Identifying the particle nature of dark matter remains one of the most significant challenges in modern physics. Direct detection experiments aim to observe rare scattering events between dark matter particles and terrestrial targets, a task that demands extreme background suppression and sensitivity to minute energy depositions. This review critically assesses the current experimental landscape, organizing detector technologies by the fundamental physical trade-offs that define their scientific reach. We contrast the multi-tonne scalability of noble-liquid Time Projection Chambers (TPCs), which currently define the sensitivity frontier for high-mass Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), with the precision of cryogenic semiconductors and Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)- based sensors, which dominate the search for low-mass and sub-GeV candidates. Special emphasis is placed on the role of advanced reconstruction pipelines and machine learning (ML) as integral components of detector performance. Finally, we discuss the strategic roadmap for the next decade as experiments approach the neutrino fog, where coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) produces an increasingly significant and ultimately irreducible background that can mimic DM-induced nuclear recoils. We argue that future progress will rely not on a single technology but on a complementary global program combining increased target mass, ultra-low energy thresholds, improved background discrimination, and distinct observables - such as directionality and temporal signatures - to maintain robust discovery capability in the presence of neutrino-induced backgrounds.
Unraveling the three-dimensional structure of hadrons is a central objective in modern nuclear and particle physics. Transverse Momentum Dependent parton distributions (TMDs) provide crucial insights into the interplay between partonic transverse motion and spin, and are indispensable for describing a wide range of high-energy processes at facilities such as JLab, COMPASS, the LHC, and the upcoming Electron-Ion Collider. In recent years, significant progress has been made in accessing TMDs from lattice QCD using novel approaches. Methods based on ratios of Mellin moments, large-momentum effective theory (LaMET), and Coulomb-gauge techniques have enabled first-principles investigations of the Collins-Soper kernel, intrinsic soft functions, TMD wave functions, and TMDPDFs. Recent lattice results for both unpolarized and spin-dependent distributions, including the Boer-Mulders function, demonstrate the feasibility of extracting transverse-momentum–dependent information directly from QCD. This paper reviews recent advances in lattice-QCD studies of TMDs, outlines remaining challenges such as continuum and infinite-momentum extrapolations, and discusses future directions toward precision determinations of hadron structure in three dimensions.
The Electron-Ion Collider in China (EicC), a cutting-edge facility under development, aims to unveil the internal structure of nucleons and nuclei by leveraging collisions of high-intensity polarized electrons and ions (polarized protons, polarized deuterons, polarized 3He, and unpolarized heavy ions up to Uranium) at center-of-mass energies of 15-20 GeV and luminosity of (2–4)×1033 cm−2s−1. Its primary physics objectives include 3D tomography of nucleon spin and momentum structure, fundamental questions regarding the origin of nucleon mass, partonic structure of nuclei and parton interactions with the nuclear environment, and exploration of exotic hadronic states. In this paper, we review the physics potential of the EicC and highlight its unique capabilities for advancing precision nucleon structure studies by combining its specialized kinematic coverage and high luminosity. Since traditional topics like 3D nucleon structure have already been well-covered by several extensive reviews, we have deliberately dedicated significant space to recent progress in nucleon mass decomposition, nucleon energy-energy correlation, quantum information, and artificial intelligence applications in high-energy nuclear physics, which have been emerging rapidly and attracted a tremendous amount of attention in the community.
The emergence of exotic nuclear structures, such as deformation, one- and two-neutron halos, and bubble configurations, marks a paradigm shift in our understanding of light- to medium-mass nuclei far from stability, particularly near and within the island of inversion extending across N=20–28. In this review, we integrate microscopic structure calculations using the antisymmetrized molecular dynamics method with reaction theories such as the Glauber model for high-energy collisions, and highlight the use of the fully quantum mechanical finite-range distorted wave Born approximation for calculating both inclusive and exclusive Coulomb breakup observables for these medium mass systems. These theoretical frameworks enable precise probing of nuclear density profiles through observables such as total reaction cross sections, neutron removal cross sections, relative energy spectra, parallel momentum distributions, and angular distributions. Applications to several nuclei in the island of inversion reveal enhanced halo extensions, neutron–neutron correlations in Borromean nuclei, and central density depletions in bubbles, challenging traditional shell-model paradigms. Furthermore, the sensitivity of astrophysical reaction rates to these exotic inputs is explored, demonstrating their role in the refinement of r-process nucleosynthesis models and elemental abundance predictions. This unified approach not only bridges nuclear structure and reactions, but also highlights the driplines as frontiers for unraveling nuclear matter under extreme conditions, with implications for rare-isotope beam experiments and beyond.
The FASER experiment is located in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) complex at CERN, 480 m downstream of the ATLAS collision point and aligned with the beam-collision-axis. The experiment was designed to search for light, weakly-interacting new-particles which could be produced in the LHC collisions, and, for the first-time, to study high-energy neutrinos of all flavors originating at a particle collider. This review article presents the status of FASER up to early-2026. This includes details of the FASER detector design, operation, performance and physics results, as well as briefly mentioning upgrades that have been installed since the start of FASER. In addition, future plans for the experiment are detailed.
