{
  "abstract": "We present the first systematic calculations of $ϕ$-, $η_c$-, and $J/ψ$-nucleus ground states up to mass number $A{=}12$ based on the HAL QCD meson-nucleon potentials at near-physical point. The $(A{+}1)$-body Schrödinger equation is solved with a neural-network variational Monte Carlo framework, generalized to incorporate mesonic degrees of freedom. Benchmarking on light nuclei from $^2$H to $^{12}$C yields ground-state energies consistent with the experiment. Meson-nucleus bound states emerge at $A\\ge2$ for $ϕ$, $A\\ge4$ for $J/ψ$, and $A\\ge6$ for $η_c$. The $ϕ$-nucleus systems exhibit the strongest binding, with binding energies reaching tens of MeV. The $J/ψ$-nucleus and $η_c$-nucleus systems are weakly bound at the few-MeV and sub-MeV scale, respectively. The binding energy per nucleon deepens nearly linearly with $A$ for charmonium systems, whereas the $ϕ$-nucleus system exhibits a non-monotonic behavior peaking at $^4$He---a distinctive hallmark of the short-range and strongly attractive $ϕN$ interaction. The meson compresses the nucleon distribution relative to the parent nucleus, and evolves from a halo configuration to one embedded inside the nucleus with increasing $A$. Our results provide predictions for future experimental searches, and establish a quantitative bridge between lattice QCD meson-nucleon interactions and the emergent many-body phenomena in meson-nucleus bound states.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "Journal reference: Phys. Rev. D 114, 054060 (2026)",
  "arxiv": "2606.09254",
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Wei-Lin Wu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Liang-Zhen Wen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Shi-Lin Zhu"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2sdcq2kcsncx6.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2606.09254",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "2sdcq2kcsncx6",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.09254",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ex"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-lat"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "nucl-ex"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "nucl-th"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.09254",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-30",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2sdcq2kcsncx6.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:25:48Z",
      "native_id": "2606.09254",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.09254"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ex",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:nucl-ex",
      "subfield": "nuclear"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Meson-nucleus bound states with neural-network quantum states",
  "title_text": "Meson-nucleus bound states with neural-network quantum states",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:25:48Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2sdcq2kcsncx6",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": [
    {
      "doi": "10.1103/3nrk-c5c7",
      "pid": null,
      "relation": "published-as",
      "title": null,
      "venue": null
    }
  ]
}