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Thursday 30 July

Quantum Physics

Witness robustness: An operational quantifier of measurement resources via free state discrimination

Jingsong Ao, Aby Philip and Alexander Streltsov

We introduce the witness robustness of quantum measurements, a resource quantifier whose admissible noise consists of tuples of free-state witnesses rather than physical measurements. We establish its operational interpretation: it quantifies the maximal advantage that a measurement can provide over free measurements in discriminating an ensemble composed entirely of free states. Unlike the standard and generalized robustnesses, the witness robustness is not faithful in general, reflecting the fact that a resourceful measurement need not be useful when only free states can be prepared. We identify conditions under which faithfulness is recovered and show that, in resource theories admitting a resource-destroying map, the witness robustness vanishes for every measurement. We also establish fundamental properties, including convexity and monotonicity. Finally, we derive analytical results for projective measurements in single-qubit magic and for binary pure-state projective measurements in the two-qubit PPT entanglement theory.
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General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Foldy–Wouthuysen Transformation of the Generalized Dirac Equation in Symmetric Teleparallel Gravity

Sabutay Ugur, Muzaffer Adak, Ali Bagci et al. (+1 more)

We investigate the non-relativistic limit of the generalized Dirac equation in a weak, static, and spherically symmetric background of symmetric teleparallel gravity. The underlying generalized spinor connection incorporates the complete Clifford-algebra basis and introduces additional couplings to the non-metricity sector beyond those of the conventional Dirac theory. Working in the coincident gauge and adopting the weak-field Schwarzschild geometry in isotropic coordinates, we derive the corresponding generalized Dirac Hamiltonian and perform successive Foldy–Wouthuysen transformations up to order $1/m^2$, retaining terms to first order in the gravitational potential and its spatial derivatives. The resulting block-diagonal Hamiltonian contains not only the expected gravitational counterparts of the kinetic, spin–orbit, and Darwin interactions, but also additional operator structures generated by the generalized spinor connection. In particular, direct spin–gravity, anisotropic spin–momentum–gravity, and tidal spin–momentum couplings arise naturally from the generalized metric-affine interaction. We further perform an order-of-magnitude analysis for an electron in the Earth's weak gravitational field to justify the adopted truncation of the inverse-mass expansion. These results demonstrate that the generalized Dirac equation in a symmetric teleparallel background gives rise to new low-energy interaction channels involving the fermion spin, momentum, and spatial derivatives of the gravitational field. The resulting effective Hamiltonian provides a framework for exploring phenomenological constraints on the additional couplings entering the generalized spinor connection.
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All authors Sabutay Ugur, Muzaffer Adak, Ali Bagci, Caglar Pala

Astrophysics of Galaxies

The eROSITA X-ray luminosity function of active galactic nuclei

W. Roster, J. Buchner, M. Salvato et al. (+23 more)

The X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of active galactic nuclei (AGN) provides an observational probe of the growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) across cosmic time. With its large survey grasp, Spectrum Roentgen Gamma (SRG)/eROSITA samples the luminosity–redshift plane with a depth–area balance complementary to pencil-beam surveys, providing the volume needed to detect rare luminous AGN, previously limited by small-number statistics. We measure the soft XLF, leveraging an eROSITA sample spanning approximately eight orders of magnitude in luminosity out to $z\simeq6$. This enables us to study luminosity-dependent evolution with improved constraints, and to infer both the SMBH accretion history and optical/UV missed AGN population. We introduce a new redshift-dependent smoothly broken power-law parameterisation in which all XLF model parameters are allowed to evolve continuously with redshift. We find lower space densities for moderately and very luminous AGN at low redshift, while the abundance is higher than previously found at the highest redshifts. Comparisons to optical/UV quasar LFs converted to rest-frame $2\!-\!10\,\mathrm{keV}$ show that the UV-missed fraction decreases with luminosity, and, in the most luminous bin, increases with redshift. Integrating the XLF yields a black-hole accretion-rate density peaking at $z \simeq 1.5$, with the corresponding cumulative black-hole mass density indicating $\sim80^{+11}_{-23}\%$ obscured growth relative to locally-inferred BH mass estimates derived from scaling relations and missed by the soft X-ray selection of our sample. With this work, we release the eROSITA DR2 AGN catalogue, including counterparts and their redshift information. We then discuss how these results can inform future spectroscopic, photometric, and X-ray survey strategies aimed at improving AGN demographic constraints.
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All authors W. Roster, J. Buchner, M. Salvato, R. Shirley, A. Merloni, T. Dwelly, J. Aird, A. Georgakakis, P. Boorman, M. Brusa, W. N. Brandt, B. Trakhtenbrot, B. Laloux, P. Baldini, C. Andonie, C. Aydar, C. Ricci, S. F. Anderson, P. Chakraborty, R. J. Assef, D. P. Schneider, E. Kyritsis, M. Kluge, E. Bulbul, K. Nandra, J. Weller

Materials Science

Oxygen Sensing Without Organic Molecules: Mixed-phase TiO2 as Cost-effective Ultrasensitive Optical Sensors

R.Rega, A.Fioravanti, F.Borbone et al. (+2 more)

Oxygen (O2) detection is commonly carried out via either fluorescence-based optical sensors or chemoresistive sensors. Each approach has its own limitations. Optical sensors require the molecular design and synthesis of specific organic fluorescent species which can be costly and less stable. Chemoresistive sensors, despite presenting advantages in using more cost-effective inorganic materials, are often limited by low sensitivities to O2 at ppm concentrations and by their inability to operate at room temperature. In this work, we demonstrate the detection of O2 at concentrations as low as a few tens of ppm at room temperature by using titanium dioxide (TiO2) mixed-phase nanoparticles as optical sensors. By simultaneously measuring the photoluminescence of nanoparticles in rutile and anatase phase, O2 detection was achieved in the concentration range of 30-500 ppm, with a response curve well-calibrated by a Langmuir function. Good response promptness and repeatability are also demonstrated. This approach to O2 optical sensing offers two intrinsic advantages over the most commonly used methodologies: (1) use of a cost-effective, easy-to-prepare and stable of the sensitive material compared to those typically employed in optical sensing, and (2) improved room-temperature detection efficiency in the low O2 concentration range, outperforming most commonly-used chemoresistive sensors.
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All authors R.Rega, A.Fioravanti, F.Borbone, M.Mazzocchi, S.Lettieri

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Hyperchaos in a Magnetic Nanodisk Driven by Ferromagnetic Resonance

A Kolli, Hugo Merbouche, Salvatore Perna et al. (+3 more)

We investigate the chaotic dynamics driven in the nonlinear regime of ferromagnetic resonance of an out-of-plane magnetized nanodisk in detail. By combining extensive micromagnetic simulations with time-series analysis across the control parameter space, we map the topological transitions from stable periodic orbits to strange attractors and quantify the dynamical complexity. Despite the simplicity of our nanoscale system, we evidence that it can exhibit hyperchaotic dynamics with up to three positive Lyapunov exponents in vast regions of the control plane accessible to experimental studies. Using a mode projection technique, we unveil that the generated complexity is related to the number of quantized spin-wave modes participating in the dynamics. Our findings establish magnon-spintronic nanodevices as versatile entropy sources for unconventional processing of information.
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All authors A Kolli, Hugo Merbouche, Salvatore Perna, Claudio Serpico, Damien Rontani, Grégoire de Loubens

Quantum Physics

Trainability and Mode Separation of Mixed IQP-QCBMs

Youngseok Lee and Hyunwoo Kim

Quantum circuit Born machines (QCBMs) based on instantaneous quantum polynomial-time (IQP) circuits are promising quantum generative models for their classical trainability. It is known that their ancilla-free form avoids barren plateaus under certain initializations, but remains non-universal. Although adding ancilla qubits raises the expressivity, whether the ancilla-extended model retains local trainability remains unknown. We propose the mixed IQP-QCBM, which generalizes the ancilla-extended circuit as a weighted mixture of ancilla-free IQP circuits, called branches. For a polynomial number of branches, we prove local barren-plateau avoidance from data-agnostic and, under certain assumptions, data-dependent initializations. We further show that the mixed IQP-QCBM can surpass the best ancilla-free IQP circuit only if its branches generate a number of distinct distributions. In particular, we focus on a behavior we call mode separation, in which each branch captures a particular feature of the target. Mode separation is hard to attain from an initialization whose branches generate the same distribution: the gradients that would separate them are suppressed while the distributions they generate remain close. This motivates cluster initialization, which assigns a different unsupervised data cluster to each branch and provides an initial degree of mode separation. Exact calculations on two 16-bit datasets support the barren-plateau and gradient-suppression claims. On four benchmarks, binary clusters, a two-dimensional Ising model, binarized MNIST, and a 484-spin glass, cluster initialization converges fastest and reaches the lowest mean test $\mathrm{MMD}^2$. We observe that, when achieving the lowest test $\mathrm{MMD}^2$, the mixed IQP-QCBM contains branches specialized to distinguishable data features such as blob patterns, magnetization sectors, or digit shapes.
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Quantum Physics

Beating the Bad-Cavity Limit via Auxiliary-Emitter Linewidth Squeezing

Youke Xu, Zeyang Liao and Xue-hua Wang

Strong coupling in cavity QED is conventionally achieved at the expense of either high cavity quality factors or ultrasmall mode volumes, a trade-off that fundamentally constrains practical implementations. Here, we circumvent this limitation by introducing two nonidentical auxiliary emitters with opposite detunings into a bad cavity. This hybrid system supports a subradiant mode that significantly squeeze the effective cavity linewidth, creating an ultra-narrow transmission window at the cavity frequency. As a result, a target emitter placed in this engineered environment exhibits prolonged vacuum Rabi oscillations and resolved spontaneous emission splitting, which are clear signatures of strong coupling, even though the bare cavity remains in the weak-coupling regime. Our scheme thus transforms a bad cavity into an effective platform for strong-coupling physics, with potential applications in quantum computation and quantum sensing.
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Quantum Physics

Bayesian Networks of Density Operators

Steffen Lauritzen and Piotr Zwiernik

We study quantum analogues of Bayesian networks on a directed acyclic graph (DAG), distinguishing two constructions for positive definite density operators on finite-dimensional tensor-product Hilbert spaces. The intrinsic construction starts from a joint state and its conditional-independence properties. The extrinsic construction assembles a state sequentially from prescribed local quantum kernels, following an ordering compatible with the arrows of the DAG. For the intrinsic construction, we prove the equivalence of the ordered, local, and global directed Markov properties, together with entropy, recursive-factorization, and logarithmic characterizations. The extrinsic construction always gives a normalized state and recovers each kernel as a conditional on all preceding systems. The same kernel, however, need not be recovered from the marginal on the vertex and its parents; a three-qubit example exhibits this obstruction. We prove that independence of the chosen topological ordering is sufficient exactly for transitive DAGs: every order-invariant kernel family then yields an intrinsically directed Markov state. Finally, we associate a logarithmic candidate with every positive definite state and DAG, prove that it is subnormalized, and show that the trace-one candidate is a directed Markov state. Both the candidate and the excess global information are invariant under DAG Markov equivalence.
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Instrumentation and Detectors

Establishing an independent measurement traceability for 60-Co Air Kerma

Néstor Cornejo-Díaz, Cristina García-Mulas and Paz Aviés-Lucas

An independent air kerma traceability chain for $^{60}$Co radiation protection levels has been successfully established at the CIEMAT Ionizing Radiation Metrology Laboratory (LMRI-CIEMAT), based on the reference provided by the $^{137}$Cs primary standard. To achieve this, a secondary standard ionization chamber with an appropriate energy response was characterized, and its beam-quality correction factor, $k_Q$, was accurately determined via Monte Carlo simulations using the EGSnrc code. The method's accuracy was validated through a comparison with long-term historical calibration data and peer-confirmed through CIEMAT's successful participation in the EURAMET.RI(I)-S19 supplementary comparison, recently officially published in the BIPM KCDB. The excellent agreement achieved with international reference values demonstrates the high robustness and traceability independence of this newly implemented methodology.
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High Energy Physics (Theory)

Non-conformal obstructions to bubble expansion

David Mateos, Mikel Sanchez-Garitaonandia and Pedro Tarancón-Álvarez

We investigate the hydrodynamics of expanding bubbles in first-order phase transitions with non-conformal thermodynamics. We analyze a broad class of equations of state interpolating between bag-model descriptions, commonly used for electroweak transitions, and QCD-like theories. As a concrete benchmark, we determine the bubble solutions for pure SU(3) Yang-Mills theory. We uncover a new set of hydrodynamic obstructions to bubble expansion. These obstructions arise both at the bubble wall and along the fluid flow, and can partially or completely eliminate otherwise allowed solutions. We also identify a new class of solutions, which we dub "shocked detonations", consisting of ordinary detonations with an additional shock inserted in the rarefaction wave. As a consequence of these obstructions, the space of admissible bubble wall velocities is significantly constrained, with gaps appearing between different expansion regimes. For example, for QCD-like theories, all detonation solutions, including shocked detonations, are excluded. We show that these effects can strongly impact the kinetic energy budget of the fluid and, therefore, the resulting gravitational-wave signal, potentially suppressing the most efficient configurations. Our results highlight the importance of non-conformal dynamics for accurately modeling phase transitions and the resulting gravitational-wave spectrum. The code used to construct the bubble solutions is publicly available. For completeness, we also show how the interpolation between the bag-model and QCD-like limits can be realized holographically by varying the backreaction of matter fields on the geometry.
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High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Thermal Breaking of the I-Love Universality for Hot White Dwarfs

Jinyi Lv, Jing-Yi Wu, Hongji Chen et al. (+3 more)

The universal I-Love-Q relations for compact stars have significant applications in gravitational-wave astronomy, but thermal effects can break these relations in low-mass white dwarfs. In this work, we employ the stellar evolution code MESA to construct realistic models of $0.15 \, M_{\odot}$ helium-core and $0.6 \, M_{\odot}$ carbon-oxygen core white dwarfs at various temperatures. By utilizing the Clairaut-Radau equation, we quantitatively extract the radial variation of the eccentricity of internal isodensity surfaces. Our numerical results demonstrate that higher central temperatures amplify the eccentricity variation, causing the I-Love relations to deviate from the zero-temperature Chandrasekhar model, whereas subsequent cooling restores them. This confirms that the temperature-induced violation of the universal relations is fundamentally driven by the loss of self-similarity in isodensity surfaces, providing key insights into the applicability conditions of I-Love-Q relations in compact objects.
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All authors Jinyi Lv, Jing-Yi Wu, Hongji Chen, Kexin Jia, Weihan Sun, Kilar Zhang

Lattice Field Theory

Pion Transition Form Factor in Lattice QCD

Shihao Su, Liuming Liu and Peng Sun

We investigate the neutral pion transition form factor $F_{\pi^0\gamma^\ast\gamma^\ast}(q_1^2,q_2^2)$ in lattice QCD and confirm that the connected and disconnected contributions have the same sign. We employ the recently proposed blending method, which supplies an unbiased and cheap estimators for the required all-to-all propagators. The external pion states are treated within the distillation framework, while the electromagnetic currents are evaluated in the full blending space. Numerical tests are performed on an $N_f=2+1$ lattice ensemble. Our result shows that the contribution of the disconnected part is approximately $1\%$ of that of the connected part and enables constructive interference of probability amplitudes.
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Space Physics

Ranking the drivers of the Venusian bow shock and ion composition boundary locations

Philippe Garnier, Moa Persson, Sofia Bergman et al. (+1 more)

The Venusian interaction with the solar wind leads to the formation of an induced magnetosphere structured by plasma boundaries. Their dynamics is complex, due to the combined influence of external (solar photons, solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)) and internal (ionized atmosphere) drivers. Studying these drivers helps understanding the transfer of energy and momentum throughout the Venusian system, and has thus implications for the erosion of the atmosphere through its coupling with the solar wind. We here analyze and rank the influence of the main drivers of the Venusian bow shock and ion composition boundary locations. We revisit the results by Signoles et al. (2023) based on Venus Express measurements by combining several methods such as the Akaike Information Criterion, Least Absolute Shrinkage Selection Operator regression, and partial correlations. These methods allow to investigate cross correlations that appear and can bias the interpretation, and allow to rank drivers with robust approaches. The bow shock appears primarily driven by the IMF intensity or Mach number, the IMF $\theta_{bn}$ angle separating quasi-perpendicular vs quasi-parallel shocks, and then the solar extreme ultraviolet fluxes and solar wind dynamic pressure (with little influence of the convective electric field induced asymmetries). The Ion Composition Boundary is primarily driven by extreme ultraviolet fluxes, with a more reduced influence of several solar wind parameters and IMF induced magnetic pileup asymmetries. We also compare the behaviors of both boundaries and then compare the bow shock driver rankings at Mars and Venus. Finally we propose an analysis of the drivers of the extreme bow shock and ion composition boundary excursions.
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All authors Philippe Garnier, Moa Persson, Sofia Bergman, Yoshifumi Futaana

Materials Science

High-Field EPR/ENDOR of N/Be Centers for Defect Engineering in 6H-SiC

Yuliya Ermakova, Ekaterina Dmitrieva, Margarita Sadovnikova et al. (+5 more)

Silicon carbide (SiC) in its various structural modifications is widely used in power semiconductor electronics, operating under extreme conditions of high temperature, high voltage, and intense radiation. The discovery of spin defects (S>0) with unique optical and coherent properties has further positioned SiC as a promising platform for quantum technologies. Here, we investigate a 6H-SiC single crystal co-doped with nitrogen and beryllium at concentrations of 1018 cm-3, using continuous-wave and pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR). To enhance spectral resolution, experiments were conducted in the W-band (94 GHz; B = 3.4 T). Pulsed EPR identified nitrogen donors and beryllium acceptors in various lattice positions, allowing for the determination of their phase coherence and spin-lattice relaxation times. ENDOR measurements elucidated the electron-nuclear interactions with the local silicon and carbon environment, including distant coordination spheres. The observed hyperfine structures indicated highly delocalized spin density within the supercell. The TRIPLE resonance spectra verify coupled nuclear spin subspaces from different coordination spheres due to defect spin density. These results demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating dual impurities with distinct functional roles while preserving the crystal lattice`s structural features.
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All authors Yuliya Ermakova, Ekaterina Dmitrieva, Margarita Sadovnikova, Fadis Murzakhanov, George Mamin, Sergey Nagalyuk, Evgeny Mokhov, Marat Gafurov

Astrophysics of Galaxies

Revealing the Physical Driver of the Baldwin Effect: Gas Density in the Broad-Line Region

Wen-Qiang Liang, Zhi-Fu Chen, Rui-Jing Lu et al. (+8 more)

The Baldwin effect — the inverse correlation between the equivalent width of emission lines and the continuum luminosity in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) — has been known for nearly five decades, yet its physical origin remains poorly understood. Using a sample of 41,159 radio quasars constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Low-Frequency Array Two-metre Sky Survey, we investigate the origin and underlying physics of the Baldwin effect of MgII broad emission lines in both radio-quiet (RQ) and radio-loud (RL) quasars. We find that the slope $\beta$ of the Baldwin effect is positively correlated with the Eddington ratio $\lambda_{\rm Edd}$ in both populations, and RL quasars exhibit steeper $\beta$ than their RQ quasars at fixed $\lambda_{\rm Edd}$. Photoionization simulations reveal that the $\beta$ is primarily governed by the gas density in the broad-line region (BLR): lower gas densities yield steeper slopes. This density-driven mechanism naturally connects the Baldwin effect to the broader AGN evolutionary context. Specifically, higher $\lambda_{\rm Edd}$ drive stronger accretion disk winds, leading to denser BLRs and shallower $\beta$. Our findings indicate that BLR gas density serves as the primary physical driver underlying the "global" Baldwin effect, offering a physically grounded framework for interpreting AGN accretion states and their coupled evolution with host galaxies.
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All authors Wen-Qiang Liang, Zhi-Fu Chen, Rui-Jing Lu, Cheng-Feng Peng, Shao-Hua Zhang, Zhe-Geng Chen, Zhi-Qing Chen, Yi-Qi Chen, Dong-Li Jiang, Xi-Heng Shi, Zhi-Wen Wang

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Unveiling the period-bounce population of cataclysmic variables: Spectroscopic and time-domain follow-up of eROSITA-selected candidates

S. Hernández-Díaz, B. Stelzer, A. Schwope et al. (+9 more)

During their secular evolution, cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) evolve toward shorter orbital periods ($P_{\rm orb}$) until reaching a minimum near $P_{\rm orb}\sim80$ min, after which they evolve back toward longer periods. CVs that have evolved past this evolutionary turning point are known as period-bouncers (PBs). Despite predictions that 40-80% of all CVs should be PBs, only 3-25% of the observed CV population is composed of PBs, a discrepancy likely due to their intrinsic low luminosities. We aim to investigate the evolutionary status of 213 SRG/eROSITA-selected PB candidates. The sample also includes 19 previously confirmed PBs, which serve as benchmarks for evaluating the candidates. We confirmed 24 new CVs through the identification of Balmer emission lines in optical spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey V (SDSS-V) and of dwarf-nova outbursts in archival photometric surveys. By fitting hydrogen-rich atmosphere models to the SDSS-V spectra, we estimated the effective temperature and secular mass accretion rate of the WDs. We also measured the Balmer decrements, used as diagnostics of the physical conditions of the accretion disc, to assess whether they are consistent with known PBs. In addition, we analysed archival light curves from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to determine $P_{\rm orb}$ for a subset of systems, and compiled multi-wavelength photometry to construct and model spectral energy distributions (SEDs), from which we inferred approximate donor spectral types. Our analysis of the new CVs indicates that they are consistent with being PBs, potentially increasing the population of confirmed PBs by $\sim 50\%$. Our results suggest that a substantial fraction of the PB population may remain hidden in WD catalogues.
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All authors S. Hernández-Díaz, B. Stelzer, A. Schwope, D. Muñoz-Giraldo, M. R. Schreiber, J. Brink, K. G. Pradeep, B. T. Gänsicke, M. Eracleous, K. Szekerczes, S. F. Anderson, J. R. Brownstein

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Giant nonlinear Hall effect in a Pt/ferrimagnetic insulator bilayer under Zeeman-exchange frustration

Takayuki Shiino, Matteo Fettizio, Weronika Janus et al. (+1 more)

Competing magnetic interactions can create metastable or unstable states and render magnetic systems highly susceptible to external perturbations. Here we show that Zeeman-exchange frustration in an Al-substituted terbium iron garnet with a compositional gradient across its thickness gives rise to a giant nonlinear Hall response in an adjacent Pt layer. Near magnetic compensation, a field-induced spin-flip transition is accompanied by unusually large higher-order odd harmonic voltages, with the third, fifth, and seventh harmonics reaching amplitudes comparable to that of the first harmonic. The field, temperature, and current dependences collectively identify Joule heating as the parametric drive of the harmonic response. Macrospin-chain simulations further show that current-induced thermal modulation periodically switches the interfacial Fe magnetization between exchange- and Zeeman-dominated states and reproduces the observed harmonic signals. These results demonstrate how frustration can convert a weak thermal perturbation into a large nonlinear electrical response, providing a route to nonlinear magnetotransport in compensated ferrimagnets.
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All authors Takayuki Shiino, Matteo Fettizio, Weronika Janus, Can Onur Avci

Quantum Physics

Even-harmonic generation through nonequilibrium steady-state symmetry breaking

Milad Jangjan, Arman Kashef, Siamak Pooyan et al. (+2 more)

High-harmonic generation (HHG) in inversion-symmetric systems is typically restricted to odd harmonics by symmetry. Here, we show that this selection rule can be broken without modifying the underlying Hamiltonian. We investigate a boundary-driven Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chain coupled to source and sink reservoirs and demonstrate that dissipative dynamics generates a nonequilibrium steady state carrying a finite DC current. While the SSH Hamiltonian retains inversion symmetry, the current-carrying steady-state density matrix does not, leading to the emergence of even harmonics in the emitted spectrum. Using a correlation-matrix approach based on the Lindblad master equation, we obtain the steady state and calculate the resulting HHG response. We find that the intensity of the even harmonics is directly controlled by the transport current, establishing a link between nonequilibrium charge transport and HHG selection rules. Our results uncover a mechanism for even-harmonic generation that relies solely on nonequilibrium steady-state symmetry breaking and provide a route to probing transport currents through ultrafast nonlinear spectroscopy in centrosymmetric quantum systems.
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All authors Milad Jangjan, Arman Kashef, Siamak Pooyan, Stefan Scheel, Dieter Bauer

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Cross-listed from cs.ET

Nanoparticle Networks for Neuromorphic Computing

Jonas Mensing, Wilfred G. van der Wiel and Andreas Heuer

Physical computing leverages complex dynamical systems for energy-efficient data processing. In this work, we present a neuromorphic architecture based on metallic nanoparticles interconnected by molecular junctions on a $\text{SiO}_2$/Si substrate. We demonstrate that surrounding static control electrodes transform this nanoparticle network from a passive reservoir into a tunable nonlinear dynamical system. By analyzing how these electrodes route simple one-dimensional voltage inputs into multidimensional signal responses, we establish three core design rules to maximize computational performance. First, operating near the system's cutoff frequency achieves an optimal balance between nonlinear charge tunneling and linear capacitive memory. Second, tuning the underlying $\text{SiO}_2$ thickness sets the electrostatic screening length and dictates the memory type. Thick oxide layers reduce the screening length, causing networks larger than this length to transition into a persistent, non-volatile-like regime. Conversely, networks smaller than the screening length exhibit only fading memory. Third, introducing structural disorder via heterogeneous molecular junctions overcomes inherent limits on expressivity. While a network's computational expressivity scales with its physical size, it is ultimately capped by the screening length. Breaking internal spatial symmetries with localized disorder bypasses this saturation, allowing control voltages to independently manipulate specific signal amplitudes and phases, universally maximizing performance for dynamic neuromorphic applications.
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Quantum Physics

Quantum machine learning interatomic potential: Application of variational quantum algorithm

Kohei Numata, Wataru Mizukami, Kosuke Mitarai et al. (+2 more)

This study applied quantum circuit learning, a commonly used hybrid quantum-classical machine learning algorithm, to a machine learning interatomic potential (MLIP) for predicting the energies of molecules in molecular datasets. We retrained the ANI model using the quantum transfer learning architecture [Mari et al., Quantum, 4:340, 2020] and evaluated numerical accuracy with a quantum circuit simulator. The evaluation confirmed that inserting a quantum circuit into the classical neural network of the MLIP yielded slightly higher accuracy than the fully classical neural network under certain conditions. In particular, the model incorporating a quantum circuit was more effective when the pretraining model had room for improvement in accuracy. These findings may contribute to advancing the application of quantum machine learning for MLIPs.
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All authors Kohei Numata, Wataru Mizukami, Kosuke Mitarai, Keisuke Fujii, Yutaka Imamura

Statistical Mechanics

Ensemble theory of thermodiffusion

R. Belousov, J. Elliott and A. Erzberger

Heat flow sustained by a temperature difference generates a gradient of matter as observed, for example, in atomistic simulations of hard-core gases. We use path-ensemble theory to represent the coupled thermal and diffusive transport by dynamics on a graph. Calibrated from a single equilibrium simulation, this model accurately predicts nonequilibrium mass distribution in a hard-core gas across a wide range of applied temperature gradients. It also enables estimation of transport properties, such as the Soret coefficient, using analytical expressions.
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Physics and Society

Vector field theory in motion: Revealing latent potentials in soccer dynamics

Paula Rodríguez-Sánchez, Roberto López del Campo, Ricardo Resta et al. (+3 more)

Team sports offer a natural laboratory for studying collective motion in competitive environments. While recent tracking technologies enabled detailed analysis of player and ball trajectories, most existing approaches rely on discrete events and local kinematic descriptors. This limits the possibility of studying team collective behavior. Here we introduce a physics-based framework to characterize collective dynamics using empirically reconstructed velocity vector fields defined over the pitch. Taking soccer as a paradigmatic example, we show that both ball and player movements generate smooth, predominantly irrotational vector fields. Each of these fields is generated by a potential providing compact, physically interpretable representations of collective motion and encoding how teams control, or constrain play across space during attacking and defensive phases in each match. Applied to an entire season of top-level competition, the resulting potentials reveal stable team-specific fingerprints and quantitative associations between potential gradients and effective ball progression.
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All authors Paula Rodríguez-Sánchez, Roberto López del Campo, Ricardo Resta, José J. Ramasco, Javier M. Buldú, Johann H. Martínez

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Scalar-spin-chirality-driven fractional Chern insulator on a kagome lattice

Shinnosuke Tsutsumi, Koji Kudo and Kentaro Nomura

Fractional Chern insulators (FCIs) are the lattice analogs of the fractional quantum Hall states, emerging even without an external magnetic field. In this work, we demonstrate the emergence of the FCI states in a kagome magnet with a noncoplanar magnetic order that induces a finite scalar spin chirality. By incorporating in our model both electron-electron interactions and the effect of band dispersion, we find that stronger interactions relative to the band dispersion stabilize the FCI state over a broader range of scalar spin chirality. We characterize the emergent FCI state by calculating overlap with representative states, identifying the ground-state degeneracy and the finite energy gap in the thermodynamic limit, and tracking the spectral flow under multiple flux-quantum insertions. Our results suggest that kagome magnets with scalar spin chirality can be promising platforms for realizing FCIs.
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Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

The X-ray catalogue of FGK stars within 10 pc: The coronal temperature-brightness relation explained with the RTV scaling law

M. M. Bennedik, B. Stelzer, M. Caramazza et al. (+3 more)

A comprehensive measurement of stellar X-ray emission has important implications for our understanding of stellar dynamos, exoplanet atmosphere loss, and evaporation of protoplanetary disks. We present a catalogue of X-ray detections of the FGK-type main-sequence stars within 10 pc, which accounts for stellar multiplicity and optical loading of the detectors. To build the X-ray catalogue, we analysed all observations from SRG (Spectrum Roentgen Gamma)/eROSITA and XMM-Newton for stars in the FGK 10pc sample, and we cross-matched the sample with ROSAT catalogues. We fit thermal plasma models to the X-ray spectra to derive X-ray fluxes and coronal temperatures. We investigate the relation between coronal temperature and X-ray surface flux and find the result to be consistent with the ranges covered by different types of solar coronal magnetic structures. The lower end of the temperature-brightness relation is defined by the Maunder minimum star HD 166620 and three other stars whose positions identify them as possible Maunder minimum candidates. We identify systematic differences between the temperature-brightness law derived from XMM-Newton and eROSITA data that we attribute to their different instrumental response functions. We study the impact of both short-term flaring and long-term activity cycles on the evolution of coronal temperature along with X-ray brightness. With the exception of three stars, a remarkably small scatter is observed in the temperature-brightness relation across the whole sample. A natural explanation of the empirical kT-FX relation is provided by the RTV scaling law defined for solar magnetic loops. The small spread of the observed relation indicates a universal scaling between the length and the filling factor of coronal loops. The three observed outliers deviate from this invariance of the ratio of loop length to filling factor for an as of yet unknown reason.
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All authors M. M. Bennedik, B. Stelzer, M. Caramazza, S. Orlando, A. Binks, J. Robrade

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

The Volans-Carina association An X-ray Bridge Between Younger and Older Stellar Populations

Daniela Muñoz-Giraldo, Beate Stelzer, Alex Binks et al. (+3 more)

Nearby young moving groups (NYMGs) provide benchmarks for studying the evolution of magnetic activity and planetary environments at early ages. The Volans-Carina association (VCA), as a pre-main sequence association at a distance of ~90 pc, occupies a sparsely sampled region of parameter space between younger nearby associations and older distant open clusters. We have re-evaluated the membership probabilities of the VCA catalog presented in Gagne et al. (2018a) with BANYAN as well as updated kinematics from Gaia DR3. Stellar parameters were derived from multi-wavelength spectral energy distributions, with the obtained bolometric luminosity and effective temperature being used in combination with pre-main sequence evolutionary models to obtain an isochronal age of the association. We joined data from the SRG (Spectrum Roentgen Gamma)/eROSITA and ROSAT all-sky surveys with a dedicated XMM-Newton Large Programme to construct a comprehensive X-ray catalog. Our updated census of the VCA comprises 29 highly probable members, 30 candidate members, and four uncertain objects. Isochronal analysis of the association yields an age of 80+-20 Myr, consistent with previous estimates. We detect X-ray emission from 56 objects, reaching ~90% completeness, one of the most complete X-ray censuses achieved for a NYMG. Low-mass members and candidates (<0.6 Msolar) have X-ray to bolometric luminosity ratios around the canonical saturation limit (Lx/Lbol~10^-3). X-ray luminosity functions show the VCA to be consistent with the similarly aged Pleiades (in the F5 to M3 range) and significantly more active than the older Hyades (in the F5 to K4 range). The combination of an updated membership census and a nearly complete X-ray census establishes the VCA as a particularly robust calibration point for studies of the early evolution of coronal X-ray activity.
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All authors Daniela Muñoz-Giraldo, Beate Stelzer, Alex Binks, Enza Magaudda, Stefanie Raetz, Christian Schneider

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Tidal Disruption Events with the SKA

T. An, A.J. Goodwin, J.C.A. Miller-Jones et al. (+3 more)

Tidal disruption events (TDEs) and related nuclear transients probe jet launching, disk formation and circularization, particle acceleration, and the circumnuclear medium (CNM). However, the small fraction of events launching relativistic jets, the weak or delayed radio emission of many thermal TDEs, and the black-hole demographics of galactic nuclei remain poorly understood. SKA, with microJy sensitivity, wide bandwidth, long baselines, rapid response, and commensal surveys across 50-350 MHz (SKA-Low) and 0.35-15.4 GHz (SKA-Mid), will transform this field. Its sensitivity, frequency coverage, and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) capability will extend radio calorimetry from a few well-studied nearby events to volume-limited samples of non-relativistic outflows. The SKA will bring off-axis and mildly relativistic jets into routine reach, trace CNM density profiles through the evolution of the low-frequency synchrotron turnover, and localize faint off-nuclear transients with sub-arcsecond precision. These data will constrain jet incidence, energetics, geometry, and magnetization, map the CNM through shock interactions, test links to changing-look active galactic nuclei (AGN) and high-energy neutrinos, and identify off-nuclear events associated with recoiling supermassive or intermediate-mass black holes. We discuss the benefits of commensal surveys, rapid triggering, and SKA-VLBI, and provide predictions based on the projected performance of AA* and AA4. SKA will shift TDE radio studies from detailed case-by-case studies to population-scale inference, advancing studies of jet physics and black-hole demographics.
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All authors T. An, A.J. Goodwin, J.C.A. Miller-Jones, M. Pérez-Torres, L. Rhodes, X. Shu

Nuclear Theory

CLVisc Agent for autonomous relativistic hydrodynamics studies

Qi Wang, Long-Gang Pang, Shi Pu et al. (+1 more)

We enable large language model (LLM) agents to autonomously perform end-to-end hydrodynamic simulations of the quark-gluon plasma evolution and calculation of final hadron spectra in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We design a meta skill that allows an agent to explore a project's source code, craft a specialized skill, and iteratively refine it. Applying this meta skill to the (3+1)D viscous hydrodynamic code CLVisc, the agent builds a CLVisc skill encoding its operational knowledge and then independently executes full scientific workflows: designing parameter scans, running simulations, comparing ensemble results, and producing publication-ready figures. Crucially, the agent draws on literature-informed heavy-ion physics to select physically meaningful observables and interpret outcomes without explicit instruction. We demonstrate the pipeline in two scenarios: temperature-dependent shear viscosity over entropy density $\eta/s$, and nuclear-structure effects in O+O collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 5.36$~TeV using four ab initio descriptions of $^{16}$O. In both, the agent plans, executes, and analyzes autonomously, devising new initial-state observables to explain final observations and extract qualitative knowledge. The meta skill is agnostic to code versions and Monte Carlo generators, promising future multi-agent systems in high-energy nuclear physics.
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All authors Qi Wang, Long-Gang Pang, Shi Pu, Xin-Nian Wang

Geophysics

Earthquake Detection Using Benford's Law

Bivas Das, Arjun Datta, Abhijit Ghosh et al. (+1 more)

Reliable detection of local earthquakes and accurate identification of P-wave onsets are fundamental tasks in seismology, yet many existing methods to accomplish them require extensive parameter tuning or large training datasets. In this study, we investigate the applicability of Benford's Law - a logarithmic distribution governing the occurrence of leading digits in naturally occurring data - as a statistical framework for local earthquake detection. We analyze continuous seismic waveform data from two contrasting tectonic environments in the Indian subcontinent: the intraplate Deccan Volcanic Province and the actively deforming Himalayan region. Using a sliding-window approach, we quantify the temporal conformity of first-digit distributions of seismic amplitudes to Benford's Law and apply an adaptive normalization scheme to account for station-specific noise. Our results show that local earthquake waveforms consistently conform to Benford's Law during the onset of seismic energy, while pre-event noise does not. Benford-derived statistical anomalies align closely with theoretical P-wave arrival times, with detection performance primarily controlled by window length. These results establish Benford's Law as a computationally inexpensive, parameter-light, and training-free tool for local earthquake detection.
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All authors Bivas Das, Arjun Datta, Abhijit Ghosh, Visrutha Chalakkatta

Materials Science

Deep Learning for Accelerated Long-Horizon Forecasting of Multicomponent Multiphase Microstructure Evolution in High-Entropy Alloys

Hamidreza Razavi and Nele Moelans

Phase-field modeling provides a powerful approach for predicting microstructure evolution but becomes computationally prohibitive for multicomponent and multiphase systems over large spatial and temporal scales. This work presents an AE-GCN-LSTM surrogate framework for long-horizon forecasting of microstructure evolution in the multicomponent AlCrFeNi high-entropy alloy system containing coexisting BCC and FCC phases. A multi-head autoencoder compresses the four elemental concentration fields and phase-field order parameter into latent representations, which are formulated as graphs for learning their spatial and temporal evolution. The framework accurately forecasts microstructure evolution over horizons extending to 3,000,000 simulation timesteps. Its robustness is systematically evaluated under previously unseen conditions without retraining, fine-tuning, or parameter adaptation. These evaluations include variations in FCC precipitate size and initial position, microstructures containing one, two, and five FCC precipitates, and complex phase interactions involving precipitate merging and splitting. Although trained only on 100 x 100 computational domains containing a single nominal alloy composition, the framework is successfully transferred to larger 256 x 256 and 512 x 512 systems and to previously unseen AlCrFeNi compositions. Across the evaluated configurations, the model preserves the dominant phase morphology and compositional evolution while providing computational speedups ranging from approximately 7200 to 62300 relative to conventional phase-field simulations. These results demonstrate that latent graph-based AE-GCN-LSTM forecasting provides a scalable and computationally efficient surrogate for long-horizon simulation of multicomponent, multiphase microstructures and offers a promising foundation for high-throughput alloy design.
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Soft Condensed Matter

Partial vision leads to an unexpected emergent collective behavior in active aligning particles

Raúl Molina-Prados Lallena, José Martín-Roca and Chantal Valeriani

The Vicsek Model represents a paradigmatic framework for understanding the collective motion of active aligning particles, traditionally assuming isotropic interaction fields. Inspired by biological systems characterized by limited perception and blind spots, we propose a generalized Vicsek model featuring two distinct, non-overlapping angular vision cones. We systematically investigate the non-equilibrium phase behavior of this system by tuning the aperture area ({\alpha}) and the front-back orientation (e̱ta}) of the cones. Our results reveal that restricting the lateral vision area destabilizes global order, shifts the critical noise, and induces highly dense traveling bands. Furthermore, breaking the front-back symmetry introduces non-reciprocal interactions that profoundly alter the emergent spatial structures: forward-biased vision drives strong clustering through "follow the leader" alignment, whereas backward-biased alignment stabilizes an exceptionally homogeneous flocking state with suppressed density fluctuations. Finally, we incorporate short-range volume exclusion, demonstrating that the structural integrity of these novel tightly-clustered phases is highly sensitive to steric interactions. Our work provides new insights into the interplay between non-reciprocal perception, spatial anisotropy, and physical constraints in active matter.
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