Papers

The metal content of galaxies provides direct insight into the underlying physical processes that drive galaxy evolution. An example of this is the three-parameter relationship between stellar mass, gas-phase metallicity, and star formation rate, commonly referred to as the Fundamental Metallicity Relation (FMR). Previous studies have suggested that the FMR is redshift-invariant (at $z \lesssim 4$) and fully accounts for the scatter in the mass-metallicity relation (MZR). In this work, we test this 'fundamental' relation in both cosmological simulations (EAGLE, SIMBA, Illustris, IllustrisTNG) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) observations. We find that the canonical anti-correlation between metallicity and specific star formation rate (sSFR) inverts in massive galaxies ($M_\star \gtrsim 10^{10.5} \mathrm{M}_\odot$) in EAGLE, IllustrisTNG, and SDSS. When including lower star forming galaxies, the positive correlation appears for all four simulations and SDSS. We speculate that this inversion may being driven by strong nuclear outflows (from, e.g., active galactic nuclei or stellar feedback), which quench star formation while simultaneously expelling preferentially enriched gas from the center of the galaxy. We also find that this 'inversion' appears in a number of metallicity diagnostics in observations (though the details depend on diagnostic) and persists out to $z \sim 1$ in the simulations. These results demonstrate that these strong nuclear outflows challenge simple gas regulator-type models and provide a new framework to test models of the baryon cycle in both future simulations and observations.

The degree of spin-orbit alignment in merging binary black holes is a powerful probe of their formation history. However, assessing spin-orbit misalignment in individual events remains challenging, as most parameters commonly used to characterize precession tend to be poorly constrained. In this work, we introduce the angle between the total spin and orbital angular momentum, $\theta_{LS}$, as an alternative measure of spin-orbit misalignment. Using synthetic observations, we show that $\theta_{LS}$ retains more information to discriminate between the aligned- and isotropic-spins hypotheses than commonly used alternatives, including $\chi_{\rm p}$. We then study this parameter on binary black hole mergers observed in the GWTC-5.0 catalog, and identify multiple events that are inconsistent with having aligned spins. In several of the examples, this is not apparent from the posteriors of the effective spin parameters ($\chi_{\rm p}$ or $\chi_\mathrm{eff}$) nor the individual spin-orbit tilts ($\theta_1$ or $\theta_2$) alone, and thus had not been previously identified. We highlight GW241127_061008 as a compelling case for a second-generation merger, with a large, tilted primary spin, unequal masses, and a large primary mass near the pair-instability-supernova mass gap. Finally, we perform population inference using $\cos\theta_{LS}$ and confirm that the binary black hole population is inconsistent with either a purely isotropic or a purely aligned-spin distribution, and requires substantial spin-orbit misalignment.

Conventional oxide epitaxy approaches face challenges when the oxidation conditions of constituent elements differ significantly. Here we demonstrate that V–O thin films can serve as solid-phase precursors for epitaxial AlV$_2$O$_4$, comprising a pyrochlore V$^{2.5+}$ network coexisting with AlO$_4$ tetrahedra within the spinel structure. The epitaxial AlV$_2$O$_4$/Al$_2$O$_3$ (0001) heterostructures are realized via interfacial topotactic transformation, involving V–O growth at a moderate temperature followed by in-situ ultra-high-temperature post-annealing to drive a reaction with the Al$_2$O$_3$ substrate. Transmission electron microscopy and temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction analyses reveal excellent structural characteristics that closely reproduce the known charge-ordering transition. This study presents a novel approach to realizing epitaxial structures with convoluted oxidation states where thermodynamic and kinetic barriers would otherwise limit synthesizability.

The effects of pressure on the chemical sooting structure of equi-diffusive soot formation (SF) in a counterflow diffusion flame (CDF) are explored in a combined experimental and numerical study over pressures ranging from 1 bar to 6 bar. Experiments preserve the diffusive flame structure and carbon flux at increasing pressures and utilize measurements of soot concentrations, dispersion exponents and soot production rates. Numerical simulations are completed in OpenSMOKE++ with detailed \ce{C1}-\ce{C16} chemistry, lumped PAH consideration up to \ce{C160}, sectional soot model and tracking of the C/H ratio in particulates. Network-based tools are utilized to study the organization and evolution of carbon routing pathways. Results show that for equi-diffusive flames, soot concentration increases with residence time and pressure, whereas soot production rates are influenced only by pressure. Soot C/H ratio is observed to increase with pressure using numerical and experimental methods, but numerical solutions underestimate the increase in hydrogen abstraction reactions. The soot-forming network undergoes a percolation-like organization of its pathways before soot inception. The network then continues to grow by adding connections through its influential nodes. Acetylene is identified as a highly influential node in the carbon transfer graph, with its influence increasing with pressure.

We investigate the emergence of roton instability in self-bound quantum droplets interacting via a finite-range soft-core potential modeled by a Heaviside step interaction. The ground-state properties are obtained by solving the extended Gross-Pitaevskii equation including Lee-Huang-Yang corrections with a nonlocal interaction term. The collective excitation spectrum reveals the formation and progressive softening of a roton minimum as the interaction strength and range increase. When the roton energy approaches zero, the system becomes unstable, signaling the onset of density modulation. The rotonic behavior is further characterized through the static structure factor, which exhibits pronounced peaks at the roton momentum.

X-ray speckle-based dark-field imaging offers high sensitivity to sub-pixel structural features, yet its quantitative reliability in clinical and preclinical settings remains constrained by low photon flux and finite focal spot sizes. However, how hardware-induced noise and source blurring propagate through retrieval algorithms to degrade signal integrity is not fully understood. Here, we systematically evaluate algorithm robustness quantified by signal linearity, sensitivity, and bias under photon starvation and source blurring across two mathematically distinct frameworks: differential-based intrinsic tracking (Low-Coherence System, LCS) and patch-wise explicit tracking (X-ray Speckle-Tracking Speckle-Vector-Tracking, XST-XSVT). Our experimental results demonstrate that input speckle pattern distortions propagate through retrieval algorithms in fundamentally different ways depending on algorithm architecture. As an example, using our setup, under severe photon starvation, derivative noise amplification in LCS causes its dark-field signal linearity and sensitivity to drop precipitously, while sharply elevating baseline bias. In contrast, XST-XSVT restricts these losses for sensitivity while maintaining a stable baseline, as its patch-wise variance calculation inherently suppresses stochastic noise. Similarly, under blur-limited conditions , source blurring washes out the speckle pattern, directly reducing dark-field sensitivity for both LCS and XST-XSVT. This characterization establishes operational boundaries for low-power and low-coherence X-ray systems, guiding algorithm selection and framework optimization to realize quantitative dark-field imaging in preclinical and clinical applications.

We present a panchromatic transmission spectrum of GJ1132b spanning $0.71$–$5.16~\mu$m, combining published transit observations from Magellan/LDSS3C, HST/WFC3 G141, and JWST/NIRSpec (G395H and G395M). Using petitRADTRANS and PyMultiNest, we perform Bayesian atmospheric retrievals, comparing a flat-line, Gaussian-feature models, and clear and cloudy atmospheric scenarios, including tests with and without the first JWST visit flagged as a potential outlier in a previous study. The inclusion of shorter-wavelength spectra shifts the marginal molecular preference from H$_2$O (JWST-only) to NH$_3$ (panchromatic). Of the seven molecules tested (NH$_3$, CO$_2$, CO, CH$_4$, H$_2$O, HCN, and N$_2$O), only NH$_3$ shows a marginal preference, which is weakened when the JWST first visit is excluded. Cloudy atmospheres yield higher Bayesian evidence than high-mean-molecular-weight clear models, but none provides compelling evidence over the flat-line scenario. A thin ($P_{\rm ref} \sim 10^{-3}$~bar), N$_2$-dominated atmosphere ($\mu \sim 16$~amu) with traces of NH$_3$, H$_2$O, and CH$_4$, combined with a grey, optically thin power-law cloud (opacity at 350~nm $\le 10^{-3}~{\rm cm^2\,g^{-1}}$), remains indistinguishable from the flat-line model when the first JWST visit is included and is further disfavoured when it is excluded, strengthening a bare-rock interpretation. We conclude that current spectra show no evidence for an atmosphere on GJ1132b. The observations are best explained by a bare rocky planet with $R_{\rm p} = 1.129 \pm 0.002\,R_\oplus$, though a tenuous, obscured atmosphere cannot be excluded when the JWST first visit is included.

I show that the progenitor of supernova (SN) 1987A faded substantially and became red for hundreds of years to observers in and near the plane of the equatorial ring, because the equatorial ring, which was formed by a binary interaction between the SN 1987A progenitor and a main-sequence companion that ejected material about 20,000 years before the explosion, obscured the progenitor. For a few hundred years, the luminosity for such hypothetical observers was mainly light scattered by the two outer rings, which amounted to ~5% of the progenitor luminosity. In present terms, this event would have been classified as a "failed supernova" by these observers, although there was no core collapse, no black hole formation, and nothing failed. Rather, this event was a type II ILOT (intermediate-luminosity optical transient), in which equatorial ejecta temporarily obscured the central source. After a few hundred years, the outer rings became transparent, the inner ring became more transparent, and the SN 1987A progenitor brightened over a few thousand years to its normal luminosity for equatorial observers. This finding strengthens the claim that "failed supernova" candidates are likely to be type II ILOTs. Although the binary interaction also spun up the core, the bipolar morphology of SN 1987A (its Keyhole) is misaligned with the triple-ring system. I use the jittering jets explosion mechanism (JJEM) to speculate on a scenario that might explain this misalignment. This study adds small but unique support to the claim that the JJEM is the primary explosion mechanism of CCSNe.

Dynamical friction (DF) and gravitational-wave radiation reaction are conventionally treated as distinct dissipative mechanisms acting on a compact object inspiraling through a matter environment. We show that DF is not an additional force but a term at order $q^2\epsilon$ in a covariant multiparameter expansion of the MiSaTaQuWa force equation that vanishes identically in the absence of a particle-induced perturbation of the environment's matter fields, where $q$ and $\epsilon$ are respectively the mass ratio and environmental parameter. As a test of this identification, we evaluate it in weak and adiabatic field limit, solving the polar density-perturbation equation sourced by the particle's own order-$q$ vacuum metric perturbation. The reduction reproduces the Chandrasekhar-Ostriker drag force and predicts two features in strong gravity. An $\ell$-dependent splitting of the wake that only recombines into the Ostriker source in the weak-field limit, and a purely relativistic axial contribution with no Newtonian counterpart. This establishes dynamical friction as an intrinsic piece of self-force theory, extending to strong field, generic orbits, and generic environments, with direct consequences for extreme-mass-ratio inspiral waveform modeling for LISA.

We introduce masked auto-correlation, a new primitive for the cryptanalysis of symmetric-key primitives, together with a quantum attack pipeline built on it. For a permutation $f$, output masks $\alpha,\beta$, and an input difference $w$, masked auto-correlation (MAC) measures the correlation between the masked outputs $\alpha\cdot f(x)$ and $\beta\cdot f(x\oplus w)$. The associated masked differential-linear (MDL) approximations strictly generalize several classical techniques; ordinary linear cryptanalysis, differential-linear cryptanalysis, and the differential-linear connectivity table all arise as special cases. Our central object of study is the problem of finding mask pairs with large masked cross-correlation – those that yield powerful distinguishers – which we call MAC Fishing. We give a constant-query quantum algorithm that samples such pairs according to their squared correlation, and we prove an exponential classical lower bound of $\Omega(N/\log N)$ queries, by adapting the hardness of Fourier Fishing. To our knowledge this is the first result pairing a quantum upper bound with a classical lower bound for the core task of identifying high-correlation approximations, making quantum algorithms an absolute necessity. Building on this, we analyse the distribution of masked auto-correlation for random permutations, and then construct capacity-based distinguishers and key-recovery attacks, both classically and with a quadratic quantum speed-up using amplitude estimation. We validate our claims with experiments on reduced-round mini-AES.

Claims that neutron stars constrain quantum gravity often compare models whose new physics enters at different stages of the stellar calculation. This article provides a critical map of three representative routes: generalized-uncertainty-principle deformations of microscopic thermodynamics, noncommutative-inspired modifications of the effective matter source, and higher-curvature or scale-dependent modifications of gravitational dynamics. For each route we identify the quantity that is changed, the dimensionless parameter controlling the correction, and the consistency conditions required before masses, radii, or tidal deformabilities can be compared with observations. A deformed phase-space measure must be implemented in a thermodynamically consistent interacting equation of state; a smeared density must be completed by a conserved stress-energy tensor, generally with anisotropic pressure; and a gravitational effective field theory must remain within its derivative expansion and be applied consistently to both the equilibrium background and tidal perturbations. Simple scale estimates show that coefficients of natural size suppressed by the Planck scale are negligible in neutron stars. Observable effects consequently constrain model-dependent effective scales or enhanced couplings, not microscopic quantum gravity directly. The resulting framework is intended to separate robust phenomenological bounds from effects produced by inconsistent implementations or by degeneracies with the high-density equation of state.

Nucleation is a key rate-limiting process in phase transition and phase separation. Recent studies highlight a significant discrepancy between experimentally measured nucleation rates and theoretical predictions, particularly when dynamic structural reordering occurs along multi-step pathways. To bridge this gap, we develop a multi-shell model with a space-time-dependent order-parameter field to describe the reordering-nucleation process, where structural reorganization couples with the early growth of condensed clusters. Through stochastic simulations, we track the time-resolved evolution of heterogeneous structural order inside growing clusters. Path analysis of the first-passage problem in early-stage nucleation demonstrates that shifting the reordering rate alters the nucleation rate by several orders of magnitude. Furthermore, as the coupling strength increases, the relationship between the mean first-passage time and reordering susceptibility shifts from monotonic to non-monotonic, exhibiting a turnover effect. We quantitatively rationalize these behaviors with an effective nucleation barrier that accounts for non-equilibrium properties. Our findings elucidate the mechanisms behind multi-step nucleation and offer a predictive framework for future studies.

Recent advancements in direct detection (DD) experiments stimulate the investigation of the interactions of dark matter (DM) with nucleons and nuclei. In the framework of Composite Higgs Models (CHMs) the lightest Dirac composite particle (LDCP) can be stable composing a significant fraction \xi of the observed DM relic abundance. We consider the elastic scattering of the LDCP on nucleons as well as on xenon (Xe) and argon (Ar) nuclei within the CHMs in which the LDCP magnetic moment, its mass and its coupling to the Higgs doublet are suppressed by an approximate U(1) symmetry. The LDCP with non-zero magnetic dipole moment can result in a substantial enhancement of the differential event rate in the DD experiments at low recoil energies of nuclei. Assuming \xi\ge 0.1, we identify the region of the parameter space where such enhancement may be potentially observable. In addition we specify some observables that can be useful in discriminating between the DM fermions with non-zero magnetic moment and other types of dark matter particles which don't have similar electromagnetic properties.

We show that every smooth manifold $M$ of positive dimension admits fully supported distributions $u,v\in \mathcal D'(M)$ with $\mathrm{WF}(u)\cap({-}\mathrm{WF}(v))=\emptyset$ and $uv=0$. Neither factor can be continuous on any non-empty open set, but $u$ may be chosen of optimal Sobolev order $\dim M/2$, with wavefront set contained in any prescribed closed conical set $\Gamma\subset T^\ast M\setminus 0$ with non-empty and non-maximal fibers. Simultaneously, the wavefront set of $v$ may be confined to any compatible open conical set or, in geometric situations, to closed conical sets such as conormal bundles of foliations or ray bundles generated by locally conformally closed one-forms. We give positivity criteria and show that full-support zero divisor pairs accumulate at $(1,0)$ in Sobolev-microlocal topologies. The one-dimensional case uses a Fourier null series of Kozma-Olevskiĭ.

In this work, we investigate rapid prediction of the dominant $n{=}0$ vertical instability growth rate in C-Mod and SPARC equilibria, where nonrigid free boundary response models are too slow for control cycle use. Using a Physics Attention Transformer trained on MEQ-FGE-L labels, we predict both the scalar growth rate and the associated two dimensional perturbed toroidal current density. We find mean absolute errors of 5.4~s$^{-1}$ on held out C-Mod equilibria and 12.7~s$^{-1}$ on synthetic SPARC cases, with spatial eigenfunction errors near 5%. We also compared PAT with operator based ML models : FNO2D and DeepONet, where we found PAT predicts a much lower normalised growth rate error and improved spatial reconstruction. These results indicate that PAT can reproduce MEQ-FGE-L outputs at control relevant latency and could support future studies of growth rate headroom monitoring and proximity aware shape control.

Recently initiated and upcoming spectroscopic surveys, such as DESI and WST, will provide more than $10^6$ high-$z$ quasar spectra, enabling dense sky coverage by the Ly$\alpha$ forest. This is expected to establish the three-dimensional (3D) Ly$\alpha$ forest power spectrum, $P_{\rm 3D,\alpha}$, as a probe of the thermal and ionization history of the intergalactic medium (IGM). To exploit this opportunity, we quantify the imprints of reionization on the post-reionization IGM using high-fidelity numerical models. We use the Sherwood and Sherwood-Relics cosmological hydrodynamical simulations with box sizes up to $160\,h^{-1}\,\rm cMpc$ to investigate the impact of box size, mass resolution, and extracted grid resolution on $P_{\rm 3D,\alpha}$ over $2.4\leq z\leq4.8$. After applying a Zel'dovich control variate correction, simulation volume has a modest impact over most scales and orientations, whereas degrading the mass resolution produces differences of up to $\sim13\%$. Insufficient resolution of the grid used for the optical-depth calculation can artificially enhance small-scale power by up to $\sim35\%$. The timing of $\mathrm{H\,I}$ reionization leaves only a percent-level imprint on $P_{\rm 3D,\alpha}$ at $z=2.4$, whereas varying the photoheating rate by a factor of two changes the large-scale power by $\sim4-8\%$. Our results demonstrate that numerical effects can be comparable to, or exceed, the relic astrophysical signatures encoded in $P_{\rm 3D,\alpha}$, making numerical convergence essential for interpreting precise Ly$\alpha$ forest measurements. The strongest astrophysical imprint arises from spatially inhomogeneous $\mathrm{H\,I}$ reionization, which enhances the large-scale power by up to $\sim70\%$ at $z=4.2$. This highlights the potential of post-reionization Ly$\alpha$ forest measurements as a probe of the thermal history and spatial morphology of cosmic reionization.

Measurement-based quantum computing (MBQC) is a powerful model for quantum computation, but dedicated software tools that bridge its theoretical foundations with practical research workflows remain limited. We present Graphix, a software framework for MBQC written in Python that provides a unified environment for developing, integrating, and exploring measurement-based protocols and algorithms. Graphix establishes a modular, extensible, and user-friendly architecture for the compilation and simulation of quantum computations in the MBQC model with abstractions closely aligned with the theoretical formulations of MBQC. Through examples drawn from recent research on MBQC, we demonstrate Graphix's ability to reproduce and extend previous results. Graphix thus provides a software infrastructure for MBQC, supporting education and research while enabling collaborative development and accelerating the transition toward practical implementations.

We present the Universal Slippage calculator (USlip), an extension of the Universal Fieldline Tracer (UFiT), that computes magnetic field line slippage rates from an input magnetic field defined on a structured grid. The slippage rate provides a local, physically grounded diagnostic of non-ideal evolution, directly quantifying departures from ideal frozen-in motion. We outline the theoretical formulation and describe an efficient numerical implementation. The method is validated against analytical solutions and applied to simulations using three coronal codes treating varying spatial scales, all of which are standard inputs for USlip. In all the examples considered, the slippage rate not only identifies where magnetic connectivity changes occur, but also accurately reproduces the observed direction of field-line slippage. The consistency of the results across analytical tests and multiple simulation platforms demonstrates that USlip is a robust and versatile tool for diagnosing three-dimensional reconnection in dynamically evolving systems.

The density profiles of Dark matter (DM) halos carry imprints of the DM nature and may be constrained through the lensing effects on gravitational waves (GWs) arising from the halo gravitational potential. In this paper, we investigate GW lensing by two representative types of halo density profiles, i.e., the generalized Navarro-Frenk-White (gNFW) density profile and the Einasto density profile. Using the gravitational lensing equation, we first examine the parameter-space distribution and the imaging characteristics of both profiles under strong lensing, partitioning the parameter space into distinct regions according to the Morse index. We then conduct a detailed analysis of the modulus $\big|F\big|$ and phase $\mathrm{Arg}(F)$ of the amplification factor $F\big(w,y\big)$ at low frequency regime. Our results show that, for a fixed lens mass , increasing the gNFW slope $\gamma$ leads to a larger amplitude, more rapid oscillation, and more distinct wave-packet morphology in the multiple-image regime. Compared with the gNFW case, the Einasto case (with $\alpha=0.16$, $y<0.6$, and the same $M_{200}$) produces a stronger lensing effect. Notably, the evolution of $F\big(w,y\big)$ with frequency for the Einasto profile differs from that of the gNFW case, making its behavior particularly distinctive.

We ask how passive conducting geometry determines the spatial structure of electric-field noise seen by trapped ions. From a boundary-potential covariance and the Dirichlet Green function we construct the $N$-ion electric-field cross-spectral matrix and its blockwise motional Kossakowski generator. In a parallel slab, billiard unfolding turns the electrostatic response into a return-depth measure and yields an exact return-pair functional for arbitrary stationary surface spectra. For every finite equal-height ion array, the passive cover increases the normal-field covariance matrix in the positive-semidefinite ordering and decreases the tangential-field covariance matrix in the same ordering: all collective normal-field coordinates acquire more absolute noise, while all collective tangential coordinates acquire less. At $h=2d$ the local-noise single-ion ratios are exactly $\zeta(3)$ and $\eta(3)$. Diagonalizing the equal-frequency covariance identifies collective environmental noise eigenchannels and a geometry-dependent noise rank; within a degenerate frequency block these become the Lindblad jump channels. In a ten-ion example, closing the cover to $h=2d$ lowers the participation rank from 5.61 to 5.11 while increasing the leading channel's share from 23.7% to 28.6%; a primitive Mølmer-Sørensen calculation shows how the projected covariance sets the weak-heating gate exposure. Beyond parallel walls, specular paths emerge as large-$q_z$ saddles of the screened boundary operator. Across 16 curved covers, the fitted electrostatic decay exponent correlates at 0.9991 with the independently computed shortest specular excess length, while separate tests resolve focusing and competing saddles.

We study the equilibrium phase behavior of a fluid confined in a slit made from two patterned walls. Shearing the walls frustrates the fluid, due to a competition between capillary condensation and interface delocalization, forcing the formation of bridging phases with different pinning properties. This leads to an unusually rich phase diagram, displaying first-order and continuous phase transitions, depending sensitively on the slit width and shear. Generalized Kelvin equations determine the phase boundaries, while the bridging phases are characterized by large correlation lengths, predictions for which are tested using a microscopic density functional model.

Geomagnetic indices quantify the disturbances of the Earth's magnetic field. They form an important space weather and space climate record that tracks solar-terrestrial effects on the Earth. Although geomagnetic activity has its origins in the photospheric magnetic fields, the two have so far not been directly related. We develop a photospheric index of geomagnetic activity (PIGA) that measures the geoeffectiveness of the Sun based on photospheric magnetic field as presented in synoptic magnetograms. We construct the PIGA from synoptic magnetograms of Wilcox Solar Observatory by relating the equatorial and axial dipole components of the photospheric magnetic field to the geomagnetic Kp index by means of linear regression. PIGA captures well the evolution of the geomagnetic activity over the past 50 years at the resolution of solar rotation, having linear correlation of 0.71 with the geomagnetic Kp index. PIGA makes it straightforward to measure the geoeffectiveness of the Sun using the dominant structure of the global solar magnetic field. PIGA can for example be used to study the geoeffectiveness of the Sun using historical simulations or the predicted solar magnetic field. PIGA also allows to use observed geomagnetic activity as an additional constraint for the early magnetic field reconstructions of the solar magnetic field.

Most lunar surface conditions are incredibly harsh for microbial survival. High ultraviolet radiation, temperatures, and energetic particle radiation limit survival over most unprotected lunar surfaces, particularly in equatorial regions where all previous crewed exploration occurred. However, whether these harsh conditions are widespread at lunar poles has not been examined considering topographical effects. Here, we show that recent microorganism survivability data and lunar surface remote sensing reveal likely survivable niches in lunar polar regions. Analysis of topography and latitude-driven surface conditions using remote sensing data and high-resolution illumination models indicates the lunar south pole possesses significant regions with persistent low temperatures and ultraviolet flux. Comparing these conditions to survivability data of specific microorganisms, we find significant lunar polar areas likely possess surface conditions amenable to microbial survival. Our findings suggest lunar polar regions may be less hostile to microbial survival than previously assumed. This does not encompass growth likelihood, but survival in a cryptobiotic state where growth would be possible if habitable conditions were present. Potential microbial survivability at lunar poles is particularly significant given many examined microbes will likely be transported to the Moon during crewed lunar south pole exploration planned in numerous near-term missions. Thoughtfully planning exploration and tracking its impact is key to limiting and understanding potential unintended life transfer to the Moon.

We evaluate the expected performance of a 170-ton water Cherenkov detector for reactor antineutrino–electron elastic scattering at the RENO near-detector site. The reactor-spectrum normalization is extracted from the reconstructed recoil-electron directional distribution using a constrained profile-likelihood fit for an exposure of 365.25 days. For the minimum prompt-hit multiplicity $N_{\mathrm{prompt}}\geq8$ scenario, which neglects PMT radioactivity, the total uncertainty on the reactor-spectrum normalization is ${}^{+1.08\%}_{-1.07\%}$. For the more restrictive $N_{\mathrm{prompt}}\geq20$ scenario, which includes the simulated PMT-radioactivity components, the total uncertainty is ${}^{+1.49\%}_{-1.47\%}$. These results demonstrate that directional information from a water Cherenkov detector can provide percent-level sensitivity to the reactor elastic-scattering normalization.

We study the interaction between light and non-relativistic cosmic neutrino background (CNB). We propose single arm laser interferometry with coherent laser source and two distinct squeezing operators to probe such interaction. We analyze the induced phase shift in four distinct quantum regimes of the interferometer operation: the standard quantum limit (SQL), the Heisenberg limit, super-Heisenberg limit with $N^{3/2}$ enhancement, and super-Heisenberg limit with $N^{2}$ enhancement where $N$ is the number of photons in the interferometer. We demonstrate that the $N^{2}$ super-Heisenberg enhancement has the potential to probe the magnetic moment down to $10^{-25}\, \mu_{B}$ where $ \mu_{B}$ is the Bohr magneton. If the CNB and photons interact via its magnetic moment, this interaction could be revealed in single arm interferometer operating at super-Heisenberg limit with $N^{2}$ enhancement.

In multiscale modeling of ferroelectrics, combining atomistic simulation with continuum-scale phase-field models (PFM) remains a fundamental challenge. A key difficulty lies in faithfully capturing discrete atomic-level information within a continuum modeling framework, while accurately representing material behavior at the mesoscale. In this paper, a Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN) driven by molecular dynamics (MD) data is used. The loss function of the network consists of a supervised term that fits the discrete spatial polarization distributions obtained from MD simulations of systems containing domain walls, and a physics-based term that incorporates the residuals of partial differential equations (PDEs) of steady-state PFM. To ensure stable and balanced training among the different loss components, adaptive gradient normalization (GradNorm) is used to dynamically adjust the task weights. By minimizing the total loss, the model not only reconstructs the polarization field along with the associated strain, stress, and energy landscape at the continuum scale, but also identifies critical physical parameters of the phase-field model, including the characteristic energy density, characteristic length factor, gradient energy anisotropy factor, and Landau polynomial coefficients. By using the PINN-predicted physical parameters in COMSOL Multiphysics to solve the corresponding PDEs within a finite element framework, we demonstrate that these parameters enable accurate reproduction of the ferroelectric domain structure and the associated material response, including stress/strain distributions and energy landscape. This framework provides an effective methodology for establishing multiscale connections between atomistic and continuum descriptions, and holds the potential to infer underlying physical properties directly from polarization distributions for a wide range of materials.

Fidelity susceptibility is a useful probe of quantum phase transitions and quantum metrology, but its direct evaluation on a quantum device is challenging. By integrating Krylov-subspace methods with a resolvent-based reformulation, we present a method for certifying fidelity susceptibility using randomized single-copy measurements across repeated ground-state preparations. The resulting approximations form monotone lower bounds to the exact fidelity susceptibility and converge geometrically. We also present applications to metrology and linear static susceptibilities.

We demonstrate, for the first time, that the arrival directions of cosmic-ray muons from a muon telescope provide a measurable source of physical entropy. Using six months of data collected from a muon telescope, the local zenith and azimuth angles were used for randomness extraction. The result of this study show that each cosmic muon track from our detector can generate upto 4 bits with an entropy of 0.999182 bits/bit with a maximum bit rate of roughly 650 bits/s which can possibly be enhanced by improving the detector size and angular resolution. The suggested technique can be potentially used as a random number generator required for closing the settings-independence loophole in the tests for violations of Bell's inequality. The data acquisition, data reduction, and conditioning algorithms are discussed in detail.

The Standard Model is the most precise and consequential theory of science, yet it is not a complete account of all fundamental physics. Amongst its limitations, it lacks a coherent unification of quantum mechanics and gravity, and thus cannot resolve the large hierarchy gap between the weak and Planck scales. It does not explain neutrino masses or the evidence implying the existence of Dark Matter, nor does it provide a viable mechanism for baryogenesis sufficient to explain the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe. Lastly, it is in tension with observations hinting toward charged Lepton Flavour Universality violation. These shortcomings indicate that physics beyond the Standard Model must exist. In this thesis, the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to perform three distinct searches for New Physics. The first targets hypothetical, TeV-scale quantum black holes, which arise in extra-dimensional theories seeking to solve the hierarchy problem. Exploiting a unique feature of the model that strongly enhances the production rate with the collider centre-of-mass energy, and thereby permits a considerable increase in mass reach, it uses lepton+jet final states and sets the strongest limits on the model to date. The second tackles anomalies in lepton flavour by searching for heavy resonances that violate flavour conservation; targeting dilepton+$b$-jets final states, it complements previous inclusive results by directly addressing exclusive ones. The third targets Clockwork, periodic signatures of heavy graviton states appearing in extra-dimensional models. Performed in dielectron and diphoton final states, it establishes a new method to search for periodic signals using wavelet transformations with machine learning, and sets the best limits on the model.

The state frame potential is a standard diagnostic of how closely a quantum state ensemble approximates Haar randomness. In this work, we study the problem of estimating the state frame potential of order $t$ to within additive error $\varepsilon$ under three progressively weaker access models: (i) query access to a multi-state-preparation oracle, (ii) general sample access, and (iii) single-copy sample access. In the query model, we establish a near-optimal query complexity of $\widetilde{\Theta}(\sqrt{t}/\varepsilon)$, yielding a quadratic improvement in the dependence on $t$ over the previous best result of Nakata, Takeuchi, Kliesch, and Darmawan (PRX Quantum 2025). In the general sample model, we establish the optimal sample complexity $\Theta(t/\varepsilon^2)$. In the single-copy sample model, we present a store-and-estimate approach whose sample complexity depends on the Rényi entropy of the ensemble weights. As an application, we use the single-copy algorithm to assess the randomness of projected state ensembles, where the entropy term becomes the observational Rényi entropy associated with measuring one subsystem.