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Physics Condensed Matter

cond-mat Watch Condensed Matter

Friday 7 August

Quantum Gases · Cross-listed from physics.atom-ph

An ionic clock qubit inside a circular Rydberg atom

Fabian Thielemann, Aaron Götzelmann, Marius Thomas et al. (+4 more)

Neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers and excited to Rydberg states, together with trapped ions, are among the most advanced platforms for quantum simulation and quantum computing. Current experiments often rely on additional atoms in neighboring traps to encode ancilla qubits for local manipulation and readout. Here, we demonstrate a dual ion-Rydberg system comprising two qubits encoded in two individually controlled electrons of the same alkaline-earth atom. The first, a microwave qubit, is encoded in a pair of circular Rydberg states, while the second, an optical qubit, is encoded on a narrow quadrupole transition of the Rydberg atom's ionic core. We demonstrate coherent control of the optical qubit and achieve coherence times of several hundred microseconds under dynamical decoupling. Furthermore, we realize coherent coupling between the two electrons via electrostatic quadrupole interactions over the large separation between the Rydberg electron and the ionic core, and map out its angular tunability. Finally, we demonstrate a two-qubit operation, reminiscent of a Mølmer-Sørensen gate, that evolves through an entangled state of the two qubits driven by the quadrupole coupling. Our work opens a pathway to exploit a pair of individually controlled electronic qubits with tunable coupling for quantum simulation and quantum metrology.
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All authors Fabian Thielemann, Aaron Götzelmann, Marius Thomas, Einius Pultinevicius, Armin Humić, Christian Hölzl, Florian Meinert

Materials Science

Spin-group theory on Edelstein effect and spin-orbit torque in Collinear Ferromagnets

Yizhuo Song, Qing Zhang, Jiahao Shentu et al. (+2 more)

Current-induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) are central to the electrical manipulation of magnetic order in spintronic devices. In transition-metal/collinear ferromagnet bilayers, field-like and damping-like torques have been described only phenomenologically via the spin or orbital Hall effect, lacking a rigorous symmetry-based foundation. The precise role of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in both the Edelstein effect and SOTs has remained unresolved. Here we develop a spin-group symmetry theory for the Edelstein effect and SOTs in collinear ferromagnets, treating SOC as a symmetry-breaking perturbation. For 4mm (C4v) point group symmetry, we derive the full forms of field-like and damping-like torques, which arise predominantly from first- and second-order SOC. We further show that SOTs in both orbital-Hall-dominated Ti/Ni and spin-Hall-dominated Pt/CoFe bilayers originate at first-order SOC. Taking the 3m (C3v) torque as a paradigmatic example, we elucidate the role of second- and higher-order SOC torques in field-free switching of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Remarkably, in PtMnSb, we demonstrate that SOTs under certain point group symmetries deviate from the conventional form: zeroth- and first-order SOC contributions vanish identically, with the leading SOT emerging at second order. All symmetry-based predictions from spin-group theory are in excellent quantitative agreement with first-principles calculations. Our work establishes a unified symmetry framework for the microscopic understanding of the Edelstein effect and current-induced spin torques in ferromagnetic systems.
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All authors Yizhuo Song, Qing Zhang, Jiahao Shentu, Jie Li, Jia Zhang

Materials Science

Fast Isotropic Li-Ion Diffusion in Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework Glass Electrolytes for Batteries

Yong Li, Tao Du, Timothée Jamin et al. (+4 more)

All-solid-state lithium batteries require solid electrolytes that combine rapid room-temperature ion transport with mechanical robustness and interfacial compatibility. Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) glasses, with ZIFs being a sub-set of metal-organic frameworks, offer an attractive yet relatively underexplored platform because they combine an grainboundary-free and amorphous topology with chemically tunable frameworks. Here, we reveal that structural disorder unlocks fast and isotropic lithium diffusion in ZIF glasses. This is realized by using a machine learning interatomic potential to simulate Li+ transport in crystalline and glassy ZIF-4 and ZIF-62. Structural disorder reduces the activation energy for Li+ migration from ~0.35 eV to 0.16 eV and increases the extrapolated room-temperature diffusion coefficient by more than one order of magnitude for ZIF-4 and nearly sevenfold for ZIF-62. Analyses of non-Gaussian dynamics and van Hove correlation functions reveal that Li+ diffusion in crystalline ZIFs occurs via rare, dynamically heterogeneous hopping events among well-defined cages, whereas Li+ diffusion in glassy ZIFs is more homogeneous, continuous, and Fickian-like, benefiting from a wide distribution of coordination geometries and migration barriers. Li+ diffusion in crystalline ZIFs is strongly anisotropic, reflecting that ordered orientations of imidazolate and benzimidazolate rings impose distinct energy barriers along different crystallographic directions. Upon vitrification, these ring orientations become randomized, and hence, the diffusion of Li+ becomes isotropic or near-isotropic. These findings imply that well-designed metal-organic framework glasses are a promising candidate as high-performance solid-state electrolytes.
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All authors Yong Li, Tao Du, Timothée Jamin, Zhencai Li, Kasper Tolborg, Yuanzheng Yue, Morten M. Smedskjaer

Materials Science

Local Structure Dictates Ionic Transport and Mechanical Properties in Glassy Solid Electrolytes for Lithium Batteries

Yong Li, Tao Du, Rasmus Christensen et al. (+7 more)

Electrolytes composed of sulfide and halide glasses are promising candidates for all-solid-state lithium batteries owing to their processability, lack of grain boundaries, and relatively high ionic conductivity. Nevertheless, their ionic conductivity and mechanical properties are still not satisfying for the real-world applications. Significant advances in solid electrolytes require a thorough understanding of their microstructures. Here, we reveal the connections among structure, ionic transport properties, and mechanical stability in a series of glassy solid electrolytes by employing molecular dynamics simulations based on a machine learning interatomic potential. Specifically, we explore how the interplay between B-S and P-S networks in glassy Li-S-P-B-I (LSPBI) governs ionic conductivity and deformation behavior. The introduction of P2S5 into a B2S3-based glass induces a critical structural transformation, through which both ionic conductivity and mechanical nano-ductility can be enhanced. For a moderate P2S5 content, incorporated PS4 units depolymerize the rigid boron framework, creating percolative diffusion pathways for fast ionic transport. Concurrently, the flexible P-S-P configurations enable energy dissipation through bond bending, leading to the brittle-to-ductile transition. However, excessive P2S5 increases the fraction of polyphosphates (e.g., P2S6 and P2S7), thereby polymerizing the structural network and ultimately impeding Li+ mobility. Our work thus provides atomistic principles for engineering glass electrolytes with balanced ionic conductivity and mechanical robustness.
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All authors Yong Li, Tao Du, Rasmus Christensen, Timothée Jamin, Zhencai Li, Qi Zhang, Xiaoyi Xu, Kasper Tolborg, Yuanzheng Yue, Morten M. Smedskjaer

Quantum Gases

Extracting the pairing gap from van Hove singularities in rf spectra of the Fermi Hubbard model

Chuping Li, Kaichao Zhang, Junru Wu et al. (+5 more)

We show that van Hove singularities in rf spectra of the 3D attractive Fermi Hubbard model provide a robust route to extracting the pairing gap. Four types of singularities are classified, and their spectral positions are shown to depend solely on the pairing gap $\Delta$ and chemical potential $\mu$ through simple algebraic relations. Measuring two well-resolved singularities therefore determines both parameters without requiring full spectral fitting. Numerical simulations incorporating phenomenological lifetime and scattering broadenings confirm that these features remain visible in both momentum-integrated and $k_z$-integrated spectra, and become more pronounced at stronger coupling where conventional back-bending methods lose sensitivity. At half filling, particle-hole symmetry fixes $\mu$, reducing the extraction to a single singularity measurement. These results establish vHS analysis as a practical spectroscopic diagnostic for pairing in quantum-simulated 3D Fermi Hubbard systems.
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All authors Chuping Li, Kaichao Zhang, Junru Wu, Yuxuan Wu, Dingli Yuan, Pengyi Chen, Lin Sun, Qijin Chen

Materials Science

Autonomous Optimization of Complex Oxides for Thermochemical Fuel Production

Shuiping Gong, Mingcheng Li, Han Hao et al. (+13 more)

Two-step thermochemical fuel production, including H2O and CO2 splitting, offers a promising route to sustainable fuel manufacturing, with performance governed by redox-active oxides that enable cyclic reduction-oxidation reactions. Maximizing thermal-to-fuel conversion efficiency demands materials that simultaneously satisfy multiple stringent thermodynamic and kinetic targets. Addressing these requirements has increasingly driven materials design toward complex, multi-cation oxides, such as mixed-cation fluorites, perovskites, and high-entropy oxides, wherein composition, defect chemistry, phase stability, and morphology should be co-optimized. This creates a challenging materials optimization problem that is poorly suited to traditional trial-and-error approaches. In this review, we argue that thermochemical fuel production provides a compelling frontier for autonomous materials design and optimization. We first examine why redox-active complex oxides are difficult to develop, owing to multidimensional phase spaces, harsh operating conditions, and competing functional targets. We then discuss how high-throughput computation, automated synthesis, characterization and testing, and machine learning can be integrated into closed-loop workflows to address these challenges. Building on broader oxide materials research, we organize recent progress into a capability roadmap for complex-oxide optimization, spanning compositionally diverse synthesis, operando characterization, robotic testing, operation-condition computation, and multi-objective optimization. Finally, we outline key experimental, computational, and data challenges for building self-improving materials development platforms for materials development in thermochemical fuel production.
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All authors Shuiping Gong, Mingcheng Li, Han Hao, Zhenhao Zhou, Yi Li, Xiaobo Liao, Cheng Fang, Jian Deng, Jiangang He, Wenpei Gao, Yakun Yuan, Chris Wolverton, Tao Deng, Chaochao Dun, Runxia Cai, Zhenpeng Yao

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Spin Qubits in Photon-Coupled Microwave Cavities

Samuel Johnson and Nancy Sandler

Electron spin qubits in microwave cavities provide a promising platform for scalable quantum computing hardware, leveraging long coherence times, charge-noise robustness and cavity mediated qubit-qubit interactions. While the strong spin-photon coupling regime is accessible via on-chip micromagnets, scaling conventional architectures by placing multiple qubits within a single shared resonator degrades transmission amplitudes, hence limiting large-scale efficiency. To overcome this limitation, we analyze a modular architecture where individual cavities containing a limited number of qubits are coupled via single-photon-exchange waveguides. Using input/output theory, we compute the transmission amplitudes for networks of two and three coupled cavities in various configurations. We map out the distinct physical regimes accessible by tuning key system parameters, offering a viable pathway for scalable cavity-based quantum spin qubit networks.
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Quantum Gases

Acoustic fluctuations of two-dimensional dipolar supersolids

P. Blair Blakie

We investigate the microscopic structure of the long-wavelength acoustic excitations of two-dimensional dipolar supersolids with triangular and honeycomb crystal order. Using Bogoliubov–de Gennes calculations, we determine the density, phase, current, and lattice-displacement fluctuations associated with the three acoustic modes. We develop a procedure to extract the lattice displacement directly from the microscopic density perturbation, allowing the modes to be identified as one transverse and two longitudinal branches. The displacement field further separates the density fluctuations into contributions from crystal strain and particle transport relative to the lattice. This reveals that the lower longitudinal mode can have large strain and defect-density fluctuations that substantially cancel in the total density response. We show that the long-wavelength fluctuation amplitudes agree with hydrodynamic theory, which is specified entirely by the elastic coefficients of the supersolid. Our analysis provides a microscopic connection between Bogoliubov excitations and the crystalline and superfluid degrees of freedom of two-dimensional supersolids, and identifies their signatures in density- and current-sensitive probes.
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Soft Condensed Matter

Particle Contacts Generate Fractional Density Relaxation

Hu Cang

Dense-liquid relaxation evolves from local particle collisions to cooperative structural rearrangements. While hard-sphere kinetics determines an early $t^{3/2}$ fractional decay in density correlation functions, collective theories describe the subsequent structural relaxation. A central open question has been how short-time contact physics supplies an exact starting point for the memory kernel governing later times without being modified by subsequent many-body rearrangements. Here we resolve this problem for a broad class of reversible Brownian systems. We prove that hard particle contacts act as reflecting boundaries in configuration space, uniquely dictating the amplitude of the leading $t^{3/2}$ density relaxation. Mechanistically, diffusion samples a contact boundary layer of thickness $O(\sqrt{t})$, which combines with the local density response to produce the fractional signal. We derive an explicit surface formula expressing this amplitude in terms of equilibrium contact probability, normal mobility, and density sensitivity. For monodisperse hard spheres, this yields an exact, fit-free prediction determined entirely by static structure $S(k)$, radial contact value $g(\sigma^+)$, and short-time diffusion $D_0$. Extending the construction, we determine the corresponding normalization for soft interfaces and prove via a Gram–Schur projection hierarchy that regular collective variables leave the leading contact amplitude strictly invariant. The resulting formulation connects microscopic collision kinetics directly to caging and glass-like structural relaxation, providing an exact microscopic boundary condition for scattering experiments, molecular simulations, and memory-kernel reconstructions.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Ultralow p-type contact resistance for ultra-nanoscaled 2D-materials transistors

Ying Xiong, Tong Su, Qiang Li et al. (+3 more)

High contact resistance is one of the main bottlenecks for practical two-dimensional (2D) materials transistors, especially for p-type transistors and future 2D ultra-nanoscaled (sub-10 nm) FETs (PMOS + CMOS). We develop self-consistent contact resistance models for metal-2D semiconductor-metal devices to capture the essential interface physics for both vertical and edge configurations. Our calculations have been verified with various recent experiments of p-type and n-type contacts. For a given set of materials, the model determines the scaling of contact resistance over a wide range of device parameters including channel length (100s nm down to sub-10 nm), doping and mobility of the 2D materials, contact length of the electrodes, and applied voltages. These results identify the key factors in order to reduce the contact resistance for p-type 2D semiconductor WSe$_2$ towards the sub-10 nm channel length scale that are readily to be realized by future experiments. It is found that the effect of source-limited current saturation is the key challenge for down scaling 2D FET to sub-10 nm channel length. Two topological semi-metals as potential electrodes are proposed for 2D p-type semiconducting WSe$_2$ with our predicted contact resistance $R_c<$ 100 $\Omega \; {\rm \mu m}$ approaching the quantum limit. Our model is also verified with the computational expensive full quantum atomistic model that is currently limited to a few nm scale.
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All authors Ying Xiong, Tong Su, Qiang Li, Yee Sin Ang, Lain-Jong Li, L. K. Ang

Materials Science

Symmetry Classification of Non-Relativistic Hidden Spin Polarization in Noncollinear Magnets

Yuzhong Hu, Pan Zhou, Baoru Pan et al. (+2 more)

Hidden spin polarization (HSP), in which spin-polarized states exist locally while the total spin polarization are hidden in momentum space, has been extensively studied in nonmagnetic and collinear magnetic systems, but remains largely unexplored in noncollinear magnets. Here we establish a unified symmetry framework for HSP in noncollinear magnetic materials based on spin-group theory. We show that spin symmetries systematically constrain nonrelativistic spin polarization, giving rise to four distinct split spin-texture (SST) types for each local sector, denoted as SST-1, SST-2, SST-3, and SST-4. Based on these splitting forms, together with the dimensionality of the associated local spin textures and the symmetry relations between different local sectors, we further classify HSP into three categories: HSP-1, HSP-2, and HSP-3. We illustrate these categories using tight-binding models and representative material examples, including SrFe$_2$Se$_2$O, USb, Sr$_2$Mn$_3$Sb$_2$O$_2$, PrFeAsO, and GdMn$_2$Si$_2$. A survey of the MAGNDATA database further identifies 133, 7, and 139 candidate noncollinear magnetic materials hosting HSP-1, HSP-2, and HSP-3, respectively. In addition, our symmetry analysis and first-principles calculation show that many of these materials can exhibit nonzero spin-related response tensors. These results establish a general framework for understanding HSP in noncollinear magnets and highlight their potential for spin-dependent functionalities.
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All authors Yuzhong Hu, Pan Zhou, Baoru Pan, PengBo Lyu, Lizhong Sun

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Floquet spintronics: tuning the current-induced spin polarization of topological surface states with light

Youngjae Kim, Aayushi Agrawal and Kwon Park

Topological surface states are a promising platform for spintronics due to spin-momentum locking. Spin-momentum locking can induce a net spin polarization in topological surface states via an electric current, a phenomenon known as the Edelstein effect. In this work, using Floquet theory, we show that the current-induced spin polarization of topological surface states can be tuned by illuminating them with light, thereby modifying their spin texture in momentum space. Specifically, the electric spin susceptibility of topological surface states can be controlled and even reversed by varying the electric-field strength of high-frequency, circularly polarized light.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Quantum-State Projectors on Grassmannian: Geometry, Holonomy, and Topology

Shin-Ming Huang

An isolated group of $k$ bands in an $N$-level quantum system defines a rank-$k$ spectral projector and hence a map into the complex Grassmannian $\mathrm{Gr}(k,N)$. For a smooth gapped Hamiltonian, this projector is globally smooth and periodic even when band topology obstructs a globally smooth periodic, or symmetry-compatible, Bloch frame. We take the globally defined differential $\dd P$ as the central object: it is the tangent field of the Grassmannian map, removes unphysical rotations within the selected subspace, and retains the physical interband transition. The interband block of this tangent data simultaneously determines the quantum metric and Berry curvature; the associated horizontal generator produces finite Grassmannian motion, while wedge products of $\dd P$ enter topological forms. We construct a shortest path between two projectors in the ambient Grassmannian and show that the singular values of its horizontal generator block are the principal angles between the endpoint subspaces. This construction provides a piecewise-geodesic interpretation of discrete geometric phases. In a separate development, we derive a basis-independent expression for the determinant of a multiband Wilson loop from traces of powers of an ordered projector product, without decomposing a degenerate band multiplet into individual bands. Finally, the same tangent-vector calculus organizes Chern characters, chiral winding numbers, and the time-reversal $\mathbb Z_2$ index. The resulting framework unifies local quantum geometry, finite subspace distance, holonomy, and topology while avoiding global gauge fixing.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons

Prominent Intrinsic Orbital Hall Effect in the 135 Kagome Metal Family and Orbital Responses in the Loop-Current Phase

Jianxin Huang, Rina Tazai, Youichi Yamakawa et al. (+1 more)

The study of electronic orbital degrees of freedom, including the generation and control of orbital currents and orbital angular momentum, has emerged as a vibrant research field. Here, we study the orbital Hall effect (OHE), one of the key mechanisms for orbital current generation, in transition-metal kagome-lattice metals. We propose a large positive OHE in CsTi$_3$Bi$_5$ and negative OHEs in CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ and CsCr$_3$Sb$_5$ models. Orbital-sector decomposition shows that the $\vert l^z_d \vert=2$ $d$-orbital channel gives a positive contribution, whereas the $\vert l^z \vert=1$ $d$- and $p$-orbital channels can give negative contributions. Control calculations suggest a persistent orbital-sector sign tendency near the actual filling, while strong $p$-$d$ hybridization modulates the quantitative balance and total OHE sign. Thus, the compound and filling dependence of the OHE reflects both the sign tendency of each orbital sector and the hybridization-controlled balance among them. Furthermore, we investigate the loop-current phase of CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ and show that it induces finite local atomic orbital angular momentum. We also show that loop-current-related symmetry lowering allows finite symmetric components of the orbital conductivity tensor. This study provides a basis for exploring orbital currents and local orbital-angular-momentum responses in strongly correlated kagome metals.
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All authors Jianxin Huang, Rina Tazai, Youichi Yamakawa, Hiroshi Kontani

Materials Science

Optical Anisotropy and Phase Matching in Non-Centrosymmetric Perovskite Oxides from DFT+U and DFT+U+V Functionals

Mohamed S.M.M. Ali and Ismaila Dabo

Optical anisotropy underpins the operation and performance of a broad range of photonic and quantum technologies. In this work, we critically examine the accuracy of density functional theory approximations with onsite and intersite Hubbard corrections (the DFT+$U$ and DFT+$U$+$V$ functionals) in predicting the anisotropic optical response of the non-centrosymmetric perovskite oxides, such as BaTiO$_3$, LiNbO$_3$, KNbO$_3$, and PbTiO$_3$. It is found that correcting self-interaction errors using DFT+$U$ alone does not capture the optoelectronic response of these materials, often leading to a suppression of their optical anisotropy. While intersite Hubbard interactions restore this anisotropy, the choice of the (inter)atomic orbital manifold that defines the Hubbard correction remains critical to its accuracy. The predictive performance of the resulting, systematically validated DFT+$U$+$V$ functional is achieved at a fraction of the computational cost of hybrid functionals and many-body perturbation theory calculations. As benchmarks, we investigate Zn- and (Bi,Mn)-substituted BaTiO$_3$ solid solutions; the latter exhibit polarization-dependent bandgap narrowing from mid-gap states, substantially enhancing the dichroic ratio and birefringence with promising implications for polarization-sensitive photodetectors and integrated photonics.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons

Suppression of orbital ordering and emergence of a glassy magnetic state in a high-entropy spinel vanadate

Shun Ito, Sota Nakakuki, Satoshi Demura et al. (+1 more)

High-entropy oxides provide a unique platform for exploring the interplay between configurational disorder and correlated electronic states. We report on structural, thermodynamic, and magnetic properties of the high-entropy spinel vanadate (Li$_{0.2}$Mg$_{0.2}$Mn$_{0.2}$Co$_{0.2}$Zn$_{0.2}$)V$_2$O$_4$, in which orbital-active V ions occupy the pyrochlore sublattice. X-ray diffraction measurements reveal that the cubic spinel structure is preserved at temperatures down to 5 K without any detectable symmetry lowering. Unlike conventional spinel vanadates exhibiting a symmetry-lowering structural transition driven by orbital ordering, the compound that we study exhibits a suppression of long-range orbital ordering in the high-entropy state. Magnetic susceptibility measurements show glassy magnetic freezing at temperatures below $\sim$20 K, while specific-heat measurements reveal no anomaly associated with long-range ordering down to 3 K. Frequency-dependent ac susceptibility reveals pronounced glassy dynamics. Analyses based on the Mydosh parameter, dynamic scaling law, and Vogel–Fulcher law suggest an intermediate dynamical regime between canonical spin-glass and cluster-glass behavior. Furthermore, Cole–Cole analyses reveal systematic deviations from a single Debye relaxation process, indicating the presence of heterogeneous magnetic relaxation dynamics near the freezing regime. Our results demonstrate that, in a frustrated spinel vanadate, high configurational entropy suppresses long-range orbital ordering and stabilizes a heterogeneous glassy magnetic state, highlighting the combined roles of geometrical frustration, orbital degrees of freedom, and configurational disorder in high-entropy magnets.
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All authors Shun Ito, Sota Nakakuki, Satoshi Demura, Tadataka Watanabe

Materials Science

Giant-exchange-driven Vectorial Control of a Minimal Topological Magnet in Eu3In2As4

Haonan Chen, Xunkai Duan, Guangyi Wang et al. (+13 more)

The interplay between magnetism and band topology provides a route to controlling quantum states of matter, yet its realization in materials is often constrained by weak exchange coupling and complex electronic structures. Here, a giant exchange coupling is identified in the newly predicted topological magnet Eu3In2As4, giving rise to magnetization-dependent band shifts of up to 300 meV. Together with its intrinsically soft magnetic response, this strong cou-pling enables systematic tuning of topological phases by both the magnitude and orientation of applied magnetic fields. The magneto-topological phase diagram is mapped out in which an antiferromagnetic topological insulator ground state evolves, under modest fields, into a pro-posed intermediate 2/3-ferrimagnetic phase, and further into fully polarized ferromagnetic states predicted to host either Weyl or nodal-ring semimetals. Notably, the Weyl phase corresponds to a minimal model hosting a single pair of Weyl nodes. Quantum oscillations, anomalous Hall transport and magneto-infrared spectroscopy consistently reveal exchange-driven band recon-struction across these transitions. Rotation of the magnetization theoretically provides an effi-cient means to tune the momentum-space positions and separations of the Weyl nodes. These results establish Eu3In2As4 as a model system for exploring how strong exchange coupling can be used to control topological band structures with minimal complexity.
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All authors Haonan Chen, Xunkai Duan, Guangyi Wang, Yuhan Du, Huayao Li, Jiayu Wang, Wenbin Wu, Zixuan Xu, Yingchao Xia, Jiaming Gu, Pengliang Leng, Lin Miao, Fengfeng Zhu, Xiang Yuan, Tong Zhou, Cheng Zhang

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Electron Temperature and Electron-Electron Scattering Length in GaAs/AlGaAs Using Mesoscopic Multiparallel Aperture Geometries

Arati Thapa, Rishav Khatiwada, Prakash Sharma et al. (+5 more)

Quantifying electron temperatures and electron-electron scattering lengths is essential for understanding electron transport regimes in two-dimensional systems. To that end, this work experimentally investigates low-temperature ballistic transport using semiclassical cyclotron orbits in a multiparallel aperture geometry. The mesoscopic geometry is fabricated on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure of very high electron mobility. The amplitudes of maxima in magnetoresistance due to ballistic transport are observed to decay exponentially with temperature, allowing determination of the electron-electron scattering length from the data. A quantitative relation between electron temperature and an applied dc bias heating current is established by comparing magnetoresistance peak amplitudes measured as a function of temperature and dc bias, reflecting bias-induced Joule heating. In addition, the resistance measured near zero magnetic field decreases with increasing temperature, providing signatures of superballistic conductance.
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All authors Arati Thapa, Rishav Khatiwada, Prakash Sharma, Jean J. Heremans, Adbhut Gupta, Kirk W. Baldwin, Loren N. Pfeiffer, Mansour Shayegan

Materials Science

Universal Magnetoresistance Scaling in Layered Pd-based Multiband Metals Beyond Compensated Semimetal Regime

Kenjiro Okawa and Takao Sasagawa

We systematically investigated the magnetoresistance ratio (MR) of single-crystalline, nonmagnetic layered Pd-based metals, including centrosymmetric PdTe2, PdPb2, and beta-PdBi2 and noncentrosymmetric alpha-PdBi. Our study identifies a distinct class of large MR in multiband, high-carrier-density systems. Unlike well-studied extremely large MR materials, such as Dirac and Weyl semimetals described by simple compensated-carrier models, these compounds possess complex Fermi surfaces, as validated by our first-principles calculations. Nevertheless, they exhibit a remarkably simple MR scaling governed by carrier mobility, manifested in systematic dependencies on magnetic field, temperature, and the residual resistivity ratio (RRR). The validity of Kohler's rule in high-RRR crystals indicates that MR is governed by a single effective scattering time, even in these multiband systems. The field and RRR dependences of MR follow an intermediate power-law behavior between linear and quadratic, attributable to imperfect carrier compensation and a distribution of carrier mobilities. Among the studied compounds, alpha-PdBi exhibits the largest MR, reaching 1500% (2 K, 7 T), owing to its exceptionally high RRR (approximately 660). However, when compared on an equal-RRR basis, its MR is smaller than that of its centrosymmetric counterparts. This trend suggests that additional scattering channels arising from spin-orbit-induced band splitting in noncentrosymmetric systems reduce the effective carrier mobility. Our results establish a new class of large MR in clean multiband metals where complex electronic structures give rise to emergent single-parameter scaling, highlighting the interplay between disorder, mobility, and symmetry.
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Materials Science · Cross-listed from physics.optics

Geometric Control of Visible Emitter Creation in Hexagonal Boron Nitride by Oblique Ion Irradiation

Sagar Chowdhury, Bhaveshkumar Kamaliya, Ramachandra Bangari et al. (+5 more)

Ion irradiation creates optically active defects in wide-bandgap van der Waals materials, yet most approaches tune defect formation by varying the ion species, energy, or fluence while leaving the incidence geometry fixed. The ion-incidence angle is established here as a geometric control parameter for engineering visible emitters in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). The angle and ion fluence of a plasma-focused heavy-ion (Xe+) beam are varied across hBN flakes of different thickness, and the resulting photoluminescence is quantified. In thick flakes, oblique irradiation shifts the fluence for maximum emission by nearly two orders of magnitude relative to normal incidence, whereas thin flakes exhibit an angle-independent optimum. Ion-trajectory simulations attribute this thickness dependence to lateral redistribution of the collision cascade and enhanced oblique sputtering. Atomic force microscopy identifies distinct processing regimes that delineate the useful defect-creation window. Post-irradiation annealing quenches the emission and shifts the spectral weight toward the green-yellow band while preserving the angle-dependent activation trends. Spectrally resolved lifetime measurements show comparable biexponential dynamics for normal and oblique incidence, consistent with emission from related defect families rather than a geometry-specific emitter species. These results establish ion-incidence geometry as a materials-level knob for programming optical defect activation and spatial defect distributions in van der Waals photonic materials.
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All authors Sagar Chowdhury, Bhaveshkumar Kamaliya, Ramachandra Bangari, Caleb Whittier, Joseph Spielbauer, Nabil D. Bassim, Thomas G. Folland, Ravitej Uppu

Soft Condensed Matter

Nonuniqueness of Tangential and Kinematic Restitution in Frictional Oblique Particle Impacts

Dominik Krengel

We systematically investigate the different coefficients of restitution of a dissipative, frictional disc as a function of the impact angle $\theta$, the friction coefficient $\mu$ and initial rotation $\omega_{\mathrm{in}}$. We observe a non-monotonic, non-linear behaviour of $e_{\mathrm{T}}$ and $e_{\mathrm{kin}}$ with a clear minimum at $\mu$-dependent values of $\theta$ and a convergence for all $\mu$ at large $\theta$, bounded by the cases of pure rolling and pure sliding. Changing the dissipative normal interaction affects the $\mu$ convergence at large $\theta$ and leads to a convergence at low $\theta$. The presence of initial angular velocity $\omega_{\mathrm{in}}$ can significantly alter the functional behaviour of $e_{\mathrm{T}}$ at steep impacts and slightly change the magnitude of $e_{\mathrm{kin}}$, with friction playing only a minor role. Overall, our results indicate that any specific value of $e_{\mathrm{T}}$ or $e_{\mathrm{kin}}$ is highly situational and can simultaneously describe entirely different contact configurations.
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Materials Science

Cross-Geometry Transferability Assessment of Universal Machine Learning Interatomic Potentials: From Bulk Materials to Atomic Nanowires

Pedro H. M. Zanineli, Bruno Focassio and Gabriel R. Schleder

Foundation machine-learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs) enable atomistic simulations at substantially lower computational cost than first-principles methods, but their reliability across structural geometries remains insufficiently understood. Here, we construct a density-functional-theory dataset of ZrO2 configurations spanning bulk, slab, particle, neck, and atomically thin wire environments motivated by an experimentally observed ZrO2 desintering process involving neck thinning and atomic wire formation. We first benchmark 26 pretrained MLIPs and observe pronounced geometry-dependent degradation in zero-shot predictions. Without any training, after only reference-energy alignment, the best zero-shot model (ORB-V3) reaches energy and force root-mean-square errors of 6 meV/atom and 197.3 meV/Å, respectively, with the largest force errors in neck and wire configurations. We then compare zero-shot inference, fine-tuning, and training from scratch strategies. Fine-tuning yields lower energy and force errors than training from scratch, while both require comparable wall-clock time. Geometry-specific fine-tuning improves in-domain accuracy but frequently produces negative transfer to other structural classes, whereas mixed-geometry fine-tuning reduces cross-geometry errors. Evaluations of elastic and vibrational properties, surface energies, and neck dynamics further show that rankings based on average energy and force errors do not universally predict property-level behavior. These results demonstrate that geometry-diverse target data and independent physical validations are necessary when adapting foundation MLIPs to low-coordination (ionic) nanostructures.
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Thursday 6 August

Soft Condensed Matter · Cross-listed from physics.geo-ph

Kinematics of erosion-induced landslide mobility

Shiva P. Pudasaini

Erosion-induced landslide mobility is a prominent phenomenon in nature. However, this topic remains poorly understood, even though erosion greatly alters nearly every aspect of landslide mechanics, dynamics, run-out, mobility, deposition structure and the enormous destructive power carried by such catastrophic events. Here, I present a simple, elegant, and exact analytical model describing the kinematics of erosion-induced landslide mobility in terms of a newly constructed mobility controller containing essential forcing mechanisms in erosion. In contrast to the classical perspective, I formally prove that, irrespective of how large the erosion rate is, the erosion rate alone is not sufficient to determine enhanced or reduced mobility; mobility is also greatly regulated by the volume bulking rate, erosion drag or thrust, and flow depth. With this mechanical mobility controller, it is now possible to explain precisely when the mobility of an erodible landslide is enhanced or reduced. I demonstrate that, a mechanically valid, physically founded erosion model must be able to explain both the enhanced and reduced mobility of erosive landslides.
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Statistical Mechanics

Hexagonal Stacking Maximizes Proton Configurational Entropy among Ice-I Polytypes

Zhengyue Chen and Sheng Ran

Ice I admits cubic, hexagonal, and mixed layer stackings, but rigorous comparisons of its proton configurational entropy have focused on the two ideal endmembers. We identify every cyclic uniform-registry ice-I stacking with a word in a nonnegative layer-transfer operator and its transpose. Applying the Schatten-Hölder inequality to every even-length word proves that alternating hexagonal stacking maximizes the ice-rule configuration count at each common finite cross-section. Consequently, hexagonal ice maximizes the thermodynamic configuration constant among all periodic uniform-registry ice-I polytypes. We also construct rigorous lower and upper bounds without finite-size extrapolation. Restricting Nagle's positive even-subgraph expansion to disjoint blocks gives the lower bound; Finner's hypergraph Hölder inequality and rational Collatz-Wielandt certificates for two-replica prism operators give the upper bounds. The resulting configuration constant $w$, whose logarithm is the entropy per molecule in units of Boltzmann's constant, satisfies $1.503360 \le w \le 1.540196$, with the sharper cubic-ice ceiling $w \le 1.527699$. The same bracket controls lower and upper configuration growth rates of fixed aperiodic stackings along the specified prism-tileable exhaustions. These results establish hexagonal stacking as a possibly nonunique maximizer; equality of the cubic and hexagonal entropy constants remains unresolved.
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Quantum Gases

Density instabilities and thermal stabilization of phase separated states in dipolar lattice bosons

Yaghmorassene Hebib, Stefano Peaquin, Chao Zhang et al. (+2 more)

Recent advances in realizing nearly degenerate dipolar gases in optical lattices have enabled the study of quantum systems with long-range anisotropic interactions. Here, we investigate hard-core dipolar bosons on a two-dimensional square lattice described by an extended Bose–Hubbard model. Using path-integral quantum Monte Carlo simulations at fixed azimuthal angle $\varphi=45^\circ$, we investigate density instabilities arising from first-order phase transitions. We start by mapping the ground-state phase diagram at half filling as a function of dipolar interaction strength and polar angle $\theta$. For weak interactions, the system remains superfluid for all $\theta$. Above a critical interaction strength, the superfluid phase becomes unstable and gives way to checkerboard, stripe, or incompressible phases depending on $\theta$. For $\theta\gtrsim 62^\circ$, we find that half filling becomes unstable and only the empty state, $n=0$, and the fully filled state, $n=1$, are stable. Unlike recent experimental reports of a self-bound insulator at half filling, the homogeneous ground state does not support such a phase, but instead exhibits a direct first-order transition between $n=0$ and $n=1$. At finite temperature, thermal fluctuations shift the onset of density instabilities to larger $\theta$ and stabilize intermediate fillings in the regime where half filling is unstable in the ground state. This leads to phase-separated states consisting of empty and fully filled regions that resemble the experimentally observed "self-bound insulator." In a harmonic trap, similar structures also emerge from phase coexistence associated with the underlying first-order transition.
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All authors Yaghmorassene Hebib, Stefano Peaquin, Chao Zhang, Vittorio Penna, Barbara Capogrosso-Sansone

Statistical Mechanics

Revisiting the Coupling of Thermodynamics and Electromagnetics

Stefanie Braun, Henning Struchtrup and Manuel Torrilhon

We revisit the coupling of continuum thermodynamics and electromagnetic theory for polarisable and magnetisable matter in motion. Two routes are followed and then compared. The first route is the axiomatic bulk theory of Dreyer, Guhlke and Müller, in which universal balance laws are closed by an entropy principle. We show that the source of the internal energy balance must be built with the non-convective electric current, that the polarisation current and the Lorentz magnetisation enter through one single identity, which Dreyer et al.\ do not write down, and that this identity fixes both the admissible entropy variables and the signs of the bound-current ansatz. The second route is the statistical-mechanical one of Mazur, in which the macroscopic Maxwell equations are obtained by ensemble averaging over a system of atoms with internal charge carriers. Mazur stops before the conservation laws, so we derive them, and we estimate the size of the mass-correction terms that appear. The comparison shows that after a redefinition of polarisation and magnetisation the two sets of equations agree structurally. The only irreducible difference is a momentum contribution from microscopic field fluctuations, which can not be reproduced in a purely macroscopic theory. We further show that the electromotive intensity $\mathcal{E}$ and the Lorentz magnetisation $\mathcal{M}$ are not modelling choices but appear by themselves, and that the asymmetric look of the entropy function is a consequence of the chosen energy variable and not a defect of the theory.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Tunable g-Factors of Hybridized Orbitals in a Quantum Dot Molecule

Michelle Lienhart, Krzysztof Gawarecki, Pavel Daskalov et al. (+10 more)

The ability to control the $g$-factors of orbital spin states in optically active quantum dot molecules (QDMs) is a prerequisite for the high-fidelity generation of multi-photonic cluster states with higher-dimensional entanglement structure. Protocols that rely on two coupled spins require knowledge of the $g$-factor and its dependence on external control parameters. Mismatches in the $g$-factor between tunnel-coupled dots introduce unwanted dephasing of coupled spin-states, making precise characterization and voltage control essential. Here, we measure the gate voltage dependence of the electron and hole $g$-factors of negatively charged trions $X^{-}$ in a single InGaAs QDM using polarization-resolved magneto-photoluminescence spectroscopy. The electron $g$-factor exhibits a pronounced step-like change at the tunneling resonance, shifting from $g_\mathrm{e} = -0.336\pm 0.008$ to $g_\mathrm{e} = -0.389\pm 0.003$, providing a direct spectroscopic fingerprint of molecular orbital formation and a shift of the wavefunction localization from the lower to the upper dot. In contrast, the hole $g$-factor remains nearly constant at $g_\mathrm{h} \approx 0.094 \pm 0.007$, exhibiting a weak modulation near the anticrossing voltages attributed to Coulomb-mediated deformation of the wavefunction by the tunneling electron. Our results are quantitatively reproduced by an eight-band $\mathbf{k}{\cdot}\mathbf{p}$ model, establishing electric-field control of the trion $g$-factors as a practical tool for independently tuning the Zeeman splitting of individual dots and opening new pathways towards the deterministic generation of two-dimensional photonic cluster states.
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All authors Michelle Lienhart, Krzysztof Gawarecki, Pavel Daskalov, Christopher Thalacker, Nadeem Akhlaq, Irina Ivanova, Johannes Schall, Sven Rodt, Stephan Reitzenstein, Arne Ludwig, Dirk Reuter, Kai Müller, Jonathan J. Finley

Materials Science

Extracting the full conductivity tensor in a rectangular sample

Julia Gelfond and Oskar Vafek

Electrical transport measurements reveal that many 2D materials exhibit anisotropic conductivity. However, current methodologies for rectangular geometries can only extract a partial conductivity tensor or are difficult to execute experimentally. Here, we propose a simple experimental procedure to extract the full conductivity tensor (or the resistivity tensor by inversion) including the principal axes angle. Our procedure is developed by using a conformal mapping approach to obtain an analytical expression for the potential with a point source and drain on the perimeter. Our solution agrees very well with numerical simulations using COMSOL and the known limiting case where the principal axes angle vanishes. Finite source/drains can be modeled using superposition.
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Superconductivity

Determination of the properties of a superconducting single crystal FeSe using an EPR spectroscopy

S.I. Bondarenko, A.A. Prokhorov, N.N. Galtsov et al. (+3 more)

Using an EPR spectrometer, the properties of single-crystal FeSe were studied in a magnetic field up to 6000 Oe at temperatures from 3.5 K to 8 K in the superconducting state and at temperatures above 8K and up to 25K in the normal state. It was shown that by measuring non-resonant spectrometer signals in zero and weak magnetic fields up to 30 Oe, it is possible to determine critical temperature Tc, the superconducting transition width, and the value of the first critical magnetic field Hc1 in FeSe single-crystal. Resonant EPR signals are observed in fields at 1400 Oe and 3400 Oe, which corresponds to the paramagnetism of doubly ionized iron atoms (Fe2+) in the FeSe crystal. Non-resonant EPR signals in a magnetic field up to 6000 Oe at temperatures from 3.5K to 8K are a nonlinear function of the field, and correspond to the superconducting mixed state of the FeSe, but at temperatures above 8K (up to 25K) they are field independent.
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All authors S.I. Bondarenko, A.A. Prokhorov, N.N. Galtsov, V.P. Timofeev, V.P. Koverya, A.V. Krevsun

Statistical Mechanics

Cascading Through the Hierarchy: Regularizer-Induced Feature Detection as Phase Transitions in Deep Linear Neural Networks

Björn Ladewig, Ibrahim Talha Ersoy and Karoline Wiesner

A scientific theory of deep learning, comprising learning dynamics and statistical properties of learned models, is rapidly gaining attention. One of the corner stones of this development are analytically solvable toy models, allowing for the fully tractable analysis of the learning dynamics. Here we analytically investigate such a toy model using the regularization strength as a tunable external parameter - akin to external fields in statistical physics. In previous studies, (i) an onset of learning transition was predicted analytically and (ii) it was phenomenologically/numerically established that tuning the regularization strength can result in a cascade of phase transitions. The number of those transitions was linked to the geometry of the loss landscape determined by the model complexity. Setting up a rigorous framework underpinning the previous numerical observations, our investigation reveals a precise connection between those cascades of phase transitions, learnable features and the underlying geometry. We provide analytic predictions of these phase transitions as well as tractable order parameters related to learned features. At the level of the minimal model, we connect this macroscopic perspective (that can be condensed into an effective description) to the microscopic perspective in terms of the geometry of the loss landscape characterized by the Hessian spectrum. Thus, the presented model provides a platform to explore and sharpen advances made in the scientific theory of deep learning rooted in statistical physics concepts.
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