Papers

An upstream neutral mode can influence quasiparticle tunneling even when electric charge propagates only downstream. We propose a three-path fractional quantum Hall interferometer that probes this directional structure through the flux dependence of average terminal currents. Interference between direct and two-step tunneling first contributes at cubic order in the tunneling amplitudes of three weak quantum point contacts. In the local theory, equal drain voltages separate the downstream and upstream responses: for a purely downstream tunneling excitation, the cubic fundamental Aharonov-Bohm harmonic vanishes at one drain, while the other remains bright. Averaging measurements with exchanged unequal drain voltages extends this separation to a configuration in which all contacts are biased. It requires independent calibration of the electrostatic phase shift and fixed or known tunneling magnitudes. For a selected Abelian excitation with two-point correlation exponent $0<\Delta_{\boldsymbol{\ell}}<1$, the common low-temperature bias power and directional amplitude ratio determine its scaling dimension and principal exchange angle. We also show that a weak static density interaction spanning two tunneling points can activate the dark harmonic without adding an upstream mode. In the high-bias static limit, the first-order Laughlin activated amplitude scales as $E^{2\nu-1}$, where $E$ is the source-drain bias energy and $\nu$ is the filling factor. In the weak localized single-mode infrared regime, the bright harmonic retains its leading scaling and can serve as a reference in the same device. The calculation assumes one coherent tunneling species and common-temperature edge correlations with unresolved propagation times.

We investigate the influence of nonlinear longitudinal disturbances, triggered by an initial field-aligned velocity flow, on the damping of standing kink oscillations in fine-structured, cool coronal loop strands under isobaric conditions. Using two-dimensional ideal MHD simulations, we model different realistic flow geometries, bounded, unbounded, and external, and quantify their impact on wave excitation, damping, and energy leakage. Our modelled loop strand incorporates strong density contrasts ($d = 5$ and $d = 20$), providing a configuration consistent with cool-loop observations from Hinode/SOT and SDO/AIA. Our results show that while the nonlinear disturbances exert mild influence on the oscillation period, they substantially modify the damping time. Unbounded flows yield the strongest damping, reducing the damping time by up to $\sim 25\%$ compared to bounded flows, caused by enhanced wave-flow coupling and scattering. Longitudinally inhomogeneous flows further intensify the damping, with high-density strands exhibiting faster convergence toward the uniform-flow limit. In cases with supersonic internal flow, slow sausage-mode harmonics and weak slow shocks are additionally excited, indicating the generation of mixed-mode wave responses in flow-dominated loops. These findings demonstrate that realistic, spatially extended nonlinear disturbances play a significant role in the damping of kink oscillations and should be incorporated into forward modeling and coronal seismology diagnostics.

The search for the identity of dark matter remains one of the most intriguing challenges in physics today, driving innovative advances in experiment and theory. Thallium-doped sodium iodide (NaI) detectors have played a pivotal role in this context. This review outlines the scientific landscape surrounding NaI detectors, emphasizing their role in the broader context of dark matter research. We begin with a brief description of characteristics that make these detectors well-suited for dark matter detection. We then provide a historical overview and explore the results from the DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA experiments, which have reported annual modulation signals consistent with dark matter interactions–a signal that to date no other experiment has replicated. We discuss recent results from NaI-based experiments launched, in part, to resolve this tantalizing anomaly. We conclude with a summary of the status and prospects for current and future NaI-based dark matter searches.

This work presents a phenomenological study of the Standard Model-like Higgs boson $H$ in a flavor-dependent $U(1)_X$ extension of the Standard Model, where the $X$ charge is assigned according to fermion flavors. In particular, we analyze the interactions of $H$ with Standard Model particles as well as with new charged scalar bosons. In addition, the parameter $\ka_{\ga}$, which characterizes the $H\to \ga\ga$ decay at the one-loop level, is investigated. The results show that the model predicts $\ka_{\ga}$ values consistent with the ATLAS and CMS constraints at the $1\sigma$ level, while satisfying several bounds derived from flavor, collider and dark matter studies.

We develop Interval Algebraic Quantum Field Theory (IAQFT), a finite-precision operational formulation of algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT). Physical experiments provide only finitely many observations at finite resolution and therefore determine regions of compatible states rather than uniquely specified point states. IAQFT represents this information by quantum parcels—non-empty convex weak$^*$ open regions of state space—with observational parcels determined by finitely many finite-precision expectation constraints. Exact AQFT states remain indispensable mathematical objects and are recovered under appropriate parcel refinement. We establish reduction to exact states, measurement update and no-signalling, and formulate locality through compatible parcel nets. In finite dimensions an exact Jacobian formula for invertible Lüders updates gives a volume-contraction criterion. Spacelike vacuum correlations and strict CHSH violations persist throughout sufficiently small observational parcels. Reeh–Schlieder cyclicity becomes finite-precision local reachability, while parcel equivalence of vacuum refinements implies vacuum GNS equivalence and hence does not evade Haag-type obstructions. Tomita–Takesaki modular automorphisms act on parcels, measurement update is modularly covariant, and modular conjugation induces a duality between normal parcels of an algebra and its commutant. State-dependent modular correlations are continuous under predual-norm variation of faithful normal states; shrinking parcels with vanishing KMS defect recover a KMS state. Bisognano–Wichmann yields a parcel formulation of the Unruh effect, recovering the exact KMS relation and Unruh temperature under refinement. Finally, limiting projection faces and their conjugation actions recover the Murray–von Neumann factor classification.

We update the Hubble constant measurement with corrected Pantheon+ and DES-DOVEKIE supernovae. The use of DES-DOVEKIE here is the first application of DES-DOVEKIE to a distance-ladder $H_0$ determination. Recent reanalyses of supernova datasets have put Pantheon+, DES-DOVEKIE, and Union3.1 samples on the same footing with regard to the evidence of dynamical dark energy ($3.2$–$3.4\sigma$), and thus an update on the Hubble constant is the next logical step. The $H_0$ Distance Network (H0DN) baseline is $73.499\pm0.809$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, a $7.1\sigma$ tension with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) determination in a $\Lambda$ cold-dark-matter ($\Lambda$CDM) cosmology, $H_0^{\rm CMB,\Lambda CDM}=67.24\pm0.35$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$. A revised host-mass correction applied to the older Pantheon+ changes 114 of the total 1701 apparent-magnitude rows. The calibrator supernovae are not affected, but 52 of the 277 Hubble-flow rows are. Applying only these magnitude corrections, with the H0DN covariance, redshifts, and velocities unchanged, gives $H_0=73.264\pm0.806$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ and a $6.85\sigma$ Hubble tension. This is our main baseline result and the update for the astrophysics community. Alternatively, replacing the complete Hubble-flow treatment with the corrected Pantheon+ data gives $73.139\pm0.791$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ and $6.82\sigma$. For DES-DOVEKIE, 220 supernovae span $0.025\le z_{\rm HD}\le0.151$ in Hubble-diagram redshift, and 196 of them overlap with corrected Pantheon+. These overlaps determine the offset used to place the public DES-DOVEKIE distance moduli on the H0DN apparent-magnitude scale. Holding this offset fixed gives $H_0=73.267\pm0.828$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ and a $6.70\sigma$ tension. Extending to $z_{\rm HD}\simeq0.3$ raises $H_0$. However, both rises are smaller than the H0DN uncertainty. Neither update resolves the Hubble tension. (abridged)

This work explores the effects of various color reconnection (CR) configurations on the net charge fluctuations of charged particles generated in $pp$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 2.76 TeV, simulated with the PYTHIA Monash using the variable $\nu_{(+,-,\text{dyn})}$. The results are compared with experimental data from ALICE, revealing that the current PYTHIA simulation settings overestimate the net charge fluctuations relative to the experimental observations. Furthermore, $\nu_{(+,-,\text{dyn})}$ exhibits a clear dependence on the MPICR range parameter, where increasing the range leads to more negative $\nu_{(+,-,\text{dyn})}$ values, suggesting the geometric extent of CR directly modulates the strength of local charge correlation. To ensure these effects are not a trivial consequence of particle density, a comparison with a retuned NoCR baseline at fixed multiplicity was performed. This analysis confirms that CR induces a genuine dynamical shift in fluctuations that persists independently of the average charged-particle density. The study also shows that the net charge and net pion channels display the strongest suppression in $\langle N_{\text{ch}} \rangle \nu_{(+-,\text{dyn})}$ compared to the net kaon and net proton channels. Overall, the study offers a useful benchmark against experimental results and sheds light on the underlying dynamics of the PYTHIA Monash.

We study the metrological properties of a continuously monitored Kitaev chain in the presence of imperfect detection. The system is conditioned on a no-click record, while each emitted fermion is registered only with probability $0\leq q\leq 1$. Because the conditional dynamics remains Gaussian, the steady state is fully characterized by the fermionic correlation matrix. This allows a direct evaluation of the quantum Fisher information and of the mean Uhlmann curvature. For perfect detection, the monitored steady state retains a singular critical structure and the quantum Fisher information with respect to the chemical potential becomes super-extensive. For any $q<1$, imperfect detection introduces a finite smoothing length that rounds the singularity and restores extensive scaling. The detector efficiency behaves instead as a compatible mixed-state estimation parameter, as signaled by the vanishing mean Uhlmann curvature. These results show that incomplete trajectory information destroys the metrological enhancement associated with monitored criticality through a mechanism that differs from ordinary thermal smearing.

We revisit the calculations of relativistic corrections to inclusive $J/\psi$ production at B factories. For quark-level subprocesses with three-body final states, we carry out a full expansion of the final-state kinematic parameters. The resulting cross sections are theoretically self-consistent and independent of the choice of integration variables. In the high-energy limit, both cross-section magnitudes and the line shapes of correction curves for energy and momentum distributions agree remarkably well with fragmentation-function calculations. We find that $\mathcal{O}(v^2)$ corrections suppress the cross section by roughly $14.55\%$ in the $J/\psi + X_{c\bar{c}}$ channel and enhance it by approximately $12.18\%$ for the $J/\psi + X_{\text{non-}c\bar{c}}$ channel. After incorporating published $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s)$ corrections, color-octet contributions, two-photon production channels, and feed-down effects, tension persists between theoretical predictions and experimental measurements. This indicates that complete prompt-quarkonium calculations through $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s, v^2)$, or evaluations incorporating higher-order corrections, are required to resolve this tension.

Full-counting statistics (FCS) provides a systematic framework for characterising current fluctuations in quantum transport, quantum optics, and open quantum systems. We introduce QuantumFCSjl, an open-source Julia package for efficient and flexible numerical FCS calculations. The package defines currents through monitored jump operators and weights, allowing particle, electric, and heat currents to be treated within the same workflow. It implements a recursive cumulant algorithm with dense, sparse, and iterative solver backends, making it suitable for models that are challenging for direct dense methods. We demonstrate the package on photon counting in a driven-dissipative Jaynes-Cummings system near the blockade-breakdown phase transition and on heat-current fluctuations in a non-linear circuit-QED heat engine. These examples show how higher cumulants reveal intermittency between bright and dim emission, antibunching, and provide probes of thermodynamic uncertainty relations. Benchmarks against an existing FCS implementation show substantial speed-ups.

The reactions of atomic carbon in its ground electronic state configuration, C(3P), are potentially important processes in astrochemistry due to the large abundance of C(3P) atoms in the interstellar medium (ISM) and its high overall reactivity towards a wide range of molecules. Although benzene, C6H6, has not been detected in the dense ISM, its presence at high abundance levels is inferred through the detection of functionalized derivatives. Here we present a combined experimental and astrochemical modeling investigation of the gas-phase C(3P) + C6H6 reaction. Experimentally, rate constants were determined over the 50-296 K range using the Laval nozzle technique coupled with pulsed laser photolysis and laser induced fluorescence for C(3P) generation and detection respectively. Product yields of atomic hydrogen, H(2S) were also measured at 177 and 296 K to provide some information on the product channels of the reaction. The measured rate constants are very large, between 3.3 and 5.7 x 10-10 cm3 s-1 indicating the fast, barrierless nature of the reaction, while the H-atom yields are all below 10 % when compared to the C(3P) + C2H4 reference reaction. As the C(3P) + C6H6 reaction is not currently included in astrochemical databases, its influence on the simulated abundances of C6H6 and related species was tested using a gas-grain model of dense interstellar clouds. The C(3P) + C6H6 reaction is shown to be the main loss process for interstellar benzene, while different hypotheses regarding the product channels are discussed in the context of observations to shed light on the preferred formation pathways.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are a key enabler of global decarbonization, and their charging flexibility is crucial for integrating high shares of renewable energy into future power systems. Research on EV charging flexibility in future power systems has largely focused on either the transmission or the distribution level, with limited integration between the two. However, these two scales cannot be separated: EV charging optimized at the national transmission level for system-wide planning is ultimately activated in local distribution grids, where it may cause voltage and loading issues. This study bridges that gap by evaluating EV charging flexibility across both grid levels, using two different control approaches. First, a top-down approach disaggregates the optimal charging demand obtained from a centralized planner at the transmission grid down to the distribution grid, explicitly accounting for grid constraints and individual driving requirements. Second, a bottom-up approach optimizes EV charging locally under distribution-grid constraints using electricity price signals from the centralized planning model. Controlled charging from the top-down and bottom-up approaches is then compared with uncontrolled charging. Results show that the top-down approach produces EV charging schedules that are compatible with individual driving behavior and reduce grid violations compared to uncontrolled charging. The bottom-up approach identifies an optimal profile similar to the centrally optimized profile, showing that electricity price signals are a suitable coordination mechanism. These findings suggest that centrally optimized EV charging remains effective when implemented at the distribution level, in systems with high DER penetration.

Solar neutrinos have been studied for over half a century to test both the Standard Solar Model and the electroweak sector of the Standard Model of particle physics. Contemporary experiments are now entering an era of high-precision measurements, demanding corresponding theoretical predictions with sub-percent accuracy to enable meaningful comparison. In this paper, we identify and analyze the essential physical and computational components required to compute solar neutrino fluxes with high fidelity, and present a unified, computationally efficient framework. This framework incorporates: (i) the time-varying Earth-Sun distance; (ii) Earth matter effects modeled using both one-dimensional (1D) and three-dimensional (3D) Earth electron-density profiles; and (iii) a fast, Strang-splitting-based implementation of the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) neutrino propagation formalism, enabling rapid, large-scale scans over neutrino trajectories and energy grids. We deliver site-specific predictions for the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) and other underground laboratories actively engaged in solar neutrino programs.

We develop a new method for simulating pressureless fluids of neutral dust coupled to magnetohydrodynamic gas through dust-gas drag. It has been pointed out that, in the strong-coupling regime, dust-gas multifluid methods suffer from artificial variations in the dust-to-gas mass ratio when the dust and gas are evolved with independent numerical fluxes. This problem arises from inconsistencies between the dust and gas mass fluxes. In the strong-coupling limit, the dust-to-gas mass ratio is advected with the local gas velocity. Recently, a new method based on the Harten-Lax-van Leer (HLL) solver was proposed. This method constructs the dust mass flux so that it is consistent with the gas mass flux, and successfully reduces artificial variations in the dust-to-gas mass ratio. Here, we develop a Split-Flux method that can be coupled to an HLLD gas solver. Through various numerical experiments, we show that the Split-Flux method suppresses artificial variations in the dust-to-gas mass ratio, while preserving the low numerical diffusivity of the HLLD solver.

We constrain the $z \approx 1$ HI distribution by jointly modeling two independent, existing observations of the 21-cm signal, the HI density parameter $\Omega_{\rm HI}$ measured using uGMRT by stacking the 21-cm emission from blue, star-forming galaxies, and the 21-cm autocorrelation power spectrum (PS) measured using CHIME. We assign HI to the dark matter halos in a cosmological simulation using an HI mass-halo mass (HIHM) relation with three free parameters whose values we estimate by performing a joint Bayesian inference comparing the simulated $\Omega_{\rm HI}$ and 21-cm PS with the measurements. We use the inferred HIHM posterior to simulate the HI distribution and predict the $z \approx 1$ HI mass function (HIMF). We find that the HIMF remains nearly constant at low HI masses $( \lesssim 3.6 \times 10^9 M_\odot)$, and it declines rapidly for larger HI masses. Around $\sim 90$ percent of the total HI gas is contained in the mass range $M_{\rm HI} \in [2 \times 10^9, \, 4 \times 10^{11}] \, M_\odot$. Our estimates predict a larger abundance of high mass HI galaxies than predicted by earlier observations and hydrodynamical simulations. We expect these results to be useful in understanding galaxy evolution and star formation.

Free-space optical communication (FSOC) links are susceptible to outages caused by atmospheric turbulence-induced fading. Wavelength diversity can mitigate fading by transmitting correlated information across substantially uncorrelated channels. In this study, we demonstrate a wavelength diversity system to mitigate the effects of turbulence on a signal propagated in free space. A modified polarization-multiplexed coherent optical transceiver transmits a 56.8 GBaud signal at a client rate of 200 Gbps across two carrier frequencies within the C-band over a bench-top free-space link with a turbulence emulator. Two synchronized single-wavelength coherent receivers capture the received waveforms at each carrier frequency, which are subsequently digitally combined using maximal ratio combining for offline processing. Our results demonstrate a reduction in outage probability by nearly a factor of 20 compared to the single carrier transmission scenario. Finally, we observe fading-dependent correlation between wavelengths in the C-band, which is exploited to reduce the outage probability by 86%.

We study the dynamics of open quantum systems driven by an external time-periodic force. Combining Floquet theory and the time-convolutionless projection operator technique we derive a time-local quantum master equation which exactly takes into account the periodic driving, while treating the system-environment interaction within second order in the coupling strength without performing the Markov approximation. The resulting equation of motion for the reduced density matrix is called Floquet time-convolutionless master equation. Employing the example of the driven spin-boson system, we demonstrate that this master equation is capable of describing strong non-Markovian effects, while yielding the Floquet-Lindblad master equation in the Markovian limit. A characteristic feature of memory effects in such driven dissipative systems is the emergence of sharp peaks of the trace-distance based non-Markovianity measure as a function of the driving amplitude, which can be traced back to quasienergy crossings leading to almost decoherence-protected subspaces through a quasienergy-induced dissipative decoupling mechanism.

We formulate a compact dynamical representation of quantum-information diagnostics for time-dependent two-mode bosonic systems in terms of the Bogoliubov ratio $\lambda_k(\eta)=\beta_k(\eta)/\alpha_k(\eta)$. For vacuum-evolved pure Gaussian pair states generated by a Hermitian quadratic Hamiltonian, $\lambda_k$ obeys a closed complex Riccati equation. After one partner mode is traced out, the reduced-state spectrum is determined by $q_k=|\lambda_k|^2$, from which the purity, linear entropy, Rényi-2 entropy, and von Neumann entropy follow directly. These Gaussian results are mathematically equivalent to those obtained from the standard density-matrix or covariance-matrix formalism; the advantage of the ratio representation is a compact separation between model-dependent dynamics and universal state diagnostics. Writing $\lambda_k=\sqrt{q_k}e^{i\theta_k}$ further exposes how pair production drives radial growth, whereas frequency rotation and detuning act through the phase and can suppress coherent squeezing accumulation. We also establish an exact extension to non-Gaussian $SU(1,1)$ sectors. For a lowest-weight Fock seed with conserved number difference $d$, the same ratio equation governs the evolution, while the reduced spectrum becomes a negative-binomial distribution determined by $(q_k,d)$. The Gaussian formulas are recovered at $d=0$. Cosmological perturbations and a chirped-pulse optical parametric amplifier illustrate the common dynamical mechanism and its information-theoretic consequences.

Multivariate time series forecasting (MTSF) predicts future values of multiple variables from historical data. While quantum neural networks have been increasingly applied to this task, they typically rely on fixed local measurements, which restrict their expressivity. We propose MTSF-ANO, a simple hybrid model for MTSF that integrates variational quantum circuits with adaptive non-local observables (ANO). On the four ETT datasets, MTSF-ANO ranks first or second in MSE in 17 of 20 settings, improving over the strongest baseline by up to 20% on ETTh1, and outperforms or matches its fixed local observable counterpart across all settings. Our ablations show how the quantum circuit design and ANO non-locality affect performance. These results suggest that ANO is a promising direction for quantum time series forecasting.

The radio halo in the cool-core galaxy cluster, A1795, has recently been proposed to be of hadronic origin, because it extends on megaparsec scales, where no turbulence is expected to be injected into a relaxed cluster. In this paper we aim to constrain the properties of nonthermal protons and the cluster magnetic field strength under the hypothesis of a hadronic origin for the radio halo in the light of the available gamma-ray upper limits for this cluster. We assumed a radial profile and several central magnetic field intensity values, then derived the corresponding properties of the nonthermal protons necessary to reproduce the flux density and surface brightness profile of the radio halo. For the obtained results, we calculated the corresponding gamma-ray emission and compared it with the Fermi-LAT upper limit. We find that, for a magnetic field energy radial profile following that of the thermal gas, central magnetic field intensities $B_0<5\,\mu$G imply a gamma-ray emission at or above the Fermi-LAT upper limit. Therefore, larger values of the magnetic field are necessary in the hadronic scenario. For these values the radial profile of nonthermal protons must slightly decrease with radius, though more slowly than that of the thermal gas. For smaller values of the magnetic field, different mechanisms for producing or accelerating the nonthermal electrons are necessary.

Finite-time driving of stochastic systems generates excess dissipation, causing the evolving probability distribution to lag behind the instantaneous equilibrium, and consequently degrading the convergence of nonequilibrium free energy estimators based on the Jarzynski equality. Escorted free energy simulations address the non-adiabatic lag by engineering control fields $\mathbf{u}$ that eliminate the lag, enforcing the trajectory-wise equality $\mathcal{W}_\mathbf{u} = \Delta \mathcal{F}$, and yielding zero-variance estimators. However, constructing the escorting field in closed form remains a challenge, approached variously through flow-field methods, targeted free energy perturbation, or learned diffeomorphisms. In this work, we construct a complementary numerical framework based on gauge-type transforms instead of generalized coordinate transforms for perfect escorting based on the exact spectral decomposition of the time-dependent Fokker-Planck generator. The biorthogonal decomposition of the Liouville operator directly yields a counterdiabatic correction whose action on the instantaneous equilibrium distribution exactly cancels the non-adiabatic lag at arbitrary driving speed in formal analogy with shortcuts-to-adiabaticity techniques such as Berry's transitionless driving for quantum systems. Numerical verification for simulations of an overdamped particle in a time-varying double-well potential and harmonic traps confirms that the counterdiabatic condition is satisfied to machine precision, with the non-adiabatic lag suppressed by roughly twelve orders of magnitude in total variation distance and sixteen orders in KL divergence relative to the unescorted dynamics. As a diagnostic, we demonstrate vanishing dissipated work $\mathcal{W}_{\text{diss}}(t) \approx 0$ for the deterministically propagated Fokker-Planck density across all protocol speeds.

Massive stars have a major impact on their environment in their host galaxy. Observational determinations of their physical parameters are required to better constrain evolutionary models. In this context, the binary system WR 25 whose dominant spectral type is that of a nitrogen sequence Wolf-Rayet star, is of particular interest. It exhibits the highest known hydrogen content among the Milky Way Wolf-Rayet stars, as well as additional absorption lines. It is most probably an object still on the main-sequence or close to leaving it. We acquired new high-resolution spectra of this extremely interesting object. We present an improved version of the SB1 orbital solution for the motion of the WN component. We confirm the detection of the previously reported probable O companion and definitively prove that it is indeed gravitationally bound to the WN star. A first SB2 solution is presented, and a mass-ratio WN/O of 2.02 +/- 0.36 is derived. Following a spectral disentangling procedure, we identify the companion as an O5(f^+) star belonging to either the main-sequence (V) or giant (III) luminosity classes. The spectral type of the companion, together with the above-mentioned mass ratio, points to a very massive primary WN star of at least 55 solar masses. This confirms that WR 25 belongs to the family of very massive WNLh objects, a very poorly populated class in the Milky Way. We demonstrate that the absorption component in the P-Cygni profile of the He II lambda 4859 line of WR 25 is mainly due to the O-type companion, and we propose to adopt a WN6ha spectral type for the WN component of the system. On the basis of the extracted disentangled spectra, we derive approximate physical parameters through a detailed CMFGEN analysis, given the difficulty in constraining both the extinction towards WR 25 and the definitive brightness ratio between the components.

The study of electron hydrodynamics provides a powerful framework for understanding transport in ultraclean conductors, yet experimental evidence has thus far been largely restricted to the linear-response regime. Here, we report the direct observation of a strongly nonlinear transport regime in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron system. By engineering devices with a Venturi-shaped wedge geometry specifically designed to enhance convective nonlinearities, we uncover a pronounced nonlinear voltage response and large diodicity in the current-voltage characteristics. Our experimental findings show quantitative agreement with a theoretical model that attributes the observed nonlinearity to the convective acceleration of the electron fluid, analogous to the Bernoulli effect. These results provide compelling evidence for the applicability of the hydrodynamic framework to two-dimensional electron transport and open new avenues for exploring nonlinear and preturbulent phenomena in solid-state systems.

As an homage to the memory of Hans Willem Capel, I present some personal reminiscences and thoughts that come to my mind in this special occasion.

We give explicit formulas for the smallest non-trivial irreducible representation $V$ of quantum affine superalgebras in types D$_{2\vert 1;\alpha}$, $\dim V=18$ (in the all-fermionic parity), F$_{3\vert 1}$, $\dim V=41$ (in the distinguished parity), and G$_{2\vert 1}$, $\dim V=32$ (in the distinguished parity), both in the Drinfeld-Jimbo and in the new Drinfeld realizations. We use this information to obtain an explicit expression for the corresponding $R$-matrices.

Two-dimensional topological insulators (2DTIs) harbor spin-polarized edge states that are topologically protected by time-reversal symmetry against non-magnetic structural disorder. However, coupling to magnetic impurities breaks this symmetry, inducing backscattering and destroying perfect quantization. While the impact of isolated dilute magnetic impurities is well understood, the transport properties in the presence of dense, disordered ensembles of magnetic moments remain poorly understood. In this work, we develop an analytical framework, supported by extensive numerical simulations, that captures the behavior of edge transport in two-dimensional topological insulators (2DTIs) with a finite concentration of magnetic impurities. We predict the onset of Anderson localization and uncover an anomalous localization regime characterized by a sub-exponential decay of the conductance, scaling as $\ln {\cal G} \propto -\sqrt{L}$, where $L$ is the system length. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the transport exhibits a universal scaling behavior governed solely by the effective impurity concentration. Applying our model to Mn-doped HgTe quantum wells, we find excellent agreement with experimental data. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for understanding anomalous localization phenomena in magnetically doped topological phases.

Higher-order Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) modes have broader and more uniform transverse intensity distributions than the fundamental Gaussian mode, making them attractive for precision optical applications. In gravitational-wave detectors, their enhanced spatial averaging of thermally driven test-mass fluctuations can reduce thermal noise. Their implementation, however, requires efficient coupling of the injected beam to the target cavity eigenmode. Residual misalignment and mode mismatch couple power out of the desired mode, reducing intracavity power buildup and degrading detector sensitivity. Here, we analytically and numerically evaluate the coupling loss induced by misalignment and mode mismatch for a generic $\mathrm{LG}_{p,\ell}$ beam. We show that the leading-order loss due to angular or lateral misalignment scales as $2p+|\ell|+1$, whereas that due to waist size or waist position mismatch scales as $2p^2+2p+(2p+1)|\ell|+1$. Although sensitivity to imperfect coupling generally increases with mode order, the donut-shaped $\mathrm{LG}_{0,\ell}$ family exhibits favorable mode mismatch scaling: its loss factor reduces to $|\ell|+1$ and therefore increases only linearly with the azimuthal index. This robustness, together with their broad intensity profiles and central dark regions that permit selective mirror masking, provides additional practical motivation for using $\mathrm{LG}_{0,\ell}$ modes in precision interferometers, including gravitational-wave detectors.

We explore the use of waiting-time statistics in a quantum electron shuttle for electric-field sensing. Electron shuttles convert nanomechanical motion into charge transport, showing a noise-broadened crossover between stochastic tunneling and mechanically assisted charge transfer. This allows investigation of how transport fluctuations encode electromechanical parameters. Using a single-level quantum shuttle in strong-Coulomb-blockade and high-bias regimes with a Markovian quantum master equation, we analyze stationary dynamics in phase space and waiting time distributions. By estimating the electromechanical coupling, proportional to the electric field, we evaluate the classical Fisher information in waiting times and compare it with the quantum Fisher information of the stationary state. We relate the metrological response to mean waiting time, variance, and Fano factor. Our results show that the crossover from tunneling to shuttling is characterized by enhanced fluctuations and increased parameter sensitivity, leading to a pronounced enhancement of the Fisher information.

The origin of black hole entropy remains one of the deepest mysteries in modern physics. Two recent developments offer complementary perspectives on this puzzle: the entropy release from regular Schwarzschild black holes with a de Sitter core (the OCK construction), and the local thermodynamics of the de Sitter vacuum (Volovik). In the OCK framework, the inner horizon carries positive Bekenstein-Hawking entropy $S_{\rm inner}=\pi h_c^2$ that is gradually released as the core shrinks, until a classical Minkowski breaking obstructs the evolution at $n=0$. In Volovik's framework, the total entropy of a homogeneous de Sitter region is $S_{\rm dS}= \operatorname{sgn}(H)\,\pi/H^{2} = \operatorname{sgn}(H)\,A/4$: expanding de Sitter ($H>0$) carries positive entropy, while contracting de Sitter ($H<0$) carries negative entropy. We show that the sign of the Hubble parameter is the unifying element linking the two pictures. The OCK core is de~Sitter only for $n>2$; the Minkowski breaking is a classical kinematic obstruction, not a dynamical transition to a contracting de Sitter phase. Any connection between the expanding and contracting regimes would require a quantum mechanism that remains speculative. Nevertheless, both frameworks embody the same thermodynamic principle, the shrinking of the interior drives the system toward increased total entropy, and together they provide a consistent picture of entropy flow during gravitational collapse. The integer nature of the OCK parameter suggests a quantized entropy spectrum and a statistical interpretation of black hole entropy, while the generalized second law is satisfied in both frameworks, and in the speculated quantum connection provided the environmental entropy is properly accounted for.

We develop the cosmological framework for Hassan–Schmidt-May multi-gravity, a ghost-free extension of bimetric theory with genuinely non-pairwise interactions of multiple spin-2 fields. For metrics that are simultaneously homogeneous and isotropic, the background dynamics reduce to a modified Friedmann equation supplemented by a system of coupled quartic polynomial equations for the scale-factor ratios. The spin-2 interaction contributes to the Friedmann equation as an additional effective fluid. We identify a regular high-density branch that approaches the standard radiation- or matter-dominated Universe, while regular low-density branches approach proportional vacuum solutions, where the interaction acts as a cosmological constant and the leading correction to the effective spin-2 energy density provides an additional matter contribution. We also determine the relative null-cone structure: on the regular high-density branch, the additional null cones approach wider opening angles than the matter-coupled null cone, while all null cones coincide in the vacuum limit. At linear order, we solve the algebraic equations determining the non-metric vielbein perturbations, derive the first-order consistency equations and their scalar and vector projections, and obtain the complete system of coupled tensor perturbation equations. These results establish a framework for studying cosmological solutions and perturbations in ghost-free multi-gravity beyond bimetric theory and its pairwise-interacting extensions.