Papers

Traveling waves of activity in neural tissue can be halted by spatial inhomogeneity in synaptic coupling. We study an integrate-and-fire network in which each neuron fires once and the coupling decays exponentially. For this model the leading-edge firing map reduces exactly to a scalar equation for the wave speed in space, with a slow unstable and a fast stable homogeneous speed, $c_1$ and $c_2$, and a periodic modulation of the coupling enters this equation pointwise. Positive periodic waves terminate in folds. For slowly varying modulation the fold amplitude approaches a plateau set by the trough of the modulation, where the local bottleneck speed is $\sqrt{c_1 c_2}$; the approach to the plateau is set by the local geometry of the trough. For rapidly varying modulation the fold amplitude grows linearly with frequency, with a slope given by a full-amplitude average over the integrated modulation profile; a weak-ripple truncation of that average overestimates the slope about 2.5-fold at the default coupling. A perturbative recursion in the amplitude gives the speed profile explicitly. We distinguish loss of the periodic wave from failure of a particular launch, and the excitatory regime $\epsilon\le 1$ from its sign-changing extension. The results are checked against direct integration of the reduced equation and first-spike firing-map simulations of the network.

We investigate the growth of a circular domain in a phase-separating lipid membrane and its relation to the budding instability. We describe the in-plane dynamics with a conserved, time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model under radial symmetry. Numerical solutions show a crossover of the domain size $D$ as a function of time $t$ from $D\sim t^{1/3}$ at early times to $D\sim t^{1/2}$ at later times, followed by saturation due to finite system size. The time-dependent line tension $\sigma(t)$, evaluated from the evolving concentration profile, rises rapidly before approaching the planar-interface value. This behavior distinguishes an early line-tension-dominated regime from a later domain-size-dominated regime. To estimate the budding instability, we combine $D(t)$ and $\sigma(t)$ with a quasistatic criterion for the loss of stability of a partially budded domain. The budding-instability time decreases with increasing membrane spontaneous curvature and increases near the critical point. Thus, the evolution of both domain size and line tension is essential for determining the time required for the budding instability.

Experimental demonstrations of the Mpemba effect in a colloidal-particle system have imposed an instantaneous temperature quench via an initial condition where individual particle trajectories are drawn from a high-temperature Boltzmann distribution and then evolve in a bath at lower temperature. The potential used for the high-temperature distribution has had two walls that impose a finite range of initial positions, even at effectively infinite temperatures. The potential for evolution in the bath had no walls and matched that used for the initial condition over its support. For low bath temperatures, the difference between the dynamics with and without walls is negligible. Nonetheless, it has been speculated that the walls are perhaps more important than they seem and might even be required for the Mpemba effect to occur. Here, we introduce a new potential that lacks walls and use it for both the initial high temperature state and for subsequent evolution. This new potential then allows us to investigate by simulation Mpemba effects at finite-quench rates. Our results help clarify intuitions concerning the existence of a Mpemba effect and show that the Mpemba effect appears only for bath-temperature quenches faster than a critical quench rate.

Higher-order networks take group interactions as given. I ask what happens when a group interaction is made by pairwise dynamics on a graph, and follow it through the transition that decides whether it matters at large scale, Anderson localisation. An emergent hyperedge is a $k$-body bound state of a Hamiltonian whose terms live on the vertices and edges of the graph, Borromean when none of its $(k-1)$-body faces is bound, detected on a finite graph by a $k$-fold coincidence that survives the thermodynamic limit while the $(k-1)$-fold ones vanish. Sparse random graphs produce one from the simplest pairwise dynamics: three distinguishable particles with on-site attraction $U$ and hopping $t$ bind into a trimer before any pair binds. The thresholds are obtained on the Bethe lattice, in closed form for the pair, in both sectors that an expander graph has and a lattice lacks, the one a condensate sees and the one a Fermi liquid sees. On a disordered graph the emergent hyperedges nucleate on rare deep sites and localise before their parts: the compact trimer, with a narrow band and a threefold sensitivity to site energies, undergoes the Anderson transition at a disorder of $1.6t$, against $17t$ for a single particle and $4t$ for a pair, and the Fermi liquid of trimers is a glass above a line between $1.5t$ and $1.7t$, where a liquid of single particles at the same density needs $15t$ to $16t$. The transition is the single-particle cavity transition with the composite's hopping and effective disorder. A group interaction made by pairwise dynamics is an order of magnitude more fragile to heterogeneity than the network that makes it.

We consider a reversible diffusion with unknown drift, observed through trajectories, and construct samplers of its invariant law. The trajectories contain samples of this law, but a sampler built from them by density or score estimation inherits the errors of these estimates, in particular on the barriers between metastable states. The trajectories also contain the dynamics, and for a reversible diffusion the ratio between the law of the process and its invariant law solves the backward Kolmogorov equation, so that the eigenpairs of the generator propagate it in closed form. Backward Kolmogorov transport (BKT) evaluates this ratio with eigenpairs estimated from the trajectories and coefficients computed once from the initial particles, and moves the particles along the Wasserstein gradient flow of the Kullback-Leibler divergence. The particles do not interact, BKT defines a transport map, and no density, score or drift is estimated. With exact eigenpairs BKT transports the spectral projection of the initial law exactly when this projection is positive. For estimated eigenpairs we prove a transport identity in which truncation enters only through the initial law and estimation only through the residual of the eigenpairs, and a local stability bound in the 2-Wasserstein distance. With coefficients computed from the transported particles, the sampling error of the retained modes cancels, and a central limit theorem identifies the asymptotic variance. Experiments on Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes, multi-well potentials, separable products and alanine dipeptide, including comparisons with particle methods based on density estimates, agree with these results, and with an accurate spectrum the errors of BKT reach or fall below those of independent samples.

We study the waiting-time distribution of hard-core interacting particles in the symmetric exclusion process on one- and two-dimensional lattices with side branches attached to each lattice site in the steady state. We use numerical simulations together with an approximate analytical treatment of particles trapped in side branches in the steady state. Such a two-dimensional carpet serves as a simplified model for trapping of a supercritical percolation cluster. At high particle densities, the system exhibits strong dynamical heterogeneity, with the distribution of logarithms of waiting times developing well-separated peaks corresponding to particles trapped at different depths from the backbone. We show that the probability that a tagged particle occupies the same position at time $t_0+t$ as at time $t_0$ decays algebraically as $t^{-\omega}$, where the exponent $\omega$ varies continuously with particle density for densities above a threshold value $\rho^*<1$. We also investigate the correlations between successive waiting times along the trajectory of a tagged particle.

Best-of-$N$ jailbreaking (BoN) bypasses safeguards of aligned models by drawing $N$ independent augmentations of an unsafe prompt and sampling $M$ completions of each. Previous works have shown that the attack success rate (ASR) seems to follow a power-law in $N$, which we challenge. The exponent drifts with $N$, with an exponential crossover which is a finite-size artifact of the adversarial dataset. Little work has been done to explore the entire two-budget ($N, M$) attack surface as well as its dependence on the generation temperature $T$. We introduce a simple barrier model where each prompt has a baseline safety level and each augmentation a random thermally activated barrier. Then four numbers, each backed by an interpretable safety mechanism, determine the entire ($N, M$) attack surface. They extrapolate predictions from $N \leq 100$ to $N = 10^4$, collapse five distinct models on the same scaling function and predict ASR at different temperatures from the one they were fitted at.

Stochastic density functional theory (SDFT) provides a powerful framework for studying the dynamics of many-body systems both in and out of equilibrium. In its standard form, it can be viewed as a density-based formulation of coupled Langevin equations with white noise. Here, we extend SDFT to a class of systems, ranging from magnetized electrolytes to chiral active matter, that possess a chiral overdamped limit in which a relaxation timescale and an oscillation period are simultaneously taken to zero. We derive this formulation, which we dub “odd SDFT", by taking the overdamped limit of a fluctuating hydrodynamic description of underdamped particles subject to a Lorentz force. We establish the validity and utility of the resulting framework by calculating the collective mobility tensor of interacting particles using both direct linear response and a Green-Kubo relation. We then apply the theory to the Hall conductivity of electrolytes in magnetic fields. Going beyond mean-field theory and using two distinct Green-Kubo relations, we derive the full conductivity tensor, extending the relaxation part of the Debye-Hückel-Onsager theory to the case of finite magnetic fields.

We study a family of locally excited states in two-dimensional conformal field theories in different setups, defined on the plane, on the cylinder, or at finite temperature. These states are constructed by assigning independent chiral and anti-chiral regulators to a local primary operator, leading to excitations carrying net momentum. We analytically calculate the first few Lanczos coefficients and the early time behaviour of the spread complexity associated with these states. Then, using numerical methods, we obtain the coefficients reaching larger Krylov indices and find the associated spread complexity for a longer range of time evolution. We also compare the rate of change of the resulting spread complexity with the proposed holographic dual quantity, related to the proper momentum of an infalling particle in the dual bulk, but we observe a mismatch.

The quantum Cramér-Rao bound constrains the precision of parameter estimation through the symmetric logarithmic derivative quantum Fisher information (SLD QFI). It is asymptotically achievable for regular single-parameter estimation models, but generally not in the multiparameter setting, where optimal measurements for different parameters may be incompatible. For multiparameter estimation, allowing collective measurements, the corresponding asymptotically achievable precision limit is the Holevo bound, whose standard formulation is an optimization over auxiliary Hermitian operators. We bridge this apparent difference in formulation by giving an exact characterization of the Holevo bound in terms of a family of QFIs interpolating between the SLD and right logarithmic derivative (RLD) QFIs. Specifically, for any locally identifiable finite-dimensional estimation problem, we prove that the operator-feasible region in the standard variational definition of the Holevo bound coincides with the intersection of the regions defined by the corresponding Cramér-Rao-type matrix constraints for the entire QFI family. This characterization also applies to rank-deficient states and does not require any prior choice of weight matrix. Consequently, the conventional weight-dependent Holevo bound is recovered by minimizing the corresponding weighted cost over the resulting common feasible region.

Frequently, nonextensive systems are described through $q$-exponential functions, where the $q$-parameter determines how far a system is from equilibrium. In this work, we study systems constrained to $q-1\ll1$ to describe systems near thermal equilibrium, and derive the probability density function and temperature fluctuations. To this end, we derive the series expansion of the $q$-exponential function, yielding a perturbative series that is a superposition of gamma distributions. On the other hand, the temperature fluctuations are expressed as a superposition of Dirac delta functions and their derivatives, meaning that the bulk of the system remains at a constant temperature, while point-temperature variations emerge, marking the system's departure from thermal equilibrium. The statistics of the temperature fluctuations exhibit a transition from a symmetric to a nonsymmetric distribution as the nonextensive parameter increases. These results provide evidence of the association between the emergence of nonextensivity and the symmetry breaking of temperature fluctuations.

The decay of a density wave, the Fourier component of the adparticle density seen by a coherent probe, obeys in an interacting adlayer an exact memory equation of Mori's form, determined by the local rate and the memory function. Because the density is conserved, the correlation function is a characteristic function, and the kernel is built from that of a single jump; positivity and normalization then make the local rate and the memory function equilibrium averages, whatever the interaction. The local rate obeys an exact sum rule, which makes de Gennes narrowing a theorem on the lattice and gathers the interaction into one effective hop rate. Detailed balance makes the decay a superposition of relaxation modes, approached from below by a convergent hierarchy of closed forms. The theory fixes the local rate, the memory function and the relaxation spectrum. The experiment provides the static structure factor and the decay, recorded from the instant of scattering through a ballistic regime, a jump regime in which the memory acts, and a diffusive regime. A single exponential fitted, as experiments do, over a time interval in the diffusive regime gives the slowest relaxation rate, the constant rate of that regime, and not the local rate. The correlation time, defined as the area beneath the normalized decay, needs no time interval and is the mean inverse relaxation rate. Under a standard condition on the jump rates, met in one-dimensional diffusion when the rate of leaving a site is independent of the site reached, the correlation time, the static structure factor and the lattice geometry give the effective hop rate at long wavelength, with no model or fit and with a parameter-free test. There the sum rule becomes a Darken-type relation.

In this paper we investigate the combined effects of stochastic resetting and diffusion on a slow–fast dynamical system given by the piecewise-linear McKean model. That is, the fast variable $v$ is subject to Gaussian white noise with effective diffusivity $D$ and is reset to a fixed value $v_r$ at a random sequence of times generated from a Poisson process with rate $r$. Assuming that resetting occurs on the fast timescale, we freeze the slow variable \(w\) under an adiabatic approximation and determine the resulting non-equilibrium stationary state (NESS) of the fast variable as the solution of a modified Fokker–Planck equation. We show that the NESS can be expressed in terms of parabolic cylinder functions, whose asymptotic behavior allows us to recover the corresponding NESS without diffusion in the small-diffusion limit. The NESS is used to derive an averaged equation for the slow dynamics, whose solution converges to a stable fixed point \(w^*\) that depends on \(D\), \(r\) and \(v_r\). This fixed point effectively determines the long-time behaviour of the full system. Finally, we analyze the regime in which resetting occurs on the same timescale as the slow variable. We show how the slow variable now undergoes noisy oscillations due to resetting-induced switching between branches of the fast nullcline and derive the corresponding NESS for $w$ in the non-diffusive case.

Quantum algebras ($q$-algebras) have been used in the literature to deform spin-chain models. In particular, in previous works by the present authors, the Kittel–Shore Hamiltonian was deformed using $\mathfrak{su}_q(2)$ algebra. The deformed Hamiltonian was presented for a general spin, and the thermodynamic properties were studied for spin-1/2 particles. In this paper, we focus on the $q$-deformation of the Kittel–Shore model for spin-1 systems. We analyse the impact of this deformation on the thermodynamic properties and phase transitions of the system as a function of the deformation parameter $q$. Specifically, we study the specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, and magnetisation, including a detailed analysis of the Curie temperature characterising the ferromagnetic phase. Furthermore, a finite-size scaling analysis is conducted for both the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic cases. Results are systematically compared with those of the undeformed model to reveal the physical effects of the $q$-deformation.

Most studies of stochastic search processes with resetting focus on spontaneous resetting events that occur at a random sequence of times typically generated by a Poisson process. One of the major consequences of spontaneous resetting is that it yields a finite mean first passage time (MFPT) in unbounded domains, resulting in an optimal resetting rate that minimises the MFPT. An optimal resetting rate can also occur in bounded domains provided that the reset point is not too far from the target. Recently, there has been growing interest in event-based rather than spontaneous resetting, where resetting is triggered when a specific threshold is reached. Identifying the threshold with a physical non-target boundary then leads to so-called boundary-induced resetting. In this paper, we explore the effects of boundary-induced resetting on single-particle diffusive search in a two-dimensional (2D) bounded domain $\Omega$ containing one or more small interior targets. The interior target boundaries are totally absorbing, whereas the exterior boundary $\partial \Omega$ is sticky. That is, whenever the particle reaches a point on $\partial \Omega$ it remains attached for a random waiting time $\tau$ after which it immediately resets to a fixed interior point $\x_0\in \Omega$. Using renewal theory, matched asymptotic analysis and Green's functions we calculate the unconditional MFPT for absorption by any of the targets and compare this with the corresponding MFPT of a search process on the same domain with a reflecting surface $\partial \Omega$ and no resetting. We show that boundary-induced resetting only reduces the MFPT relative to the no resetting case if the searcher's reset point $\x_0$ is sufficiently close to one of the targets.

In 1975, Polyakov invented a renormalization group algorithm for treating the problem of a classical isotropic planar Heisenberg ferromagnet. Here we define a tool - "parallel transport of frames" - that extends Polyakov's original renormalization group method to local magnetic anisotropies and, most significantly, the non-local dipolar interaction. We apply this tool to the problem of the spin reorientation transition in an ultrathin ferromagnetic slab with finite thickness. We find that integrating out the short wavelength spin wave fluctuations generates two local anisotropies that are absent from the microscopic dipolar energy Hamiltonian. Taking them into account yields the correct topology of the spin reorientation transition line, as observed experimentally and in numerical simulations.

Motile active matter systems, from animal groups to synthetic particles, exhibit spontaneous self-organized transitions between disordered and ordered collective states. These transitions are driven by continuous energy injection, yet how energy consumption and dissipation change during these transitions remains poorly understood due to the challenge of measuring individual energetic fluxes. Here, we introduce a minimal experimental system of synthetic motile spheres that enables the first time-resolved power-budget characterization of collective motion. We show that the transition to an ordered state is accompanied by increased locomotion efficiency and a reorganization of dissipation pathways, shifting dissipation from internal friction to external slip with the environment. Leveraging this energetic reorganization, we construct an active engine powered by collective motion, capable of performing mechanical work against an external load. These findings establish energetic fluxes as quantitative observables for understanding collective state transitions and demonstrate how collective order can be harnessed for work extraction in active matter.

Growing biochemical systems are intrinsically noisy, with one important source of stochasticity arising from the discrete reaction events of the underlying biochemical network. Because growing systems do not generally admit stationary abundance distributions, it is unclear how to separate this intrinsic chemical noise from other sources of variability in population and single-cell data. Here we develop a large-deviation theory for exponentially growing stochastic chemical reaction networks by decomposing abundance into volume and composition. In these coordinates, balanced growth corresponds to a stable composition together with exponentially increasing volume. We show that composition fluctuations satisfy a large-deviation principle with speed equal to the volume of the growing system, and the corresponding quasipotential is selected by a solution of the contact Hamilton–Jacobi equation. We also derive a fluctuation theory for accumulated observables and show that their covariances decay with accumulated-volume, rather than with physical time. Applications to a minimal autocatalytic network and a coarse-grained cellular growth model demonstrate how the theory predicts composition quasipotentials, growth-rate fluctuations, and correlations between observables. The framework therefore provides a stochastic null model for single-cell heterogeneity generated by the intrinsic stochasticity of the underlying chemical reaction network.

Information-theoretic measures for comparing probability distributions are widely used across physics and other fields. When two discrete distributions have non-inclusive supports, however, the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence is in general not directly applicable, and various alternative divergences and distances have been introduced. These measures compare the resulting distributions themselves, but do not generally retain information about the representation transformations by which the discrete distributions are generated from underlying continuous ones. Here we introduce a representation-aware transport-information measure for discrete distributions with non-inclusive supports, formulated based on the standard KL divergence. We consider two continuous reference distributions, each transformed into a discrete representation through its own discretization scheme. Rather than comparing only the resulting discrete distributions or their continuous references, we additionally retain local information associated with the representation-change schemes. The resulting measure can therefore distinguish discrete representations that may have identical discrete probability landscapes but originate from different continuous references or discretization schemes. The construction is based on the transport-information cost of continuous-to-discrete representation in the framework of unavoidable canonical nonlinearity (UCN). UCN provides a non-arbitrary correspondence between the transport cost of discretization as an extrinsic geometric operation and the information-theoretic indistinguishability of nearby continuous distributions, thereby allowing a discrete representation to be associated with a local family of underlying continuous distributions on the statistical manifold.

The discovery of the twist-bend nematic phase in liquid crystals composed of bent-core and dimeric molecules has revealed an unexpected mechanism for the spontaneous formation of nanoscale periodic structures in soft condensed matter. Unlike conventional liquid-crystalline phases, the twist-bend phase exhibits a nanoscale heliconical modulation despite the absence of molecular chirality. In this note, dedicated to the late R. Meyer, we discuss a Landau phenomenological interpretation of this phenomenon. The central idea is that a short-range orientational order parameter undergoes condensation, giving rise to a heliconical structure characterized by a finite wave vector. We emphasize that the conventional nematic order is already long-ranged, whereas the additional order parameter describes local orientational correlations hidden within the nematic state. The resulting phase transition bears a close analogy to the de Gennes theory of the nematic–smectic-A transition. Fluctuation effects are expected to drive the transition weakly first order. The theory also predicts a new Goldstone mode associated with the spontaneously broken continuous symmetry of the heliconical state

We study the tri-partite genuine Rényi multi-entropy of fully symmetric Gaussian states as a function of the squeezing parameter for different total number of bosonic modes under different subsystem configurations. Exact results for a few modes are obtained, and we conjecture an asymptotic formula at the limit of large squeezing parameter as a function of the replica index $n$, while also finding subleading subsystem-size dependent terms for $n=3$ under a specific tripartition. We analytically show that the genuine $n=2$ Rényi multi-entropy of any pure bosonic Gaussian states is zero for any number of modes and for any tripartition. Furthermore, to investigate the dependence on subsystem size, we plot the curve of genuine Rényi multi-entropy as a function of the number of modes in the subsystems while keeping the total number of modes fixed. We discuss differences and similarities between this result and studies of the multi-entropy curve for Haar random states. In particular, we identify a subsystem size configuration related with the multi-entropy time in an evaporating black hole for which the behavior of the genuine multi-entropy changes.

We study a globally coupled stochastic system in which each unit carries an Ising spin and a continuous phase. The spins undergo Glauber switching with relaxation rate $\gamma$, while the phases are driven by Ornstein-Uhlenbeck noise with correlation time $\tau$. A spin-dependent phase interaction supports a composite coherent mode, $Z_m=N^{-1}\sum_j\sigma_j e^{i\theta_j}$, that can order even when the ordinary phase coherence is small. Linear response about the nonmagnetic incoherent state gives the synchronization threshold $K_{\mathrm c}=[(\mu+\beta_s\gamma)\chi_\gamma]^{-1}$, where $\chi_\gamma$ is a memory-weighted Laplace transform of the free phase correlation function. The competition between the increasing Glauber response and the decreasing memory susceptibility produces a finite switching rate at which $K_{\mathrm c}$ is minimized. We derive a general sufficient condition for such an interior optimum and show that finite-time Ornstein-Uhlenbeck correlations satisfy the required fast-switching asymptotics, whereas the white-noise limit need not. Finite-size simulations reproduce the nonmonotonic threshold, its shift toward slower switching as $\tau$ increases, antiphase composite order in a nonmagnetic state, and mode mixing on a magnetized background.

We propose a new $q$-derivative operator built directly from Jackson's $q$-number formulation, designed to preserve the structural properties of standard differential calculus while incorporating deformation effects. By analyzing $q$-deformed Heisenberg algebras, we demonstrate that this formulation maintains the consistency of thermodynamic quantities-such as internal energy, particle number, and specific heat-in dilute gas limits without requiring ad-hoc chain-rule modifications. Furthermore, we explore the physical implications of algebraic deformation using the Biedenharn-Macfarlane realization, showing how $q$-deformation induces intrinsic anharmonicity in quantum oscillator spectra and affects multi-level quantum systems ($d \ge 3$). Applying this algebraic scheme to superconducting transmon qubits, we derive analytical pulse-shaping corrections that generalize the Derivative Removal by Adiabatic Gate (DRAG) technique, offering a robust method to suppress computational leakage in ultra-fast quantum logic operations.

The ground state, magnetization curves, low-temperature thermodynamics, and heat-engine performance of the fully frustrated spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg four-leg tube with antiferromagnetic inter- and intra-plaquette coupling constants J1 and J2 are examined using exact diagonalization, density matrix renormalization group, and localized-magnon theory. In the unfrustrated to weakly frustrated regime J2/J1 << 2, the system exhibits a continuous field-driven quantum phase transition between the gapped Haldane phase and a gapless Tomonaga-Luttinger quantum spin liquid. In the highly frustrated regime J2/J1 > 2, the system contrarily displays discontinuous field-driven quantum phase transitions between the Wigner magnon crystals, which are manifested in zero-temperature magnetization curves as intermediate plateaus at zero, one-quarter, one-half, and three-quarters of the saturation magnetization. The low-temperature magnetic and thermodynamic properties in this regime are accurately captured by an effective interacting lattice-gas model of two monomer quasi-particle species constructed from localized one- and two-magnon states. Finally, we explore a quantum Stirling heat engine using the fully frustrated four-leg tube as the working medium. The work output and efficiency are strongly suppressed near discontinuous field-induced transitions and reach pronounced local maxima well inside the stability regions of the Wigner magnon crystals.

On the macroscopic scale, active (self-propelled) objects moving through complex environments are often subject to effects arising from both the curvature of the surrounding surface and external influences such as gravity. We study the Kramers escape problem for active Brownian particles in two settings: motion in an external potential driven solely by gradient forces, and motion on a curved manifold subject to an additional constant gravitational force. In the absence of translational noise, a sharp dynamical transition occurs when the self-propulsion velocity $v_0$ reaches a critical velocity $v_c$ required for an escape. Above this threshold, the escape rate $k$ follows a universal scaling form, $k \propto \exp\left[-\mathrm{const}(v_0-v_c)^{-\gamma}\right]$, with an exponent $\gamma=3/2$ for the escape in a potential and $\gamma=1/2$ for the escape on a curved manifold in the presence of gravity. These distinct exponents reveal how the interplay of activity, surface curvature, and gravity determines the critical escape dynamics. Our theoretical predictions are verified by numerical simulations.

This review surveys diverse types of random motion within a unified framework, introducing essential mathematical tools, including special functions and fractional calculus, in a pedagogical manner. We focus on generalized random motions in one-dimensional space described by Fokker-Planck like equations, whose fundamental solutions take a universal and simple form in the Laplace-Fourier domain in terms of a generic function $\varphi(s)$. By exploring the functional forms of $\varphi(s)$ consistent with physical constraints, we derive a broad class of stochastic dynamics. This includes Brownian and active motion, simple and anomalous diffusion, and processes featuring stochastic resetting or trapping mechanisms. For each case, we provide the corresponding kinetic equation, explicit solutions (where available), and mean-square displacements alongside their asymptotic behaviors. Finally, we discuss the physical interpretation of these motions through the lens of time-changed processes and subordinators.

Extracting operationally meaningful quantities such as von Neumann entropy and mutual information is central to characterizing many-body quantum systems, yet experiments and numerics often provide direct access only to integer Rényi entropies. Whereas conventional extrapolation relies on a prescribed fitting ansatz, in PRL 137, 100202 we introduced an alternative approach based on stabilized analytic continuation (SAC), which avoids such an ansatz and is inherently robust to noise. Here, we further develop this framework in the noiseless setting and benchmark its performance across several nontrivial many-body problems. We first show that, besides the intrinsic ambiguity of reconstructing the von Neumann entropy from finitely many Rényi samples, analytic continuation can also fail because of genuine nonanalyticities in the Rényi function arising from zeros of $\text{Tr}\rho^z$. We derive universal zero-free domains for $\text{Tr}\rho^z$ and systematically sharpen these bounds using additional spectral information about $\rho$. We then benchmark the performance of SAC in three settings: ($i$) extracting topological entanglement entropy from DMRG Rényi data for the toric code and Kagome Heisenberg models; ($ii$) reconstructing the mutual information between disjoint intervals in a $(1+1)d$ compact-boson CFT; and ($iii$) recovering finite-time ballistic growth of the von Neumann entropy from integer Rényi entropies that cross over toward subballistic growth in diffusive quantum dynamics. In the latter setting, analytic continuation is expected to fail in the long time limit. We illustrate this mechanism with a physically motivated two-sector model, where the asymptotic separation between von Neumann and higher-Rényi growth is accompanied by a zero of $\text{Tr}\rho^z$ pinching the real axis at $z=1$, thereby producing a first-order Rényi phase transition.

Haar randomness is the standard null model for quantum typicality, scrambling, and random-matrix formulations of thermalization. In many physical settings, however, randomness is naturally constrained to subspaces of Hilbert space. This structure arises, in particular, both in systems with symmetry-resolved sectors and in the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis (ETH), where mesoscopic energy windows define subspaces in which nearby energy eigenstates are mixed. Motivated by these settings, we consider a Block-Unitary Ensemble consisting of independently Haar-random unitaries acting on each subspace. We develop a constructive Weingarten Calculus for this ensemble, providing a unified framework across quantum information and many-body physics. This construction reveals a symmetry-resolved Schur-Weyl duality, where the relevant commutant is not the ordinary permutation algebra, but the one of color-preserving permutations. We apply this framework to quantum states under symmetry constraints and to energy-resolved ensembles for ETH.

Decoherence-induced phase transitions (DIPTs) are associated with singular changes in a quantum system's entanglement structure as the decoherence strength varies. In many cases, their critical strengths depend monotonically on the Rényi index of the entanglement diagnostic, forming a Rényi hierarchy. We identify a general mechanism for this hierarchy based on correlation inequalities in replicated statistical models that describe these DIPTs. We demonstrate it in $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological stabilizer codes subject to independent phase-flip decoherence on each qubit and in a decohered rotor model with strong $\text{U}(1)$ symmetry. When the relevant correlations diagnose the DIPTs, these inequalities imply that the critical decoherence strength is nondecreasing with integer Rényi index $R\geq2$. We show that this mechanism also applies to a class of models with correlated decoherence.

We study entanglement transitions for pairs of disjoint intervals in two-dimensional holographic interface conformal field theories. We consider several holographic models with equal central charges on the two sides of the interface: thin-wall geometries with one and two branes, the Janus solution, and the super-Janus solution. We first discuss the finite interface contribution to the entanglement entropy of a single interval, distinguishing intervals that cross the interface from those that lie entirely on one side. We then use the mutual information to locate the transition between connected and disconnected Ryu–Takayanagi geodesic configurations for two intervals. When the interface lies between the two intervals, increasing the boundary entropy $\log g$, which provides a measure of interface strength in the models considered here, generally decreases the critical separation at which the connected configuration ceases to dominate. When both intervals lie on the same side of the interface, the behavior is model dependent: the connected phase persists to larger separations in the Janus and super-Janus models, while the critical separation is unchanged in the thin-wall models. Thus, as diagnosed by the two-interval transition, the interface weakens correlations across the interface while preserving or enhancing correlations between regions on the same side. We also identify a universal “Silver Blaze” configuration, in which the interface lies inside one of the intervals and the transition occurs at the same location as in a CFT without an interface, independently of the interface parameters and of the holographic model. This universality follows from a cancellation between crossing and non-crossing interface contributions to the mutual information.