is shown in red.

The Elamite language has partially been known long before this breakthrough from inscriptions of the language made in an Elamite cuneiform script, which was adapted from Akkadian cuneiform. This language was still spoken in the first century CE, and probably went extinct around the eleventh century CE. Most linguists consider it to be a language isolate (and in my review of this literature, I have not found that Elamo-Dravidian hypothesis to be a credible one).

Elamite is regarded by the vast majority of linguists as a language isolate,[31][32] as it has no demonstrable relationship to the neighbouring Semitic languages, Indo-European languages, or to Sumerian, despite having adopted the Sumerian-Akkadian cuneiform script.

An Elamo-Dravidian family connecting Elamite with the Brahui language of Pakistan and Dravidian languages of India was suggested in 1967 by Igor M. Diakonoff[33] and later, in 1974, defended by David McAlpin and others.[34][35] In 2012, Southworth proposed that Elamite forms the "Zagrosian family" along with Brahui and, further down the cladogram, the remaining Dravidian languages; this family would have originated in Southwest Asia (southern Iran) and was widely distributed in South Asia and parts of eastern West Asia before the Indo-Aryan migration.[36] Recent discoveries regarding early population migration based on ancient DNA analysis have revived interest in the possible connection between proto-Elamite and proto-Dravidian.[37][38][39][40] A critical reassessment of the Elamo-Dravidian hypothesis has been published by Filippo Pedron in 2023.[41]

Václav Blažek proposed a relation with the Semitic languages.[42]

In 2002 George Starostin published a lexicostatistic analysis finding Elamite to be approximately equidistant from Nostratic and Semitic.[43]

None of these ideas have been accepted by mainstream historical linguists.[31]

Desset accomplished this primarily by using proper names to decode the meaning of those signs and applying that method to ten new Linear Elamite texts inscribed on vases, according an April 28, 2026 story from France 24. This story of breakthrough is also reported in National Geographic, January 2026, pp. 110-131, entitled, "Decoding the Lost Scripts of the Ancient World", by Joshua Hammer. Hat top to Language Log. The Smithsonian magazine also has a recent article on the topic. It isn't entirely clear to me why this development is making headlines now, four years after the leading article on the topic was published (which I blogged at the time, see also an earlier post on a related topic).

Wikipedia (at the link above) explains that:

In 2022, Desset et al. (2022) argued that Linear Elamite is an alpha-syllabary, which would make it the oldest known purely phonographic writing system.[5] However, they admit that some logograms may have been used, although only rarely and not systematically, arguing that Elamite scribes rejected logographic writing in the 3rd millennium BCE.[30] Other researchers, such as the linguist Michael Mäder, dispute this, arguing that only around 70 percent of Linear Elamite characters are likely to be purely phonographic and that the remainder are logograms, as evidenced by mathematical analyses of Linear Elamite inscriptions.[3][31]

His 2022 article is the capstone of the project. Its abstract states:

Linear Elamite writing was used in southern Iran in the late 3rd/early 2nd millennium BCE (ca. 2300–1880 BCE). First discovered during the French excavations at Susa from 1903 onwards, it has so far resisted decipherment. The publication of eight inscribed silver beakers in 2018 provided the materials and the starting point for a new attempt; its results are presented in this paper. A full description and analysis of Linear Elamite of writing, employed for recording the Elamite language, is given here for the first time, together with a discussion of Elamite phonology and the biscriptualism that characterizes this language in its earliest documented phase.

Desset's main publications on the subject are as follows: 

Desset, François (2018a). "Linear Elamite Writing". In Álvarez-Mon, Javier; Basello, Gian Pietro; Wicks, Yasmina (eds.). The Elamite World. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 397–415. ISBN 978-1-315-65803-2.

Desset, François (2018b). "Nine Linear Elamite Texts Inscribed on Silver "Gunagi" Vessels (X, Y, Z, F', H', I', J', K' and L'): New Data on Linear Elamite Writing and the History of the Sukkalmaḫ Dynasty". Iran. 56 (2): 105–143. doi:10.1080/05786967.2018.1471861. S2CID 193057655.

Desset, François (2020a). "Breaking the Code: The Decipherment of Linear Elamite, a Forgotten Writing System of Ancient Iran (3rd Millenium BC)". Canal-U.

Desset, François (2020b). A New History of Writing on The Iranian Plateau – via YouTube.

Desset, François (1 September 2021). "On The Decipherment of Linear Elamite Writing". The Postil (Interview). Interviewed by Robert M. Kerr.

Desset, François; Tabibzadeh, Kambiz; Kervran, Matthieu; Basello, Gian Pietro; Marchesi, Gianni (2022). "The Decipherment of Linear Elamite Writing". Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie. 112 (1): 11–60. doi:10.1515/za-2022-0003. ISSN 0084-5299. S2CID 250118314.