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Physics

Watch Physics

Friday 12 June

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Source Surface Height Optimisation for Improved Solar Wind Velocity Forecasting Across Solar Cycles 23, 24 and 25

Sandeep Kumar, Nandita Srivastava and Dana-Camelia Talpeanu

The potential field source surface (PFSS) model is a cornerstone of many state-of-the-art space weather forecasting frameworks. It includes a single physical free parameter, the source surface (SS) height. Traditionally, a fixed SS height of 2.5 solar radii has been adopted in most studies. However, several studies have investigated the SS height in the PFSS model using various datasets and temporal intervals. Earlier efforts primarily aimed to improve estimates of the heliospheric open magnetic flux. Our recent study Kumar et al. (2025), showed that optimising the SS height substantially improves the performance of the Wang Sheeley Arge (WSA) solar wind speed prediction model at L1. That analysis employed two types of GONG synoptic magnetic field maps, namely standard (STD) and zero-point-corrected (ZPC) maps, over selected periods of solar cycles (SCs) 24 and 25. In this study, we perform a comprehensive investigation of SCs 23 to 25 using synoptic magnetic field maps derived from ground-based (GONG) and space-based (SDO/HMI) observatories. Our results demonstrate that optimising the SS height in the PFSS model significantly improves the WSA model performance compared to the commonly adopted fixed SS height. We find that during solar minimum, higher SS heights (less than or equal to 2.5 solar radii) yield better solar wind speed predictions at L1, whereas during active phases the opposite trend is observed. Although the absolute optimised SS height varies across SCs, the overall distribution pattern remains similar. These finding suggests a relationship between SS height and SC phase over long time scales. Overall, the SS height optimisation enhances the background solar wind speed prediction models in the heliosphere.
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Statistical Mechanics

Diffusion-Driven Surface Autocatalysis in Exterior Domains

Denis S. Grebenkov

We study the collective dynamics of independent particles that diffuse outside a spherical surface, on which they are replicated with a prescribed catalytic rate. In spatial dimensions three and higher, the transient nature of diffusion creates a competition between autocatalytic branching and escape to infinity, leading to three distinct regimes: subcritical (finite limiting population), critical (algebraic growth), and supercritical (exponential growth). The rotational symmetry of the domain and an explicit form of the single-particle diffusion propagator allow us to fully investigate the time evolution of the population size, including the mean population size, variance, higher-order moments, as well as the whole distribution. In particular, we obtain an explicit form of the distribution at long times and describe a slow, power-law approach to this steady-state limit. We further extend the steady-state analysis to general exterior domains using the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator, which determines the critical catalytic rate and reveals how boundary geometry affects the population-size distribution.
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General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Refocusing of Wheeler–DeWitt wave functions at inner horizons

Takeshi Chiba, Keiju Murata and Daiki Saito

We study quantum gravitational effects inside hyperbolic black holes with both outer and inner horizons by solving the Wheeler–DeWitt (WDW) equation in the minisuperspace approximation. The WDW equation contains a tachyonic region where the effective potential becomes negative. We develop a numerical method that consistently evolves the wave function across this region and obtain stable solutions throughout the entire minisuperspace. For small values of the parameter $\kappa$, which controls the strength of quantum gravitational effects, the wave packet propagates along the classical trajectory with only mild quantum spreading. As $\kappa$ increases, enhanced quantum effects lead to significant spreading of the wave packet during its propagation. Nevertheless, when the initial state is localized near the outer horizon, the wave packet becomes localized again in the vicinity of the inner horizon. We refer to this recovery of localization as a refocusing phenomenon. This result suggests that, if the geometry is classical near the outer horizon, it becomes classical again near the inner horizon. Within the minisuperspace approximation, inner-horizon formation is not obstructed by quantum gravitational effects.
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Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Demonstration of a Single-chip Dual-polarization Sideband-separation SIS mixer at 2 mm Band

Wenlei Shan, Shohei Ezaki and Yoshinori Uzawa

Large-format heterodyne focal plane arrays require highly integrated receiver architectures while maintaining low noise and sufficient sideband rejection, which remains challenging for superconducting SIS mixers at millimeter wavelengths. In this work, we demonstrate, for the first time, a monolithic dual-polarization sideband-separating superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer operating at 2 mm wavelengths (125-163 GHz) on a silicon-on-insulator substrate. The integrated SIS mixer achieves a sideband rejection ratio exceeding 10 dB over the 4-8 GHz intermediate-frequency (IF) band across most of the radio-frequency (RF) range, with a minimum single-sideband (SSB) receiver noise temperature as low as approximately 60 K. As a key building block of the hybrid planar integration (HPI) architecture, this result verifies the feasibility of highly integrated large-format heterodyne focal plane arrays, providing a practical path toward substantially expanding the field of view of millimeter and submillimeter-wave radio telescopes.
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High Energy Physics (Experiment)

Determining Neutrino Mass Ordering with NOvA and Upcoming JUNO Measurements

NOvA Collaboration

NOvA has reported a significance of mass ordering determination using ten years of data together with external constraints from reactor-based experiments. The JUNO collaboration is poised to provide a more precise reactor-based constraint on $|\Delta m^2_{32}|$. In this Letter, we explore the potential impact of this anticipated measurement on the determination of the neutrino mass ordering by NOvA. We find that $3\sigma$ evidence of the normal ordering is achievable over a range of plausible JUNO measurements within the next five years.
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Materials Science

Probing Structure and Ionic Transport in Molten Lithium Carbonate

Debsundar Dey, Abhirup Patra, Anand Narayanan Krishnamoorthy et al. (+1 more)

Li$_2$CO$_3$ (LC) is a cornerstone material for clean energy technologies, including high-temperature molten carbonate fuel cells, electrochemical carbon capture, and lithium-based batteries. However, capturing the complex, many-body interactions governing the structure and transport in LC in its molten state has remained a challenge, constrained by the computational cost of ab initio methods and the accuracy limitations of classical force fields. To address this gap, we deploy equivariant graph-based machine learned interatomic potentials, specifically, the multi atomic cluster expansion (MACE) and neural equivariant interatomic potential (NequIP) architectures that are trained on melt-quench ab initio molecular dynamics data. Our benchmarking demonstrates that MACE provides superior transferability and precision in predicting energies and forces compared to NequIP. Subsequently, we use the optimized MACE model to perform large-scale molecular dynamics simulations to probe the properties of molten LC. Besides describing the structural features, such as the dominant presence of C-O pair correlations under molten conditions, our MACE model reproduces experimentally-measured static structure factors and shear viscosity values. Further, our simulations indicate that Li transport in LC is fundamentally dominated by concerted motion, as evidenced by Haven's ratios being significantly below unity (0.20-0.40). Notably, we identify a temperature-driven transition from anisotropic (and highly concerted) Li transport, supported by persistent oxygen-centered Voronoi cages at 1000~K, to isotropic (and less concerted) diffusion at 1400~K. Thus, we provide fundamental insights into the structural and transport properties of molten LC and also demonstrate a robust and scalable framework for the accelerated design of molten salt electrolytes and ionic liquids.
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All authors Debsundar Dey, Abhirup Patra, Anand Narayanan Krishnamoorthy, Gopalakrishnan Sai Gautam

High Energy Physics (Theory)

Hydrodynamics of Nonminimal $F^{(a)\alpha \beta } F^{(a)\gamma \lambda } R_{\alpha \gamma } R_{\beta \lambda }$ AdS Black Brane

Mehdi Sadeghi

We investigate the hydrodynamic properties of a strongly coupled non-Abelian plasma dual to a four-dimensional AdS black brane with a nonminimal coupling of the form $q_2 F^{(a)\alpha\beta}F^{(a)\gamma\lambda}R_{\alpha\gamma}R_{\beta\lambda}$ in the bulk action. This higher-derivative term introduces a direct interaction between the Yang-Mills field strength and the Ricci tensor, leading to corrections beyond the minimal Einstein-Yang-Mills theory. Using a perturbative expansion in the small coupling $q_2$, we construct the black brane solution up to first order and employ the fluid-gravity correspondence to compute two key transport coefficients: the DC color conductivity $\sigma$ and the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio $\eta/s$. In holography, $\eta/s$ is inversely proportional to the square of the coupling constant of the boundary theory, while $\sigma$ in Einstein-Maxwell theory satisfies a universal lower bound $\sigma \ge 1$ (in units where $\hbar=1$), saturated for uncharged black holes and characterizing a perfect quantum critical fluid. Our results reveal that the nonminimal coupling significantly alters these transport quantities. For the DC conductivity, we find $\sigma = 1 - q_2 \bigl(9\kappa Q^2/(L^2 r_h^4) + 7\kappa^2 Q^4/(4 r_h^8)\bigr)$, indicating a violation of the conductivity bound for $q_2>0$ while the bound is preserved for $q_2<0$. For the shear viscosity, we obtain $\eta/s = (1/(4\pi))\bigl(1 + q_2\, 7\kappa^2 Q^4/(2 r_h^8)\bigr)$, showing that the KSS bound is modified by a term linear in $q_2$. The sign of $q_2$ determines whether the ratio increases above or decreases below the universal value $1/(4\pi)$. These findings highlight the sensitivity of holographic transport to curvature-coupled gauge interactions and provide a controlled example of how higher-derivative corrections influence the hydrodynamic regime of strongly coupled plasmas.
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Fluid Dynamics

An Implicit Discrete Adjoint Gas-Kinetic Scheme for Aerodynamic Shape Optimization across all Mach Number Regimes

Hangkong Wu, Yuze Zhu, Yajun Zhu et al. (+1 more)

The gas-kinetic scheme (GKS) integrates the characteristics of flux difference scheme (FDS) and flux vector splitting (FVS) scheme, providing high accuracy in smooth regions and strong robustness near discontinuities across all Mach regimes. Leveraging these properties, an implicit discrete adjoint GKS is developed for aerodynamic shape optimization over a wide range of Mach numbers. The adjoint solver is constructed using the source-transformation-based algorithmic differentiation tool Tapenade. To enhance computational efficiency, both the flow and adjoint GKS equations are solved using an implicit time-marching strategy, also known as the Lower-Upper Symmetric Gauss-Seidel (LU-SGS) method. The effectiveness of the implicit formulation is demonstrated through comparisons with the explicit approach. To accurately impose solid wall boundary conditions, particularly in hypersonic regimes, kinetic boundary conditions and their adjoint counterparts are formulated for both adiabatic no-slip and isothermal walls. Four benchmark test cases covering subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flows are used to verify the effectiveness of the developed adjoint-based design optimization system.
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All authors Hangkong Wu, Yuze Zhu, Yajun Zhu, Kun Xu

Biological Physics

Temperature transferable Machine Learned Coarse Grained model for proteins

Jacopo Venturin and Cecilia Clementi

Coarse-grained (CG) molecular simulations offer an efficient alternative to atomistic molecular dynamics to study large and complex biological systems. The accuracy of CG simulations has been increased dramatically by the introduction of machine-learned coarse-grained (MLCG) models. However, these models are typically designed to be used at a single thermodynamic point, lack temperature transferability, and can not be used to predict temperature dependent quantities like the heat capacity. Here we introduce a thermodynamically informed, temperature-transferable MLCG framework for proteins that explicitly decomposes the CG potential of mean force (PMF) into its energetic and entropic components. The model architecture enforces an exact thermodynamic relation between the energetic and entropic components of the PMF and guarantees physically consistent extrapolation and interpolation across temperature regimes. We validate this framework on an extensive dataset spanning a total of 250 $\mu$s of molecular dynamics simulations across five temperatures between 300 K and 400 K for the Chignolin protein, and demonstrate that it reproduces the temperature dependency of the reference atomistic free energy surfaces, correcting the temperature-unaware baselines. Furthermore, we show that it is possible to apply an inexpensive, post-hoc temperature-dependent correction that does not require retraining the MLCG potential, accurately recovering the atomistic heat capacity at different temperatures. Overall, this work provides a physically grounded pathway toward thermodynamically transferable MLCG simulations of complex biomolecular systems.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies

The S-PLUS Fornax Project (S+FP): Fornax-like clusters in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations

L.J. Zenocratti, A.V. Smith Castelli, M.E. De Rossi et al. (+12 more)

The Fornax galaxy cluster constitutes a suitable laboratory to explore the evolution of galaxies in a dense environment. Recently, the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS) has obtained unprecedented photometric information of Fornax, revealing new features regarding its galaxy populations and surrounding regions. In this context, simulations are invaluable tools to interpret the past, present and fate of such observational findings. We aim to deliver a robust photometric catalog of simulated Fornax-like systems in cosmological context, to consistently contrast them with S-PLUS data. We analyze Fornax analogs from the EAGLE and IllustrisTNG simulations, selected using observed properties of the Fornax cluster and its central galaxy NGC 1399. For each system, we generated synthetic photometry in the 12 S-PLUS bands using the SKIRT radiative transfer code, reproducing the instrumental configuration of the S-PLUS survey. Simulated data cubes, mock images, spectral energy distributions, magnitudes and colors were obtained for each galaxy in our selected simulated Fornax analogs. The synthetic photometry and spectra derived from simulations show a good agreement with the S-PLUS observations. We identify particular systems which show some similarity with the spatial distribution of galaxies in Fornax. Such simulated candidates reproduce the observed color-magnitude relation and the spatial substructure between the cluster core and the Fornax A region. Also, simulated galaxies are bluer at higher cluster-centric distances, in agreement with observations. Although modest discrepancies were obtained between the observed and simulated color-magnitude diagrams in some cases, our results support the suitability of our selection criteria and synthetic photometry, and the reliability of current cosmological simulations to reproduce key general features of the Fornax cluster.
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All authors L.J. Zenocratti, A.V. Smith Castelli, M.E. De Rossi, D. Pallero, M.C. Artale, R.F. Haack, A.R. Lopes, F.R. Faifer, D. Palma, P.K. Humire, J. Thainá-Batista, W. Schoenell, T. Ribeiro, A. Kanaan, C. Mendes de Oliveira

High Energy Physics (Experiment)

Evidence of $\psi(3770) \to \pi^{0}J/\psi$

BESIII Collaboration: M. Ablikim, M. N. Achasov, P. Adlarson et al. (+766 more)

We report the first evidence for the hadronic transition $\psi(3770) \to \pi^0 J/\psi$ using a data sample of $20.3~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected at $\sqrt{s} = 3.773$~GeV with the BESIII detector. The $e^+ e^- \to \pi^{0}J/\psi$ process is observed with a statistical significance of $6.1\sigma$, while the significance specifically attributed to $\psi(3770) \to \pi^{0}J/\psi$ is $4.5\sigma$. We measure the dressed cross section for $e^+e^- \to \pi^0 J/\psi$ to be $(249 \pm 44 \pm 15)~\text{fb}$ and determine the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(\psi(3770) \to \pi^0 J/\psi) = (2.08 \pm 0.36 \pm 0.21\pm 0.25) \times 10^{-5}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third due to a possible interference with the $\psi(3686) \to \pi^{0}J/\psi$ decay. This is the first determination of this branching fraction. It lies significantly below tetraquark model predictions but aligns with calculations that incorporate meson loop effects, providing crucial insight into the isospin-violating nature of $\psi(3770)$ decays.
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All authors BESIII Collaboration: M. Ablikim, M. N. Achasov, P. Adlarson, X. C. Ai, C. S. Akondi, R. Aliberti, A. Amoroso, Q. An, Y. H. An, M. S. Anderson, Y. Bai, O. Bakina, H. R. Bao, X. L. Bao, M. Barbagiovanni, V. Batozskaya, K. Begzsuren, N. Berger, M. Berlowski, M. B. Bertani, D. Bettoni, F. Bianchi, E. Bianco, A. Bortone, I. Boyko, R. A. Briere, A. Brueggemann, D. Cabiati, H. Cai, M. H. Cai, X. Cai, A. Calcaterra, G. F. Cao, N. Cao, S. A. Cetin, X. Y. Chai, J. F. Chang, T. T. Chang, G. R. Che, Y. Z. Che, C. H. Chen, Chao Chen, G. Chen, H. S. Chen, H. Y. Chen, M. L. Chen, S. J. Chen, S. M. Chen, T. Chen, W. Chen, X. R. Chen, X. T. Chen, X. Y. Chen, Y. B. Chen, Y. Q. Chen, Z. K. Chen, J. Cheng, L. N. Cheng, S. K. Choi, X. Chu, G. Cibinetto, F. Cossio, J. Cottee-Meldrum, H. L. Dai, J. P. Dai, X. C. Dai, A. Dbeyssi, R. E. de Boer, D. Dedovich, C. Q. Deng, Z. Y. Deng, A. Denig, I. Denisenko, M. Destefanis, F. De Mori, E. Di Fiore, X. X. Ding, Y. Ding, Y. X. Ding, J. Dong, L. Y. Dong, M. Y. Dong, X. Dong, Z. J. Dong, M. C. Du, S. X. Du, Shaoxu Du, X. L. Du, Y. Q. Du, Y. Y. Duan, Z. H. Duan, P. Egorov, G. F. Fan, J. J. Fan, Y. H. Fan, J. Fang, Jin Fang, S. S. Fang, W. X. Fang, Y. Q. Fang, L. Fava, F. Feldbauer, G. Felici, C. Q. Feng, J. H. Feng, Q. X. Feng, Y. T. Feng, M. Fritsch, C. D. Fu, J. L. Fu, Y. W. Fu, H. Gao, Xu Gao, Y. Gao, Y. N. Gao, Y. Y. Gao, Yunong Gao, Z. Gao, S. Garbolino, I. Garzia, L. Ge, P. T. Ge, Z. W. Ge, C. Geng, A. Gilman, K. Goetzen, J. Gollub, J. B. Gong, J. D. Gong, L. Gong, W. X. Gong, W. Gradl, M. Greco, M. D. Gu, M. H. Gu, C. Y. Guan, A. Q. Guo, H. Guo, J. N. Guo, L. B. Guo, M. J. Guo, R. P. Guo, X. Guo, Y. P. Guo, Z. Guo, A. Guskov, J. Gutierrez, J. Y. Han, T. T. Han, X. Han, F. Hanisch, K. D. Hao, X. Q. Hao, F. A. Harris, C. Z. He, K. K. He, K. L. He, F. H. Heinsius, C. H. Heinz, Y. K. Heng, C. Herold, P. C. Hong, G. Y. Hou, X. T. Hou, Y. R. Hou, Z. L. Hou, H. M. Hu, J. F. Hu, Q. P. Hu, S. L. Hu, T. Hu, Y. Hu, Y. X. Hu, Z. M. Hu, G. S. Huang, K. X. Huang, L. Q. Huang, P. Huang, X. T. Huang, Y. P. Huang, Y. S. Huang, T. Hussain, N. Hüsken, N. in der Wiesche, J. Jackson, Q. Ji, Q. P. Ji, W. Ji, X. B. Ji, X. L. Ji, Y. Y. Ji, L. K. Jia, X. Q. Jia, D. Jiang, S. J. Jiang, X. S. Jiang, Y. Jiang, J. B. Jiao, J. K. Jiao, Z. Jiao, L. C. L. Jin, S. Jin, Y. Jin, M. Q. Jing, X. M. Jing, T. Johansson, S. Kabana, X. L. Kang, X. S. Kang, B. C. Ke, V. Khachatryan, A. Khoukaz, O. B. Kolcu, B. Kopf, L. Kröger, L. Krümmel, Y. Y. Kuang, X. Kui, N. Kumar, A. Kupsc, W. Kühn, Q. Lan, W. N. Lan, T. T. Lei, M. Lellmann, T. Lenz, C. Li, C. H. Li, C. K. Li, Chunkai Li, Cong Li, D. M. Li, F. Li, G. Li, H. B. Li, H. J. Li, H. L. Li, H. N. Li, H. P. Li, Hui Li, J. N. Li, J. S. Li, J. W. Li, K. Li, K. L. Li, L. J. Li, L. K. Li, Lei Li, M. H. Li, M. R. Li, M. T. Li, P. L. Li, P. R. Li, Q. M. Li, Q. X. Li, R. Li, S. Li, S. X. Li, S. Y. Li, Shanshan Li, T. Li, T. Y. Li, W. D. Li, W. G. Li, X. Li, X. H. Li, X. K. Li, X. L. Li, X. Y. Li, X. Z. Li, Y. Li, Y. H. Li, Y. B. Li, Y. C. Li, Y. G. Li, Y. P. Li, Z. H. Li, Z. J. Li, Z. L. Li, Z. X. Li, Z. Y. Li, C. Liang, H. Liang, Y. F. Liang, Y. T. Liang, Z. Z. Liang, G. R. Liao, L. B. Liao, M. H. Liao, Y. P. Liao, J. Libby, A. Limphirat, C. C. Lin, C. X. Lin, D. X. Lin, T. Lin, B. J. Liu, B. X. Liu, C. Liu, C. X. Liu, F. Liu, F. H. Liu, Feng Liu, G. M. Liu, H. Liu, H. B. Liu, H. M. Liu, Huihui Liu, J. B. Liu, J. J. Liu, K. Liu, K. Y. Liu, Ke Liu, Kun Liu, L. Liu, L. C. Liu, Lu Liu, M. H. Liu, P. L. Liu, Q. Liu, S. B. Liu, T. Liu, W. M. Liu, W. T. Liu, X. Liu, X. K. Liu, X. L. Liu, X. P. Liu, X. T. Liu, X. Y. Liu, Y. Liu, Y. B. Liu, Yi Liu, Z. A. Liu, Z. D. Liu, Z. L. Liu, Z. Q. Liu, Z. X. Liu, Z. Y. Liu, X. C. Lou, H. J. Lu, J. G. Lu, X. L. Lu, Y. Lu, Y. H. Lu, Y. P. Lu, Z. H. Lu, C. L. Luo, J. R. Luo, J. S. Luo, M. X. Luo, T. Luo, X. L. Luo, Z. Y. Lv, X. R. Lyu, Y. F. Lyu, Y. H. Lyu, F. C. Ma, H. L. Ma, Heng Ma, J. L. Ma, L. L. Ma, L. R. Ma, Q. M. Ma, R. Q. Ma, R. Y. Ma, T. Ma, X. T. Ma, X. Y. Ma, F. E. Maas, I. MacKay, M. Maggiora, S. Maity, S. Malde, Y. J. Mao, Z. P. Mao, S. Marcello, A. Marshall, F. M. Melendi, Y. H. Meng, Z. X. Meng, G. Mezzadri, H. Miao, T. J. Min, T. Mineeva, R. E. Mitchell, X. H. Mo, B. Moses, N. Yu. Muchnoi, J. Muskalla, Y. Nefedov, F. Nerling, H. Neuwirth, Z. Ning, S. Nisar, Q. L. Niu, W. D. Niu, Y. Niu, C. Normand, S. L. Olsen, Q. Ouyang, I. V. Ovtin, S. Pacetti, Y. Pan, A. Pathak, Y. P. Pei, M. Pelizaeus, G. L. Peng, H. P. Peng, X. J. Peng, Y. Y. Peng, K. Peters, K. Petridis, J. L. Ping, R. G. Ping, S. Plura, V. Prasad, L. Pöpping, F. Z. Qi, H. R. Qi, S. Qian, W. B. Qian, C. F. Qiao, J. H. Qiao, J. J. Qin, J. L. Qin, L. Q. Qin, L. Y. Qin, P. B. Qin, X. P. Qin, X. S. Qin, Z. H. Qin, J. F. Qiu, Z. H. Qu, J. Rademacker, K. Ravindran, C. F. Redmer, A. Rivetti, M. Rolo, G. Rong, S. S. Rong, F. Rosini, Ch. Rosner, M. Q. Ruan, W. R. Ruangyoo, N. Salone, A. Sarantsev, Y. Schelhaas, M. Schernau, K. Schoenning, M. Scodeggio, W. Shan, X. Y. Shan, Z. J. Shang, J. F. Shangguan, L. G. Shao, M. Shao, C. P. Shen, H. F. Shen, W. H. Shen, X. Y. Shen, B. A. Shi, Ch. Y. Shi, H. Shi, J. L. Shi, J. Y. Shi, M. H. Shi, S. Y. Shi, X. Shi, H. L. Song, J. J. Song, M. H. Song, T. Z. Song, W. M. Song, Y. X. Song, Zirong Song, S. Sosio, S. Spataro, S. Stansilaus, F. Stieler, M. Stolte, S. S Su, G. B. Sun, G. X. Sun, H. Sun, H. K. Sun, J. F. Sun, K. Sun, L. Sun, R. Sun, S. S. Sun, T. Sun, W. Y. Sun, Y. C. Sun, Y. H. Sun, Y. J. Sun, Y. Z. Sun, Z. Q. Sun, Z. T. Sun, H. Tabaharizato, N. T. Tagsinsit, C. J. Tang, G. Y. Tang, J. Tang, J. J. Tang, L. F. Tang, Y. A. Tang, Z. H. Tang, L. Y. Tao, M. Tat, J. X. Teng, J. Y. Tian, W. H. Tian, Y. Tian, Z. F. Tian, K. Yu. Todyshev, I. Uman, E. van der Smagt, B. Wang, Bin Wang, Bo Wang, C. Wang, Chao Wang, Cong Wang, D. Y. Wang, F. K. Wang, H. J. Wang, H. R. Wang, J. Wang, J. J. Wang, J. P. Wang, K. Wang, L. L. Wang, L. W. Wang, M. Wang, Mi Wang, N. Y. Wang, P. Wang, S. Wang, Shun Wang, T. Wang, W. Wang, W. P. Wang, X. F. Wang, X. L. Wang, X. N. Wang, Xin Wang, Y. Wang, Y. D. Wang, Y. F. Wang, Y. H. Wang, Y. J. Wang, Y. L. Wang, Y. N. Wang, Yanning Wang, Yaqian Wang, Yi Wang, Yuan Wang, Z. Wang, Z. L. Wang, Z. Q. Wang, Z. Y. Wang, Zhi Wang, Ziyi Wang, D. Wei, D. H. Wei, D. J. Wei, H. R. Wei, F. Weidner, H. R. Wen, S. P. Wen, U. Wiedner, G. Wilkinson, M. Wolke, J. F. Wu, L. H. Wu, L. J. Wu, Lianjie Wu, S. G. Wu, S. M. Wu, X. W. Wu, Z. Wu, H. L. Xia, L. Xia, B. H. Xiang, D. Xiao, G. Y. Xiao, H. Xiao, Y. L. Xiao, Z. J. Xiao, C. Xie, K. J. Xie, Y. Xie, Y. G. Xie, Y. H. Xie, Z. P. Xie, T. Y. Xing, D. B. Xiong, G. F. Xu, H. Y. Xu, Q. J. Xu, Q. N. Xu, T. D. Xu, X. P. Xu, Y. Xu, Y. C. Xu, Z. S. Xu, F. Yan, L. Yan, W. B. Yan, W. C. Yan, W. H. Yan, W. P. Yan, X. Q. Yan, Y. Y. Yan, H. J. Yang, H. L. Yang, H. X. Yang, J. H. Yang, R. J. Yang, X. Y. Yang, Y. Yang, Y. G. Yang, Y. H. Yang, Y. M. Yang, Y. Q. Yang, Y. Z. Yang, Youhua Yang, Z. Y. Yang, W. J. Yao, Z. P. Yao, M. Ye, M. H. Ye, Z. J. Ye, K. Yi, Junhao Yin, Z. Y. You, B. X. Yu, C. X. Yu, G. Yu, J. S. Yu, L. W. Yu, T. Yu, X. D. Yu, Y. C. Yu, Yongchao Yu, C. Z. Yuan, H. Yuan, J. Yuan, Jie Yuan, L. Yuan, M. K. Yuan, S. H. Yuan, Y. Yuan, C. X. Yue, Ying Yue, A. A. Zafar, F. R. Zeng, S. H. Zeng, X. Zeng, Y. J. Zeng, Yujie Zeng, Y. C. Zhai, Y. H. Zhan, B. L. Zhang, B. X. Zhang, D. H. Zhang, G. Y. Zhang, Gengyuan Zhang, H. Zhang, H. C. Zhang, H. H. Zhang, H. Q. Zhang, H. R. Zhang, H. Y. Zhang, Han Zhang, J. Zhang, J. J. Zhang, J. L. Zhang, J. Q. Zhang, J. S. Zhang, J. W. Zhang, J. X. Zhang, J. Y. Zhang, J. Z. Zhang, Jianyu Zhang, Jin Zhang, Jiyuan Zhang, L. M. Zhang, Lei Zhang, N. Zhang, P. Zhang, Q. Zhang, Q. Y. Zhang, Q. Z. Zhang, R. Y. Zhang, S. H. Zhang, S. N. Zhang, Shulei Zhang, X. M. Zhang, X. Y. Zhang, Y. T. Zhang, Y. H. Zhang, Y. P. Zhang, Yao Zhang, Yu Zhang, Yu Zhang, Z. Zhang, Z. D. Zhang, Z. H. Zhang, Z. L. Zhang, Z. X. Zhang, Z. Y. Zhang, Zh. Zh. Zhang, Zhilong Zhang, Ziyang Zhang, Ziyu Zhang, G. Zhao, J.-P. Zhao, J. Y. Zhao, J. Z. Zhao, L. Zhao, Lei Zhao, M. G. Zhao, R. P. Zhao, S. J. Zhao, Y. B. Zhao, Y. L. Zhao, Y. P. Zhao, Y. X. Zhao, Z. G. Zhao, A. Zhemchugov, B. Zheng, B. M. Zheng, J. P. Zheng, W. J. Zheng, W. Q. Zheng, X. R. Zheng, Y. H. Zheng, B. Zhong, C. Zhong, X. Zhong, H. Zhou, J. Q. Zhou, S. Zhou, X. Zhou, X. K. Zhou, X. R. Zhou, X. Y. Zhou, Y. X. Zhou, Y. Z. Zhou, A. N. Zhu, J. Zhu, K. Zhu, K. J. Zhu, K. S. Zhu, L. X. Zhu, Lin Zhu, S. H. Zhu, T. J. Zhu, W. D. Zhu, W. J. Zhu, W. Z. Zhu, Y. C. Zhu, Z. A. Zhu, X. Y. Zhuang, M. Zhuge, J. H. Zou, J. Zu

Superconductivity

Interface-engineered oxidation-resistant wafer-level Tantalum-Tantalum thermocompression bonding for 3D integration of superconducting interconnects

Harsh Mishra, Ullas Pandey, Sathish Bonam et al. (+3 more)

Wafer-level 3D integration of superconducting interconnects requires low-thermal budget bonding processes compatible with superconducting materials. Rapid native oxide formation on tantalum (Ta) surfaces limits low-temperature, low-pressure direct Ta-Ta thermocompression bonding. In this study, we develop an oxidation-resistant bonding process using an ultrathin Au passivation layer to suppress oxide formation during bonding. The engineered interface enables blanket Ta-Ta wafer bonding at 300 $^\circ$C under 4.93 bar, significantly reducing the bonding thermal budget and generation of $\alpha$-Ta across the interface, which potentially improves coherence time as reported in literature. Structural and interfacial analyses confirm oxide suppression and continuous metallic bonding, having a bond strength of 169 MPa. This work demonstrates a low-temperature, low-pressure Ta-Ta thermocompression bonding strategy for scalable 3D superconducting interconnect integration.
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All authors Harsh Mishra, Ullas Pandey, Sathish Bonam, Adirae Dinesh, Sai Rama Krishna Malladi, Shiv Govind Singh

Strongly Correlated Electrons

Altermagnetism and bond-nematicity in the spin-$1/2$ square lattice $J_1-J_2-\delta$ model

Tanja {\DJ}urić, Shenlong Yu and Pinaki Sengupta

We study appearance of bond-nematicity in insulating altermagnetic materials induced by increased frustration and quantum-fluctuations driven melting of the altermagnetic order. Using novel machine learning approach that combines symmetry enhanced neural network architectures and variational Monte Carlo we consider the spin-$1/2$ square lattice $J_1-J_2-\delta$ model known to have altermagnetic ordering in the regime of small geometric frustration and a gapless spin liquid phase in the regime of strong frustration and small exchange interaction modulation parameter $\delta$. In the regime where exchange modulation is relatively large, resulting in the significant splitting of the magnon modes with different chiralities in the altermagnetic regime, we find that melting of the altermagnetic order by increased frustration leads to an intriguing phase that hosts coexisting symmetry protected topological valence bond solid and bond-nematic orders. The phase is characterized by condensation of magnon pairs that results in bond-nematicity, breaking of U(1) spin rotation and $\mathbb{Z}_2$ spin inversion symmetries and chiral splitting of the triplon-like energy levels in the excitation spectrum. Whilst numerous recent studies address non-trivial impact of altermagnetic moments on various properties in altermagnetic materials, like electronic band structure and superconductivity, influence of strong quantum fluctuations and phases that can result from melting of the altermagnetic order are much less explored. Our study therefore presents an important step in identifying exotic phases of matter that can emerge in vicinity of the altermagnetic order.
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Optics

Beam shifts and eigenpolarisations for the reflection of vortex beams from homogeneous magnetic surfaces

Mairi Gilmour, Sarah Croke and Jörg B. Götte

Probing surfaces with optical beams is a powerful technique utilised for material characterisation, and more recently, measuring surface magnetisation with vortex beams has opened new avenues by utilising OAM beams for metrology. In this paper, we focus on extending the theoretical framework of unit order vortex beam reflection to spatially homogeneous magnetic surfaces, and derive expressions for the Goos-Hänchen (GH) and Imbert-Federov (IF) shifts. We calculate closed form expressions for the plane wave eigenpolarisations, polarisations which remain in the same vectorial direction after reflection, for both dielectric and homogeneous magnetic surfaces. These are found by extending the singularimetry formalism for dielectric surfaces, where the position of the phase vortex can be analytically approximated by taking into account the finite beam width, to homogeneous magnetic surfaces. From this we find the eigenpolarisations of the unit order vortex beam for reflection from both dielectric and homogeneous magnetic surfaces. We discuss with relation to the analytical forms of the Jones matrices for GH and IF shifts the additional reflection behaviour observed for homogeneous magnetic surfaces.
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High Energy Physics (Phenomenology)

Quality control for axions and ALPs

Andrew Cheek, Andrew Fowlie and Gonzalo Herrera

Axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) are protected by Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetries that quantum gravity is expected to break. Modeling quantum gravity by Planck-suppressed PQ-breaking operators with unsuppressed Wilson coefficients and random phases, we quantify the fine-tuning required for an acceptable strong CP phase or a given ALP mass. For the QCD axion to account for the observed dark matter abundance at $f_a \simeq 10^{11}\,\text{GeV}$, PQ-breaking operators must be absent up to mass dimension $D \gtrsim 12$. We show that the residual strong CP phase could be measurable in upcoming neutron electric dipole moment searches. For ALPs, we map the mass-decay constant plane by the degree of UV protection required, and find that parts of the parameter space targeted by future laboratory experiments are already fine-tuned at the part-per-million level or worse, or equivalently, require PQ quality to be protected up to dimension $D\gg 10$. We argue that quality, not mass alone, is the central naturalness question for the axion program.
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Quantum Physics

OQMD: Single-Qubit Rotation Control Improves Low-CNOT Multiclass Quantum Classification

Michael A. Magid, Melissa Zeynep Ertem and Jun Suzuki

Near-term variational classifiers incur substantial error and latency from two-qubit gates, yet practitioners often assume that additional entangling depth is the default route to higher accuracy. This work studies Optimal Quantum Measurement Decoding (OQMD): optimizing how quantum outcomes are mapped to classical labels by training a readout layer before measurement, jointly with the variational circuit, without adding CNOTs. Experiments use trainable triple single-qubit rotations as one concrete, hardware-native realization of OQMD; other single-qubit parametrizations fit the same classical outer loop. On the Iris benchmark with a 30-point stratified test split, the best observed 0-CNOT configuration with OQMD reaches 83.33% accuracy, with a 96% at 9 CNOTs, exceeding the best 18-CNOT controls (56.67%) and the best 18-CNOT configuration with OQMD (66.67%) under a common protocol. A six-point CNOT-depth series from 0 to 18 (fixed optimizer, iteration budget, random-seed count, and ZXZ readout) shows that the highest raw scores need not occur at the largest template, so aggregate complexity is not summarized by CNOT count alone. Because run-level accuracies are discrete and non-Gaussian, we emphasize best-observed scores and, where a global comparison of pooled runs is required, Mann–Whitney $U$ tests rather than parametric tests on means. Across architectures, OQMD shows statistically consistent but magnitude-dependent gains: large peak lifts on minimal circuits coexist with a small pooled mean shift on complex 18-CNOT runs ($p\approx 0.03$) that is not “universal” in the sense of uniformly large practical effects.%
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Quantum Physics

Link-Free Multi-Node Timing Synchronization for Scalable Quantum Networking

Jacob E. Humberd, Mohmad Junaid Ul Haq, Angel Fraire Estrada et al. (+2 more)

Precise timing synchronization is essential for distributed quantum networking, enabling entanglement distribution, quantum teleportation, and entanglement swapping across remote nodes. Existing synchronization architectures rely on dedicated timing-distribution infrastructure, most notably White Rabbit networks, which constrain topology, scalability, and deployment in free-space and satellite environments. Here we demonstrate link-free synchronization of quantum network nodes using independently operating miniature rubidium atomic clocks and computational post-processing. We validate the approach on a deployed metropolitan-scale telecom fiber network spanning three geographically separated nodes. Following drift correction, atomic-clock-based synchronization achieves timing performance approaching that of a White Rabbit benchmark and remains stable over continuous 8-hour operation. As a stringent test of quantum-network functionality, we observe Hong-Ou-Mandel interference across spatially separated nodes with visibility exceeding 70%, statistically equivalent to that obtained using dedicated White Rabbit timing links. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first observation of quantum interference across a deployed metropolitan-scale telecom fiber network synchronized entirely without dedicated timing-transfer infrastructure. These results establish atomic-clock-based synchronization as a scalable, topology-independent alternative to conventional timing-distribution architectures and a practical pathway toward terrestrial, airborne, and space-based quantum networks where dedicated timing links are unavailable.
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All authors Jacob E. Humberd, Mohmad Junaid Ul Haq, Angel Fraire Estrada, Ike Deitch, Tian Li

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

A theory agnostic uniqueness theorem for the Kerr solution

Joshua Baines

In this paper, we show that under a suitable set of symmetry arguments and asymptotic conditions, the uniqueness of the Kerr solution can be proven. None of the conditions considered herein explicitly assume the validity of the Einstein equations. Hence, we are able to construct a theory agnostic uniqueness theorem for the Kerr spacetime. This result has implications for theories of quantum gravity or modified theories of gravity which wish to excise singular behaviour from their corresponding spacetimes. Furthermore, this work is complimentary to Penrose's singularity theorem. While the spacetime considered herein is not as general as that assumed by Penrose, we show that singularities can be unavoidable even when the validity of the Einstein equations is not presupposed.
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Soft Condensed Matter

Field-selective criticality in 2D melting revealed by multi-field Lee-Yang zeros

Ling Liu, Fang-Cheng Wang, Qi-Jun Ye et al. (+1 more)

How a two-dimensional solid melts remains unsettled after 60 years of study, as theory, model systems, simulations, and atomic-resolution experiments continue to suggest conflicting scenarios. The same transition can appear continuous or abrupt depending on how it is observed, where this ambiguity is especially acute in confined water. Here we study bilayer water under nanoconfinement and ask not only where its phase boundaries lie, but how the system responds to the two fields that drive them: temperature and lateral pressure. Using Lee-Yang zeros together with enhanced sampling, we find that some phase boundaries are field-selective: the two responses can differ either in continuity itself, or in how strongly they are rounded in finite systems. This distinction changes the two-step melting picture. The solid–hexatic transition is field-selective first-order, with the density channel remaining unusually rounded, whereas the hexatic–liquid transition becomes a conventional first-order transition once larger cells reveal a hidden bimodal enthalpy distribution. This framework organizes the apparent disagreement among confined-water simulations, hard-disk models and AgI experiments by identifying which thermodynamic channel each probe sees.
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All authors Ling Liu, Fang-Cheng Wang, Qi-Jun Ye, Xin-Zheng Li

Materials Science · Cross-listed from cs.DC

Extreme-Scale Atomistic Simulation of Real-Temperature Magnetic Skyrmion Dynamics by Coupled Spin-Lattice Modeling

Pin Chen, Cheng-bing Chen, Hai Liu et al. (+9 more)

Real-temperature topological magnetic dynamics in functional materials is governed by coupled lattice and spin evolution, yet remains inaccessible to predictive simulation at device-relevant scales. As a flagship example, thermally driven helix-to-skyrmion transformation in FeGe requires atomistic resolution, explicit lattice motion, and micrometer-scale domains to resolve device-scale topological texture formation. We combine a spin-constrained density-functional-theory-trained neuro-evolution potential with a structure-preserving spin-lattice integrator within one machine-learned framework. Architecture-specific optimizations, kernel fusion, SVE2 vectorization, and NUMA-aware data layout deliver a seven orders-of-magnitude speedup over prior spin-aware methods. Deployed on LineShine exascale supercomputer, the full application scales to 12.45 million CPU cores with 89.7% weak-scaling efficiency, enabling simulations of 1.34 trillion atoms and an equal number of spins while reaching 48.5 PFLOPS in double precision. The simulations directly resolve real-temperature skyrmion nucleation and reorganization at previously inaccessible scales, establishing a new regime for predictive simulation of coupled spin-lattice topological magnetic dynamics.
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All authors Pin Chen, Cheng-bing Chen, Hai Liu, Yuewen Huang, Kangyou Zhong, Hai-Jun Zhao, Liu-Liu Han, Guixin Guo, Jiang Li, Dan Huang, Ben Xu, Yutong Lu

Optics

Probing the Broken Spatial Symmetry of a Stratified Medium with Structured Light

Arani Maiti, Sauvik Roy, Nirmalya Ghosh et al. (+2 more)

We study theoretically near-symmetric resonant stratified media to show how a tiny broken spatial symmetry can effectively be probed by structured light with or without orbital angular momentum. This is achieved by examining both the in-plane and out of plane Goos-Hanchen and Imbert Fedorov shifts, respectively, in the reflected light, magnified by resonant enhancement and when needed with weak value amplification. We show that non-reciprocity in reflection for illumination from opposite ends can result in different shifts, even to the extent of shifts with opposite signs for tiny imbalance resulting from the broken symmetry. Our methodology is applicable to any general stratified medium with homogeneous and isotropic constituent layers being responsive to any entity that may cause such symmetry breaking - including temperature, refractive index, displacement etc. in the near symmetric case. This may have possible use for sensing applications.
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All authors Arani Maiti, Sauvik Roy, Nirmalya Ghosh, Ayan Banerjee, Subhasish Dutta Gupta

Soft Condensed Matter

Topology-defined computation in knitted textiles

Daisuke S. Shimamoto

Mechanical computation, in which logic functions are realized through deformation rather than electronics, has been demonstrated in systems such as origami, kirigami, and mechanical metamaterials. In these systems, logic states and functions are typically determined by geometry and material properties, making it sensitive to deformation and imperfections. Here we introduce a mechanical computing architecture in which logic is defined by topology rather than geometry. The circuit is realized as a knitted textile formed from a single continuous yarn, where information is encoded in the topology of stitches and processed through controlled unraveling. By discretizing the textile into a lattice of interacting cells, we construct topological propagation rules that implement universal logic operations, including NOT, AND, and OR gates, as well as a half-adder. Experiments demonstrate that the logical output is robust against geometric deformation, while mechanical factors affect only if the computation can be executed. These results establish topology-defined computation as a model for information processing in textiles and other reconfigurable physical systems.
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Materials Science

General Theory for Ferroelectric Control of Spin Splitting in Collinear Antiferromagnets

Zhihao Dai, Yingwei Chen, Junyi Ji et al. (+2 more)

Electrical control of magnetism is crucial for next-generation spintronics. While recent advances have demonstrated ferroelectric switching in two-dimensional magnets, a general design strategy spanning different dimensionalities remains elusive. Here, we develop a group-theoretical framework for achieving ferroelectric control of spin splitting in collinear antiferromagnets, including altermagnets and compensated ferrimagnets. By systematically classifying switching operators through symmetry analysis, we identify a universal pathway for the simultaneous reversal of electric polarization and nonrelativistic spin splitting.We validate this approach in three representative systems: quasi-one-dimensional $(6,14)$ Zigzag graphene nanoribbons, two-dimensional~\ch{Nb3I8}, and three-dimensional altermagnetic~\ch{MnSe2}. Our work establishes a versatile design paradigm for magnetoelectric devices and expands the functional landscape of low-power spintronic materials beyond the low-dimensional limit.
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All authors Zhihao Dai, Yingwei Chen, Junyi Ji, Chaoyu He, Hongjun Xiang

Optics

Nonlinear pluggable optics: Digital signal processing-free Intensity Modulated Direct Detection links using analog photonic Next Generation Reservoir Computing

Nicholas Cox, Joseph Murray, Ross T. Schermer et al. (+6 more)

In this work, we propose a Nonlinear Pluggable Optic (NLPO) transceiver that combines the low latency and low power consumption of Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO) with the range and robustness of digital signal processing (DSP)-based transceivers. The proposed NLPO uses an analog photonic Next-Generation Reservoir Computing (NGRC) architecture, constructed on a photonic integrated circuit (PIC), to compensate for electrical-domain distortions as well as optical-channel impairments from chromatic dispersion and Kerr nonlinearity. Focusing on a simulated 50 GBd PAM-4 link, we find that the NGRC-based NLPO not only extends the range of LPO, but actually outperforms DSP-based solutions as well. Our simulations reveal two key advantages compared to DSP-based Intensity Modulation/Direct Detection (IM/DD) links: (1) the NGRC can take advantage of the optical phase information without requiring a local oscillator and (2) the NGRC can optically sample the transmitted data well above the symbol rate without requiring high-bandwidth electronics. This work showcases the potential for photonic NGRCs to outperform state-of-the-art digital solutions in real-world applications and opens a path to low-latency, lower-power IM/DD links at ranges of 10s of km.
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All authors Nicholas Cox, Joseph Murray, Ross T. Schermer, Shuo S. Pang, Christopher Long, Gajadhar Joshi, Nicholas Nobile, Raktim Sarma, Brandon Redding

Superconductivity

Symmetry of the critical current function in superconducting nanodevices

Ziqi Zhao, Cliff Sun, Ci-You Huang et al. (+3 more)

We study a variety of nano-scale superconducting devices containing more than one weak link. Even in devices with multiple weak links the IB symmetry is usually obeyed, which means that if we reverse both the bias current direction and the magnetic field direction at the same time, the superconducting response, namely the critical current, remains unchanged. We also provide a detailed analysis of the situations in which such symmetry is violated.
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All authors Ziqi Zhao, Cliff Sun, Ci-You Huang, Jiankun Zhang, Xiangyu Song, Alexey Bezryadin

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

Semianalytic Sensitivity Estimates for Out-of-Bank Gravitational-Wave Signals

Aditya Vijaykumar and Reed Essick

Estimating the sensitivity of gravitational-wave searches is important for a wide variety of scientific applications spanning astrophysics and fundamental physics. In this work, we develop a fast semianalytic approximation for estimating matched-filter search sensitivity to physical effects not explicitly modeled in the template bank. This approximation utilizes fitting factors, i.e., the maximum overlap of a candidate signal over the search bank. As illustrations, we compare our estimates to the actual performance of searches against spinning binary neutron stars, and evaluate search sensitivity to compact binaries possessing orbital eccentricity or deviations from general relativity. Our work thus paves the way for fast sensitivity estimates for a variety of applications, including unmodeled effects in template banks such as deviations from general relativity, environmental effects, gravitational lensing, and waveform/calibration systematics.
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High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Electron-capture Supernova Candidates from Light Curves: Implications for Their Progenitors and Explosion Properties

Masato Sato, Nozomu Tominaga, Sergei I. Blinnikov et al. (+5 more)

Core-collapse supernovae are explosions of massive stars. While most massive stars end as iron-core-collapse supernovae, less massive stars are expected to explode as electron-capture supernovae (ECSNe), defining the low-mass boundary of core-collapse supernovae. ECSNe were proposed $\sim 40$ years ago, and first-principles simulations predict their successful explosions with low energies of $\sim 10^{50}$~erg. Nevertheless, only one convincing candidate, SN~2018zd, has been proposed other than SN~1054, the progenitor of the Crab Nebula. We search for ECSN candidates among Type~II SNe from the literature and a public Zwicky Transient Facility sample, using a color-based diagnostic, selecting ten candidates with blue colors at the middle of the plateau. We classify three as gold, for which a spectrum around the middle of the plateau disfavors strong circumstellar-medium interaction that would make the SN bluer, and seven as silver without such spectra. Comparing the observed multicolor light curves with radiation-hydrodynamical models, we infer the explosion energies, $(0.4-1.7)\times10^{50}$~erg for the gold candidates and $(0.4-2.7)\times10^{50}$~erg including the silver candidates, consistent with first-principles predictions and the mass-loss rates, $3\times10^{-3} - 3 \times 10^{-2}~M_{\odot}~{\rm yr}^{-1}$ for the gold candidates, which remain similar when the silver candidates are included, higher than those expected for the early super-asymptotic-giant-branch phase. The ECSN occurrence ratios among SNe~II are inferred as $3.0^{+10.6}_{-2.9}$ and $15.7^{+17.3}_{-12.7}~\%$ from the gold and silver candidates, respectively, which we interpret as lower and upper limits. To robustly identify ECSNe and refine this ratio, spectroscopic follow-ups of ECSN candidates around the middle of the plateau are essential.
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All authors Masato Sato, Nozomu Tominaga, Sergei I. Blinnikov, Marat Sh. Potashov, Takashi J. Moriya, Daichi Hiramatsu, Francisco Förster, Joseph P. Anderson

History and Philosophy of Physics

A Unified Subject Map for 130 Years of Physics

Khoa Nguyen, Pragyan Pandey, Sophie Li et al. (+1 more)

More than a century of physics is recorded in the American Physical Society (APS) archive, but the corpus cannot be analyzed as a single, time-resolved object because its subject metadata are fragmented across eras with no shared vocabulary. We close this gap by using a frontier large language model to retrospectively assign the modern Physics Subject Headings (PhySH) to the historical archive, yielding a unified subject map for every APS paper from 1893 to 2025. The resulting map not only reproduces century-scale disciplinary arcs but also resolves the fine-grained lifecycles of individual ideas, materials, techniques, and discoveries across a vocabulary of over 3,000 PhySH Concepts. The map turns a fragmented archive into a quantitative substrate for systematic search and for data-driven studies of how physics evolves.
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All authors Khoa Nguyen, Pragyan Pandey, Sophie Li, Eric Y. Ma

Fluid Dynamics

Machine learning for rarefied gas transport in vacuum and micro/nano systems: promise, pitfalls, and a verification agenda

Ehsan Roohi

Machine learning is beginning to influence rarefied-gas modeling at multiple levels, including equation-solving, operator learning, learned collision physics, moment closures, direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) field surrogates, and gas–surface models. This Perspective argues that the central challenge is not demonstration-level success, but trustworthy use under realistic deployment conditions: multiregime Knudsen behavior, stochastic DSMC labels, sharp nonequilibrium structures, uncertain gas–surface interaction, and scarce direct experimental anchors. I classify the main method families by what is learned, distinguish soft physics penalties from structure-preserving designs, and propose evaluation standards based on extrapolation tests, noise-aware metrics, end-to-end cost accounting, and a three-level validation hierarchy. Most current evidence is solver-facing: it demonstrates surrogate fidelity to a teacher solver more often than direct physical fidelity to experiment. The aim is not to dismiss ML for rarefied and vacuum-related gas transport, but to separate what is already credible from what remains provisional, and to define a reporting standard that makes future claims auditable.
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Quantum Physics

All about quantum error correction: distillation, mitigation, self-correction and beyond

D.-S. Wang

In this work, it is shown that many quantum error-manipulating techniques, such as distillation, error mitigation, and dynamical decoupling, are special cases of the most general framework for quantum error correction. This unifying perspective is achieved by extending quantum error correction to include state-adaptive and channel-adaptive settings, as well as multi-stage coding scenarios. Based on this insight, a model of self-correcting quantum memory is also proposed. This work clarifies the relationship among these techniques and illustrates, through explicit constructions, how the unified perspective can guide the design of reliable quantum information systems.
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