Peer Revenue Play credits. Real papers.

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 9 July

Superconductivity

Observation of giant nonvolatile magneto-thermal switching in superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids

Magneto-thermal switch is a crucial thermal component which enables heat transfer control by the application of an external magnetic field. Recently, a nonvolatile behavior in magneto-thermal conductivity at zero magnetic field was observed in type-II and phase-separated superconductors owing to magnetic flux pinning nature, leading to an energy-efficient thermal control technology. However, the nonvolatile magneto-thermal switching ratio has been much lower than the volatile one in conventional materials. Here, we demonstrate a giant nonvolatile magneto-thermal switching in ferromagnetic Fe-superconducting Pb hybrids. The dispersion of pure Fe particles realizes increased electron and decreased phonon contributions in the thermal conductivity, which enhances the magneto-thermal switching ratio at the superconducting-to-normal conducting phase transition. Furthermore, in concert with trapped magnetic flux by supercurrent, ferromagnetic moment of Fe breaks the superconductivity of Pb matrix at zero magnetic field, enabling a significantly large nonvolatility even with a slight amount of Fe inclusions. Consequently, the nonvolatile magneto-thermal switching ratio reaches 719% in maximum at the Fe ratio of 8.7 vol%, which is more than twice the previous record value observed in Pb-Sn composites and the volatile one in pure Pb. This work broadens the exploration space and strategy for giant nonvolatile magneto-thermal switching materials.
Read the full abstract

All authors Yui Sakamoto, Fuyuki Ando, Keigo Ito, Hossein Sepehri-Amin, Takamasa Hirai, Yuto Watanabe, Poonam Rani, Yoshikazu Mizuguchi, Ken-ichi Uchida

Superconductivity · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Optimizing LZSM protocol for high-fidelity gates in open-system fluxonium

Quantum gates based on resonant Rabi oscillations are inherently slow for small-frequency qubits. They are also prone to errors due to counter-rotating terms. However, when the anharmonicity is sufficiently high, as in the fluxonium architecture, alternative manipulation protocols can outperform standard resonant driving. In this work, we implement fast, high-fidelity quantum gates based on a one-period Landau-Zener-Stückelberg-Majorana (LZSM) driving protocol. We derive analytical expressions that simplify the exploration of the parameter space while accounting for the multi-level structure of the circuit. Furthermore, we analyze the role of leakage, discussing strategies to mitigate it and identifying regimes in which it becomes the dominant source of error. Finally, to evaluate the impact of dissipation on gate fidelity, we develop a robust formalism suitable for analyzing the open-system performance of quantum gates in the strong driving regime.
Read the full abstract

All authors Santiago Ferreyra, Valent{\i}n Reparaz, Maria Jose Sanchez, Leandro Tosi, Daniel Dominguez

Wednesday 8 July

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

Observability of Finite-Depth Double-Diffusive Exchange from Sparse Temperature-Salinity Measurements

Double-diffusive interfaces can support exchange histories that are spatially organized but only sparsely observed. A resolved three-dimensional calculation contains the route by which scalar gradients broaden, remain compact, connect with remote parts of a finite-depth layer, or organize horizontally, whereas field products usually provide profiles, repeated casts, autonomous-float records, or hydrographic sections. We ask which route-relevant features of finite-depth double-diffusive exchange remain observable after that measurement reduction. Four controlled finite-depth exchange histories are treated as known truth fields and sampled with vertical-profile, profile-bundle, vertical-coarsening, Argo-style, and section-like observing formats. The resulting observables are compared with selected Ice-Tethered Profiler, Argo, and CCHDO/GO-SHIP products to place the synthetic measurements in realistic observing contexts. Isolated profiles are weak route identifiers: at the final comparison time, strict case accuracy remains below 0.48, route-family accuracy is about 0.53–0.56 in leave-one-out profile classification, and 22 of 36 profiles are closer to a different-route profile than to a same-route profile under the current feature set. Profile bundles are substantially more informative. In the bundle-enumeration framework, the one-profile late-time route-family baseline is 0.694, while two-, three-, and four-profile bundles reach route-family accuracies of 0.917, 0.961, and 0.994. Coarse vertical sampling can preserve broad route separation while distorting local interface-width estimates, and section-like sampling adds horizontal-scale information only when station spacing resolves the relevant mode. The useful observing unit for hidden finite-depth double-diffusive exchange is therefore an ensemble or section, not an isolated cast.
Read the full abstract

Materials Science · Cross-listed from cs.AI

PHITSBench: an execution-scored benchmark for AI-assisted PHITS radiation-transport input generation using natural language

We introduce PHITSBench, an execution-scored benchmark for the Monte Carlo Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS). PHITSBench comprises 282 transport-scorable tasks spanning three common workflow categories: parameter editing (Edit), syntax repair (Repair ), and complete simulation generation from natural-language descriptions (Reproduce). Each task is evaluated using a Composite Metric Score that combines execution success with agreement between generated and reference transport observables. Using PHITSBench, we evaluate five GPT-5.4-based configurations ranging from zero-shot prompting to knowledge-augmented and agentic workflows. Without domain-specific knowledge, the model performs well on editing and repair tasks (95% and 70% success, respectively) but fails to generate correct simulations from scratch (0% success on the Reproduce track). A structured, machine-readable PHITS knowledge catalog, supplied alongside the user manual, raises single-shot Reproduce-task success to 57%. Agentic execution provides a further improvement to 66-73%, but at increased computational cost. Failure analysis shows that the remaining errors are dominated by incorrect selection and configuration of physical observables rather than syntax generation. These results suggest that future progress in AI-assisted radiation-transport modeling will depend as much on machine-readable knowledge bases, curated domain-training datasets, and execution-grounded evaluation environments as on advances in foundation models themselves.
Read the full abstract

Soft Condensed Matter

A Generalized Mechanical Model for the Cycle Rank Dependence of Stretch at Break in Phantom Chain Star Polymer Networks

A simple mechanical model was recently proposed to explain the universality of stretch at break ({\lambda}_b) as a function of cycle-rank density ({\xi}) in phantom-chain network simulations [J Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech., 349, 105620 (2026)]. Here, that model is reformulated as a series of the bottleneck strand and the surrounding network, yielding {\lambda}_b-1=({\lambda}_bs-1)[1+{\nu}_h/(1+c{\xi})]. In this formula, {\lambda}_bsis the stretch at break of the bottleneck strand, {\nu}_h is the number of stiff units in series along the rupture path, and c is a geometric constant for the parallel redundancy of the medium. Since c and {\nu}_hare difficult to separate over the examined range of {\xi}, c is fixed, and {\lambda}_bs and {\nu}_hare treated as fitting parameters. The formula is applied to phantom-chain simulations of networks with various conditions. In all cases, it reasonably captures the data, and the two parameters represent network characteristics.
Read the full abstract

Statistical Mechanics

Equilibrium in a Reaction Network of Assemblies

We study a mean-field reaction network whose species are assemblies built from identical atoms by reversible coagulation and fragmentation. Each assembly is an ordered binary tree, so the number of species of a given length grows combinatorially, as the Catalan numbers. The model nonetheless admits an explicit equilibrium and tractable stochastic dynamics. A finite volume $V$ sets a crossover length $l_c \sim \ln V$ that splits the equilibrium into two sectors. Below $l_c$ each assembly occurs in many copies and the rank-frequency distribution is Zipf-like; above $l_c$ individual species are rare and fluctuation-dominated. The statistical weight of the rare sector decays slowly with volume, controlling the finite-size scaling of diversity, Shannon entropy, and other assembly-weighted observables. The equilibrium also admits a transparent grand-canonical description in terms of a bond energy and an atomic chemical potential. Together these results make the model a controlled neutral baseline against which selection and driving in richer assembly networks can be measured.
Read the full abstract

Strongly Correlated Electrons

Tunable Emergent Gauge Fields from Skyrmions in a Quasicrystalline Lattice

We study magnetic skyrmions in a two-dimensional quasicrystalline lattice using a classical Heisenberg model with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and an external magnetic field. The competition between the skyrmion-skyrmion repulsion and an emergent quasiperiodic pinning landscape gives rise to a sequence of distinct skyrmion lattice configurations as a function of field. The resulting hierarchy of quasiperiodic pinning potentials, characterized by closely spaced quasi-degenerate minima, enables a quasi-continuous suppression of the skyrmion density as the saturation field is approached, in sharp contrast to the strongly first-order collapse of skyrmion crystals on periodic lattices. This provides a direct mechanism for controlling the topological charge and, consequently, the emergent gauge field for itinerant electrons. As a consequence, the Hall conductivity can be strongly modified with small changes in the magnetic field and driven smoothly to zero near saturation. This field-controlled tunability, rooted in the underlying multistability, identifies quasicrystalline magnets as a platform for tunable topological textures, with potential applications in magnetic memory and magnetoelectronic response.
Read the full abstract

All authors Leandro M. Chinellato, Flavia A. Gómez Albarracín, Cristian D. Batista, Pablo S. Cornaglia

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Gate induced strain on a two-dimensional hole gas in silicon

We show the effect of gate-induced strain on the valence band of a silicon (Si) metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) confined two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG). Increasing aluminum gate thickness, and thereby the strain in the channel, results in the onset of a second subband contributing to Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. Temperature-dependent magnetotransport measurements reveal distinct cyclotron masses of $m_c^*=(0.36\pm0.04)m_0$ and $m_c^*=(0.49\pm0.02)m_0$. The measured cyclotron masses differ from those expected for an idealized heavy-hole (HH)/light-hole (LH) picture, reflecting the combined influence of quantum confinement, strain, and HH-LH mixing on the valence band.
Read the full abstract

All authors D. van der Bovenkamp, C.S.A. Müller, B.D. Pantiru, I. Bošnjak, M. Cignoni, Q. Torrent Nicolau, M.E. Bal, S. Wiedmann, J. Ridderbos, F.A. Zwanenburg

Soft Condensed Matter

Liquid Crystal Ground States on Hyperbolic Cones

We generalize the analytic theory and simulation models for liquid crystal ground states on conventional cones with positive apex Gaussian curvature and study liquid crystal ground states on hyperbolic cones with a delta function of negative apex Gaussian curvature. While both the local apex curvature on a conventional cone and a hyperbolic cone lead to a fixed unquantized pseudodefect in the conformal domain and behave like conventional disclinations with opposite topological charges, there are fundamental differences in the ground states as well, which can be viewed as a violation of charge conjugation symmetry in a liquid crystal phase. To illustrate the violated charge conjugation symmetry on curved surfaces, we study two simple examples: (a) $p$-atic liquid crystals on a hyperbolic cone with free boundary conditions at the cone base. (b) $p$-atic liquid crystals on a hyperbolic cone with tangential boundary conditions at the cone base. In the simple case of $p=1$ liquid crystals (a vector order parameter field) on a hyperbolic cone with tangential boundary conditions, the positive pseudocharge caused by the apex curvature can be stably bound with a topological charge of the same sign despite their repulsive interaction, in sharp contrast to the charge conjugated situation associated with conventional cones.
Read the full abstract

Soft Condensed Matter

Understanding quorum sensing self-organization: Clustering and defect-induced ordering of diffusing particles

Quorum sensing (QS) is known in biology as a form of intercellular communication mediated by signaling molecules called autoinducers. The QS protocol governs the transition from individual to collective cell behavior once a critical population density is reached. Using numerical simulations, we investigate how defects influence the QS transition and the structural organization of the resulting colonies. Our model system consists of a mixture of slow ("cold") and fast ("hot") diffusing colloidal particles that obey the QS protocol, together with defect particles characterized by a constant diffusivity. A striking reentrant solidification of QS particles, characterized by long-range order, is induced by hot defects, whereas cold defects give rise to amorphous structures with only short-range order. These findings deepen our understanding of the QS interaction and provide a mechanism to control the degree of organization in QS systems, with potential applications in robotics, social sciences, and medicine – for instance, in overcoming antimicrobial resistance.
Read the full abstract

All authors Feifei Liu, Vyacheslav R. Misko, Yunyun Li, Fabio Marchesoni

Materials Science

Bulk Boundary Condition for Surface Calculations in Density Functional Theory

We present a bulk boundary condition formalism for surface calculations in Kohn–Sham density functional theory. The approach exploits the nearsightedness of electronic interactions in real space to restrict the calculation to a localized surface region. Within this region, the electron density is evaluated by leveraging the decay of the density matrix, with bulk values imposed on the density and electrostatic potential in the interior, and the electrostatic potential solved subject to bulk boundary conditions. The energy and atomic forces are computed using density-matrix-based expressions. Through representative calculations of surface and adsorption energies, we demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed formalism.
Read the full abstract

Statistical Mechanics · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Complex spacing ratio statistics in the partially open asymmetric quantum baker map

We study the complex eigenvalue statistics of the asymmetric quantum baker map with partial projective openings. The classical asymmetric baker map, with its discontinuity at $q=2/3$, is fully chaotic, has no reflection symmetry, and provides a clean setting with tunable escape rate and fractal repeller dimension. We consider three distinct opening geometries in position space: localized (contiguous channels), random, and uniform (equispaced channels), all controlled by a tunable amplitude reflectivity parameter $\rho$ that interpolates between the fully open ($\rho=0$) and the closed ($\rho=1$) limits. We use the partially truncated circular unitary ensemble (PTCUE) as the random matrix theory benchmark. The main focus is on the joint distribution of the complex spacing ratio $z$, defined as the ratio of the distances from an eigenvalue to its nearest and next-nearest neighbors in the complex plane. We find a smooth crossover from a quasi-1D spectral regime, where eigenvalues cluster near the unit circle and the phase distribution of $z$ is peaked, to a two-dimensional Ginibre-like regime, where the distribution becomes nearly uniform and level repulsion is fully developed. Both the number of open channels $M$ and the reflectivity $\rho$ modulate this crossover, and $\rho$ provides an additional continuous control even at fixed opening size. All three opening models converge to PTCUE statistics at large $M$, while differences are most pronounced for the localized model at small $M$. No evidence of an abrupt transition is found. This crossover which suggests a universal behavior, has deep consequences for open quantum and wave-chaotic experiments.
Read the full abstract

All authors Leonardo Ermann, Pablo Sesin, Alejandro M. F. Rivas, Pablo D. Bergamasco, Gabriel G. Carlo

Soft Condensed Matter

Directed assembly of tetrahedral patchy particles

Colloidal particles with prescribed valency such as the tetrahedral patchy particles have long been seen as a viable route to technologically relevant open lattice structures on the scale of hundreds of nanometers. However, conceptual limitations and resulting competing local bonding configurations often lead to mixed lattice phases. Here, we present a DNA-origami enabled approach to controlling the attachment of tetrapod building blocks in predictable ways. By varying the relative strength of two designed binding configurations we are able to direct the assembly of tetrapod particles into diamond cubic, twinned diamonds, stacking-disordered mixtures, hexagonal diamonds, and sII clathrates. Under specific conditions, the diamond structures are interpenetrated by additional networks, resulting in triple cubic and triple hexagonal diamond structures. The 440 nm large unit cell of the clathrates shifts structural reflections into the visible range, giving these rationally designed, self-assembled crystals structural color.
Read the full abstract

All authors Xin Yin, Ekaterina Kostyurina, Bert Nickel, Tim Liedl, Gregor Posnjak

Materials Science

Quantum Dot Moiré from Crossed MoS2 Nanoribbons

Twisted atomically thin layers have attracted much attention for Moiré potential and correlated quantum phenomena. However, existing Moiré superlattices have largely been limited to extensive wavefunction without lateral confinement. Here we introduce a new platform where 1D nanoribbons of 2D MoS2 grown by vapor deposition can be easily superposed at various angles from stacking and transferring, to form Moiré quantum dots at their intersections with unique exciton physics. Angle-dependent Moiré intersections show enhanced exciton emission at commensurate angle 22 deg, which demonstrates faster relaxation at the cryogenic temperature. A size-dependent study further exhibits a reduced exciton energy and soften out-of-plane interlayer coupling for smaller Moiré areas. Our results reveal exciton physics turnability via precise overlapping of 1D nanoribbons.
Read the full abstract

All authors Xinting Shuai, Hao Zhang, Wenjing Wu, Chongning Wu, Maryam Amiri, T. A. M. Ragib Shahriar, Dian Pan, Zhi Kai Ng, Tymofii Pieshkov, Leeza Dutta, Yijun Zhou, Rohith Narra, Luke Van Leeuwen, Jishnu Murukeshan, Luyao Shi, Jiawei Lai, Atin Pramanik, Bipin Kumar Gupta, Edwin Hang Tong Teo, Robert Vajtai, Xiang Zhang, Hanyu Zhu, Shengxi Huang, Aditya D. Mohite, Pulickel M. Ajayan

Strongly Correlated Electrons

Perturbations in the spin-orbital liquid (the Yao-Lee model)

I investigate the stability of the spin-orbital liquid described by the Yao-Lee model in the presence of multiple perturbations that naturally arise in a recently proposed microscopic realization. While most perturbations are irrelevant and do not qualitatively alter the exact solvability, we find that the Kitaev interaction plays a special role: it couples to the $ \mathbb{Z}_2 $ gauge field and renders the visons mobile.
Read the full abstract

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks

Lecture notes on random matrix theory: the results, the applications, and the analytical tools

Random matrix theory has established itself as a theoretical cornerstone of the mathematical sciences over the past century. It has undeniable utility in areas of research as diverse as nuclear physics, finance, ecology and disordered systems. The purpose of these notes is twofold. First, the most famous and widely used classic results are derived in a pedagogical manner, mostly using the comparatively elementary and transparent cavity method. The significance of each result is then demonstrated in the context of a particular application. There are also some select exercises at the end of each section. In the second part of these notes, a reference guide of analytical techniques for the random-matrix/disordered-systems practitioner is provided. Introducing the diagrammatic, replica, path-integral, and supersymmetric formalisms from first principles, we rederive some of the aforementioned classic results, particularly focussing on the simplest one – the semicircle law. Innovations such as the population dynamics method and the tools of free probability theory are also included. We discuss the merits of each analytical approach, and we highlight the contexts in which each becomes particularly useful.
Read the full abstract

Statistical Mechanics · Cross-listed from math-ph

An edge-bicolored graph approach to the Ising model on random regular graphs

We give an exact solution of the ferromagnetic Ising model on a random regular graph ensemble via analytic combinatorics. Expressing the partition function as the generating function of labeled edge-bicolored graphs, we obtain the free energy in the thermodynamic limit from the asymptotic enumeration of these graphs. A simple analysis of the resulting formula reveals a second-order phase transition with critical exponents of the mean-field universality class.
Read the full abstract

Materials Science · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Quantum Sensors for Chemistry and Materials Science

The advancement of chemistry and materials science relies on transformative analytical tools which can overcome the sensitivity, spatial resolution, and throughput limitations of conventional techniques. This review explores the application of quantum sensors - specifically optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) and nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond - as robust platforms for molecular and materials analysis. We contrast the extreme magnetic sensitivity of macroscopic OPM ensembles with the atomic-scale resolution and multimodal capabilities of solid-state NV centers. We highlight their deployment in zero- to ultralow-field and nanoscale NMR spectroscopy, real-time reaction monitoring, and transient radical and pH detection. Furthermore, we discuss their integration into high-throughput chemical assays and non-destructive materials diagnostics, such as operando battery monitoring. With the ongoing commercialization of these technologies and advances in quantum-enhanced sensitivities, quantum sensors are poised to routinely address complex real-world analytical challenges.
Read the full abstract

All authors Piotr Put, Arjun Pillai, Xuan Hoang Le, Mikhail D. Lukin, Hongkun Park

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks · Cross-listed from cs.LG

Explaining Near-Zero Hessian Eigenvalues Through Approximate Symmetries in Neural Networks

The Hessian of the training loss governs the local geometry of the loss landscape, yet despite existing explanations for its largest eigenvalues, the origin of the vast multitude of vanishingly small eigenvalues remains elusive. We argue that the bulk consists of the weakly lifted pseudo-Goldstone modes of the continuous symmetries of the network parametrization. In deep linear networks these symmetries are exact: they generate flat directions and hence exact zero modes, whose eigenvectors we construct explicitly. Introducing a ReLU nonlinearity as a perturbation, we show that it breaks these symmetries weakly and explicitly. Resolving the spectrum at the level of eigenvectors, we find that the high-curvature directions are orthogonal to the symmetry subspace, while the bulk lies almost entirely within it. We demonstrate the mechanism in a two-layer ReLU student–teacher model and in a network trained on CIFAR-10. A convolutional example demonstrates that the same diagnostic extends beyond fully connected layers. Together, these results link the Hessian bulk to weakly broken symmetries and clarify the origin of near-zero modes.
Read the full abstract

Statistical Mechanics

Fluctuation theorems for autonomous work

Classical fluctuation theorems for work have been obtained theoretically, and verified experimentally, within a non-autonomous framework in which work is performed on a system of interest, ${\cal S}$, by the external manipulation of a work parameter, such as a piston's position. Here we obtain fluctuation theorems within an autonomous framework in which ${\cal S}$ exchanges energy with a reversible work source, ${\cal R}$. The two subsystems, ${\cal R}$ and ${\cal S}$, interact with one another as they evolve under Hamiltonian or stochastic dynamics, without external intervention. In this setting, we must account for the back-action of ${\cal S}$ on ${\cal R}$, which is absent in the non-autonomous setting. We obtain autonomous versions of standard fluctuation theorems for work and entropy production. In each case, we argue, the autonomous fluctuation theorem reduces to its non-autonomous counterpart when ${\cal R}$'s inertia becomes infinitely large.
Read the full abstract

Statistical Mechanics · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Super-Logarithmic Entanglement Scaling in a Monitored Superconducting Chain

We study the entanglement dynamics of a one-dimensional spinful $s$-wave superconductor subjected to local continuous measurements. In the rare-measurement regime, we derive a replicated Keldysh non-linear sigma model (NLSM) to describe the steady-state entanglement. Within this field-theoretic framework, the interplay between measurement dephasing and superconducting pairing constrains the low-energy, long-wavelength fluctuations to an $\mathrm{SO(R)}$ target manifold. A one-loop renormalization-group analysis shows that the theory develops a weak-anti-localization flow, stabilizing a critical phase with super-logarithmic scaling of the steady-state entanglement. Our field-theoretic results explain the numerical evidence reported in the companion Letter [arXiv:2604.04375] and demonstrate that such a critical phase can emerge in a one-dimensional topologically trivial superconductor without relying on topological protection.
Read the full abstract

Statistical Mechanics · Cross-listed from math.NA

Thermodynamic Structure and Composition in Nonlinear Convection-Diffusion

Nonlinear convection–diffusion systems play a central role in transport phenomena, including mass transfer, heat transfer, porous-media transport, and coupled continuum processes with source, exchange, and interface effects. In such systems, the key question is often not only which governing partial differential equation is used, but whether the model preserves a consistent thermodynamic balance under the operations that arise naturally in transport analysis: restriction to subdomains, coupling across interfaces, linearization near equilibrium, and discretization for computation. This paper develops a continuum-first framework for open nonlinear convection–diffusion systems in which thermodynamic consistency is formulated as a free-energy balance with nonnegative bulk dissipation and explicit boundary and source contributions. Within this setting, nonlinear transport systems are defined as structured objects built from admissible state fields, storage functionals, constitutive flux decompositions, sources, and boundary ports. We prove that the thermodynamic balance is preserved under exact structure-preserving transformations, restriction to subdomains, local-to-global reconstruction over compatible domain decompositions, and power-conserving interconnection of open subsystems. We then derive classical linear convection–diffusion models as tangent thermodynamic descendants at equilibrium and show that the same invariant survives weak formulation, semidiscretization, and fully discrete time stepping when the numerical design respects thermodynamic structure. Nonlinear drift–diffusion and porous-medium convection–diffusion are used as explicit examples. The resulting contribution is a compositional transport framework in which the second law remains visible across continuum modeling, subsystem coupling, linear approximation, and computation.
Read the full abstract

Superconductivity

Bogolyubov excitons as a microscopic origin of two-level systems

Two-level systems (TLS) are a leading source of decoherence and dielectric loss in Josephson-junction qubits, yet their microscopic origin remains unresolved. We propose an intrinsic, purely electronic TLS candidate: subgap bound states of Bogolyubov quasiparticles. We show that, in a model of a conventional superconductor with electron-electron attraction in the $s$-wave channel and repulsion in higher-angular-momentum channels, the latter produce an effective attraction between Bogolyubov quasiparticles, forming bound states. These Bogolyubov excitons resemble Bardasis–Schrieffer excitons but are driven by repulsive interactions. Bulk Bogolyubov excitons are not easily detectable through single-particle tunneling or other conventional probes, but we show that surface excitons couple to an external electric field and behave as two-level systems. We examine an idealized model of a bulk superconductor proximity-coupled to a two-dimensional repulsive metal, which could represent an external metallic or semiconductor layer or an underscreened region of the superconductor. The two levels correspond to the absence and presence of a single exciton, which carries an electric dipole moment and exhibits an avoided crossing with a resonator, as observed for TLS. Because this mechanism requires no defects and cannot be eliminated by screening or annealing, it suggests that TLS-like excitations may be intrinsic to superconductors.
Read the full abstract

Strongly Correlated Electrons · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Non-Local Magic from the Entanglement Spectrum

Non-local magic has recently emerged as a fundamental resource for characterizing genuinely non-local non-stabilizer correlations. However, its direct calculation is an intractable numerical problem, except for small systems, and its understanding remains limited. We derive a representation of non-local magic in terms of the Walsh–Hadamard autocorrelations of the entanglement spectrum. Our representation makes the underlying harmonic structure explicit and enables a systematic analysis of its behaviors for various scenarios. We prove that non-local magic can be upper-bounded by an entanglement entropy and we derive exact analytical results for broad classes of quantum states, characterizing the scaling of non-local magic for volume-law states, as well as ground states of one-dimensional gapped and critical systems. Our results identify the spectral organization of the entanglement spectrum as the key ingredient governing non-local magic and provide a framework for further systematic analytical investigation.
Read the full abstract

Superconductivity

Parity Anomaly of Preformed Pairs Governs the Thermal Hall Effect above $T_c$

A large negative thermal Hall signal has been reported across multiple cuprate families in the pseudogap phase where the superconducting order parameter has vanished, with a magnitude that no existing microscopic theory reproduces without free parameters. Competing proposals based on chiral phonons, spinons, or loop currents each require undetermined coupling constants and do not predict the temperature dependence in terms of an independently measured spectroscopic gap. We show that the parity anomaly of $(2+1)$-dimensional quantum field theory resolves this long-standing puzzle: the preformed-pair pseudogap $\Delta_{\rm pg}(T)$ enters the parity-odd fermion determinant identically to a condensate mass, yielding the exact parameter-free formula $\kappa_{xy}/T = (\pi^2 k_B^2/6h)\,C\,\tanh[\Delta_{\rm pg}(T)/(2k_BT)]$, where $C$ is the Chern number of the chiral pairing channel and $\Delta_{\rm pg}(T)$ is directly measurable by ARPES or STM. Coleman-Hill non-renormalization protects the result against higher-loop corrections, and two independent numerical tests, Wilson-loop flux threading and DMRG on $p+ip$ cylinders, confirm the anomaly correlation length to $0.2\%$ accuracy with no power-law finite-size corrections. The theory predicts thermal Hall onset at $T^*$ rather than $T_c$, provides a falsifiable logarithmic-derivative test against ARPES data, and yields a concrete quantitative target for magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene.
Read the full abstract

Strongly Correlated Electrons

Electron-Phonon Functional Renormalization Group of Fermi Liquid Instabilities

We formulate a functional renormalization group (FRG) ansatz for correlated electron models that incorporates electronic interactions as well as electron-phonon coupling (EPC) stemming from dispersive phonon bands. Particularizing to the RG flow of the electron-electron interaction vertex, we treat phonon- and electron-mediated Fermi liquid instabilities on equal footing as we analyze tentative electronic order parameters related to charge, spin, nematicity, and superconducting pairing. We illustrate the approach at the example of Peierls-type transitions we find for the Hubbard model on the square lattice coupled to acoustic phonon bands. Our method allows to incorporate full electronic and phononic ab initio input, and thus lends itself to the analysis of electronic order from intertwined electronic interactions and EPC at a microscopically most substantiated level.
Read the full abstract

All authors C. Alexander Baum, Matteo Dürrnagel, Ronny Thomale, Lennart Klebl

Other Condensed Matter · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Shortcuts to Adiabaticity for non-Hermitian systems in Krylov Space

Shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA) reproduce adiabatic dynamics in finite time, but their counterdiabatic implementation relies on the adiabatic gauge potential (AGP), which is difficult to compute and implement in many-body systems and whose extension to open and non-Hermitian settings has remained largely model-specific. Here, we develop a general, diagonalization-free framework for engineering STA in non-Hermitian systems by representing the AGP in Krylov space. Starting from an integral representation of the counterdiabatic control, we recast the AGP as a nested-commutator series with controlled locality and generate the associated Krylov basis using the bi-Lanczos and Arnoldi algorithms. This reduces the exact or truncated AGP to a sparse tridiagonal or upper-Hessenberg matrix equation that generalizes the Hermitian construction. We demonstrate the method on a decaying two-level atom, where it recovers the exact drive and signals the exceptional point; on the interacting Hatano-Nelson model, where truncated controls rapidly suppress nonadiabatic excitations; and on a PT-symmetric Heisenberg chain, whose AGP norm detects the PT-symmetry-breaking transition. Throughout, the expansion converges with only a small fraction of the full Krylov space, offering a practical route to fast, accurate control of many-body non-Hermitian systems.
Read the full abstract

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

Topology from Decoherence

Decoherence is conventionally regarded as an obstacle to realizing topological quantum phases. This has motivated extensive efforts to suppress noise in candidate topological materials and devices. Here, we show that decoherence can instead induce topological phenomena. We demonstrate this in a lattice system subject to environment-induced dephasing. The noise-averaged dynamics, governed by an interacting quantum master equation, realize a topological phase characterized by a winding number and the non-Hermitian skin effect. The dynamical consequence is striking: the correlated nature of the stochastic noise yields asymmetric diffusion, whose direction is fixed by the winding number and is reversible only through a topological phase transition. This effect is induced purely by interactions, distinguishing it from previous studies of free, effectively single-particle systems. It also disappears upon postselecting measurement outcomes, confirming that it is a genuinely open-system phenomenon with no effective Hamiltonian description. Remarkably, the model remains analytically tractable. Our results establish correlated quantum noise as a route to topology in open many-body systems, beyond free-particle and non-Hermitian Hamiltonian paradigms.
Read the full abstract

All authors Alexandre Chaduteau, Derek Lee, Frank Schindler, Abhinav Prem

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

Observation of coherent flux-charge interaction in a gate-tunable fluxonium

Interactions that mix conjugate variables, such as the flux through a circuit element and the charge across it, lie outside the reach of the elementary couplings of superconducting circuits. Capacitors connect charge to charge, and inductors connect flux to flux, while no two-terminal element couples flux to charge directly. A native flux-charge coupling would thus serve as a circuit primitive in its own right, opening direct routes to non-reciprocity, protected modes, and unconventional readout. In this work, we demonstrate a flux-charge coupling by harnessing a voltage-tunable Josephson junction with parametrically modulated critical current, which mediates the interaction between a classical charge variable and a quantum flux operator. Relying on parity-selection rules in a hybrid superconducting-semiconductor fluxonium, we isolate the flux-charge coupling from other parasitic capacitive contributions and perform cross-quadrature-activated coherent control of states. Critically, we realize a flux-charge coupling that scales linearly with driving amplitude while keeping the transition energy first-order-insensitive to gate voltage. Such unconventional interaction broadens the toolbox of superconducting circuits with a critical missing component that enables the coherent coupling of conjugate variables.
Read the full abstract

All authors Brian D. Isakov, Shikhar Singh, Adrian Parra-Rodriguez, David Feldstein-Bofill, Zhenhai Sun, Anders Kringhøj, Svend Krøjer, Alexandre Blais, Morten Kjaergaard, András Gyenis

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Monte-Carlo solution of the Kondo model

The Kondo model is a paradigmatic quantum impurity problem realized in a wide variety of experimental platforms and central to the study of strongly correlated electrons. We introduce a discrete model that exactly reproduces the multichannel Kondo model and demonstrate that it can be simulated efficiently. Using cluster Monte Carlo algorithms, we completely eliminate critical slowing down, providing direct access to universal crossover functions and transport properties across a broad range of parameters. Remarkably, the same model captures both the weak- and strong-coupling regimes, unifying descriptions traditionally derived in complementary limits and revealing their common origin. Our method naturally accommodates large channel numbers, anisotropy, interacting one-dimensional leads, and channel asymmetry, yielding predictions for transport properties in charge-Kondo devices.
Read the full abstract