Optics
Peak-Decomposition-Free Inverse Metrology of Hyperspectral Moiré Photoluminescence
Katsunori Wakabayashi
Hyperspectral photoluminescence (PL) of moiré transition-metal dichalcogenide heterobilayers encodes spatially varying
exciton landscapes, but extracting that information is hampered by the ambiguity of multi-peak spectral decomposition. Here we develop a peak-decomposition-free inverse framework for quantitative optical metrology of effective disorder coordinates. From the raw cube $I(x,y,E)$ we construct physically motivated descriptor maps – centroid energy, dominant emission energy, spectral width, low/high spectral-weight ratio, and dominant–centroid offset. Their spatial autocorrelation hierarchy and covariance structure form a robust descriptor fingerprint of multi-scale disorder-sensitive spectral statistics. By matching these descriptor summary statistics to a minimal smooth-plus-trap generative model through a grid-
Bayesian inverse, we infer effective disorder coordinates $\Thetaeff=\{\Ws,\xis,\Wt,\nt\}$ with explicit uncertainties. Using synthetic PL cubes generated from controlled multi-scale landscapes, we recover the well-identified smooth-disorder coordinates and constrain the trap sector up to a strength–density degeneracy. We report this degeneracy explicitly as an intrinsic identifiability limit rather than a deficiency of the method, and map four canonical disorder regimes onto a disorder-coordinate diagram. The descriptor statistics are stable against shot noise and pixel pitch, and behave predictably under optical-resolution and energy-window changes. The same pipeline ingests experimental cubes without modification, making it directly applicable to two-dimensional and moiré materials. Our results establish descriptor-based hyperspectral PL as a practical, minimal-assumption route to optical disorder diagnostics and provide the validated core of a reusable analysis workflow (HyperPL-Diag) for moiré
exciton systems.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Second-order topological insulator induced by compensated altermagnetism without bulk spin splitting
Lizhou Liu, Qing-Feng Sun and Ying-Tao Zhang
We theoretically demonstrate a second-order topological insulating phase induced by compensated altermagnetism, while keeping the bulk gap unchanged, in a two-dimensional topological
insulator film. By introducing a layer-resolved out-of-plane $d$-wave altermagnetic term with opposite signs on the top and bottom layers, the system preserves $\mathcal{PT}$
symmetry and maintains
spin degeneracy in the bulk bands, while simultaneously gapping the helical edge states and generating localized corner states. The resulting higher-order phase is characterized by nonzero mirror-graded winding numbers, and an effective edge theory shows that the corner states arise from Dirac mass domain walls. We further determine the phase boundaries analytically and construct the corresponding topological phase diagram, establishing a robust route to higher-order
topology without bulk
spin splitting.
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Materials Science
Emergent toroidal induction in a polar Weyl ferromagnet
Yuuri Suzuki, Yukako Fujishiro, Masataka Mogi et al. (+12 more)
Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) underpins modern spintronics by enabling the electrical generation of
spin torques. Its reciprocal counterpart, in which magnetization dynamics produce electromotive forces through a
spin-dependent Berry phase, is known as emergent electromagnetic induction (EEMI). However, this effect has previously been observed only in
magnetic textures with spatial gradients, such as domain walls, helices, and skyrmions. Here, we demonstrate that even a spatially uniform ferromagnet can host EEMI through a previously unrecognized Berry-phase mechanism inherent to noncentrosymmetric conductors. In the polar Weyl ferromagnet PrAlGe, an applied alternating current generates
spin-orbit torques that drive collective magnetization dynamics. The resulting emergent toroidal moment (T = P \times M), where (P) is the
crystal's polar axis and (M) is the net magnetization, acts as a gauge potential whose time derivative (dT/dt) induces a
Hall voltage. This contribution appears specifically in the out-of-phase component of the AC
Hall response and scales linearly with frequency, providing direct evidence for EEMI. First-principles calculations further reveal that this toroidal vector encodes the collective motion of Weyl nodes in momentum space. These findings establish "emergent toroidal induction" as a new manifestation of
spin-orbit
entanglement, unifying Berry phase,
topology, and
spin dynamics while opening a pathway toward intrinsic and energy-efficient
spin-charge interconversion.
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All authors Yuuri Suzuki, Yukako Fujishiro, Masataka Mogi, Juba Bouaziz, Takahiro Anan, Akiko Kikkawa, Daiki Yamaguchi, Max T. Birch, Yuto Kiyonaga, Minoru Kawamura, Yasujiro Taguchi, Takahiro Morimoto, Naoto Nagaosa, Ryotaro Arita, Yoshinori Tokura
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Quantum anomalous Hall effect with tunable Chern numbers induced by d-wave sublattice-staggered altermagnetism
Lizhou Liu and Qing-Feng Sun
We construct a minimal spinful tight-binding model on a square
lattice, where a $d$-wave sublattice-staggered altermagnetism drives the
quantum anomalous
Hall effect. Here the exchange field is staggered between the two sublattices, where it takes opposite signs on $A$ and $B$ described by the Pauli
matrix $\tau_z$. The resulting insulating phases host tunable Chern numbers $\mathcal{C}=\pm1$ and $\mathcal{C}=\pm2$, controlled by the staggered exchange strength and the sublattice-staggered potential. We determine the complete phase diagram, identify valley-resolved band inversions at the $X$ and $Y$ points in the Brillouin zone, and demonstrate
chiral edge states together with quantized two-terminal conductance plateaus. Our work provides a simple route to realizing the
quantum anomalous
Hall effect in compensated magnets via a $d$-wave sublattice-staggered altermagnetism.
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Quantum Physics
Demonstration of tripartite cat states in two distinct classes of entanglement
May Chee Loke, Jonathan Schwinger, Kehui Yu et al. (+4 more)
Entanglement is a cornerstone of
quantum mechanics and an essential resource for
quantum computation, communication, and metrology. While bipartite
entanglement is extensively studied, genuine multipartite entangled states remain largely inaccessible in the continuous-variable domain. Here, we experimentally realize continuous-variable tripartite entangled cat states of the two distinct classes with fundamentally inequivalent properties, namely GHZ-cat and W-cat states, encoded across three microwave resonators coupled to an ancillary superconducting transmon. We develop one-to-all conditional controls on the three oscillators by fully utilizing three energy levels of the transmon to generate these states in a single piece of hardware and employ an efficient subspace
tomography protocol for state reconstruction. We obtain measurement-corrected state fidelities of $0.83\pm0.02$ for GHZ-cat and $0.70\pm0.02$ for W-cat, both exceeding the thresholds for genuine multipartite
entanglement, with the W-state certification further supported by an optimized fully decomposable witness directly computed with the reconstructed density
matrix. We validate the distinct
entanglement classes by experimentally demonstrating that pairwise
entanglement is present in the W-cat state but absent in the GHZ-cat state. Our technique for the on-demand generation and characterization of inequivalent classes of tripartite continuous-variable
entanglement provides a testbed for studying multipartite bosonic
entanglement and its robustness to loss, and a building block for future
quantum information processing with multipartite bosonic codes.
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All authors May Chee Loke, Jonathan Schwinger, Kehui Yu, Yingshan Zhang, Amon M. Kasper, Tanjung Krisnanda, Yvonne Y. Gao
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Pulsation harmonics reveal the origin of the century-old Blazhko effect
Jia-Shu Niu
The Blazhko effect – a quasi-periodic modulation of pulsation amplitude and phase observed in all subtypes of RR Lyrae
stars – has defied physical explanation for over a century. Here we show that pulsation harmonics of the Blazhko RRab
star V783 Cyg, traditionally regarded as passive replicas of the fundamental mode, encode a direct observational signature of the effect's origin. Using Kepler short-cadence photometry, we identify a subset of harmonics – here termed “disharmonized harmonics” – whose amplitude variations are anti-correlated with those of lower-order harmonics and of the fundamental mode. These disharmonized harmonics map precisely onto the base of the convective envelope, where convection–pulsation interaction is strongest, and their behaviour directly traces the strength of turbulent convection. We interpret the Blazhko modulation as arising from quasi-periodic variation of turbulent convection in the
stellar envelope, which regulates both the efficiency of energy transport and the thickness of the $\kappa$-excitation zone. This interpretation naturally accounts for the occurrence of the Blazhko effect across RR Lyrae subtypes and its absence when the convective envelope extends only shallowly into the He~I/H ionization zone, establishing an observationally grounded framework that links harmonic behaviour to the convective dynamics underlying this long-standing puzzle.
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Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Engineering Two-Dimensional Hybrid-Order Topological Insulators via Trilayer Coupling
Lizhou Liu, Cheng-Ming Miao and Qing-Feng Sun
We propose an interlayer-engineering scheme to realize a two-dimensional hybrid-order topological
insulator, characterized by the coexistence of first-order and second-order topological phases, in a coupled trilayer Chern system. Starting from three
quantum anomalous
Hall layers with Chern numbers $\mathcal{C}_{1/2/3}=+1/-1/+1$ in the decoupled limit, interlayer tunneling hybridizes their edge states into a single
chiral edge mode, while simultaneously opening a gap that supports corner states. Consequently, the system exhibits the coexistence of one-dimensional
chiral edge states and zero-dimensional corner states within the same bulk gap, a hallmark of the hybrid-order
topology. Furthermore, we map out the topological phase diagram, and show that the hybrid-order phase is robust against mass-type disorder. Our results identify interlayer hybridization as a minimal and broadly applicable strategy for engineering coexisting edge and corner states within a topological platform.
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Optics
Selective avoidance of multiple line-of-sight obstacles at 130~m using locally bending space-time wave packets
Layton A. Hall, Murat Yessenov, Isabelle Lebron et al. (+1 more)
Self-accelerating optical beams follow curved trajectories rather than propagating rectilinearly, which raises the prospect for avoiding line-of-sight (LoS) obstacles blocking the beam path. However, if a conventional
laser beam is intercepted by an obstacle en route to an intended LoS target, then replacing this beam with a bending beam is not adequate: the obstacle is avoided but the target cannot be concomitantly reached. Rather, a
laser beam that locally bends around the obstacle – before continuing along its rectilinear path – is needed. Here we show that engineering the spatiotemporal spectrum of a pulsed beam yields a space-time wave packet whose propagation dynamics can be tuned at will to locally bend around one or multiple obstacles, thereby avoiding them, to selectively reach a designated target. We carry out our experiments over distances extending to 130~m from the source, carried out in an open-air environment. In one scenario, the beam is incident on a target placed between two LoS obstacles, one preceding it and one following it – both of which are avoided. In a second scenario, the locally bending beam avoids one and then two LoS obstacles preceding the intended target. These results may contribute to applications requiring selective incidence on targets in remote sensing, stand-off detection, directed energy, for optical and
radio-frequency communications in presence of LoS obstacles, and for selectively delivered radiation therapies.
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All authors Layton A. Hall, Murat Yessenov, Isabelle Lebron, Ayman F. Abouraddy
Soft Condensed Matter
Solvent Mixing Effect on Free-Energy Barrier and Stability for Molecular Recognition Driven by the Translational Motion of Solvent Molecules
Mika Matsuo and Ryo Akiyama
We calculated the potentials of mean force (PMFs) between a ring-like host and a spherical guest in a solvent mixture. We adopted hard-body interactions between particles to discuss the effects of solvent-particle translational motion. The PMFs were obtained using the three-dimensional Ornstein-Zernike equation coupled with the modified hypernetted-chain closure (3D-MHNC-OZ theory). The entropic stabilization at the recognition site is confirmed, and a free-energy barrier wall is observed surrounding it. The free-energy barrier for the solvent mixture is much lower than that for the one-component solvent. Similar barrier reduction for the association of two spherical solute molecules has also been reported, and the mixing effect also reduced the dimerization stability. By contrast, the mixing effect does not significantly reduce recognition stability in the present study. In this respect, the behavior of the host-guest association is different from that of the association of two spherical solute molecules.
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Plasma Physics
Full-Path Nonlinear Modeling of Microwave Power Transmission Through Ionospheric Plasma for Space Solar Power Station
Pengan Guo, Lei Chang, Yuhan Chen et al. (+5 more)
Space
Solar Power Station (SSPS) concepts rely on gigawatt-class microwave beams to carry orbital
solar energy through the ionosphere, where the beam and the
plasma form a coupled nonlinear system: the field heats electrons, the heating alters the collision frequency and
plasma density, and the modified medium in turn reshapes the field. To our knowledge, this work is the first study to quantify this two-way interaction between microwave power transmission and the ionospheric
plasma environment through full-path nonlinear modeling. The 340 km path from 400 km to 60 km altitude is reconstructed by 34 cascaded two-dimensional axisymmetric finite-element full-wave segments with complex-field transfer, using International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) electron-density and NRLMSISE-00 neutral-atmosphere inputs. A Shallow Neural Network (SNN) surrogate replaces the implicit electron energy balance with an explicit closure that maps altitude and local field magnitude to electron temperature and effective collision frequency, enabling stable nonlinear iteration. For 1 GW beams at 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz, the volume-integrated Ohmic deposition is 29.4 kW and 5.11 kW, respectively – fractional losses of order $10^{-5}$ – and the ratio between the two bands follows the $\omega^{-2}$ scaling of collisional absorption. The deposition concentrates near 95 km altitude, where the product of electron density and collision frequency peaks, whereas the electron-temperature perturbation (up to 3815 K) maximizes in the F region, where cooling is weakest; ponderomotive density depletion remains below 0.02%. The ionosphere is therefore effectively transparent to the SSPS power budget but not to the beam phase: localized heating and refractive perturbation accumulate phase-front distortion relevant to phased-array beam control, rectenna phase compensation, and environmental assessment.
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All authors Pengan Guo, Lei Chang, Yuhan Chen, Ya Gao, Longshuai Ye, Jikai Sun, Huaiqing Zhang, Jian Li
Plasma Physics
Nonlinear Tearing Modes in Current-Vortex Sheets
D. Urbanski, F. L. Waelbroeck and A. Tenerani
The linear and nonlinear development of instabilities and Alfvén resonances in a plane current-
vortex sheet is presented here for sheared
equilibrium profiles $\boldsymbol{B_{y0}} = \tanh(z)\boldsymbol{\hat{y}}$ and $\boldsymbol{V_{y0}} = M_0\tanh(z/r)\boldsymbol{\hat{y}}$. We extend Rutherford's nonlinear model for constant-psi
magnetic islands to account for a sheared
equilibrium flow and determine the flow's impact on the
magnetic island's nonlinear
evolution for $M_0<1$. In this regime, the flow introduces two nonlinear contributions: a polarization current term and a modification of the saturation term derived by Militello and Porcelli (2004). We find that the polarization current generated by the
equilibrium flow consistently reduces the nonlinear growth rate of the tearing mode. The flow-induced modification of the saturation term, however, depends on the
magnetic-to-velocity shear width ratio, $r$. For $r=1$, the saturation term is unchanged from the case without flow. For $r>1$, it increases in magnitude with $M_0$, strengthening its stabilizing effect and further reducing the island growth rate. In contrast, for $r<1$, the saturation term decreases in magnitude with increasing $M_0$ and can become positive, leading to a transition from a stabilizing to a destabilizing contribution. Nevertheless, throughout the parameter range considered, the combined effect of the polarization current and modified saturation term is to slow the growth of the
magnetic island. Finally, we find that, in the presence of Alfvén resonances, the
magnetic island's growth in the nonlinear regime is no longer adequately characterized by constant-psi, and the dynamics of such islands are not captured by the model.
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Mathematical Physics
Asymptotic forms of the Ursell edge waves on a gently sloping beach
P. Zhevandrov, A. Merzon and M. I. Romero Rodríguez
It is shown that the asymptotics of the Ursell trapping modes on a sloping beach of small slope angle alpha coincide with the inverse
Fourier transform of standard WKB exponentials, i.e., the Maslov canonical operator, as alpha tends to 0.
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Pulsar anti-glitches: starquakes driven by magnetism?
Hanyuan Long, Ruipeng Lu, Weiyang Wang et al. (+4 more)
In the conventional starquake model of
pulsar glitches, it is usually assumed that such events arise from fault slip induced by the self-
gravity of compact objects. This inevitably decreases the moment of inertia, producing a glitch with an amplitude of only $\Delta\nu/\nu > 0$. However, an increasing number of anti-glitches ($\Delta\nu/\nu < 0$) have been observed in extremely magnetized
pulsars, the magnetars, and this cannot be explained by that framework. In the present study, we hypothesis that
magnetic stresses within a compact object can make for elastic deformations that trigger fault slipping, resulting in a “magnetism-driven starquake” when the local breaking threshold is exceeded. This process can then either decrease or increase the moment of inertia, naturally generating a glitch or an anti-glitch, respectively. With an order-of-magnitude calculation in this brief report, we present a simple relationship between the
magnetic field $B$ and the amplitude $\Delta\nu/\nu$, which is consistent with the observational distribution of existing glitch and anti-glitch data. Further discoveries of glitch/anti-glitch events, alongside more quantitative models of elastic-
magnetic stress coupling, would be welcome and could eventually provide clear tests for the hypothesis.
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All authors Hanyuan Long, Ruipeng Lu, Weiyang Wang, Shunshun Cao, Hao Tong, Han Yue, Renxin Xu
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Testing the Direction of Dark Sector Interaction Using Late-Time Datasets
Anil Kandel, Phongpichit Channuie, Ertan Güdekli et al. (+1 more)
In this work, we constrain the phenomenological interacting dark energy $\xi$IDE model using
baryon acoustic oscillation measurements from DESI Data Release 1 and Data Release 2, combined with
cosmic chronometer measurements, compressed CMB likelihoods, and three different Type Ia
supernova compilations: Pantheon$^+$, DES-Dovekie, and Union3. We constrain the parameters of the $\xi$IDE model using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis, using the nested sampling
algorithm implemented in the dynesty package through the cosmological inference code SimpleMC. Compared to $\Lambda$CDM, the $\xi$IDE model favors slightly higher values of the Hubble constant, leading to a reduction in the Hubble tension. However, the tension is not completely resolved for any
dataset combination. The parameter $\xi$ is consistently constrained to values close to its $\Lambda$CDM prediction, indicating no statistically significant deviation from the standard cosmological scenario. Similarly, except for the CMB + DESI DR1 + CC
dataset combination, the dark energy equation-of-state parameter prefers values of $w_{\rm X}>-1$, showing a preference for quintessence-like behavior and providing evidence for dynamical dark energy. The interaction parameter combination, $\xi+3w_{\rm X}$, is found to be negative for all
dataset combinations, corresponding to energy transfer from dark energy to dark matter. The strongest preference is obtained for the CMB + DESI DR2 + CC + Union3
dataset combination, yielding $\xi+3w_{\rm X}=-0.035\pm0.023$, which corresponds to a deviation of only $1.52\sigma$ from the non-interacting limit. Therefore, the current data provide only a weak indication of a non-zero dark-sector interaction. Model comparison based on the $N\sigma$ statistic shows weak evidence in favor of the interacting scenario, while
Bayesian evidence consistently prefers the $\Lambda$CDM model.
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All authors Anil Kandel, Phongpichit Channuie, Ertan Güdekli, Farruh Atamurotov
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Dynamics of potential-free warm $\mathbf{k}$-inflation with nonminimal derivative coupling
Xiao-Min Zhang, Zi-Xin Bai, Run-Qing Zhao et al. (+4 more)
In contrast to potential-driven warm inflation models, this paper presents a new inflationary scenario driven purely by noncanonical kinetic terms. We derive the
evolution equations and the associated slow-roll approximations specific to the kinetic case. The model incorporates a nonminimal derivative coupling that enhances gravitational friction; when combined with thermal damping, this leads to a significantly slower
evolution of the pure kinetic inflaton. The resulting slow-roll approximations differ fundamentally from those of potential-driven inflation. The attractor behavior of this warm $k$-inflation with nonminimal derivative coupling is explored, confirming that slow-roll solutions can approach a strict exponential expansion attractor under relaxed slow-roll conditions. We further calculate the density fluctuation equations and obtain analytic expressions for the power spectrum, spectral index, and tensor-to-scalar ratio. Compared to standard inflation in general relativity, the energy scale at horizon crossing is lower, and the tensor-to-scalar ratio is significantly reduced due to the combined effects of thermal damping and nonminimal derivative coupling. The field excursion remains comfortably sub-Planckian. The model's predictions are in excellent agreement with the latest Planck 2018 data, offering a novel and successful extension of the warm inflation paradigm.
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All authors Xiao-Min Zhang, Zi-Xin Bai, Run-Qing Zhao, Peng-Cheng Chu, Yun-Cai Feng, Zhi-Peng Peng, Xi-Bin Li
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Zero-Field Long Range Order at $T \sim 40$ mK in the Proximate Quantum Spin Ice Ce$_2$Sn$_2$O$_7$ and Phase Diagram for Magnetic Fields Along [1,1,0]
E. M. Smith, M. S. Powell, R. Schäfer et al. (+4 more)
The Ce$^{3+}$ pseudospin-1/2 degrees of freedom in the pyrochlore magnets Ce$_2$X$_2$O$_7$, with $X$ = Zr, Hf, or Sn, possess dipole-octupole character. The XYZ nearest-neighbor model
Hamiltonians which have successfully described their properties make them attractive candidates for
quantum spin ice ground states. We report new heat capacity measurements to very low temperatures on a high-quality single
crystal of Ce$_2$Sn$_2$O$_7$ grown by hydrothermal techniques. Our zero-field measurements uncover a clear first order transition to long-ranged order at $T \sim 0.04$ K, well below the downturn in the broader Schottky-like anomaly that is a common feature in the zero-field heat capacity for cerium pyrochlores. This observation settles the debate as to whether Ce$_2$Sn$_2$O$_7$ possesses a QSI ground state in zero field - it does not. However, we also find compelling evidence suggesting that
spin ice physics is nearby, and remains relevant to Ce$_2$Sn$_2$O$_7$. Application of a
magnetic field along the $[1,1,0]$ direction leads to an
evolution of this peak to a weak anomaly at higher temperature more characteristic of a continuous, mean field transition. At higher fields along $[1,1,0]$, the Schottky-like anomaly bifurcates similar to expectations for independent polarized $\alpha$ and orthogonal $\beta$ chains in classical
spin ice. These new experimental results demonstrate richness to the phase diagram for Ce-based pyrochlores.
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All authors E. M. Smith, M. S. Powell, R. Schäfer, A. P. Dioguardi, J. W. Kolis, R. Movshovich, B. D. Gaulin
Plasma Physics
A Collocated Boris Integrator in Flux Coordinates: Balancing Accuracy, Conservation, Cost and Robustness
Mingyuan Li and Chang Liu
When the guiding-center description fails and the full gyromotion must be resolved for energetic particles in complex configurations like stellarators, charged-particle integrators must be formulated directly in the curvilinear flux coordinates. The Boris
algorithm, which adopts a staggered scheme in Cartesian coordinates, is phase-space-volume-preserving and second-order accurate; but a direct port to flux coordinates degrades the position update to first order, because the evolving basis vectors of the curvilinear frame make the starting-point metric deviate from the ideal midpoint metric. We construct a collocated, midpoint-predicted Boris
algorithm in flux coordinates, restoring second-order accuracy at the cost of one additional field evaluation per step. In reactor-scale stellarator
magnetic fields, the scheme recovers second-order convergence in every coordinate component, retains near-machine-precision energy conservation and a bounded
magnetic moment, and demonstrates greater orbit robustness than Staggered Boris and RK4 at coarse time steps.
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High Energy Physics (Phenomenology)
Back-to-back dijet production in DIS at arbitrary Bjorken-x: TMD quark distributions to twist-3 accuracy
Swagato Mukherjee, Vladimir.V.Skokov, Andrey Tarasov et al. (+2 more)
We study the contributions of target
quark background to
quark-
gluon and
quark-antiquark dijet productions cross sections in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) at arbitrary Bjorken-$x$. Using the background-field method, we organize the leading-order dijet production cross section in terms of bilocal
quark and trilocal
quark–
gluon–
quark correlators. The former provides the contributions of the leading-twist as well as the kinematical and dynamical twist-three
quark transverse-momentum-dependent (TMD) distributions, while the latter encode contributions of the dynamical twist-three TMD distributions. {Together with the
gluon distributions derived in Ref.~\cite{Mukherjee:2026cte}}, these results provide the complete leading-order cross section for back-to-back dijet production in DIS at arbitrary Bjorken-$x$ to twist-three accuracy. This theoretical framework extends the TMD description of the process beyond the small-$x$ eikonal regime and provides the necessary tools for analyzing data from the future Electron–Ion
Collider.
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All authors Swagato Mukherjee, Vladimir.V.Skokov, Andrey Tarasov, Shaswat Tiwari, Fei Yao
Quantum Physics
Heisenberg Scaling in Many-Body Kinetic Uncertainty Relation via Quantum Feedback
Hayato Yunoki and Yoshihiko Hasegawa
Kinetic uncertainty relations impose a fundamental constraint on counting precision by requiring large dynamical activity to suppress fluctuations. For $N$ independent constituents, the activity is additive and scales as $O(N)$, so the corresponding precision bound improves only as $O(1/N)$. A central question is whether many-body
quantum systems can instead achieve Heisenberg scaling, with relative variance suppressed as $O(1/N^{2})$. Such scaling could enable substantially enhanced precision in
quantum devices, including
quantum clocks. Superradiance appears to provide a natural route because its collective emission activity can scale as $O(N^2)$. We show, however, that superradiance alone fails to achieve Heisenberg scaling because this enhanced activity is transient. We then demonstrate that jump-conditioned
quantum feedback stabilizes the superradiant high-activity regime and converts this collective enhancement into Heisenberg scaling. We establish this mechanism analytically using a many-body kinetic uncertainty relation and mean-field analysis, and demonstrate through
quantum-trajectory simulations that the actual relative counting fluctuation scales as $O(1/N^{2})$.
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Strongly Correlated Electrons
Giant magnetocaloric effect at low fields in triangular-lattice NdMgAl$_{11}$O$_{19}$
Yantao Cao, He Sun, Zhendong Fu et al. (+6 more)
Magnetic refrigeration in the sub-Kelvin regime requires refrigerant materials to retain a large
magnetic entropy at low temperatures by suppressing
magnetic ordering.
Quantum spin liquids (QSLs), which evade long-range
magnetic ordering while retaining strong
quantum fluctuations to the lowest temperatures, therefore provide a promising platform for realizing high-performance
magnetic refrigerants. Here, we investigate the
magnetic ground state and the magnetocaloric effect of the hexaaluminate, NdMgAl$_{11}$O$_{19}$, in which the Nd$^{3+}$ ions form a network of triangular
lattices.
Magnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements indicate a magnetically dynamic state down to 50~mK, consistent with a QSL state. Specific heat measurements further reveal substantial
magnetic entropy retained below 50~mK. Quasi-adiabatic demagnetization measurements demonstrate a superior cooling performance of NdMgAl$_{11}$O$_{19}$, which can be cooled to 113~mK from 1.9~K by only a small
magnetic field change of 2~T. The outstanding refrigeration performance is attributed to the persistent
spin fluctuations associated with the QSL-like ground state, together with a large effective g factor and the smallness of the exchange interactions along the easy-axis direction. This study demonstrates that frustration, combined with strong
spin-orbit coupling and
crystal-electric-field effect in the rare earth magnets provides a promising design principle for next-generation cryogenic
magnetic refrigerants.
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All authors Yantao Cao, He Sun, Zhendong Fu, Zhaoming Tian, Huiqian Luo, Junsen Xiang, Peijie Sun, Jinkui Zhao, Hanjie Guo
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Emergent interweaved CDW unoccupied states in hole-doping LaTe2 with element substitution
Shuya Xing, Hongyu Liu, Xu Chen et al. (+6 more)
Multiple CDW-ordered layered rare-earth tellurides have increasingly emerged as a research hotspot, owing to their unconventional CDW formation, high transition temperature, and confirmed existence of axial
Higgs modes. Recently, interweaved CDW in LaTe2 and its element-substituted phase LaTe2-xSbx have been investigated through TEM and ARPES measurements, revealing their distinct origins. Nevertheless, several complex diffraction features observed in TEM patterns remain unelucidated. In this work, we carried out scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on LaTe1.6Sb0.4
crystals at 9 K. Three interweaved CDW wave vectors, q1=8/11a*, q2=5/11a* and q3=3/11a* were observed, which are induced by hole doping in unoccupied states. The q1 and q3 are theoretically verified to be nesting vectors connecting px- and py- bands. Furthermore, the satellite spots relative to the main Bragg spots p corresponding to a 11-a-superlattice have also been detected. Our findings provide critical insights for further exploring the origin of the interweaved CDW in hole/electron doping materials.
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All authors Shuya Xing, Hongyu Liu, Xu Chen, Zhenkai Xie, Zhongxu Wei, Shifeng Zhao, Wenping Zhou, Xin qi Li, Zhihai Cheng
Quantum Physics
Experimental demonstration of scalable quantum blockchain with exponentially superior quantum communication complexity
Feng Xie, Ming-Yang Li, Yongqiang Du et al. (+11 more)
To secure modern distributed digital infrastructures,
quantum blockchains exploit
quantum resources to achieve information-theoretic security and surpass the classical one-third fault-tolerance bound. However, existing high-fault-tolerant protocols face a fundamental scalability challenge: the blockchain trilemma imposes either exponential communication complexity or experimentally demanding multipartite
entanglement. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a scalable
quantum blockchain protocol based on weak coherent states that achieves an exponential reduction in
quantum communication complexity. The protocol employs a circular
quantum Byzantine agreement mechanism that preserves information-theoretic security while avoiding multipartite
entanglement. We implement this protocol on a photonic integrated
circuit platform, realizing a six-node network over commercially available telecommunication infrastructure. Compared with previous schemes, the protocol requires less than 4% of the
quantum communication resources. Leveraging this advantage, we further demonstrate a
quantum-secured
token exchange application achieving a throughput of 805.3 transactions per second with zero failures. These results establish a practical pathway toward scalable
quantum blockchain.
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All authors Feng Xie, Ming-Yang Li, Yongqiang Du, Chen-Xun Weng, Mingxuan Zhang, Xin Hua, Xiang Guan, Xin An, Jingzhe He, Xin Liu, Zhenrong Zhang, Xi Xiao, Hua-Lei Yin, Kejin Wei
Quantum Physics
A fault-tolerant quantum blockchain deployed on commercial telecommunications network
Yongqiang Du, Chen-Xun Weng, Feng Xie et al. (+10 more)
Popularized by the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, blockchain technology establishes a decentralized digital framework that utilizes cryptographic and consensus protocols to secure data against unauthorized modification. Consequently, blockchain has found broad adoption across diverse fields, including finance, data management, healthcare, and digital asset governance. In the
quantum computing era, a paramount objective for blockchain is to preserve its foundational advantages of cryptographic integrity and decentralized fault-tolerant resilience. In principle,
quantum digital signatures and
quantum Byzantine agreement protocols offer foundational security guarantees and tolerate up to one-half of malicious nodes for blockchain. However, the practical realization of such a
quantum-enhanced blockchain remains a significant and multifaceted challenge. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a fully operational hybrid
quantum blockchain architecture built on photonic integrated
circuits and deployed over commercially available classical telecommunications infrastructure. The system achieves a fault tolerance of nearly one-half, surpassing the classical limit, while reaching consensus on a timescale of seconds. A deployed food traceability application validates the practicality of the proposed architecture, achieving a throughput of approximately 500 transactions per second. This work establishes a foundation for practical
quantum blockchains, enabling secure, scalable, and decentralized information processing in the emerging
quantum era.
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All authors Yongqiang Du, Chen-Xun Weng, Feng Xie, Ming-Yang Li, Mingxuan Zhang, Xin Hua, Xin An, Xiang Guan, Xin Liu, Zhenrong Zhang, Xi Xiao, Hua-Lei Yin, Kejin Wei
Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cs.IT
Hermitian Hulls of Cyclic Codes and Exact Dual Distances of Extended Linear Codes
Liangdong Lu, Ruipan Yang, Yang Liu et al. (+2 more)
Let $\mathcal{C}$ be an $[n,k,d]$ linear code over $\F_{q^2}$ with parity-check
matrix $H$. The rank $r=\Rank(HH^{\dagger})$ measures how far the Hermitian dual $\mathcal{C}^{\perp_h}$ is from being Hermitian self-orthogonal, and it is the least number of coordinates that must be adjoined to $\mathcal{C}^{\perp_h}$ to make it Hermitian self-orthogonal; equivalently, the Hermitian hull $\mathcal{C}\cap\mathcal{C}^{\perp_h}$ has dimension $(n-k)-r$. In this paper, we develop a structure theory of the Hermitian hull of a cyclic code and apply it to the construction of
quantum stabilizer codes. For a cyclic code with defining set $T\subseteq\mathbb{Z}_n$, we show that $r$ is additive over the orbits of the involution $\tau(\nu)=-q\nu$ on the $q^2$-cyclotomic cosets and satisfies a parity constraint. A parameter dictionary exhibits $r$ as a gauge trading one-for-one against the code length, and a complementation duality shows that the complement of $T$ realises the logical-
qubit count of the
quantum code. The extreme values of $r$ are settled by closed subset-sum criteria, and the $\tau$-invariant defining sets are shown to be the unique locus on which the Hermitian dual is again cyclic. On the distance side, we determine the Hermitian dual distance of an $r$-fold extension of an arbitrary linear code exactly, and we prove that the admissible extension vectors lie in the image of $HH^{\dagger}$, which reduces the search space from $q^{2(n-k)}$ to $q^{2r}$. Applied to cyclic, quasi-cyclic and BCH codes, the construction improves $23$ best-known parameters in Grassl's code tables, one of them provably optimal.
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All authors Liangdong Lu, Ruipan Yang, Yang Liu, Qiang Fu, Guanmin Guo
Nuclear Theory
Analytical penetration probability including the centrifugal potential: An improved Buck–Merchant–Perez model for alpha-decay half-lives
Minghui Hu, Pengfei Ma, Kai Ren et al. (+2 more)
We derive a closed-form, non-perturbative WKB penetration formula for alpha-decay that explicitly incorporates the centrifugal potential within the Buck–Merchant–Perez (BMP) cluster model. The centrifugal term is shown to enhance the hindrance by effectively enlarging the barrier width: it pushes the outer turning point outward and, via the Bohr–Sommerfeld quantization condition, shifts the inner turning point inward. Building on this analytical result, we further develop an improved BMP model in which the
nuclear potential depth is expressed as a unified four-parameter formula that simultaneously encodes shell corrections, odd-even pairing effects, and orbital-angular-momentum dependence. For 534 ground-state-to-ground-state alpha decays spanning Z = 60–118, the root-mean-square deviation of log base 10 T1/2 is reduced to 0.267, representing a 57% improvement over the original constant-depth BMP model (0.615), with robust performance for both favored (0.188) and unfavored (0.398) transitions. The framework is further applied to predict the half-lives of hitherto-unmeasured
nuclei in the region Z = 117–120, providing quantitative
benchmarks for future experimental investigations.
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All authors Minghui Hu, Pengfei Ma, Kai Ren, Junlong Tian, Cheng Li
Quantum Physics
Nonequilibrium thermodynamics of the acoustoelectric quantum vacuum
Ryan O. Behunin, Andrew Shepherd, Francesco Intravaia et al. (+1 more)
The
quantum vacuum can assume thermal properties as a consequence of system kinematics, highlighting the nuance of our definition of particles in
quantum field theory. Here, we explore this phenomenon in acoustoelectric systems, involving the interaction of
phonons and plasmons, where the charge carriers drift at a constant velocity exceeding the speed of sound. Through an open
quantum systems analysis, we show that the acoustoelectric
quantum vacuum acquires a thermal character with a temperature defined by the drift velocity and the
phonon wavevector. Realistic parameters yield effective temperatures of several Kelvin, establishing acoustoelectric systems as a promising platform for the investigation of
quantum vacuum effects.
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All authors Ryan O. Behunin, Andrew Shepherd, Francesco Intravaia, Matt Eichenfield
Quantum Physics
Constant-Depth Multi-Product Formula for Trotter Error Mitigation in Near-Term Digital Quantum Simulation
Chan Bin Bark, Sangjin Lee, Kwang Jun Ahn et al. (+3 more)
Digital
quantum simulation of many-body dynamics faces a tension between algorithmic Trotter error and physical noise that accumulates with
circuit depth. Typical higher-order product formulas mitigate the algorithmic error at the cost of deeper
circuits. Our
benchmark shows that, within the limited physical error budget, the feasible advantage is confined to absolute errors well below the $10^{-2}$ scale, which vanishes under noise levels of current
quantum hardware. In sharp contrast to the previous Trotter error mitigation methods, we introduce a constant-depth multi-product formula (cd-MPF) that suppresses the Trotter error by combining multiple
circuits at fixed
circuit depth. We identify an auxiliary parameter $\alpha$, which reshapes the Trotter error terms while leaving the target
evolution invariant. The classical linear combination of the measured expectation values cancels the leading $(\Delta t)^{2}$ algorithmic contribution and steepens the Trotter-error scaling with the two-
qubit circuit depth $d$ from $d^{-2}$ to $d^{-4}$. Combined with physical-noise mitigation, our method can serve as a key ingredient for realizing long-time
quantum dynamics simulation on near-term hardware.
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All authors Chan Bin Bark, Sangjin Lee, Kwang Jun Ahn, Sangmo Cheon, Moon Jip Park, Youngseok Kim