Exact holography of the mass-deformed M2-brane theory

We test the holographic relation between the vacuum expectation values of gauge invariant operators in \({\mathcal {N}} = 6\) U\(_k(N)\times \mathrm{U}_{-k}(N)\) mass-deformed ABJM theory and the LLM geometries with \({\mathbb {Z}}_k\) orbifold in 11-dimensional supergravity. To do so, we apply the Kaluza–Klein reduction to construct a 4-dimensional gravity theory and implement the holographic renormalization procedure. We obtain an exact holographic relation for the vacuum expectation values of the chiral primary operator with conformal dimension \(\Delta = 1\), which is given by \(\langle {\mathcal {O}}^{(\Delta =1)}\rangle = N^{\frac{3}{2}} \, f_{(\Delta =1)}\), for large N and \(k=1\). Here the factor \(f_{(\Delta )}\) is independent of N. Our results involve an infinite number of exact dual relations for all possible supersymmetric Higgs vacua and so provide a non-trivial test of gauge/gravity duality away from the conformal fixed point. We extend our results to the case of \(k\ne 1\) for LLM geometries represented by rectangular-shaped Young diagrams. We also discuss the exact mapping of the gauge/gravity at finite N for classical supersymmetric vacuum solutions in field theory side and corresponding classical solutions in gravity side.     

Kinetically modified non-minimal inflation with exponential frame function

We consider supersymmetric (SUSY) and non-SUSY models of chaotic inflation based on the \(\phi ^n\) potential with \(n=2\) or 4. We show that the coexistence of an exponential non-minimal coupling to gravity \(f_\mathcal{R}=\mathrm{e}^{c_\mathcal{R}\phi ^{p}}\) with a kinetic mixing of the form \(f_{\mathrm{K}}=c_{\mathrm{K}}f_\mathcal{R}^m\) can accommodate inflationary observables favored by the Planck and Bicep2/Keck Array results for \(p=1\) and 2, \(1\le m\le 15\) and \(2.6\times 10^{-3}\le r_{\mathcal {R}\mathrm{K}}=c_\mathcal{R}/c_{\mathrm{K}}^{p/2}\le 1,\) where the upper limit is not imposed for \(p=1\). Inflation is of hilltop type and it can be attained for subplanckian inflaton values with the corresponding effective theories retaining the perturbative unitarity up to the Planck scale. The supergravity embedding of these models is achieved employing two chiral gauge singlet supefields, a monomial superpotential and several (semi)logarithmic or semi-polynomial Kähler potentials.     

On Painlevé/gauge theory correspondence

We elucidate the relation between Painlevé equations and four-dimensional rank one \(\mathcal {N} = 2\) theories by identifying the connection associated with Painlevé isomonodromic problems with the oper limit of the flat connection of the Hitchin system associated with gauge theories and by studying the corresponding renormalization group flow. Based on this correspondence, we provide long-distance expansions at various canonical rays for all Painlevé \(\tau \)-functions in terms of magnetic and dyonic Nekrasov partition functions for \(\mathcal {N} = 2\) SQCD and Argyres–Douglas theories at self-dual Omega background \(\epsilon _1 + \epsilon _2 = 0\) or equivalently in terms of \(c=1\) irregular conformal blocks.     

The decays of $$\bar{B}^0$$, $$\bar{B}^0_s$$B¯s0 and $$B^-$$B- into $$\eta _c$$ηc plus a scalar or vector meson

We investigate the decays of \(\bar{B}^0_s\), \(\bar{B}^0\) and \(B^-\) into \(\eta _c\) plus a scalar or vector meson in a theoretical framework by taking into account the dominant process for the weak decay of \(\bar{B}\) meson into \(\eta _c\) and a \(q\bar{q}\) pair. After hadronization of this \(q\bar{q}\) component into pairs of pseudoscalar mesons we obtain certain weights for the pseudoscalar meson-pseudoscalar meson components. In addition, the \(\bar{B}^0\) and \(\bar{B}^0_s\) decays into \(\eta _c\) and \(\rho ^0\), \(K^*\) are evaluated and compared to the \(\eta _c\) and \(\phi \) production. The calculation is based on the postulation that the scalar mesons \(f_0(500)\), \(f_0(980)\) and \(a_0(980)\) are dynamically generated states from the pseudoscalar meson-pseudoscalar meson interactions in S-wave. Up to a global normalization factor, the \(\pi \pi \), \(K \bar{K}\) and \(\pi \eta \) invariant mass distributions for the decays of \(\bar{B}^0_s \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^+ \pi ^-\), \(\bar{B}^0_s \rightarrow \eta _c K^+ K^-\), \(\bar{B}^0 \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^+ \pi ^-\), \(\bar{B}^0 \rightarrow \eta _c K^+ K^-\), \(\bar{B}^0 \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^0 \eta \), \(B^- \rightarrow \eta _c K^0 K^-\) and \(B^- \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^- \eta \) are predicted. Comparison is made with the limited experimental information available and other theoretical calcualtions. Further comparison of these results with coming LHCb measurements will be very valuable to make progress in our understanding of the nature of the low lying scalar mesons, \(f_0(500), f_0(980)\) and \(a_0(980)\).     

The Quest for the Ultimate Anisotropic Banach Space

We present a new scale \(\mathcal {U}^{t,s}_p\) (\(s<-t<0\) and \(1\le p <\infty \)) of anisotropic Banach spaces, defined via Paley–Littlewood, on which the transfer operator \(\mathcal {L}_g \varphi = (g \cdot \varphi ) \circ T^{-1}\) associated to a hyperbolic dynamical system T has good spectral properties. When \(p=1\) and t is an integer, the spaces are analogous to the “geometric” spaces \(\mathcal {B}^{t,|s+t|}\) considered by Gouëzel and Liverani (Ergod Theory Dyn Syst 26:189–217, 2006). When \(p>1\) and \(-1+1/p<s<-t<0<t<1/p\), the spaces are somewhat analogous to the geometric spaces considered by Demers and Liverani (Trans Am Math Soc 360:4777–4814, 2008). In addition, just like for the “microlocal” spaces defined by Baladi and Tsujii (Ann Inst Fourier 57:127–154, 2007) (or Faure–Roy–Sjöstrand in Open Math J 1:35–81, 2008), the transfer operator acting on \(\mathcal {U}^{t,s}_p\) can be decomposed into \(\mathcal {L}_{g,b}+\mathcal {L}_{g,c}\), where \(\mathcal {L}_{g,b}\) has a controlled norm while a suitable power of \(\mathcal {L}_{g,c}\) is nuclear. This “nuclear power decomposition” enhances the Lasota–Yorke bounds and makes the spaces \(\mathcal {U}^{t,s}_p\) amenable to the kneading approach of Milnor–Thurson (Dynamical Systems (Maryland 1986–1987), Springer, Berlin, 1988) (as revisited by Baladi–Ruelle, Baladi in Dynamical Zeta Functions and Dynamical Determinants for Hyperbolic Maps, Monograph, 2016; Baladi and Ruelle in Ergod Theory Dyn Syst 14:621–632, 1994; Baladi and Ruelle in Invent Math 123:553–574, 1996) to study dynamical determinants and zeta functions.     

$$\varvec{B^0\rightarrow K^{*0}\mu ^+\mu ^-}$$ decay in the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model

In the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model, we perform a complete one-loop computation of the short-distance Wilson coefficients \(C_{7,9,10}^{(\prime )}\), which are the most relevant ones for \(b\rightarrow s\ell ^+\ell ^-\) transitions. It is found that, when the model parameter \(\left| \varsigma _{u}\right| \) is much smaller than \(\left| \varsigma _{d}\right| \), the charged scalar contributes mainly to chirality-flipped \(C_{9,10}^\prime \), with the corresponding effects being proportional to \(\left| \varsigma _{d}\right| ^2\). Numerically, the charged-scalar effects fit into two categories: (A) \(C_{7,9,10}^\mathrm {H^\pm }\) are sizable, but \(C_{9,10}^{\prime \mathrm {H^\pm }}\simeq 0\), corresponding to the (large \(\left| \varsigma _{u}\right| \), small \(\left| \varsigma _{d}\right| \)) region; (B) \(C_7^\mathrm {H^\pm }\) and \(C_{9,10}^{\prime \mathrm {H^\pm }}\) are sizable, but \(C_{9,10}^\mathrm {H^\pm }\simeq 0\), corresponding to the (small \(\left| \varsigma _{u}\right| \), large \(\left| \varsigma _{d}\right| \)) region. Taking into account phenomenological constraints from the inclusive radiative decay \(B\rightarrow X_{s}{\gamma }\), as well as the latest model-independent global analysis of \(b\rightarrow s\ell ^+\ell ^-\) data, we obtain the much restricted parameter space of the model. We then study the impact of the allowed model parameters on the angular observables \(P_2\) and \(P_5'\) of \(B^0\rightarrow K^{*0}\mu ^+\mu ^-\) decay, and we find that \(P_5'\) could be increased significantly to be consistent with the experimental data in case B.     

Monojet signatures from heavy colored particles: future collider sensitivities and theoretical uncertainties

In models with colored particle \(\mathcal {Q}\) that can decay into a dark matter candidate X, the relevant collider process \(pp\rightarrow \mathcal {Q}\bar{\mathcal {Q}}\rightarrow X\bar{X}\,+\,\)jets gives rise to events with significant transverse momentum imbalance. When the masses of \(\mathcal {Q}\) and X are very close, the relevant signature becomes monojet-like, and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) search limits become much less constraining. In this paper, we study the current and anticipated experimental sensitivity to such particles at the High-Luminosity LHC at \(\sqrt{s}=14\) TeV with \(\mathcal {L}=3\) ab\(^{-1}\) of data and the proposed High-Energy LHC at \(\sqrt{s}=27\) TeV with \(\mathcal {L}=15\) ab\(^{-1}\) of data. We estimate the reach for various Lorentz and QCD color representations of \(\mathcal {Q}\). Identifying the nature of \(\mathcal {Q}\) is very important to understanding the physics behind the monojet signature. Therefore, we also study the dependence of the observables built from the \(pp\rightarrow \mathcal {Q}\bar{\mathcal {Q}} + j \) process on \(\mathcal {Q}\) itself. Using the state-of-the-art Monte Carlo suites MadGraph5_aMC@NLO+Pythia8 and Sherpa, we find that when these observables are calculated at NLO in QCD with parton shower matching and multijet merging, the residual theoretical uncertainties are comparable to differences observed when varying the quantum numbers of \(\mathcal {Q}\) itself. We find, however, that the precision achievable with NNLO calculations, where available, can resolve this dilemma.     

Strong decay of $$\Lambda _c(2940)$$ as a 2 P state in the $$\Lambda _c$$Λc family

Considering the mass, parity and \(D^0 p\) decay mode, we tentatively assign the \(\Lambda _c(2940)\) as the \(P-\)wave states with one radial excitation. Then, via studying the strong decay behavior of the \(\Lambda _c(2940)\) within the \(^3P_0\) model, we obtain that the total decay widths of the \(\Lambda _{c1}(\frac{1}{2}^-,2P)\) and \(\Lambda _{c1}(\frac{3}{2}^-,2P)\) states are 16.27 and 25.39 MeV, respectively. Compared with the experimental total width \(27.7^{+8.2}_{-6.0}\pm 0.9^{+5.2}_{-10.4}~\mathrm {MeV}\) measured by LHCb Collaboration, both assignments are allowed, and the \(J^P=\frac{3}{2}^-\) assignment is more favorable. Other \(\lambda \)-mode \(\Sigma _c(2P)\) states are also investigated, which are most likely to be narrow states and have good potential to be observed in future experiments.     

Radiative corrections of heavy scalar decays to gauge bosons in the singlet extension of the Standard Model

Assuming the existence of a new real scalar singlet \(s^0\) coupled to the Standard Model via a scalar quartic portal interaction, we compute the radiative corrections to the decay rates of the heavy scalar mass eigenstate to a couple of gauge bosons ZZ and \(W^+W^-(\gamma )\), showing that they can give a contribution as large as \({{\mathcal {O}}}\)(5%) and \({{\mathcal {O}}}\)(7%), respectively. We also explicitly analyze in detail their dependence on the heavy mass \(m_S\) and on the scalar mixing angle \(\alpha \), finding that, especially in the large-mass region, these depend on the sign and the assumed value of \(\sin \alpha \).     

$\mathcal {}$-Matrix-valued Wave Packet Frames in L2(ℝd,ℂs×r)$L^{2}(\mathbb {R}^{d}, \mathbb {C}^{s\times r})$

We study frame properties of a matrix-valued wave packet system in the matrix-valued function space \(L^{2}(\mathbb {R}^{d}, \mathbb {C}^{s\times r})\), where the lower frame condition is controlled by a bounded linear operator \(\mathcal {K}\) on \(L^{2}(\mathbb {R}^{d}, \mathbb {C}^{s\times r})\) (lower \(\mathcal {K}\)-frame condition, in short). There are many differences between ordinary frames and \(\mathcal {K}\)-frames. The lower \(\mathcal {K}\)-frame condition for matrix-valued wave packet Bessel sequences in \(L^{2}(\mathbb {R}^{d},\mathbb {C}^{s\times r})\) in terms of operators; a trace functional associated with a bounded linear operator on \(L^{2}(\mathbb {R}^{d}, \mathbb {C}^{s\times r})\); and a series associated with a matrix-valued Bessel sequence is presented. It is shown that matrix-valued wave packet frames are stable under small perturbation with respect to wave packet window functions.     

Uncertainties of the $$B\rightarrow D$$B→ D transition form factor from the D-meson leading-twist distribution amplitude

The \(B\rightarrow D\) transition form factor (TFF) \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(q^2)\) is determined mainly by the D-meson leading-twist distribution amplitude (DA) , \(\phi _{2;D}\), if the proper chiral current correlation function is adopted within the light-cone QCD sum rules. It is therefore significant to make a comprehensive study of DA \(\phi _{2;D}\) and its impact on \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(q^2)\). In this paper, we calculate the moments of \(\phi _{2;D}\) with the QCD sum rules under the framework of the background field theory. New sum rules for the leading-twist DA moments \(\left\langle \xi ^n\right\rangle _D\) up to fourth order and up to dimension-six condensates are presented. At the scale \(\mu = 2 \,\mathrm{GeV}\), the values of the first four moments are: \(\left\langle \xi ^1\right\rangle _D = -0.418^{+0.021}_{-0.022}\), \(\left\langle \xi ^2\right\rangle _D = 0.289^{+0.023}_{-0.022}\), \(\left\langle \xi ^3\right\rangle _D = -0.178 \pm 0.010\) and \(\left\langle \xi ^4\right\rangle _D = 0.142^{+0.013}_{-0.012}\). Basing on the values of \(\left\langle \xi ^n\right\rangle _D(n=1,2,3,4)\), a better model of \(\phi _{2;D}\) is constructed. Applying this model for the TFF \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(q^2)\) under the light cone sum rules, we obtain \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(0) = 0.673^{+0.038}_{-0.041}\) and \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(q^2_{\mathrm{max}}) = 1.117^{+0.051}_{-0.054}\). The uncertainty of \(f^{B\rightarrow D}_+(q^2)\) from \(\phi _{2;D}\) is estimated and we find its impact should be taken into account, especially in low and central energy region. The branching ratio \(\mathcal {B}(B\rightarrow Dl\bar{\nu }_l)\) is calculated, which is consistent with experimental data.     

Higher Spin Dirac Operators Between Spaces of Simplicial Monogenics in Two Vector Variables

The higher spin Dirac operator \(\mathcal{Q}_{k,l}\) acting on functions taking values in an irreducible representation space for \(\mathfrak{so}(m)\) with highest weight \((k+\frac{1}{2},l+\frac{1}{2},\frac{1}{2},\ldots,\frac{1}{2})\), with k, l?∈?\(\mathbb{N}\) and \(k\geqslant l\), is constructed. The structure of the kernel space containing homogeneous polynomial solutions is then also studied.     

Likelihood analysis of the pMSSM11 in light of LHC 13-TeV data

We use MasterCode to perform a frequentist analysis of the constraints on a phenomenological MSSM model with 11 parameters, the pMSSM11, including constraints from \(\sim 36\)/fb of LHC data at 13 TeV and PICO, XENON1T and PandaX-II searches for dark matter scattering, as well as previous accelerator and astrophysical measurements, presenting fits both with and without the \((g-2)_\mu \) constraint. The pMSSM11 is specified by the following parameters: 3 gaugino masses \(M_{1,2,3}\), a common mass for the first-and second-generation squarks \(m_{\tilde{q}}\) and a distinct third-generation squark mass \(m_{\tilde{q}_3}\), a common mass for the first-and second-generation sleptons \(m_{\tilde{\ell }}\) and a distinct third-generation slepton mass \(m_{\tilde{\tau }}\), a common trilinear mixing parameter A, the Higgs mixing parameter \(\mu \), the pseudoscalar Higgs mass \(M_A\) and \(\tan \beta \). In the fit including \((g-2)_\mu \), a Bino-like \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}\) is preferred, whereas a Higgsino-like \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}\) is mildly favoured when the \((g-2)_\mu \) constraint is dropped. We identify the mechanisms that operate in different regions of the pMSSM11 parameter space to bring the relic density of the lightest neutralino, \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}\), into the range indicated by cosmological data. In the fit including \((g-2)_\mu \), coannihilations with \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{2}\) and the Wino-like \(\tilde{\chi }^\pm _{1}\) or with nearly-degenerate first- and second-generation sleptons are active, whereas coannihilations with the \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{2}\) and the Higgsino-like \(\tilde{\chi }^\pm _{1}\) or with first- and second-generation squarks may be important when the \((g-2)_\mu \) constraint is dropped. In the two cases, we present \(\chi ^2\) functions in two-dimensional mass planes as well as their one-dimensional profile projections and best-fit spectra. Prospects remain for discovering strongly-interacting sparticles at the LHC, in both the scenarios with and without the \((g-2)_\mu \) constraint, as well as for discovering electroweakly-interacting sparticles at a future linear \(e^+ e^-\) collider such as the ILC or CLIC.     

On Blow-up Profile of Ground States of Boson Stars with External Potential

We study minimizers of the pseudo-relativistic Hartree functional \({\mathcal {E}}_{a}(u):=\Vert (-\varDelta +m^{2})^{1/4}u\Vert _{L^{2}}^{2}+\int _{{\mathbb {R}}^{3}}V(x)|u(x)|^{2}\mathrm{d}x-\frac{a}{2}\int _{{\mathbb {R}}^{3}}(\left| \cdot \right| ^{-1}\star |u|^{2})(x)|u(x)|^{2}\mathrm{d}x\) under the mass constraint \(\int _{{\mathbb {R}}^3}|u(x)|^2\mathrm{d}x=1\). Here \(m>0\) is the mass of particles and \(V\ge 0\) is an external potential. We prove that minimizers exist if and only if a satisfies \(0\le a<a^{*}\), and there is no minimizer if \(a\ge a^*\), where \(a^*\) is called the Chandrasekhar limit. When a approaches \(a^*\) from below, the blow-up behavior of minimizers is derived under some general external potentials V. Here we consider three cases of V: trapping potential, i.e. \(V\in L_{\mathrm{loc}}^{\infty }({\mathbb {R}}^3)\) satisfies \(\lim _{|x|\rightarrow \infty }V(x)=\infty \); periodic potential, i.e. \(V\in C({\mathbb {R}}^3)\) satisfies \(V(x+z)=V(x)\) for all \(z\in \mathbb {Z}^3\); and ring-shaped potential, e.g. \( V(x)=||x|-1|^p\) for some \(p>0\).     

Search of the neutrino-less double beta decay of $$^{}$$Se into the excited states of $$^{}$$Kr with CUPID-0

The CUPID-0 experiment searches for double beta decay using cryogenic calorimeters with double (heat and light) read-out. The detector, consisting of 24 ZnSe crystals 95\(\%\) enriched in \(^{82}\)Se and two natural ZnSe crystals, started data-taking in 2017 at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. We present the search for the neutrino-less double beta decay of \(^{82}\)Se into the 0\(_1^+\), 2\(_1^+\) and 2\(_2^+\) excited states of \(^{82}\)Kr with an exposure of 5.74 kg\(\cdot \)yr (2.24\(\times \)10\(^{25}\) emitters\(\cdot \)yr). We found no evidence of the decays and set the most stringent limits on the widths of these processes: \(\varGamma \)(\(^{82}\)Se \(\rightarrow ^{82}\)Kr\(_{0_1^+}\))8.55\(\times \)10\(^{-24}\) yr\(^{-1}\), \(\varGamma \) (\(^{82}\) Se \(\rightarrow ^{82}\) Kr \(_{2_1^+}\))\(\,{<}\,6.25 \,{\times }\,10^{-24}\) yr\(^{-1}\), \(\varGamma \)(\(^{82}\)Se \(\rightarrow ^{82}\)Kr\(_{2_2^+}\))8.25\(\times \)10\(^{-24}\) yr\(^{-1}\) (90\(\%\) credible interval).     

Gibbs Measures Over Locally Tree-Like Graphs and Percolative Entropy Over Infinite Regular Trees

Consider a statistical physical model on the d-regular infinite tree \(T_{d}\) described by a set of interactions \(\Phi \). Let \(\{G_{n}\}\) be a sequence of finite graphs with vertex sets \(V_n\) that locally converge to \(T_{d}\). From \(\Phi \) one can construct a sequence of corresponding models on the graphs \(G_n\). Let \(\{\mu _n\}\) be the resulting Gibbs measures. Here we assume that \(\{\mu _{n}\}\) converges to some limiting Gibbs measure \(\mu \) on \(T_{d}\) in the local weak\(^*\) sense, and study the consequences of this convergence for the specific entropies \(|V_n|^{-1}H(\mu _n)\). We show that the limit supremum of \(|V_n|^{-1}H(\mu _n)\) is bounded above by the percolative entropy \(H_{\textit{perc}}(\mu )\), a function of \(\mu \) itself, and that \(|V_n|^{-1}H(\mu _n)\) actually converges to \(H_{\textit{perc}}(\mu )\) in case \(\Phi \) exhibits strong spatial mixing on \(T_d\). When it is known to exist, the limit of \(|V_n|^{-1}H(\mu _n)\) is most commonly shown to be given by the Bethe ansatz. Percolative entropy gives a different formula, and we do not know how to connect it to the Bethe ansatz directly. We discuss a few examples of well-known models for which the latter result holds in the high temperature regime.     

Study of the weak annihilation contributions in charmless $$\varvec{B_s\rightarrow VV}$$ decays

In this paper, in order to probe the spectator-scattering and weak annihilation contributions in charmless \(B_s\rightarrow VV\) (where V stands for a light vector meson) decays, we perform the \(\chi ^2\)-analyses for the endpoint parameters within the QCD factorization framework, under the constraints from the measured \(\bar{B}_{s}\rightarrow \) \(\rho ^0\phi \), \(\phi K^{*0}\), \(\phi \phi \) and \(K^{*0}\bar{K}^{*0}\) decays. The fitted results indicate that the endpoint parameters in the factorizable and nonfactorizable annihilation topologies are non-universal, which is also favored by the charmless \(B\rightarrow PP\) and PV (where P stands for a light pseudo-scalar meson) decays observed in previous work. Moreover, the abnormal polarization fractions \(f_{L,\bot }(\bar{B}_{s}\rightarrow K^{*0}\bar{K}^{*0})=(20.1\pm 7.0)\%,(58.4\pm 8.5)\%\) measured by the LHCb collaboration can be reconciled through the weak annihilation corrections. However, the branching ratio of \(\bar{B}_{s}\rightarrow \phi K^{*0}\) decay exhibits a tension between the data and theoretical result, which dominates the contributions to \(\chi _\mathrm{min}^2\) in the fits. Using the fitted endpoint parameters, we update the theoretical results for the charmless \(B_s\rightarrow VV\) decays, which will be further tested by the LHCb and Belle-II experiments in the near future.     

Thermodynamic implications of the gravitationally induced particle creation scenario

A rigorous thermodynamic analysis has been done as regards the apparent horizon of a spatially flat Friedmann–Lemaitre–Robertson–Walker universe for the gravitationally induced particle creation scenario with constant specific entropy and an arbitrary particle creation rate \(\Gamma \). Assuming a perfect fluid equation of state \(p=(\gamma -1)\rho \) with \(\frac{2}{3} \le \gamma \le 2\), the first law, the generalized second law (GSL), and thermodynamic equilibrium have been studied, and an expression for the total entropy (i.e., horizon entropy plus fluid entropy) has been obtained which does not contain \(\Gamma \) explicitly. Moreover, a lower bound for the fluid temperature \(T_f\) has also been found which is given by \(T_f \ge 8\left( \frac{\frac{3\gamma }{2}-1}{\frac{2}{\gamma }-1}\right) H^2\). It has been shown that the GSL is satisfied for \(\frac{\Gamma }{3H} \le 1\). Further, when \(\Gamma \) is constant, thermodynamic equilibrium is always possible for \(\frac{1}{2}<\frac{\Gamma }{3H} < 1\), while for \(\frac{\Gamma }{3H} \le \text {min}\left\{ \frac{1}{2},\frac{2\gamma -2}{3\gamma -2} \right\} \) and \(\frac{\Gamma }{3H} \ge 1\), equilibrium can never be attained. Thermodynamic arguments also lead us to believe that during the radiation phase, \(\Gamma \le H\). When \(\Gamma \) is not a constant, thermodynamic equilibrium holds if \(\ddot{H} \ge \frac{27}{4}\gamma ^2 H^3 \left( 1-\frac{\Gamma }{3H}\right) ^2\), however, such a condition is by no means necessary for the attainment of equilibrium.