Papers

The intricate relationship between high temperature superconductivity and antiferromagnetic order in cuprates, and the fundamental origin of electron pairing remain open questions. By utilizing high-resolution laser-based spatially-resolved angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we investigate the seven-layer $Bi_{2}Sr_{2}Ca_{6}Cu_{7}O_{18+\delta}$ (Bi2267) and identify a cuprate system that consists of multiple hole Fermi pockets. The observed Fermi pockets exhibit pronounced momentum-, temperature- and Fermi surface-dependent energy gaps. Crucially, high temperature superconductivity with a critical temperature ($T_{\mathrm{c}}$) of $\sim$75 K emerges in a system with multiple Fermi pockets and the presence of strong antiferromagnetic order and correlations. In particular, substantial electron pairing is observed along the Fermi pocket with an energy gap up to $\sim$42 meV in lightly-doped CuO$_{2}$ planes ($p\sim$0.05). These findings challenge the conventional understanding of the roles of the nodal and antinodal electronic states in driving high-temperature superconductivity. They show that superconductivity and antiferromagnetism can coexist in a cuprate with multiple Fermi pockets, offering further insights into the pairing mechanism in cuprate superconductors.

The interaction of light and matter under strong isotope disorder gives rise to unconventional physics that goes beyond the quantum perturbation theory. In boron arsenide, the large mass difference between the two stable boron isotopes presents a paradigmatic case where perturbation theory fails, yet a unified theoretical framework across the perturbative and nonperturbative regime has remained elusive. Here, we develop a nonperturbative approach to capture isotope-disorder effect in boron arsenide, which fundamentally alters light-matter interactions. We reveal that coherently mixed vibrations between two boron isotopes reshape the dielectric function in the nonperturbative regime. The nonperturbative isotope interactions dictate the properties of coupled surface phonon polaritons and near-field radiative heat transfer. Two-fold tuning of radiative heat flux is achieved by modulating the surface phonon polariton resonance via isotope engineering. This work establishes a unified framework connecting the perturbative and nonperturbative limits, enabling quantitative predictions across weak to strong disorder regime.

Altermagnetism has recently emerged as a highly promising phase for spintronics, offering the combined advantages of both antiferromagnets and ferromagnets. Here, using a first-principles analysis based on density functional theory (DFT), we identify a monolayer V$_2$O crystal in a buckled Lieb lattice as a promising two-dimensional altermagnetic material. The structural and thermal stability of V$_2$O is verified through calculations of the crystal's formation energy, phonon structure, room-temperature ab initio molecular dynamics, and stiffness matrix. The system is found to exhibit auxetic behavior with a negative Poisson's ratio. Our calculations indicate an antiferromagnetic ground state with a local magnetic moment of $2.79\,\mu_{\mathrm{B}}$ per V atom and a magnetocrystalline anisotropy that favors an out-of-plane easy axis. The electronic structure exhibits a momentum-dependent spin splitting of 1.2 eV, which is a characteristic of altermagnets. Inclusion of spin-orbit coupling breaks the symmetry of the quadratic band crossing near the Fermi level, resulting in a large Berry curvature and significant intrinsic spin Hall conductivity around $40\,(\hbar/e)\,\mathrm{S\,cm^{-1}}$. The results demonstrate that monolayer V$_2$O serves as a robust room-temperature altermagnetic platform, exhibiting magnetic anisotropy and spin-dependent transport responses.

We study Hawking radiation of the Dymnikova regular black hole. This model replaces the central singularity by a smooth de Sitter core while remaining Schwarzschild-like far from the hole, and its black-hole branch ends in a cold extremal remnant. We compute the greybody factors of the Standard Model test fields and gravitons, compare the precise numerical scattering results with WKB estimates, and use the resulting spectra to estimate an adiabatic evaporation history. The main effect is not a dramatic change in the transmission probabilities: the greybody thresholds move only slightly as the geometry approaches the remnant. Instead, the rapid decrease of the Hawking temperature strongly suppresses the total luminosity. The photon, light-fermion and graviton channels all fade near the endpoint, with the gravitational contribution remaining subdominant. The residual massless flux becomes increasingly fermion dominated because the photon channel is suppressed more efficiently. The black hole approaches the cold remnant only asymptotically, so the quoted lifetime estimates should be interpreted as cutoff times to near-extremal configurations rather than as complete evaporation times.

We investigate the thermal impact of dark matter (DM) capture and annihilation on neutron stars (NSs) in the Galactic Center (GC). Accounting for both kinetic energy deposition and internal annihilation, we systematically evaluate the influence of various DM density profiles, ranging from cored to cuspy distributions, on the late-time thermal evolution of NSs. For NSs older than $\sim 10^7~\mathrm{yr}$, the surface temperature approaches an equilibrium value $T_\mathrm{s}^{\mathrm{eq}} \sim 10^4$–$10^6~\mathrm{K}$, depending on the stellar location and the ambient DM density. In the presence of a density spike, enhanced heating shifts the emission toward ultraviolet (UV) and soft x-ray bands; however, strong interstellar extinction and large hydrogen column densities significantly suppress the observable flux density. We further provide an estimate of the cumulative infrared surface brightness from the NS population in the GC. The predicted flux density from an individual NS remains below $\sim 0.1\,\mathrm{nJy}$, while the integrated emission yields an average surface brightness $I_\nu \lesssim 10^{-9}\,\mathrm{Jy\,arcsec^{-2}}$, corresponding to a signal-to-noise ratio well below current detection thresholds. Our results indicate that thermal signatures from DM-heated NSs in the GC remain below the sensitivity limits of current instruments, although nearby systems with lower extinction may provide more promising targets for detection.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has been identified as a tipping element in the Earth system. Under the current climate change scenarios, it is urgent to develop robust methods for determining the probability of future AMOC transitions. Recent studies using an Earth System Model of Intermediate Complexity (EMIC) have revealed the importance of an AMOC edge state, located on the boundary of the attraction basin of the collapsed state, in AMOC transitions. Here, we provide a characterization of this edge state through climate networks, using instantaneous temporal correlations between geographical locations to define the network links. We apply the climate network analysis to a set of EMIC simulations with CO$_2$ forcing according to an intermediate climate change scenario (SSP2-4.5) that exhibit qualitatively different AMOC responses as a result of interaction with the edge state. We show that network measures, specifically the normalized degree centrality, reveal the presence of teleconnections across the equator as the AMOC approaches the edge state. A similar result is obtained for an Earth System Model (ESM) simulating AMOC collapse or recovery, suggesting that climate networks could be used to detect the onset of an AMOC tipping event in ESMs.

Storage-ring-based fully coherent light sources, including steady-state microbunching (SSMB), as well as compact seeded FELs driven by laser plasma accelerators, typically have relatively large intrinsic energy spreads. Extending the spectral reach of these facilities toward the X-ray regime represents a major challenge, as existing seeded schemes require rather extreme parameters to generate appreciable microbunching at high harmonics. In this Letter, we propose an echo enhanced strong focusing scheme that employs transverse-longitudinal coupling together with the beam echo effect to simultaneously resolve the energy spread bottleneck and enable efficient high-harmonic generation. This approach substantially relaxes the requirements on both the intrinsic energy spread and the transverse emittance, paving the way for soft X-ray production using relatively weak laser modulation. Based on this scheme, we further present an SSMB storage ring capable of generating kW-level average power 6.7 nm soft X-ray radiation.

The ambiguity of the active site, the empirical status of Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi relations, and the unpredictability of linear scaling relation breakdown are three symptoms of a single representational choice: treating chemical affinity as an attribute of discrete geometric sites. Here we show that all three are resolved when chemical affinity is represented as a continuous property of the interface: the covalent field. We present a framework, Covalent Field Theory (CFT), in which active sites emerge as regions where the field sustains a bias toward bond formation beyond the thermal threshold, removing the need for geometric classification. Linear scaling relations are correlation structure in the field across probe families; their breakdown is a topological bifurcation with a precise geometric signature. Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi correlations arise from the covalent field decomposition, providing a theoretical basis for what has previously been treated as an empirical regularity, demonstrated across ~120,000 candidate pathways. Applied to a high-entropy alloy nanoparticle and a partially reduced high-entropy oxide, CFT maps these properties onto surfaces of arbitrary compositional and structural complexity.

Whereas coil positioning in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to reach a specific cortical target with modern focal stimulation coils has been intensively studied, the alignment and contact of a coil with the head is often ignored. Focal figure-of-eight coils have a point on the surface, where they generate the largest induced electric field. This point should touch the head first, and the coil should be approximately tangential to the head in this point. Previous research has demonstrated the large impact if the coil does not touch the head with the right point and that many operators struggle with establishing or maintaining the correct coil-scalp alignment. This paper presents a technological support technology that can monitor the exact position of the contact point and also pressure to provide feedback to users. As the system uses exclusively components from consumer electronics, the sensor is low-cost and affordable. Through proper design, we achieved sufficient robustness so that the sensor does neither reset during TMS pulses and also not show any detectable degradation.

The recent black hole shadow observations by the Event Horizon Telescope provide a unique opportunity to probe both the strong gravity regime and the environment surrounding supermassive black holes. Since dark matter halos are expected to exist around galactic-center black holes, they may leave observable signatures on black hole shadows. In this work, we investigate the spacetime structure, photon dynamics, and shadow properties of a rotating black hole immersed in a generalized double power law dark matter halo. Starting from a static dark matter black hole solution, we employ the Newman–Janis algorithm to construct its rotating counterpart and obtain a Kerr-like metric with a dark matter-modified mass function. We analyze the horizon structure, ergosphere, and unstable spherical photon orbits, and find that the dark matter halo generally enlarges the horizon, shifts the photon shell outward, and modifies the black hole shadow. The effects become more pronounced for rapidly rotating black holes. Using the shadow observation of Sgr A*, we further constrain the dark matter halo parameter space and identify correlations among the halo parameters, black hole spin, and observer inclination angle. Our results suggest that black hole shadow observations provide a promising probe of dark matter distributions near supermassive black holes.

Cloning refers to producing identical copies of existing objects. Here, we experimentally show how to clone acoustic scattering objects. We acquire a digital twin and bring it back to life - a simple two-step process. First, we use broadband speakers to illuminate the scattering object within a closed receiver aperture. From these recorded reverberative data, we retrieve the object's scattering Green's functions using multidimensional deconvolution. In the second step, the acoustic scatterer is holographically reconstructed using the acquired scattering Green's functions. The hologram scatters any wavefield in real-time exactly like the original object would. Low-latency feedback reproduces all orders of interactions between the physical wavefield and the numerically defined hologram. This two-step process is demonstrated by cloning and modifying several rigid scatterers in a two-dimensional acoustic waveguide. Applications range from fully realistic digital scattering models to efficient metamaterial experimentation.

In this work we show that coulomb models, ones that obey a $\nabla\cdot\left\langle \mathbf{B}\right\rangle =0$ divergence free constraint - for $\left\langle \mathbf{B}\right\rangle $ being some coarse grained variables related to the microscopic degrees of freedom of the lattice system - are sick without the inclusion of defects with $\nabla\cdot\mathbf{B}\neq0$. We show that for generic boundaries (ones where the fluxes of the pseudo-magnetic fields on the boundary do not cancel: $\left(\left\langle \mathbf{B}_{R}\right\rangle -\left\langle \mathbf{B}_{L}\right\rangle \right)\cdot\mathbf{n}\neq0$ - here $\mathbf{n}$ is the unit normal and $\left\langle \mathbf{B}_{R/L}\right\rangle $ are the two ground state pseudo-magnetic fields on either side of the domain wall) without the inclusion of defects, sharp domain walls (on the order of the width of a unit cell) between different phases of the system cost energy proportional to system size (not boundary area). We present several different examples of this phenomena in the square lattice six vertex model, in quantum dimers and in classical spin ice in the presence of magnetic fields. We also show by example that the condition $\left(\left\langle \mathbf{B}_{R}\right\rangle -\left\langle \mathbf{B}_{L}\right\rangle \right)\cdot\mathbf{n}=0$ is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the boundaries to be compatible - that is domain wall energy to scale with domain wall area and not system size. To further present the importance of boundary conditions in Coulomb systems we show that system boundaries, even ones that satisfy $\int_{\partial V}\mathbf{B}\cdot\mathbf{n}=0$, have thermodynamic consequences - that is there is a cost, extensive in system size, to the Helmholtz free energy.

The quark mass dependence of the pseudoscalar meson decay consntants, $f_\pi, f_K$ and $f_\eta$, are determined from three-flavor N$^2$LO ChPT till pion masses around $780$ MeV, near the SU(3) limit. This is done by conducting an analysis of recent LQCD data using the LASSO method, a machine-learning technique which allows to pin down the relevant low-energy-constants with high precision. Since the pion decay constant is a fundamental quantity which usually appears in relevant phenomenological lagrangians or Effective Field Theories based on QCD at low energies, this analysis can be used as input to evaluate the quark mass dependence of hadronic states. As an example, we predict the masses of the octect baryons in the SU(3) limit within covariant Baryon Chiral Perturbation Theory.

Ultrafast laser control of material properties hinges on understanding light-matter interactions. We use two experimentally accessible response functions, laser fluence induced phonon softening and the amplitude of coherent reflectance oscillations, to compare how strongly different materials respond to ultrafast photoexcitation. Comparing a diverse set of materials, we find that only a narrow class, including Sb, GeTe, and Bi2Te3, shows exceptional responses such as pronounced phonon softening and a giant increase of reflectance oscillations with increasing fluence. These response functions peak in an intermediate conductivity regime of about 102 - 104 S/cm, at the crossover between localized and delocalized electronic states. The corresponding class of solids also shows other unconventional properties including high dielectric constants, enhanced Born effective charges, coordination numbers exceeding the 8-N rule and uncommon bond rupture. This suggests that these materials employ a unique bonding mechanism, coined metavalent bonding. Frozen-phonon DFT calculations show that the strong fluence dependence arises from Peierls-like instabilities, leading to large deformation potentials and anharmonic double-well potentials. These findings identify metavalent bonding as a design principle for enhanced coherent phonon control and provide a quantitative framework for identifying materials with exceptional ultrafast responses.

We present $0.1^{\prime\prime}$ ($\sim 50$ au) resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the HH 46/47 molecular outflow and its envelope-disk system. The 1.3 mm continuum emission reveals a compact central source surrounded by a circumbinary disk with substructures. The companion, identified in optical and infrared observations, is not detected in the millimeter continuum but coincides with a local intensity minimum. Two spur-like features extending from the primary source toward the companion are identified and are likely induced by gravitational perturbations from the companion. The envelope-disk system is traced by C$^{18}$O, SO, H$_2$CO, and CH$_3$OH. C$^{18}$O primarily traces the extended envelope, while SO probes the inner envelope, and H$_2$CO and CH$_3$OH trace compact, faster-rotating structures near the centrifugal barrier. The observations are well reproduced by a rotating-infalling envelope transitioning to an inner disk at a radius of $\sim 30$ au around a $0.3~M_\odot$ protostar. The $^{12}$CO emission, together with JWST NIRCam images, reveals multiple shell structures in the outflow. Using C$^{18}$O and $^{13}$CO to correct for optical depth, we derive the spatial distributions of outflow mass, momentum, and kinetic energy, as well as their corresponding rates. A model-independent analysis of a well-defined redshifted shell yields its three-dimensional velocity field, showing that the shell expands radially rather than flowing along its surface. Although a transverse velocity gradient is detected, interpreting it as rotation implies an unphysically large magnetic lever arm, disfavoring a direct disk-wind origin. Instead, the shell kinematics support an entrainment scenario.

We study the finite-temperature stabilizer Rényi entropy of the open critical quantum spin chains. At Rényi index one half, this observable probes the distribution of thermal Pauli-string expectation values and can be written as a sum over absolute values of all square minors of a finite-temperature correlation matrix for the transverse-field Ising chain. We show that this exponentially large sum is exactly reducible to a single Pfaffian. The Pfaffian representation reveals a block Toeplitz–Hankel structure and allows us to extract the large-size scaling in several thermal regimes. In the crossover window where the inverse temperature is proportional to the system size, the stabilizer entropy factorizes into a saturated extensive contribution and a universal finite-size scaling function. We find that this scaling function is a level-eight eta quotient, rather than the ordinary free-boundary Majorana thermal factor. The deviation is exponentially hidden at low temperature but controls the high-temperature crossover, where it gives a Cardy-like asymptotic for the Pauli-string expectation-weight spectrum. These results show that finite-temperature stabilizer entropy reveals hidden defect-like conformal data invisible to ordinary thermodynamic probes.

We present classical magnetic–monopole (MM) and dyon solutions induced by global monopoles in string-inspired gravitational models. Although several ingredients of the construction have appeared previously, we examine a new synthesis via their organised use in a self-gravitating finite-energy monopole/dyon system with explicit mass, charge, core and stability diagnostics. The global monopole provides the topological seed, while the dilaton, Kalb–Ramond (KR) axion and Born–Infeld (BI) electromagnetic (EM) sector supply the string-inspired dressing. Two related branches are analysed: (i) a dilaton–BI magnetic branch, distinct from earlier constructions, and (ii) a dyonic extension in which the KR axion couples electric and magnetic sectors through an axion-Pontryagin-anomaly interaction. In both cases BI dynamics regularises the EM self-energy within a self-gravitating global-monopole construction, and the solutions possess a de Sitter core, a positive ADM-mass parameter range and satisfy the standard energy conditions. A further novel feature is a limiting branch in which the ADM mass tends to zero while the magnetic charge remains finite, the configuration being supported by magnetic charge and de Sitter core pressure.We also examine stability diagnostics. The stress–energy tensor gives finite force components and an outward-pointing radial force, indicating absence of core collapse within the mechanical stability criterion. In the exterior analytic region we analyse gauge-invariant EM perturbations using the Gervalle-Volkov framework. The helicity modes $\psi_\pm$ obey a self-adjoint Sturm–Liouville system. MM helicities decouple, while dyons exhibit axion-induced helicity mixing and birefringent polarisation structure. Positivity of the EM helicity block provides a necessary long-range stability diagnostic; the full coupled Einstein-matter spectral problem is discussed

We present a broadband X-ray study of the transient hyperluminous X-ray source (HLX), 2SXPS J111416.1+481833, in the galaxy NGC 3583, using archival XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, Chandra data, and long-term Swift/XRT monitoring. The source episodically enters the hyperluminous regime with X-ray luminosities $L_X > 10^{41}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and drops by a factor of $>45$ from its peak into a deep low state. We detect a clear spectral cutoff at $\sim$5-6 keV in the broadband spectra, which are well modeled by a soft thermal component combined with optically thick thermal Comptonization or an inner advection-dominated disk. In the XMM-Newton spectra, we detect a statistically significant ($\gtrsim 3.9 \sigma$) absorption line centered at $E_{\rm line} \approx 1.97 \pm 0.04$ keV with a width of $\sigma_{\rm line} \approx 74 \pm 40$ eV. We primarily interpret the line as a candidate proton Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature (CRSF), implying a local magnetic field strength of $B \sim 4 \times 10^{14}$ G. Alternative interpretations, such as an origin in an ionized outflow, were explored and found to be less likely. We do not detect coherent X-ray pulsations, placing 90% confidence upper limits on the pulsed fraction of 19.3% in the 0.3-10 keV band and 36.3% in the 3-15 keV band. The combination of extreme luminosity, a hard spectral state, and the detection of a candidate cyclotron line provides strong evidence for a highly magnetized neutron star accretor.

Markovian open quantum theory assumes evolution with respect to an external classical time parameter, yet no preferred notion of time exists fundamentally in relativistic physics. We resolve this tension by formulating relativistic open quantum dynamics relationally through finite-resolution quantum clocks. Using the Schwinger-Tomonaga formalism, we derive a covariant master equation directly on spacetime hypersurfaces and show that the resulting reduced dynamics is generically non-Markovian even for local interactions. Environmental correlations and clock fluctuations jointly generate the memory kernel, while the Gorini-Kossakowski-Lindblad-Sudarshan (GKLS) structure emerges only after relational coarse-graining, implying that exact Markovian evolution is effective rather than fundamental. In the sharp-clock limit, the formalism reduces to the Anastopoulos-Hu gravitational decoherence equation.

We present a Bayesian reconstruction of the local density and velocity fields traced by the 2MASS Redshift Survey (2MRS) and test the inferred gravitational flow against independent Cosmicflows-4 (CF4) galaxy-group peculiar velocities. The fiducial reconstruction is the maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) solution of a Zel'dovich-approximation forward model, constrained by the 2MRS redshift-space distribution through an unbinned Poisson point-process likelihood. The model assumes Gaussian initial conditions and includes the 2MRS selection function, the Zone of Avoidance, redshift-space distortions, and a distance-dependent galaxy-bias prescription. The MAP field is obtained by optimization of the posterior, while Hamiltonian Monte Carlo is used to draw posterior samples and constrained realizations within the same framework. The reconstructed velocity field agrees well with CF4 in object-by-object, density–velocity-correlation, and shell-by-shell reflex-dipole tests. These comparisons are made at the CF4 redshift-space positions and do not require smoothing the observed CF4 velocities to the MAP resolution. We also evolve constrained initial conditions with Gadget-4. The real-space density retains the large-scale Zel'dovich structure while developing additional nonlinear small-scale structure, and the redshift-space distribution develops nonlinear Fingers of God. The results show that the 2MRS field-level reconstruction captures the large-scale gravitational flow of the nearby Universe and provides initial conditions suitable for constrained simulations.

Efficient quantum error correction is essential for the advancement of quantum computing. We propose a quantum neural network with a global structure that reduces the number of unitary matrices required in quantum circuits. This approach resulted in a 97% reduction in training time and up to a 25% improvement in the training completion rate, ultimately achieving a 100% success rate in training while surpassing the error correction performance reported in previous studies. In addition, we demonstrated the enhanced robustness of quantum error correction against internal network noise. Moreover, the fidelity of quantum error correction under internal network noise increased by up to 15% due to the reduced computational load.

Scattering amplitudes of $n$ particles in nonabelian gauge theories admit factorizations of the general form $\mathcal{A}_n \;=\; \mathcal{A}^{\rm soft}_n \times \mathcal{A}^{\rm hard}_n$, where $\mathcal{A}^{\rm soft}_n$ is IR divergent, while $\mathcal{A}^{\rm hard}_n$ is IR finite and encodes the higher loop corrections to scattering. We specify a particular all-orders definition of this factorization for planar ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills (SYM) and argue that the resulting $\mathcal{A}_n^{\rm hard}$ obeys an uncorrected tree-level soft theorem. Moreover it furnishes a representation of the undeformed tree-level $\cal S$-algebra generated by a tower of soft gluons. The results follow from several commonly invoked assumptions for ${\cal N}=4$ SYM, including BDS one-loop exponentiation of the splitting function and amplitude/Wilson-loop duality.

This note is written for the special issue of OSID dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Gorini–Kossakowski–Lindblad–Sudarshan equation. Its purpose is not to give a comprehensive historical review, but rather to reconstruct, in a self-contained way, one logical route leading to the GKLS generator. The emphasis is placed on Kossakowski's structural insight: the combination of Markovianity, complete positivity, trace preservation, and the infinitesimal structure of quantum dynamical semigroups naturally leads to the celebrated form of the generator. I also include a few personal recollections of Andrzej Kossakowski, under whose guidance I spent one year as a postdoctoral researcher in 2003–2004.

The dynamics of buoyant droplets rising freely in a large body of an immiscible liquid is investigated numerically for a moderate drop-to-fluid viscosity ratio $\mu^\ast$. We focus on toluene droplets rising in clean water, for which $\mu^\ast=0.62$, and vary the radius over $0.5\,\text{mm}\leq R\leq3.0\,\text{mm}$. Direct numerical simulations are performed in imposed axisymmetric and fully three-dimensional configurations. As $R$ increases, the system displays a rich sequence of rise regimes. Starting from steady vertical rise with an axisymmetric disturbance flow, it first undergoes an internal flow instability associated with an azimuthal mode $m=2$, leading to a biplanar-symmetric wake and reduced terminal speed. This state is followed by a steady oblique regime, in which the $m=1$ mode also becomes unstable and coexists with the $m=2$ mode. At larger radii, the path becomes nearly vertical again before the flow enters an $m=2$ rotating-wave regime, where the wake drifts azimuthally at an approximately constant angular velocity. For still larger droplets, persistent shape oscillations and vortex shedding lead to fully three-dimensional chaotic paths. Simulations initialised from finite-amplitude asymmetric states further reveal several multistable size ranges, in which distinct terminal states coexist depending on the initial condition. Taken together, these findings show that the path instability of moderate-viscosity-ratio droplets differs fundamentally from that of bubbles and solid particles: in most regimes encountered here, axisymmetry breaking is initiated within the droplet, highlighting the central role of the internal flow instability in shaping the subsequent wake structure, rise speed and droplet dynamics.

V-doped [Ca$_{2}$Nb$_{3-x}$V$_{x}$O$_{10}$]$^{-}$ (x = 0, 0.15, 0.3, 0.6, 0.75) nanosheets were produced by solid state reaction followed by protonation and exfoliation by tetrabutylammonium ions. 2D nanosheets have improved photocatalytic activity due to their small thickness that reduces electron-hole recombination, larger surface area that increases photocatalytic sites, and decreased band gap from added V. V-doping has caused the wide band gap of 3.54 eV of undoped nanosheets to decrease to 2.60-2.88 eV range. 10 vol% methanol was used as a hole scavenger in the hydrogen evolution reactions, and 3 wt% Pt was deposited on nanosheets as a co-catalyst. Under a full-spectrum Xe light, [Ca$_{2}$Nb$_{2.7}$V$_{0.3}$O$_{10}$]$^{-}$ has produced 4.7 times the H$_{2}$ yield as undoped nanosheets with a 11.3 mmol/g/h production rate, [Ca$_{2}$Nb$_{2.7}$V$_{0.3}$O$_{10}$]$^{-}$ with Pt co-catalyst has produced 2.9 times the H$_{2}$ yield as undoped Pt-loaded nanosheets.

While global data-driven models excel at predicting continuous atmospheric variables, three-dimensional hydrometeor forecasting remains challenging due to the zero-inflated, long-tailed distributions of these variables. Standard deep learning optimization often yields overly smooth forecasts, attenuating extreme events and spatial textures. We propose PredHydro-Net, a physics-guided dual-decoding framework that mitigates this smoothing. To resolve multi-variable optimization conflicts, it employs a decoupled architecture where macroscopic thermodynamic and dynamic fields unidirectionally modulate hydrometeor generation. By integrating wavelet-based frequency decoupling, spectral amplitude matching, and adversarial training, the model achieves a favorable trade-off between quantitative accuracy and spatial fidelity. In a 72-h global evaluation, PredHydro-Net outperforms both spatiotemporal deep learning baselines (Earthformer and PredRNNv2) and the operational Global Forecast System (GFS) in extreme-event detection and spectral representation. Furthermore, it demonstrates strong climatological consistency with Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite retrievals. The model reasonably reproduces the three-dimensional cloud structures in extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Ian. Feature attribution confirms its dependence on physical precursors such as relative humidity and wind convergence, offering a robust, physics-informed approach to long-tailed atmospheric prediction.

We study particle-loss resistant entanglement within the framework of stabilizer and graph states. A pure state is \(m\)-resistant if it remains entangled after the loss of any \(m\) particles and becomes fully separable after the loss of any \(m+1\) particles. The smallest previously unresolved qubit case was the existence of a five-qubit \(1\)-resistant pure state, which is resolved here by the five-cycle graph state \(\ket{C_5}\). A stabilizer-subgroup method is also developed for verifying \(m\)-resistance in graph states, using local stabilizers to certify full separability and exact negative partial transpose~(NPT) witnesses to certify entanglement. Applying this to all graph states associated with non-isomorphic graphs on five, six, and seven vertices, we obtain a graph state classification up to local Clifford equivalence, which also classifies stabilizer states up to local Clifford equivalence. Thus, the five-qubit \(1\)-resistant stabilizer states are exactly the local Clifford class of \(C_5\). Six-qubit \(2\)-resistant stabilizer states exist in three distinct local Clifford classes, whereas no seven-qubit stabilizer state is \(m\)-resistant for any nonzero admissible \(m\). Finally, we prove that the cycle graph states \(\ket{C_N}\) with \(N\ge 7\) are not \(m\)-resistant for any \(0\le m\le N-2\).

An ultimate theory of a phase of matter should describe all its universal properties via quantities that are measurable numerically and experimentally. In this work, we present a microscopic universal theory of symmetry-enriched topological quantum spin liquids (TQSLs) in two spatial dimensions, which directly utilizes microscopically measurable quantities to describe the universal properties. This theory applies to generic TQSLs, which can be Abelian or non-Abelian, chiral or non-chiral. The symmetries are also general, which can include both internal and lattice symmetries, unitary and anti-unitary symmetries, and discrete and continuous symmetries. There can be spin-orbit coupling, the microscopic degrees of freedom may transform linearly or projectively under the symmetries, and the symmetries can permute anyons. The input of the theory is some microscopic states with anyons, operators that control the dynamics of anyons, and symmetry actions in the TQSL, and its output is a set of data characterizing the universal properties, whose underlying mathematical structure is a generalization of category theory. Based on this theory, we find an explicit bijective map between the universal data characterizing a TQSL with a symmetry described by a group $G$, where the symmetry actions may include both lattice and internal symmetries, and the corresponding universal data for a TQSL with only an internal symmetry group $G$, and thus establish a precise crystalline equivalence principle. We demonstrate our theory in symmetry-enriched TQSLs realized on quantum processors based on superconducting qubits, trapped ions, and Rydberg atoms, and in each example we verify the Lieb-Schultz-Mattis anomaly matching condition. Our theory provides a solid basis for identifying and manipulating symmetry-enriched TQSLs, which further paves the way for fault-tolerant quantum computation based on these systems.

We formulate a quantization scheme for open electromagnetic systems with arbitrary passive boundary conditions. Rather than specifying reservoirs phenomenologically, the method identifies them from the dissipation geometry of the Maxwell operator. Factoring the imaginary part of the Maxwell operator gives a bosonic realization of the field operator and separates the fluctuation channels into medium-assisted reservoirs from material absorption and boundary-assisted reservoirs from exchange through the open boundary. Depending on the boundary condition, the latter become free-space radiation modes, impedance-load channels, guided port modes, or more general boundary channels. Green-function input-output relations then follow as an application, yielding frequency-dependent scattering and noise kernels without Markov or single-mode assumptions. To illustrate the practical application, we consider a lossy structure with mixed impedance and outgoing boundaries, and photonic integrated circuit configurations with waveguide port boundaries.

I discuss some quantitative representations of Promise Theory for processes involving autonomous agents. Agent models are common in software systems, machine learning, and biology, for example, but may also apply to physics and other forms of engineering. I describe how Bayesian probability and information theoretic optimization, including Active Inference, may be incorporated with promise semantics – as well as how Promise Theory supplements solutions, helping to avoid probability's pitfalls, which include non-local coordination, calibrating, and normalizing probabilistic computations. The role of boundary conditions in constraining allowed states and selecting decision thresholds is a form of promise, and agent alignment provides a scalable definition of intent. Autonomous agents may congeal into swarms with superagent characteristics by trying to minimize their information, despite uncertainty that works to maximize it. The use of Promise Theory involves some research challenges as well as stylistic preferences.