Papers

We report the discovery and multi-wavelength analysis of a $z\sim0.7$ transient PLATE-23a in the Abell 2744 field, as the first results of the Pandora Lensing, AGN, and Transient Exploration (PLATE) project. Using multi-epoch JWST NIRCam imaging spanning from 2022 to 2025, we detect PLATE-23a in 12 filters. Difference-imaging analysis reveals its rising and declining phases. The host galaxy of PLATE-23a is a barred spiral at $z=0.688$ with a stellar mass of $\sim 10^{10.4}M_{\odot}$ and a star formation rate of $\sim5.1M_{\odot}~\rm yr^{-1}$, placing it on the star-forming main sequence. Bayesian light-curve classification strongly favors a type IIP supernova (SN) origin. It lies $\sim 13\rm kpc$ (after lensing correction) from the galaxy center in a region of low local star formation, suggesting the progenitor may have migrated from a distant star-forming clump. Physical properties derived from blackbody modeling indicate a temperature decreasing from $\sim8010\rm K$ to $\sim6100\rm K$ at around 65 days after the explosion; the late-time SED is consistent with entering the radioactive decay phase at about one rest-frame year. This work demonstrates the power of deep, multi-epoch JWST observations for studying transients at cosmological distances.

Nanofluidic memristors, exploiting ion transport in nanochannels, hold promise for neuromorphic applications. A planar architecture is particularly desired for scalable integration with established micro- and nanofabrication technologies. Here, using the Poisson-Nernst-Planck framework, we theoretically propose planar nanofluidic memristors enabled by surface charge gradient, providing an alternative to the commonly used geometrically asymmetric architectures. The resulting memristive behavior is governed by a diffusion-mediated secondary enrichment effect. By systematically solving the PNP equations, we obtain the scaling of the characteristic memory time across the parameter space. We also reveal that the memory effect is related to the first-order moment of surface charge, for arbitrary charge profiles. These results provide a theoretical basis for rationally designing and optimizing planar nanofluidic memristors through spatially patterned surface charge.

Fracton models have attracted considerable interest as candidates for quantum memories because of their unconventional ground-state degeneracy (GSD) and restricted-mobility excitations. The four-dimensional (4D) Chamon code introduced in our previous work is constructed via the 4D XYZ product of two two-dimensional (2D) toric codes. Its GSD grows exponentially with the system size, similar to that of the three-dimensional (3D) Chamon code, suggesting that it may be regarded as a 4D generalization of the 3D Chamon code. However, the excitation properties of the 4D Chamon code have not been studied in depth, and a high-performance decoding strategy is still lacking. In this work, we first establish the correspondence between the algebraic structure of the 4D Chamon code and the 4D lattice, thereby characterizing the geometric distributions of qubits and stabilizers. Second, we show that the 4D Chamon code supports three types of restricted-mobility excitations analogous to those of the 3D Chamon code, further supporting its interpretation as a 4D generalization of the 3D Chamon code. Finally, we uncover two structural properties relevant to decoding: a hyperplane symmetry and a projection-induced 2D toric-code structure. By exploiting these properties, we develop a two-layer decoding strategy that decomposes the original decoding problem into multiple independent and parallelizable subproblems. Numerical simulations show that the proposed decoder substantially outperforms BP-OSD in decoding accuracy, demonstrating the benefit of incorporating the intrinsic geometric and algebraic structures of the code into decoder design.

This study investigates the role of two-fluid effects during magnetic relaxation in reversed-field pinch (RFP) plasmas. Within the multiple-helicity (MH) regime, two-fluid simulations produce distinct sawtooth oscillations, in contrast to the sawtooth-free state obtained in single-fluid simulations. Analysis of the magnetic field aligned projection of Faraday's law reveals that, tearing modes collectively generate a dynamo electric field that sustains the magnetic relaxation, a process analogous to the flux-pumping in tokamaks. Despite the reduced linear tearing-mode growth rates, stronger two-fluid effects produce more pronounced sawtooth activity over the parameter range considered. Modal energy analysis shows that Hall-mediated nonlinear energy redistribution disrupts the coherent tearing-mode dynamics required to sustain steady flux-pumping, thereby facilitating intermittent reconnection. This transition is interpreted as a Hall-mediated dynamical bifurcation between steady flux-pumping and quasi-periodic sawtooth relaxation.

We study Nelson–Barr models with a discrete $Z_N$ symmetry that solve the strong CP problem through spontaneous CP violation, and show that they naturally predict a light axion-like particle (ALP) without introducing any additional ingredients. Unlike the QCD axion, this ALP is anomaly-free: its couplings to photons and gluons are highly suppressed, rendering it naturally long-lived. Instead, it couples to quarks through flavor-violating interactions whose structure is dictated by the CKM matrix. These interactions induce rare meson decays, providing a unique probe of the Nelson–Barr mechanism. We study the cosmological production of the ALP through both freeze-in and misalignment mechanisms. We show that the parameter space in which the observed relic abundance is explained by the freeze-in mechanism is subject to stringent constraints from precision flavor experiments and stellar cooling bounds from SN1987A, leaving only a small viable region that will be comprehensively tested by future structure-formation observations such as the Vera Rubin Observatory and next-generation X-ray missions like Athena, GECCO and THESEUS. In contrast, misalignment production remains a robust and viable mechanism for explaining the observed dark matter abundance over a broad region of parameter space. Our results demonstrate that precision flavor measurements, cosmological observations, and X-ray searches provide complementary probes of this anomaly-free ALP and, consequently, of the Nelson–Barr solution to the strong CP problem.

We present a combined photometric and orbital period analysis of the contact binary systems OV Leo and V339 Leo using ground-based observations together with TESS photometry. The light curves were modeled with the BSN software through a Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach, providing physical estimates of the system parameters and their uncertainties. OV Leo is analyzed photometrically for the first time, while V339 Leo is reexamined using new observations and an updated modeling methodology. The light curve analysis show that both targets are W-subtype contact binaries in shallow-contact configurations. The O'Connell effect detected in V339 Leo is reproduced with a cool starspot model, whereas no spot is required for OV Leo. Three-dimensional geometric models further indicate that OV Leo undergoes total eclipses, while V339 Leo exhibits partial eclipses. Orbital period analysis based on eclipse timing extractions reveals opposite long-term period variations in the two systems, suggesting ongoing mass transfer under the assumption of conservative mass transfer. The absolute parameters were derived using the Gaia parallaxes, the photometric light curve solution, and standard astrophysical equations.

The evolutionary transition from water to land required animals to sense chemicals under fundamentally different physical constraints. Because chemicals diffuse orders of magnitude more slowly in water than in air, aquatic olfaction faces significant challenges in odor capture. Yet, aquatic organisms exhibit strikingly sensitive and rapid chemosensory behaviors. Amphibians represent a powerful model to address this discrepancy because they transition from aquatic to terrestrial environments within a single lifetime. Here, we combine metamorphosis of adult axolotls with asymptotic theory and numerical simulations to show that odorants are captured by diffusion in tens of seconds in water compared with milliseconds in air; yet aquatic axolotls respond to odorants on a much more rapid timescale. Despite inefficiency, we find that proximity to large patches of highly concentrated odor supports sensation in the presence of flow. While aquatic axolotls did not display any respiratory flow, they display behavioral adaptations that generate flow and may even draw in odor through ciliary pumping. Thus, aquatic olfaction is slower and more wasteful than terrestrial olfaction, but behavioral adaptations support olfaction as an effective proximal sense.

The numerical accuracy and computational efficiency of free-space field propagation directly determine what physics can be predicted and what devices can be designed, from nanophotonic metasurfaces to optically addressed quantum processors. Existing methods face a fundamental accuracy-speed trade-off, which is further compounded in the vectorial regime, where major formalisms remain fragmented with no unified computational framework. Here we address both challenges: a theory that unifies the vectorial diffraction framework, and an algorithm that resolves the accuracy-speed trade-off, each reinforcing the other. We prove that all major vectorial diffraction formalisms and vector-potential seeding methods arise from a single surface equivalence principle and reduce, without approximation, to a finite sequence of scalar angular-spectrum operations. Any advance in scalar propagation can therefore be exploited across the entire vectorial ecosystem. The error-compensating angular spectrum method (E-ASM) serves as a fast and accurate scalar solver, delivering peak signal-to-noise-ratio gains exceeding 60 dB over the state-of-the-art band-extended angular spectrum method at order-of-magnitude faster speed, with a freely configurable observation window. Their combination, implemented in a GPU-accelerated, fully differentiable form, turns rigorous vectorial field computation, previously prohibitive for higher-order beams over macroscopic distances, into a practical, inverse-design-ready tool. We demonstrate the framework on optically addressed local qubit gates and on vectorial Hermite-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian beam propagation, resolving field structures inaccessible to scalar or approximate vectorial methods.

Quantum wake dynamics in quantum magnets have recently been inferred from the dynamical spin structure factor, which probes only a restricted class of local perturbations. Here, we show that resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) selection rules act as an operator filter on fractionalized excitations, producing distinct quantum wakes in the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain. Using explicit real-time evolution of single-spin and spin-conserving bond correlators, we find that the conventional spin response propagates up to the maximum spinon velocity, $v_s=\frac{\pi}{2} J$, whereas the bond channels concentrate their spectral weight into a slower dominant wake with $v\simeq 0.92 J$, while weaker components remain bounded by the full spinon light cone. The corresponding momentum- and frequency-resolved responses map onto experimentally accessible RIXS channels, demonstrating that different spectroscopic perturbations resolve complementary pathways of many-body propagation beyond the neutron-scattering spin structure factor. Their inelastic spectral weights further provide access to quantum Fisher information, while equal-time bond sum rules connect the same spectroscopic channels to the ground-state energy. Because the same correlators can be prepared and measured on quantum hardware, they also define direct, experimentally anchored benchmarks for quantum simulations, particularly in frustrated and higher-dimensional magnets where controlled classical real-time calculations become challenging.

Machine-learned force fields (MLFFs) contain many learnable parameters and therefore require large training datasets. This poses a challenge for developing highly accurate, general-purpose MLFFs because generating high-quality ab initio reference data is computationally expensive. Classical empirical potentials offer a potentially inexpensive source of synthetic training data, but existing models often lack the accuracy needed to provide useful reference energies. Here, we introduce the density-based intermolecular potential (DensIP), a physics-based model of intermolecular interactions that uses machine-learned electron densities and only four universal parameters. We train and test DensIP on CCSD(T)/CBS interaction energies from DES15K, a dataset of dimers of small organic molecules. DensIP achieves sub-kcal/mol errors for dimers containing molecules absent from the training set, including molecules in non-equilibrium conformations, demonstrating strong transferability. We further show that DensIP can be applied to molecules as large as drug ligands. Notably, DensIP outperforms state-of-the-art general-purpose MLFFs for long-range interactions, making it a promising approach for generating accurate synthetic training data at scale.

X-ray reflection spectroscopy is an established probe of black hole (BH) spin and accretion geometry, and many studies have examined its systematic uncertainties. In this work, we explore a possible environmental effect associated with compact dark matter (DM) halos. We adopt numerical BH-DM spacetimes and perform general-relativistic ray-tracing calculations to generate broadened Fe\, K$\alpha$ line profiles. For the configurations studied here, compact DM halos shift the lines toward lower observed energies relative to their Kerr counterparts. We fit the simulated profiles with standard Kerr models and find that the inferred spin and inclination can differ from their input values; in some cases, the spin is overestimated. These results suggest that compact DM halos may introduce an additional uncertainty in reflection-based measurements. Conversely, reflection models that include the environment could ultimately help constrain key halo parameters, such as its mass and characteristic scale, complementing gravitational-wave probes.

We present a comprehensive Monte Carlo study of two-dimensional bond percolation with algebraically decaying connection probabilities $p(r)\propto 1/r^{2+\sigma}$, establishing the universality diagram in the long-range (LR) regime for $\sigma\le2$. Using the event-based ensemble method, we simulate systems with linear sizes up to $L=16384$ and investigate three universality regimes: LR Wilson–Fisher (WF) A ($1<\sigma\le2$), LR Wilson–Fisher B ($2/3<\sigma\le1$), and LR mean-field (MF) ($0<\sigma\le2/3$). In the LR-WF-B regime, the anomalous dimension is consistent with $\eta=2-\sigma$, in agreement with mathematical results for $2/3<\sigma<1$, while the correlation-length exponent $\nu(\sigma)$ exhibits nontrivial, non-Gaussian variation. In the LR-WF-A regime, although $\eta$ remains close to $2-\sigma$ for smaller $\sigma$, statistically resolvable deviations $\delta\eta(\sigma)=\eta-(2-\sigma)>0$ start to appear near $\sigma\simeq3/2$ and grow toward the short-range crossover at $\sigma=2$. Finally, by complementing the event-based simulations with conventional ensemble simulations, we reveal the coexistence of complete-graph asymptotics and LR Gaussian-fixed-point scaling in the LR-MF regime. These results further clarify the critical properties in long-range percolation and provide crucial benchmarks for long-range statistical systems.

In anisotropic optical media, the electromagnetic response depends on the orientation of the optical field relative to the material's principal dielectric axes. While this direction dependence is well understood in conventional optics, it should also influence light-generation processes driven by free electrons. Here, we experimentally observe spectrally anisotropic transition radiation from biaxial van der Waals crystals. Using cathodoluminescence spectroscopy on germanium sulphide (GeS) and molybdenum oxydichloride (MoOCl$_2$) crystals, we show that the transition-radiation spectra differ along the principal in-plane optical axes. To describe this spectral anisotropy, we develop a thin-film transition-radiation model that reproduces the experimental observations. Our results demonstrate that transition radiation is a sensitive probe of the axis-dependent dielectric response of biaxial optical media and suggest that optical anisotropy can provide an additional degree of freedom for free electron-driven spectroscopy, radiation sources, and transition-radiation-based diagnostics.

An introductory review is provided for those who are interested in exploring applications of qubits and other quantum excitations to the detection of dark matter (and any other physics beyond the Standard Model). Topics covered include the fundamental properties of qubits, the excitation mechanism of qubits due to the electric field induced by dark matter (with attention to the effects of the coherence of dark matter), the dynamics of coupled qubit-cavity systems modeled by the Jaynes-Cummings framework, and the influence of noise and decoherence (especially Markovian noise described by the Lindblad equation). In addition, the article introduces essential concepts in quantum sensing, including the operator-sum representation and positive operator-valued measures, the Cramér-Rao bound, the standard quantum limit and the Heisenberg limit, and the potential enhancement of sensitivity to dark matter achievable with entangled states. Throughout, these topics are discussed with particular emphasis on their application to the detection of wave-like dark matter.

Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond provide room-temperature electron-nuclear spin registers for quantum sensing and quantum information processing, with surrounding 13C nuclear spins serving as long-lived quantum memories. However, coherent control of large nuclear-spin registers is limited by finite electron-spin coherence and spectral addressability. Existing approaches follow two complementary strategies: dynamical-decoupling (DD) gates exploit filter-function resonances to realize selective conditional evolution but permit only discrete rotation angles, whereas dynamical-decoupling radio-frequency (DDrf) control restores continuous tunability at the cost of stringent hyperfine-geometry and RF-power requirements. Here, we introduce hybrid dynamical-decoupling and radio-frequency (H-DDrf) control, which preserves the DD-induced conditional evolution and employs a geometrically phase-matched RF drive to complete the target operation. This approach reduces both RF power and gate duration while maintaining high-fidelity control, thereby expanding the accessible 13C nuclear-spin register for room-temperature NV-based quantum memories and quantum processors.

A set of orthogonal quantum states in multipartite systems is of genuine nonlocality if it is locally indistinguishable in every bipartition. If it is locally reducible when the parties are separated, we say that it has genuine nonlocality of type~\uppercase\expandafter{\romannumeral 1}; otherwise, it has genuine nonlocality of type~\uppercase\expandafter{\romannumeral 2}. For a locally distinguishable set without local redundancy, if there exist some orthogonality preserving local measurements such that each outcome leads to a locally indistinguishable set, then we say that it exhibits the activation of nonlocality. We activate type-\uppercase\expandafter{\romannumeral 1} and type-\uppercase\expandafter{\romannumeral 2} genuine nonlocality of orthogonal product state sets in tripartite systems. In particular, we tackle the local irredundancy problem with partial trace operation and $p$-ary numeral systems to significantly simplify the proofs. Our results also address the open question raised by S. Bandyopadhyay et al.[\href{https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.104.L050201}{Phys. Rev. A 104, L050201 (2021)}]. Furthermore, we observe the activation of hidden genuine nonlocality in multipartite systems, which highlights the applications of nonlocality based on state discrimination in different practical scenarios.

The trace of the average mixing matrix of a quantum walk measures the "laziness" of the walk: the higher the trace, the more likely that the walker returns home in the long run. In this paper, we develop tools to study this graph invariant arising from Laplacian quantum walks. It is known that the complete graph $K_n$ is the laziest connected graph on $n$ vertices. Using our machinery, we show that the star $S_n$ is the second laziest connected graph on $n$ vertices (and hence the laziest tree on $n$ vertices), the complete multipartite graph $K_{n-2,1,1}$ is the third laziest connected graph on $n$ vertices, and the double star $DS(n-3,1)$ is the second laziest tree on $n$ vertices. We also show that on the same number of vertices, more unbalanced double stars are lazier.

Under non-equilibrium conditions, energy/particle currents flow through a quantum system coupled to multiple baths. Although the fluxes increase in the weak coupling regime as the coupling strengthens, the reason why they decrease to zero for large coupling remains unknown. This counterintuitive behavior of energy exchange or transport phenomena is called the turnover effect. It has been predicted in several quantum systems such as photosynthetic complexes, mesoscopic junctions, quantum heat machines, and chemical networks without a single counterexample, and it results in constrained performance due to limited currents. Here, we use scattering theory to study the turnover effect produced by low-zdensity reservoirs of free particles scattered by a quantum system through localized potentials. We find that the turnover effect is a consequence of total reflection that impedes the reservoir particle from reaching the interaction region and exchanging energy with the quantum system. Moreover, we design a protocol based on quantum tunneling to avoid the turnover and to increase the maximum current. This strategy could be used to unleash the full potential of devices based on temperature/chemical potential gradients.

We present an AI transcription workflow that uses freely available tools to transcribe instructional physics videos with substantial mathematical content into math-accessible PDFs. Guided by our carefully crafted system instructions, Google Gemini transcribes linked or uploaded videos into LaTeX output. Importantly, all board-written or screen-presented equations are transcribed into LaTeX math and incorporated into the verbal flow or presented in descriptive segments, which also describe graphs, diagrams, and pedagogically important actions and interactions. Gemini's LaTeX output is appended to a prewritten SE tagging-enabled preamble and compiled by a LuaLaTeX engine; the resulting PDF transcripts routinely compile without errors and pass PDF/UA-2 and ISO 32005 validation tests. We provide a balanced performance assessment using numerous examples from test transcriptions. The publicly available supplementary resources contain complete transcripts corresponding to all presented examples, and also contain our well-tested system instructions and preamble so that others can use, adapt, study, and further develop our transcription framework.

In odd local dimension $D$, complete Wigner positivity yields stochastic phase-space dynamics on Wigner-nonnegative states but does not control signed inputs, entanglement across channel uses, or collective decoding. Using a subsystem-resolved Weyl decomposition, we characterize the equality conditions of the tensor-stable output-purity bound. Cyclic difference sets are precisely the uniform shift supports saturating the universal Parseval lower bound on the worst nontrivial collision mode. For factorized shift–phase noise with shift support $R$, $|R|=r$, and phase distribution $h$ of no larger collision radius, we obtain $S_{\alpha,\min}(\Phi_{R,h}^{\otimes n})=n\log_2 r$ for all $n\ge1$ and $0\le\alpha\le2$, the unrestricted capacity $C=\log_2(D/r)$, and a finite-blocklength strong converse. For a balanced bi-difference-set interpolation $h_\varepsilon=(1-\varepsilon)q_H+\varepsilon u_D$, the unassisted capacity is constant for $0\le\varepsilon\le1$, while the Choi state is NPT for every $\varepsilon<1$ and becomes entanglement breaking at $\varepsilon=1$. At $\varepsilon=0$, all tensor-power minimum-output states are products with local factors in one of two mutually unbiased Weyl bases; for $\varepsilon>0$, only the computational basis remains. For Singer parameters $D=q^2+q+1$ and $r=q+1$, $C_{\mathrm E}/C\to2-\varepsilon$. Finally, for an identity–dephasing profile we determine the exact tensor-power collision-entropy phase diagram, derive rigorous capacity bounds, and isolate a distinct von Neumann crossover, with a tensor-power R'enyi conjecture supported by numerics. Thus complete Wigner positivity can coexist with persistent channel entanglement and a scalable entanglement-assisted advantage.

Nonlinear Hall effects provide a powerful probe of quantum geometry in solids and enable rectification phenomena beyond the constraints of linear response. In this Letter, we predict a layer nonlinear Hall effect (LNHE) in stacked bilayer systems composed of nonmagnetic or antiferromagnetic materials with a vanishing linear Hall conductivity. In such systems, the second- or third-order nonlinear Hall responses are intrinsically layer odd: the contributions from the two constituent layers have equal magnitude but opposite sign, resulting in exact cancellation under layer-exchange symmetry. An out-of-plane electric field $E_z$ can break this symmetry, thereby unveiling the hidden response and converting it into a switchable macroscopic nonlinear Hall signal. Using a minimal $k\!\cdot\!p$ model, we demonstrate that the LNHE can originate from the Berry curvature dipole mechanism. A systematic symmetry analysis of all 80 layer groups further yields a complete classification of the symmetry constraints and stacking configurations that allow for this type of LNHE. Beyond this mechanism, additional symmetry analysis reveals that LNHE may also arise from quantum metric dipole or inversed mass dipole. Remarkably, even in cases where second-order nonlinear Hall responses are symmetry forbidden, a third-order LNHE can still survive in certain stacked bilayer configurations. First-principles calculations on representative bilayers—nonmagnetic 1T$'$-WTe$_2$ and 1T$'$-ReS$_2$—explicitly demonstrate electrically reversible second-order LNHE, in full agreement with our symmetry-based predictions. Overall, our results establish LNHE as a universal phenomenon in a wide range of layered quantum materials and provide a robust route toward electrically tunable nonlinear transport.

Open-water swimming defines a thermal phase-boundary problem in which metabolic heat production competes with environmental heat loss. We derive a scaling law that predicts the critical water temperature and shows how body size, swim pace, and insulation shift this boundary. Longitudinal warm- and cold-water data reveal transient dynamics that exceed single-compartment predictions, but emerge naturally from core–peripheral physiology. Together, our results suggest that thermal safety depends on swimmer-specific characteristics and swimming conditions, not on water temperature alone.

The dielectric formalism for light dark matter–electron scattering in semiconductors has, to date, employed only the longitudinal dielectric function $\epsilon_L$, with the transverse response $\epsilon_T$ universally neglected on qualitative grounds. A complete derivation and quantitative evaluation of $\epsilon_T$ in this context has been lacking. We provide this derivation within the random phase approximation for a homogeneous electron gas. For silicon, we find that the transverse energy loss function is $4--6$ orders of magnitude below the longitudinal one in the bulk plasmon regime, providing the first rigorous justification for the conventional longitudinal approximation. The sizable transverse corrections appear for deposited energies $\omega\lesssim1\,\mathrm{eV}$, which lies below the energy required to reliably produce one electron-hole pair in silicon detectors. Our results provide a quantitative error assessment for existing longitudinal calculations and identify kinematic regimes where transverse corrections ought to be included for relativistic dark-matter interpretations.

We construct representation-independent families of solutions of the non-braided scalene Yang–Baxter equation from quadratic noncommutative algebras. Beginning with two anticommuting generators, we obtain a continuous deformation in terms of quantum-plane algebras and extend the construction to an arbitrary number of generators. In the latter case the scalene Yang–Baxter relation fixes the multiparameter exchange matrix to an exact multiplicative form, thereby selecting a distinguished subclass of multiparameter quantum affine spaces. We construct finite-dimensional realizations using singular matrices and finite Heisenberg–Weyl operators, as well as infinite-dimensional realizations in terms of bilateral weighted shifts and multiplicative-shift operators. The explicit realizations are generically purely scalene: although the ordered triple satisfies the scalene Yang–Baxter equation, its individual constituent operators do not satisfy the ordinary non-braided Yang–Baxter equation. These results provide a representation-independent algebraic framework for constructing Yang–Baxter-irreducible scalene triples and a starting point for investigating their possible applications to quantum integrability.

The mass splitting between the doubly and singly charged members of the Higgs triplet of the type-II seesaw model is usually treated as a free parameter in the collider literature. Electroweak loops fix it to $767$ to $841$~MeV over the mass range considered here once the quartic coupling $\lambda_4$ is set to zero at the renormalization scale $\overline\mu = M_{H^{\pm\pm}}$. Moving that scale by a factor of two in either direction moves the loop value by $208$~MeV at $200$~GeV, falling to $42$~MeV at $1$~TeV. At the reference splitting of $852$~MeV, the transition $H^{\pm\pm} \to H^\pm W^{\pm(*)}$ takes $40\%$ ($7\%$) of the total width at the crossover triplet vacuum expectation value for a doubly charged Higgs mass of $200$~GeV ($500$~GeV). That splitting is also where the partonic counting of that rate fails. Evaluated from hadronic data, the counting overestimates the rate by a factor $1.46 \pm 0.05$ at a splitting of $852$~MeV and underestimates it by a factor $4.87 \pm 0.09$ at $200$~MeV. Whether the mixed same-sign topology survives is then a condition on $\lambda_4$. The same channel moves the two published exclusion boundaries in opposite directions, by $-1.4\%$ and $+24.5\%$, at the level of branching ratios and at fixed experimental acceptance.

Receiving the same messages in different orders can change an agent's judgement. We construct a network model in which this local sequence effect determines the final opinion of an entire network. Each agent has a two-level quantum-like state with an expressed opinion and an auxiliary context coordinate that can affect the next update. Two valid update rules of equal strength leave the neutral state unchanged and add no positive or negative opinion bias. Nevertheless, reversing their order gives the exact opinions +0.01 and -0.01 from the same initial state. We place four ordered pairs so that their positive and negative contributions sum to zero but occupy different labelled nodes. After this single input, all cases follow the same nonlinear network rule, which preserves valid states and admits two stable consensuses. We compare two 16-node networks whose complete Laplacian spectra are identical. With every local ingredient fixed, they converge to opposite consensuses. A separate local calculation identifies a specific overlap between the labelled pulse and Laplacian eigenspace projectors that sets the leading displacement of the basin boundary. Rigorous interval arithmetic proves the finite registered example independently. The construction connects message order to collective selection and shows why Laplacian eigenvalues alone do not determine which opinion wins.

We develop a general framework for characterizing the response of an evolving quantum system to repetitive quantum measurements. Modeling each evolution-measurement cycle as a quantum channel induced by an effective Liouvillian generator, we find that the Liouvillian spectral gap determines the measurement-induced decay rate. We analyze how the spectral gap responds to the measurement frequency, and define a quantum Zeno response as a decrease in the gap with increasing measurement frequency, and an anti-Zeno response as the opposite. We illustrate this criterion for both discrete-time and continuous-time quantum measurements. In an exactly solvable discrete-time qubit model, the exceptional-point spectral coalescence or spectral crossings mark the transition between Zeno and anti-Zeno responses, which can be experimentally distinguished from the long-time decay envelope of the survival probability. In a continuous-time superconducting-qubit defect model, the same transition manifests as smooth extrema of the spectral gap. Our results establish a universal spectral criterion for measurement-induced decay, offering a practical route to identify and manipulate these effects in generic quantum systems.

Conventional field selection of magnetic order relies on the Zeeman coupling, which, however, vanishes in magnets without net magnetization, a rapidly growing class including altermagnets (AMs), noncollinear antiferromagnets (nc-AFMs), and PT-symmetric antiferromagnets (PT-AFMs). Here we show that the quantity that fundamentally couples a magnet to a uniform magnetic field is not the magnetization, but the binary order parameter eta that labels the two time-reversal-related minima of the Landau free energy. We develop a Landau theory of order selection based on eta under the constraints of magnetic point-group (MPG) symmetry, in which eta couples to odd-degree polynomials in the magnetic field. Within this framework, the linear term is the ferromagnetic Zeeman coupling, while higher-order couplings with leading degree n = 3, 5, 7, and 9 naturally appear in AMs and nc-AFMs. In contrast, combined PT symmetry forbids any such coupling. Consequently, it is the order-(n-1) magnetic susceptibility, rather than the net magnetization, that serves as the primary experimental observable for identifying the magnetic order of AMs and nc-AFMs. For all 122 MPGs, we classify the leading coupling degree and the corresponding polynomial forms. We demonstrate our framework in two representative materials: the AM MnF2 and the nc-AFM MnTe2. We further construct a symmetry-allowed spin model for an AM system to reveal the microscopic origin of the higher-order coupling and establish the coupling coefficient explicitly in terms of the spin-model parameters. Our work unifies the description of magnetic-order selection across magnets with and without net magnetization, offers a microscopic origin for this counterintuitive physics, and provides fingerprints for distinguishing intrinsic field selection from extrinsic switching.

Altermagnets have attracted intensive attention recently, owing to their unique combination of zero net magnetic moment of antiferromagnets and momentum space spin-splitting of ferromagnets. Herein, we systematically explore monolayer altermagnetic Ti$_2$XX' (X/X' = F, Cl, Br, I) materials for novel electronic properties. Especifically, spin-splitting exists in the valence bands of all studied materials, whereas several compositions exhibit nearly spin-degenerate conduction bands near the Fermi level, which is markedly different from conventional altermagnets. This phenomenon can be attributed to the bond-angle-sensitive super-exchange occurring in the $d_{xz}$ or $d_{yz}$ orbitals, while the super-exchange of the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital is not sensitive to the Ti-X-Ti bond angle. Motivated by this intriguing phenomenon, Fermi level modulation via doping or heterostructure construction enables the transition between two electronic states, endowing these materials great application potential in information storage devices.

Recent quantum twisting microscopy experiments [1] have provided unprecedented momentum- and energy-resolved imaging of magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene, revealing a stark dichotomy between the heavy and light electronic characters of its narrow bands. In this work, we provide a sharp distinguishing criterion between the two most likely candidate states that exhibit spectroscopic features consistent with the experimental results. Focusing on charge neutrality, these states are 1) the 'Mott semimetal', governed by strong dynamical correlations, and 2) the 'strain-induced anisotropic semimetal', characterized by weak Hartree-Fock effects. We demonstrate that an out-of- plane magnetic field serves as a sharp discriminating probe based on the expected Landau level gap size hierarchy. We find that the strain-induced anisotropic semimetal has a robust gap hierarchy where the Chern C gaps, \Delta_C , decrease in order \Delta_{\pm 4} > \Delta_{\pm 8} > \Delta_{\pm 12}. In contrast, for the Mott semimetal, \Delta_{\pm 4} remains the largest gap, while the relative magnitude of the C = \pm 8, \pm 12 gaps depends sensitively on the applied magnetic field. We test the robustness of these results against strain orientation and lattice relaxation finding consistency between the gap hierarchy of the strained semimetal and previous incompressibility measurements at finite magnetic field [2].