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Physics Condensed Matter

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Sunday 3 May

Superconductivity

Two distinct superconducting regimes in Ti4Co2O under pressures

We report on the pressure dependence of superconducting transition temperature Tc and upper critical field Bc2(0) through electrical transport of the Ti4Co2O superconductor (eg.,the superconducting transition temperature Tc = 2.5 K and the Bc2(0)=7.2T=2.9Tc). We find that the Tc exhibits non-monotonic pressure dependence:it rises monotonically at first with a pressure coefficient of dTc/dP=0.034 K/GPa, but rapidly decreases around 10-20 GPa, and then increases with the dTc/dP = 0.023 K/GPa, up to= 4.31 K at 69.7 GPa. Concurrently, the Bc2(0)exhibits a dome shaped pressure dependence, with its maximum at 5 GPa of almost twice the value at ambient pressure, exceeding the weak-coupling Pauli paramagnetic limit Bp throughout the whole pressure range. By comparing the normal-state and superconducting properties, we identify two distinct superconducting regimes, with a low-pressure superconducting phase characterized by an enhanced Bc2(0)values and Fermi-liquid normal-state electrical transport (the exponent n = 2), and a high-pressure superconducting phase with a monotonically increased Tc and an enhancement in phonon scatterings (the exponent n = 4). Room-temperature synchrotron X-ray diffraction indicates that there is no structural transition up to 55.8 GPa, which gives a relatively large bulk modulus of 192 GPa in comparison with other alloy superconductors. First-principles calculations suggest that the nonmonotonic Tc maybe closely related to the evolution of the density of states of Ti4Co2O upon compression, which is different from those of isostructural superconductors Ti4Ir2O and Nb4Rh2C. Our results show that even in the Ti4Co2O with weak spin-orbit coupling, superconductivity remains highly sensitive to the external stimuli such as pressure.
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All authors Lifen Shi, Keyuan Ma, Binbin Ruan, Zhen Wang, Pengtao Yang, Zhian Ren, Jianping Sun, Gang Li, Fabian O. von Rohr, Bosen Wang, Jinguang Cheng

Materials Science

Polymorphic crystallites model for monolayer amorphous materials

Establishing atomistic models of amorphous materials remains a central challenge in materials science. Here, we examine three representative multicomponent monolayer systems using first-principles-trained machine-learning potentials (MLPs) and an energy-guided Monte Carlo structural-search workflow. For monolayer amorphous boron nitride (maBN), independent density-functional-theory (DFT) single-point calculations confirm that the ensemble generated by the MLP-driven search is lower in energy on average than an extended-Tersoff-generated ensemble. Across the sampled maBN structures, local-ring classification combined with strict connected-domain analysis identifies h-BN-like, o-B$_2$N$_2$-like, and o-B$_4$N$_4$-like crystallite domains together with mixed medium-range order. Only individual samples containing at least two distinct phase-pure crystallite-domain types are classified as polymorphic crystallites. The same analysis finds coexisting hexagonal and tetragonal domains in monolayer amorphous LiCl and graphene-like, h-BN-like, borophene-like, and mixed-order regions in monolayer amorphous BCN. Five-nanosecond MLP molecular-dynamics trajectories at 300 K show that the candidate structures are dynamically persistent on the simulated timescale. These results support a polymorphic-crystallite description for the selected model systems, while experimental discrimination from alternative continuous-random-network descriptions will require medium-range-order-sensitive measurements.
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All authors Le-Ye Zhu, Xi Zhang, Yun-Peng Wang, Jieheng Shi, Junwei Zhang, Shixuan Du, Yu-Yang Zhang

Materials Science

Reversible fully spin polarization in strain-engineered two-dimensional fully compensated magnets

Achieving controllable spin polarization and its reversal in symmetry-compensated magnets. Here we demonstrate, using symmetry analysis and a minimal tight-binding model, that uniaxial strain removes these constraints by inducing inequivalence between magnetic sublattices in two-dimensional (2D) system, driving an altermagnetic (AM) state into a fully compensated ferrimagnetic (fFIM) state and enabling fully spin polarization. Furthermore, strain along orthogonal directions gives rise to two energetically degenerate fFIM states with opposite spin polarization, enabling reversible spin switching. More importantly, the two symmetry-related fFIM states can be regarded as distinct ferroelastic variants, suggesting that this model or mechanism can be extended to ferroelastic fFIM systems. The generality of this mechanism is confirmed by combining spin-group analysis, first-principles calculations, and Boltzmann transport theory in representative candidates, including AM Mn$_2$SeO and ferroelastic fFIM V$_2$SO. Our results reveal a universal symmetry-driven framework for strain-controlled and -reversible fully spin-polarized transport and identify strain-engineered AM and ferroelastic fFIM systems as a promising platform for volatile and nonvolatile spintronic applications.
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All authors Xiuli Zhang, Peng Jiang, Yurui Ma, Xiaodong Zhou, Linlin Liu, Hong-Mei Huang, San-Dong Guo, Tengfei Cao, Yan-Ling Li

Materials Science

Surface segregation of liquid metal plasma-facing component alloys: A ReaxFF investigation

Engineering liquid metal alloys offers a transformative pathway for plasma-facing components (PFC) by enabling chemically tailored surfaces that can simultaneously optimize plasma-material interactions, reduce divertor heat flux, and enhance core plasma confinement, thereby advancing the commercial viability of nuclear fusion power plants. This study, employing an atomistic simulation framework, provides direct evidence that incorporating non-metal surface-active agents (such as O and H, or their combination) enables strong surface segregation. This capability makes tin-aluminum (Sn-Al) and tin-lithium (Sn-Li) alloys, with suitable compositions, good candidates for PFC applications. Specifically, the presence of low-Z solutes (Li, Al) leads to preferential surface enrichment, which imparts low-Z sputtering characteristics, while the Sn solvent maintains thermophysical stability. To systematically examine this behavior, we first optimized ReaxFF parameter sets for Sn-Al, Sn-Al-O, Sn-Li, Sn-Li-O, Sn-Li-H, and Sn-Li-O-H systems. We validated them using formation energies and elastic constants. We then employed reactive molecular dynamics simulations to resolve the coupled effects of surface segregation and impurity-driven chemistry at fusion-relevant temperatures. We also introduced an overlap-based segregation index that captures interfacial compositional separation directly from atomistic density distributions. This metric reveals a clear hierarchy of segregation regimes across all systems and presents a unified view of segregation across all observations reported herein. Together, these findings establish a mechanistic link between non-metal chemistry and interfacial structure, providing a predictive framework for designing self-adaptive, low-sputtering liquid metal alloys for fusion applications.
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All authors Md Adnan Mahathir Munshi, Abdul Aziz Shuvo, Mike Kotschenreuther, Adri C.T. van Duin, Bladimir Ramos-Alvarado

Soft Condensed Matter

Unraveling and controlling the self-assembly pathways of cubic colloids

The self-assembly of anisotropic building blocks into complex spatial architectures is an important design strategy in material science but the mechanisms by which the anisotropic interactions influence the early-stage growth and formation of disordered (non-)equilibrium structures remain poorly understood. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that tuning the strength of shape-induced directional bonds changes the self-assembly pathways of cubic colloids. By tracking the growth kinetics and internal reorganizations of small clusters at increasing attraction strength, we identify three self-assembly regimes: (i) nucleation and growth regime: slow reorganization-dominated growth of crystalline clusters, (ii) dynamic regime: diffusion-limited growth with dynamic cube reorganizations leading to disordered crystalline clusters and (iii) static regime: diffusion-limited growth of kinetically arrested clusters unable to reorganize due to directional bonding constraints. We further show that transitions between these regimes are reversible and allow pathway engineering to control the structure and disorder. Our results reveal how directional bonding governs pathway selection, providing important insights for the rational design of reconfigurable colloidal, nano-, and biomaterials.
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Soft Condensed Matter

Hindered transport of spherical particles in cylindrical pores: The role of structural heterogeneity in rejection-permeability trade-offs

Membrane separations rely on balancing rejection and permeability. Extensive work has clarified how pore structure and operating conditions control each quantity in idealized or weakly heterogeneous systems. However, it remains unclear how this trade-off emerges in strongly heterogeneous media, where coupled distributions of pore and particle sizes shape the local balance between advection and diffusion and generate substantial variability in performance among distribution realizations. Here we present a steric hindered-transport framework for spherical particles in cylindrical pores that explicitly resolves both single and coupled dual heterogeneity in size distributions. We show that the ensemble-averaged rejection increases with the particle-pore aspect ratio $\lambda$ and with the Péclet number $Pe$, while advection enhances steric exclusion by up to $\sim$20% at intermediate $\lambda$. Dual heterogeneity broadens the distribution of effective $Pe$, increases the variability and incidence of anomalous rejection trends, while systematically shifting the rejection-permeability trade-off toward higher permeability at fixed rejection. These results suggest that controlled heterogeneity can serve as a design lever to expand the attainable operating space for simultaneous high selectivity and high throughput.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Orbital-Splitter Current in Altermagnets

In collinear altermagnets, the real-space rotational symmetry of opposite spin sublattices generates a large nonrelativistic spin-splitter current. Orbital transport in this setting has remained largely unexplored. Here, we introduce the orbital-splitter current (OSC), an orbital analogue of the spin-splitter current, and derive its Drude and orbital Berry curvature contributions using a density-matrix framework. We show that the $d$-wave altermagnet $\mathrm{FeSb}_2$ realizes a purely intrinsic OSC because mirror symmetries suppress the Drude channel by forcing the orbital magnetic moment to vanish. The OSC response is strongly anisotropic and, for selected field orientations, exceeds the spin-splitter current by nearly a factor of four. We further show that the OSC generates a damping-like torque in an altermagnet-ferromagnet heterostructure and, when combined with the spin-splitter current, significantly reduces the magnetization switching time.
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Materials Science · Cross-listed from cs.CE

On the role of crack electrolyte wetting in the degradation and performance of battery active particles

Cathode particle fracture is widely recognised as a major degradation mechanism in lithium-ion batteries, yet cracking also permits electrolyte wetting of newly exposed internal surfaces, modifying interfacial reaction pathways. The mechanistic role of electrolyte wetting in redistributing reactions within cracked particles remains unclear. Here, we isolate this effect through a controlled comparison between (i) a fully coupled electro-chemo-mechanical model resolving lithium concentration, electrostatic potential, and stress fields in both the active material and the electrolyte inside and outside cracks, and (ii) a single-particle chemo-mechanical model employing the conventional uniform flux assumption. The coupled model predicts strong spatial heterogeneity in interfacial reaction rates, with flux amplification approximately 8x relative to the imposed uniform flux at the crack tip. Reaction redistribution, and thus lithium flux, is governed predominantly by local solid-state lithium concentration and stress variations, while electrolyte potential gradients inside cracks remain secondary under the conditions considered. Uniform flux models can underpredict delivered capacity by 25% at 1C-rate; this discrepancy increases at higher rates. They also underestimate tensile stresses throughout the delithiation process by 10%, directly affecting crack driving conditions. These results demonstrate that neglecting crack-electrolyte coupling leads to systematic underestimation of both utilisation limits and fatigue-relevant stress histories.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons

Field-induced metal-insulator transition, Chern insulators, and topological semimetals in a clean magnetic semiconductor GdGaI

Non-coplanar magnetic order in low-carrier-density semiconductors provides a platform on which spin-charge coupling can reshape the electronic structure and induce nontrivial topological phases. Motivated by the recent discovery of the four-sublattice triple-$q$ order in the magnetic semiconductor GdGaI, we study an effective theory that couples a Ga $4p$ hole pocket at the $\Gamma$ point to three Gd $5d$ electron pockets at the $M$ points through four exchange channels. For the antiferromagnetic umbrella state with zero net magnetization, the model hosts trivial ($C = 0$) and $C = \pm 4$ Chern insulator phases separated by metallic regions; by deriving an analytical low-energy theory at the $\Gamma$ point, we show that the topological phase boundary is described by two degenerate double-Weyl semimetals, naturally explaining the $\Delta C = 4$ jump in the Chern number. In addition, a nodal-line-like state pinned near the Fermi level emerges in the absence of the $p$-$d$ exchange coupling, which separates the $C=\pm4$ phases for $\theta=\arccos(1/3)$ into two. Tuning the canting angle by an external magnetic field drives an insulator-to-metal transition out of the Chern insulator phase while leaving the trivial insulator largely intact, and stabilizes an additional $C = \pm 2$ Chern insulator phase when the uniform-magnetization exchange couplings become appreciable. These results identify GdGaI and its sister compounds as highly tunable platforms for realizing topological phases and field-induced metal-insulator transitions in clean magnetic semiconductors.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Coherent exciton spin dynamics and three-dimensional quantum state tomography in a single InAlAs quantum dot

We investigate the coherent exciton spin dynamics in a single InAlAs/AlGaAs quantum dot using time-resolved quantum state tomography. Under two-LO-phonon quasi-resonant excitation of neutral exciton, we observe pronounced quantum beats in the circular and diagonal polarization components, reflecting the fine-structure splitting ($\Delta \approx 19.6 \ \mu\text{eV}$). By employing a global fitting procedure across three orthogonal polarization bases, we demonstrate that the spin evolution is consistently described by a unified Hamiltonian dominated by the anisotropic exchange interaction. While the initial degree of circular polarization is limited to $\approx 0.28$ due to fast relaxation processes during carrier cooling, the subsequent dynamics reveal a long-lived spin coherence ($1.1 \pm 0.2$ ns) that exceeds the exciton lifetime ($\sim 767$ ps). Our analysis reveals that the spin-formation time is significantly shorter than the instrument response function, and the absence of a discernible Overhauser shift confirms a negligible influence from the local nuclear environment under the present conditions. These results provide a quantitative benchmark for the three-dimensional reconstruction of spin trajectories using differential polarization signals, demonstrating the feasibility of using quasi-resonant excitation for stable spin initialization in semiconductor nanostructures.
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All authors J. Njala, Y. Yamamoto, R. Kaji, S. Adachi, H. Sasakura

Materials Science

Compositionally tuned phase transformations enhance pyroelectric energy harvesting from low-grade heat

Phase-transforming pyroelectric materials have emerged as promising candidates for low-grade thermal energy harvesting. However, whether first-order transformations with large pyroelectric coefficient or second-order transformations with better reversibility are preferable remains unclear. Here we report compositionally tunable phase transformations in Ba$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$TiO$_3$ ($x \in [0, 0.3]$), revealing evolution from first-order to second-order character. We identify a transitional regime between Sr$_{0.15}$ and Sr$_{0.22}$ where transformation mechanism fundamentally changes. Within this regime, Sr$_{0.19}$ achieves optimal lattice compatibility, exhibiting electrical leakage suppressed by over two orders of magnitude while retaining substantial polarization response. Energy conversion demonstrations show the multilayer Sr$_{0.19}$ device delivers pyroelectric current of $\sim$1.6 $\mu$A at 64$~^\circ$C with an energy density of 1.6 mJ/cm$^3$ per cycle and 5.5% conversion efficiency. Remarkably, this composition operates stably over 10,000 full energy conversion cycles without external bias field or recharging, demonstrating that transitional regime compositions provide the optimal balance between energy density and operational durability for practical low-grade heat harvesting.
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All authors Ruiheng Geng, Ka Hung Chan, Xinyue Huang, Nobumichi Tamura, Faqiang Zhang, Wanjia Han, Yang Zhang, Chenbo Zhang, Xian Chen

Statistical Mechanics

Directed percolation in nuclear safety

Neutron behavior in a nuclear reactor is described using a directed percolation model. The preferred direction is created by time-oriented neutron generations. Using the time required to reach a dangerous neutron flux limit or reactor power limit as an example, it is shown that, in certain situations, the proposed approach can detect events hazardous to reactor safety that are undetectable by traditional reactor safety systems. The capabilities and limitations of the proposed approach are outlined.
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Materials Science

A Fully Ab-Initio Spin-Lattice Dynamics Framework for Magnetic Materials

Coupled spin-lattice dynamics (SLD) underlie a wide range of magnetic phenomena, yet a unified first-principles framework that propagates both degrees of freedom without empirical parameterization has remained elusive. We present a fully ab initio SLD approach integrated into VASP, in which interatomic forces and effective magnetic fields are obtained at each time step from self-consistent constrained-moment density-functional calculations. The method is validated on four materials spanning ferromagnetic, non-collinear, and geometrically frustrated orders, recovering the correct magnetic ground state in every case from random initial conditions. SLD trajectories also provide physically correlated training data for magnetic machine-learning potentials, as demonstrated for BiFeO$_3$ by a reduction of up to approximately one order of magnitude in energy MAE over training on randomized spin configurations. This framework opens a practical first-principles route to finite-temperature spin-lattice coupled phenomena in magnetic materials.
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All authors Xianxi Zhang, Hongyu Yu, Liangliang Hong, Hongjun Xiang

Materials Science

Spin-orbit coupling effects in altermagnets: Interplay of weak spin and orbital ferromagnetism with relativistic splitting of electron states

The aim of the paper is to contribute to reaching a deeper understanding of the formation of relativistic effects in altermagnets. The focus of the paper is on the phenomena of weak ferromagnetism (WFM) and relativistic DFT calculations combined with the symmetry analysis on the basis of spin space groups. The consideration is performed on two different levels. On the first level, the atomistic magnetic structure of weak ferromagnetic state is calculated. Both spin and orbital atomic moments are taken into account. We study the dependence of the WFM moment on the strength of the SOC and obtain a peculiar nonmonotonous type of dependence. An interesting result is obtained in quasisymmetry (QS) calculation where only the component of the SOC collinear to the Néel vector is taken into account. In QS calculation the spin WFM is absent while the orbital WFM is present. This reveals a principal difference in the formation of the spin and orbital magnetic moments. On the second level, the study is focused on the properties of individual electron states. We introduce the notion of the magnetic structure of the electron state (MSES). It is shown how the collinear spin-MSESs of both metal and ligand atoms and compensated orbital-MSES of the ligand obtained in the nonrelativiatic calculation transform into complex noncollinear 3D MSESs of both spin and orbital nature. An important role in the formation of MSESs is played by the relativistic splitting of the accidental spin degeneracies at general k points filling the volume of the Brillouin zone. The formation of the regions of avoided crossings in the relativistic band structure is related to the nonmonotonous behavior of the WFM moment. The importance of the metal-ligand hybridization in the formation of the AM properties is discussed. Most of the calculations are performed for MnTe.
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Statistical Mechanics · Cross-listed from q-bio.PE

Emergent population dynamics of random walkers with cooperative reproduction and spatial selection

We extend the $N$ branching Brownian motions model of population invasion to higher-order asexual reproduction. Increasing reproduction order leads to qualitative changes: invasion fronts generically cease to exist beyond binary reproduction; and in the binary case itself, their speed becomes diffusion-independent. Ternary reproduction shows critical behavior, with collapse into a strongly localized `invasion bullet' in the supercritical regime, diffusive spreading in the subcritical regime, and a continuous family of fronts at criticality. These results suggest that the dominance of division and binary reproduction in nature reflects fundamental constraints on invasion dynamics.
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Materials Science

Geometric Percolation Threshold Defines Half-Metallic Window in Vacancy-Doped Titanium disulfides

Defect engineering of two-dimensional materials routinely produces local magnetic moments, yet itinerant half-metallic ferromagnetism remains elusive – experiments frequently yield paramagnetic insulators. We resolve this paradox for vacancy-doped monolayer $1T$-\ptis~by demonstrating that the insulator-to-half-metal transition is governed by universal geometric percolation of the defect network, extending the percolation framework established for three-dimensional diluted magnetic semiconductors into the 2D vacancy-doped regime. Half-metallicity emerges via a two-step mechanism: crystal-field symmetry breaking ($O_h \to C_{4v}$) selectively stabilizes the Ti $3d_{z^2}$ orbital, generating robust local moments ($0.94~\mu_B$), but spin-polarized transport requires these moments to form a spanning cluster. At critical vacancy concentration $x_c \approx 12.5\%$, a percolation transition drives the majority-spin impurity band from flat, localized levels ($W < 0.1$~eV) to a dispersive 1.5~eV-wide band with 100% spin polarization and a minority-spin gap of 1.0~eV. The percolation mechanism is independently corroborated by a striking supercell-size effect: at identical concentration, $2\times2$ cells yield antiferromagnetic order while $4\times4$ cells mandate ferromagnetism, reflecting the presence or absence of a spanning cluster. We estimate a Curie temperature exceeding 300~K from the exchange coupling, and identify a geometric jamming instability at $x > 20\%$ that fragments the network. These results define a narrow functional window ($11\% < x < 15\%$) for half-metallic operation and establish geometric connectivity as a quantitative design principle for defect-engineered 2D spintronics.
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Materials Science

Universal Design Principles for High-Quality Persistent Spin Textures

Persistent spin texture (PST) describes a unique spin-momentum locking in momentum space that maintains a uniform spin orientation through portions of the Brillouin zone (BZ), enabling exceptionally long spin lifetimes which are essential for applications in spintronics. However, materials exhibiting large BZ regions of high-quality PST, characterized by minimal spin deviation and long spin lifetimes, remain scarce. Here a universal model is introduced to capture the formation of superior PST regions arising from the interplay of spin-orbit fields at different k points. Within this framework, high-quality PSTs are identified in several systems belonging to various point groups. Notably, the nonpolar-chiral compound Na2Sn2O3 exhibits ~0.02 Å-2 high-quality PST region, which can be reversed by the switching of geometric chirality, while AgClO4 (D2d symmetry) exhibits a 0.016 Å-2 PST region. Significantly, Na2Sn2O3 and AgClO4 host persistent spin helices with spin lifetimes of 0.5-7.4 ns and 0.9-2.5 ns, respectively, among the longest reported for PST materials. In addition, both chemical substitutions and the application of pressure are demonstrated as effective routes for engineering high-quality PST. Our findings not only establish a universal principle for high-quality PST, but also provide promising materials across various point groups for the next-generation spintronic devices.
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All authors Cheng-Ao Ji, Lingling Tao, James M. Rondinelli, Xue-Zeng Lu

Materials Science

Physics-Constrained Learning of Dose-Dependent Spectral Degradation in Metal–Organic Frameworks from In Situ Low-Loss EELS

Electron-beam irradiation limits atomic-resolution characterization of beam-sensitive hybrid materials, yet quantitative models that connect in situ spectroscopy to dose-dependent degradation remain scarce. Here we use a physics-informed neural network (PINN) to model beam-induced spectral evolution in MIL-101(Fe) from an in situ low-loss electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) dose series. Each spectrum is reduced to fixed-window low-loss descriptors, $\tilde n_{\mathrm{eff},j}(\Phi)=\int_{\mathcal{W}_j}S(E,\Phi)\,dE$, evaluated over nominal $\pi$–$\pi^{*}$, C–C, C–O, and M–O windows. These descriptors are relative window-integrated low-loss spectral areas, not absolute f-sum-rule effective electron numbers. For each spectral channel, a latent integrity variable $C_i(\Phi)$ obeys the same uncoupled power-law degradation equation in normalized dose space, $dC_i/d\phi=-k_i C_i^{p_i}$, regularized by monotonicity, boundedness, and a single hierarchy prior $k_{\mathrm{C\text{-}O}}\geq k_{\mathrm{C\text{-}C}}$. Applied to nine dose frames spanning 152–1368~e$^-$/Å$^2$, the ensemble PINN identifies C–O and C–C as the most strongly dose-sensitive linker-associated channels, with half-integrity thresholds of approximately $1.0\times10^3$~e$^-$/Å$^2$. The 1–3~eV $\pi$–$\pi^{*}$-labelled window increases with dose and is therefore interpreted as a mixed low-energy response, likely involving oscillator-strength redistribution rather than direct monotonic loss of a single bond population. The framework provides a dose-dependent, spectroscopy constrained description of MOF degradation while also defining the limits of what fixed-window low-loss EELS can assign without independent chemical-state validation.
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Materials Science

Spin caloritronics: History and future prospects of experiments

Since the beginning of the 21st century, novel energy conversion and control principles utilizing the spin degree of freedom have been discovered in the field of spin caloritronics, which integrates spintronics with thermal transport and thermoelectric properties. In this article, we review the history of development of spin caloritronics and experimental studies on various transport phenomena caused by heat-charge-spin interactions. We then discuss future prospects in spin caloritronics from the viewpoints of measurement techniques, physics, materials science, and engineering applications. Spin caloritronics is now at a turning point, transitioning from fundamental condensed matter physics to materials science, and further development is anticipated in both fundamental and applied research.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons

Topological Ising superconductivity in two-dimensional p-wave magnet

Fermi-surface spin splitting generated by non-relativistic exchange fields provides a new route to topological superconductivity without relying on strong spin-orbit coupling. Here, we study superconducting instabilities of a square-lattice $p$-wave magnet with onsite and nearest-neighbour attractive interactions. The odd-parity exchange field removes inversion symmetry in the spin-split electronic structure, mixing singlet and triplet order parameters within a single symmetry channel. The leading instability is a mixed-parity A$_1$ Ising state, in which singlet components coexist with the $p_x$-wave triplet component, whose $d$-vector is locked along the exchange-field axis. As the nearest-neighbour attraction grows, this Ising state undergoes a transition into a nodal topological superconducting phase with Majorana edge modes protected by momentum-resolved winding numbers. These modes extend over finite momentum intervals bounded by the surface projections of bulk point nodes. We further show that a Zeeman field perpendicular to the exchange field can induce a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological superconducting phase. Our results identify $p$-wave magnets as a versatile testbed for topological superconductivity driven by non-relativistic spin splitting.
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Materials Science

Generalized continuum theory of phonon angular momentum in crystals

We formulate a generalized continuum theory of phonon angular momentum in crystals by introducing a local SO(3) material frame in addition to the macroscopic displacement field. The local frame represents rotational optical degrees of freedom of the unit cell and brings acoustic displacement modes and optical rotational modes into a common long-wavelength continuum description. In the linearized limit, the co-rotated deformation gradient and the rotational gradient associated with the local material frame recover the Eringen microdeformation and wryness tensors; isotropic micropolar elasticity then appears as a special case. Rotational symmetry and Noether's theorem determine the continuum phonon angular-momentum density, including both the displacement-polarization contribution and the intrinsic microrotation contribution. The theory further identifies the locking limit in which microrotation reduces to lattice vorticity and the improper-symmetry-breaking terms responsible for chiral phonon splitting.
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All authors Mamoru Matsuo, Naoki Nishimura, Ai Yamakage, Takeo Kato

Superconductivity

Metallic crossover through the tilt-free transition in La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ at high pressure and temperature

La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$, a bilayer nickelate with Ruddlesden-Popper structure, undergoes a pressure-induced structural transition from a tilted Amam phase to an untilted Fmmm (or I4/mmm) phase near 10-15 GPa, concomitant with the emergence of high-T$_c$ superconductivity ($T_c \sim 80$ K). Despite intense interest, the phase boundaries and the impact of structural changes on the electronic properties remain unclear. Here, we combine high-pressure and high-temperature Raman and synchrotron-based infrared spectroscopies to map the structural and electronic evolutions. Raman measurements confirm the pressure-driven structural transition and reveal the emergence of Fano line shapes, indicating enhanced electron-phonon coupling. High-temperature data show analogous spectral signatures above 544 K, suggesting an upper temperature limit of the Amam phase within the T-P phase diagram of this system. Infrared reflectivity measurements evidence a concomitant enhanced metallicity, with a tremendous two-order-of-magnitude increase in carrier density, marking a crossover from a weakly to highly metallic state. These results establish a unified picture of the structural transition and its strong coupling to the electronic properties.
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All authors Bastien Michon, Yingpeng Yu, Beatrice D'Alò, Elena Stellino, Gergely Németh, Bosen Wang, Jianping Sun, Jinguang Cheng, Paolo Postorino, Ferenc Borondics, Francesco Capitani

Saturday 2 May

Materials Science · Cross-listed from physics.app-ph

Efficiency in a repetitive pulse magnet

A repetitive-pulse magnet is a promising tool when combined with repetitive excitations, such as pulsed lasers. Technically, the repetition and the magnetic field values in a repetitive-pulse magnet are limited by the Joule heating in the coil. Here, we analytically examine the relationship between the coil's dimensions and its efficiency, assuming negligible heating of the coil, to design an optimized high-repetition, high-magnetic-field coil. We calculated the dependence of the maximum magnetic field, energy loss, pulse duration, form factor, impedance, and maximum current on the coil's geometry. We found that the smaller the coil, the more pulses and the more intense the magnetic fields we can obtain under a given condition. We argue that the obtained trend arises from a complex interplay among various parameters.
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All authors Akihiko Ikeda, Yuto Ishii, Yasuhiro H. Matsuda, Go Yumoto, Ayumi Abe, Ryusuke Matsunaga

Statistical Mechanics

Breakdown of Adiabatic Scaling and Noise-induced Functional Synchronization in Deeply Quiescent Excitable Systems

Coherence resonance (CR) characterizes noise-induced regularity in excitable systems, yet its evaluation in quiescent biological media is often obscured by flattened energy landscapes and complex nonlinear dynamics. In this study, we investigate the stochastic dynamics of a 3D Sherman-Rinzel-Keizer (SRK) model driven by multiplicative Feller noise. We show that traditional extremal evaluations of CR encounter a "bathtub effect", a broad resonance valley that can lead to statistical inaccuracies. To address this, we propose a logarithmic centroid extraction method, which filters out stochastic jitter and recovers the underlying adiabatic Kramers scaling with high linearity. Furthermore, we identify the physical boundary where this adiabatic approximation breaks down under the strong-noise limit. Extending our analysis to gap-junction coupled systems, we observe a noise-induced transition from sub-threshold physiological shivering (characterized by statistical correlation but negligible functional output) to macroscopic functional synchronization. Our results provide a mathematical framework for extracting optimal noise intensities in broad energy valleys and offer insights into how quiescent biological systems utilize stochastic fluctuations for functional recovery.
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Statistical Mechanics

Landau free energy and the absence of spontaneous magnetization of the one-dimensional Ising model

We revisit the problem of spontaneous magnetization of the one-dimensional Ising model from the Landau free energy perspective. To this end, we define and calculate the density of states of the one-dimensional Ising model following a technique introduced by Ising. The observed monotonicity property of the density of states suggests heuristically that the model does not exhibit spontaneous magnetization at any finite temperature. Subsequently, we solve the model exactly in the thermodynamic limit by employing the maximum-term approximation, which is feasible due to the simple analytical expression of the density of states. We also show that the Landau free energy is an increasing function of $|m|$ and its second derivative at $m=0$ is positive and non-analytic in temperature, proving rigorously the absence of spontaneous magnetization of the model at any finite temperature.
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Statistical Mechanics

Long-range correlation and the spin conductivity in the XXZ chain from ballistic macroscopic fluctuation theory

Based on the ballistic macroscopic fluctuation theory, the integration of the spin correlation function (spin conductivity) is analyzed for the spin-1/2 XXZ chain in the critical regime. In the time when the magnetization of an infinite spin chain fluctuates from an initial state with a wavelength as long as the infinite length $N$, the equal-time two-point spin correlation function is scaled up to $O(1/N)$. In the state where the ballistic spin transport decays at high temperature $T$, the diffusive transport remains on a large scale. We show that the spin conductivity is proportional to $1/T$ in the limit $T\to\infty$ and its high temperature proportionality constant diverges in the case where one-quasiparticle magnetization is infinitely large. This analysis informs that the superdiffusive spin transport is driven by the $1/N$-scaled long-range spin correlation and sheds a light on the dynamic scaling in spin transport at the isotropic point.
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Statistical Mechanics

Brain criticality through nonadditive entropic analysis of electroencephalograms

On the grounds of nonadditive entropies – appropriate for complex systems – we investigate the electroencephalogram amplitudes of typical and ADHD children. The corresponding probability distributions are $q$-Gaussians, i.e., $\rho(x) \propto e_q^{-\beta x^2} \equiv [1+(q-1) \beta x^2]^{1/(1-q)}$, where $(q,\beta)$ are, respectively, the entropic index characterizing complexity and the inverse width. We show that $q$ tends to monotonically vary with $\beta$ for both typical and ADHD subjects, thus revealing critical behavior of the brain. Moreover, we verify that ADHD subjects have a higher complexity than the typical ones. Consistently, biomarkers for objective phychyatric diagnosis could emerge along this path. We show that $q$ tends to monotonically vary with $\beta$ for both typical and ADHD subjects, thus revealing critical behavior of the brain. Moreover, we verify that ADHD subjects have a higher complexity than the typical ones. Consistently, biomarkers for objective phychyatric diagnosis could emerge along this path.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Real-space renormalization-group study of decoherence and revival following a sudden quench in a finite system

To investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of a quantum impurity system, we examine two physical properties for the spinless resonant level model subject to sudden quenches of the hybridization between the impurity and the metal. We compute the time dependence of the impurity occupation and survival probability (fidelity) as probes of the dephasing induced by particle-hole excitations. For finite systems, the loss of coherence is only apparent, as discrete spectra lead to quasi-periodic dynamics and revivals when phases realign. We show that a hybrid linear-logarithmic discretization suppresses these finite-size artifacts by rendering the excitation energies incommensurate, thereby reducing revivals. Starting from the Rabi oscillations in the single-site limit of the tight-binding model describing the metal, we extend the analysis to large lattices, where damping and relaxation emerge. Our combination of analytical and numerical results offers a unified picture of the crossover from coherent oscillations to effectively irreversible decoherence.
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Statistical Mechanics

Entanglement dynamics after quenches with inhomogeneous Hamiltonians

We investigate entanglement dynamics in bipartite systems governed by inhomogeneous Hamiltonians of the form $H = H_L + H_R$, where $H_{L/R}$ acts only on the left or right region and is homogeneous within each region. Focusing on the XX chain and the transverse-field Ising chain, we derive analytical formulas for the entanglement entropy between the two regions in the hydrodynamic limit of long times. In this regime, fermions incident on the interface undergo scattering, generating entanglement between reflected and transmitted modes. The resulting quasiparticle picture is controlled by the transmission coefficient, which we obtain analytically by solving the stationary lattice Schrödinger equation. Due to the bounded dispersion, strong inhomogeneity suppresses both transport and entanglement growth. We benchmark our analytical predictions against numerical simulations in paradigmatic setups. Finally, we extend the analysis to the interacting XXZ chain using tDMRG. The numerical data show qualitative agreement with the quadratic case: entanglement growth remains suppressed in the strongly inhomogeneous limit. Notably, however, entanglement continues to increase even when transport is suppressed, at least at intermediate times.
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Other Condensed Matter

First-principles simulation of shocked H-He mixture along the principal Hugoniot

Recent laser-shock experiments on an H–He mixture containing 11~$\%$ helium (atomic fraction) have suggested the presence of an immiscibility region inside Jupiter. Reflectivity measurements were used as the primary diagnostic of H–He demixing, with discontinuities in the optical reflectivity proposed as a signature of phase separation under conditions relevant to Jupiter's interior. Here, we investigate shock-compressed H–He using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations with optical properties evaluated within the Kubo–Greenwood formalism. The equation of state and ionic configurations were obtained using the thermal Tr$^2$SCANL meta-GGA exchange–correlation (XC) functional, while optical properties were computed using the recently developed RS-KDT0 range-separated thermal hybrid XC, which provides state-of-the-art accuracy for band-gap predictions in the warm dense matter regime. The calculated reflectivity shows overall good agreement with experimental measurements; however, no discontinuity is observed at elevated temperatures. Moreover, the reflectivity predictions for the mixed system are consistent with the experimental measurements in the temperature range where the mixture is inferred to be demixed. These results suggest that reflectivity alone may not provide a unique or sensitive diagnostic of H-He demixing at low helium concentrations under these conditions.
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