Papers

Charge-density-waves (CDWs) are macroscopic quantum states defined by periodic modulations in electronic charge density coupled with lattice distortions. Despite significant research efforts, the evolution of electromagnetic transport properties in the presence of CDWs remains largely unexplored. Here, we report the effects of two orthogonal CDWs (CDW1 and CDW2) coexisting at low-temperature in DyTe3 on its electronic transport properties. Importantly, we find that while no clear magnetotransport anomaly is resolved across CDW1 transition under the present experimental conditions, the emergence of CDW2 drives a drastic enhancement in magnetoresistance and a multiband-governed nonlinear Hall response. These results demonstrate that CDW1 and CDW2 in DyTe3 are fundamentally different and impact its electronic transport in qualitatively distinct ways, establishing DyTe3 as a model system for understanding the transport consequences of multiple CDWs in quasi-two-dimensional materials.

We study edge-state transport in a two-dimensional topological insulator with a periodically deformed edge subjected to a uniform magnetic field. Zeeman coupling breaks time-reversal symmetry and enables elastic backscattering, producing oscillations of the forbidden-band widths. In the strong-field regime, the gaps can close completely at discrete field values. In the weak-field regime, we identify an important class of periodic deformations for which the dominant semiclassical scattering is controlled by complex infinity rather than by the nearest turning points. We develop a semiclassical treatment of this process and establish its agreement with perturbation theory and direct numerical calculations. The gap modulation should produce observable oscillations of the edge conductance. Unlike conventional magnetic quantum oscillations, which are periodic in inverse field, the predicted oscillations are periodic in the magnetic field itself, with a period determined by the Fermi velocity and effective g-factor

Recent experiments on multilayer graphene systems have reinvigorated the study of electron crystallization, now with the inclusion of quantum geometry. In this work, we apply time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) to the $\lambda$-jellium model to analyze the impact that quantum geometry has on the electronic liquid–crystal phase diagram and how it modifies the collective modes and responses of the liquid and crystal phases. In agreement with recent results utilizing neural quantum states, we find that quantum geometry favours electron crystallization, shifting the transition to higher densities. We also study the instabilities revealed by TDHF in the Fermi liquid ground state at low densities, providing insight into the fluctuations driving the crystallization transition. We further find that quantum geometry reduces the dispersion of the plasmon mode and suppresses Friedel oscillations deep in the liquid phase. Resolving the density response in terms of individual orbitals, we find that this suppression is caused by spectral weight transfer to an out-of-phase inter-orbital mode. Finally, we show that an analogous mode that emerges in the crystal phase corresponds to the breathing mode of an emergent real-space pseudospin skyrmion lattice.

We construct spin models with bond-dependent anisotropic interactions on the penta-coordinated maple-leaf and trellis lattices, which yield exact $\mathbb{Z}_2$ quantum spin liquids akin to the Kitaev honeycomb model. We characterize the resulting ground states by their flux sectors, Chern numbers, and topological excitations. Using replica exchange quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the gauge fluxes are ordered at sufficiently low temperatures such that every unit triangle has $\pm \pi/2$-flux, where the sign is uniform across the system, and every unit hexagon (square) has $0$-flux ($\pi$-flux) within the parameter space of interest. We map out the topological phase diagram for each model, which reveals parameter regimes hosting $\mathbb{Z}_2$ and Ising topological orders, and we derive an analytical expression for the mass term of the Majorana fermions, the vanishing of which indicates a transition between these phases. We further establish the correspondence between individual vortices (i.e., flux excitations) and two species of anyons in the dimer limit, overcoming the obstacle faced by degenerate perturbation theory in treating odd-length elementary plaquettes. Interestingly, we find that two dimer limits of the maple-leaf model with distinct assignments of anyon species can be smoothly connected to each other in the vortex-free sector, but they are separated by fermion-gap-closing transitions in certain two-vortex sectors.

Floquet driving uses periodic controls to tailor the behavior of quantum systems, with applications in quantum analogue simulation, sensing, and the protection of quantum information. Most approaches are designed using idealized, instantaneous pulses, even though experiments necessarily use pulses with finite duration and shape. This mismatch becomes especially challenging for interacting $d$-level systems, or qudits, because the number of possible controls grows rapidly with the number of levels. We develop a strong-drive Floquet theory that incorporates experimentally realizable pulse waveforms directly into the design of the effective interactions. The pulse duration, amplitude, and shape therefore become useful control parameters rather than sources of error. We show that systems with more than two levels offer capabilities unavailable in qubit systems: finite-duration driving can create new interactions that are absent from the original system and can substantially change its symmetries. We demonstrate these capabilities for interacting three-level systems. A single pulse transforms a diagonal interaction into a quantum spin-1 model dominated by nematic interactions, while pulse protocols motivated by trapped ultracold polar molecules produce models with enlarged $SU(2)\times U(1)$ and $SU(3)$ symmetries. Numerical tests of both short-time evolution and many-body dynamics confirm the accuracy of the resulting description. Our results provide a scalable analytical framework for designing finite-duration controls in interacting qudit platforms.

We derive new nonperturbative inequalities on the cusp anomalous dimensions of conformal line defects. We impose reflection positivity, locality, and conformal invariance on a pair of cusps forming an “eye” geometry, deriving a novel condition on the cusp anomalous dimension which we refer to as conformal concavity. The resulting constraint is much stronger than the known angular concavity, and our derivation applies also to cusps involving distinct line defects. Remarkably, it directly links the smooth and fusion limits, yielding bounds on defect-changing operator dimensions, Casimir energies, and subleading fusion data. We thus uncover a new quantitative bridge between aspects of the local operator data and the fusion rules of line operators in conformal field theories.

The capillary fluctuation method (CFM) is widely used to compute solid–liquid interfacial properties from atomistic simulations, but its accuracy depends on choices in interface construction, wave-vector selection, sampling, and simulation geometry. Here, we develop a diagnostics-driven workflow for reproducible CFM calculations using pure Al as a representative system. Employing both ribbon models and thick two-dimensional references, we show that apparent linearity of the fluctuation spectrum alone does not ensure reliable stiffness or anisotropy estimates. Instead, a reliable CFM analysis requires a fitting window consistent with both temporal sampling and continuum capillary-wave assumptions, systematic sensitivity tests of the interface identification procedure, explicit propagation of replica variability, and independent verification of model-thickness convergence. We further propose a practical thickness-selection rule based on coexistence-temperature consistency, which enables finite-size effects to be controlled while retaining the substantial computational efficiency of ribbon geometries. By making the main sources of uncertainty explicit and diagnosable, the proposed workflow improves the reliability of the CFM as a quantitative tool and provides a foundation for its broader application to complex solid–liquid interfaces.

Anyon superconductivity arises from the condensation of mobile anyons rather than from a conventional Cooper instability, yet a systematic wavefunction description remains lacking. We develop a hierarchy-wavefunction construction for superconducting states derived from parent topological orders and identify their off-diagonal long-range order, condensate charge, chiral central charge, and residual topological order through the plasma analogy and topological field theories. We construct Abelian and non-Abelian examples descending from the semion state, a $\nu=2/3$ hierarchy state, the $\nu=1/3$ Laughlin state, $\nu=1$ integer quantum Hall state, and Pfaffian state. Remarkably, for the semion case, the superconducting many-semion wavefunction is equivalent to a state of fermionized anyons filling two effective Landau levels, recovering Laughlin's original construction of semion superconductor. Finally, we show that hierarchy wavefunctions emerge naturally in the dilute, long-distance limit of the anyon-Hilbert-space formulation, which applies to ideal Chern bands and moiré bands of twisted bilayer MoTe$_2$. Our results establish a unified wavefunction-level framework linking anyon condensation, superconducting order, and topological field theory.

A passive, reciprocal, linear network driven by forces or currents and read at points it drives cannot be trained below an error floor computed from the target beforehand. The usual parameter count for such networks does not charge for Maxwell-Betti reciprocity. We prove that when such an elastic, resistor or flow network has a symmetric response operator and p driven degrees of freedom are also read, its reachable response blocks lie in a subspace of codimension p(p-1)/2, whatever its size and topology, and the floor is the distance to it. On targets with a reachable symmetric part, a second-order optimiser ends within 0.1% of the floor in 142 of 144 simulated runs, and a contrastive rule with a bond-local update direction, within its step budget, in 22 of 24. Reciprocity charges a list of single drive-read tasks only for the pairs it instruments in both directions, and a rank test on the passive network says in advance whether, and on which bonds, odd couplings locally restore the lost directions, at a cost in non-reciprocity that the target bounds from below. Under an imposed-displacement drive, the one most physical-learning hardware uses, reciprocity survives as a weaker law, an exact balance between forward and reverse transmissions once each is weighted by the driving-point compliance at its input, and an inequality on their product, under which no symmetric positive-definite chain meets both targets of a published robotic metamaterial. All nineteen published layouts we tabulated pay nothing; a force-driven layout that asks one pair to respond differently in its two directions will.

The Peierls instability is a foundational mechanism in condensed matter physics, showing how the electron–phonon interaction can transform a simple metal into an insulating state with a new lattice periodicity. In a one-dimensional (1D) metal the Peierls instability follows from the enhanced electronic response at wavevector $Q=2k_F$ (connecting the Fermi points) producing a Kohn anomaly: a softening of the phonon mode at the same wavevector. Condensation of this mode then generates the tell-tale Peierls periodic lattice distortion and charge-density wave (CDW) that gaps the electronic spectrum. Here we show an analogous instability at the edge of a two-dimensional (2D) superconductor, where a dispersing Andreev bound state (ABS) hosts Bogoliubov Fermi points at $\pm k_c$. The enhanced quasiparticle response at the connecting wavevector $Q=2k_c$ couples directly to pairing-fluctuations and produces a superconducting Kohn anomaly: a softening of a pairing mode at the same wavevector. Condensation of this mode then generates an edge pair-density wave (PDW) that gaps the ABS. We refer to this as a superconducting Peierls instability and identify the boundary quasiparticle structure that enables it. As a concrete realization, we consider a square-lattice extended Hubbard model whose mixed-symmetry $s+d+ip$ state hosts a dispersing ABS with zero-energy crossings at finite edge momenta. Using self-consistent Bogoliubov–de Gennes (BdG) calculations we show that the order parameter develops an edge PDW, with the wavevector set by the superconducting Kohn anomaly, that gaps the ABS crossings. Our results identify a novel mechanism for spontaneous translation-symmetry breaking in a superconductor. As this superconducting Peierls mechanism does not require an extensive zero-energy flat band or topologically protected edge states, it may apply broadly to unconventional superconductors.

We derive nonasymptotic upper bounds on the probability that a generalized current of a geometrically ergodic diffusion observed for any amount of time, or its sample mean over any arbitrary sample size, deviates from the stationary mean by more than any given amount. The concentration-of-measure behavior of generalized currents is universally governed by the relaxation time of the underlying dynamics, the locally observed dissipation rate, and the intrinsic local fluctuations of the observable. We uncover stark qualitative and quantitative differences in fluctuations in and out of thermodynamic equilibrium. We further obtain refined inverse thermodynamic uncertainty relations, bounding the variance of generalized currents from above. We construct nonasymptotic confidence intervals for controlling uncertainty in thermodynamic inference from small data, i.e., from short trajectories and small samples, and provide the first quantitative answer to when a trajectory is sufficiently long and a sample is sufficiently large. As an illustration, we apply our results to currents observed on a two-dimensional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process in and out of equilibrium and show how they can be used to rigorously detect broken detailed balance.

Moiré materials host fractional Chern insulators and electron crystals in close proximity, but the mechanism selecting between them remains an open question. We address this competition in Chern bands with ideal but momentum-dependent quantum geometry – Aharonov-Casher bands. We present an ansatz wave function for generalized Wigner crystals and, by comparing its energy to that of the competing Laughlin-like state, map out the phase diagram at filling fraction $\nu=1/m$ as a function of the degree of geometric non-uniformity. Our work identifies quantum geometry-controlled zero point fluctuations of the charge density of the generalized Wigner crystal as the mechanism controlling its relative stability, implying a kind of quantum Lindemann criterion for the crystal-liquid phase boundary.

Competing phases of strongly correlated systems are often described by trial wavefunctions built on phase-specific assumptions. We propose the hyperdeterminant (HyperDet) wavefunction as a phase-agnostic ansatz for both bosonic and fermionic quantum many-body systems exhibiting spontaneous symmetry-breaking, fractionalization, and/or topological order. The HyperDet structure emerges by fusing auxiliary fermionic parton Slater determinants into physical orbitals through a learnable \emph{fusion tensor $\mathcal F$}. Optimized using variational Monte Carlo, a single HyperDet architecture achieves overlaps exceeding $99.9\%$ with exact-diagonalization ground states for nearly all sampled parameters across fractional Chern insulator (FCI) phases and their neighboring competing phases in both bosonic and fermionic models. Beyond its variational expressiveness, the optimized fusion tensor also provides rich interpretability. We show that, (i) the singular-value spectra of the bipartite fusion matrix can be used to track phase transitions; (ii) the reconstructed Bott indices reproduce the parton Chern numbers expected for the FCI states without parton-Hamiltonian input; and (iii) faithful lifts of physical translations to the parton degrees of freedom recover the expected translation fractionalization in the bosonic FCI without projective symmetry class assignment. These results establish HyperDet wavefunction as a promising framework for both variational ground-state searches and phase-diagram explorations across strongly correlated phases, and for providing theoretical insights by connecting the optimized wavefunction with parton microscopics and field-theory descriptions.

Quantum thermalization explains how an isolated many-body system naturally evolves towards a thermal state, rendering information about the initial conditions inaccessible to local measurements. This is precisely the mechanism utilized in quantum error correction, where information is protected by design through a nonlocal encoding. In this work, we leverage this connection to port the rigorous framework of (approximate) quantum error correction to the study of quantum thermalization. Treating typical late-time states as codewords, we characterize the error-correcting properties of generic thermalizing dynamics. We numerically uncover a universal relationship between the encoding rate, distance, and thermal entropy density of the emergent code. At infinite temperature, this universal curve saturates the quantum Singleton bound, achieving the same optimal limit as Haar-random codes. At finite temperature, we introduce a code family based on the Scrooge ensemble, the natural thermal analogue of the Haar ensemble, and prove it saturates the entropic quantum Singleton bound, establishing this family as optimal within entropic constraints. Our extracted universal curve independently saturates this same bound, revealing that finite-temperature thermalization is itself optimal. Finally, we show how conserved quantities limit the error-correcting behavior of thermalization: codewords with differing energies, or other conserved charges, leak only classical information, and correctability persists until the difference reaches the scale of thermal fluctuations. Our results reveal a universal optimal coding structure in thermalizing dynamics, while introducing new optimal codes that achieve fundamental limits of approximate quantum error correction.

Open-system lattice gauge theory (LGT) has so far been developed predominantly in Abelian settings, leaving open how genuinely non-Abelian gauge structure reshapes dissipative real-time dynamics. Here, we study a $1+1$D SU(2) Yang–Mills LGT with dynamical matter coupled to a thermal scalar environment through a gauge-preserving Lindblad evolution, which we solve using tensor networks. Starting from a quark–antiquark pair connected by a chromoelectric flux string, we find that the thermal medium melts the string by delocalizing the color charges and screening the flux; on resonance, this dissipative melting competes with and delays coherent string breaking. The thermalization time is non-monotonic in the environment coupling, decreasing through environment-assisted transport at weak dissipation before increasing in a quantum-Zeno regime. In the strong-dephasing limit, a Schrieffer–Wolff expansion maps the dynamics to a classical exclusion process and yields the Liouvillian thermalization time analytically. Beyond these generic open-system effects, the non-Abelian matter structure produces a systematic mesonic bias in the steady state, while the thermalization time decreases with temperature, in contrast to the Abelian Schwinger model trend and in qualitative agreement with pNRQCD studies of the quark–gluon plasma. These results establish a gauge-preserving framework for thermalization and string dynamics in open non-Abelian lattice gauge theories.

Understanding real-time string dynamics in three spatial dimensions is essential for connecting quantum simulations of lattice gauge theories (LGTs) to the physical dimensionality of QED and QCD, where transverse fluctuations and competing local processes proliferate. We present the first real-time simulations of string breaking in $3+1$D lattice quantum electrodynamics. Using tree tensor networks, we simulate the quench dynamics of electric flux strings in a $3\!+\!1$D U(1) LGT with dynamical matter. At strong coupling, the string breaks resonantly at a sharp resonance condition of mass and gauge couplings, converting electric energy into matter–antimatter pairs that screen the static charges. Off resonance, we classify all competing channels—pair production, string deformations and extensions, and flux loops—whose multiplicity, extensive for pair production and flux loops, depletes the string sector even far from resonance. A channel-resolved perturbation theory quantitatively reproduces these dynamics and their Fourier spectrum. Our results establish diagnostics and benchmarks for upcoming quantum simulators of higher-dimensional LGTs.

The application of silicate glasses in severe service environments requires a precise evaluation of structural strength under mechanical loads and surface tribological conditions. Because glass strength is governed by surface flaws and microcracks rather than being an intrinsic material property, residual surface compression fields, balanced by interior tensile zones, are widely implemented to inhibit flaw opening. Rather than relying on conventional allowable stress criteria to establish product acceptance, this study adopts a fracture mechanics framework based on the stress intensity factor KI and fundamental material limits: the critical stress intensity factor KIC for rapid fracture and the threshold stress intensity factor KIth for time-delayed static fatigue failure. Using the Weight Function Method (WFM), KI is evaluated across generic surface flaw depths for two-dimensional continuous (2D-Continuous) surface cracks subjected to non-uniform internal residual stress fields and external loads. Flaw stability criteria are established for both zero-risk and moderate-risk design methodologies. Finally, the interaction and superposition of externally applied mechanical and thermal stresses with internal residual stress fields are evaluated.

The hydrodynamic regime of electron transport, induced by fast inter-electron collisions, was discovered in high-quality nanostructures in recent ten years. However, signs of hydrodynamic transport, primarily, the giant negative magnetoresistance, were observed even at very low temperatures, when electron-electron scattering is too weak to affect the transport. To address this puzzle, here we develop a theory of mixed, hydrodynamic and non-Markovian, magnetotransport of two-dimensional electrons at zero temperature in samples with weak but still important disorder. Namely, we account for both the memory effects at electron scattering by localized defects in magnetic field and an unconventional viscosity effect due to electron scattering by defects in bulk and by rough sample edges. Solution of the model yields a strong negative magnetoresistance, which exhibits at zero magnetic field a sharp maximum in narrower samples or a blunt maximum in wider samples. This and other our results explain various properties of the giant negative magnetoresistance observed on ultra-high-quality GaAs quantum wells, thereby we apparently reveal the nature of low-temperature magnetotransport in these systems.

The generation and manipulation of orbital angular momentum (OAM) by an external electric field constitute one of the central themes of orbitronics. In particular, the electrically induced nonequilibrium OAM polarization, known as the orbital Edelstein effect (OEE), has attracted considerable attention in recent years. While the intrinsic band-geometric mechanism and the role of conventional symmetric impurity scattering in the OEE are well understood, the contribution from disorder-induced asymmetric scattering remains unclear. Here, we develop a semiclassical theory that separates the OEE into intrinsic, Drude, side-jump, and third- and fourth-order skew-scattering channels. Unlike the Drude channel, the intrinsic, side-jump, and skew-scattering responses survive only in systems with broken time-reversal symmetry. We find that in a magnetized Rashba two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), these disorder-induced mechanisms can substantially exceed the intrinsic contribution. Remarkably, we find that for a system with Rashba coupling of $1$ $eV \AA$, the orbital magnetization is about one order of magnitude larger than the spin magnetization for the chosen parameters, highlighting the crucial role of orbital degrees of freedom in the Edelstein effect.

We investigate the structures of effective Hamiltonians governing monitored dynamics of a one-dimensional Majorana chain through the Lyapunov spectral analysis. We focus on a gapless phase characterized by finite-size scalings different from those in conventional critical and/or frustration-free systems; the spectral gap closing faster than $1/L$ but slower than $1/L^2$ and the entanglement entropy growing as $[\ln(L)]^2$ with $L$ being the system size. We find that the corresponding effective Hamiltonians have random long-range power-law hoppings with nontrivial magnitude correlations, rather than being independently and identically distributed. To elucidate the role of these non-Gaussian correlations, we construct random power-law hopping models that capture the essential features of the effective Hamiltonians. The spectral gaps of the constructed models decay faster than $1/L$ but slower than $1/L^2$. We find that, in the absence of hopping correlations, the ground-state entanglement exhibits $\ln(L)$ scaling. In the presence of correlations, by contrast, the entanglement entropy is enhanced and its system-size dependence is consistent with $[\ln(L)]^2$ scaling over the system sizes studied. These results suggest that correlations among long-range hopping magnitudes are responsible for the entanglement scaling that seldom appears in ground states of conventional isolated quantum systems.

High-throughput synthesis and characterization of novel ceramic materials with improved thermomechanical properties and phase stability are needed to accelerate the discovery of next-generation thermal barrier materials. A combinatorial thin film material library of (GdDyHoEr)2Zr2O7 were created via combinatorial magnetron reactive sputtering with rare-earth/zirconium alloy targets. Structural, chemical, and thermal property characterization mapping across the four component composition space was performed and correlated with thermal transport measurements. Steady state thermoreflectance mapping identifies a pronounced minimum in thermal conductivity within the Dy/Gd-rich quadrant. This minimum does not coincide with either the equiatomic composition or the region predicted to exhibit maximum cation size disorder. Instead, it corresponds to the largest experimentally observed lattice parameter, despite deviating from Vegard-like chemical averaging, and is independent of grain size and whole-pattern microstrain. These observations suggest that the way the fluorite lattice accommodates compositional complexity, rather than cation size disorder alone, provides a more informative descriptor of thermal transport. Overall, this work establishes a high-throughput workflow for combinatorial thin-film synthesis and multimodal characterization, enabling the rapid identification of previously inaccessible structure-property relationships in compositionally complex ceramics.

Connecting the autonomous kinematics of active matter to its emergent macroscopic transport is constrained by the requirement for high-resolution Eulerian velocity fields. Here, we use confined bacterial suspensions as a model active fluid, mapping the sparse Lagrangian trajectories of fluorescent spy cells into (2+1)-dimensional geometric braids that directly encode the spatiotemporal entanglement of the flow. We use the finite-time braiding exponent (FTBE) as a proxy to quantify the topological entropy and chaotic mixing of confined bacterial suspensions. In moderately confined wet systems, we find that hydrodynamic coupling drives a structural transition from a dilute active gas to coherent vortices, and ultimately to active turbulence, revealing three distinct density-dependent regimes of topological mixing. Conversely, truncating the hydrodynamic screening length via extreme confinement drives the system toward a dry active matter limit. In this limit, dense in-plane steric collisions suppress irreducible entanglement and substantially reduce the FTBE at high particle densities. By evaluating the topological complexity generated per encounter, we reveal a transition from a discrete geometric encounter regime to an areal escape mechanism. Finally, we establish a square-root scaling between the FTBE and the effective diffusivity, placing the self-sustained mixing of active fluids into the pathline braiding universality class.

We consider a grand-canonical reduced BCS Hamiltonian on the full fermionic Fock space with an attractive pairing interaction supported in an energy shell around the Fermi surface. For fixed chemical potential, we prove that the exact finite-volume ground-state energy differs from the minimum of the corresponding finite-volume BCS functional by a volume-independent error. As a consequence, the BCS variational principle is exact for the ground-state energy density in the thermodynamic limit.

An illuminating probe of the dynamics of a line defect is the global geometry of its worldline. For a conformal line defect in a conformal field theory, sharp corners in the worldline, i.e. cusps, host dynamical degrees of freedom characterized in part by a spectrum of scaling dimensions, called cusp anomalous dimensions. We present various general bounds on cusp anomalous dimensions following from unitarity and cutting-and-gluing consistency of different defect geometries. We first establish, for cusps involving conjugate defects, that level crossings upon varying the cusp angle are forbidden between the lightest singlet cusp and any non-singlet cusp, proving that singlet cusps are the lightest. Then, we study line defects arranged in a rectangular geometry, which are subject to bootstrap constraints reminiscent of the spinless modular bootstrap. We find an analytic “magic" functional that produces an optimal and universal lower bound on the dimension of a right angle bare cusp in terms of the universal defect Casimir energy between the corresponding defect and its conjugate in flat space.

A discrete time crystal is an out-of-equilibrium phase of matter characterized by the spontaneous breaking of discrete time-translation symmetry. Using extensive numerical simulations based on matrix-product-state methods, we provide evidence for discrete time-crystalline behavior in strongly disordered spin chains with Heisenberg interactions, including the isotropic point, subject to periodic driving. Starting from a many-body localized regime, we observe that rotations induced by delta kicks produce a pronounced subharmonic response at half the drive frequency in spin observables. We investigate the stability of this response against rotation-angle errors through entanglement entropy, quantum Fisher information, short-range spin correlations, and restricted-control ergotropy. Increasing the rotation error reveals an intermediate dynamical regime separating the time-crystalline and Floquet-localized responses. In this regime, most observables exhibit signatures of weakly correlated dynamics reminiscent of Anderson localization.

We analyze general properties of cusped defect lines embedded in generic conformal field theories (CFTs). We prove that suitably defined cusp scaling operators transform like primary operators under general conformal transformations. We show that, via the cusp operator expansion (COE), defects of general shape can be expanded in a basis of cusped defects. These findings are checked and exemplified in the case of the localized magnetic field defect. Finally, we derive analytic constraints on dynamical cusp data by making use of a crossing equation, and discuss possible numerical bootstrap applications of our results.

The assembly of multicomponent nanoparticles is often kinetically controlled and exhibits strong pathway dependence. Transport, solvent exchange, nucleation/growth, and collision-driven coalescence together determine not only ensemble-averaged properties but also particle-to-particle compositional heterogeneity. Here, we present a computational modeling framework for predicting nanoparticle property distributions by coupling processing conditions, early-stage self-assembly physics, and molecular chemical details with kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations. The framework combines (i) mixing conditions with solvent-exchange-mediated particle initialization and growth, and (ii) kMC simulations that resolve stochastic collision histories, electrostatics-controlled coalescence, and composition at the level of individual particles. Applied to mRNA lipid nanoparticles, the model predicts size-loading correlations and provides insight into how processing-dependent assembly pathways lead to heterogeneous payload distributions. The kMC simulations further provide merging lineage histories, which explain the emergence of log-normal volume and payload distributions through multiplicative particle-growth pathways. The same framework is also applied to PEI-DNA polyelectrolytic complexation, yielding single-particle-resolved DNA-PEI stoichiometry distributions. The framework and its open-source implementation, FormLNP, provide a process-aware route to predicting and controlling single-particle property distributions across a broad range of multicomponent nanoparticle systems.

Rapid advances in agentic artificial intelligence enable scientific systems to interpret open-ended objectives, combine heterogeneous information, invoke specialized tools, and revise experimental strategies as evidence accumulates. However, physical experimentation also contains many tasks for which agentic reasoning provides little advantage and can reduce reliability. Quantitative analysis, optimization, spatial targeting, validation, and instrument execution are often better posed as deterministic or algorithmic operations with explicit objectives and verifiable outputs. Here, we introduce a hierarchical architecture for autonomous experimentation that separates these roles. Agentic components interpret scientific intent, construct task-dependent experimental representations, evaluate accumulated evidence, and select high-level actions, whereas deterministic algorithms perform numerical analysis, coordinate selection, validation, and physical execution. We implement this architecture in piezoresponse force microscopy. Starting from a broad scientific question concerning the relation between local domain structure and polarization switching, the system constructs spatial descriptors from multichannel imaging, selects and analyzes local hysteresis measurements, adapts the spectroscopy waveform, and terminates the experiment when additional measurements cease to provide new evidence. The autonomous trajectory also identifies a confounding relationship between polarization state and domain-wall proximity and recognizes that the requested contrast is not independently represented within the available field of view. These results demonstrate a route toward scientific autonomy in which agents determine what evidence is required while algorithms determine how that evidence is acquired reproducibly and within validated physical constraints.

The number of metastable states of a random corrugated landscape controls what dynamics, inference and learning can reach. In the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model these states are marginal, and counting them requires breaking the BRST symmetry. So far only the annealed complexity was known, predicting states below equilibrium. We compute the quenched complexity function with a two-group Ansatz and one-step replica symmetry breaking. It branches continuously off the annealed curve at its instability point and vanishes near the Parisi free energy, while the soft mode turns toward orthogonality to the magnetization.

The self-assembly of colloidal particles enables the creation of structured materials with programmable functionalities; however, controlling interaction specificity and aggregate morphology in a reversible and scalable manner remains a major challenge. Here, we investigate the selective depletion-induced self-assembly of 3D-printed flat polygonal colloids, where nanoscale surface topography is engineered through precise modeling in two-photon polymerization. By designing anisotropic lateral surfaces, we direct specific interactions that govern aggregate morphology, yielding dimers, chains, zigzag, and honeycomb structures depending on the surface configuration. The specificity of interaction is tuned by varying the length scale of the topographic surfaces, the depletant concentration and the ionic strength of the solution, revealing a transition from selective to non-selective aggregation regimes. The relative placement of lateral interacting surfaces on the colloids enables assembly into aggregates spanning a broad range of sizes, while tuning the interaction strength selectively stabilizes distinct structural motifs. We demonstrate this interplay between geometric arrangement and interaction energy experimentally and corroborate through both theory and simulations for specifically hexagonal shaped colloids. This study establishes a versatile framework for programming colloidal interactions via micro-architectural design, offering new routes for fabricating reconfigurable and functional soft materials.