High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Estimation of black hole spins in low-mass AGNs and comparison with other types of AGNs
M.Yu. Piotrovich, S.D. Buliga and T.M. Natsvlishvili
We estimated the
spins of a sample of 58 low-mass AGNs. Analysis of the obtained
spins showed that they decrease with increasing SMBH mass, leading us to hypothesize that mergers and/or chaotic
accretion are the primary mechanisms for mass growth. In this regard, we proposed a more general hypothesis about the
evolution of AGNs. We assume that early low-mass SMBHs have high
spins, then, during their
evolution, the
spins initially decrease and then begin to increase, with the rate of increase gradually slowing.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies
Unveiling the properties of galaxy cores excavated by supermassive black hole binaries with SHARP
E. Bortolas, E. Portaluri, E. Dalla Bonta' et al. (+3 more)
Massive black hole (MBH) binaries form as a result of
galaxy mergers and can coalesce into a single MBH by emitting gravitational waves detectable by LISA and
pulsar timing array campaigns. Although electromagnetic observations of bound MBH binaries are extremely challenging, an indirect signature of their passage is the core scouring: a bound binary shrinks by ejecting nearby
stars, creating a flat
stellar density core of the size of the binary influence radius. Through this mechanism,
stars on radial orbits are preferentially ejected, resulting in a central tangential anisotropy in the velocity field of
stars that can be identified via IFU observations. At present, the sample of
galaxies with such properties is limited by instrument resolution to the closest
giant ellipticals within the nearest ~100 Mpc. The SHARP-VESPER IFU and MICADO+MORFEO instruments can work in concert to detect both these features: their unprecedented spatial resolution can allow us to detect central scourings with sizes above ~500 pc in principle up to reionization; smaller cores of ~150 pc can be detected up to z~0.14, encompassing a volume that is more than 40 times the one available at present. In addition, they can enable the search for these features in smaller
galaxies, enhancing by a factor 30 the volume over which we can search for pc-size cores around 1-10 million
solar mass MBHs. The fraction of scoured
galaxies, combined with their kinematic and morphological properties, carry information on the amount of merging binaries, their masses and typical environment, thus knowing this will be fundamental to complement the forthcoming gravitational wave data.
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All authors E. Bortolas, E. Portaluri, E. Dalla Bonta', C. Arcidiacono, P. Severgnini, A. Gualandris
Space Physics
David Pelosi, Fernando Barão, Bruna Bertucci et al. (+3 more)
The modulation of
galactic cosmic rays, driven by the
evolution of the heliospheric
magnetic field, strongly influences the intensity of
cosmic rays reaching near-Earth space. Characterizing this process is crucial both for advancing our understanding of
cosmic-ray transport and for assessing radiation exposure and related hazards in space environments. Here we present a newly developed
forecasting framework built on a numerical description of charged particle transport in the heliosphere and its dependence on
solar activity, designed for the long-term
forecasting of
galactic cosmic-ray fluxes. It solves a one-dimensional, spherically symmetric form of the Parker transport equation, including
diffusion,
solar-wind advection, and adiabatic energy losses. The model has been validated using multi-species flux measurements from space-based experiments: PAMELA, AMS-02, and ACE. Its strategy is based on
Hilbert-Huang transform filtering and cross-correlation between delayed
solar proxies and effective model parameters. Our charge-sign- and
rigidity-dependent parametric description of the
diffusion-advection processes yields good overall agreement with the data, as shown by the reconstruction uncertainty. The robustness of this approach is validated across a broad set of multichannel
datasets covering different particle species, energy ranges, and phases of
solar activity, supporting its applicability to space radiation monitoring and
forecasting. Furthermore, when coupled with
solar-proxy
forecasting models, it enables decadal-scale predictions of
galactic cosmic-ray fluxes, thereby supporting long-term planning and radiation-risk assessment for future space missions.
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All authors David Pelosi, Fernando Barão, Bruna Bertucci, Emanuele Fiandrini, Miguel Orcinha, Nicola Tomassetti
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Signatures of Periodic Dissipation in Warm Inflation: Power Spectrum, Non-Gaussianity, Gravitational Waves and Primordial Black Holes
Mayukh R. Gangopadhyay
In warm inflation the inflaton loses energy to a hot bath of radiation, and this loss acts as a friction on its motion. If the couplings behind the friction depend periodically on the inflaton, as an approximate shift
symmetry allows, the friction rises and falls as the field rolls. We study what this does to the
primordial fluctuations, following the coupled fluctuations of the inflaton, the radiation and the metric on a plateau potential. The scales seen in the
cosmic microwave background are unaffected, because the friction is negligible when they leave the horizon, and the model gives $n_s\simeq0.964$ and $r\simeq5\times10^{-3}$; reshaping the plateau there raises $n_s$ to $0.974$ without changing the rest. On smaller scales, where the friction stays strong for several e-folds, its oscillation leaves a regular, log-periodic ripple on the power spectrum, a comb that changes the power by about 34 percent. The size of the comb depends on how the coupled system responds to a friction that varies in time. We measure this response directly and find that it predicts the comb to within 7 percent across five versions of the model. The comb also appears in the three-point function, which oscillates with it, and in the gravitational waves induced by the enhanced fluctuations between $0.2$~Hz and $0.9$~kHz, where an idealized detector of the BBO class could resolve it with a signal-to-noise ratio of 6–16 if the foreground from
neutron-
star binaries is removed. A separate, localized rise of the friction gives a peak in the spectrum that, for a tuned height, produces asteroid-mass
primordial black holes making up a large share of the dark matter, together with induced gravitational waves near $19$~mHz.
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Quantum Physics
The limits of erasure-based postselection for quantum error mitigation
Sam J. Griffiths, Jamie Friel and Brian Vlastakis
In both classical and
quantum error correction, heralded erasures are known to be easier to tolerate than unheralded general
stochastic errors. Whilst an established benefit of loss-dominant
quantum architectures such as photonic
qubits, this fact has received renewed interest, with a pivot towards reconstructing other architectures to be erasure-dominant, such as dual-rail transmons. This work investigates exploiting these 'erasure
qubits' in the near term by using postselection as a technique for error mitigation, wherein
circuit shots detecting any erased
qubits are discarded from the computational ensemble and repeated. Firstly, we outline a numerical framework for representing
circuit-level erasure noise and present 'erado', an open-source library capable of simulating erasure noise and postselection. Secondly, we investigate the effects of both erasure noise and noise in the erasure checks themselves on the
quantum Fourier transform (QFT), in the additional presence of gate depolarising noise. A worked example is provided of postselection fully mitigating against the erasure channel for erasure check error rates less than 3.0%. We also show how a postselected dual-rail system can surpass a fundamental noise floor at the kiloquop scale where a comparable single-rail system cannot, justifying this approach in the NISQ regime before (and, perhaps, combined with) the practical arrival of QEC.
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High Energy Physics (Theory)
Critical Lin-Lunin-Maldacena geometries
Prokopii Anempodistov, Vladimir Kazakov and Lev Senchukov
We study the critical behavior of the Lin-Lunin-Maldacena (LLM) geometry in the case when a droplet in the LLM base space develops a cusp. This cusp is a generic feature of the density of complex
eigenvalues in the dual complex
matrix model (CMM) computing the correlation functions of huge 1/2-BPS operators in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM theory. It is also related to the criticality in CMM describing the pure $2D$
quantum gravity behavior. The supergravity dual – LLM metric in the vicinity of the tip of the cusp – acquires a universal $ISO(1,3)\times SO(5)$ symmetric form, with a naked singularity along a half-infinite line. Both massless and massive particles get trapped by this line singularity for almost any impact parameter. Generic trajectories ending on the singular line reach it in finite affine time, while the corresponding observer time diverges. An explicit analytic solution for a large class of massless trajectories together with the absence of
stochastic behavior in the vicinity of the cusp hint on a certain integrability of the problem.
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Applied Physics
Fully compensated ferrimagnetic triferroics and multistate transport in hidden-phase wurtzite MnSe monolayer
Zhuang Ma, Hongfei Liang, Po Ma et al. (+5 more)
Fully compensated ferrimagnets (fFIMs) have attracted interest due to their compensated moments and nonrelativistic
spin splitting across the Brillouin zone. Known fFIMs, however, are mostly restricted to complex three-dimensional (3D) systems or require external fields in two-dimensional (2D)
heterostructures, leaving intrinsic fFIM monolayers unexplored. We identify a hidden-phase MnSe monolayer, derived from the (001) planes of wurtzite, as an intrinsic fFIM featuring inequivalent sublattices not linked by any
symmetry. It is a unipolar
magnetic semiconductor (UMS) with perpendicular
magnetic anisotropy (528.60 * 10^-3 eV per unit
cell) and simultaneously exhibits ferroelectricity (polarization 4.63 * 10^-10 C/m) and ferroelasticity (signal 61%), with barriers of 7.6 * 10^-3 and 0.10 eV/f.u., respectively, establishing a single-phase triferroic system. The ground fFIM UMS characteristics are robust against strain up to 3%. The In2Se3/MnSe
heterostructure enables nonvolatile electrical control between semiconducting and metallic states. Constructed tunnel junctions exhibit
giant tunneling magnetoresistance (2.98 * 10^5%), electroresistance (6.97 * 10^14%), elastoresistance (7.95 * 10^4%), and near-perfect
spin filtering (~100%). Collectively, this spontaneous 2D fFIM with coexisting triferroic orders provides a promising platform for ultrahigh-density, low-power, and miniaturized
memory devices.
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All authors Zhuang Ma, Hongfei Liang, Po Ma, Guangqian Ding, Xuehao Wu, Sikander Azam, Guoying Gao, Long Zhang
Materials Science
Side-Chain Tuning of Thermal-Expansion Crossover in Metal-Organic Frameworks
Wei Qiu and Penghua Ying
Achieving continuous control over macroscopic thermal expansion remains a fundamental challenge in solid-state physics. Using classical and path-integral molecular dynamics alongside
lattice dynamics at near-ab initio accuracy, we report an
entropy-driven thermal-expansion crossover from positive (PTE) to negative thermal expansion (NTE) in alkoxy-functionalized MOF-5, an archetypal metal-organic framework (MOF). We demonstrate that this non-linear response is continuously tunable via the alkoxy side-chain length, quantified by the number of carbon atoms $n$ grafted onto the archetypal cubic MOF-5 framework: systems with short chains ($n \le 2$) exhibit monotonic NTE, whereas longer chains ($n \ge 3$) trigger a pronounced PTE-to-NTE crossover. At low temperatures, thermal activation of longer side chains opens additional conformational states and generates steric pressure inside the pore, driving positive expansion through a gain in side-chain conformational
entropy. Conversely, at elevated temperatures, the side chains enhance transverse linker fluctuations and strengthen the string-tension mechanism associated with low-frequency framework modes, causing structural contraction favored by framework vibrational
entropy. Finally, by varying the concentration of side-chain-functionalized linkers, the thermal expansion coefficient can be continuously regulated to realize negative, near-zero, and positive thermal expansion within selected temperature windows. These results establish side-chain engineering as a practical route for programming macroscopic thermodynamic responses in MOFs.
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Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Impact of Sub-2.5 MeV 12C+12CResonances on the Production of Elements from C to Pd in Core-Collapse Supernovae
L. Roberti, S. Palmerini, A. Falla et al. (+10 more)
We explore the impact of a more efficient 12C+12C reaction on the structure and nucleosynthesis of massive
stars. We calculate non-rotating
stellar models with initial masses of 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25, and 40 Msun and
solar metallicity by means of the FRANEC code. Furthermore, we simulate the core-collapse
supernova of these models with the thermal bomb technique, using two different approaches to inject the thermal energy into the pre-
supernova structure. Our results show that a more efficient 12C+12C rate extends the duration of the central carbon burning phase, developing more massive convective cores and leading to a different and less compact pre-
supernova structure with respect to models calculated with a standard 12C+12C rate. These structural differences significantly impact nucleosynthesis. In particular, an increased rate enhances the production of elements heavier than Fe, produced by the s-process nucleosynthesis and driven by the more efficient activation of the 13C($\alpha$,n)
neutron source in the early carbon burning shells. We find that the differences in the chemical composition of the core-collapse
supernova ejecta are primarily determined by these pre-
supernova structural changes, which dominate over the effects of different explosion prescriptions.
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All authors L. Roberti, S. Palmerini, A. Falla, L. Boccioli, F. Andreis, A. Chieffi, M. La Cognata, M. Limongi, M. Masci, A. Nurmukhanbetova, A. Oliva, R. Spartá, A.Tumino
Physics and Society
When one protocol fits none: Self-organized network routing through evolutionary game dynamics
Francesca Dilisante, Pablo Gallarta-Sáenz, Luciano Stucchi et al. (+2 more)
Packet routing on scale-free networks faces a fundamental trade-off: shortest-path routing is efficient at low demand but funnels traffic through hubs and jams early, whereas congestion-aware routing postpones jamming at the price of a sharper collapse. Since neither paradigm dominates across the full range of traffic load, here we ask whether the appropriate balance can emerge endogenously rather than being imposed by design. To answer this, we recast adaptive packet routing on networks as an evolutionary game letting a heterogeneous population of strategies compete for prevalence under selection pressure generated by their own performance. We study this competition under two formalisms (strategy anchored to the packet or to the generating node), global and local update rules, and two payoff metrics. Across every implementation the evolutionary dynamics yield the same outcome: the jamming transition is delayed relative to shortest-path routing while the violent collapse of fixed congestion-aware routing is avoided. This improvement emerges spontaneously, without centralized coordination or global information. Crucially, under local update rules, the node-level
volatility of strategy choices peaks sharply at the transition, furnishing a purely local early-warning signal of imminent jamming that requires no global monitoring.
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All authors Francesca Dilisante, Pablo Gallarta-Sáenz, Luciano Stucchi, Sandro Meloni, Jesús Gómez-Gardeñes
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Hodge Topology of Semiclassical Transport: A Coordinate-Free Geometric Framework for the Anomalous Hall Effect and Non-Linear Berry Dipole
Zhi-Wei Wang and Samuel L. Braunstein
We establish a coordinate-free differential
geometric framework for anomalous transport in topological bands using the Hodge-de Rham decomposition of the Brillouin zone. Standard formulations face mathematical singularities (Dirac strings) when using the
quantum Berry connection in bands with non-zero Chern numbers. Applying this decomposition to the Berry
curvature 2-form isolates the quantized topological monopole flux from a globally smooth
geometric 1-form proxy potential, $\mathcal{A}$. Substituting this regularized potential into semiclassical transport integrals yields distinct analytical advantages. For linear transverse transport, our cohomological decomposition enables an exact
geometric derivation of Haldane's insight via the co-area formula, partitioning the response into a continuous
Fermi sea topological background and a localized
Fermi surface
geometric line integral. For non-linear transport, this globally smooth proxy unifies the
geometric description, reproducing the high numerical stability of scalar integration-by-parts techniques directly from its exact sector, accommodating arbitrary Chern numbers. By enforcing the continuous Coulomb-Hodge gauge ($\delta \mathcal{A} = 0$) alongside vanishing harmonic holonomies over fundamental 1-cycles ($\oint_{\gamma_i} \mathcal{A} = 0$), we map the Hodge potential $\mathcal{A}$ to the Maximally Localized Wannier Function (MLWF) gauge in trivial bands, providing a non-singular computational proxy for topologically obstructed bands. Finally, we analytically demonstrate that solving the Hodge
Laplacian for $\mathcal{A}$ zeroes the macroscopic Brillouin zone average (uniform $\mathbf{R}=0$ zero-mode) topological divergence, yielding a mathematically consistent covariant formulation that matches the algorithmic robustness of standard methods against discrete $\mathbf{k}$-grid noise.
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Quantum Gases
Deviations beyond the Kibble-Zurek mechanism in a Spin-Orbit-Coupled Bose-Einstein Condensate with phenomenological damping
Jun-Hang Ren, Sheng Liu and Yong-Sheng Zhang
We investigate the quench dynamics in a one-dimensional
spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate (SOC-BEC) across the phase transition from plane-wave (PW) to stripe (ST), incorporating phenomenological damping. In the dissipation-free case, a state stagnation phenomenon emerges during the PW-ST quench: for slow quenches, the system remains trapped in the PW phase due to the energy gap induced by critical slowing down, which prevents spontaneous relaxation to the stripe ground state. To explore this phenomenon and examine the universal scaling predicted by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) in open systems, we introduce a dissipative Gross-Pitaevskii equation with a phenomenological damping term. Numerical simulations reveal that weak dissipation preserves the expected KZM power-law scaling for the freeze-out time and defect density, whereas strong dissipation or long quench times lead to significant deviations. Our results demonstrate that the KZM remains applicable in dissipative
quantum systems under appropriate conditions, providing insights into nonequilibrium dynamics in open
quantum systems.
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Quantum Physics
Programmable optical parametric amplifier synthesizer for cubic phase states and amplified Schrodinger cat states
Yusuf Turek, Ming-Yan Sun and Xiao-Xi Yao
We introduce a programmable optical parametric amplifier (OPA) synthesizer that, under a heralded
photon-number-resolving framework, generates high-fidelity cubic phase states and amplifies Schrodinger cat states. By systematically exploring both the catalytic configuration, where the idler input and output contain the same number of
photons ($m=n$), and non-catalytic configurations ($m\neq n$), we discover two qualitatively different functionalities. First, with a coherent-state signal input, our protocol generates cubic phase states with fidelity exceeding 0.99 across a broad range of $(m,n)$ configurations. Second, using a Schrödinger cat state as the signal input, the same framework amplifies the cat state: an input cat with amplitude $\alpha_{\mathrm{in}}\le 1$ is transformed into an output squeezed cat with $\alpha_{\mathrm{out}}\ge 2$ while maintaining fidelity above 0.99. The catalytic configuration preserves the input parity and restores the idler state, whereas non-catalytic configurations enable parity-flipping amplification with higher success rates. Moreover, the amplified output can serve as a seed for subsequent amplification rounds, offering a self-seeding pathway to progressively larger cat states. Our protocol requires only moderate-gain OPA operation and low-order
photon-number-resolving detection, providing a flexible and experimentally accessible platform for cubic phase state preparation and amplified squeezed cat state generation.
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Mathematical Physics · Cross-listed from math.AP
Generalization of Hallaire-Luikov Moisture Transfer Equation: Direct Problem with the $\psi$-Prabhakar Operator
Erkinjon Karimov and Shokhzodbek Khasanov
This paper focuses on the analysis of an initial-boundary value (direct) problem for the Hallaire-Luikov moisture transfer equation involving the $\psi$-Prabhakar integral-differential operator of fractional order. We establish the existence, uniqueness, and stability of the solution to the formulated problem. To construct the solution, we employ the method of separation of variables and the method of successive approximations (iteration method), and obtain the solution to the considered problem in an explicit form. Furthermore, the solution is expressed in terms of a novel quadrivariate Mittag-Leffler-type function. An a priori estimate for the problem is also established.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies
Boosting Water Maser Studies in AGN with the SKA
Andrea Tarchi, Paola Castangia and Elisabetta Ladu
Extragalactic water maser sources are unique tools to derive fundamental physical quantities of the host
galaxies. In nearby and distant active
galactic nuclei (AGN), water masers are used to determine the geometry of
accretion disks around super-massive black holes, precise black hole masses, and standard-candles-independent distances to the host
galaxy. In addition, they allow detailed studies of the interaction between
nuclear jets/
outflows and the interstellar medium, providing clues on AGN feedback mechanisms. So far, however, extragalactic maser searches have yielded detection rates of few percent, and only relatively few maser sources have been found, mostly in the nearby Universe. Because of its unprecedented sensitivity, the SKA will allow to significantly increase the number of known water maser sources especially in the more distant Universe. This will lead to the chance of performing statistically-relevant studies of the maser phenomenon (and its occurrence), derive extragalactic maser luminosity functions and, ultimately, to perform the aforementioned studies for larger samples and up to cosmological distances. In this Chapter, we will provide a quantitative analysis of the expected number of new extragalactic water maser sources already at the reach of the SKA-Mid
telescope (in AA4 configuration) through targeted and blinds surveys. In addition, we will discuss the main requirements for the upcoming SKA design, in terms of baselines and frequency coverage, that may maximize the exploitation of such wealth of new targets, allowing a true step forward in AGN-related maser science.
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Nuclear Theory
Cooling of Hybrid Stars with a 2SC+$<dd>$ Phase
Tsuneo Noda, Akira Dohi, Nobutoshi Yasutake et al. (+3 more)
Recently, Fujimoto, Fukushima & Weise (2019) have proposed a new colour-superconductive state, 2SC+$<dd>$ phase, which can be smoothly connected to the low-density
baryon superfluidity in contrast to the 2SC phase. In this scenario, the
neutron ${}^3P_2$ superfluidity on the low-density side of the phase transition is inherited by unpaired $d$-
quarks in the 2SC phase on the high-density side. Since this could be realized in hybrid
stars (
neutron stars containing hadronic and
quark matter), the 2SC+$<dd>$ phase may change the properties of
neutron stars compared to the traditional 2SC phase. In this work, we study the thermal
evolution of hybrid
stars with the 2SC+$<dd>$ phase for the first time. We find that NSs with the 2SC+$<dd>$ phase become hotter than those with the 2SC phase, and are close to the CFL phase. The ${}^{3}P_2$ superfluidity plays an important role in cooling curves with not the 2SC but 2SC+$<dd>$ phases due to the suppression of
quark $\beta$ decay. We therefore point out that, if the scenario of 2SC+$<dd>$ phase is true, it could be specified through low-temperature observations such as Vela, 3C58, Vela Jr., and Vela-like
pulsar.
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All authors Tsuneo Noda, Akira Dohi, Nobutoshi Yasutake, Huan Chen, Toshiki Maruyama, Toshitaka Tatsumi
Nuclear Theory
Charged pseudoscalar mesons in a strong magnetic field under the Weinberg model
Gaoqing Cao
Recent
lattice QCD simulations have further validated their earlier unusual findings: The lowest energies of charged pseudoscalar
mesons $\pi^\pm$ and $K^\pm$ decrease at stronger
magnetic field, though quasiparticle approximation assumes an increasing feature. We address this long-standing puzzle by employing the
chiral effective Weinberg model, in which pseudoscalar and vector
mesons exhibit intrinsic mutual couplings. Under this framework, charged pseudoscalar
mesons deviate from pure quasiparticle behavior due to their interactions with neutral pseudoscalar and charged vector
mesons. By incorporating the modifications induced by neutral pseudoscalar-charged vector loops, we demonstrate that the lowest energies of $\pi^\pm$ and $K^\pm$ indeed decrease at stronger
magnetic field in both the lowest- and full-Landau-level calculations. However, instabilities emerge under a fixed mesonic coupling constant, and appear unavoidable when attempting to reproduce the observed peak structures. In contrast to the
quark-antiquark
meson description in models such as the NJL model, our results support the
conjecture that a charged pseudoscalar
meson could effectively form a molecular bound state of a neutral pseudoscalar
meson and a charged vector
meson in the strong
magnetic field regime.
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Optics
Reconfigurable wavelength-encoded stochastic illumination for active hyperspectral imaging
Yi-Jing Chen, Bao-Lei Liu, Ze-Yuan Dong et al. (+6 more)
Traditional hyperspectral imaging (HSI) relies on sequential scanning with complex and bulky hardware, inherently limiting its temporal resolution while increasing system complexity and cost. Computational HSI offers cost-effective alternatives with simplified hardware. However, most existing computational methods rely on fixed spectral encoding units, which lack adaptability for different spectral tasks. Here, we present a reconfigurable optical
stochastic encoding (ROSE) framework with programmable illumination, which can be adaptively optimized for different spectral tasks, for high-throughput, compressive HSI. By leveraging an array of monochromatic light-emitting diodes (LEDs), we synthesize
stochastic spectral patterns that enable compressive acquisition using a standard monochrome camera. The proposed framework allows dynamic reconfiguration of illumination patterns, making it adaptable to diverse imaging requirements. We experimentally validate the proposed method and achieve HSI with a spatial resolution of 2048 by 1536, reconstructing 60 spectral bands across the spectral range of 400-700 nm. Furthermore, we introduce an automatic optimization strategy to search for optimal illuminations tailored to specific tasks, improving both reconstruction accuracy and task-oriented performance. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in applications including anti-counterfeiting inspection and oral imaging, and further validate its compatibility with standard microscope and endoscope systems. The developed ROSE illumination module could serve as a universal, plug-and-play add-on for conventional cameras and existing optical systems, providing a cost-effective pathway to upgrade them into high-performance, task-adaptive HSI systems.
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All authors Yi-Jing Chen, Bao-Lei Liu, Ze-Yuan Dong, Zhi-Hao Zhao, Yi-Ying Zhang, Chun-Min Yu, Zhi-Hua Xu, Yuan-Jin Yu, Zhao-Hua Yang
Computational Physics
P3MaZe: a Mass-Zero constrained-dynamics formulation of particle-mesh electrostatics
Federica Troni, Violette Gontran, Davide Grassano et al. (+1 more)
We introduce P3MaZe, a real-space particle-mesh electrostatic method that combines the standard short-range/long-range decomposition of Particle-Particle Particle-Mesh (P3M) electrostatics with the Mass-Zero constrained dynamics (MaZe) framework. In this formulation, the smooth long-range electrostatic potential is represented on a mesh as a zero-inertia auxiliary field, while the discretized Poisson equation is enforced as a holonomic constraint during molecular dynamics. By retaining the standard P3M decomposition, P3MaZe preserves the systematic accuracy controls associated with the real-space cutoff, the Ewald splitting, the mesh spacing, and the charge assignment procedure, while replacing the conventional multigrid Poisson solver by a constrained correction problem. The method is validated for molten NaCl and simple point-charge flexible water (SPC/Fw). Values of the potential, structural, translational, collective, and rotational dynamical observables are in quantitative agreement with those obtained with established electrostatic methods, including real-space P3M, and Ewald summation. We further show that, for the linear, time-independent Poisson operator considered here, the constrained correction problem is algebraically equivalent to a direct Poisson solve initialized by a chronological extrapolation of the mesh potential - a connection not previously established for MaZe-based approaches. This result identifies the precise mechanism through which acceleration of the iterative long-range solve is achieved, and we exploit it systematically through higher-order predictors to further improve convergence, while retaining the expected linear scaling with system size. Because the underlying extrapolation is independent of the constrained-dynamics formalism, it can, of course, also be used directly to accelerate conventional iterative real-space Poisson solvers.
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All authors Federica Troni, Violette Gontran, Davide Grassano, Sara Bonella
Nuclear Experiment
Measurement of $J/\psi$-jet correlations in $pp$ and Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
ATLAS Collaboration
Yields of charmonia, bound states of $c\bar{c}$
quarks, are observed to be strongly suppressed in heavy-ion collisions relative to
proton-
proton collisions as a result of their interaction with the
quark-
gluon plasma produced in such collisions. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for this suppression requires a detailed understanding of charmonium production. To constrain the production mechanisms, it is essential to quantify how charmonium production correlates with jet activity. Measurements of $J/\psi$ production in the dimuon decay channel are presented for inclusive $J/\psi$
mesons and for $J/\psi$
mesons that are either isolated or not isolated from jets, separately for
prompt and non-
prompt production. Non-isolated $J/\psi$
mesons are defined by matching $J/\psi$ candidates to anti-$k_t$ jets with $R=0.2$ and $p_\mathrm{T}>20$ GeV, reconstructed without signal from the $J/\psi$
meson, allowing the quantification of jet activity accompanying $J/\psi$ production. The analysis uses Pb+Pb and $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1.82 nb$^{-1}$ and 0.26 fb$^{-1}$, respectively. The $J/\psi$ yields in Pb+Pb, cross sections in $pp$, and
nuclear modification factors are presented for non-isolated, isolated, and inclusive $J/\psi$ up to $p_\mathrm{T}=60$ GeV. Isolated fractions and non-
prompt fractions are reported in both $pp$ and Pb+Pb collisions. Strong $J/\psi$ suppression is observed to persist up to the highest measured $p_\mathrm{T}$ values, with differences observed between non-isolated, isolated, and inclusive $J/\psi$. These results provide new constraints on charmonium production mechanisms and their in-medium suppression.
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Astrophysics of Galaxies
GSED: The Galactic Stellar Extinction Database
Baisong Zhang, Bingqiu Chen, Dongwei Fan et al. (+9 more)
Reliable extinction correction is essential for nearly all astrophysical studies within the
Galaxy. We present the
Galactic Stellar Extinction Database (GSED, https://nadc.china-vo.org/data/gsed/), a homogenised database that unifies six representative 3D extinction
datasets under a common $E(B-V)$ and parallax-distance baseline. A six-layer multilayer perceptron is designed to correct the systematic differences in both extinction and distance across the heterogeneous input catalogues. Applying the trained models yields a catalogue of over 1.9 billion homogenised entries, which is built into a publicly accessible, real-time query service: a user supplies a coordinate and a search radius, the system retrieves the data, fits the distance–extinction relation, returns $E(B-V)$ together with $E(G_{\rm BP}-G_{\rm RP})$ and $A_V$, and allows the raw catalogue and the fitted curve to be downloaded. By delivering extinction as raw
stellar measurements rather than voxelised map products and retaining the capacity to incorporate future
datasets, GSED provides a flexible, traceable, and extensible new tool for
Galactic extinction correction and
dust-structure studies.
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All authors Baisong Zhang, Bingqiu Chen, Dongwei Fan, Haibo Yuan, Pinjian Chen, Helong Guo, Lin Zhang, Baokun Sun, Xingzhu Zou, Lunwei Zhang, Yanan Cao, Longfei Ding
Materials Science
From Materials Database to Materials Bank: Assetizing Data for AI Driven Materials Innovation
Chenyao Ma, Di Zhang, Weibo Gong et al. (+9 more)
Driven by high-throughput experimentation, computational modeling, and artificial intelligence (AI), materials data has expanded at an unprecedented rate. Conventional materials databases function only as passive repositories, archiving raw experimental records indiscriminately including both successful and failed data, without systematic value filtering or asset management. This creates a critical gap between massive data accumulation and actionable innovation, hindering the identification of high-potential materials and industrial translation. To address this bottleneck, we propose an industrialization-oriented Materials Bank, a dedicated valuefiltering and assetization layer that operates beyond traditional databases. It does not merely curate high-quality data but systematically elevates qualified candidates into standardized, upgradable materials assets via a multi-dimensional BankCard framework covering scientific validity, synthesis feasibility, application readiness, and industrial value. By unifying databases, AI models, automated experimentation, and multi-criteria assessment into a cohesive closed-loop ecosystem, the Materials Bank establishes a clear trajectory from data to knowledge, candidate, asset, and product. It serves not as an enhanced database or screening tool, but as a decision infrastructure bridging academic discovery and industrial demand, offering a scalable paradigm to accelerate AI-driven materials innovation and deliver tangible real-world impact.
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All authors Chenyao Ma, Di Zhang, Weibo Gong, Wei Du, Rui Su, Yuhang Chen, Kan Xu, Huan Gu, Limin Li, Piao Ma, Zhenghao Li, Hao Li
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Establishing Compactness as a Population Observable in Gravitational-Wave Astronomy
Shrobana Ghosh, Charlie Hoy, Mark Hannam et al. (+1 more)
Classically, black holes (BHs) are the most compact objects predicted in nature with C=0.5 in the Schwarzschild limit; C is defined as the mass-to-radius ratio in
geometric units. In this work we perform a novel measurement on the nature of putative BH mergers in the gravitational wave (GW) data by directly probing the binary's closest approach through an effective compactness parameter. We confidently show all such high-significance signals in GWTC-3 are consistent with the BH hypothesis for the first time. Our hierarchical analysis yields $C_{\rm eff} = 0.5^{+0.3}_{-0.1}$, and we further limit the merger rate of low-compactness exotic binaries to $< 0.7\,{\rm Gpc}^{-3}\,{\rm yr}^{-1}$. This work establishes compactness as a key observable in GW astronomy.
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All authors Shrobana Ghosh, Charlie Hoy, Mark Hannam, Frank Ohme
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Running into tension: primordial black holes from ultra-slow-roll inflation, spectral running, and the Hubble tension
Miguel A. Sabogal, Antonio J. Iovino and Sunny Vagnozzi
Single-field ultra-slow-roll (USR) inflation is among the most studied mechanisms for
primordial black hole (PBH) formation. When a non-stationary inflection point close to CMB scales is present, these models predict a negative spectral running ($\alpha_s<0$), whose magnitude increases with the PBH mass. This is in tension with recent hints for positive running from Atacama Cosmology
Telescope (ACT)
Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data. However, inflationary parameters inferred from CMB data are sensitive to the assumed pre-recombination expansion history, which is precisely where new physics motivated by the Hubble tension should operate. Focusing on
axion-like early dark energy (EDE) as a
benchmark, we investigate the effect of such pre-recombination new physics on $\alpha_s$, and hence on the viability of USR PBH models, in light of state-of-the-art CMB data from Planck, ACT, and the South Pole
Telescope, together with
Baryon Acoustic Oscillation data from DESI DR2. Our analysis therefore provides an updated set of constraints on $\alpha_s$ and the running of the running $\beta_s$. For most
dataset combinations, moving from $\Lambda$CDM to EDE increases the inferred $\alpha_s$: once the acoustic angular scale $\theta_s$ is fixed, EDE increases the
diffusion-to-acoustic angular scale ratio $\theta_d/\theta_s$, and the shift in $\alpha_s$ compensates this extra damping by increasing small-scale power. In this sense, tension calls for tension: taking the Hubble tension seriously as an indication for new physics strengthens the challenges faced by USR PBH models. More broadly, our analysis stresses that inflationary model selection using CMB-inferred inflationary parameters such as $n_s$ and $\alpha_s$ may be premature, especially until the Hubble tension, and more generally the pre-recombination expansion history, is understood.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons
Ultrafast Fluence-Reversal Fingerprint of Fragile Kondo Hybridization in CePt$_2$In$_7$
Xin-Yi Tian, Qi-Yi Wu, Chen Zhang et al. (+13 more)
The emergence of heavy quasiparticles in a Kondo
lattice is usually viewed as the formation of a low-energy hybridization gap. Whether this gap represents a rigid electronic structure or a fragile many-body state that can be dynamically reconfigured remains a central question for heavy-
fermion systems near
magnetic order,
quantum criticality, and unconventional superconductivity. Here we use femtosecond pump-probe reflectivity to interrogate this problem in the weakly hybridized Kondo-
lattice compound CePt$_2$In$_7$. At low fluence, a slow quasiparticle relaxation channel emerges below $T^* \sim$ 40 K and follows a Rothwarf-Taylor bottleneck response with a low-energy recombination scale 2$\Delta \approx$ 7.4 meV. Coherent optical
phonons, independently identified by Raman spectroscopy, act as an internal
lattice thermometer and rule out large quasi-
equilibrium lattice heating as the origin of the nonlinear electronic response. The
phonon-free electronic amplitude $A_{\rm elec}$ reveals a fluence-reversal fingerprint: with cooling from the hybridization-crossover regime, the response evolves from weak-linear behavior to Rothwarf-Taylor-like bottleneck suppression and finally to anomalous high-fluence enhancement at the lowest temperatures. This reversal cannot be accounted for by a rigid fixed-gap bottleneck alone and instead identifies an ultrafast optical signature of photoinduced redistribution of a fragile Kondo-hybridized electronic response.
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All authors Xin-Yi Tian, Qi-Yi Wu, Chen Zhang, Hao Liu, Yang Luo, Bo Chen, Ying Zhou, Zhong-Tuo Fu, Jin-Dong Bai, Chun-Hui Lyu, Zi-Jie Xu, Hai-Long Deng, Hai-Yun Liu, Jun He, Yu-Xia Duan, Jian-Qiao Meng
Materials Science
Photon Statistics from Yb3+-Doped CsPbCl3 are Inconsistent with Quantum Cutting
Vincent R.M. Benning, Faris Horani, Daniel R. Gamelin et al. (+1 more)
CsPb(Cl1-xBrx)3:Yb3+ has been widely reported as a broadband
quantum-cutting material with a photoluminescence
quantum yield exceeding 100%, making it a promising candidate for enhancing the blue-green spectral response of silicon photovoltaics. Many groups have reproduced absolute photoluminescence
quantum yields over 100%, but others have struggled to obtain such high values. Here, we test the
quantum-cutting capabilities of CsPbCl3:Yb3+ nanocrystals and bulk material using
photon-correlation analysis. A
quantum-cutting material is expected to exhibit
photon bunching, but our experiments on CsPbCl3:Yb3+ show no such behavior. In fact, we observe the opposite – anti-bunching – under focused-excitation conditions. This observation can be explained with the previously established Auger-quenching pathway in CsPbCl3:Yb3+. Our results thus confirm high-power Auger quenching but question earlier descriptions of
quantum cutting in CsPb(Cl1-xBrx)3:Yb3+.
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All authors Vincent R.M. Benning, Faris Horani, Daniel R. Gamelin, Freddy T. Rabouw
Materials Science
Ultrafast magnetization induced by linearly polarized pulses is widespread in nonmagnetic semiconductors
Xiangzhou Zhu, Junfeng Qiao, Nicola Marzari et al. (+1 more)
Ultrafast optical on-off switching of
magnetic order promises near-petahertz information processing. Recently, it has been proposed that non-
magnetic semiconductors with narrow band edges or strong exchange interactions could display ultrafast magnetization when photoexcited with linearly polarized femtoseconds pulses, but the experimental detection of this effect remains a challenge, mostly for the lack of suitable candidate compounds. Here, we present a high-throughput first-principles screening of the MC3D database of experimentally known inorganic
crystals, identifying nearly 440 non-
magnetic semiconductors that develop
spin polarization under photoexcitation with linearly polarized pulses via a light-induced exchange-driven instability. We determine how the
crystal field environment and band-edge orbital character govern the magnitude and the type of
magnetic order of the photoinduced state and we unveil systematic chemical and periodic trends that provide intuitive guidance for materials selection. Our results argue that on-off switching of magnetization with linearly polarized femtosecond pulses is a widespread occurrence in non-
magnetic semiconductors, opening novel avenues for experimental verification and application.
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All authors Xiangzhou Zhu, Junfeng Qiao, Nicola Marzari, Matteo Calandra
Materials Science
Three-phonon mixing as a source of light-induced chirality
Y . Zhu, A. Vanderhaegen, Z. Zeng et al. (+7 more)
Mid- and far-infrared optical pulses have found wide applicability in experiments in which collective modes of solids are driven nonlinearly, as a means to manipulate functional properties of materials on ultrafast time scales. In the illustrative case of boron phosphate (BPO$_4$), mid-infrared excitation has been used to induce chirality in an otherwise achiral
crystal. The pump frequency dependence of photo-induced chirality reveals that, while on-resonance excitation is understood in terms of the well-documented
phonon rectification from two-
phonon mixing, additional pathways become relevant when the pump pulse is detuned from resonance. We find that a three-mode mixing mechanism becomes important in this case, whereas the contributions from other impulsive Raman terms are negligible. The results reported here provide a quantitative foundation for nonlinear phononic lineshapes in transparent materials, and open up new opportunities for
lattice control.
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All authors Y . Zhu, A. Vanderhaegen, Z. Zeng, M. Först, M. Fechner, C. Putzke, P. J. W. Moll, D. Prabhakaran, P. Radaelli, A. Cavalleri
Quantum Physics
A Quantum-Classical Surrogate Model for the Collision Operator of the Lattice Boltzmann Method
Lukas C. Birk, David M. Wawrzyniak, Josef M. Winter et al. (+4 more)
We introduce a hybrid approach utilising a
quantum machine learning surrogate model to approximate the non-linear collision dynamics of the LBM. It effectively offloads the non-
unitary operations that challenge pure
quantum solvers. The expressivity of the surrogate is built on the ability of parameterised
quantum circuits to implement partial
Fourier series, with data re-uploading extending the spectrum of representable frequencies. Unlike previous approaches with a fixed relaxation parameter, the surrogate recovers the complete Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) collision dynamics across the full physically admissible range of relaxation without retraining. We reassess the relevance of standard variational
quantum circuit (VQC) metrics, including expressibility,
entanglement, and effective dimension, by relating them directly to task-specific surrogate performance and identifying the key architectural parameters that determine approximation accuracy. The proposed surrogate is validated against the classical BGK collision operator using established
benchmark problems, including the Taylor-Green
vortex for evaluating energy dissipation and the double shear layer for assessing shear-driven instabilities and nonlinear flow
evolution. Our results demonstrate that the hybrid model achieves high accuracy and generalisability while closely replicating classical solutions. These findings suggest that hybrid
quantum-classical strategies offer a practical path toward realising the potential of
quantum computing in fluid engineering.
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All authors Lukas C. Birk, David M. Wawrzyniak, Josef M. Winter, Steffen J. Schmidt, Thomas Indinger, Christian F. Janßen, Nikolaus A. Adams
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Compactness Inference in Gravitational-Wave Mergers with PhenomDECO: Catalog Benchmarks and Robustness Diagnostics
Shrobana Ghosh, Charlie Hoy, Mark Hannam et al. (+1 more)
Several gravitational wave (GW) observations have been identified as binary black hole (BBH) mergers, including systems with component masses that challenge typical formation scenarios. These observations motivate broader tests of whether the detected sources are consistent with this interpretation. We address this question using~\deco~, an existing phenomenological extension of a BBH model that uses an effective compactness parameter to characterize departures from the expected merger morphology. Applying this model to all high-significance BBH events from GWTC-3, we establish~\deco~as a robust test of the nature of compact binaries. In preliminary analyses we identify three recurring posterior morphologies: (i) near-Gaussian peaks consistent with the BBH expectation $C\sim0.5$, seen in 60% of events; (ii) posteriors with additional high-compactness support $(C\ge0.8)$; and (iii) dominant low-compactness modes near $C\sim0.15$ in $\sim 20\%$ of cases. For the latter, the low-compactness modes disappear when the data, especially from Livingston, are analyzed from a higher starting frequency, indicating sensitivity to low-frequency noise artefacts. We further use time–frequency residuals, computed after subtracting maximum-likelihood BBH and~\deco~waveforms from the strain data, to assess if the data is better described by a compactness-based deformation. With this analysis, we conclude that all of the GWTC-3 observations that we have considered are indeed consistent with BBH sources. The exception is the high-mass GW231123 signal, for which data from both detectors must be analyzed above 50Hz to remove a low-compactness mode. This study shows that low-frequency data treatment is crucial before attributing apparent deviations from BBH expectations to exotic physics, and provides a
benchmark for compactness-based tests of merger morphology in current and future GW detections.
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All authors Shrobana Ghosh, Charlie Hoy, Mark Hannam, Frank Ohme