Materials Science · Cross-listed from physics.bio-ph
Control of Neuronal Survival and Development Using Conductive Diamond
Samira Falahatdoost, Yair D. J. Prawer, Danli Peng et al. (+13 more)
This study demonstrates the control of neuronal survival and development using nitrogen-doped ultrananocrystalline diamond (N-UNCD). We highlight the role of N-UNCD in regulating neuronal activity via near-infrared illumination, demonstrating the generation of stable photocurrents that enhance neuronal survival and neurite outgrowth and foster a more active, synchronized neuronal network. Whole transcriptome RNA sequencing reveals that diamond substrates improve cellular-substrate interaction by upregulating extracellular
matrix and gap junction-related genes. Our findings underscore the potential of conductive diamond as a robust and biocompatible platform for noninvasive and effective neural tissue engineering.
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All authors Samira Falahatdoost, Yair D. J. Prawer, Danli Peng, Andre Chambers, Hualin Zhan, Leon Pope, Alastair Stacey, Arman Ahnood, Hassan N. Al Hashem, Sorel E. De Leon, David J. Garrett, Kate Fox, Michael B. Clark, Michael R. Ibbotson, Steven Prawer, Wei Tong
Soft Condensed Matter
Anisotropic self-assembly of soft particles mediated by elliptically polarized AC fields
Carlos Eduardo Estanislau, Thiago Colla and Christos N. Likos
Attractive dipole interactions can be induced between equally charged soft nanoparticles under the influence of AC electric fields. The combination of charge repulsion and dipole attraction, along with different screening responses from an underlying electrolyte, lead to complex aggregations ranging from chain-like formation for linear polarizations to isotropic planar structures in the case of circular polarizations. In this work, we analyze the role of varying field anisotropies in these self-assembled structures. To this end, the formalism previously developed for the coarse-grained interactions of soft particles in the presence of linear [T.~Colla et al., ACS Nano 12, 4321-4337 (2018)] and circular [M.~Reich et al., Soft Matter 21, 1516-1528 (2025)] field polarizations is naturally extended to incorporate elliptical polarizations of arbitrary asymmetries. A rich variety of self-assembly formations is found at intermediate field anisotropies, thus bridging the gap between linear and circular field-induced self-assembly scenarios.
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Materials Science · Cross-listed from cs.ET
Wireless Sensing of Temperature, Strain and Crack Growth in 3D-Printed Metal Structures via Magneto-Responsive Inclusions
Connor G. McMahan, Chia-Ming Chang, Raymond Nguyen et al. (+4 more)
This study demonstrates the first realization of wireless strain, temperature and crack growth sensing within 3D-printed metallic structures using standard electromagnetic inspection hardware. This establishes a path toward need-based maintenance for parts operating in harsh environments driven by accurate, real-time damage assessments instead of relying on regularly scheduled maintenance teardowns. To this end, we encapsulate and embed magnetoelastic and thermomagnetic materials during additive manufacturing. Mechanical and thermal stimuli affect the
magnetic permeability of the embedded materials, which modulates the flux through a coil placed on or near the part's surface. We demonstrate strain sensing accurate to +/-27x10-6 and temperature sensing accurate to +/-0.75 oC. We highlight these sensors' capabilities by detecting the onset of plasticity and fatigue-driven crack growth thousands of cycles before critical failure.
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All authors Connor G. McMahan, Chia-Ming Chang, Raymond Nguyen, Souren Soukiazian, David A. Smith, Tobias Schaedler, David Shahan
Materials Science
Ensemble-Based Data Assimilation for Material Model Characterization in High-Velocity Impact
Rong Jin, Guangyao Wang and Xingsheng Sun
High-fidelity simulations are essential for predicting material behavior under high-velocity impact (HVI), but their accuracy depends on material models and parameters that are often calibrated by manual fitting to multiple costly experiments. In this study, we develop an ensemble-based data assimilation framework for automatic calibration of selected plasticity, fracture, and equation-of-state (EOS) parameters in HVI simulations using data from a single HVI test. The framework combines Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), and adaptive covariance inflation to mitigate variance collapse. A simple
benchmark first shows that the framework is at least one order of magnitude more computationally efficient than Markov chain Monte Carlo at comparable identification accuracy. We then use synthetic back-face deflection data for an AZ31B magnesium plate to identify representative parameters in the Johnson-Cook plasticity and fracture models and the Mie-Gruneisen EOS. Results under under-biased, over-biased, and limited-observation cases show that parameters to which the data are sufficiently sensitive can be accurately recovered within about five iterations, with convergent ensemble standard deviations. In contrast, insensitive parameters tend to converge to incorrect values and retain large ensemble spreads. With fewer observations, convergence is still achieved for sensitive parameters but requires more iterations. Under extreme prior bias, a parameter rejuvenation strategy drives sensitive parameters toward the true values even when the truth lies outside the initial ensemble spread. These results show that ensemble standard deviation provides a practical diagnostic for parameter sensitivity, identifiability, and potential non-uniqueness. Overall, the proposed framework offers an efficient and robust approach for material model characterization in HVI problems.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons · Cross-listed from quant-ph
Optimizing VQE Ansatz for Studying Tight-Binding Models with sd-Interaction and On-Site Coulomb Repulsion
Oleg Udalov
The VQE
algorithm is applied to the problem of finding the ground state of a
lattice model with on-site Coulomb repulsion, nearest-neighbor hopping, and on-site sd-interaction. We compare the performance of several ansatze, including cluster and generic forms. Several modifications of the standard cluster ansatz implementation are proposed, which significantly reduce the number of two-
qubit gates. Different classical optimizers are employed within the VQE
algorithm. The performance of the
algorithms is evaluated using both noiseless and noisy simulations.
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Other Condensed Matter · Cross-listed from physics.optics
Experimental observation of energy-band Riemann surface
Dali Cheng, Heming Wang, Janet Zhong et al. (+3 more)
Non-Hermiticity naturally arises in many physical systems that exchange energy with their environment. The presence of non-Hermiticity leads to many novel topological physics phenomena and device applications. In the non-Hermitian energy band theory, the foundation of these physics and applications, both energies and wavevectors can take complex values. The energy bands thus become a Riemann surface, and such an energy-band Riemann surface underlies all the important signatures of non-Hermitian topological physics phenomena. Despite a long history and recent theoretical interests, the energy-band Riemann surface has not been experimentally studied. Here we provide a photonic observation of the energy-band Riemann surface of a non-Hermitian system. This is achieved by applying a tunable imaginary gauge transformation on the platform of the photonic synthetic frequency dimension. From the measured
topology of the Riemann surface, we reveal the complex-energy winding, the open-boundary-condition spectrum, the generalized Brillouin zone, and the branch points. Our findings demonstrate a unified framework in the studies of diverse effects in non-Hermitian topological physics through an experimental observation of energy-band Riemann surfaces.
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All authors Dali Cheng, Heming Wang, Janet Zhong, Eran Lustig, Charles Roques-Carmes, Shanhui Fan
Other Condensed Matter · Cross-listed from nlin.PS
Hubbard-like Interactions and Emergent Dynamical Regimes Between Modulational Instability and Self-Trapping
L. J. R. Bezerra Jr. and W. S. Dias
We investigate the modulational instability of uniform wave packets governed by a discrete third-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation in finite square
lattices, modeling light propagation in two-dimensional nonlinear waveguide arrays. We analyze how initially stable uniform distributions evolve into self-trapped (localized) regimes and the influence of a refractive index detuning selectively applied along the diagonal waveguides on this transition. This detuning effectively emulates the effect of on-site Hubbard-like interactions $U$ in photonic analogs of interacting particles in a one-dimensional
lattice. While for $U = 0$ the system exhibits the known direct transition from stable uniform states to asymptotically localized profiles, we show that $U > 0$ induces an emergence of intermediate dynamical regimes. These regimes include coherent breathing modes that can be either confined along diagonal or off-diagonal waveguides, as well as chaotic-like propagation patterns. At higher nonlinearities, we identify distinct self-trapped regimes characterized by diagonal or off-diagonal localized modes, depending on the strength of $U$. The critical nonlinear strengths separating the existing regimes are shown in the phase diagram, underscoring the competing trends imposed by the Hubbard-like interaction on the optical field.
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Materials Science
Work Function Mapping Across a-In2Se3 to {\alpha}-In2Se3 to {\gamma}-InSe in RF-Sputtered Thin Films
Marius O. Eji, Md. Sakauat Hasan Sakib and Joseph P. Corbett
Indium selenide is a phase-change chalcogenide whose polymorphism enables a variety of physical properties to be tuned. Here we directly quantify the
evolution of the surface work function across the amorphous-to-crystalline transition in RF-sputtered In2Se3 thin films grown on c-plane Al2O3 (001). By varying deposition temperature (100-500 {\deg}C) and film thickness, we establish processing windows for a- In2Se3, {\alpha}-In2Se3, and {\gamma}-InSe, and correlate structure with electronic and morphological properties. X-ray diffraction shows films deposited at 100 to 200 {\deg}C are amorphous, 300 to 400 {\deg}C yields {\alpha}-In2Se3, whereas 500 {\deg}C yields {\gamma}-InSe. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) maps the surface potential and yields spatially averaged work functions spanning 5.26 to 6.64 eV across the amorphous-crystalline transformation; pronounced intra-film heterogeneity is observed, with select {\alpha}-phase and {\gamma}-InSe grains exhibiting work functions exceeding the local mean. Topographical distinctions are found between phases with hexagonally faceted grains in the crystalline state, whereas homogeneous nano-mounds are found in amorphous films. Analysis of Tauc plots revealed optical bandgaps in the range of 2.50 to 1.55 eV across the observed phases. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements further indicated that the indium to selenium concentration ratio varied between 0.70 {\pm} 0.1 to 1.01 {\pm} 0.1 as the deposition temperature increased from 100 to 500 {\deg}C. These measurements provide direct, spatially resolved quantification of work-function
evolution through the phase change, supplying parameters essential for contact engineering and device integration of In2Se3 and InSe.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons
Crystal-Field–Driven Magnetoelectricity in the Triangular Quantum Magnet CeMgAl$_{11}$O$_{19}$
Sonu Kumar, Gaël Bastien, Maxim Savinov et al. (+6 more)
We report dielectric and magnetoelectric studies of single-crystalline \ce{CeMgAl11O19}, a Kramers triangular magnet embedded in a polarizable hexaaluminate
lattice. In zero
magnetic field, the permittivity $\varepsilon'(T)$ follows the Barrett law of a
quantum paraelectric down to 25 K, below which a broad minimum develops near 3 K without evidence of static ferroelectric or
magnetic order. Application of
magnetic fields up to \SI{9}{\tesla} shifts this minimum to higher temperatures and broadens it, evidencing a tunable magnetoelectric response.The magnetoelectric coupling was characterized using results from magnetization measurements. The anomaly temperature $T^*$, extracted from the local minimum of $\varepsilon'(T)$, exhibits a linear dependence on the squared magnetization $M^2$, consistent with the biquadratic magnetoelectric coupling allowed in centrosymmetric systems. This magnetoelectric effect, mediated by
spin-orbit-entangled Kramers doublets interacting with a frustrated antipolar
liquid, establishes \ce{CeMgAl11O19} as a prototype for exploring
quantum magnetoelectricity in frustrated systems.
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All authors Sonu Kumar, Gaël Bastien, Maxim Savinov, Petr Proschek, Adam Eliáš, Karol Załęski, Małgorzata Śliwińska-Bartkowiak, Ross H. Colman, Stanislav Kamba
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Light-induced pseudo-magnetic fields in three-dimensional topological semimetals
Arpit Raj, Swati Chaudhary, Martin Rodriguez-Vega et al. (+3 more)
In this work, we show that suitably designed spatially varying linearly polarized light provides a versatile route to generate and control pseudo-
magnetic fields in Weyl semimetals through Floquet engineering. Within a high-frequency expansion, we derive an effective axial gauge potential $\mathbf{A}_5(\mathbf{r})$ whose curl gives the pseudo-
magnetic field $\mathbf{B}_5(\mathbf{r})$. By mapping the light profile to $\mathbf{A}_5(\mathbf{r})$, we establish design principles for pseudo-
magnetic field textures that mimic strain-induced gauge fields while offering key advantages like dynamic control, full reversibility, spatial selectivity, and absence of material deformation. We compare the Landau-level spectra produced by uniform real and pseudo-
magnetic fields and also analyze both their linear optical conductivity and the second-order dc responses. Our results enable real-time manipulation of pseudo-
magnetic fields and predict clear experimental signatures for optically engineered gauge fields in topological semimetals.
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All authors Arpit Raj, Swati Chaudhary, Martin Rodriguez-Vega, Maia G. Vergniory, Roni Ilan, Gregory A. Fiete
Materials Science
Accelerated prediction of dielectric functions in solar cell materials with graph neural networks
Caden Ginter, Kamal Choudhary and Subhasish Mandal
We present an atomistic line graph neural network (ALIGNN) model for predicting dielectric functions directly from
crystal structures. Trained on $\sim$7000 dielectric functions from the JARVIS-DFT database computed with a meta-GGA exchange-correlation functional, the model accurately reproduces spectral features, including peak intensities and overall line shapes, while enabling efficient high-throughput screening. Applied to the recently developed Alexandria materials database, containing over four hundred thousand insulating materials, we uncover a clear elemental trend, with vanadium emerging as a strong indicator of materials with high-spectroscopic limited maximum efficiency (SLME). In particular, vanadium-based perovskite materials show a substantially higher fraction of high-SLME compounds compared to the database average, underscoring their promise for optoelectronic applications.
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Statistical Mechanics
Extreme events scaling in self-organized critical models
Abdul Quadir and Haider Hasan Jafri
We study extreme events of avalanche activities in finite-size two-dimensional self-organized critical (SOC) models, specifically the
stochastic Manna model (SMM) and the Bak-Tang-Weisenfeld (BTW) sandpile model. Employing the approach of block maxima, the study numerically reveals that the distributions for extreme avalanche size and area follow the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution. The extreme avalanche size follows the Gumbel distribution with shape parameter $\xi=0$ while in the case of the extreme avalanche area, we report $\xi>0$. We propose scaling functions for extreme avalanche activities that connect the activities on different length scales. With the help of data collapse, we estimate the precise values of these critical exponents. The scaling functions provide an understanding of the intricate dynamics for different variants of the sandpile model, shedding light on the relationship between system size and extreme event characteristics. Our findings give insight into the extreme behavior of SOC models and offer a framework to understand the statistical properties of extreme events.
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Materials Science
Theory of non-resonant Raman scattering from electrons in nodal and flat bands
Predrag Nikolić
Raman scattering is emerging as a surprising probe of electron
topology in
quantum materials. It has been used recently to detect and characterize a topological phase transition that accompanies the
magnetic transition in Nd$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$. Here we present a theory of Raman scattering from nodal electrons with Weyl and quadratic band touching spectra, which has to reach beyond the standard effective mass approximation. After reviewing and providing the details of our previous theory development, we discuss several new results. We show that the light-polarization dependence of Raman scattering is universal in the case of Weyl electrons and given by an analytic expression, while it contains
symmetry-protected features in the case of quadratic band-touching nodes. We also analyze modifications of the Raman signal due to the ubiquitous tilting of the Weyl spectrum, and argue that universality is lost only in a finite frequency range that springs out of the threshold frequency for untilted nodes. Finally, we explore the frequency dependence of Raman scattering for the case of Dirac electrons coexisting with a flat band in the same region of the first Brillouin zone, which is inspired by the material V$_{1/3}$NbS$_2$.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Cross-listed from quant-ph
Tensor-network representation of excitations in Josephson junction arrays
Emilio Rui, Joachim Cohen and Alexandru Petrescu
We present a nonperturbative tensor-network approach to the excitation spectra of superconducting
circuits based on Josephson junction arrays. These arrays provide the large lumped inductances required for
qubit designs, yet their intrinsically many-body nature is typically reduced to effective single-mode descriptions. Perturbative treatments attempt to include the collective array modes neglected in these approximations, but a fully nonperturbative analysis is challenging due to the many-body structure and the collective character of these modes. We overcome this difficulty using the DMRG-X
algorithm, which extends tensor-network methods to excited states. Our key advance is a construction of trial states from the linearized mode structure, enabling direct computation of excitations, even in degenerate
manifolds, which was previously inaccessible. Our results reveal significant deviations from, and allow us to improve upon, previous perturbative treatments in the regime of low array junction impedance.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Coherent Optical Control of Electron Dynamics in Patterned Graphene Nanoribbons
Riek H. Rüstemeier, H. P. Ojeda Collado and Ludwig Mathey
The field of coherent electronics aims to advance electronic functionalities by utilizing
quantum coherence. Here, we demonstrate a viable and versatile methodology for controlling electron dynamics optically in
graphene nanoribbons. In particular, we propose to flatten the band structure of armchair
graphene nanoribbons via control electrodes, arranged periodically along the extended direction of the nanoribbon. This addresses a key mechanism for dephasing in solids, which derives from the momentum dependence of the energy gap between the valence and the conduction band. We design an optimal driving field pulse to produce collective Rabi oscillations between these bands, in their flattened configuration. As an example for coherent control, we show that these optimized pulses can be used to invert the entire electronic band population by a $\pi$ pulse in a reversible fashion, and to create a superposition state via a $\pi/2$ pulse, which generates an alternating photocurrent. Our proposal consists of a platform and methodological approach to optically control the electron dynamics of
graphene nanoribbons, paving the way toward novel coherent electronic and
quantum information processing devices in solid-state materials.
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Materials Science · Cross-listed from eess.IV
Interlaced dynamic XCT reconstruction with spatio-temporal implicit neural representations
Mathias Boulanger and Ericmoore Jossou
In this work, we investigate the use of spatio-temporalImplicit Neural Representations (INRs) for dynamic X-ray computed
tomography (XCT) reconstruction under interlaced acquisition schemes. The proposed approach combines ADMM-based optimization with INCODE, a conditioning framework incorporating prior knowledge, to enable efficient convergence. We evaluate our method under diverse acquisition scenarios, varying the severity of global undersampling, spatial complexity (quantified via spatial information), and noise levels. Across all settings, our model achieves strong performance and outperforms Time-Interlaced Model-Based Iterative Reconstruction (TIMBIR), a state-of-the-art model-based iterative method. In particular, we show that the inductive bias of the INR provides good robustness to moderate noise levels, and that introducing explicit noise modeling through a weighted least squares data fidelity term significantly improves performance in more challenging regimes. The final part of this work explores extensions toward a practical reconstruction framework. We demonstrate the modularity of our approach by explicitly modeling detector non-idealities, incorporating ring artifact correction directly within the reconstruction process. Additionally, we present a proof-of-concept 4D volumetric reconstruction by jointly optimizing over batched axial slices, an approach which opens up the possibilities for massive parallelization, a critical feature for processing large-scale
datasets.
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