Papers

The migration of radio-frequency (RF) integrated-circuit platforms from silicon to GaAs and now to gallium nitride is derived here from first principles. The hexagonal non-centrosymmetric GaN lattice admits a macroscopic polarization; elasticity and the piezoelectric tensor fix the bound sheet charge at an AlGaN/GaN interface, and Poisson's equation with triangular-well quantisation yields a degenerate quasi-two-dimensional channel of ~10^13 cm^-2 with no doping. Energy-momentum conservation for pair creation and phonon-limited energy relaxation set the breakdown field (3.3 MV/cm) and saturation velocity (2.5 x 10^7 cm/s), which combine into geometry-free limits V_brf_T = E_cv_sat/(2pi) and R_on^sp = 4V_br^2/(muepsilonE_c^3). These limits are mapped onto the low-noise amplifier, power amplifier, and switch/phase-shifter functions of a transmit/receive front end and quantified by a MATLAB device-physics model comparing GaN, GaAs, and Si up to 90 GHz. The purpose of this framework and its simulations is to identify which material platform offers the best performance at millimeter-wave frequency signals.

theta-phase tantalum nitride (theta-TaN) combines metallic conductivity with exceptionally high thermal conductivity, making it a potential material for device thermal management and interconnect applications. However, its tensile strength and fracture behavior remain unclear. Here, we investigate the anisotropic tensile response and fracture mechanism of theta-TaN using neuroevolution-potential molecular dynamics simulations. Size-convergence tests show that a 20 nm long model is sufficient for reliable prediction, and the mechanical parameters vary by less than 3.5% over the strain-rate range of 10^7 to 10^9 s^-1. The results reveal strong tensile anisotropy. The c-axis direction ([0001]) shows a higher strength of 80.10 GPa and modulus of 748.63 GPa, but a lower fracture strain of 15.02%. In contrast, the a-axis direction ([2-1-10]) shows a lower strength of 56.87 GPa and modulus of 570.74 GPa, but a higher fracture strain of 17.71%. From 300 to 900 K, the mechanical properties decrease nearly linearly, while more than 73% of the 300 K strength is retained at 900 K. Fracture occurs without observable dislocation activity and is governed by cleavage-plane selection: {10-10} prismatic planes under a-axis tension and the (0001) basal plane under c-axis tension. Atomic displacement analysis shows that local separation and microvoid formation precede macroscopic crack growth, indicating a brittle fracture process driven by local bond-network instability. These results provide atomic-scale mechanical data for assessing the reliability of theta-TaN in thermal management applications.

The bilayer nickelate La3Ni2O7 has attracted intense interest following the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity under pressure, representing the first nickelate superconductor realized in bulk form. However, the crystal structure of the superconducting phase remains under active discussion, complicating efforts to establish its microscopic origin. Here we resolve these structural controversies by establishing a definitive pressure-temperature phase diagram, including the superconducting region of stoichiometric La3Ni2O7 single crystals under hydrostatic conditions using helium as the pressure-transmitting medium. At ambient pressure, La3Ni2O7 adopts a polar orthorhombic Am2m structure characterized by charge order between inequivalent Ni sites and NiO6 octahedral tilting. Upon compression, the system undergoes a direct transition from the charge-ordered Am2m phase to the tetragonal I4/mmm phase near 10 GPa, coinciding with the onset of bulk superconductivity. These results establish the intrinsic structural evolution of La3Ni2O7 and provide a structural framework for microscopic theories of nickelate superconductivity.

We investigate two novel non-hexagonal boron nitride monolayers, pentaoctite-BN (PO-BN) and pop-BN (PP-BN), using first-principles calculations. Their structural, electronic, mechanical, vibrational, thermal, and optical properties are systematically analyzed to assess their stability and potential applications. Despite being metastable with respect to hexagonal BN, both polymorphs satisfy the criteria for dynamical, mechanical, and thermal stability, indicating that they are viable two-dimensional materials. Both systems are indirect-gap semiconductors whose electronic states near the band edges are dominated by out-of-plane pz orbitals. Their distinct pentagon-octagon ring networks also give rise to different in-plane elastic anisotropies. Many-body optical calculations reveal strong excitonic effects and pronounced polarization-dependent optical absorption, with lattice engineering shifting the optical response from the ultraviolet toward the visible and infrared regions. These findings demonstrate that engineering non-hexagonal lattice architectures provides an effective strategy for tuning the electronic and optical properties of two-dimensional BN, highlighting PO-BN and PP-BN as promising candidates for future optoelectronic and photonic applications.

We study the non-relativistic limit of Gaussian covariant hydrodynamics [1]. We argue that the condition of incompressibility provides additional symmetries matching relativistic hydrodynamics but incompressibility must break down at a “microscopic“ scale. We then develop the renormalization group equations for average and fluctuations w.r.t. that scale, to understand its effect on flows at intermolecular distances where hydrodynamics gives way to statistical mechanics. The resulting dynamics naturally incorporates spontaneous stochasticity as a macroscopic back reaction of statistical mechanics fluctuations, as well as features reminiscent of anomalous dissipation and “wild solutions“ as renormalization group counterterms. We frame these considerations into both a phenomenological discussion of the limits of applicability of fluid dynamics, and a discussion of where physics might shed some light on the mathematical issues associated with turbulence.

Hexanal, a volatile organic compound (VOC), is a potential biomarker for the early detection of lung cancer. In this study, we developed a dual-mode flexible biosensor that integrates surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and colorimetric detection for the quantitative analysis of hexanal in human exhaled breath. The biosensor employs Ag nanocubes wrapped with Co-Ni layered double hydroxide (AgNCs@Co-Ni LDH) as a functional matrix, offering both superior SERS enhancement and efficient VOC adsorption properties. To achieve selective detection, AgNCs@Co-Ni LDH were incorporated into agarose hydrogels along with 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone (MBTH). The resulting MBTH-AgNCs@Co-Ni LDH/hydrogel-patch facilitate the oxidation of hexanal, enabling simultaneous colorimetric and SERS signal generation, while producing acrizine, a blue-colored reaction product. This hydrogel-based dual-mode sensing platform exhibits high selectivity, excellent stability, and precision in SERS-based hexanal detection. The detection limit for the SERS method was determined to be as low as 3.34x10-13 M. Furthermore, developed and optimized compact CNN-based multi-terminal intelligent recognition system for enhanced hydrogel-patch detection through AI-driven, portable, and real-time colorimetric analysis. Therefore, this work not only enables the effective detection of hexanal in the exhaled breath of suspected lung cancer patients, underscoring its potential for early lung cancer screening, but also establishes a foundation for the development of multimodal hydrogel biosensors for broader applications in disease diagnosis.

We show that, in appropriate regimes, ultracold collisionally shielded molecules in an optical lattice realize a controlled extended Hubbard model, despite their large-radius hard-core repulsion. We compute the Hubbard parameters and show lattice depth and microwave-induced dipolar interactions provide flexible, independent control of on- and off-site interactions. This makes shielded molecules a powerful platform for extended Hubbard models and enables an interaction microscope that can distinguish inter-hole interactions in doped Mott insulators - crucial to superconductivity and strange metallicity - that are indistinguishable with quantum gas microscopy alone.

Despite fundamental differences in morphology, dimensionality, and microscopic transport, semicontinuous Au films and compacted CrO2 powders converge on a common network-level principle: the electrically relevant network is a condition-dependent subset of the physical contact network. In Au films near the geometrical percolation threshold, increasing bias reversibly shifts the low-temperature response from activated nearest-neighbour hopping with negative magnetoresistance to a weak-localization-like regime with positive magnetoresistance, consistent with broader electronic participation of the fixed island network. In CrO2 powder compacts, magnetic field mainly changes the spin-dependent resistances of existing intergranular junctions and thereby reorders competing current paths; temperature and measuring current can additionally expand or deplete the active network. Cohn's theorem provides a compact sensitivity principle for both cases: local resistance changes influence the measured response in proportion to the current carried by the affected links. The comparison identifies two limiting but interconvertible modes of reconfiguration - link enabling and link reweighting - and shows why geometrical connectivity alone is insufficient for interpreting transport in strongly inhomogeneous conductors.

We study boundary free energies in disordered Edwards–Anderson Ising models. For rectangular strips of fixed width, we prove that the expected free-to-fixed boundary correction, divided by the tangential length, converges for every finite inverse temperature and at zero temperature. The proof combines a uniform almost-additivity estimate with product-measure concentration, yielding self-averaging along tangential intervals. We derive an exact finite-volume Gaussian interpolation identity and prove that a uniform exponential boundary-mixing condition implies boundary localization with an explicit exponential rate. The tangential pressure theorem extends to all dimensions and symmetric coupling laws with finite first moment; under a product-concentration hypothesis, self-averaging is obtained along tangential cubes. Finally, a subcritical open-bond criterion, verified explicitly for sparse signed couplings, gives low-temperature localization without assuming an infinite-volume Gibbs-state property.

Nuclear spin qubits in silicon are well-isolated from their environment. Consequently, they have very long lifetimes and low sensitivity to noise, but this also suggests that control and measurement is challenging. We introduce electron pair interferometry (EPI), a protocol to overcome this challenge and maintain robustness to noise. EPI is implemented using an array of quantum dots with isoelectronic nuclear spin qubits located in the dots. A pair of electrons are initialized into a singlet ground state, split apart, and shuttled to the dots containing nuclear spin qubits. We show it is possible to coherently transfer the parity of the nuclei onto the measurable state of singlet/triplet-encoded electrons. Global nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) can be used to change bases and implement dynamical decoupling (DD). Combined with selective hyperfine-induced $Z_{\pi}$ rotations, our gate set is complete for universal quantum computation, tailored to Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) quantum error correction, and robust to noise. We discuss very low sensitivity to charge noise and study the sensitivity to both DC and AC magnetic field inhomogeneity which depends strongly on their relative strengths.

Mechanical energy dissipation in networked materials is relevant for applications from vibration isolation to impact protection, yet identifying optimal dissipative architectures in large disordered truss networks is computationally prohibitive with conventional finite element methods. We develop an efficient graph Laplacian-based spectral framework for viscoelastic truss networks, in which the full continuum dynamics of each rod are retained exactly and the problem size scales with the number of joints rather than element-level discretization points. Using this framework, we investigate how redistributing cross-sectional areas within a network (without changing material composition) controls energy dissipation. We find that random redistribution typically reduces dissipation relative to a uniform baseline, while gradient-based optimization yields nontrivial architectures whose form is governed by the intrinsic attenuation length of the base material. Focusing on driving frequencies near a global resonant mode of the network, we show that the optimal mass distribution decays from the source (driven joint) with the attenuation length scale, and at small attenuation lengths the optimal architecture is independent of the boundary conditions. These results motivate future studies of dissipation length scale based design principles on more complex disordered architectures and provide an efficient computational framework for exploring such structures at scale.

The structural and ferroelectric properties of epitaxial Hf1-xCexO2 (CHO) thin films in the ultrathin regime are investigated as a function of Ce concentration (5% <= x <= 20%) and temperature. A temperature-doping phase diagram is established for 10 nm films, showing a systematic evolution from the ferroelectric orthorhombic phase to tetragonal and cubic phases with increasing Ce content. The orthorhombic-tetragonal transition temperature decreases from ~800{\deg}C at x = 5% to $~300{\deg}C$ at x = 15%, indicating strong stabilization of higher-symmetry phases with doping. Consistently, the remanent polarization decreases from ~15 to $3.8 {\mu}C/cm2$ as x increases from 5% to 20%. In contrast, the endurance improves significantly, with higher Ce concentrations exhibiting markedly enhanced cycling stability up to 108 cycles. The opposing trends of polarization and endurance are correlated with reduced orthorhombic distortion, suggesting that fatigue mitigation in Ce-doped HfO2 is linked to structural evolution. These results provide a framework for optimizing composition and reliability in ultrathin ferroelectric HfO2 devices.

Elasticity often plays a key role in regulating phase separation in physical systems. Recent experiments have shown that elastic effects can be used to control microphase separation in swollen elastomers. Here, microphase separation arises from a mismatch between the characteristic length scales of elastic and thermodynamic interactions. In this first part of a two-part paper, we show that microphase formation in elastomers can be explained using conventional theories of elasticity through a nonlocal thermodynamic-elastic coupling arising from volume conservation. Our theory reproduces the observed dependence of phase transition temperature and domain size on elastomer stiffness in isotropically swollen elastomers. In the companion paper, we investigate the effects of anisotropic swelling and inhomogeneous elastic moduli.

There are three paradoxes in the modern Colloid and Interface Science supported by large bulk of experimental evidence and contradicting classical theoretical models: - Electrokinetics at high ionic strength; - Nanobubbles having life span on scale of days and weeks without any surface stabilization; - Pristine emulsions having life span on scale of days and weeks without any surface stabilization. We overview many dozens of experimental papers by broad spectrum of scientific groups from many countries. We consider this vast experimental data as unambiguous evidence that these phenomena exist. On other hand, classical theoretical models deny such possibility. This contradiction between experiment and theory justifies introduction of new theoretical models. We overview these models. It turns out that there is one common feature between most promising of them – assumption regarding structured water layer at hydrophobic interface. That is why we combine these three phenomena in this review. There is extensive literature on century old idea of the structured water layer, experimental and theoretical. We overview this literature, which provides convincing support to this hypothesis. We discuss existing theoretical models that incorporate the structured interfacial water layer for the successful explanation of these phenomena in more detail. Theoretical model of electrokinetics at high ionic strength was developed several decades ago. Theoretical model explaining paradoxical longevity of nanobubbles and pristine emulsions by interaction between structured water layer and electric double layer is more recent.

The Kondo singlet—a many-body state formed by entanglement between a localized spin and the Fermi sea—has been studied extensively through its transport signatures in quantum dots. Here we report a thermodynamic measurement of the entropy suppression associated with the formation of the Kondo singlet, using temperature-dependent charge sensing and a Maxwell relation to track the suppression of spin entropy as the first electron is added to a strongly-coupled GaAs quantum dot. Plotting $dN/dT$ against the simultaneously measured occupation $N$ reveals an asymmetric lineshape with its peak shifted to $N>1/2$—a hallmark of Kondo screening—that weakens with increasing temperature and is qualitatively reproduced by numerical renormalization group (NRG) calculations, with a small but persistent offset to lower occupation relative to the theory. An independent measurement of conductance versus occupation on the same device provides a test of these quantities through the mixed-valence crossover and matches NRG within experimental uncertainty.

Dimeric transport motors are nanoscale protein complexes that move along cytoskeletal filaments. Here we introduce a theoretical model for their stepping dynamics, in which the two motor heads undergo Brownian motion with mobilities periodically switching in a position-dependent manner so that only one head moves at a time. Through consumption of chemical free energy, this mechanism produces directed motion. We characterize at steady state the motor's mean velocity and its energy and information flows. The motor operates as a pure information engine, where only information is transduced between its components, without energy exchange. For localized switching, the model yields a thermodynamically consistent expression for the mean motor velocity that reproduces experimentally observed behavior, and captures the stall force characteristic of tightly coupled motors. Finally, coarse-graining the model to a single mechanical degree of freedom produces a second-order non-Markovian dynamics, from which we compute the four distinct dwell-time distributions that can be directly observed in single-molecule experiments. Our findings highlight how information transduction, via implicit operation as a Maxwell demon, may underlie the remarkable performance of these molecular motors.

One of the challenges in microstructure analysis is the rigorous quantification of the shape, size, and spatial arrangement of the microstructure beyond comparison of average values. We expound on formal principles combining Topological Data Analysis (TDA) and non-Euclidean distances between curves to motivate novel perspectives on the form and nature of pattern and shape in images. Specifically, TDA descriptors extracting persistent topological structures are combined with product submanifold learning of separable shape tensors (SST) to offer unique insights about electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) images of material microstructures through the lens of a dual-parameter filtration. Beyond standard approaches, our methodology highlights how different choices or permutations of shape distances can lead to distinct notions of topological persistence, thereby broadening the interpretive scope of TDA. The resulting visualizations of feature extraction are designed to be both principled and explanatory, offering novel tools for modern imaging science with applications to material metrology. More broadly, this framework has strong potential to impact domains where precise quantification of topology and shape is critical for uncovering fundamental image patterns and features, and enables additional data-driven tools for microstructure analysis.

We investigate the emergence of electronic order and unconventional superconductivity in M-valley moiré materials. Starting from a first-principles Wannier model of AB-stacked twisted SnSe2, we tackle the (gate-screened) long-ranged Coulomb interaction with functional renormalization group simulations resolving the momentum structure and energy scales of the leading Fermi surface instabilities. Upon doping an antiferromagnetic stripe state at half-filling ($\nu=3$ electrons per moiré unit cell) of the moiré flat bands, magnetic order gives way to unconventional superconductivity mediated by valley-selective spin fluctuations: Large hole doping ($\nu\approx1$) leads to weak-coupling superconductors with various pairing symmetries, while slight electron- and hole-doping ($\nu\approx2,4$) stabilizes a spin-singlet, extended s-wave state that benefits from scattering between virtual particle and hole states that are detuned from the Fermi level. These findings establish M-point moiré materials as a quantum simulation platform with phenomenological parallels to the class of iron pnictide superconductors.

Piezoresponse force microscopy is a cornerstone technique for probing nanoscale electromechanical phenomena, yet quantitative and in some cases qualitative interpretation remains hindered by parasitic electrostatic forces coupled through cantilever dynamics. Recent approaches aim to suppress these artifacts by operating at resonance defined null spots or electrostatic blind spots, but whether these conditions are equivalent and how they evolve under realistic measurement conditions has remained unclear. Here, combining analytical beam models, geometrically faithful finite-element simulations, and automated interferometric measurements, we show that NS and ESBS are fundamentally different operating conditions. The NS is a modal zero at contact resonance where sensitivity to all excitations vanishes, whereas the ESBS is a quasistatic position where only the distributed electrostatic response is suppressed. Automated measurements reveal that both conditions evolve with the tip sample boundary condition yet remain spatially separated under realistic experimental conditions. While beam models capture the dominant cantilever mechanics, finite-element simulations and experiment show that quantitative prediction of near tip behavior requires realistic three dimensional probe electrostatics and mechanics. These findings establish NS and ESBS as dynamic operating conditions and provide a practical framework for advancing interferometric PFM toward truly quantitative electromechanical metrology.

According to Hohenberg's theorem, Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in two dimensions is impossible for any temperature $T>0$. By contrast, superfluidity does occur in two dimensions at finite temperatures; it emerges due to the breaking of Galilei invariance. Here we consider BEC and superfluidity on a compact two-dimensional space taking the form of a non-commutative ("fuzzy") sphere, where the scalar bosonic fields are promoted to $N\times N$ matrices. The dimension $N$ is related to the non-commutativity parameter of space and introduces an additional scale into the system. We find that non-commutativity favors ordered phases and so enhances BEC and superfluidity. We analyze BEC in ideal and weakly interacting Bose gases on a fuzzy sphere, finding in each case that the critical temperature of BEC is greater compared to that found in the case of a commutative sphere $S^2$. Then we investigate the superfluid response of weakly interacting Bose systems. To account for vortices in a superfluid, we show that, even on an ordinary sphere, the collective coordinates of vortices induce non-commutativity. With this in mind, we extend the definition of vortex defects to an inherently non-commutative sphere studied here, where the notion of a point is untenable. The non-commutativity is expected to be experimentally relevant to BEC and superfluidity since the fuzzy sphere has a thermodynamic limit distinct from the one defined over a plane, unlike the $S^2$ case. The significance of this difference is illustrated by the superfluid density calculation indicating that, in the large sphere limit, the normal fluid fraction on the fuzzy sphere yields a linear in $T$ dependence, while on a commutative $S^2$ it exhibits the usual two-dimensional $\sim T^3$ behavior. This linear dependence, arising directly from non-commutativity, is reminiscent of Uemura's law in cuprate high-$T_c$ superconductors.

VO$_2$-based relaxation oscillators form a rapidly developing field that finds applications in neuromorphic computing, Ising machines, and numerous signal processing concepts. These oscillators operate in a deeply nonlinear relaxation regime based on rapid phase transitions between insulating and metallic states in the VO$_2$ material. This process is governed by thermal effects, which lead to additional voltage fluctuations and contribute to a considerably wide spectral linewidth in the VO$_2$-based oscillator signal. In this work, we thoroughly study the phase noise in VO$_2$-based relaxation oscillators and demonstrate that the broadening of the generation spectrum linewidth at low oscillation frequencies is caused by an increased susceptibility to thermal fluctuations during the incubation phase. We explore the types of noise affecting oscillator stability and show that synchronization with an external square-wave signal improves the phase noise more effectively than a sinusoidal-shape injection locking signal.

Extracting intrinsic magnetic Hamiltonians directly from magnetometry is challenging due to the high dimensionality of the parameter space and the degeneracy induced by ensemble averaging. Here, we introduce a collection of deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to extract the full phenomenological micromagnetic Hamiltonian directly from the magnetic fingerprints encoded within First-Order Reversal Curves (FORCs). We validate this approach via closed-loop verification, re-creating the input magnetometry for both simulated and experimental FORCs. To mitigate false positives, we deploy an `Alice–Bob' parallel network that quantifies prediction uncertainty based on solely the information in FORCs without any additional ground-truth knowledge. This framework provides a robust, machine-learning-assisted approach to unravel the underlying spin behaviors in complex magnetic systems

We present a comprehensive first-principles investigation of all symmetrically inequivalent low-index surfaces of $\beta$-Ga$_2$O$_3$, examining their structural properties and thermodynamic stability across experimentally relevant growth conditions. Using density-functional theory with both the semi-local functional PBEsol and a modified PBE0 hybrid functional with 26% exact exchange, denoted PBE0(0.26), we calculate surface free energies for the (010), (100), (001), ($\bar{2}01$), (110), (111), and ($11\bar{1}$) orientations, including the effects of harmonic vibrational contributions and varying oxygen chemical potentials. We demonstrate that the energetic ordering remains consistent across computational approaches and that the vibrational contributions remain below 0.2 J/m$^2$ up to temperatures of 1000 K. A coordination-based model that correlates surface stability with the density of under-coordinated atoms reveals that under-coordinated oxygen atoms and tetrahedral Ga sites substantially destabilize surfaces, while exposed under-coordinated octahedral Ga atoms serve as indicators of surface stability. Our thermodynamic analysis shows that stoichiometric terminations dominate over nearly the entire range of chemical potentials relevant for $\beta$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ stability, while non-stoichiometric terminations emerge only under extreme reducing or oxidizing conditions. Notably, we predict the formation of stable Ga-rich terminations resembling Ga adlayers for the (100) and ($\bar{2}01$) surfaces under highly reducing conditions.

Ferrimagnetic Mn4N has recently emerged as a promising rare-earth-free platform for spintronic devices due to its low magnetization, high domain wall mobility, and strong anomalous Hall response. However, the realization of thin films with robust perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and spin-orbit torque (SOT) functionality through scalable deposition techniques remains a significant challenge. In this work, we systematically investigate the growth of Mn4N thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering and determine the conditions required to achieve high-quality films suitable for SOT applications. We demonstrate that epitaxial, single-crystalline Mn4N films with strong PMA can be obtained on MgO(100), whereas films deposited on SrTiO3(100) exhibit a textured structure. The optimized films show square-shaped hysteresis loops with high remanence, large and tunable coercivity, and a pronounced anomalous Hall effect. By combining structural, magnetic, and magnetotransport characterization with density functional theory calculations, we reveal that epitaxial strain plays a key role in tuning magnetic anisotropy, while also showing that it is not the only contributing factor. In particular, our results emphasize the importance of interfacial effects in stabilizing PMA. Finally, we demonstrate efficient current-induced magnetization switching in Mn4N/Pt bilayers, confirming strong interfacial spin transparency. These findings establish sputtered Mn4N as a promising and versatile material platform for energy-efficient spin-orbitronic devices.

Capacitance is a thermodynamic probe of interacting electrons: it measures the energy cost of moving charge between conductors, and in low-dimensional systems this cost is shaped by exchange and correlation as much as by electrostatics. We develop a theory of the quantum capacitance of electron double layers, semiconductor quantum wells as well as monolayer and bilayer graphene devices, focusing on the contribution generated by interlayer correlations. Within a functional-integral formulation we show that the separation-dependent part of the ground-state energy is, at the level of ring diagrams, exactly the nonretarded Lifshitz expression for the van der Waals energy of two conducting sheets, with reflection amplitudes built from the layer polarizabilities. The interlayer correction to the inverse capacitance is the second density derivative of this energy: a Casimir compressibility. The zero-point fluctuations that generate Casimir forces between mirrors are here the coupled plasmons of the bilayer, and their contribution to the capacitance is obtained in closed form, with a universal coefficient; its sign shows that interlayer correlations oppose charging at high density. A Gell-Mann-Brueckner analysis gives the exact high-density limit in terms of universal functions. For graphene we find that monolayers follow the electron-gas template, while bilayer graphene is anomalous: interband screening suppresses the correction by orders of magnitude and reverses its sign in the experimentally relevant range of separations. We delineate the limits of the theory, identifying the dilute Wigner-crystal regime and electron-hole double layers near exciton condensation as regimes where the capacitance becomes a probe of interlayer pairing.

Magnetoelastic (ME) resonators provide an attractive platform for passive and wireless sensing, particularly for monitoring relative humidity (RH) in sealed or hard-to-access environments. In this work, we introduce ME humidity sensors functionalized with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) sulfonate (PEDOT), marking the first application of this conductive polymer in ME-based humidity sensing. PEDOT films were deposited onto Metglas resonators via a simple drop-casting process, producing uniform and mechanically stable coatings. Comprehensive structural and morphological characterization by SEM, EDX, Raman spectroscopy, AFM/KPFM, and XRD confirmed the structural integrity of the polymer and revealed humidity-induced swelling of the PSS-rich domains, accompanied by enhanced polymer-chain mobility and an increase in the lamellar spacing from 23.5 Å to 24.2 Å at 95% RH. These structural changes directly affected the dynamic response of the resonators, leading to a systematic resonance-frequency downshift driven by the combined effects of water adsorption, mass loading, and viscoelastic damping. The optimized device achieved a sensitivity of 155 Hz/% RH in the 20 - 70% RH range, outperforming previously reported ME humidity sensors, while exhibiting a resolution better than 0.1% RH together with excellent response and recovery times. These results establish PEDOT as a highly effective functional coating for magnetoelastic humidity sensors and demonstrate a simple, low-cost, wireless sensing platform with high sensitivity and strong potential for practical environmental and industrial monitoring applications.

Entanglement entropy (EE) is commonly studied using real-space bipartitions. We show that, in quantum impurity models, an energy-space bipartition, equivalent to the momentum-space bipartition of the bath, can display universal behavior. Motivated by poor man's scaling, we logarithmically discretize the bath and partition it into high- and low-energy sectors. For models with Fermi-liquid fixed points, including the Anderson model and fully screened or underscreened Kondo models, the low-energy EE flows to constants independent of model parameters. These constants are integer multiples of $\ln 2$ plus corrections that depend only on the logarithmic discretization parameter $\Lambda$. We show that scale invariance of the fixed-point wavefunction in energy space maps to effective translation invariance along a one-dimensional chain, allowing the fixed points to be classified by one-dimensional topological band theory. With low-energy chiral symmetry, each $\ln 2$ contribution originates from a topological edge mode. We also study transitions between distinct Fermi-liquid fixed points using the local-singlet–Kondo-singlet transition in a two-orbital Anderson model driven by an inter-orbital antiferromagnetic coupling. The local-singlet phase has an effectively decoupled impurity and nearly vanishing EE, whereas the Kondo-singlet phase has finite EE larger than $\ln 2$ per spin and orbital. When chiral symmetry holds at low energies, this distinction corresponds to a topological transition of the effective bath chain. At the non-Fermi-liquid critical point, the EE develops an unstable plateau. Its $\Lambda$ dependence resembles that of the overscreened two-channel Kondo model, supporting universality within the same non-Fermi-liquid universality class.

We report the microwave response of coplanar-waveguide (CPW) resonators fabricated from $\mathrm{YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta}}$ (YBCO) thin films over temperatures from approximately $70~\mathrm{mK}$ to $40~\mathrm{K}$. The resonators exhibit internal quality factors $Q_\mathrm{i}$ in the range of $4\times10^3$ to $10^4$ at 70 mK, which increase to a maximum of approximately $8\times10^3$ to $1.2\times10^4$ near $6~\mathrm{K}$. At low temperatures, both $Q_\mathrm{i}$ and the fractional shift of the resonance frequency $\Delta f_\mathrm{r}/f_\mathrm{r}$ increases with temperature, qualitatively resembling behavior commonly associated with two-level-system (TLS) defects. However, neither response saturates on the temperature scale set by the resonator frequency, and the loss exhibits no observable microwave-power dependence. We show that low-temperature frequency upturn may be better described by an additional paramagnetic response associated with defect-induced local moments or Andreev bound states, while the low-temperature loss follows an approximately logarithmic temperature dependence whose microscopic origin remains unresolved. These measurements establish the millikelvin performance of patterned YBCO resonators and show that their low-temperature response cannot be understood within the conventional TLS framework alone.

Using the recently introduced ensemble variational Monte Carlo (VMC), we study optimized wave functions for strongly correlated point defects, including nitrogen-vacancy and silicon-vacancy centers in diamond and substitutional iron and chromium impurities in aluminum nitride. We study the effects of fully optimized determinant expansion parameters, orbitals, and Jastrow correlation factors on these systems. We find that orbitals from the hybrid functional PBE0 are much better (have lower objective functional) than semilocal PBE, which results in changes in the excitation energies up to 0.5 eV. Further improvements can be made by directly optimizing the objective functional, resulting in changes in excitation energies up to 0.2 eV. The most important parameter varies from defect to defect, reinforcing the necessity of optimizing all parameters to obtain accurate excited states in strongly correlated defects.

Structural materials in fusion reactors develop irradiation-induced defect populations that govern their mechanical behaviour. While advanced microscopy provides detailed characterisation of such defects, their dynamic evolution through dislocation-defect interactions during plastic deformation remains unresolved. Here, we address this gap using molecular dynamics simulations to resolve dislocation-defect interaction mechanisms and the resulting evolution of defect morphology and obstacle strength. Tungsten is the leading candidate plasma-facing material for fusion reactors, where vacancy loops are common irradiation defects. Using vacancy loops as a prototype defect, we systematically investigate their interactions with edge dislocations by varying loop size, orientation, and dislocation-loop intersection position. Parallel loops exhibit three distinct evolution pathways: complete annihilation, transformation into weaker remnant defects, or defect transport, depending on the intersection position and loop size. In contrast, inclined closed loops undergo dislocation reactions that produce sessile $\langle010\rangle$ dislocation segments, leading to substantially higher obstacle strengths with little sensitivity to the intersection position. Repeated dislocation interactions further demonstrate that the defect landscape is not static: remnant defects can persist, transform, or lose their ability to impede subsequent dislocations, depending on the preceding interaction mechanism. These results show that the obstacle strength of a vacancy loop is governed not only by its initial size and orientation, but also by its interaction history and the resulting defect structure.