Materials Science
All-electric picosecond field-free spin-orbit torque switching in magnetic trilayers
Xinhou Chen, Shishun Zhao, Yuchen Pu et al. (+2 more)
Spin-orbit torque (SOT) enables the electrical manipulation of the magnetization with high speed and low energy consumption for
magnetic random-access
memory (MRAM) applications. Previous studies of short-pulse SOT switching have mainly focused on the nanosecond regime, whereas reports employing picosecond pulses remain scarce and have largely relied on field-assisted switching using bulky, high-power
laser systems, limiting prospects for chip-level integration. Here, we introduce an all-electrical on-chip nanoplasma pulse generator capable of producing pulses as short as 6.4 ps, enabling ultrafast picosecond field-free SOT switching in
magnetic trilayers. We show that reducing the pulse width lowers the writing energy by 2-3 orders of magnitude, with ultrafast Joule heating assistance playing an essential role in the enhanced efficiency of the picosecond regime. Our demonstration of ultrafast, all-electrical, and field-free SOT switching establishes the nanoplasma pulse generator as an on-chip platform for ultrafast spintronic studies, with promise for high-speed, energy-efficient, and scalable SOT-MRAM technologies.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Xinhou Chen, Shishun Zhao, Yuchen Pu, Qu Yang, Hyunsoo Yang
Mathematical Physics · Cross-listed from math.SP
Pure Point Spectrum is Generic
Artur Avila and David Damanik
We consider Schrödinger operators in $\ell^2(\mathbb{Z})$ with real-valued potentials in $\ell^\infty(\mathbb{Z})$ and show that the generic spectral type is pure point. More specifically, we show that for a generic bounded potential, the essential spectrum of the associated Schrödinger operator is a Cantor set and has zero weight with respect to all spectral measures.
Read the full abstract ▾
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Atmospheric Dynamics of Asymmetrically Magnetized Hot Jupiter
Miaoyin Tang and Cong Yu
We investigate the influence of asymmetric
magnetic fields on the atmospheric circulation of hot Jupiters based on a Shallow-Water Magnetohydrodynamic (SWMHD) model. The Shallow-Water Hydrodynamic (SWHD) models predict eastward equatorial jets and hotspot offsets, while some observations have revealed westward hotspots, suggesting that
magnetic fields may play an important role. We incorporate asymmetric
magnetic fields between hemispheres, and analyze their effects through linear perturbation analysis and numerical calculations. Our results indicate that strong
magnetic fields play a dominant role in momentum transport. Asymmetric
magnetic field configurations lead to hemispheric temperature contrasts, with the dayside temperature maxima in the hemisphere of stronger
magnetic field located closer to the equator. With the
magnetic field fixed in one hemisphere, the equatorial hotspots shift westward then eastward as the other hemisphere's field strengthens, exhibiting a pronounced westward offset only at moderate field strengths and weak hemispheric asymmetry. These findings highlight the significance of
magnetic field geometry in explaining observed atmospheric dynamics and hotspot variability in hot Jupiters.
Read the full abstract ▾
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Reinterpreting the JWST Observations of 55 Cancri e with a Non-Grey General Circulation Model
Ruizhi Zhan and Daniel D.B. Koll
Recent observations of 55 Cancri e suggest an atmosphere rich in CO or CO$_2$ (Hu et al. 2024); other observations indicate the
planet's eclipse depth is highly variable (e.g. Patel et al. 2024). So far, these observations have only been interpreted using 1D models without self-consistent heat redistribution, as the
planet's extreme temperatures make it inaccessible to most 3D models. Here we perform cloud-free GCM simulations of 55 Cancri e using custom correlated-$k$ coefficients developed from the ExoMol database. Our best-fit simulations match the JWST spectra from Hu et al. (2024) well, favoring an atmosphere that is both thick ($\ge$ 10 bar) and CO$_2$-rich ($>1\%$ CO$_2$ volume mixing ratio), while ruling out thin ($<$ 10 bar) and pure-CO/CO$_2$-poor atmosphere, which were previously proposed based on 1D models (Hu et al. 2024; Zilinskas et al. 2025). We also find large-scale atmospheric dynamics, i.e. weather, is insufficient to explain the observed variability. A thick, CO$_2$-rich atmosphere implies that 55 Cancri e likely formed with significantly more volatiles than Earth and Venus. In addition, a thick atmosphere makes it unlikely that the
planet's variability is caused by transient outgassing (Heng 2023), favoring other variability mechanisms (e.g. clouds). Our work provides model constraints for upcoming JWST observations of 55 Cancri e, and highlights the importance of interpreting thermal emission observations with self-consistent 3D models.
Read the full abstract ▾
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
SN 1006: A Cosmic Laboratory for Investigating Shock Acceleration Physics
Emma McGinness, Rebecca Diesing, Damiano Caprioli et al. (+1 more)
SN 1006 is a historical Type Ia
supernova remnant that exhibits non-thermal emission ranging from
radio to multi-TeV $\gamma$-rays. Most of this emission (particularly X-rays and $\gamma$-rays) is concentrated in polar caps aligned with the ambient
magnetic field, which makes it an ideal laboratory for studying
cosmic ray (CR) acceleration at different shock obliquities and the hadronic/leptonic nature of the $\gamma$-ray emission. We model SN 1006's morphology, multi-wavelength spectrum, and radial profile using a self-consistent multi-zone kinetic model of particle acceleration that accounts for: CR-driven shock modification,
magnetic field amplification, drift in
magnetic fluctuations, and temporal dynamics including adiabatic and synchrotron losses. Our model can reproduce both the observed spectral and spatial properties, with the exception of the
radio profile that we argue requires 3D hydrodynamic effects to replicate. We find that quasi-parallel regions (where the shock normal aligns with the ambient
magnetic field) exhibit very prominent CR acceleration ($\sim$20% efficiency), while quasi-perpendicular regions exhibit efficiencies below 1%, consistent with the results of kinetic simulations. We also find that electrons are responsible for the majority of the $\gamma$-ray emission from SN 1006 (i.e., it is a leptonic source), with the exception of the northwest region due to an encounter with a dense cloud.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Emma McGinness, Rebecca Diesing, Damiano Caprioli, Fabio Acero
Materials Science
Scalable Conformal MoSx Catalyst for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution at Industrial-Level Current Density in Alkaline Electrolyzers
Yong Zuo, Sebastiano Bellani, Meysoun Jabrane et al. (+13 more)
The development of simple and scalable fabrication strategies for cost-effective electrodes is crucial to advance water splitting in alkaline water electrolyzers (AWEs). Here, we present a coating-annealing method to conformally coat a MoSx catalyst layer onto a porous Ni foam (NF) substrate. By controlling the annealing process, the composition of the MoSx layer could be tuned from MoS2 to MoS3 and its catalytic performance for hydrogen
evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media was optimized. The MoS3@NF synthesized by this method achieved industrially relevant HER current densities of 200 mA/cm2 at a low overpotential of 246 mV, maintaining stable operation for over 240 h. The MoS3@NF cathode, combined with a stainless steel anode, enabled an alkaline water electrolyzer (AWE)
cell to operate steadily at 1.96 V and 1 A/cm2 for 1000 h. This performance surpasses that of most of the previously reported water electrolyzers employing MoSx-based cathodes. Our work demonstrates the potential of MoS3 (with its abundant edge-sulfur atoms serving as active sites) as a high-performance cathode material for industrial AWEs.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Yong Zuo, Sebastiano Bellani, Meysoun Jabrane, Gabriele Saleh, Thi-Hong-Hanh Le, Michele Ferri, Davide Salusso, Zhanzhao Li, Valentina Mastronardi, Marilena I. Zappia, Manjunath Chatti, Mirko Prato, Silvia Dante, Francesco Bonaccorso, Yongsheng Han, Liberato Manna
Materials Science
Direct nanoscale observation of melting and solute redistribution in a hypoeutectic Al-Cu alloy with $\it{in\ situ}$ STEM
Martin Hasenburger, Rostislav Daniel, Phillip Dumitraschkewitz et al. (+3 more)
Melting and solidification of eutectic systems are classical topics in physical metallurgy, yet the mechanisms at nanoscale are less investigated, due to experimental limitations in spatiotemporal resolution. The advent of $\it{in\ situ}$ STEM heating with MEMS technology has recently enabled investigation of eutectic behavior as a function of temperature, time and electrical resistivity. Using this methodology, we investigate the
evolution of a nanocrystalline hypoeutectic Al-Cu
alloy. Melting initiated in the hotter central region and propagated outward, with grain boundaries acting as preferred sites for eutectic
liquid formation via Cu enrichment. The Al$_2$Cu phase melted prior to complete
matrix melting.
Liquid-state Cu redistribution over a distance of 258 $\mu$m - several orders of magnitude beyond solid-state
diffusion limits - resulted in Al-rich rim accumulations and Cu enrichment at the outermost edge of the observed chip region. These observations are discussed in the context of classical predictions for melting of eutectic systems.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Martin Hasenburger, Rostislav Daniel, Phillip Dumitraschkewitz, Thomas M. Kremmer, Matheus A. Tunes, Stefan Pogatscher
Superconductivity
Proximity-induced unconventional superconductivity and chiral topological phases in twisted graphene/NbSe$_2$ van der Waals heterostructure
Adam Hložný and Marko Milivojević
We study proximity-induced unconventional superconductivity in a twisted
graphene/NbSe$_2$ van der Waals
heterostructure using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes formalism. The normal-state parameters of proximitized
graphene are extracted from ab initio calculations at a twist angle of $23.4^\circ$, which reduces the common
symmetry of the
heterostructure to $\mathbf{C}_3$. We construct
symmetry-allowed superconducting gap functions of the
graphene layer according to the irreducible representations of the $\mathbf{C}_3$ group, containing singlet and triplet pairing channels and their mixtures. Computing the topological invariants as a function of the mixing parameters, we find a rich phase diagram of
chiral topological superconducting phases, characterized by nonzero Chern numbers $C\in\{-4,-2,2,4\}$. While the nature of the superconducting order parameter of NbSe$_2$ remains debated, the formation of the van der Waals
heterostructure and the related
symmetry reduction can alter the relative stability of competing pairing channels, potentially stabilizing a
chiral component that is proximity-induced into
graphene and triggers the topological phases identified here, making the twisted
graphene/NbSe$_2$
heterostructure a promising platform for
chiral topological superconductivity detectable via quasiparticle interference imaging and transport measurements.
Read the full abstract ▾
Quantum Physics
Quantum ergodicity and semiclassical measures: mathematical results
Stéphane Nonnenmacher
In this chapter we review some results describing the high-frequency eigenmodes of the
Laplacian on compact
manifolds, or Euclidean domains, for which the geodesic flow is chaotic. We focus on the macroscopic distribution of these eigenmodes, which is described by the concept of semiclassical measure. The main result on the question is the
Quantum Ergodicity
theorem, originally due to Schnirelman. We provide the detailed proof of this
theorem, including the adjustments necessary to treat the case of
manifolds with boundary. We also discuss the
Quantum Unique Ergodicity
conjecture, and some progress towards this
conjecture for strongly chaotic (Anosov) systems. In particular, we describe the constraints on admissible semiclassical measures, in terms of their Kolmogorov-Sinai
entropy, as well as more recent delocalization results.
Read the full abstract ▾
Data Analysis and Statistics · Cross-listed from stat.AP
Weibull-Stationary Stochastic Differential Equations for Conditional Long-Horizon Wind Power Forecasting
Luca Di Persio and Mehrdad Ghadiri
We present a one-month-ahead conditional probabilistic framework for wind-power
forecasting at ten-minute resolution. Monthly Weibull shape and scale parameters are estimated from serially dependent SCADA wind-speed data, corrected through a Godambe covariance, and forecast by a heteroskedastic Kalman filter on a bivariate VAR(1) state-space model. Conditional on the MMSE forecasted Weibull invariant law, we construct and compare three positive wind-speed SDE models: an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck-Weibull transform, a Fokker-Planck drift-first
diffusion, and a Fokker-Planck
diffusion-first model. The simulated wind-speed ensembles are mapped to power through a calibrated XGBoost power curve. Applied to January 2021 data from a Senvion MM92 turbine at Kelmarsh Wind Farm, the three SDE formulations are statistically indistinguishable in probabilistic accuracy, with mean CRPS values between 1.569 and 1.575 m/s. The
diffusion-first model is therefore preferred on computational grounds, reducing runtime by about a factor of seven relative to the OU-Weibull model. In the power domain, the Wasserstein distance between simulated and observed distributions is 26.1-27.6 kW, below $1.4\%$ of rated capacity, while the monthly energy-yield bias is about $-7.3\%$ for the examined month. Exceedance-probability errors remain below 1.6 percentage points over the 0-1500 kW range and about 2.2 percentage points near rated power. These quantities provide decision-relevant probabilistic inputs for downstream operational problems, rather than completed reserve, storage,
market, or fatigue-optimization decisions. Full marginalisation over the Kalman predictive law of the Weibull parameters is left as a natural extension.
Read the full abstract ▾
Quantum Physics
Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Universal Gates with Pauli Strings and Beyond
Isaac D. Smith, Hans J. Briegel and Hendrik Poulsen Nautrup
Any
quantum computation consists of a sequence of
unitary evolutions described by a finite set of
Hamiltonians. For the case where this set consists of only products of Pauli operators, known as Pauli strings, we provide a necessary and sufficient condition for it to generate $\mathfrak{su}(2^n)$, i.e., to be universal for
quantum computation on $n$
qubits. When combining Pauli strings with a general
Hamiltonian, we show a sufficient (and in certain circumstances even necessary) condition for universality based on the Pauli-basis expansion of the
Hamiltonian. As an application of these results, we prove two corollaries: (i) a necessary and sufficient condition for the universality of a general
Hamiltonian given arbitrary single-
qubit control on all
qubits, and (ii) the universality of an XYZ Heisenberg
Hamiltonian with local control of just two adjacent
qubits.
Read the full abstract ▾
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Broadened Lensing Rings of Compact Boson Stars: Enhanced Imprint of Accretion Flow in Images and Visibilities
Xiangyu Wang, Xinyu Wang, Minyong Guo et al. (+1 more)
In this work, we systematically study the gravitational
lensing properties and observational signatures of compact
boson stars. Unlike black holes, the
photon effective potential of a compact
boson star develops a nearly flat region, whose width increases with the compactness of the
star. This flat structure significantly broadens the range of impact parameters that can produce large-angle deflections, leading to noticeably wider
lensing rings of all orders.
Photons constituting these rings traverse more complex paths, rendering the resulting images more sensitive to the spatial distribution of the
accretion flow. Ray tracing results show that, compared to black hole models, the image
topology and visibility amplitudes of compact
boson stars exhibit a stronger dependence on the
accretion flow structure. These results highlight qualitative differences in the observational properties of compact
boson stars and black holes.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Xiangyu Wang, Xinyu Wang, Minyong Guo, Hai-Qing Zhang
Accelerator Physics
Improvement of Heat-Treated Niobium Surface by In-situ Plasma Treatment Applied to Superconducting RF Resonator
C. Boutelaa, S. Gruszka, C. Cheney et al. (+11 more)
A specific heat treatment at 300 C, named medium-temperature baking (Mid-T baking) is applied to superconducting
radio-frequency (SRF) accelerating cavities to improve the quality factor (Qo) at medium accelerating fields (10 to 20 MV/m). This treatment is very successful when done properly as it can reduce by almost a factor of two the power dissipations in this field range. However, surface contamination can lead to the degradation of Qo instead.
Plasma-based surface treatment provides an effective approach to eliminate contaminants from the Niobium surface. In this study an insitu
plasma cleaning process with argon containing 10 % O2 was performed to remove hydrocarbons from Niobium surface. The treatment was applied before and after a heat treatment at 500 C under ultra-high
vacuum conditions (Mid-T baking). Changes in chemical speciation and
oxide layer alteration induced by
plasma processing were analyzed using insitu X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and exsitu scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that
plasma treatment modifies the composition of Niobium
oxides, converting a Nb2O5 layer into NbO2. Furthermore, a
plasma treatment before Mid-T baking helps reduce unstable
oxides such as NbxO and significantly increases the proportion of metallic Niobium at the surface. The Niobium sample treated by
plasma prior to Mid-T baking showed a 53 % reduction in carbide formation. Moreover, the C1s component attributed to NbC bonds shifts toward lower binding energy, indicating the formation of a more metallic NbC phase. Whereas without
plasma treatment, the higher binding energy component observed after Mid T baking is consistent with Nb2C.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors C. Boutelaa, S. Gruszka, C. Cheney, J. Yemane, T. Gerardin, E. Mistretta, J. Demailly, R. Laxdal, P. Kolb, J. Keir, B. Mercier, N. Prud homme, G. Sattonnay, D. Longuevergne
Geophysics
Effects of microstructural heterogeneity on the macroscopic spectrum of elastically accommodated grain-boundary sliding
Zhengxuan Li and John F. Rudge
Elastically accommodated grain-boundary sliding (EAGBS) is a plausible source of upper-mantle seismic attenuation and dispersion, yet classical theory predicts a localized Debye-like peak that is absent or only weakly expressed in dry olivine experiments. Here we test whether microstructural heterogeneity can explain this discrepancy using 2-D finite-element simulations on periodic Voronoi tessellations. We find that irregular grain geometry changes the baseline EAGBS response relative to the regular hexagonal
benchmark, but increasing grain-size variance alone produces only modest changes in modulus and peak height, with little spectral broadening. In contrast, a broad distribution of grain-boundary viscosities progressively suppresses and broadens the Debye-like loss peak into a weak background spanning a wide frequency interval. This broadening arises from the superposition of many localized relaxation processes with distinct characteristic timescales and motivates a reduced-order 0-D description of the aggregate response. These results suggest that the absence of a pronounced EAGBS peak in dry olivine does not necessarily imply the absence of EAGBS mechanism itself. If grain boundaries sample a sufficiently broad viscosity distribution, the macroscopic EAGBS contribution may appear experimentally only as part of a broad attenuation background, while still remaining relevant for upper-mantle seismic attenuation and velocity dispersion.
Read the full abstract ▾
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Non-Hermitian Delocalization Realizes Random Dirac Criticality in One Dimension
Bo Li, Shen Zhang and Ren Zhang
Non-Hermitian systems can evade Anderson localization and exhibit delocalized states even in one dimension. Here, we show that such non-Hermitian delocalized states under periodic boundary conditions (PBC) are intrinsically critical, realizing the universality class of one-dimensional random Dirac
fermions. By linking spectral winding to topological Anderson transitions via Hermitization, we demonstrate that the delocalized PBC states exhibit a Dirac-type criticality with universal algebraic correlations. In contrast to Hermitian systems, where this criticality occurs only at fine-tuned transition points, it emerges generically in non-Hermitian systems as a consequence of spectral
topology. These results identify a universal mechanism by which non-Hermiticity promotes criticality, providing a unified description of non-Hermitian delocalization in one dimension.
Read the full abstract ▾
Atomic Physics
Limit on the nuclear Schiff moment of europium-153
Bassam Nima, Mingyu Fan, Xubo Wang et al. (+6 more)
The Schiff moment of a
nucleus is a
symmetry-violating
nuclear moment that indicates new physics beyond the Standard Model. We place the limit, $|\mathscr{S}({}^{153}$Eu)$| < 1.7 \times 10^{-8}$ $e\,$fm$^3$ (95% confidence), on the Schiff moment of the $^{153}$Eu
nucleus, using
nuclear spin resonances in two ensembles of oppositely-polarized $^{153}$Eu$^{3+}$ ions in a Y${}_2$SiO${}_5$
crystal. This measurement using octupolar
nuclei in a mm-scale
crystal constrains new physics at the TeV energy-scale.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Bassam Nima, Mingyu Fan, Xubo Wang, Sen Wang, En Fu Zhou, Andrew M. Jayich, Jiang Ming Yao, Lan Cheng, Amar Vutha
Materials Science
Multilayer Screening of Double and Conventional Perovskite Solar Cells Using SCAPS-1D and Machine Learning: Optimization of ETL, HTL, and Absorber for High-Efficiency Architectures
Neda Nasiri, Seyed Mahdi Mastoor and Amirhosein Ahmadkhan Kordbacheh
The combinatorial design space of multilayer perovskite
solar cells is vast, yet exhaustive experimental or computational screening of all possible material combinations remains impractical. Here, we integrate SCAPS-1D device simulations with machine learning to systematically explore 125 device architectures constructed from five electron transport layers (ETL), five absorbers (including lead-free double perovskites), and five hole transport layers (HTL). A representative subset of configurations is used to train a machine learning (ML) model, which predicts the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the remaining unexplored structures. Leave-One-Group-Out cross-validation yields a Spearman rank correlation, demonstrating reliable ranking capability. SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) analysis reveals that the HTL band gap, absorber band gap, and ETL electron affinity are the most influential descriptors, providing physical insights into interfacial recombination and charge extraction. The machine learning model identifies several high-performance configurations that are subsequently verified by full SCAPS-1D simulations. Among them, the device FTO/TiO$_2$/Cs$_2$AgBiBr$_6$/NiO/Ag achieves a PCE of 28.85%, and the ML-suggested structure FTO/SnO$_2$/Cs$_2$AgInBr$_6$/NiO/Ag exhibits 28.62%, outperforming a closely related literature architecture by approximately 4% absolute. Notably, eight of the top-11 structures employ the lead-free double perovskite Cs$_2$AgInBr$_6$. This work demonstrates that a physics-based, data-driven workflow combining SCAPS-1D, ML, and SHAP can accelerate the discovery of high-efficiency, environmentally friendly perovskite
solar cells while providing transparent design rules. The approach is generalizable to other multilayer optoelectronic systems.
Read the full abstract ▾
Quantum Physics
Bound State Solutions of the Relativistic Finite-difference Equation for the Ring-shaped Quesne Oscillator Potential
Sh.M.Nagiyev, Narmin Nasibova, V. A. Tarverdiyeva et al. (+1 more)
We solve exactly the relativistic finite-difference equation for the
quantum three-dimensional ring-shaped Quesne oscillator potential. Our investigation is based on a finite-difference version of relativistic
quantum mechanics. So-called relativistic configurational r-space is a key concept here. We show that the radial wavefunctions and angular wavefunctions are expressed through the continuous dual Hahn
polynomials and Jacobi
polynomials, respectively. A discrete energy spectrum has been found. The radial wave functions and energy spectrum have the correct nonrelativistic limit. We also build a dynamical
symmetry group SU (1, 1) for the radial part of the equation of motion, which allows us to find the energy spectrum purely algebraically.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Sh.M.Nagiyev, Narmin Nasibova, V. A. Tarverdiyeva, G. H. Guliyeva
Quantum Physics
A semi-definite programming formulation of the device-dependent guessing probability
Raffaele D'Avino, Aurora Mugnai, Miguel Navascués et al. (+2 more)
In
quantum mechanics, a measurement applied to a state in general produces some amount of intrinsic randomness. This is not only a fundamental feature of the theory, but is also at the basis of any
quantum process to generate random numbers. The simplest of such processes consists of a single, fully charaterized, measurement acting on a single, fully characterized, state. Unfortunately, no general method to estimate the intrinsic randomness produced in such setups is known. In this work, we address this issue by presenting a semidefinite programming formulation of the maximum probability with which an adversary, Eve, can guess the outcomes of characterized but untrusted prepare-and-measure setups. We then present several applications of this construction. First, we apply our method to a variety of specific setups, allowing us both to
benchmark the approach and, more importantly, to determine the exact amount of certifiable randomness in scenarios where only upper bounds were previously available. Then, we show that the presence of
entanglement between the device preparing the state and the measurement strictly increases Eve's predictive power, already in the most elementary setup of a binary measurement acting on a
qubit state.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Raffaele D'Avino, Aurora Mugnai, Miguel Navascués, Antonio Acín, Gabriel Senno
Astrophysics of Galaxies
X-ray luminosity function of Compton-thick AGN in the early Universe (z > 3). Robustness and biases of the CTK population
Angel Ruiz, Ektoras Pouliasis and Ioannis Georgantopoulos
The population of Compton-thick (CTK) AGN represents a critical yet elusive phase in the growth of supermassive black holes. Constraining their abundance and
evolution at high z is essential for understanding both SMBH growth and the origin of the
cosmic X-ray background. We investigate the X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of CTK AGN at z > 3 using one of the largest available samples of X-ray-selected AGN at high z, containing 811 sources from XMM-Newton XXL-N and Chandra CCLS and CDF-S/N surveys. We first selected a subsample of ten high-probability CTK candidates, identified through x-ray spectral fitting. Their multiwavelength properties are examined through SED modelling to assess the robustness of their CTK classification. For most sources, the inferred X-ray luminosities appear overestimated when compared with their IR luminosities. After updating the NH posteriors with IR-informed priors, only three sources remain consistent with the CTK regime. To compute the XLF for the entire CTK AGN population, we used 24 microns photometry to estimate IR luminosities and update the X-ray posteriors for all the remaining sources. Incorporating IR priors systematically reduces the inferred CTK number densities, yielding a more conservative and physically consistent estimate of the XLF. We find that CTK AGN constitute 17 per cent of the total AGN population at 3 < z < 6, consistent with results at lower z. Our analysis reveals no statistically significant
evolution in the CTK fraction up to z about 6, suggesting that the most heavily obscured
accretion phase remains a persistent component of black hole growth throughout
cosmic history. While the overall obscured AGN fraction (NH > 1e23 cm-2) increases toward higher
redshifts, the stable CTK fraction supports the interpretation that, at these epochs, the interstellar medium in typical host
galaxies cannot produce CTK levels of obscuration.
Read the full abstract ▾
Optics
Low-symmetry lattices of non-chiral meta-atoms for resonant handedness-preserving reflection
Anastasia Pozharkova, Oleg Blokhin, Sergey A. Dyakov et al. (+1 more)
Mirrors that preserve the handedness of optical radiation upon reflection are an essential building block for the design of numerous resonant nanophotonic structures with capabilities for enantiomeric discrimination. Ordinary metallic and Bragg dielectric mirrors are not suitable in these context since they flip handedness of electromagnetic field upon reflection around normal incidence. While there has been considerable progress in the development of such reflecting structures, this research area remains largely unexplored. Here, we present a detailed numerical and theoretical analysis of the potential of low-
symmetry periodic
lattices composed of high-
symmetry non-
chiral meta-atoms for resonant reflection with handedness preservation (HP). Using full-wave numerical simulations, we analyze a family of rhombic and monoclinic (oblique)
lattices of circular dielectric disks and/or holes, and in each identify the regime of near-perfect HP reflection. We study the robustness of these structures to
geometric deviations, material losses, and incidence angle. Finally, we describe the resonant HP response of these structures using the coupled-mode theory formalism.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Anastasia Pozharkova, Oleg Blokhin, Sergey A. Dyakov, Denis G. Baranov
Soft Condensed Matter
When and how particles are removed by drops
Abhinav Naga, Franziska Sabath, Doris Vollmer et al. (+1 more)
Particulate contaminants decrease the power output of
solar panels, the transparency of windows, and are detrimental to microelectronics, where even a single particle can induce a short
circuit. Despite significant research on particle adhesion and self-cleaning, it remains unclear when and how a drop can remove a particle from a surface, thus efficiently cleaning the surface. Here, by combining
lattice Boltzmann simulations and confocal microscopy experiments, we show that at least six different scenarios arise from the complex interplay between capillary and friction forces when a drop collides with a particle on a surface. Notably, the capillary force plays a dual role in particle removal: while its tangential component always drives removal, its normal component can also hinder it. We introduce a dimensionless capillary capture parameter that successfully predicts particle removal across a wide range of particle and surface properties. Our results reveal that the design of easy-to-clean surfaces should not focus only on maximizing hydrophobicity, but also on minimizing the particle-surface friction.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Abhinav Naga, Franziska Sabath, Doris Vollmer, Halim Kusumaatmaja
Quantum Physics
The quantum harmonic oscillator and the real Hilbert space
Sergio Giardino
The harmonic oscillator is considered within generalized frameworks using complex and quaternionic numbers. The classical oscillator is considered in terms of a complex position function, and
quantum oscillators are examined in terms of complex wave functions, and in terms of quaternionic wave functions as well. Both of the
quantum solutions are obtained within the real
Hilbert space formalism. The results reveal the complex and quaternionic descriptions as suitable frameworks for non-stationary processes, including damped oscillations, forced oscillations, and additionally self-interacting processes that cannot be appropriately described otherwise.
Read the full abstract ▾
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems · Cross-listed from cs.LG
Attention by Synchronization in Coupled Oscillator Networks
Fabio Pasqualetti and Taosha Guo
We address
transformer attention on energy-constrained physical substrates. Softmax
attention requires exponentiation and global reduction, operations with high energy cost on von Neumann hardware and no natural physical analog. We show that Kuramoto synchronization dynamics (which arise in electrical, mechanical, superconducting, and charge-density-wave oscillator arrays, among other physical systems) implement a well-defined
attention operation. The resulting mechanism, fixed-query oscillator
attention, replaces softmax's arithmetic with the equilibration of a gradient flow on the sphere: queries are learned anchors fixed on the sphere, and free oscillators evolve under Kuramoto–Lohe dynamics until they settle at positions encoding
attention weights via cosine similarity. Because the computation is equilibration, no global exponential normalization is needed. The fixed point is provably unique and globally attractive from almost every initial condition, a guarantee that holds across every physical realization. Empirically, at the minimal hardware configuration (oscillator dimension $d_{\mathrm{osc}} = 2$), oscillator
attention matches softmax on keyword spotting, and on subject-verb agreement it trains more reliably while reaching softmax's accuracy. Softmax retains an advantage on causal
language modeling, but the gap decays as a power law in $d_{\mathrm{osc}}$. The main objective of this work is not to replace softmax in software but to provide a mathematically grounded blueprint for accurate
attention on physical substrates.
Read the full abstract ▾
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks · Cross-listed from stat.ML
Phase Transitions in Attention: A Bayesian Theory of Copy Head Emergence
Itay Lavie, Kirsten Fischer, Andrey Lekov et al. (+3 more)
Attention is the key mechanism underlying in-context learning in
transformers, and
attention patterns have been observed empirically to emerge abruptly during training. We present a
Bayesian theory of feature learning in
attention; we then focus on how the copy subcircuit in the first layer of an induction head is learned by analyzing a single-layer softmax
attention network trained on a copy task. We derive a closed-form posterior over the
attention matrix and reduce it to a low-dimensional order parameter space. This reduction reveals a phase transition in the amount of training data, which we verify using both
Bayesian sampling and standard training with Adam. We contrast our results with linear
attention and find that softmax
attention exhibits a first-order phase transition while in linear
attention an initial second-order phase transition is followed by a smooth, continuous
evolution toward the structured
attention pattern (crossover). Our work provides a first-principles theoretical account of the abrupt emergence of the copy subcircuit, reminiscent of the one observed in training large
language models.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Itay Lavie, Kirsten Fischer, Andrey Lekov, Frederic Van Maele, Zohar Ringel, Moritz Helias
Quantum Physics
Clifford disentanglers for entanglement reduction in molecular electronic structure simulations
Longfei Chang, Zibo Wu, Yunzhi Li et al. (+5 more)
Entanglement is a key bottleneck limiting the efficiency of tensor-network and
quantum simulations of molecular electronic structures. Here, we systematically assess and extend Clifford disentanglers as a structure-preserving approach to
entanglement reduction: they can modify the
entanglement structure of
qubit wavefunctions while retaining the Pauli-string form of
qubit Hamiltonians. To enable a practical search over Clifford transformations, we classify Clifford operators by their action on the Schmidt spectrum across a bipartition, reducing the two- and four-
qubit search spaces to 20 and 91392 representatives, respectively. Embedded in an iterative Clifford-augmented
matrix product state framework, these transformations reduce the energy errors at fixed bond dimension for the molecular test cases studied and mitigate the dependence on orbital orderings and
fermion-to-
qubit mappings. We further show that Clifford disentanglers can also benefit
quantum simulations such as the shallow-
circuit variational
quantum eigensolver calculations. Together, these results establish Clifford disentanglers as a useful structure-preserving
entanglement-engineering tool for tensor-network and
quantum simulations of molecular electronic structure, while also clarifying their correlation dependence and motivating future developments.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Longfei Chang, Zibo Wu, Yunzhi Li, Haiqi Liu, Jiajun Ren, Mingpu Qin, Zhendong Li, Wei-Hai Fang
Instrumentation and Detectors
Modeling of Dark Count Probability in Perimeter-Gated SPADs
Md Sakibur Sajal, Ziyad Alswaidan, Tathagata Srimani et al. (+1 more)
This Letter presents a novel analytical framework showing that the dark count probability (PDC) of perimeter-gated single-
photon avalanche diodes (pg-SPADs) follows a complementary Gompertz function. Specifically, we show that PDC follows a complementary Gompertz form from which we derive a pixel-specific descriptor, the midpoint perimeter gate voltage, which characterizes a pixel's equiprobable operating point. We further show that a perimeter gate voltage compensation rate may be obtained from this descriptor to offset temperature-induced changes in the pixel's activation function. The proposed framework is experimentally validated using 4,096 pg-SPADs arranged in a 64 x 64 array and manufactured in a 0.35 $\mu$m CMOS process. The devices were characterized at temperatures ranging from -5 $^o$C to 55 $^o$C and perimeter gate voltage magnitudes of 0 to 5 V. The measured results demonstrate deterministic bias control of dark count probability across process and temperature variations.
Read the full abstract ▾
All authors Md Sakibur Sajal, Ziyad Alswaidan, Tathagata Srimani, Marc Dandin
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Heisenberg-Langevin theory of an exciton mirror
Sergueï V. Andreev
We develop a Heisenberg-Langevin theory of an
exciton mirror accounting for the retardation and the long-range electron-hole exchange. The particular case of a single-component
exciton gas is analyzed in detail. The optical bistability due to repulsion between the
excitons inside the light cone appears to be prone to a modulational instability towards the non-radiative polariton modes. Above the corresponding threshold, the pumped 2D
exciton gas acts as an optical parametric generator of twin polariton beams. Conversely, below the threshold, the mirror acquires the phase-conjugating properties.
Read the full abstract ▾
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Marek Nikołajuk, Tomasz Karpiuk and Mirosław Brewczyk
Our study focuses on the strong
tidal disruption of a cold helium white
dwarf passing a black hole. We model the white
dwarf as a Bose-
Fermi droplet and use
quantum hydrodynamic equations to simulate the binary system's
evolution. As the white
dwarf passes through periastron, it loses a significant amount of mass. This mass falls onto the black hole and forms an
accretion disc. Quantized
vortices appear in the
accretion disc, manifesting as strong electromagnetic radiation signals that exhibit characteristic flickering patterns changing on a timescale of a few seconds. Meanwhile, the white
dwarf moves away from the black hole. As the white
dwarf moves through space,
vortices run along its surface. This elongates its geometry, causing it to rotate and emit gravitational waves.
Read the full abstract ▾
Quantum Physics
A Geometric Family of Correlations Containing the Quantum Singlet
E. Aldo Arroyo
We introduce a geometrically constrained hidden-variable framework that generates a family of correlations parametrized by a boundary function, within which the
quantum singlet correlation appears as a particular member. Exact expressions for the correlation function are derived. Several structural results are established, including admissibility conditions,
symmetry properties, a universal stationary point of the associated CHSH function, and an exact relation between the CHSH value at $\nu=\pi/4$ and a
geometric contrast measure defined on the underlying hidden-variable distributions. Rather than treating the
quantum singlet correlation as an isolated target to be reproduced, the present framework places it within a broader
geometric structure of correlations. These results suggest the existence of a nontrivial
geometric structure underlying the family of correlations and motivate the search for a principle capable of selecting the
quantum singlet solution from within that family.
Read the full abstract ▾