Papers

We investigate the interplay between local defects and topology in the Haldane model within the framework of the tenfold classification. The Haldane model realizes a Chern-insulating phase characterized by an integer topological invariant ($C=\pm 1$) and supports chiral edge states. Introducing vacancies gives rise to localized states at the defect sites, classified by a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariant $\nu = C\cdot m,\mathrm{mod},2$, where $m=N_A-N_B$ is the net sublattice imbalance of the vacancy configuration: an odd imbalance hosts a protected zero-energy mode, whereas an even imbalance does not. We identify three independent experimental signatures that distinguish these topological defect states from trivial (adatom) defects. First, vacancy-induced states exhibit characteristic dislocations in their wavefunction profiles that track the phase winding associated with the defect. Second, a fractional charge of $e/2$ accumulates at vacancy sites, while no such charge appears at adatoms. Third, the probability current circulating around a vacancy-induced state flows in the opposite direction to that of chiral edge states, in direct analogy with the current reversal produced by a vortex in a $p$-wave superconductor. All three signatures are in quantitative agreement with the $\mathbb{Z}_2$ prediction.

We present a linear gyrokinetic theory for the electromagnetic collisionless trapped-electron mode (CTEM). It is found that the weak electromagnetic effects of CTEMs originate from the particle dynamics. Theoretical analysis reveals that the kinetic and fluid-like components of the trapped-electron parallel current cancel at leading order. The ion parallel current is also negligible due to the weak ion transit resonance. Consequently, the perturbed parallel current in the electromagnetic CTEM is dominated by passing electrons. We demonstrate that these characteristics of particle dynamics decouple the CTEM from the shear Alfvén wave branch, rendering the electromagnetic effects subdominant. Both eigenmode analyses and gyrokinetic simulations validate these findings.

Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is explored at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) over a wide range of energy scales, from soft hadronic interactions to hard parton scattering. This contribution presents a selection of recent measurements from the ATLAS and CMS experiments probing QCD in proton–proton collisions at the LHC. The results span a broad range of momentum scales, from studies of charged-particle event-shape observables in minimum-bias events, which are sensitive to soft QCD dynamics and hadronisation, to measurements of inclusive di-jet production that provide stringent tests of perturbative QCD. Recent studies of double-parton scattering in same-sign $WW$ production are also discussed, offering new insight into multi-parton interactions inside the proton. Finally, the capabilities of the forward proton detectors operated by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations are briefly reviewed, highlighting their contribution to the LHC physics programme through measurements of diffractive and photon-induced processes.

We present a theoretical study of spin- and valley-resolved quantum transport in monolayer MoS$_2$ under the combined influence of mechanical strain and an external scalar potential, a combination whose simultaneous unexplored. Within an effective massive Dirac Hamiltonian that incorporates intrinsic spin–orbit coupling, strain induces valley-dependent momentum shifts that lift the degeneracy between the $K$ and $K'$ valleys and strongly modify the transport characteristics. The scalar potential modifies the tunneling spectrum, leading to pronounced changes in resonant transmission, Fabry–Pérot interference, and conductance. We show that the interplay between strain and electrostatic potential enables efficient control of both valley and spin polarization of the transmitted current. In particular, we identify a dual-knob control scheme in which the barrier width governs the frequency of conductance oscillations while strain independently controls their phase and amplitude. Furthermore, we predict electrostatic spin inversion – a sign reversal of spin polarization achievable purely by gate tuning at finite strain, requiring no geometric reconfiguration. Depending on the strain orientation, the transmission probability and conductance can be selectively suppressed or enhanced, resulting in highly tunable valley- and spin-polarized transport. These findings demonstrate that strain and potential engineering provide orthogonal and independently operable mechanisms for controlling conductance as well as spin and valley degrees of freedom in monolayer MoS$_2$, offering promising prospects for spintronic and valleytronic device applications.

We investigate the measurability of black hole quadrupole deviations from Kerr using five binary black hole mergers observed by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration with the beyond-general-relativity full-waveform model $\Psi_{\mathrm{FD}}$. While earlier lower-SNR events mildly favored nonzero quadrupole deviations, the newly included high-SNR GWTC-4 events GW231226, GW230814, and GW250114 yield results increasingly consistent with the Kerr prediction. In particular, GW230814 and GW250114, the two highest-SNR events in our sample, yield deviations consistent with zero. We further perform separate inspiral and post-inspiral analyses and find both the posterior distributions centered close to $\Delta Q/Q=0$ for GW230814 and GW250114. Overall, the full-waveform, inspiral, and post-inspiral results for GW230814 and GW250114 reveal no observable departure from the no-hair theorem within the sensitivity of the current data and the $\Psi_{\mathrm{FD}}$ framework. Although the limited number of events prevents a definitive conclusion, future detections of additional high-SNR binary black hole mergers will enable increasingly stringent and robust tests of the Kerr nature of black holes.

The InP high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) is indispensable for low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) in radio astronomy and quantum computing. The composition of the $\mathrm{In_{x}Ga_{1-x}As}$ channel in InP HEMT is known to influence the LNA noise performance. However, the various physical mechanisms responsible for noise generation are not fully characterized and understood. Here, we investigate the $\mathrm{In_{x}Ga_{1-x}As}$ channel noise from 4 K to 300 K for 100-nm gate-length InP HEMTs with channel indium content of 53%, 60% and 70%. Channel noise was quantified by extracting the equivalent drain noise temperature $\mathit{T}_{d}$ using both on-wafer and LNA-based measurements, covering 40-300 K and 4-40 K, respectively. The 60% indium channel InP HEMT exhibited the lowest channel noise across the full temperature range. The $\mathit{T}_{d}$ extracted from on-wafer characterization was found to obey a parabolic temperature dependence which predicted the $\mathit{T}_{d}$ at 4 K for all InP HEMTs in good agreement with LNA-based measurements. By expressing the channel noise as the sum of one thermal and one excess noise term, it was found that the former increased linearly with ambient temperature and dominated at 300 K. The channel noise at 4 K was determined by the excess noise term and exhibited a non-monotonic dependence on the channel indium content in the InP HEMT. The results suggest that the excess noise in the InP HEMT originates not only from temperature-independent shot noise but also from impact ionization and real-space transfer noise.

We propose a new formulation of the multi-component short pulse (MCSP) equation that includes the coupled complex short pulse (CCSP) equation as a reduction. Using Hirota's bilinear method, we construct its $N$-soliton solutions in Pfaffian form. We then derive integrable semi-discrete and fully discrete analogues of the MCSP equation admitting Pfaffian $N$-soliton solutions. The resulting fully discrete system provides a practical self-adaptive moving mesh scheme for numerical simulations. For the parameter sets considered, numerical simulations demonstrate excellent agreement between the numerical and exact solutions, confirming the robustness and high accuracy of the proposed scheme.

We report a zero-field nonlinear Hall effect in sputtered polycrystalline Ta/Pt/[Pt/Co/Fe/Ir]$_5$/Pt multilayers from 2 to 300 K. Angle-resolved transport reveals macroscopic in-plane anisotropy and a second-order response. The transverse voltage scales quadratically with current and remains unchanged across magnetization reversal. Conductivity scaling reveals strong scattering contributions, and first-principles calculations yield a symmetry-allowed Berry curvature dipole. Our findings support a mixed intrinsic-extrinsic response and establish a scalable platform for nonlinear electronics

This study proposes a precipitation control framework integrating a realistic Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model with model predictive control (MPC). At each control instant in MPC, a finite-difference sensitivity matrix is constructed from the NWP model and used as a local linear model of how perturbations to the atmospheric state affect future precipitation. A sparse convex optimization problem is then solved to compute the control input, which is implemented as a perturbation to the atmospheric state. To reduce computational cost in sensitivity analysis, multiple grid points in the NWP model are treated collectively as a single block, and a uniform perturbation is applied to all points within each block. Moreover, a tailored convex optimization problem is introduced to effectively control the accumulated precipitation at the end of a weather event, using a prediction horizon much shorter than the entire event duration while promoting spatially sparse atmospheric perturbations. To evaluate the proposed MPC method, four control methods are compared: (i) initial-only open-loop optimal control (IO-OL), (ii) full-horizon open-loop optimal control (FH-OL), (iii) shrinking-horizon optimal control (SHOC) with a fixed terminal time, and (iv) single-move MPC with a fixed prediction-horizon length. Numerical experiments on a warm bubble benchmark demonstrate that MPC achieves precipitation reduction comparable to SHOC while reducing the total computational time relative to FH-OL and SHOC. Moreover, despite using a linear prediction model, MPC successfully achieves a challenging level of precipitation reduction, even when open-loop optimal control methods, namely, IO-OL and FH-OL, fail because of nonlinear atmospheric evolution. These findings suggest that MPC is a promising control framework for NWP-based precipitation reduction in complex weather events.

Fermion-boson stars are compact equilibrium configurations composed of ordinary fermionic matter and a bosonic dark component interacting only through gravity. Such systems provide a natural framework for exploring deviations from standard neutron-star models, including the possible accumulation of dark matter inside neutron stars, and may be relevant for compact objects near the low-mass black-hole gap. We construct static and uniformly rotating fermion-boson stars within the framework of $R$-squared $f(R)$ gravity, characterized by the functional form $f(R)=R+aR^{2}$, where $a$ is a positive parameter governing the effective mass scale from the scalar degree of freedom. The fermionic sector is modeled as a perfect fluid described by a tabulated equation of state at zero temperature, while the bosonic component is represented by a self-interacting complex bosonic field. Our results show that the scalar degree of freedom modifies the spatial distribution of both the bosonic field and the fermionic pressure, enlarges the domain of admissible equilibrium solutions, and increases the maximum supported masses relative to general relativity. Our models remain compatible with current astrophysical and gravitational-wave constraints, suggesting that fermion-boson stars in $R$-squared gravity offer a promising framework to investigate the combined effects of dark bosonic matter, rotation, and strong-field modifications of gravity in compact objects.

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are counterintuitive localized states that lie within the continuum of extended states. While extensively realized and utilized in classical wave systems, it is still unclear what a close analog of BICs would be, and how to extract their experimental signature in quantum-optical settings – where the wave field itself is quantized into bosonic excitations. Here, we present a paradigmatic quantum-optical model consisting of a driven multi-level Jaynes-Cummings (JC) system, featuring few quantum degrees of freedom yet capable of hosting a BIC. Using the concept of a Fock-state lattice (FSL), this model can be mapped to an extended structure comprising two semi-infinite inhomogeneous Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chains coupled to a common continuum. An appropriate quantum superposition of two topological zero modes from the separate chains forms a BIC that remains perfectly localized in the Fock-state dimension within the continuum spectrum, due to complete decoupling from the common continuum via destructive quantum interference. We further develop a method to extract the spectroscopic signature of the BIC – a discrete peak embedded in a continuous background – by Fourier-transforming the time-dependent dynamics of the system's chiral-symmetry operator. A highly feasible experimental proposal using a single trapped ion is provided. Our work bridges BIC physics with quantum optics, opening a pathway to harnessing such exotic states at the quantum limit.

Event-based vision sensors provide asynchronous event generation and microsecond timestamp resolution, which may be useful for high-speed optical measurements. However, precise event timestamps do not necessarily guarantee accurate reconstruction of temporally varying optical signals, particularly under dense and spatially extended illumination, imposing operational limits when used as optical interrogators that remain underexplored in the literature. To address this knowledge gap, this work presents a systematic, quantitative characterization of the temporal response and waveform reconstruction fidelity of an IMX636-based event camera under both controlled sinusoidal and pulsed optical excitation. For this, frequency-domain measurements are first used to evaluate modulation response, event-rate behavior, polarity balance, and spectral reconstruction fidelity over a wide range of illumination conditions and region-of-interest geometries. Then, complementary pulse-based measurements quantify first-event latency, response duration, recovery dynamics, and pulse-width reconstruction accuracy under rapidly repeated excitation, showing that optical transitions can be detected with first-event latencies below 5 microseconds. However, the complete event response extends over significantly longer timescales due to photoreceptor dynamics, refractory behavior, and readout serialization. Under high-frequency modulation and short-pulse excitation, the reconstructed waveforms progressively degrade because of temporal spreading and imbalance between positive and negative event generation. The measurements further demonstrate that the temporal fidelity of the reconstructed signal depends strongly on the geometry and spatial activity of the selected region of interest.

Strengthening light-matter coupling has become a central challenge in cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), enabling ultrafast gate operations, qubit protection, and deterministic nonlinear optics. As the coupling increases, even the simplest configuration, a two-level atom interacting with a quantized field, requires careful treatment, as exemplified by the gauge-invariant quantum Rabi model (QRM). Here we propose a magnetic graph model for single-atom cavity QED, which enables the interpretation of quantum dynamics across the ultrastrong coupling regime through graph connectivity. We demonstrate that the generalized QRM maps onto a complex bipartite graph of identical sites under Floquet boundary conditions. This framework captures the crossover from weak to deep-strong coupling via a single metric: the cost of disconnecting a nonmagnetic subgraph. We examine the mechanism underlying this connectivity transition, establishing phase frustration induced by subgraph topology as the primary driver. Scalable to many-body systems, this approach bridges graph theory and cavity QED, revealing highly complex-graph dynamics even in the simplest setting.

Nonlinear nanomechanical resonators give convenient solid-state access to classical analogs of extreme nonlinear optics and to phononic signal processing. Here we report integer high-harmonic generation and phononic frequency combs in a suspended monolayer graphene drum. A gate voltage breaks the out-of-plane symmetry of the membrane and tunes its fundamental flexural mode onto a 1:2 internal resonance with a higher mode at twice the frequency, where the quadratic coupling between the two modes becomes large. A single drive tone then generates phase-locked integer harmonics in sequence, and at larger drive these fill in to a dense frequency comb. Raising the drive further, we find a reverse period-doubling transition: the comb spacing doubles, the line density halves, and energy flows back into the even-order comb lines. The measured spectra yield the quadratic ($\zeta$) and cubic ($\beta$) nonlinear coefficients of the membrane. These results show how the tunable nonlinear landscape of graphene supports distinct dynamical regimes on demand, allowing a single gated device to act in turn as a frequency multiplier, a broadband comb source, and a chaotic generator.

Reconstructing charged-particle tracks in silicon detectors is a central task in high-energy physics experiments and a key component of both offline reconstruction and online event selection. Within the reconstruction chain, the efficient and high-purity formation of track candidates plays a critical role in the overall performance. Among the many approaches developed over the years, the Hough transform (HT) has been widely studied as a fast geometry-driven method for track finding. However, in high-occupancy environments such as those expected at the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), the HT tends to produce a large number of spurious candidates, leading to increased computational overhead in subsequent reconstruction stages. In this work, we present a hybrid approach in which the HT serves as a first-stage data preparation step, providing its parameters space image as an input to a neural network trained to suppress false track candidates. The method combines the speed of the HT with the discriminative power of machine learning to achieve both efficiency and purity. In addition no data transformations are involved when combining these steps resulting in a simpler and more performant algorithm. Performance studies using the Open Data Detector simulated in the ACTS framework under realistic HL-LHC pileup conditions will be presented.

Graph-theoretic frameworks have been widely employed in quantum physics to address the high-dimensional complexity of quantum systems. Although open quantum dynamics incorporates system-bath coupling via numerous interacting operators, it has been formulated algebraically with a partial set of jump operators or statistically universal reservoirs, leaving the underlying connectivity structure largely unexplored. Here, we propose a universal graph-theoretic framework for Markovian quantum dynamics. The framework maps open quantum dynamics onto two uniquely defined graphs, where the quantum master equation is rigorously interpreted as the average wave characteristic of operator-valued signals across the graphs. Applying this framework to the open quantum Rabi model, we demonstrate an open-system generalization of Fock-state lattices, characterize graph-topological signatures of dissipation, and classify the weak-to-ultrastrong coupling transition. Building on these representations, graph pruning reveals the backbone of open quantum dynamics, which enables superior graph neural-network learning. Our results bridge graph theory and open quantum dynamics, achieving efficient data-driven analysis of high-dimensional complexity.

In this article, we have presented one of the very important observations, regarding the behavior of mutual information of two different sets of subsystems in the after Page time scenario. This provides us with some deep insights about the redistribution of geometrical correlation between the two different sets of subsystems on a Cauchy slice. In our earlier works, we have shown how the saturation of mutual information between two specific subsystems plays a vital role in obtaining the correct Page curve for the eternal black hole. In those works, we have shown that the mutual information between $B_+$ and $B_-$, that is, $I(B_{+}: B_{-})$, vanishes at scrambling time, which leads to the correct Page curve. That means that at scrambling time, there is no correlation between $B_+$ and $B_-$. Remarkably, it is observed that at this particular value of observer's time, the mutual information between $\mathcal{I}$ and $R$, that is, $I(\mathcal{I}:R)$, becomes singular. This indicates that the regions $\mathcal{I}$ and $R$ become maximally entangled. This provides us with a notion of the transfer of geometric correlation between different regions on the Cauchy slice. In this work, we have also provided a way to calculate the tripartite mutual information of regions $\mathcal{I}$,~$R_+$ and $R_-$, that is, $I(\mathcal{I}:R_+:R_-)$ on the Cauchy slice using the earlier results involving the bipartite regions. This is a new result which was missing in the earlier literature.

Magnetic monopoles have been a trending topic among physicists and astronomers since the 1930s. Researchers have been working hard to find evidence of magnetic monopoles in laboratories. The existence of magnetic monopoles can rationally explain the stability of charges, the quantization of charges, the structure of leptons, the unified composition of leptons and hadrons, and the symmetry of leptons and quarks. The presence of these mysterious particles in the universe could have significant implications for theoretical physics and astrophysics. The Grand Unified Theory has also predicted the existence of magnetic monopoles, which is interestingly implied by some astronomical observations. Noticing that the growth of supermassive black holes in the early universe is an increasingly challenging difficulty faced by astronomers, here we argue that it could be solved with the help of magnetic monopoles. As suggested by Peng et al. in A Monopole Model for Galactic Nuclei. In: Structure and Evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei, vol. 121, p. 663 (1986), quasars containing magnetic monopoles at the center can continuously catalyze the decay of protons to release energy. We examine this model by using quasar data from the Sloan digital sky survey. It is shown that the initial mass distribution of quasars derived from the magnetic monopole model exhibits a Gaussian distribution. At the same time, the initial mass function is also slightly higher than previously expected, which could be verified by future observations.

Our Universe is isotropic and homogeneous when we observe it on $\gtrsim$ Mpc length scales. It is desirable that present state of the Universe has no dependence on its initial geometry. In case of Bianchi Universes, i.e., anisotropic but homogeneous Universe, this has already been demonstrated via cosmological constant in a process that we call de Sitterization. In this letter, we show that for Bianchi Universe, the same state can be achieved by a homogeneous inflaton field with a general potential and satisfying a criterion without the need of a cosmological constant. More importantly, we show that the same condition can constrain models of inflation and explain our idea with examples.

The supercritical fluid (SCF) of quantum electrons at the Mott metal-insulator transition without symmetry breaking is one of the most elusive phenomena in strongly correlated electron physics. Prior studies of Cr-doped V2O3 and organic Mott systems reported discrepant critical exponents. A key limitation is that the scaling analysis relies on a single experimental observable, leaving the roles of phase coexistence, inhomogeneity, and percolation unaddressed. Here we report the first experimental identification of a thermodynamically equilibrated SCF phase and its associated Mott endpoint in the three-dimensional superconducting fullerides CsxRb3-xC60, using two independent probes of electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility, which reveal two distinct metal-insulator transition lines converging at a single Mott endpoint. A hypothesis-free two-particle analysis of magnetic susceptibilities yields a metal-insulator coexisting SCF by exhibiting the maximum two-phase mixing entropy, in agreement with a picture of a thermodynamically equilibrated Widom line. Simultaneously, conductivity scaling yields a critical exponent in the regime of quantum critical predictions. Our new dual-probe approach provides a unified microscopic picture of the Mott SCF with a characteristic length scale below current diffraction resolution, in addition to a new interpretation on the origin of superconducting Tc-dome.

Coherent perfect absorption (CPA) extinguishes optical fields through interference and dissipation, but conventional implementations rely on material loss that is largely fixed after fabrication. Here we demonstrate all-optically controllable CPA based on frequency conversion in a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide resonator. Pump-driven frequency conversion couples a resonant signal field at 1581 nm in the main system to a non-resonant environmental mode at 780 nm, creating a dynamically tunable effective loss channel. The nonlinear cavity acts as a tunable lossy beamsplitter without intrinsic material absorption. Under coherent two-sided signal injection, we observe up to 92 % absorption. We further introduce environment-assisted CPA by injecting an external field into the frequency-converted environmental mode, turning the environment from a passive loss reservoir into an addressable coherent control port. Our results establish a frequency-conversion-based platform for all-optical control of dissipation in CPA, combining pump-tunable loss with environment-assisted coherent control.

Grain growth is governed by the reduction in grain boundary energy and exhibits well-established statistical scaling laws. Developing data-driven surrogates that preserve these physical invariants while remaining computationally scalable remains challenging, especially in 3D. We present 3D-PRIMME (Physics-Regulated Interpretable Machine Learning for Microstructure Evolution) for learning three-dimensional grain growth dynamics. The model is trained using only two consecutive time steps yet accurately reproduces the linear coarsening law and preserves topological statistics over extended time scales. Despite being trained on a $100^3$ grid points with 512 grains, the learned evolution operator is applied to domains up to $1024^3$ grid points with 550000 grains without retraining, maintaining consistent kinetics and grain topology across orders-of-magnitude increases in system size. These results demonstrate that 3D-PRIMME learns a scale-independent and temporally stable local evolution rule, enabling efficient and robust large-scale surrogate prediction of 3D microstructure evolution.

The molecular states in coupled channel system of $B_s^0N- B\Lambda- B^*\Lambda- B\Sigma- B^*\Sigma$ are investigated within one-boson-exchange model that includes $S$-$D$ wave mixing and a tunable short-range $\delta(r)$ term. Bound, resonant, and virtual states are searched by analytically continuing the $S$ matrix in the complex energy plane. In the single-channel analysis, the $ B\Sigma$ and $ B^*\Sigma$ systems with $J^P=1/2^-$ and $3/2^-$ are found to be attractive and form three bound states with reasonable cutoff region, corresponding to $1/2^-( B\Sigma)$, $1/2^-( B^*\Sigma)$, and $3/2^-( B^*\Sigma)$ . When coupled-channel dynamics is included, these states evolve into near-threshold poles that produce enhancements in the $B_s^0N$, $ B\Lambda$, and $ B^*\Lambda$ invariant mass spectra. The pole below the $ B^*\Sigma$ threshold in the $J^P=1/2^-$ system depends strongly on the treatment of the short-range $\delta(r)$ term and becomes a virtual state when this contribution is removed, while the other two resonant poles and their line shapes are only moderately affected. For representative parameter region, the predicted masses of these states lie in the $6.44-6.52$ GeV region and have widths of a few to several MeV. The pole coupling and partial-width analyses indicate that the poles are generated mainly by the $ B\Sigma$ and $ B^*\Sigma$ channels interaction, and their observable signals are expected mainly in the lower open channels $B_s^0N$, $ B\Lambda$, and $ B^*\Lambda$. These results support the existence of near-threshold molecular pentaquark $P_{ \bar b s}$ and provide useful guidance in future experimental searches.

Quantum gate teleportation enables distant parties to implement nonlocal quantum operations without physically transferring the participating qubits, making it a promising primitive for distributed quantum computing. We introduce a general framework for deterministic quantum gate teleportation based on path superposition, in which the target nonlocal operation is specified through the phase of a preshared maximally entangled resource and a suitable family of path-dependent local unitary operators. The framework establishes general design conditions that guarantee deterministic teleportation after measurement of the control qubits and the application of local correction operations. As representative realizations, we construct teleportation protocols for controlled-NOT (CNOT) and controlled-Z (CZ) gates, demonstrating that different nonlocal operations can be implemented within the same protocol architecture through appropriate choices of the design parameters. We further outline a proof-of-concept photonic realization based on spatial-path and polarization degrees of freedom. The proposed framework identifies path superposition as a versatile resource for quantum gate teleportation and distributed quantum information processing.

Ultrathin active materials are essential for compact nonlinear and quantum photonic devices, yet no general principle exists to link their optical constants to the cavity designs required for simultaneous field buildup and reflection suppression. Consequently, achieving extreme optical confinement currently relies on trial-and-error optimization for every new material. Here, we establish a design rule for metal-backed cavities that maximizes light-matter interaction by ensuring the simultaneous satisfaction of zeroth-order resonance and critical coupling. We derive a closed-form analytical condition that partitions the (n, k) plane into critically coupled, over-coupled, and under-coupled regimes, each mapping to a specific minimal architecture. The critical curve admits a three-layer open cavity, the over-coupled region a closed cavity with a semi-transparent top mirror, and the under-coupled region a spacer-assisted geometry. For low-loss materials, the closed cavity spatially separates dissipation from field accumulation, allowing the quality factor to be controlled by the external mirror rather than intrinsic medium absorption. We validate this framework with 3R-MoS2, demonstrating a second-harmonic enhancement of 1.19 x 10^5 relative to a monolayer, accompanied by the near-complete suppression of reflected pump waves. These results provide a universal framework for efficient light-matter interaction in ultrathin nonlinear and quantum photonics.

Hamiltonian estimation is an effective approach in studying the structure and dynamical evolution of quantum systems. The difficulty in estimating the Hamiltonian is that an $N$-qubit Hamiltonian has $4^N-1$ unknown parameters, requiring exponentially many equations for information extraction. In this paper we develop a method based on compressed sensing to estimate the Hamiltonian of a multi-qubit system. We identify a problem where as $N$ increases, the common sufficient condition (Restricted Isometry Property) for compressed sensing often fails, obstructing the application of compressed sensing in ($N\geq 3$)-qubit Hamiltonian estimation. To solve this problem, we propose a “scale transformation" technique to restore RIP and ensure a compressive estimation of a $k$-sparse Hamiltonian using only $O(k\log(4^N/k))$ equations. In the numerical examples, we estimate the Hamiltonians of two 6- and 30-qubit systems, demonstrating the effectiveness of the method.

The energy dissipation and particle acceleration mechanisms within relativistic jets remain fundamental questions in active galactic nuclei (AGN) research. In this paper, we present a comprehensive 13-year (2012-2025) multi-wavelength study of the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 120, utilizing Fermi-LAT ($\gamma$-ray), ASAS-SN (optical), and high-resolution VLBA (15 GHz and 43 GHz) monitoring. Cross-correlation analyses reveal that $\gamma$-ray flares lead radio emission by $11.08_{-1.88}^{+4.03}$ months at 15 GHz and $8.27_{-5.55}^{+3.45}$ months at 43 GHz. This frequency-dependent temporal hierarchy positions the high-energy dissipation zone upstream of the radio core, corroborating the opacity-driven core-shift effect. By tracking the parsec-scale jet morphology during major $\gamma$-ray flaring epochs, we demonstrate that radio outbursts systematically coincide with compact core brightening, pronounced surges in polarized flux, abrupt electric vector position angle rotations, and the subsequent ejection of superluminal knots. Ultimately, our internal radio correlations suggest that jet dynamics are governed by a dual mechanism: long-term kinematic and flux baseline variations are geometrically modulated by a secular jet precession, while rapid, highly energetic polarimetric bursts are driven by short-lived internal shocks propagating down the jet channel.

GW241011 and GW241110 are asymmetric binary black hole mergers with rapidly spinning primaries, unequal component masses, and nonzero spin–orbit tilts, making them natural candidates for hierarchical mergers. We use a Bayesian framework to compare a fiducial first-generation (1G+1G) binary black hole population with second-generation plus first-generation (2G+1G) hierarchical merger models in star clusters and active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks. Both events favor the 2G+1G interpretation over the 1G+1G hypothesis, with $\ln\mathcal{B}^{\rm 2G+1G}_{\rm 1G+1G}\simeq6.5$–$8.6$ for GW241011 and $\ln\mathcal{B}^{\rm 2G+1G}_{\rm 1G+1G}\simeq3.0$–$4.5$ for GW241110, depending on the waveform model and assumed environment. The AGN disk models yields slightly larger evidence than the star cluster models, mainly due to their spin tilt distribution, but the data do not provide a decisive environmental classification. We further consider a third-generation plus first-generation (3G+1G) interpretation, but it is not robustly preferred over 2G+1G scenarios. Finally, we also search for optical counterparts by examining AGNs within the three-dimensional localization volumes using ZTF and ATLAS forced photometry, and find one candidate source with weak flare, which might be associated with GW241110 event.

An emergent complexity field governing information exchange is the central theme of this work. To explore this idea, we propose a model of an adaptive dynamical network in which both the interaction weights and the adaptive coupling strengths are determined by finite-time information production rates that quantify the dynamical complexity of individual subsystems. Collective organization in complexity space emerges through a feedback mechanism between the microscopic dynamics and the resulting complexity-dependent interactions. Using numerical simulations, we demonstrate the emergence of a phenomenon that we term complexity condensation, in which subsystem complexities become strongly localized despite the absence of complete state synchronization. The degree of condensation is found to be maximal at an intermediate adaptation strength, reflecting a balance between selective information exchange and network fragmentation. These results reveal a mechanism for complexity-mediated self-organization in nonlinear systems driven by adaptive information exchange.

We investigate phase transitions in the extended Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model with next-nearest-neighbor hoppings and an imaginary staggered chemical potential. In the presence of small non-Hermiticity, exceptional points emerge in pairs from the gap-closing momenta near the topological phase boundaries of the Hermitian limit. Utilizing the Krylov spread complexity and entanglement entropy, we analyze two dynamical protocols: (i) preparing the non-Hermitian ground state via a unitary transformation, and (ii) evolving the system under the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. We show that the spread complexity, and long-time spread complexity as well as entanglement entropy can effectively signal phase transitions in the first and second protocols, respectively. To unravel the detailed structure of the transitions, we introduce the momentum-resolved complexity that identifies the characteristic modes and tracks their evolution with the driving parameter. In the regime where the system possesses a purely imaginary spectrum, we further identify dynamical phases based on the saturation behavior of the spread complexity. The entanglement entropy is also found to exhibit similar saturation behavior, thereby providing a more experimentally accessible probe of the dynamical phases.