Peer Revenue An exchange of ideas

Papers

Fresh from arXiv, typeset properly. Highlighted words trade on the market.

Physics Condensed Matter

cond-mat Watch Condensed Matter (sign in to use)

Thursday 26 February

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

Thermodynamic Uncertainty Relation with Quantum Feedback

Fluctuations are intrinsic to microscopic systems and impose fundamental limits on nonequilibrium precision, as captured by the thermodynamic uncertainty relation (TUR), which links current fluctuations to entropy production. While feedback control is expected to further suppress fluctuations, its role within the TUR framework has remained unclear, particularly in quantum systems where control is inherently information-driven. In this Letter, we consider open quantum systems weakly coupled to a thermal environment, in which quantum jumps are continuously monitored, and Markovian feedback is applied. Using quantum mutual information to quantify the information contribution induced by feedback, we derive a finite-time TUR for arbitrary time-integrated currents in terms of entropy production and mutual information. Our results uncover how feedback control suppresses fluctuations together with thermodynamic cost and establish a fundamental precision bound imposed by information-based control. As an application, we analyze a quantum clock model and demonstrate that the clock precision can be enhanced by feedback control in the presence of a single thermal reservoir.
Read the full abstract

Superconductivity

Moire Engineering of Cooper-Pair Density Modulation States

Cooper-pair density modulation (CPDM) states are superconducting phases in which the order parameter varies periodically in real space without breaking translational symmetry. Recently, moire superlattices in layered materials have emerged as powerful platforms for engineering charge density with tunable lattice symmetry, offering a new route to creating and controlling CPDM states. In this work, we demonstrate moire-induced CPDM states in a bilayer heterostructure formed by epitaxially stacking one quintuple layer (1 QL) of topological insulator Sb2Te3 on a six-unit-cell (6 UC) antiferromagnetic FeTe layer. Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/S) measurements reveal a moiré superlattice formed between the hexagonal Te lattice of Sb2Te3 and the square Te lattice of FeTe, which spatially modulates the two superconducting gaps of the 1 QL Sb2Te3/6 UC FeTe bilayer. Our Josephson STM/S measurements provide direct real-space imaging of the CPDM states with a wavelength corresponding to the periodicity of the moire superlattice. By substituting Sb2Te3 with Bi2Te3, we achieve control over both the periodicity and magnitude of the CPDM states. Our work demonstrates an epitaxial strategy for synthesizing moire superlattices from materials with different crystal symmetries and reveals a new mechanism for engineering CPDM states in designer bilayer heterostructures.
Read the full abstract

All authors Zihao Wang, Bing Xia, Stephen Paolini, Zi-Jie Yan, Pu Xiao, Jiatao Song, Veer Gowda, Hongtao Rong, Di Xiao, Xiaodong Xu, Weida Wu, Ziqiang Wang, Cui-Zu Chang

Strongly Correlated Electrons

Memory-Dominated Quantum Criticality as a Universal Route to High-Temperature Superconductivity

Understanding the dynamical origin of high-temperature superconductivity remains a central challenge in strongly correlated quantum matter. Near quantum criticality, diverging correlation times reorganize the infrared dynamics into a scale-free continuum of collective relaxation processes. We show that the infrared behavior of interacting electrons is generically controlled by the relaxation-rate spectrum of the underlying many-body dynamics. Starting from a microscopic fermionic theory, we derive that the Cooper-channel kernel admits a universal spectral representation in terms of the time-scale density of states (TDOS) of collective decay modes, without invoking a specific bosonic mediator. The superconducting instability follows directly from the vanishing of the quadratic kernel via a standard ladder resummation and Thouless criterion, with the pairing interaction determined entirely by the infrared structure of the relaxation spectrum. A finite TDOS at vanishing relaxation rate produces a memory-dominated regime characterized by long-time kernels $K(t)\sim 1/t$ and logarithmic enhancement of the retarded pairing interaction, leading to a BCS-like exponential transition scale set by infrared spectral weight. More generally, infrared-singular spectra generate power-law response and algebraic enhancement of the transition scale. The same relaxation spectrum controls normal-state dynamics, giving rise to long-time correlations, non-Markovian response, and strange-metal behavior. These results identify the spectral organization of relaxation modes as a universal organizing principle of quantum critical matter and establish memory-dominated criticality as a natural mechanism for enhanced pairing.
Read the full abstract

Materials Science

Single Pair of Charge-two Weyl Fermions in Chiral Boron Allotropes

The realization of a minimal Weyl semimetal (WSM) hosting a single pair of Weyl points (WPs) has thus far been restricted to magnetic systems, since time-reversal symmetry generally enforces a minimum of four WPs in nonmagnetic materials. Here, combining first-principles calculations with symmetry analysis, we identify two stable boron allotropes, chiral HDSBC-B$_{20}$ and cage-like CR-B$_{12}$, as the first nonmagnetic electronic materials realizing a single pair of WPs in the spinless regime. We show that the interplay between time-reversal symmetry and crystallographic rotation symmetry ($C_4$ or $C_3$) stabilizes exactly one pair of $C=2$ WPs pinned at time-reversal-invariant momenta, thereby circumventing the conventional node-quartet constraint. These double-WPs exhibit linear dispersion along the rotation axis and quadratic dispersion in the perpendicular plane. In HDSBC-B$_{20}$, the sign of the topological charge is directly correlated with structural chirality. Both materials host exceptionally long double Fermi arcs spanning the surface Brillouin zone, providing experimentally accessible signatures. Our findings establish nonmagnetic material platforms for minimal double-Weyl fermions and broaden the landscape of unconventional WSMs.
Read the full abstract

All authors Hui-Jing Zheng, Yan Gao, Yanfeng Ge, Yong Liu, Zhong-Yi Lu

Strongly Correlated Electrons

Symmetry-enforced agreement of Kohn–Sham and many-body Berry phases in the SSH–Hubbard chain

We study when a density-matching Kohn–Sham (KS) description can reproduce a many-body Berry phase in a correlated insulator, despite the fact that geometric phases are functionals of the wave function. Focusing on the one-dimensional SSH–Hubbard chain on a ring as a controlled interacting topological model, we introduce a $U(1)$ twist $\theta$ (flux insertion). The many-body ground state along the full twist cycle is computed by the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG), while the onsite interaction $U$ is tuned from the noninteracting to the strong-coupling regime. At half filling in the inversion-symmetric gapped regime, our DMRG calculations show that the density remains constant within numerical accuracy over the entire $(\theta,U)$ range studied. Thus, the density has no dependence on either the flux $\theta$ or the interaction strength $U$. Accordingly, the symmetry-preserving density constraint collapses the KS reference to an SSH-type quadratic representative with $U$-independent geometric diagnostics. Nevertheless, the many-body wave function exhibits a nontrivial geometric response: the quantum metric associated with the $\theta$-parametrized ground-state manifold depends on $\theta$ at intermediate $U$ and is strongly suppressed at large $U$, consistent with the charge fluctuation freezing. Intriguingly, the KS and many-body Berry phases coincide throughout the gapped regime as $U$ is tuned from weak to strong coupling. We show that this agreement is best understood as symmetry-enforced $\mathbb{Z}_2$ sector matching, rather than as evidence that the density encodes the many-body Berry connection.
Read the full abstract

2602.22578 · 26 Feb · 12 pages, 5 figures. Most important figures are Fig.3 and Fig.4 March 4th, v2: Fixed the definition of the total twist flux in the implementation and recomputed the \(\theta\)-derivative geometric quantities. Corresponding figures were updated. This does not affect the conclusions. v3: Fix a minor error in the boundary-condition expression of the Hamiltonian. No change to the conclusions

Materials Science

Symmetry-Protected Minimum of Four Conventional Weyl Points in Nonmagnetic Crystals

Realizing nonmagnetic Weyl semimetals (WSMs) with the minimal number of conventional Weyl points (WPs) and a clean Fermi surface remains a central challenge. Here, combining symmetry analysis with first-principles calculations, we establish the definitive conditions under which a nonmagnetic crystal can host exactly four conventional ($C = \pm 1$) WPs, identifying 76 space groups in the spinless limit and 83 in the spinful case that allow this minimal configuration. Guided by this framework, we predict two previously unknown boron allotropes, P6-B$_{48}$ and TBIN-B$_{48}$, as ideal WSMs. Both exhibits precisely four isolated WPs near the Fermi level, with exceptionally clean electronic structures. Notably, the WPs in P6-B$_{48}$ are pinned to high-symmetry points, while those in TBIN-B$_{48}$ lie along high-symmetry lines, leading to distinct and experimentally accessible surface states, including single and double Fermi arcs. Our work provides a complete symmetry-based foundation and pristine material platforms for minimal Weyl physics.
Read the full abstract

All authors Ze-Xin Xue, Ke-Xin Pang, Yun-Yun Bai, Yanfeng Ge, Yong Liu, Yan Gao

Strongly Correlated Electrons

Quantum-geometry-driven Mott transitions and magnetism

Quantum geometry quantifies how the single-particle Bloch wavefunction changes in phase and amplitude across the Brillouin Zone. In multi-orbital systems where bands have strongly mixed orbital composition, quantum geometry plays a vital role in determining the ground state and low-energy properties of interacting electronic systems. In this work, we show that Mott metal-insulator transitions, as well as transitions between different magnetic orders within the Mott insulating phase, can be driven by the quantum geometry of the underlying Bloch band, thereby providing a mechanism complementary to conventional bandwidth-tuned Mott transitions. By studying the Kane-Mele-Hubbard model using exact diagonalization, we demonstrate that in in half-filled and topologically-trivial bands, quantum geometric properties of the Bloch states alone can act as a tuning knob for Mott metal-to-insulator and affect the competition between ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. We show that both transitions may be heuristically understood via non-local Coulomb scattering in a basis of exponentially localized Wannier functions. These results highlight the role of quantum geometry beyond topological settings as a governing principle for conventional Mott and magnetic physics in multi-orbital and moiré materials.
Read the full abstract

Materials Science

Interpretable self-driving sputter epitaxy: from black-box optimization to human-usable growth rules

Self-driving laboratories have emerged as powerful tools for navigating high-dimensional process spaces, yet systems remain black-box optimizers that yield limited transferable process understanding. Here, we demonstrate an interpretable self-driving laboratory framework that transforms autonomous optimization into human-usable growth rules. As a stringent benchmark, we apply this framework to RF magnetron sputtering, addressing a long-standing challenge of achieving high-quality beta-Ga2O3 heteroepitaxy and single-crystalline beta-Ga2O3 homoepitaxy via sputtering. By combining Bayesian optimization with automated optical evaluation of the Urbach energy as a metric of sub-bandgap disorder, the self-driving system efficiently identifies heteroepitaxial growth conditions yielding a minimum Urbach energy of 182 meV, the lowest value for sputtered beta-Ga2O3 films. Importantly, the optimized growth window is transferable, realizing single-crystalline beta-Ga2O3 homoepitaxy without further optimization, corroborated by scanning transmission electron microscopy. To convert the closed-loop dataset into interpretable growth rules, we train a random forest surrogate and distill it into response curves and quantified pairwise interactions across the four-dimensional growth-parameter space. This analysis identifies substrate temperature as the primary control knob, with RF power and gas flows acting largely additively and only a modest temperature-oxygen coupling delineating the narrow window for high-quality growth, establishing a general route from autonomous experimentation to transferable growth rules.
Read the full abstract

All authors Yuki K. Wakabayashi, Yui Ogawa, Franz Benedict Romero, Takuma Otsuka, Yoshitaka Taniyasu

Materials Science

The Surface Sensitivity of X-ray Second Harmonic Generation as a Function of Energy

The surface sensitivity and probe depth in the x-ray regime of diamond for second harmonic generation (SHG) was investigated both analytically and computationally with velocity gauge real-time time-dependent density functional theory (VG-RT-TDDFT), which includes a full multipole expansion. This was accomplished using two different approaches, by changing the number and location of layers that can generate SHG computationally and by exploiting the symmetry of a crystal, a similar pattern emerged. We find that by 1000 eV, well above the ~285 eV of the C $K$-edge, the SHG of diamond is dominated by the bulk, quadrupole response, in agreement with our analytic calculations. The bulk response continues to grow as the energy is increased, becoming overwhelming by 7000 eV. Near the C $K$-edge the measurement is quite surface sensitive, however, this surface sensitivity reduces as the energy increases such that by 1000 eV (and certainly by 3500 eV) SHG is largely bulk sensitive. Moreover, we find that the specific details of the crystal orientation (i.e., comparing a (001)-terminated and (111)-terminated surface) appear to have significant effects on the surface sensitivity.
Read the full abstract

All authors Daniel Schacher, Tod A. Pascal, Keith V. Lawler, Craig P. Schwartz

Wednesday 25 February

Materials Science · Cross-listed from physics.optics

Correlated inhomogeneous absorption profiles across distinct optical transitions in a rare-earth doped crystal

In rare-earth ion-doped crystals, inhomogeneous absorption profiles reflect the distribution of local environments experienced by individual ions. While each optical transition probes this distribution differently, their fine spectral structures may retain correlations arising from shared local perturbations. In this paper, we present a low-temperature, high-resolution spectroscopic study in Er$^{3+}$:YSO of the transition $^{4}I_{15/2}$ - $^{4}I_{11/2}$ at 980 nm and compare it to the well-known transition $^{4}I_{15/2}$ - $^{4}I_{13/2}$ at 1.5 $\mu$m. Using spectral hole burning on one transition while monitoring the other, we uncover for the first time spectral correlations between two optical transitions, providing new insight into the microscopic origin of inhomogeneous distributions in rare-earth-doped crystals.
Read the full abstract

All authors Flora Segur, Sacha Welinski, Alban Ferrier, Perrine Berger, Anne Louchet-Chauvet

Statistical Mechanics

Structural Viscosity, Thermal Waves, and the Mpemba Effect from Extended Structural Dynamics

Classical hydrodynamics rests on the point-particle idealization, leading to parabolic transport equations, infinite signal speeds, and the inability to capture finite time relaxation, anisotropic transport, or non Fourier thermal phenomena. This work introduces Extended Structural Dynamics (ESD), a kinetic framework in which constituents are described as spatially extended objects possessing orientation, angular momentum, and internal deformation modes. Starting from an extended Boltzmann equation, a Chapman Enskog expansion with BGK closure yields two hyperbolic parabolic transport laws: a dynamical spin equation coupling orientational relaxation to fluid vorticity, and a heat flux relaxation equation with structural thermal conductivity. These equations predict finite propagation speeds for momentum and heat, intrinsic shock regularization, anisotropic transport, and thermal waves. The spin equation provides a kinetic derivation of micropolar fluid theory, while the heat flux equation supplies a microscopic foundation for Cattaneo Vernotte behavior. Quantitative estimates indicate structural contributions can dominate classical transport coefficients. The BGK closure preserves the qualitative geometric structure of extended phase space and captures correct scaling; the connection between the orientational relaxation time and Lyapunov instability is established independently. The resulting scaling laws follow from rotational-translational coupling. Predictions include Mpemba crossover time for colloidal ellipsoids and shock width for asymmetric molecules, both testable with existing techniques.
Read the full abstract

Soft Condensed Matter

STL-to-Stokeslet Computation of Mobility Tensors and Sedimentation Dynamics for Shaped Particles

Sedimentation is extremely common in nature, occurring throughout the atmosphere and oceans, and in every laboratory centrifuge. The shape and mass distribution of a particle uniquely determines its motion at low Reynolds number, and complex dynamics can emerge from even simple particle shapes. The dynamics are governed by the particle's hydrodynamic mobility tensor, which dictates the translational and rotational velocities given the forces and torques. However, to date the inference of the mobility tensor from the object shape has been cumbersome and tricky. Starting with an input file representing an object for a 3D printer, such as an STL file, here we present an efficient numerical framework to compute the mobility tensor by discretizing the particle surface into distributed point drag forces called stokeslets. We validate our results against analytical solutions of simple geometries and recent experimental measurements. With our calculated mobility tensors in hand, using standard transformation laws, we demonstrate the dramatic effect of shifting the center of mass from a center of symmetry: all initial orientations evolve into one, two, or three particular final motions dictated by the object. By providing a user-friendly and efficient framework to compute the mobility tensor and resulting particle dynamics, this work offers a broadly applicable tool for the soft-matter, fluid-mechanics, and biophysics communities, and facilitates the design of steerable particles under diverse external forces, with relevance to colloidal transport, biological locomotion, diffusion, and self-assembly.
Read the full abstract

All authors Wenting Cheng, Tiago Pernambuco, Thomas A. Witten, Haim Diamant, Justin C. Burton

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks

Impact of Stealthy Hyperuniform Magnetic Impurity Configurations on Bulk Magnetism in a Two-dimensional Heisenberg Model

We investigate an antiferromagnetic quantum Heisenberg model on a square lattice with high-spin magnetic impurities to clarify how random and stealthy hyperuniform impurity configurations influence the bulk magnetic properties. Stealthy hyperuniform configurations are generated using generalized cost functions that interpolate between square-lattice-like and triangular-lattice-like arrangements. Using linear spin-wave theory for the mixed-spin model, we demonstrate that triangular-lattice-like arrangements yield a larger average staggered magnetization than both random and square-lattice-like cases. This enhancement originates from sublattice effects: while the square-lattice-like configuration enforces nearest-neighbor impurities to occupy opposite sublattices due to its bipartite structure, the triangular-lattice-like arrangement allows same-sublattice nearest-neighbor pairs, thereby strengthening cooperative magnetic enhancement.
Read the full abstract

Materials Science

Many-Body effects beyond excitons in second-harmonic generation of monolayer MoS$_{2}$

We present a quantitative study of many-body effects including the three-particle level on second-harmonic generation in monolayer MoS$_2$. Our approach combines many-body perturbation theory with time-dependent current-density-functional theory within an ab initio framework in the optical limit. The inclusion of two-particle excitonic effects via a dynamical long-range linear exchange-correlation kernel reproduces the qualitative features of the second-harmonic response, but differs from the experimentally reported magnitude by nearly a factor of two. By incorporating three-particle trionic correlations through a static long-range quadratic exchange-correlation kernel, we achieve significantly improved quantitative agreement with experiment for the three main bound excitonic resonances. These findings suggest that many-body interactions beyond the two-body excitonic level can play an important role in accurately describing second-order optical responses in two-dimensional semiconductors.
Read the full abstract

Materials Science

Mimicking the earth core conditions with ultrafast laser materials interaction

Ultrafast lasers create extreme, non-equilibrium thermodynamic conditions that can transiently reach pressures and temperatures comparable to interior core of the earth. Here we show that femtosecond excitation of amorphous silica-hafnia multilayer dielectrics drives the formation of high-pressure crystalline phases of silica including stishovite, seifertite, and the pyrite-type high density structure, within confined subsurface regions.Using TEM, SAED, and 4D-STEM, we directly map nanoscale phase evolution and identify crystalline motifs embedded inside laser generated blisters.Complementary molecular dynamics simualtions reveal the thermodynamic pathway underlying these transformations, where rapid electronic pressure initiates densification and octahedral coordination, followed by temperature driven crystallization and displacive transitions during ultrafast quenching. The resulting polymorphs reflects a dual-stage pathway inaccessible under equilibrium processing. Our results establish femtosecond laser excitation as a viable route to synthesize and stabilize ultrahigh-density high pressure silica phases under ambient conditions, without a diamond anvil cell, with implications for laser-damage mechanisms, high-energy-density materials, and planetary physics.
Read the full abstract

All authors Mohamed Yaseen Noor, Aram Yedigaryan, Gabriel Calderon, Arshak Tsaturyan, Elena Kanchan, Jinwoo Hwang, Carmen S. Menoni, Jean-Philippe Colombier, Enam Chowdhury

Strongly Correlated Electrons

Kondo Reshapes Multiple Orders in a $5f$ van der Waals Material

Electron interactions can drive magnetism, superconductivity, and topology. However, the realization of these phases remains limited in van der Waals materials, and the full landscape of strong correlations remains uncharted in any context. While interactions between conduction electrons and localized spins yield a well-known competition between heavy fermions (Kondo hybridization) and magnetic order (RKKY exchange), such spin-driven competition represents only part of the correlated electron phase diagram. Here we demonstrate that a heavy-fermion state can also compete with charge order, such as the charge density wave (CDW) state typical in the van der Waals $4f$ rare-earth tritellurides (RTe$_3$). We exploit the spatially-extended $5f$ orbitals of $\beta$-UTe$_3$ to enhance Kondo hybridization compared to its isostructural RTe$_3$ cousins. Our scanning tunneling spectroscopy on $\beta$-UTe$_3$ shows Fano resonances characteristic of the heavy fermion state, while our quasiparticle interference imaging reveals the disappearance of Fermi-level nesting and the appearance of flat bands. We extend the tritelluride tight-binding model to include Kondo coupling and quantify the Fermi surface reconstruction. Consistent with the destruction of nesting, we observe no CDW in $\beta$-UTe$_3$. Our expansion of the Kondo phase diagram beyond spin-mediated competition opens new possibilities for proximity-induced phase engineering in correlated van der Waals heterostructures.
Read the full abstract

All authors Gal Tuvia, Ruizhe Kang, Diana Golovanova, Yuqian Chen, Yidi Wang, Zeyu Ma, Mengke Liu, Carly Grossman, Suk Hyun Sung, Justin Shotton, Jiahui Zhu, David Martinez, Ismail El Baggari, Binghai Yan, Dirk K. Morr, Sheng Ran, Jennifer E. Hoffman

Superconductivity

Enhancement of superconductivity by disorder in Remeika-type quasiskutterudites

Atomic-scale disorder is conventionally regarded as detrimental to superconductivity; however, under specific conditions, it can enhance superconducting properties. Here, we investigate the role of substitutional disorder in Remeika-type quasiskutterudites $R_3M_4$Sn$_{13}$ and $R_5M_6$Sn$_{18}$ ($R=$ Y, La, Lu; $M=$ Co, Rh, Ru) by combining measurements of magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, and heat capacity with microscopic modeling. We demonstrate that increasing disorder leads to the emergence of locally superconducting regions characterized by an enhanced critical temperature $T_c^{\ast}$, exceeding the bulk transition temperature $T_c$. Both $T_c^\ast$ and $T_c$ exhibit a nonmonotonic dependence on dopant concentration and show a strong correlation with entropy isotherms measured as a function of disorder. The pronounced entropy maxima coincide with the largest separation between $T_c^{\ast}$ and $T_c$, establishing disorder as a thermodynamically controlled parameter governing superconductivity in these materials. Measurements of the upper critical field reveal distinct $H_{c2}(T)$ branches associated with the bulk and locally superconducting phases, providing direct experimental evidence for a percolative superconducting state. To interpret these observations, we propose a microscopic model that captures the interplay between the impurity-induced enhancement of local pairing and the disorder-driven suppression of global superconducting coherence. The model reproduces the experimentally observed nonmonotonic evolution of $T_c^{\ast}$ with disorder and supports a percolation-based interpretation of the superconducting transition. Our results demonstrate that controlled atomic disorder can serve as an effective materials-design parameter for tuning superconductivity in complex correlated systems.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Gases

Controlled symmetry breaking of the Fermi surface in ultracold polar molecules

Long-range anisotropic dipole-dipole interactions between ultracold polar molecules are predicted to drive exotic quantum phases, yet direct many-body signatures of these interactions in degenerate Fermi gases have remained elusive. Here, we report the observation of an interaction-induced controlled deformation of the Fermi surface, providing a clear many-body signature in a deeply degenerate Fermi gas of $^{23}\text{Na}^{40}\text{K}$ molecules. Using double microwave (MW) shielding, we prepare $8 \times 10^3$ molecules at $0.23(1)$ times the Fermi temperature, achieving a three-fold suppression of inelastic losses compared to single MW shielding while preserving strong elastic dipolar scattering. We observe Fermi surface deformations of up to $7\,\%$, more than two times larger than those observed in magnetic atoms, despite operating at two orders of magnitude lower densities. Crucially, we demonstrate continuous tuning of the interaction potential from axial U(1) to biaxial C$_{2}$ symmetry, directly imprinting this geometry onto the Fermi surface. We find excellent agreement between our experimental results and parameter-free Hartree-Fock theory. These results establish MW-shielded polar molecules as a highly tunable platform for exploring strongly correlated dipolar Fermi matter and offer a promising path towards topological superfluidity.
Read the full abstract

All authors Shrestha Biswas, Sebastian Eppelt, Weikun Tian, Wei Zhang, Fulin Deng, Christine Frank, Tao Shi, Immanuel Bloch, Xin-Yu Luo

Statistical Mechanics

An Information-theoretic Collective Variable for Configurational Entropy

Entropy governs molecular self-assembly, phase transitions, and material stability, yet remains challenging to quantify and directly control in molecular systems. Here, we demonstrate that the computable information density (CID), a data compression-based information theoretic metric, provides a general per-configuration structural descriptor that tracks configurational entropy changes in molecular dynamics simulations, reflecting both local and long-range structural organization. We validate the CID across systems of increasing complexity, beginning with single-component Lennard-Jones melting before examining binary phase separation, polymer condensation and dispersion, and assembly of amorphous carbon networks at multiple densities. Unlike conventional order parameters, CID requires no a priori knowledge of relevant structural features and captures organizational signatures across a variety of molecular systems and discretization resolutions. By establishing a data compression-based structural complexity metric as a practical proxy for configurational entropy, this framework lays a foundation for future entropy-driven materials design and optimization strategies.
Read the full abstract

Other Condensed Matter · Cross-listed from physics.flu-dyn

Kelvin wave and soliton propagation in classical viscous vortex filaments

Vortex filaments are highly rotating localized structures of fluids that admits several types of excitation. Here, we study them by using numerical simulations of the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. We first address the propagation of Kelvin waves, helicoidal excitations propagating along the filament, and measure their dispersion relation which turns out to be in good agreement with the original Lord Kelvin predictions. Then, inspired by the connection between vortex line dynamics and an integrable system, we show numerically the existence of solitons propagating along vortex filaments and study the collision of two of such structures. Finally, we show numerically the experimental feasibility of studying vortex solitons in the lab, by proposing an experiment for their generation.
Read the full abstract

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

Macroscopic Quantum Electrodynamics with Gain: Modified Fluctuations and Their Consequences

Macroscopic quantum electrodynamics (MQED) provides a unified framework for describing quantum electromagnetic fields in arbitrary macroscopic environments. Central to this theory is the field correlation, which governs both radiative (e.g., Lamb shifts and the Purcell effect) and mechanical phenomena, such as van der Waals and Casimir forces. In this tutorial, we provide an overview of MQED and its extension to active media, highlighting fluctuation-induced forces as manifestations of gain-modified field correlations.
Read the full abstract

Strongly Correlated Electrons

Hidden $Z_{2}\times Z_{2}$ subspace symmetry protection for quantum scars

We study the paradigmatic spin-1 XY chain under open boundary conditions, which hosts exact quantum many-body scars generated by an emergent Spectrum Generating Algebra (SGA). We show that the scar subspace possesses a symmetry-protected trivial (SPt) character that we attribute to a hidden $Z_{2}\times Z_{2}$ symmetry of another model, namely the commutant Hamiltonian, for which the scars are the ground states. We construct a Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) type twist operator, which, for scar states, takes the value $-1,$ and, for ergodic states, approaches zero in the thermodynamic limit. A complementary understanding of the stability of the scars under different perturbations is obtained by analyzing the Loschmidt echo and Quantum Fisher Information (QFI) of the scars. Finite-size scaling analysis of the QFI reveals that the scars are much more sensitive to perturbations as compared to the nearby thermal states. Based on the analysis of QFI and different LSM twist operators, we obtain a classification of different SGA-preserving and SGA-breaking perturbations.
Read the full abstract

Materials Science · Cross-listed from math.NA

A Reduced Order Model approach for First-Principles Molecular Dynamics Computations

To leverage the redundancy between the electronic structure computed at each step of first-principles molecular dynamics, we present a data-driven modeling framework for Kohn-Sham Density Functional Theory that bypasses the explicit optimization of electronic wavefunctions. We sample a priori representative atomic configurations and construct a low-dimensional basis that efficiently approximates the electronic structure subspace. Subsequently, we employ this reduced basis in a direct solver for the electronic single particle density matrix, thereby enabling the efficient determination of ground state without iterative wavefunction optimization. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach in a Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics of a water molecule, showing that the resulting simulations accurately reproduce key structural properties, such as bond lengths and bond angle, obtained from full first-principles molecular dynamics. This work highlights the potential of data-driven approaches to develop efficient electronic structure solvers for first-principles simulations.
Read the full abstract

All authors Siu Wun Cheung, Youngsoo Choi, Jean-Luc Fattebert, Jonas Kaufman, Daniel Osei-Kuffuor

Soft Condensed Matter

Field-induced phase transitions in ferro-antiferromagnetic diblock copolymers

We study the equilibrium properties of a model of magnetic diblock copolymer where each monomer is decorated with an Ising-like spin. Spins interact ferromagnetically within each block and antiferromagnetically across blocks, generating frustration between magnetic ordering and spatial organization. By employing a mean-field approach and Monte Carlo simulations for self-avoiding walks on the cubic lattice, we investigate the system's response to an external magnetic field. We discover a rich phase diagram that includes: a swollen phase with both filaments magnetically disordered and spatially extended; a mixed compact phase characterized by a single globule in which the two filaments are strongly intertwined; a segregated compact phase composed of two globular, magnetically ordered, and spatially separated blocks. Further, if the magnitude of the intra-block ferromagnetic interaction differs between the two blocks, we observe a hybrid segregated (“tadpole”) phase where one extended block coexists with a collapsed one. Mean-field predictions are in quantitative agreement with Monte Carlo results for the location of the phase boundaries. These findings provide a minimal statistical-mechanical framework for field-controlled self-assembly of tunable patterns by magnetically heterogeneous polymers. They may also serve as a simple platform to investigate the coupling between internal epigenetic-like states and chromatin folding.
Read the full abstract

All authors Alberto Raiola, Emanuele Locatelli, Davide Marenduzzo, Enzo Orlandini

Strongly Correlated Electrons · Cross-listed from physics.comp-ph

Adaptive Patching for Tensor Train Computations

Quantics Tensor Train (QTT) operations such as matrix product operator contractions are prohibitively expensive for large bond dimensions. We propose an adaptive patching scheme that exploits block-sparse QTT structures to reduce costs through divide-and-conquer, adaptively partitioning tensors into smaller patches with reduced bond dimensions. We demonstrate substantial improvements for sharply localized functions and show efficient computation of bubble diagrams and Bethe-Salpeter equations, opening the door to practical large-scale QTT-based computations previously beyond reach.
Read the full abstract

All authors Gianluca Grosso, Marc K. Ritter, Stefan Rohshap, Samuel Badr, Anna Kauch, Markus Wallerberger, Jan von Delft, Hiroshi Shinaoka

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Numerical Experiments with Parameter Setting of Trotterized Quantum Phase Estimation for Quantum Hamiltonian Ground State Computation

We numerically investigate quantum circuit elementary-gate level instantiations of the standard Quantum Phase Estimation (QPE) algorithm for the task of computing the ground-state energy of a quantum magnet; the disordered fully-connected quantum Heisenberg spin glass model. We consider (classical simulations of) QPE circuit computations on relatively small quantum Hamiltonians ($3$ qubits) with up to $10$ phase bits of precision, using up to Trotter order $10$. We systematically study the inputs of QPE, specifically time evolution, Trotter order, Trotter steps, and initial state, and illustrate how these inputs practically determine how QPE operates. From this we outline a coherent set of quantum algorithm input and tuning guidelines. One of the notable properties we characterize is that QPE sampling of the optimal digitized phase converges to a fixed rate. This results in strong diminishing returns of optimal phase sampling rates which can occur when the Trotter error is surprisingly high.
Read the full abstract

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks

Probing the influence of topological and geometric disorder on the spectrum of the differential Laplacian operator on networks

Metric networks are network-shaped, one-dimensional structures on which one can solve differential equations to simulate a wide range of physical systems including conjugated molecules, photonic crystals, quantum mechanics in waveguide networks, and acoustic metamaterials. More concretely, a metric network is a network whose edges are each assigned a notion of length and a coordinate describing position. One can then define function spaces and differential operators on these objects to model the aforementioned systems. Recent software advancements have made it feasible to analyze partial differential equations on large, compact metric networks with a vast array of structures. Here, we generate compact metric network structures using the spatial tessellations of two-dimensional hyperuniform point patterns, which have suppressed large-scale density fluctuations relative to typical disordered point patterns. This choice of structure is inspired by the exotic physical properties of network materials with these structures in other contexts. Then, we characterize the eigenvalue spectrum structure of the differential Laplace operator on these networks. In particular, we find that gaps can form in the eigenvalue spectra of these networks whose widths increase when the distribution of edge lengths is narrow and as the number of triangular faces increases. Importantly, many of the structures we consider are realizable in Euclidean space, meaning they are well-suited for practical applications in, e.g., metamaterial design. This work can thus be used to inform the design of metric network-based systems with spectral gaps with tunable widths and locations.
Read the full abstract

Statistical Mechanics · Cross-listed from hep-th

Resurgence in the Virasoro Minimal String and 3d Gravity

We compute non-perturbative, resurgent contributions to the Virasoro minimal string and 3d gravity using techniques from hermitian matrix models. In particular, we construct a fully non-perturbative partition function for the Virasoro minimal string in terms of a Zak transform. In this context, negative tension D-branes appear naturally, which in the matrix model correspond to anti-eigenvalues, or instantons on the involuted sheet of the spectral curve. We further extend this analysis to resolvents and observe resurgent wall crossing phenomena between ZZ- and FZZT-branes. Using recent results that relate the Virasoro minimal string to 3d gravity with end-of-the-world branes we proceed to study the resurgent consequences of summing over the genus in 3d gravity, where we find non-perturbative contributions of doubly exponential type. These statements are then tested using resurgent large-order asymptotics. Lastly, we compute the non-perturbative eigenvalue density for generic hermitian matrix models and identify the change of asymptotic behavior at the edge of the eigenvalue distribution with a Stokes transition. This allows us to identify oscillations in the eigenvalue density with anti-Stokes behavior of FZZT-branes. In the case of 3d gravity with end-of-the-world branes we comment how this Stokes transition coincides with the onset of black hole behaviour and compute the non-perturbative primary density. Furthermore, we apply these techniques to the eigenvalue density of JT gravity to compute higher genus corrections.
Read the full abstract

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Schwinger-Keldysh field theory for operator Rényi entropy and entanglement growth in non-interacting systems with sub-ballistic transports

The notion of operator growth in quantum systems furnishes a bridge between transport and the generation of entanglement between different parts of the system under quantum dynamics. We define a measure of operator growth in terms of subsystem operator Rényi entropy, which provides a state-independent measure of operator growth, unlike entanglement entropies, and the usual measures of operator growth like out-of-time-order correlators. We show that the subsystem operator Rényi entropy encodes both spatial and temporal information, and thus can directly connect to transport for a local operator related to a conserved quantity. We construct a unified Schwinger-Keldysh (SK) field theory formalism for the time evolution of operator Rényi entropy and entanglement entropies of initial pure states. We use the SK field theory to obtain the operator Rényi and state entanglement entropies in terms of infinite-temperature and vacuum Keldysh Green's functions, respectively, for non-interacting systems. We apply the method to explore the connection between operator and entanglement growth, and transport in non-interacting systems with quasiperiodic and random disorder, like the one- and two-dimensional Aubry-André models and the two-dimensional Anderson model. In particular, we show that the growth of subsystem operator Rényi entropy and state von Neumann and Rényi entanglement entropies can capture both ballistic and sub-ballistic transport behaviors, like diffusive and anomalous diffusive transport, as well as localization in these systems.
Read the full abstract

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Resonant Zener Interferometry in van der Waals Heterostructures

We demonstrate the presence of quantum interference effects in van der Waals heterostructures subject to in-plane electric fields. The in-plane field $F$ accelerates carriers through a hybridized band edge, and interlayer Zener tunneling occurs by distinct pathways, resulting in a solid-state quantum interferometer with imprints in transport observables. For parabolic-band bilayers, we identify two characteristic signatures which are observable in lateral conductance: Landau-Zener-Stuckelberg oscillations in the band-overlap regime periodic in $1/F$ at small fields, resembling electric-field induced quantum oscillations, and a pronounced resonance at $F\propto T_0^{3/2}$ set by the interlayer tunneling $T_0$. These features provide a directly accessible probe of coherent interferometric dynamics in van der Waals heterostructures, and could be harnessed for more precise engineering and characterization.
Read the full abstract