Papers

Some topological phases of matter are called fragile. They can be trivialized by adding additional valence bands and do not generically host protected gapless boundary states. Here we establish a fragile topological index with a bulk signature: it guarantees the presence of gap closing points in the bulk band structure of systems with both time-reversal and twofold rotation symmetry. This result extends the established use of the Euler class in diagnosing the presence of Dirac cones for general two-dimensional systems with a combination of time-reversal and twofold rotation symmetry, to the case of nonmagnetic materials obeying both symmetries individually. The abundance of natural nonmagnetic materials with these symmetries renders the topological invariant practically useful, despite its fragility. We demonstrate this by applying first-principles calculations to five materials and finding that all of them host Dirac points identified by the invariant, suggesting its widespread applicability. Our results thus provide a robust spectroscopic signature of fragile topology in nonmagnetic systems which can be directly accessed in experiments on practically relevant materials. Furthermore, they enable an alternate method for finding Dirac cones in ab-initio simulations, and may be used as a route towards identifying materials with nonlinear transport properties.

We develop a replica-based framework for the scaled cumulant-generating functional of the empirical spectral distribution function $i_C$ of diluted Hermitian random matrices. Within a replica-symmetric saddle-point assumption, this construction yields a candidate rate functional for fluctuations of $i_C$. As an illustrative application, we consider adjacency matrices of unweighted Erdős-Rényi random graphs with mean degree $c$. We derive explicit expressions for the first two cumulants of $i_C$, indicate how higher cumulants can be obtained from further functional derivatives, and compute the rate function of Fourier coefficients, equivalently of selected linear spectral statistics. The replica-symmetric predictions are tested against exact numerical diagonalization and show good agreement in the accessible fluctuation regime. The approach provides a basis for studying rate functionals of spectral observables in sparse random matrix ensembles.

Superconducting qubits are most often measured using dispersive readout, which, ideally, implements a projective quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement. While a larger readout drive can increase the signal and, thus, reduce discrimination errors in the readout, strong microwave drives may also cause non-QND errors by driving the qubit to a state outside the computational subspace. In this work, we experimentally characterize measurement-induced state transitions (MIST) in a fluxonium qubit over its full external flux range. We further numerically calculate the MIST errors, and find that the theory accurately predicts eleven experimentally identified regions with increased MIST. In addition to transitions to higher fluxonium levels, we also find that, at certain flux points, MIST errors are dominated by transitions that include the transmission-line-like array modes of the fluxonium's superinductor. The excellent match between theory and experiment validates that the models accurately predict the occurrence of MIST in these systems, and further highlights the influence of array modes in fluxonium readout.

The microscopic origin of chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS), a phenomena where chiral molecules connected to a magnetic electrode show large spin-dependent conductance asymmetry even in ambient temperature, still remains an open question. Most of the existent theories are based on some sort of effective spin-orbit coupling or interfacial scattering, which do not provide satisfactory explanations for experimental observations such as the magnitude of spin polarization or the length dependence of the effect. We propose an alternative theoretical framework rooted in an intrinsic molecular contribution that shows a robust CISS effect and scales with the length of the molecule. The mechanism is based on the emergent molecular magnetic moment (MOM), which can produce experimentally observed point-symmetric I-V curves without violating the Onsager-Casimir reciprocity relation. The MOM has an intrinsic component that is governed by the chirality of the molecule and leads to finite CISS magnetoresistance and magnetochiral conductance asymmetry (MChA) that are even in bias voltage. By decomposing the MOM into its Fermi sea and Fermi surface components, we show that under strong bias, the MOM can be dominated by the Fermi surface contribution, which causes a sign change in the MChA leading to a behavior similar to that of electric magnetochiral anisotropy (eMChA). Finally, we analyze the effect of a magnetic field within the same framework, which may provide better insight into the crossover between CISS and eMChA.

Photonic higher-order topological insulators (HOTI) are characterized by a hierarchy of topologically-protected states with different dimensionalities, making them especially interesting for potential applications that combine strong localization of electromagnetic fields and their robust waveguiding. However, their practical implementation often requires expensive processing techniques and is limited by accessible material parameters. In this paper, we demonstrate that a radio-frequency photonic HOTI can be implemented as a metasurface composed of split-ring resonators with couplings between dipole and quadrupole modes. We verify, by numerical simulations and experimentally at frequencies of 1.5-1.7 GHz, that a proposed metasurface supports corner- and edge-localized states. Our results reveal a scalable and easily reconfigurable GHz-range platform that employs printed circuit board technology, thus making crucial steps required for further experimental studies of photonic HOTI and the development of their microwave applications.

The discovery of novel crystalline materials is a critical challenge in computational materials science, often limited by the spatial representation limitations and mode collapse typical of classical generative models. Traditionally, developing Quantum GANs for continuous 3D space is hindered by the limited capacity of near-term hardware. To overcome this, we adapt a physics-informed "split-head" architecture right from the quantum trunk to explicitly decouple macroscopic lattice bounds from microscopic atomic coordinates, significantly maximizing resource efficiency. This study disentangles the contributions of quantum circuits from these architectural priors by evaluating a Split-Head Quantum Generative Adversarial Network against an architecture-matched classical ablation model. Evaluated on the highly constrained Mg-Mn-O system, the results reveal a highly nuanced performance dichotomy between the advanced models. The architecture-matched classical ablation model demonstrated superior thermodynamic precision. Conversely, the integration of quantum circuits in the SH-QGAN drove unparalleled structural breadth and latent space exploration, more than doubling the ablation's geometric validity and successfully generating novel, metastable candidates converging on the Mg2MnO4 stoichiometry. These findings clarify that while architectural separation of cell and atom generation drives strict thermodynamic precision, quantum feature mapping independently provides the spatial diversity necessary to overcome mode collapse. Both mechanisms offer distinct, complementary enhancements for the generative discovery of advanced materials.

Realizing conditional quantum operations, e.g., quantum gates, for quantum computing and simulation requires controlled interactions between particles. Often, these interactions depend on the interparticle distance, and accordingly, an uncertainty of the relative particle position may translate into gate infidelities. We consider here a quantum computing platform based on an array of neutral atoms and present a method that allows to reduce the uncertainty of all interatomic distances. Our approach exploits the coupling between atomic motion and stroboscopically excited atomic Rydberg states. It allows to collectively squeeze the modes corresponding to interatomic displacements, thereby reducing distance fluctuations down to a fraction of the motional vacuum state. Furthermore, the method permits the creation of non-classical states with substantial Wigner negativity. These correlated states may allow reducing motional decoherence, increasing gate fidelity, and potentially yield a resource for quantum-enhanced metrology.

Altermagnetism as a new concept in condensed matter physics is currently being thoroughly investigated. Despite the absence of macroscopic magnetization, altermagnets host a hidden spin order whose direct detection remains a challenge. Here we report on the observation of electric and magnetic dipole forbidden optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) in the altermagnet CoF$_2$ with a centrosymmetric lattice and spin order. We demonstrate that below the Néel temperature $T_N = 38$ K the SHG signal is sensitive to the ferrotype magnetic octupole $\mathbf{\mathcal{O}}^M$ which is the order parameter in the antiferromagnetic phase. By combining polarization-resolved SHG experimental data and a phenomenological symmetry analysis, we show that the altermagnetic spin structure of CoF$_2$ enables a ferroic-octupole-induced electric-quadrupolar nonlinear polarization $\mathbf{P}^{2\omega} = \mathrm i\varepsilon_{0}{ }^c\mathbf{\chi}^{(3)}(\mathbf{\mathcal{O}}^M) :\mathbf{E}^{\omega} \nabla \mathbf{E}^{\omega}$. The temperature dependence of SHG reveals a phase transition at $T_N$ confirming the spin origin of the observed signal. The SHG response is resonantly enhanced by a coherent three-photon process caused by the electronic $d$-$d$ transitions of the Co$^{2+}$ ion. Model calculations of SHG polarization rotational anisotropies and temperature dependencies give a reasonable agreement with experimental data, proving the disclosed nonlinear contribution. Our results establish SHG as a novel sensitive tool of ferroic-octupolar spin ordering and highlight the potential of CoF$_2$ and other altermagnets for further nonlinear optical investigations and applications.

We investigate the geometric, dynamical, and thermodynamic properties of a novel class of regular black holes in scalar-tensor gravity non-minimally coupled to nonlinear electrodynamics (NED). By incorporating a purely magnetic NED source within a scalar-tensor framework, we circumvent the classical “no-go” theorems. These theorems, strictly formulated for scalar-free Einstein-NED systems, prohibit regular configurations for purely electric fields due to the fundamental requirement of recovering the linear Maxwell limit at spatial infinity. The geometric analysis demonstrates the complete resolution of the central Penrose singularity, replacing it with a regular, globally bounded vacuum core ($|\rho_c| < \infty$). While purely electromagnetic regular black holes canonically possess a de Sitter center, the deep potential well of the scalar field in our model structurally alters this standard geometry, yielding a locally Anti-de Sitter (AdS-like) regime characterized by a strictly negative central energy density ($\rho_c < 0$). To assess the physical viability of these configurations, we analyze their dynamical stability against odd-parity (axial) linear gravitational perturbations. The derived Regge-Wheeler-like effective potential is strictly positive and convex outside the event horizon. Numerical time-domain integration, independently corroborated by the semi-analytical WKB approximation, confirms the total absence of exponentially growing modes, revealing a stable quasi-normal ringing phase followed by an exponential decay. Furthermore, our thermodynamic analysis of the mass-radius relation directly indicates that the semi-classical Hawking evaporation must terminate at the extremal limit ($M = M_{min}$), leaving behind a massive thermodynamic remnant, thereby providing a theoretical framework toward resolving the black hole information loss paradox.

Magnetic behavior across Fe$_2$O$_3$ polymorphs varies widely despite identical chemistry, highlighting crystal architecture as a key determinant of exchange topology, magnetic anisotropy, and ultimately magnetic order. Here, using neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction, we establish the magnetic ground state of the poorly understood bixbyite $\beta$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ polymorph and uncover the structural origin of its strong frustration. Below the Néel temperature, a noncollinear antiferromagnetic state emerges through activation of the $mH_1^{+}$ irrep at the H-point [$\mathbf{k}=(1,1,1)$] and the antitranslation $(1'|\tfrac{1}{2},\tfrac{1}{2},\tfrac{1}{2})$, breaking the body centering and yielding two interpenetrating primitive cubic magnetic subcells with inverted moments and nonpolar type-IV symmetry. Under exclusively antiferromagnetic Fe$^{3+}$-O-Fe$^{3+}$ interactions, $\beta$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ exhibits a large frustration index ($f \approx 7.56$). This behavior originates from the intrinsic geometry of the bixbyite lattice: two magnetic sublattices with distinct point symmetries and anisotropy constraints are embedded in a three-dimensional exchange network containing interconnected triangular and hexagonal motifs. In $\{111\}$ planes, Fe2 ions form hexagonal rings interconnected by frustrated triangular units, while locally Ising-like Fe1 ions occupy the ring centers. Our results thus identify the bixbyite architecture as a promising general platform for frustrated noncollinear magnetism. Extending this structural framework to other magnetic transition-metal or 4$f$ ions opens a materials space for engineering competing exchange interactions and anisotropies, potentially stabilizing new noncollinear and field-tunable magnetic states.

Heat conduction in semiconductor crystals is fundamentally governed by the linearized Peierls-Boltzmann equation (LPBE) for phonon transport, that arises out of a kinetic theory for phonon quasiparticles. Yet, continuum theories such as the Fourier's heat diffusion, weakly quasiballistic and hydrodynamic heat equations are often used to explain the experimental observations of heat flow in these materials. Here, we show that a systematic reduction of the LPBE into such equivalent continuum descriptions are possible only for the limiting values of a set of generalized Knudsen numbers. We further show that all of these continuum heat flow regimes, along with the ballistic heat flow, can be described by a single continuum equation for the temperature field that originates from the eigenmode analysis of the LPBE, thus offering a unified picture of all possible heat flow regimes in semiconducting crystals. Using quantitative examples on twenty three technologically important semiconductors, we show that several previously-unidentified features of the non-Fourier heat flow regimes emerge from this generalized Knudsen number framework such as (1) the mutual exclusivity of the weakly quasiballistic and the hydrodynamic heat flow regimes, (2) length-dependent velocity of the hydrodynamic second sound temperature wave and a characteristic heating length for the strongest hydrodynamic second sound, (3) characteristic frequency-domain temperature response distinguishing the hydrodynamic second sound from the ballistic heat flow regime and, (4) a new non-oscillatory signature of transient hydrodynamic heat flow. Our work formally bridges the continuum and the particulate descriptions of heat flow, and provides insights into the important signatures of temperature dynamics in each of these heat flow regimes, that will aid in their unambiguous experimental observations in the future.

Within the NRQCD factorization framework, we investigate the color-singlet contribution to $e^+e^- \to J/\psi + X_{{\rm non\,}c\bar{c}}$ at B factories, computing the $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s)$, $\mathcal{O}(v^2)$, and $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s v^2)$ corrections to both the unpolarized cross section and the $J/\psi$ angular distribution. The $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s v^2)$ correction is obtained for the first time, and the validity of NRQCD factorization at this order is explicitly verified. Using the differential equation method, the short-distance coefficients are obtained as asymptotic expansions in $r = m_c/\sqrt{s}$ up to $r^{40}$, which reproduce exact results with high precision at B factory energies, achieving relative errors around $10^{-14}$ for the cross section and around $10^{-7}$ for the angular distribution. Notably, with the same input parameters, our $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s)$ and $\mathcal{O}(v^2)$ corrections are consistent with those reported in the literature. Phenomenologically, the $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s)$ correction (with $\mu_R=\sqrt{s}/2$) reaches about $50\%$ of the leading-order cross section, while the $\mathcal{O}(v^2)$ and $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s v^2)$ corrections are accidentally small. After including feeddown contributions from $\psi(2S)$, the predicted cross section $0.523_{-0.197}^{+0.285}$ pb agrees with the Belle measurement within uncertainties. However, the predicted angular distribution parameter $0.120_{-0.036}^{+0.041}$ deviates from the experimental value $5.71\pm 2.51$ by more than $2\sigma$, calling for further experimental and theoretical investigations.

Controlling the interplay between particle propagation and quantum correlation generation is a central challenge in quantum transport. Here, we investigate two distinguishable continuous-time quantum walkers evolving on parallel one-dimensional lattices, interacting via distance-dependent potentials. While on-site interactions reproduce the typical bosonic behaviour, extending the interaction to a linear potential over multiple neighbors introduces controlled Bloch-like oscillations and shifts the bound-pair regime to stronger couplings. More generally, we explore a Coulomb-like interaction parameterized by strength, spatial scaling, and decay rate. This reveals a rich dynamical diagram including four distinct regimes: (i) a high-entropy, oscillatory regime akin to a linear potential; (ii) a strongly localized, bound-pair regime; (iii) a novel intermediate regime combining near-ballistic spreading with strong correlations; and (iv) a weakly interacting, free-propagation regime. Notably, regime (iii) achieves concurrent optimization of transport efficiency and entanglement, offering a sweet spot for correlated quantum dynamics. Our results provide a tool for designing interaction-engineered quantum walks with potential applications in quantum information processing and simulations.

We propose a minimal model for chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS) in dc transport through insulating chiral molecules, based on quantum tunneling and interaction-induced spin splitting. As a concrete realization of the latter, we consider a weak Zeeman interaction of the particle spin with the current-induced magnetic field, recently shown to occur in helical molecules. We show that quantum tunneling, combined with dissipation, amplifies the effect, so that even such a small spin-dependent perturbation can yield spin polarizations on the order of 100% across a wide range of applied bias voltages. Furthermore, our tunneling scenario naturally reproduces the characteristic CISS symmetry of the current-voltage dependence – namely, the invariance of the spin-polarization sign under reversal of the current direction – while fully respecting Onsager's reciprocity relations.

The understanding and modeling of high-energy particles transport in turbulent magnetic fields is an important open question in space- and astrophysics. The multiscale, nonlinear nature of turbulence, and the high variability of turbulence properties across different environments, make it particularly challenging to reach a full understanding of the interactions between particles and turbulent fluctuations. Using synthetic, realistically looking turbulent magnetic field realizations generated by the BxC toolkit, we investigate how the scattering of particles is affected by anisotropic fluctuations in strongly turbulent fields. We find evidence that, in the absence of a uniform background or guide magnetic field, the scattering process is not governed by the turbulence correlation length. We then further verify this hypothesis by studying particle transport in the presence of a guide field. We find evidence of a different scattering mechanism than the usual pitch-angle diffusion used to describe scattering in strong-guide-field settings.

The cross section of the process $e^+ e^- \to \pi^0\pi^0 \gamma$ is calculated in the extended NJL quark model. The vector channel with the intermediate $\rho$, $\omega$, $\rho'$ and $\omega'$ mesons is considered. The main contribution is given by the intermediate radially excited $\rho'$ meson. The role of the channel with the intermediate scalar meson is also discussed.

The dynamic Leidenfrost effect LFE and behaviour of impinging colloidal droplets is strongly influenced by the impact and spreading paradigms. LFE actuated rebound and levitation occurs due to enhanced spreading and near-frictionless recoil over the intervening vapour layer, providing opportunities for external field stimulus aided modulation and control of impact outcomes, and the resulting boiling-LFE behaviour. Magnetic field modulated LFE onset, dynamics and boiling transport of stable aqueous nano Fe2O3 based ferrofluid droplets was studied using high speed imaging. The interplay between magnetic, inertia, and viscocapillary forces on droplet spreading, magneto LFE-driven rebound conditions, residence time, and post-impact regimes was analysed using dimensionless parameters maximum spread factor, Weber number, and magnetic Bond number. We report a purely new phenomenon, namely magneto Leidenfrost effect MLFE, wherein magnetic field induces LFE aided onset of droplet rebound at substrate temperatures Ts below the zero-field dynamic Leidenfrost temperature LFT. The critical for the onset of MLFE decreases with increasing . Increasing the nanoparticle concentration permits the onset even at considerably lower . At elevated Ts , the residence time is noted as dependent. At much higher Ts, increasing promotes formation of radial filamentous structures, leading to complete droplet fragmentation. We also propose a theoretical framework that explains magnetic field driven spreading enhancement and rebound, and predicts of MLFE droplets in agreement with experiments. Our findings provide valuable insights into the novel realm of field dictated LFE, and hold significant implications towards the design of frictionless, rapid colloid droplet transport systems, and targeted droplet manipulation or activation for advanced thermal management.

Seismic resolution enhancement remains a critical challenge in exploration geophysics, particularly when processing field data characterized by limited bandwidth, strong noise, and insufficient labeled training samples. Existing deep learning methods typically rely on supervised learning with synthetic training data, leading to distribution mismatch and poor generalization on real seismic acquisitions. To address these limitations, we develop a physics-guided self-supervised diffusion model (PG-SSDM) that learns directly from field observations without requiring paired high-resolution labels. The proposed framework combines three key innovations. First, a self-supervised training strategy constructs learning targets by progressively filtering the observed data itself, eliminating the need for high-resolution ground truth through iterative refinement across multiple stages. Second, seismic convolution model is embedded as a hard physical constraint in both the training loss function and the reverse sampling process, ensuring that generated high-resolution outputs respect fundamental seismic wave propagation physics. Third, the probabilistic nature of diffusion models enables uncertainty quantification, providing spatial confidence maps that identify regions where resolution enhancement may be less reliable. We validate PG-SSDM on synthetic data under various noise conditions and on a 3D post-stack field dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively recovers thin layers and subtle structures, suppresses noise, preserves structural continuity, thereby significantly improving the resolution and interpretability of seismic data.

We propose a spin-wave phase shifter controlled using a domain-wall racetrack. The concept is demonstrated using micromagnetic simulations of a Permalloy domain-wall racetrack placed above a YIG film. The stray field from pinned domain walls modifies the internal magnetic field in the YIG region under the racetrack. This leads to a local change of the spin-wave wavelength and thereby enables control of the phase accumulated by Damon-Eshbach spin waves propagating through the region. Moving domain walls on the racetrack, the same physical structure can provide phase shifts of up to +/-90 degrees, without changing the waveguide geometry. A model based on the semiclassical approximation confirms that the phase shift is dominated by the domain-wall-induced stray field. These results suggest a route toward a compact programmable spin-wave phase shifter for interference-based magnonic circuits for information processing. Moreover, the demonstrated magnonic device integration with a magnetic domain-wall racetrack can lead to its application in in-memory computing.

We constrain type Ia supernova intrinsic properties, extinction, and probabilistic supernova-host associations using the volume-limited sample from the Zwicky Transient Factory DR2, the largest selection-free data set of type Ia supernovae to date. We employ Bayesian hierarchical modelling to jointly analyse the distribution of SALT2 light-curve parameters and global host-galaxy properties (stellar mass and rest-frame g-z colour). The adopted model is a mixture of distributions representing two supernova populations corresponding to two distinct modes of the stretch-parameter distribution, and two host-galaxy populations corresponding to two modes in the host-galaxy parameter space (red/massive and blue/less massive). Motivated by observations, high-stretch supernovae are allowed to populate both host-galaxy populations, whereas low-stretch supernovae are assumed to be exclusively associated with the red/massive host-galaxy population. The apparent non-linearity of the supernova magnitude-stretch relation implies a luminosity gap between the supernova populations, with the low-stretch population being Delta MB=0.14+/-0.03 mag brighter at x1=0, and different slopes (Delta alpha=0.064+/-0.023, steeper for the low-stretch population). The mean extinction coefficient is RB=3.89+/-0.29 (consistent with typical Milky Way values) in the blue/less massive host-galaxy population, which contains 68 per cent of high-stretch supernovae, and RB=3.08+/-0.08 in the red/massive host-galaxy population. Host-galaxy step corrections, both in stellar mass and colour, naturally emerge from the way the two supernova populations, characterised by different intrinsic luminosities and exctinctions, are distributed across host-galaxy populations. The adopted framework for modelling supernova populations and supernova-host associations makes host-galaxy step corrections redundant.

The evolution of an axisymmetric vortex column in a weakly compressible supercritical fluid is analysed. A thermal layer is imposed to radially stratify the fluid and uncover effects of the large fluid property variations across the pseudo-boiling line. A multi-dimensional flow solver based on a low-Mach approximation is employed. Using supercritical carbon dioxide as the fluid, we examine axisymmetric configurations at low Reynolds number with the vortex core hotter or colder than the surrounding fluid and for different thermodynamic pressures close to the critical pressure. Vorticity evolution depends strongly on the core temperature and ambient pressure, differing substantially from the classical Oseen solution during the thermal mixing process under highly varying fluid properties. Viscous effects dominate the vorticity evolution. Beyond diffusion, three additional viscous mechanisms are identified, which become significant across the pseudo-boiling line: (1) a vorticity stretching term, (2) an alignment of vorticity and viscosity/density gradients, and (3) a vorticity source due to the interaction between the fluid swirl and the viscosity and density gradients. The first two mechanisms alter existing vorticity, while the latter injects new vorticity. In fact, the third mechanism can generate reverse vorticity, locally increasing circulation and substantially modifying the temporal evolution of the vortex.

Research on the unstable nuclei beyond the nucleon drip line is an important method to study the nuclear interaction and structure in the extremely neutron-deficient or rich systems. Various nuclides beyond the proton drip line mainly decay through spontaneous one-proton emission. Using deformed Woods-Saxon potential, spin-orbit potential, and expanded Coulomb potential to construct the daughter-proton potential, the half-life data of various proton emitters are systematically calculated based on the quantum tunneling model and the microscopic Gamow state theory. By using nuclear data from different sources and comparing them with the measurements, the dependence of proton emission on decay energy and spectroscopic factors is evaluated. Additionally, based on previous observations, the half-life of the possibly lighter proton emitter in the fpg-shell below has been theoretically predicted. Our results are compiled into a comprehensive dataset of half-lives for both experimentally confirmed emitters (50 < Z < 84) and theoretically predicted emitters (30 < Z < 50), providing a useful reference for future experimental investigations related to the proton drip line. The datasets presented in this paper, including our results of calculation, are openly available at https://www.doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.27551.

We classify 4-dimensional gravitational theories with integrability properties analogous to quasi-topological gravity, but for metrics with the symmetries of spherical, hyperbolic, and planar Schwarzschild and Taub-NUT solutions, their double-Wick-rotated counterparts - the B-metrics, the near-horizon extreme Kerr, and the swirling universe - and the Eguchi-Hanson instanton. These are the symmetries that allow consistent reductions (principle of symmetric criticality) with 4 Killing vectors and 3-dimensional orbits. Considering theories depending only on the Riemann tensor, we show that, for these metrics, only those with third-order equations (second-order after trivial integration) can be analytic in the Riemann tensor. We show that there is a unique theory with first-order field equations (algebraic after trivial integration, with the same integrability as general relativity) at each order in curvature and construct regular static black holes from infinite towers of these high-energy corrections to general relativity. For these theories, we obtain closed-form solutions for all the symmetries listed above, which we analyze to ensure they have a clear physical interpretation.

The advent of novel free-electron laser sources enabling time-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (tr-XPS) provides a unique opportunity to monitor local chemical environments in real time by measuring sub-eV shifts in core-electron binding energies. These shifts reflect the interplay between electronic excitation and nuclear motion, an interplay that remains largely unexplored. In our combined theoretical and experimental study of fluoropyridine (C$_5$H$_4$FN), we investigate this link by monitoring the evolving chemical environment at the N and F atomic sites as the photoexcited $S_1$ state relaxes to the ground state via a conical intersection. We find that the F site responds primarily to vibrational relaxation, showing minimal sensitivity to the electronic excited state. In contrast, excitation to $S_1$ induces a measurable energy shift at the N site and significantly enhances its sensitivity to local vibrations within the ring. This behavior arises from a photoinduced redistribution of charge, which also increases the Coulomb interaction between the 1s electron at the N atom and the atomic partial charge at an adjacent C atom. This insight opens new avenues for exploring ultrafast dynamics and conical intersection pathways in more complex systems, from photostable DNA bases to light-harvesting materials.

We investigate the relationship between volumetric and surface growth within a recently proposed optimization-driven framework for linearly elastic solids. In this approach, growth is not prescribed through an evolution law; instead, the growth distribution is determined as the solution of a constrained optimization problem. Focusing on processes driven by the minimization of the work performed by external loads in one-dimensional and axisymmetric settings, we derive explicit analytical solutions for the resulting growth distributions. Although growth is initially formulated as a volumetric process through a distributed growth strain tensor, we show that the optimal growth distributions are singular and concentrate on boundaries or internal interfaces. These results provide a variational mechanism through which, under certain conditions, surface growth is selected as the optimal realization of volumetric growth.

Forwarding in quantum networks cannot be realized by directly transposing classical switching fabrics, since the no-cloning theorem and the quantum measurement postulate constrain the direct relay of quantum information while ruling out copy-based buffering and inspection. In this paper, we propose a switching-fabric framework for quantum routers based on multipartite entanglement. Specifically, we formalize the notion of an entanglement-based switching fabric, in which a graph state acts as the forwarding resource and entanglement forwarding is realized through local Pauli measurements. We translate the classical notions of blocking and non-blocking operation into structural conditions for entanglement-based fabrics, by deriving the edge-controlled (EC) design principle for non-blocking operation. We instantiate this principle through a monolithic EC crossbar and a modular Clos-type EC fabric, for which we characterize resource scaling and identify the regime where the modular design becomes more resource-efficient than the monolithic one. Finally, a forwarding-latency analysis establishes a fundamental distinction between matching-oblivious and matching-driven forwarding: the proposed EC fabrics realize all requested input-output entanglement links with constant forwarding depth under sufficient measurement parallelism, whereas matching-driven EPR-based fabrics exhibit latency that scales with the number of requested connections. The proposed framework provides a hardware-agnostic foundation for quantum-router switching fabrics.

The tacnode process is a universal determinantal point process arising in non-intersecting particle systems and random tiling models. In this paper, we study the generating function for the counting functions of the tacnode process on a union of $m$ intervals, $m\in\mathbb{N}^{+}$. Our first result provides an integral representation for the $m$-point generating function in terms of the Hamiltonian governing a system of $8m+4$ coupled differential equations. Combined with several differential identities for this Hamiltonian, the representation yields the large gap asymptotics, up to and including the constant term. As further applications, we obtain asymptotic formulae for the expectations, variances, and covariances of the counting functions, and establish a central limit theorem for their joint fluctuations. These results extend the previously known $1$-point theory for the tacnode process to the multi-interval setting with multiple discontinuities.

As natural telescopes, Gravitational lenses enable the observation of sources that would otherwise be too distant and faint. Stellar-mass objects, or microlenses, act as impurities in the lens, producing subtle distortions of the source. These effects are necessary to correctly interpret observations, and may in some cases be themselves evidence of gravitational magnification. Gravitational waves (GWs) observed by ground detectors and magnified by galaxies and clusters will undergo microlensing by fields of stars and remnants: describing these systems requires not only considering a large number of small-scale lenses (microlenses), but also including wave-optics effects, leading to frequency-dependent modulations of the signal. Here we present novel models for Reduced-Order Stochastic Diffraction (ROSD), which overcome these challenges in the search for GW lensing signatures: an effective description is synthesized from numerical simulations of wave-optics lensing by stellar fields via a singular value decomposition. The procedure yields an optimized orthonormal basis to describe microlensing distortions – capturing the dominant "tones" of the stellar field, or stellar timbre – and a probability density function for the coefficients, which can be used as priors or to verify the consistency with stellar-field lensing. We present SVD-stellar-I5-aLIGO as an example of this model category, discuss the role of truncation order and demonstrate how it can be applied to GW data via injection and recovery in Bayesian parameter estimation. ROSD can be tailored to account for detector sensitivity and the type of source under analysis, and extended to different microlens populations and external potentials. ROSD models open a new window to probe small-scale objects (stars, remnants and potentially dark matter) and facilitate the discovery of the most distant compact binary mergers.

We study the properties of strongly interacting matter at finite temperature and baryon chemical potential in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, with emphasis on dilepton probes of the QCD phase structure. The equilibrium QGP is described within the Dynamical QuasiParticle Model (DQPM), which reproduces the lattice-QCD equation of state and provides $\mu_B$-dependent quasiparticle properties, transport coefficients, and thermal dilepton rates, including elastic and inelastic partonic processes. The dynamical evolution is modeled with the off-shell Parton–Hadron–String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which consistently propagates partonic and hadronic degrees of freedom and incorporates chiral-symmetry restoration effects. We discuss the space–time evolution of heavy-ion collisions over a broad energy range and show that a small deconfined QGP core can already emerge at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}\simeq 3.5$ GeV. We present, for the first time, the baryon-chemical-potential dependence of QGP thermal dilepton radiation in PHSD and demonstrate that its influence increases toward lower collision energies. The excitation function indicates that thermal QGP radiation can exceed dileptons from correlated charm decays in central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}\lesssim 25$–$30$ GeV, making RHIC–BES and FAIR energies particularly promising for the direct observation of QGP electromagnetic radiation after subtraction of heavy-flavor and Drell–Yan contributions.

Relaxation dynamics of supercooled liquids approaching glassy arrest remain a central challenge in integrated electronic architectures, where conventional rheometry becomes incompatible. Here, we demonstrate that an ambipolar PdSe$_2$ field-effect transistor functions as an electrical probe capable of resolving ion-specific relaxation dynamics in fragile ionic glass formers and semiquantitatively inferring rheological parameters within an operating device environment. Temperature evolution of the transfer curve hysteresis and time-resolved current transients under ionic-gate pulse reveal a non-Arrhenius fragile slowdown. We track the continuous reduction of dynamically equilibrated liquid regions approaching the glass transition through an electrically accessible quantity $p_\text{eq}(T)$, quantifying the fraction of the mobile ions able to relax within the experimental timescale. Upon cooling, $p_\text{eq}$ collapses sharply as mobile regions fragment into percolating fractal clusters, consistent with a reduction of configurational entropy predicted for fragile glass formers. This approach enables temperature-dependent scaling of viscosity and extraction of characteristic temperatures marking the ergodic-to-nonergodic crossover, within a solid-state device architecture where conventional rheological characterization is inapplicable. Further, polymer confinement of the ionic liquid shifts these characteristic temperatures upward, demonstrating the sensitivity of this method to structural constraints imposed by the polymer matrix.