Papers

A detailed collider study of Higgs production in the process $e^+e^- \to ZH$ is presented within the framework of the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM), with particular emphasis on mis-aligned scenarios in the Type-I realization. The analysis is performed at a future $e^+e^-$ collider with $\sqrt{s}=500$~GeV and an integrated luminosity of $10~\mathrm{ab}^{-1}$, considering heavy Higgs masses in the range $160 \leq m_H \leq 400$~GeV. The analysis covers heavy CP-even Higgs states with non-fermionic decay modes such as $H\to WW$ and $H\to hh$, and incorporates final states arising from leptonic and invisible $Z$ boson decays. Fast parametrized detector-level simulations are employed to evaluate selection efficiencies, signal–background discrimination, and exclusion sensitivities. It is shown that values of $|c_{\beta-\alpha}|>0.1$ can be excluded at the $95\%$ confidence level over almost the entire range $1\leq\tan\beta\leq10$ in the $H\to WW$ scenario, while the $H\to hh$ channel provides lower sensitivity.

We study a static, spherically symmetric black hole solution surrounded by a dust field within quantum fluctuation modified gravity, in which the quantum-fluctuation parameter $\alpha$ and the dust-field strength parameter $K$. The horizon structure reveals the two parameters acting in opposite directions: strengthening $K$ draws the inner and outer horizons together until they merge into a single extremal horizon, while a larger $\alpha$ restores the Schwarzschild limit; the same opposing trend extends to the effective potential and the characteristic circular-orbit radii – the innermost stable circular orbit, the marginally bound orbit, and the marginal circular orbit – which shift inward with $K$ and outward with $\alpha$, and to the Keplerian and radial epicyclic frequencies of massive test particles. From these frequencies we build three twin-peak quasi-periodic oscillation models – relativistic precession, warped-disk, and epicyclic-resonance – along with their $3{:}2$, $4{:}3$, and $5{:}4$ resonance radii, all following the same $K$-$\alpha$ trend. Testing all three models against twin-peak QPO data from two stellar-mass (GRO~J1655$-$40, XTE~J1550$-$564) and two intermediate-mass (M82~X$-$1, NGC~1313~X$-$1) sources through a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis places best-fit constraints, at the $2\sigma$ level, of $K\in(0,0.5)$ and $\alpha\in(0.3,0.6)$ across all sources and models.

White dwarfs (WDs) are compact remnants of stars, supported by electron degeneracy pressure, and their structures are generally considered to be well understood. Significant discrepancies exist between the theoretical and observed white dwarf mass-radius (MR) relations, especially for hot Q-branch white dwarfs with unexplained heating sources. In this study, we explore the potential of WDs as a portal to dark matter (DM) physics by investigating the effect of self-annihilating DM (SADM) admixed in WDs, solving the set of two-fluid hydrostatic equilibrium and heat diffusion equations self-consistently. We obtain empirical formulae for the WD luminosity $L$ and effective temperature $T_\text{eff}$ as functions of the DM mass fraction $f_d$, annihilation cross section $\langle\sigma v\rangle$, and particle mass $m_\chi$, as well as the WD's total mass $M_t$. We also compare the WD MR relations for various $L$, $f_d$, and both Fermionic and Bosonic DM particle statistics, with the observational data. We show that the majority of observed deviations in the WD MR relation can be accounted for by having SADM admixed with $f_d \le 10^{-5}$ and $\langle\sigma v\rangle \ll 3\times10^{-26}$ $\text{cm}^3$ $\text{s}^{-1}$, the thermal relic cross section. Therefore, our results suggest that WDs can be sensitive DM detectors, and DM self-annihilation could provide additional heating in WDs, accounting for their observed extra luminosities.

By its most visible quantitative metrics: numbers of researchers, papers, journals, and institutions, science has never looked healthier. Yet a set of subsurface indicators points the other way: the disruptiveness of the average paper and patent is falling, progress slows in the largest fields, replication is rare and often unsuccessful. Incentive systems can select for poor methods even when no one is actually cheating. Lay society shows a curious mixture of admiration and lack of trust for scientists and their work. We argue that a healthy-looking surface can coexist with, and mask, an accumulation of below-the-surface damage due to slow-acting, internally and externally driven pressures, weakening the social position of science. This process is best understood not as an acute shock but as a creeping crisis. And while the damage grows slowly, it may result in a sudden collapse of the research as social institution. To make this diagnosis tractable rather than merely alarming, we import the conceptual and mathematical apparatus of two mature research fields that already study such slow degradation and sudden collapse processes: the continuum damage mechanics of creep, fatigue, and corrosion, and the ecology of resilience, regime shifts, and critical transitions. We do not claim to resolve whether science is merely robust under strain or is approaching a tipping point; the available data are too fragmentary. This remains a question of importance and we propose what would answer it: finding measurable early-warning indicators, use of agent-based models of the coupled trust-incentive-funding feedback system, understanding adversarial attacks, and the design of resilience building and recovery interventions. The result is a research agenda, and an argument for why the health of science cannot be read off its own success reports.

Four-dimensional conformal gravity, twistor theory, and ambitwistor theory are reviewed within the unified framework of holomorphic conformal Cartan geometry. Starting from the spinorial representation of the geometry, the normal $\mathfrak{sl}(4,\mathbb{C})$-valued Cartan connection, its curvature $2$-form, and the associated tractor bundles are systematically formulated. Evaluated on the real Lorentzian slice, the quadratic curvature action is shown to reproduce four-dimensional Weyl–Bach conformal gravity upon fixing a Weyl gauge. Local twistor and dual twistor bundles are constructed as associated spin tractor bundles, illustrating how parallel transport yields the classical incidence relations in flat space and chiral integrability constraints in curved backgrounds: anti-self-duality for $\alpha$-surfaces and self-duality for $\beta$-surfaces. Furthermore, by pairing local twistors and dual twistors via an invariant canonical pairing, ambitwistor space is shown to parameterize complex null geodesics and symmetrically accommodate both left- and right-handed Weyl curvatures. This framework establishes a direct gauge-theoretic bridge linking conformal Cartan geometry to twistor and ambitwistor theories.

We study charged Klein-Gordon modes on a $(2+1)$-dimensional Ellis traversable wormhole in an external magnetic field defined as uniform in an auxiliary Euclidean embedding space. The spatial geometry is intrinsically catenoidal, while the embedding is used only to construct the external gauge connection. Pullback of the ambient potential yields a regular azimuthal gauge field whose associated intrinsic magnetic scalar reverses sign across the throat. Separation of the Klein-Gordon equation leads to a radial problem that is unitarily equivalent to a one-dimensional Schrödinger operator with a regular effective potential. For nonzero magnetic coupling, the quadratic asymptotic term produces radial confinement on the complete wormhole. The radial equation can be reduced to the confluent-Heun class. Polynomial truncation is possible only on constrained parameter submanifolds determined by simultaneous termination conditions and therefore does not represent the generic confined spectrum. We derive the corresponding relativistic energies and analyze the lowest polynomial sector, while distinguishing the formal continuous-$\ell$ solvability correlations from the integer values of the azimuthal separation constant required by the standard angular periodicity condition.

High-redshift radio galaxies (HzRGs) are among the most powerful radio sources, and are associated with the most massive galaxies and dense environments at redshifts z $\gtrsim$ 1. They are ideal laboratories for studying how active galactic nucleus (AGN) events can shape the evolution of galaxies, as intense radiation, jets, and star formation can be observed simultaneously in these galaxies. We present JWST/NIRSpec integral field spectroscopy ($\sim$ 1.6 kpc spatial resolution) of the 4C +03.24 system, a powerful HzRG at z $\sim$ 3.5 with a bolometric luminosity of $\sim 10^{47.6}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We identified kinematically disturbed regions in the warm ($\sim 10^4$ K) ionized gas by decomposing the emission-line spectra into multiple Gaussian components, which is crucial to avoid overestimating the outflow properties. The outflow power peaks at $\sim$ 2 kpc away from the nucleus, with a corresponding low kinetic coupling efficiency of $\sim 8_{-5}^{+7} \times 10^{-3}$ %. A combined analysis of the rest-frame optical and ultraviolet (from VLT/MUSE and HST imaging) continua revealed an extended emission (spanning $\sim$ 14 kpc), which we interpret as partially tracing star-forming regions. With a clearly delineated bipolar morphology, we show that the AGN photoionization dominates the ionization of the interstellar medium along the radio jet axis. The [C II]$\lambda$158$\mu$m emission gap in this region might be direct evidence of negative AGN feedback. We also discuss a possible scenario where 4C +03.24 could be situated in an overdense environment experiencing multiple galaxy interactions and the possibility of jet-induced star-formation.

We present JWST/MIRI (Proposal ID 4297) medium-resolution integral field spectroscopy of five H II regions in the nearby spiral galaxy M33, obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). The fully calibrated Level-3 spectral cubes provide continuous wavelength coverage from 6.5 - 20.9~$\mu$m, enabling analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission, ionic fine-structure lines, and warm molecular hydrogen. The spectra show prominent PAH bands at 7.7, 8.6, and 11.3~$\mu$m, multiple H$_2$ rotational transitions, and hydrogen recombination lines. H$_2$ rotational diagrams yield warm molecular gas temperatures of $\sim316$ - $407$~K. The detected [Ne II], [Ne III], [S III], and [S IV] lines yield ionization indices of $-1.41$ to $+0.98$. The PAH ionization fraction shows no clear dependence on radiation hardness, consistent with previous Spitzer results. Unlike previous work, we find no clear correlation between the 7.7/11.2 and 8.6/11.2~$\mu$m PAH ratios, while the 7.7/11.2~$\mu$m ratio shows a moderate negative correlation with metallicity, possibly due to our small sample ($N=5$). The PAH-to-VSG ratio decreases with increasing radiation hardness. We derive the ionization parameter $\gamma$, far-ultraviolet radiation field, and PAH charge state, finding a predominantly cationic PAH population ($\sim75%$) despite [Ne III]/[Ne II] $<1$. The lack of a one-to-one correspondence between $\gamma$ and the 7.7/11.2~$\mu$m ratio suggests that PAH ionization is influenced by additional environmental factors. Given the limited sample, these trends are suggestive rather than statistically definitive.

Optically addressable defect spins in semiconductors are promising building blocks for scalable quantum technologies. Yet, the consequences of conventional contact schemes used in semiconductor device integration for the quantum spin environment remain largely unexplored. Using the silicon vacancy (V$_\mathrm{Si}$) in silicon carbide (SiC) as a model system, we show that a widely used contact metal, nickel (Ni), intrinsically perturbs the defect spin state and quenches the characteristic emission from the spin-quartet channel of V$_\mathrm{Si}$. Low-energy muon spin rotation further reveals that Ni contacts create a magnetically contaminated region extending at least $\sim$110 nm into the SiC, in stark contrast to non-magnetic contacts such as Ti and Al. Moreover, cross-sectional cathodoluminescence measurements on samples with high defect density demonstrate a suppressed quartet-state luminescence from the V$_\mathrm{Si}$ up to 500 nm beneath the Ni contact. This drastic influence on the defect's magnetic environment is accompanied by the appearance of a signature consistent with photoluminescence from the spin-doublet state of V$_\mathrm{Si}$ under the Ni layer, which was absent in other material stacks. These results establish that standard device configurations can drive quantum defects into unwanted charge and spin configurations, underscoring the necessity of precise design to preserve quantum-grade spin environments in semiconductor devices.

Microresonators based on diverse material platforms have driven the progress of integrated photonics by enhancing light-matter interactions in compact volumes. Extending this strategy to magneto-optical (MO) media is highly attractive for nonreciprocal photonics, magnonics, and quantum transduction, yet compact high-Q resonators based on single-crystalline yttrium iron garnet (YIG) have remained elusive because of the difficulty of its nanofabrication. Here we demonstrate high-Q, small-mode-volume MO microdisk resonators based on monocrystalline Bi-substituted YIG (Bi:YIG). Low-loss Bi:YIG thin films prepared by bonding and thinning, combined with optimized Ar-plasma etching, enable submicron-thick, air-suspended microdisks that support telecom-band whispering-gallery modes with $Q = 1.52\times 10^5$, a mode volume $V \approx 200$ cubic wavelengths, and $Q/V \approx 760$, representing an orders-of-magnitude improvement for integrated high-Q YIG MO cavities. The device exhibits clear magnetic-field-dependent spectral responses, including reciprocal resonance shifts and nonreciprocal frequency splitting of counter-propagating modes. A perturbative analytical model quantitatively reproduces these responses and indicates an effective MO coefficient about twice the bulk value, suggesting a possible miniaturization-induced enhancement. These results establish monocrystalline YIG microdisks as a compact high-Q MO platform for integrated isolators, optomechanics, microcombs, and photon-magnon quantum interfaces.

This paper develops the covariant Boltzmann equation governing the coupled evolution of photons and massive particles in general curved spacetimes. We construct the collision integrals for photon emission-absorption, Compton scattering, and scattering between massive particles, and show the conservation laws. Requiring the H-theorem to hold determines the relation between the absorption and emission transition rates, which reduces to the Einstein relation in the non-relativistic limit. At equilibrium the entropy production vanishes, yielding the detailed balance condition, from which we obtain the covariant thermodynamic relations of the photon gas. We illustrate these results with the thermal radiation from an accretion disk in Kerr spacetime, first in global equilibrium and then in a Keplerian disk in local thermodynamic equilibrium. We further extend the collision integrals to arbitrary multi-species processes involving both null and massive particles. The formulation treats non-equilibrium radiative processes in strong gravitational fields from first principles.

Generally, the work output of stochastic heat engines is governed by the stochastic trajectory distribution and the energy spectrum. Because the trajectory distribution depends on the thermal reservoir temperatures, the work output is not only constrained by temperature but is also susceptible to thermal fluctuations. To address these limitations, we introduce two continuous Maxwell's demons into a quantum Otto cycle, forming an Otto information engine (OIE). We demonstrate that the work output of the OIE depends solely on the energy level gap, enabling arbitrary work extraction while eliminating work fluctuations, thereby ensuring cycle-to-cycle identical work output. Furthermore, we show that the engine's efficiency can surpass the standard Carnot efficiency even after accounting for the energy cost of demon's memory erasure. Finally, we show that the OIE can deliver superior output power even when the demon's measurement time is taken into account, and the corresponding Monte Carlo simulation has been executed.

Standard stochastic heat engines operate blindly, enforcing work extraction protocols indiscriminately on microstates, and consequently suppressing work output, stability, efficiency. To overcome this, we propose an Otto information engine (OIE) that employs a Maxwell's demon to filter out detrimental stochastic trajectories, and demonstrate that the OIE can provide enhanced work output and stability compared to the corresponding standard Otto engine. Remarkably, even after accounting for the energetic costs of the demon, the OIE efficiency surpasses both the standard Otto limit and Carnot bound. Furthermore, by applying the fluctuation theorem of information dissipation, we derive upper and lower bounds on efficiency, confirming that our results adhere to the second law of thermodynamics. Finally, and counterintuitively, measurement errors and quantum inner friction, traditionally considered deleterious, can be harnessed as resources, which improves robustness and enables us to ignore the adiabatic strokes time.

We construct an exact Kerr-like rotating extension of the zero-redshift Morris–Thorne wormhole in a Teo-type stationary, axisymmetric ansatz. The Einstein equations for an anisotropic source comoving with zero angular momentum observers fix $\mathcal{K}(r)=r^2+a^2$ and reduce frame dragging to a radial quadrature. For $b(r)=r_0^2/r$, this is evaluated using incomplete elliptic integrals and normalised by the ADM angular momentum. The spacetime is asymptotically flat with zero ADM mass, so $a=J_{\rm ADM}/M_{\rm ADM}$ does not apply. The oblateness length $a$ and angular momentum $J_{\rm ADM}$ remain independent, yielding a family $(r_0,a,J_{\rm ADM})$. The choice $J_{\rm ADM}=ar_0$ selects only a one-parameter slice for numerical ergoregion and equatorial-capture illustrations; it is not a field-equation constraint. We find $r_{\rm th}=\sqrt{r_0^2-a^2}$, with reality bound $|a|\leq r_0$ and regular range $0\leq |a|<r_0$. In the canonical stationary foliation, the throat is defined quasi-locally as the unique closed surface $S_0$ in the family $S_\ell$ with zero mean curvature and positive area second variation. Moreover, $r=r_{\rm th}$ and $\ell=0$ are coordinate representations. A signed throat-adapted coordinate reveals two asymptotically flat ends, excludes closed timelike curves, and establishes that the throat is timelike, not a horizon. These conclusions hold independently of $J_{\rm ADM}=ar_0$. The supporting stress tensor, reconstructed from the Einstein tensor, is an effective phenomenological source. We do not claim any microscopic matter Lagrangian or realistic equation of state. We also determine the ergoregion onset. Since the full Hamilton–Jacobi equation is nonseparable, we limit ourselves to derive the optical result for a one-dimensional equatorial capture interval.

We present Hybrid Quantum Root Cause Analysis (HQ-RCA), an industrially grounded workflow for root cause analysis in banking IT operations, built on a hybrid Quantum Graph Neural Network (QGNN): the classical backbone of DynEdge (the IceCube neutrino-reconstruction GNN, which we call standalone DynEdge), with its classification head replaced by a Variational Quantum Circuit (VQC). On 13 months of anonymised IT data (13k alarm clusters) from a major European bank, the hybrid QGNN matches standalone DynEdge – the strongest classical baseline – on $F_1$, while standalone DynEdge leads the ranking metrics. A readout-sensitivity and layout-robustness study, analysed via Dimensional Expressivity Analysis (DEA), shows that the effective parameter dimensionality (rank) of the quantum observable has no measurable correlation with $F_1$; we therefore keep the simplest readout $\langle Z_0\rangle$ (the Pauli-$Z$ expectation on the first qubit), which in the deployed layout is rank-1, collapsing optimisation to a 1-D problem solvable by a gradient-free grid scan. Execution on IBM Heron r2 (no error mitigation) shows this gradient-free readout is executable on NISQ hardware after threshold recalibration.

Generally, quantum heat engines driven by Gibbs reservoirs achieve their maximum work and efficiency only in quasi-static processes, a constraint that hampers practical applications due to the resulting vanishing power output. To address this fundamental limitation, we propose a finite-time quantum Otto information engine (OIE) driven by a Maxwell's demon paired with a single Gibbs reservoir. We demonstrate that the demon's measurement and feedback control can preserve quantum coherence to extract coherent work, while harnessing quantum internal friction as a work source. Consequently, the OIE can produce work by only modulating the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian, and surpass the quasi-static limits of its conventional counterpart in the work output and the efficiency, which accounts for the energetic cost of the demon. Notably, the OIE can achieve near-perfect efficiency alongside positive work extraction in the rapid-driving regime.

We investigate the coupling dependence of ballistic energy transport and the emergent spin dynamics in an integrable Hermitian three-state chain that connects a clock interaction to a highly degenerate flag limit. By constructing a regular $R$-matrix to establish a globally conserved energy current, we analytically evaluate its full variance to obtain the exact, strictly positive leading high-temperature coefficient of the thermal Drude weight and the ballistic growth rate of the energy-correlation second moment. In the strong-coupling limit, the degeneracy is lifted by virtual transitions of a delocalized third-color spectator state, which generates an effective spin-$1/2$ XXZ Hamiltonian with anisotropy $\Delta = -1/2$ and fundamentally selects the all-active two-color sector as the true ground state. For periodic boundaries, this virtual spectator motion introduces a positive length-changing XXZ supercharge squared that, for $L\ge4$, strictly annihilates all states within a finite, length-independent energy interval above the ground state. Consequently, we rigorously prove that the full periodic effective theory perfectly replicates the exact low-energy XXZ spectrum, including all state multiplicities, as well as its macroscopic bulk free-energy density.

Quantum steering is an important type of quantum correlation with potential applications in one-sided device-independent (1SDI) quantum information protocols. In this contribution, we explore the time-dependent dynamics of Gaussian quantum steering in coupled lossy optical waveguides using the covariance matrix formalism. Optical dissipation is explicitly incorporated to account for realistic propagation losses in coupled waveguides. We systematically investigate the influence of the optical loss rate, purity, nonclassicality, and squeezing of the input Gaussian states on the generation and evolution of steering. The results demonstrate that increasing nonclassicality and squeezing enhances Gaussian steering, while optical loss and reduced purity progressively suppress it. However, a considerable amount of steering can persist over finite propagation intervals in the presence of optical loss. We further examine that steering is symmetric for input states with identical nonclassicality, while unequal nonclassicalities lead to directional steering asymmetry, offering a way to control the steering direction through input-state engineering. These results demonstrate that coupled optical waveguides can support controllable Gaussian quantum steering under practical loss conditions and offer a promising integrated-photonic platform for asymmetric quantum-information protocols, including 1SDI quantum key distribution (QKD) and quantum communication.

We construct the Yukawa couplings of the quark sector as overlap integrals of Gaussian wave functions in extra spatial dimensions. Assuming that the wave function of each chiral fermion is localised at a point in the extra dimensions, while that of the Higgs doublet is flat, the Yukawa matrix elements are determined by the relative positions of the three left-handed quark doublets, $q_1$, $q_2$, $q_3$, and the six right-handed quark singlets, $u_1$, $u_2$, $u_3$, $d_1$, $d_2$, $d_3$. We employ numerical optimisation techniques from machine learning to identify field configurations that satisfy all current experimental constraints on the quark Yukawa sector. In this framework, the large hierarchy of quark masses arises naturally, since the overlap integrals of Gaussian wave functions are exponentially sensitive to ${\mathcal O}(1)$ separations in the extra dimensions.

Magnetic fields regulate the multi-phase interstellar medium (ISM) of spiral galaxies, yet their behavior across ISM phases remains poorly constrained observationally. We present a comparative polarimetric study of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 6946 using far-infrared (FIR) data at 154 $\mu$m from SOFIA/HAWC+ and radio continuum data at 6 cm from the VLA and Effelsberg telescopes, which probe magnetic fields in the cold dust-emitting and diffuse synchrotron-emitting phases of the ISM, respectively. The synchrotron polarization reveals a coherent large-scale spiral magnetic field, with high polarization fractions in interarm regions and strong depolarization in star-forming arms. The FIR polarization fraction is lower on average and shows stronger spatial variations. Both tracers decrease systematically with increasing star formation activity, indicating that star-formation-driven turbulence reduces magnetic field ordering; the synchrotron polarization fraction is strongly suppressed in the central kiloparsec but stable across the mid disk, with a tendency to increase beyond $R \approx 7$ kpc, while the FIR polarization fraction remains low ($\sim$2-3%) and approximately constant over the radial range where it can be reliably measured ($R \lesssim 5.4$ kpc). Our results indicate that NGC 6946 hosts a globally ordered magnetic field locally modulated by turbulence. This study highlights the complementary nature of FIR and radio polarimetry in probing magnetic fields across ISM phases and provides quantitative constraints on how magnetic field ordering varies between the cold and diffuse ISM components.

Lithographic patterning of nanoscale devices typically depends on photoresists, wet processing and multistep pattern-transfer workflows that impose both environmental and scaling constraints. Focused laser irradiation of (Ni,Co)1+2xTi1-xO3 under a reducing atmosphere drives localized oxygen removal, directly converting the insulating oxide into embedded metallic features without etching or chemical processing. Here we demonstrate a photoresist-free patterning method based on light-induced redox transformations in (Ni0.4Co0.6)3O3 (x = 1) thin films. Our results indicate that the transformation is self-limiting, as the high optical absorption of the emerging metallic phase restricts further energy penetration and confines the reduction front, producing conductive layers with electrical properties comparable to bulk metals. This reversible, orientation-preserving transformation is characteristic of a topotactic redox process, enabling direct nanoscale patterning without photoresists. The process is reversible through re-oxidation and is compatible with standard semiconductor wafer substrates. The role of Ti as a reduction inhibitor is discussed. These results establish a route to direct nanoscale patterning based on controlled redox chemistry, offering a potential alternative to conventional lithography for functional thin-film materials.

During a core-collapse supernova (CCSN), the emitted electron antineutrino ($\bar{\nu}_e$) burst initiates inverse beta decay (IBD) in the outer hydrogen layer of the stellar envelope. This leads to the production of a characteristic 511 keV photon signal, termed the Gamma-Ray Echo. The same neutrino burst, when detected on Earth in large neutrino observatories such as Hyper-Kamiokande, will offer information about the $\bar{\nu}_e$ content of the neutrino flux reaching Earth. In this work, we show that comparing the $\bar{\nu}_e$ content inferred from the gamma-ray echo with that inferred from terrestrial neutrino observations during a nearby CCSN event can offer a promising probe of large neutrino emission anisotropies and long-baseline propagation effects. In the latter case, the combined SN-Earth observations effectively act as a near-far detector configuration for neutrino propagation over an astrophysical baseline. We find that, for a near-Earth supernova, anisotropies or non-standard propagation effects at the level of tens of percent can be tested using gamma-ray telescopes with effective areas of $\mathcal{O}(10^4)~\mathrm{ cm^2}$. Therefore, our results motivate the development of the next generation of large effective area gamma-ray telescopes operating in the MeV gap.

The hypersensitivity and turnpike phenomena in the optimal control of an inverted pendulum are investigated from a dynamical-systems perspective. We show that, for a fixed terminal time and a fixed terminal state optimal control problem, (1) the hypersensitivity originates from the fractal structure of the set of initial adjoint variables in the associated Hamiltonian dynamics, (2) the turnpike arises from slow dynamics in the vicinity of a degenerate center manifold, and (3) the escape channels are formed by normally hyperbolic invariant manifolds (NHIMs). As a consequence, small perturbations in the initial adjoint variables lead to qualitatively distinct extremal trajectories, resulting in severe numerical instability in trajectory optimization. Both the fractal structure and the invariant sets are characterized numerically and analytically.

Equilibria of the Hamiltonian system associated with Pontryagin's minimum principle exhibit an exact doubling of the natural spectrum and, under a simple pairing condition, a Jordan block at every simple purely imaginary eigenvalue. Consequently, the classical Lyapunov Center Theorem does not apply to the augmented system, and no periodic orbit with nonzero optimal control bifurcates at linear order. We establish this mechanism in general and show that an optimal-control-induced periodic family emerges at cubic order in a Lindstedt–Poincaré expansion. The mechanism is illustrated in closed form for the pendulum and evaluated numerically for the planar $L_2$ equilibrium of Hill's restricted three-body problem, where the third-order approximation is validated against an independently computed family of periodic orbits.

Since the discovery of charge density wave (CDW) and superconductivity, kagome metal AV3Sb5 (A = K, Rb, Cs) provides a new platform for exploring novel many-body quantum phenomena. In CsV3Sb5, a stripe-like CDW with commensurate wave vector q = 3/8 was observed under moderate pressures, which leads to a peculiar superconducting double-dome behavior in pressure-dependent phase diagram. Previous density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the pressure-induced stripe-like CDW is beyond conventional phonon softening scenario, suggesting a nontrivial role of electronic correlations. However, an in-depth understanding for the pressure-induced unconventional CDW remains elusive. Here, we performed pressure-dependent 51V nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements on KV3Sb5 and RbV3Sb5. Although the superconducting double-dome behavior is absent in pressurized KV3Sb5 and RbV3Sb5, a pressure-induced CDW phase, ascribed to a possible incommensurate triple-Q CDW, is identified by NMR spectra in both materials, indicating that the pressure-induced unconventional CDW beyond DFT calculations is a common feature for kagome metal AV3Sb5. In contrast to the stripe-like CDW, the pressure-induced incommensurate triple-Q CDW does not strongly suppress the superconducting temperature (Tc) but coincide with an almost plateau behavior at intermediate pressure regime in the pressure-dependent superconducting phase diagram. Furthermore, by systematically analyzing the Korringa relation between Knight shift and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate in AV3Sb5, van Hove singularities (vHSs) driven electronic fluctuations are revealed as an effective knob for the pressure-induced unconventional CDW. Finally, our present findings underscore the pressure-induced unconventional CDW as a novel correlated quantum state in kagome metal AV3Sb5.

We propose a quantum reservoir computing framework based on a hybrid cavity magnomechanical system in the linearized Gaussian regime. The reservoir combines microwave-cavity, magnon, and mechanical degrees of freedom, and is extended by an auxiliary cavity acting as an input port, with time-dependent signals encoded in its detuning. The covariance matrix of the quadrature fluctuations provides the features for a trained linear readout. Using linear-memory, nonlinearmemory, and parity-check benchmarks, we find strong temporal memory together with more limited nonlinear processing, whose balance is controlled by the reservoir evolution time, and we show that intermode correlations substantially enhance the information accessible to the readout. The same architecture reconstructs a time-dependent signal encoded in the auxiliary-cavity detuning, with an accuracy governed by the interplay between the internal couplings and the encoding strength, and robust against Gaussian detuning noise. Accounting for finite measurement statistics reveals a trade-off between encoding strength and the precision of the covariance estimation, so that the optimal encoding depends on the available measurement budget. These results establish hybrid cavity magnomechanical systems as a promising platform for continuous-variable quantum reservoir computing with potential applications in signal probing.

We present the catalogue of quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) detected in hard X-ray (HXR) observations of X-class solar flares obtained with the HEL1OS instrument onboard Aditya-L1 during July 2024 - March 2026. The catalogue comprises 34 flares spanning GOES classes X1.1 - X7.1. QPPs are detected and studied using a uniform procedure based on Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) and wavelet analyses. Statistically significant QPPs are identified in 25 events (~74%), demonstrating that QPPs are a common property of X-class flares. The detected periods range from approximately 1 to 3 min, with a pronounced concentration between 1.3 and 1.7 min, suggesting the existence of a preferential timescale that may be associated with kink or slow magnetohydrodynamic oscillations in the flaring region. The dominant periods remain nearly independent of photon energy across the 8 - 20 keV range, while the modulation depth increases systematically with photon energy following a power-law relation with an exponent of about 1.5. QPPs detected in different HXR energy channels exhibit strong phase coherence and positive cross-correlation coefficients, indicating modulation by a common physical mechanism. Several intense flares display HXR modulation depths of up to 25%, providing evidence for nonlinear effects. The observed statistical properties support models in which QPPs are generated by repetitive magnetic reconnection, either spontaneous or periodically modulated by magnetohydrodynamic oscillations. This study establishes HEL1OS as a powerful instrument for quantitative studies of flare QPPs during Solar Cycle 25.

At an $O(2)$-equivariant Hopf bifurcation, the real parts $\zeta_R$ and $\xi_R$ of the two cubic normal-form coefficients govern selection between traveling and standing waves. In a fourth-order regularized $p$-system, $\xi_R$ was observed to vanish and the cubic nonlinearity to shift only frequencies. We show that both observations are structural: variational nonlinearities enforce them even when the linear part is dissipative and non-Hamiltonian. We consider a class of two-component PDEs on the circle whose quadratic and cubic nonlinearities are generated by reflection-invariant local Hamiltonians of the fields and finitely many of their spatial derivatives, through a common constant-coefficient Poisson operator. Then $\xi_R=0$ for every admissible linear part, while $\zeta_R$ depends only on the quadratic nonlinearity. For variational nonlinearities the direct cubic terms are purely imaginary. The mixed cascade term loses its real part because its second harmonic has zero temporal frequency and the resolvent keeps its parity, while the self-cascade at the doubled critical frequency keeps a real part. When $\zeta_R\ne0$, the bifurcating traveling waves are saddles, while the standing waves are supercritical and orbitally asymptotically stable for $\zeta_R<0$ and subcritical and unstable for $\zeta_R>0$. When the nonlinearities are the Poisson operator applied to polynomials in the fields alone, and its symbol does not vanish at the critical and second-harmonic wavenumbers, cancellation for every admissible linear part conversely characterizes variationality. In a dissipatively regularized Boussinesq family, as dissipation tends to zero, $\zeta_R$ vanishes linearly off resonance and diverges inversely at the 2:1 resonance. The Hamiltonian limit of the cubic coefficient is therefore singular.

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy have established surface superconductivity in the Weyl semimetal t-PtBi$_2$, whereas O'Leary et al. concluded from an independent ARPES experiment that superconducting signatures are absent above 3 K. Here we reanalyze the complete deposited data of O'Leary et al. Using only experimentally determined momentum-distribution-curve (MDC) maxima, energy-distribution-curve (EDC) peak positions, and leading edges, we find a strongly anisotropic low-energy gap and dispersion back-bending that closely reproduce the magnitude and angular dependence reported independently by Changdar et al. We further show that the temperature-dependent data of Ref.~\cite{Oleary} originate from the other surface termination and were presented using temperature-dependent energy translations, momentum translations, and momentum rescalings. Registering the original temperature-dependent datasets using the metallic bulk Fermi cutoff reveals finite gaps of approximately 2, 2, 1, and 0.8 meV at the four Fermi crossings. Thus the independently acquired data of O'Leary et al., obtained on different samples and with a different photon energy, confirm rather than contradict the previously reported anisotropic superconducting gap and additionally show that an anisotropic low-energy suppression persists to 19 K.

Quantum entanglement is a crucial resource in quantum information processing, yet its efficient, scalable and robust classification in multipartite systems remains theoretically challenging. Although supervised machinelearning has been applied to this task, most existing methods still suffer from high measurement costs, computational consumption, and weak noise robustness. In this work, by incorporating multipartite uncertainty relations as prior guidance, we propose a neural network approach to classify distinct Stochastic Local Operations and Classical Communication (SLOCC) multipartite entanglement classes based on states sampled from their local unitary (LU) orbits. Compared with traditional techniques, our method reduces experimental measurement-resource requirements and computational overhead, showing high adaptability to large-scale systems. The classification accuracy of our method reaches 99.5% in 20-qubit systems. The numerical validation is performed on states generated by random LU transformations, which preserve the SLOCC class. Within this setting, the proposed method offers strong effectiveness, scalability, and robustness for multipartite entanglement classification.