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Physics Condensed Matter

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Tuesday 20 January

Materials Science

Scaling Two-Dimensional Semiconductor Nanoribbons for High-Performance Electronics

As silicon transistors scale toward future technology nodes, three-dimensional architectures – including gate-all-around (GAA) nanoribbon and complementary field-effect transistors (CFETs) – require channel widths in the tens of nanometers to meet density targets. Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), with their atomically thin bodies, are promising channel materials for these architectures, yet most TMD-based FETs remain limited to micrometer-scale widths. Here, we show that channel width scaling of monolayer MoS2 nanoribbon transistors not only preserves but also enhances device performance. Reducing the channel width from hundreds of nanometers to $\sim$30–40 nm increases the median on-current density by $\sim$42% and reduces the median subthreshold swing by $\sim$16%, with a champion device reaching 995 $\mu$A $\mu$m$^{-1}$ at a drain-to-source voltage of 1 V and an overdrive voltage of 2.5 V. We attribute these improvements to three mechanisms: minimal edge-induced disorder, enhanced gate electrostatics at ribbon edges, and more efficient side-contact injection, together reducing contact resistance from $\sim$860 $\Omega$ $\mu$m to $\sim$270 $\Omega$ $\mu$m. Extending the platform to n-type WS2 and p-type WSe2 FETs, we achieve WSe2 p-FET on-currents of 357 $\mu$A $\mu$m$^{-1}$. These findings suggest that monolayer TMD nanoribbon FETs are promising candidates for future ultra-scaled electronics.
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All authors Hao-Yu Lan, Shao-Heng Yang, Yongjae Cho, Yuanqiu Tan, Jun Cai, Zheng Sun, Chenyang Li, Lin-Yun Huang, Yi Wan, Lain-Jong Li, Thomas Beechem, Joerg Appenzeller, Zhihong Chen

Materials Science

GPUTB-2:An efficient E(3) network method for learning high-precision orthogonal Hamiltonian

Although equivariant neural networks have become a cornerstone for learning electronic Hamiltonians, the intrinsic non-orthogonality of linear combinations of atomic orbitals (LCAO) basis sets poses a fundamental challenge. The computational cost of Hamiltonian orthogonalization scales as O(N^3), which severely hinders electronic structure calculations for large-scale systems containing hundreds of thousands to millions of atoms. To address this issue, we develop GPUTB-2, a framework that learns implicitly orthogonality-preserving Hamiltonians by training directly on electronic band structures. Benefiting from an E(3)-equivariant network accelerated by Gaunt tensor product and SO(2) tensor product layers, GPUTB-2 achieves significantly higher accuracy than GPUTB across multiple benchmark systems. Moreover, GPUTB-2 accurately predicts large-scale electronic structures, including transport properties of temperature-perturbed SnSe and the band structures of magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene. By further integrating this framework with the linear-scaling quantum transport (LSQT) method, we investigate the electronic properties of million-atom amorphous graphene and uncover pressure-induced electronic structure transitions in more complex amorphous silicon. Together, these results establish GPUTB-2 as a high-accuracy and scalable approach for predicting orthogonal Hamiltonians.
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All authors Yunlong Wang, Zhixin Liang, Chi Ding, Junjie Wang, Zheyong Fan, Hui-Tian Wang, Dingyu Xing, Jian Sun

Strongly Correlated Electrons

When electrons meet ferroelastic domain walls in Strontium Titanate

Strontium titanate (SrTiO$_3$), famously described by Nobel laureate K. A. Müller as the "drosophila of solid-state physics", has been extensively investigated over the last seventy five years for its intricate coupling of structural, electronic, and dielectric properties and continues to serve as a foundational platform for advancing oxide electronics. In its pristine form, SrTiO$_3$ exhibits quantum paraelectric behavior below 35 K and undergoes an antiferrodistortive phase transition near 105 K. This transition generates ferroelastic twin domains separated by a dense network of domain walls, which function as nanoscale structural defects with far-reaching consequences. While the static influence of ferroelastic domain walls on carrier transport in electron-doped SrTiO$_3$ is well established, recent experimental results show that the emergence of polarity at these walls, combined with strain fields and inherent quantum fluctuations, induces correlated dynamical phenomena such as glass-like relaxations of electrons and memory effects. In this review, we highlight these recent advances, focusing on the subtle interplay between the emergence of nanoscale polar order, quantum fluctuations, and long-range strain fields. We propose that understanding charge carrier dynamics in the background of these complex ferroelastic domain wall landscapes offers a new paradigm for exploring electronic transport in the presence of local polar order and quantum fluctuations, with broad implications for correlated oxides.
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Disordered Systems and Neural Networks · Cross-listed from physics.optics

Programmable branched flow of light

We demonstrate deterministic control of branched flow of light using anisotropic nematic liquid crystals. By sculpting the director field via photoalignment, we create spatially programmable optical potentials that govern light scattering and propagation. This platform enables configurable, anisotropic branched flow of light and reveals a universal scaling law for its characteristic features, directly connecting disordered photonics with mesoscopic wave transport. Under extreme anisotropy, we observe a pronounced directional channeling effect, driven by anomalous symmetry-breaking velocity diffusion, which concentrates light propagation along preferential directions while suppressing transverse spreading. These findings establish a tunable material platform for harnessing branched flow of light, opening pathways toward on-chip photonic circuits that exploit disorder-guided transport, scattering-resilient endoscopic imaging, and adaptive optical interfaces in complex media.
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All authors Shan-shan Chang, Daxing Xiong, Ze-huan Zheng, Li-Wei Wang, Yan-qing Lu, Lu-Jian Chen, Jian-Hua Jiang, Jin-hui Chen

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Photo- and thermally-induced huge layer decoupling in twisted bilayer WSe$_2$

Twisted bilayer systems host a wealth of emergent phenomena, such as flat-band superconductivity, ferromagnetism, and ferroelectricity, arising from moiré superlattices and unconventional interlayer coupling. Despite their central role, direct and quantitative access to the three-dimensional atomic arrangement in these systems has remained elusive due to their nanoscale dimensions. Here, we introduce an automated dark-field electron tomography technique that enables quantitative three-dimensional structural analysis of atomically thin materials with sub-Å precision. By applying this method to twisted bilayer WSe$_2$, we precisely visualize the twist-angle-dependent structural relaxation appearing as the AB/BA stacking domains separated by 10-20 nm domain walls.In the marginally twisted region ($\theta \leq 0.1^\circ$), we uncover a significant expansion of the interlayer spacing compared to the bulk configuration, exceeding 0.1 Å, along with a remarkable temperature-driven interlayer decoupling. Ultrafast measurements further reveal optically induced interlayer separation of ~0.2 Å on the picosecond timescale, attributed to transient exciton formation. These findings not only establish a powerful approach for visualizing hidden out-of-plane structures in atomically thin micro-flake materials, but also uncover the intrinsic fragility and dynamical tunability of interlayer coupling in moiré-engineered 2-dimensional materials.
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All authors A. Nakamura, Y. Chiashi, T. Shimojima, Y. Tanaka, S. Akatsuka, M. Sakano, S. Masubuchi, T. Machida, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, K. Ishizaka

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks

Recent progress on disorder-induced topological phases

Topological states of matter in disordered systems without translation symmetry have attracted great interest in recent years. These states with topological characters are not only robust against certain disorders, but also can be counterintuitively induced by disorders from a topologically trivial phase in the clean limit. In this review, we summarize the current theoretical and experimental progress on disorder-induced topological phases in both condensed-matter and artificial systems. We first introduce the topological Anderson insulators (TAIs) induced by random disorders and their topological characterizations and experimental realizations. We then discuss various extensions of TAIs with unique localization phenomena in quasiperiodic and non-Hermitian systems. We also review the theoretical and experimental studies on the disorder-induced topology in dynamical and many-body systems, including topological Anderson-Thouless pumps, disordered correlated topological insulators and average-symmetry protected topological orders acting as interacting TAI phases. Finally, we conclude the review by highlighting potential directions for future explorations.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Classical transport theory for the planar Hall effect with threefold symmetry

In recent years, the planar Hall effect (PHE) has become a key probe of Berry curvature and the anomalous Hall effect (AHE). Threefold-symmetric signals under in-plane fields are often attributed to such quantum mechanisms. Here, we establish a purely classical origin for a three-fold-symmetric PHE. The idea is simple yet decisive: a third-order expansion of the Boltzmann equation in the magnetic field reveals that the threefold component originates from the relative positions of the mirror planes in the crystals with respect to the measurement setups. Remarkably, the threefold contribution should be ubiquitous because this symmetry condition can be realized across a broad range of crystals. Numerical estimates based on concrete models further show that its amplitude is comparable to that expected from the AHE.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Transport of indirect excitons and exciton mediated spin transport in a van der Waals heterostructure in magnetic fields

We studied transport of indirect excitons (IXs) and IX mediated spin transport in a MoSe$_2$/WSe$_2$ van der Waals heterostructure in magnetic fields up to 8 T. We observed the long-range IX transport and the long-range IX mediated spin transport in the magnetic fields. The IX transport and spin transport are characterized by the 1/e decay distances reaching $\sim$ 100 micrometers. The decay distance of the spin transport correlates with the decay distance of IX transport. These decay distances first increase and then decrease with increasing IX density for all studied magnetic fields. The long-range IX transport and the long-range spin transport in the magnetic fields are consistent with the similar long-range transport in zero magnetic field.
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All authors Zhiwen Zhou, W. J. Brunner, E. A. Szwed, L. H. Fowler-Gerace, L. V. Butov

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Cross-listed from physics.comp-ph

Efficient local classification of parity-based material topology

Although the classification of crystalline materials can be generally handled by momentum-space-based approaches, topological classification of aperiodic materials remains an outstanding challenge, as the absence of translational symmetry renders such conventional approaches inapplicable. Here, we present a numerically efficient real-space framework for classifying parity-based $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topology in aperiodic systems based on the spectral localizer framework and the direct computation of the sign of a Pfaffian associated with a large sparse skew-symmetric matrix. Unlike projector-based or momentum-space-based approaches, our method does not rely on translational symmetry, spectral gaps in the Hamiltonian's bulk, or gapped auxiliary operators such as spin projections, and instead provides a local, energy-resolved topological invariant accompanied by an intrinsic measure of topological protection. A central contribution of this work is the development of a scalable sparse factorization algorithm that enables the reliable determination of the Pfaffian's sign for large sparse matrices, making the approach practical to realistic physical materials. We apply this framework to identify the quantum spin Hall effect in quasicrystalline class AII systems, including gapless heterostructures, and to diagnose fragile topology in a large $C_2 \mathcal{T}$-symmetric photonic quasicrystal. Overall, our results demonstrate that the spectral localizer, combined with efficient sparse numerical methods, provides a unified and robust tool for diagnosing parity-based topological phases in aperiodic electronic, photonic, and acoustic materials where conventional band-theoretic indexes are inapplicable.
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All authors Stephan Wong, Ichitaro Yamazaki, Chris Siefert, Iain Duff, Terry A. Loring, Alexander Cerjan

Statistical Mechanics

Macroscopic localization and collective memory in Poisson renewal resetting

Stochastic renewal processes are ubiquitous across physics, biology, and the social sciences. Here, we show that continuous-time renewal dynamics can naturally produce a mixed discrete-continuous structure, with a macroscopic fraction of particles occupying a discrete state. For ensembles of continuous-time random walkers subject to Poissonian renewal resets, we develop an age-structured framework showing this discrete component corresponds to localization at the reset configuration. We next show that collective interactions can retain memory although all reset events are memoryless. Remarkably, the transition to collective memory is discontinuous, and we identify a discontinuous dynamical phase transition from weak collective bias, where the dynamics are stationary, to strong collective bias where the dynamics are nonstationary and display aging up to finite-size effects. We explicitly discuss ecological implications of our work, illustrating how continuous-time renewal dynamics shape macroscopic structure and collective organization with long-term memory.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Cross-listed from physics.flu-dyn

Revealing mesoscale bubble and particle dynamics in ultrasound-driven multiphase fluids by ultrafast synchrotron X-ray radiography and hybrid modelling

Multiphase fluid flows comprising of mesoscale solid particles, liquid droplets, or gas bubbles are common in both natural and man-made systems, but quantifying the energy transfer is challenging due to complex bubble-particle interactions. In this study, we used ultrafast synchrotron X-ray imaging to study the mesoscale dynamic interactions among ultrasonic cavitation bubbles and hydrophobic particles or clusters. Critical dynamic information and data were extracted from the vast amount of X-ray images and then fed into the hybrid analytical-numerical model for calculating the energy transfer from the oscillating bubble and the imploding bubble to the nearby hydrophobic particles. Using the Ni spherical microparticles as an example, at bubble oscillation approximately 16% (80-320 nJ) of the local energy was transferred to the particle. At bubble implosion, the transferred energy increased approximately 26% (0.135-1.09 uJ). Local energy transfer occurred on timescales of 1 us to 1 ms and length scales of 1 um to 1 mm. Within each ultrasound cycle, kinetic and potential energy underwent complex exchanges, with local energy exhibiting a stepwise decay at the end of each cycle. The transferred energy was mainly consumed for enabling highly efficient particle dispersion. This research provides quantitative insights into optimizing hydrophobic nanomaterial dispersion and has broader implications for interfacial energy transfer processes such as making suspensions, composite materials and exfoliated 2D materials.
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All authors Ling Qin, Kang Xiang, Iakovos Tzanakis, Dmitry Eskin, Samuel Clark, Kamel Fezzaa, Jiawei Mi

Statistical Mechanics

Additive-Functional Approach to Transport in Periodic and Tilted Periodic Potentials

In this Letter, we clarify the physical origin of effective transport in periodic and tilted periodic systems. When Brownian dynamics is examined on the scale of a single period, the particle displacement admits a natural separation into a bounded part associated with recurrent motion within the periodic landscape, and an unbounded stochastic part that grows in time and carries the net transport. We show that effective drift and diffusion are governed entirely by this unbounded component, while local potential-induced fluctuations contribute only bounded corrections. Treating the displacement as an additive functional of the stochastic dynamics provides a rigorous formulation of this separation and leads to a corrector-martingale representation at the trajectory level. Within this framework, classical results-including the Lifson-Jackson formula for unbiased periodic systems and the Stratonovich expressions for tilted periodic potentials-follow as direct consequences of the same underlying structure. The same perspective extends naturally to higher-dimensional periodic environments, recovering the standard homogenized transport tensors.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons · Cross-listed from hep-lat

Onset of thermalization of q-deformed SU(2) Yang-Mills theory on a trapped-ion quantum computer

Nonequilibrium dynamics of quantum many-body systems is one of the main targets of quantum simulations. This focus - together with rapid advances in quantum-computing hardware - has driven increasing applications in high-energy physics, particularly in lattice gauge theories. However, most existing experimental demonstrations remain restricted to (1+1)-dimensional and/or abelian gauge theories, such as the Schwinger model and the toric code. It is essential to develop quantum simulations of nonabelian gauge theories in higher dimensions, addressing realistic problems in high-energy physics. To fill the gap, we demonstrate a quantum simulation of thermalization dynamics in a (2+1)-dimensional $q$-deformed $\mathrm{SU}(2)_3$ Yang-Mills theory using a trapped-ion quantum computer. By restricting the irreducible representations of the gauge fields to the integer-spin sector of $\mathrm{SU}(2)_3$, we obtain a simplified yet nontrivial model described by Fibonacci anyons, which preserves the essential nonabelian fusion structure of the gauge fields. We successfully simulate the real-time dynamics of this model using quantum circuits that explicitly implement $F$-moves. In our demonstrations, the quantum circuits execute up to 47 sequential $F$-moves. We identify idling errors as the dominant error source, which can be effectively mitigated using dynamical decoupling combined with a parallelized implementation of $F$-moves.
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Materials Science

Hybrid Epitaxial Al/InGaAs system: Solid-state dewetting and Al facet formation

Hybrid superconductor–semiconductor platforms can host subgap electronic excitations such as Andreev bound states (ABSs); in topological regimes, a special zero-energy class, Majorana bound states (MBSs), can emerge. Here we report the growth of epitaxial Al films by molecular-beam epitaxy on $\mathrm{In_{0.75}Ga_{0.25}As}$ under near-room-temperature substrate conditions. Using a combination of AFM/SEM, cross-sectional TEM, and in situ RHEED, we map how substrate temperature and Al deposition rate govern film morphology, continuity, and interface quality. We identify a growth window that yields continuous, superconducting Al films with an abrupt $\mathrm{Al}/\mathrm{In_{0.75}Ga_{0.25}As}$ interface and no detectable indium interdiffusion. We further investigate the thermal stability of these films under in situ post-growth heating and ex situ annealing following surface oxidation. For unoxidized Al, rapid surface diffusion triggers solid-state dewetting at approximately $165\,^\circ\mathrm{C}$, resulting in the formation of $\{111\}$-faceted Al islands. In contrast, the presence of a native oxide largely suppresses dewetting, with failure occurring only locally at surface defects. Annealing above the indium melting point ($156.6\,^\circ\mathrm{C}$) induces significant In surface migration in both cases, leading either to localized interfacial In inclusions beneath Al agglomerates or to uniform surface contamination at sites of localized layer breakdown. Together, these results define growth and annealing conditions for thermally robust epitaxial Al on III–V semiconductors and provide practical guidance for fabricating high-quality superconductor–semiconductor hybrid platforms for quantum devices.
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All authors A. Elbaroudy, N. Shaw, Sandra J. Gibson, B. D. Moreno, F. Sfigakis, J. Baugh, Z. R. Wasilewski

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Probing Fermi-surface spin-textures via the nonlinear Shubnikov-de Haas effect

The coupling of spin and electronic degrees of freedom via the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) is an essential ingredient for many proposed future technologies. However, probing the strength and nature of SOI is a significant challenge, especially in heterostructures. Here, we consider the nonlinear Shubnikov-de Haas (NSdH) effect, a quantum oscillatory effect that occurs under conditions similar to those of the well-known SdH effect, but is second order in the applied electric field. We demonstrate that, unlike its linear counterpart, the NSdH effect is highly sensitive to the spin textures that arise from SOI. We show that the relative phases and beating patterns of the nonlinear oscillations provide additional information that discriminates linear- and cubic-Rashba-dominated regimes in the models considered here. Our results establish NSdH as a complementary phase-resolved probe of SOI, offering a new framework for characterizing materials relevant to topology, spintronics, and solid-state quantum information technologies.
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All authors Kazuki Nakazawa, Henry F. Legg, Renato M. A. Dantas, Jelena Klinovaja, Daniel Loss

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Gigahertz-frequency Lamb wave resonator cavities on suspended lithium niobate for quantum acoustics

Phononic nanodevices offer a promising route toward quantum technologies, as phonons combine strong confinement within matter with broad coupling capabilities to various quantum systems. In particular, the piezoelectric response of materials such as lithium niobate enables coupling between superconducting qubits and gigahertz-frequency phonons. However, bulk lithium niobate phononic devices typically rely on surface acoustic waves and are therefore inherently subject to leakage from the surface into the bulk substrate. Here, we explore the acoustic behavior of resonator cavities supporting GHz-frequency Lamb waves in a 200 nm-thick suspended lithium niobate layer. We characterize the acoustic response at both room and millikelvin temperatures. We find that our resonator cavities with strong confinement reach intrinsic quality factors of approximately 6000 at the single phonon level. We use the measured parameters of the resonators to model their coupling to a superconducting transmon qubit, allowing us to evaluate their potential as quantum acoustic devices.
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All authors Michele Diego, Hong Qiao, Byunggi Kim, Minseok Ryu, Shiheng Li, Gustav Andersson, Masahiro Nomura, Andrew N. Cleland

Materials Science

Autonomous computational catalysis through an agentic research system

Autonomous agents are beginning to transform scientific research from tool-assisted workflows toward self-sustaining discovery processes. Computational catalysis provides a representative challenge, as catalyst discovery requires high-level questions to be translated into coordinated model construction, atomistic simulation, mechanistic analysis, and iterative design across multiple scales. Here we introduce CatMaster, a catalysis-native agentic research system that recasts computational catalysis as a low-barrier virtual ecosystem for autonomous research. CatMaster maintains an evolving research state and extends capabilities through self-feedback across model construction, calculation, critique and catalyst-design decisions within one extensible environment. Across progressively challenging tasks, CatMaster converts natural-language requests into concrete computational studies, from essential atomistic modelling and standard calculations to mechanism exploration and closed-loop catalyst design. It showed robust execution in representative computational-catalysis scenarios and near-leading performance across selected MatBench tasks, with phonons scenario demonstrating its modelling self-evolution capability. In the independent CO2-to-CO catalyst design case, CatMaster used iterative self-critique and evidence refinement to identify competitive B-CoN4 and NiN3B/N-NiN3B motifs. These results establish a virtual-ecosystem paradigm in which AI agents move beyond simulation execution toward end-to-end computational research, providing a foundation for autonomous discovery in catalysis and materials science.
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All authors Honghao Chen, Jiangjie Qiu, Yi Shen Tew, Xiaonan Wang

Materials Science

Current-driven nonlinear skyrmion dynamics in altermagnets

The center of mass and helicity are two dynamic degrees of freedom of skyrmions. In this work, we study the current-driven skyrmion motion in frustrated altermagnets. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that the skyrmion helicity is not locked with the skyrmion Hall angle, but unidirectionally rotates with a global angular velocity proportional to the square of the current density. In addition, we find that the helicity rotation velocity is highly anisotropic, depending on the direction of current flows. We also observe helicity oscillation in the terahertz regimes, where the nonlinear mixing between the fast and slow modes generates a magnon frequency comb. Full atomistic spin dynamics simulations verify our theoretical predictions. Our results establish frustrated altermagnets as a promising platform for skyrmionics, THz technology, and frequency comb.
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All authors Yang Liu, Zhejunyu Jin, Jie Liu, Peng Yan

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks

Quantum Avalanche Stability of Many-Body Localization with Power-Law Interactions

We investigate the stability of the many-body localized phase against quantum avalanche instabilities in a one-dimensional Heisenberg spin chain with long-range power-law interactions ($V\propto r^{-\alpha}$). By combining exact diagonalization of static properties with Lindblad master equation simulations of open-system dynamics, we systematically map the interplay between interaction range and disorder strength. Our finite-size scaling analysis of entanglement entropy identifies a critical interaction exponent $\alpha_c \approx 2$, which separates a fragile regime, characterized by an exponentially diverging critical disorder, from a robust short-range regime. To rigorously test the system's resistance to avalanches, we couple the boundary to an infinite-temperature bath and track the propagation of the thermalization front into the localized bulk. We find that the characteristic thermalization time follows a unified scaling law, $T_{r_{\text{th}}} \sim \exp[\kappa(\alpha) LW]$ (herein, $L$ is the system size, and $W$ is the disorder intensity), which diverges exponentially with the product of system size and disorder strength. This suppression enables the derivation of a quantitative stability criterion, $W_{\text{stab}}(\alpha)$, representing the minimum critical disorder strength required to maintain avalanche stability. Our results confirm that the MBL phase remains asymptotically stable in the thermodynamic limit when disorder exceeds an interaction-dependent threshold, bridging theoretical debates on long-range MBL and providing a roadmap for observing these dynamics in experimental platforms such as Rydberg atom arrays.
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Soft Condensed Matter · Cross-listed from physics.class-ph

Inverse Reconstruction of Moving Contact Loads on an Elastic Half-Space Using Prescribed Surface Displacement

This study investigates the elastic response of a two-dimensional semi-infinite medium subjected to a moving surface load with a prescribed displacement profile. As a fundamental step, we derive analytical Green's functions for the displacement and stress fields generated by a point load traveling at a constant velocity along the surface, explicitly incorporating elastodynamic effects through Mach number dependence. These moving-load solutions serve as building blocks for constructing more general loading scenarios via linear superposition. Based on Green's functions, an inverse problem is formulated to reconstruct the unknown surface traction responsible for a given surface displacement. The inverse analysis is performed through a Fourier-domain inversion with regularization, which enables a direct and computationally efficient determination of the contact pressure without iterative forward simulations. This framework is applied to a rigid wheel-ground contact problem, where the imposed displacement is dictated by the wheel geometry. The reconstructed surface traction exhibits a smooth, symmetric distribution within the contact region, while the resulting subsurface stress fields are obtained in closed analytical form and involve dilogarithm functions. The principal stress difference reveals characteristic spatial patterns similar to photoelastic fringes, and their asymmetry increases with the Mach number, reflecting the dynamic nature of the moving contact.
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Statistical Mechanics

Thermalization in a nonlinear variant of the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger Equation

We study the thermalization properties of a fully nonlinear lattice model originally derived from the two-dimensional cubic defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLS) using analytical and numerical methods. The model conserves both energy and norm, whose densities define a microcanonical energy-norm parameter space, while the nonlinear nearest-neighbor coupling is controlled by a parameter $D$. Within this space, our analysis identifies broad parameter regimes in which the dynamics is ergodic not only within but also outside the standard Gibbs region, indicating the need for a modified statistical description. At higher energies, the system instead exhibits long-lived compacton-mediated localization and signatures of weak nonergodicity, as evidenced by finite-time variances, excursion-time statistics, and probability distributions of local amplitudes. We show that stronger coupling $D$ enhances fluctuations and accelerates the crossover of the finite-time variance of the local norm density from an initial $\sim T^{-1/2}$ decay toward the faster $\sim T^{-1}$ decay characteristic of ergodic thermalization, where $T$ denotes the averaging time. In the high-energy regime, weak coupling $D\leq 1$ favors persistent single-site compacton localization, whereas stronger coupling $D>1$ yields long-lived two-site localization. Our results provide insights into the interplay between thermalization, localization, and non-Gibbs statistical behavior in genuinely nonlinear systems.
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All authors Yagmur Kati, Aleksandra Maluckov, Ana Mancic, Panayotis Kevrekidis

Monday 19 January

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Quantum Entanglement, Stratified Spaces, and Topological Matter: Towards Entanglement-Sensitive Langlands Data

Using the spinless Haldane model, we study the witness-filtered Berry curvature, quantum geometric tensor, and quantum Fisher information on the gapped strata of the parameter space and evaluate them through the Fukui-Hatsugai-Suzuki discretization. The filtered quantities isolate the part of the geometric response carried by sublattice coherence: they suppress contributions from regions where the occupied Bloch state is locally A/B-separable and emphasize regions where curvature and coherence coexist. We derive exact lattice identities, reconstruction formulas for the curvature-weighted coherence, and bounds relating the filtered quantum geometric tensor and quantum Fisher information to single-particle mode entanglement. Across the gap-closing stratum, the quantized response changes admit a natural description in terms of Hecke modifications. We elicit a corresponding Langlands viewpoint – not as a full correspondence, but as an organizational principle and as the mathematical shadow of these physical geometric constructions.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons

Strongly Quenched Kramers Doublet Magnetism in SmMgAl11O19

We report magnetic susceptibility, isothermal magnetization, and specific-heat measurements on the rare-earth hexaaluminate SmMgAl$_{11}$O$_{19}$, where Sm$^{3+}$ realizes a strongly quenched Kramers doublet on a triangular lattice with an exceptionally weak net exchange scale. The Curie–Weiss analysis yields strongly reduced ground-doublet $g$ factors, $g_{ab}\simeq 0.65$ and $g_{c}\simeq 0.70$. This indicates that the low-temperature response is governed primarily by single-ion physics, with crystal-field splitting and $J$-multiplet mixing jointly renormalizing the Sm$^{3+}$ moment, rather than collective exchange. For $H \parallel c$, the specific heat shows no $\lambda$-type anomaly down to 0.35~K but evolves into a well-defined two-level Schottky peak whose gap grows linearly with field, yielding $g_c\simeq0.62$ and recovering nearly all of $R\ln2$ at high fields, thereby confirming an effective $S_{\mathrm{eff}}=\tfrac12$ Kramers doublet description for $T\lesssim10$~K. Together, these results establish SmMgAl$_{11}$O$_{19}$ as a weak-exchange, nearly single-ion triangular Kramers magnet in which frustration produce an anisotropic low-field correlated regime without inducing long-range order.
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All authors Sonu Kumar, Barbora Salajová, Andrej Kancko, Cinthia A. Corrêa, Shuvajit Halder, Ross H. Colman

Materials Science

Insights into $CO_{2}$ activation on defective ZnS surfaces

In this work, we investigate $CO_{2}$ activation on ZnS using Near Ambient-Pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements (NAP-XPS) and density functional theory calculations (DFT). Our NAP-XPS experiments reveal that $CO_{2}$ adsorbs onto a defective ZnS surface upon heating above $473 \ K$ in a $CO_{2}$ atmosphere (up to $0.55 \ mbar$). The $CO_{2}$ adsorption fingerprint is detectable even after cooling to room temperature under ultra-high vacuum. Our DFT calculations suggest that $CO_{2}$ adsorption is energetically favorable on ZnS surfaces containing zinc vacancies, highlighting defect sites as key adsorption centers. Additionally, oxygen adsorption on a defective ZnS surface is exothermic, in contrast to the endothermic behavior observed on a defect-free surface. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of defect-driven surface reactivity and may inform ZnS-based catalyst's design for $CO_{2}$ capture and reutilization.
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All authors P.R.A de Oliveira, P.Venezuela, F.Stavale, J.A. Boscoboinik

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Improving the electrical conductivity of Pt nanowires deposited by focused electron beam induced deposition using thermal annealing

We investigated the electrical conductivity of platinum nanowires with heights ranging from 2 nm to 200 nm, deposited by focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID). Post-deposition processing was employed to enhance the electrical conductivity of the platinum nanowires. Thermal annealing of as-deposited nanowires in air at 225$^{\circ}$C for 4 hours increased electrical conductance by up to five orders of magnitude. After annealing, 22.5 $\mathrm{\mu m}$-long nanowires with a height of 36 nm exhibited resistances of approximately 10 k$\Omega$. This nanowire underwent a reduction in height to one-quarter of its original value, a reduction in width to one half, and a reduction in cross-sectional area by approximately one order of magnitude. The platinum-to-carbon weight ratio increased from 35:65 to 85:15. The electrical resistance decreased monotonically as temperature was lowered from room temperature to 100 mK, confirming that annealed FEBID platinum nanowires are promising building blocks for nanoelectronic devices operating at millikelvin temperatures.
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All authors Rajendra Rai, Ujjwal Dhakal, Binod DC, Yoichi Miyahara

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Precise estimation of the coupling strength between two nanomechanical modes from four Ramsey fringes

We experimentally determine the coupling strength between two strongly coupled nanomechanical modes using a Ramsey-inspired technique optimized for signals as short as four fringes. The method is applied to precisely probe the change of the coupling rate induced by a modification of the microwave-cavity readout field. It opens a pathway towards sensing electrostatic field fluctuations approaching single-charge resolution.
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All authors Anh Tuan Le, Avishek Chowdhury, Hugo Ribeiro, Eva M. Weig

Statistical Mechanics

Renewal theory for Brownian motion across a stochastically gated interface

Stochastically gated interfaces play an important role in a variety of cellular diffusion processes. Examples include intracellular transport via stochastically gated ion channels and pores in the plasma membrane of a cell, intercellular transport between cells coupled by stochastically gated gap junctions, and oxygen transport in insect respiration. Most studies of stochastically-gated interfaces are based on macroscopic models that track the particle concentration averaged with respect to different realisations of the gate dynamics. In this paper we use renewal theory to develop a probabilistic model of single-particle Brownian motion (BM) through a stochastically gated interface. We proceed by constructing a renewal equation for 1D BM with an interface at the origin, which effectively sews together a sequence of BMs on the half-line with a totally absorbing boundary at $x=0$. Each time the particle is absorbed, the stochastic process is immediately restarted according to the following rule: if the gate is closed then BM restarts on the same side of the interface, whereas if the gate is open then BM restarts on either side of the interface with equal probability. In order to ensure that diffusion restarts in a state that avoids immediate re-absorption. we assume that whenever the particle reaches the interface it is instantaneously shifted a distance $\epsilon$ from the origin. We explicitly solve the renewal equation for $\epsilon>0$ and show how the solution of a corresponding forward Kolmogorov equation is recovered in the limit $\epsilon\rightarrow 0$. However, the renewal equation provides a more general mathematical framework by explicitly separating the first passage time problem of detecting the gated interface (absorption) and the subsequent rule for restarting BM. We conclude by extending the theory to higher-dimensional interfaces.
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Statistical Mechanics

Wang-Landau study of lattice gases on geodesic grids

We study a family of lattice-gas systems defined on semiregular grids, obtained by projecting the vertices of three different geodesic icosahedra onto a spherical surface. By using couplings up to third neighbors we explore various interaction patterns, ranging from core-corona repulsion to square-well attraction and short-range attractive, long-range repulsive potentials. The relatively small number of sites in each grid ($\sim 100$) enables us to compute the exact statistical properties of the systems as a function of temperature and chemical potential by Wang-Landau sampling. For each case considered we highlight the existence of distinct low-temperature “phases”, featuring, among others, regular-polyhedral, cluster-crystal, and worm-like structures. We highlight similarities and differences between these motifs and those observed on the triangular lattice under the same conditions. Finally, we discuss the relevance of our results for the bottom-up realization of spherical templates with desired functionalities.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Loopless multiterminal quantum circuits at odd parity

We theoretically investigate loopless multiterminal hybrid superconducting devices at odd fermion parity with time-reversal symmetry. We find that the energy-phase relationship has a double minimum corresponding to opposite windings of the superconducting phases. Spin-orbit coupling adds multi-axial spin splittings, which contrasts with two-terminal devices where spin dependence is uniaxial. Capacitive shunting localizes quantum circuit states in the wells and exponentially suppresses their splitting. For weak spin-orbit strength, the system has a four-dimensional spin-chirality low-energy subspace which can be universally controlled with electric fields only.
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Statistical Mechanics · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Stochastic resetting induces quantum non-Markovianity

Stochastic resetting describes dynamics which are reinitialized to a reference state at random times. These protocols are attracting significant interest: they can stabilize nonequilibrium stationary states, generate correlations in noninteracting systems, and enable optimal search strategies. While a constant reset probability results in a Markovian dynamics, much less is known about non-Markovian effects in quantum stochastic resetting. Here, we analyze memory effects in these processes – examining the evolution of quantum states and of observables – through witnesses of non-Markovianity for open quantum systems. We focus on discrete-time reset processes, which are of particular interest as they can be implemented on existing gate-operated quantum devices. We show that these processes are generically described by non-divisible maps and, in non-classical scenarios where the effective reset probability can become negative, can feature revivals in the state distinguishability. Our results reveal non-Markovian effects in quantum stochastic resetting and show that a time-dependent reset may be exploited to engineer enhanced stationary quantum correlations.
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